May 4
Fall of Cadia redraw, Original pic:
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Fall of Cadia redraw, Original pic:
For the huntmaster then!
3. What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?
9. How big is their role in the story? Do they make a frequent appearance or are they a character with little "screentime" but big influence? Or are they just a favourite background guy?
19. What is your general favourite thing about the character? What is your least favourite?
From the Character Asks:
Clan's Lavellan's Huntmaster (and baby Lavellan).
Decisions, decisions:
So, I said role, but with the role came the personality for me. The Huntmaster is Lavellan's mentor, and so I gave them the best of two of my own beloved mentors who were very excellent for the person the Huntmaster needed to be the mentor Lavellan' needed. As I had a beloved mentor who was a man, and one who was a woman, they got to be non-binary. And I gave Lavellan an autistic mentor because I had one, and it was the only time in my life where I felt like I was where I was meant to be (though neither of us knew we were autistic at the time; ironically, we both received a formal diagnosis within weeks of each other.)
How big is their role?
They play a larger role in A Sinking Star and in Vallaslin, but I would say they are a character with little screentime and big influence.
My favorite thing about them is their dry wit and general unflappability.
My least favorite thing is a very good question, and I don't know. I really love them. I specifically changed how I was going to write Lavellan's time during the Fifth Blight in Vallaslin to save the Huntmaster. The hunting party was going to go straight to join the rest of the Dalish, and the Huntmaster was going to die in the Battle of Denerim; I could see it happen, and I did not like it, so I found another way, which I think ended up more interesting anyway.
i hope we get to have at least a crumb of the huntmaster in veilguard — included bas-taar cos he sucks and im in love with him
9. Star - "Star Hunting is best left to the 'professionals'"
Bloodier version here
character asks!
What is their main character arc in the story? Where do they start and how do they develop? Do they get a happy ending or is their story a tragic one?
Do you have a voice claim for the character? What do you imagine the character sounds like?
Is there any memes or running jokes associated with the character, both in- and out of universe?
Clan Lavellan's Huntmaster.
On their story arc:
They have been Lavellan's mentor since she was very small. They lost their bow hand in an aravel accident when they were small, and wear a prosthetic claw designed specifically for archery. They have always been pretty single minded as a hunter. They led Clan Lavellan's hunting party that was sent in response to the Warden treaty during the Fifth Blight (and would have died, actually, but I found a better way so they did not). And now, they are helping Clan Lavellan stay alive in the Fade, and are very glad to see their former apprentice again. They do get a happy ending.
On the voice claim:
I've recorded the Huntmaster's dialogue before, and I'm quite happy with how I did it. They are taciturn and dry, with a lower voice.
On memes or running jokes:
The Huntmaster is not a humorous person, and they are not outwardly expressive. So I tend to write things like 'the Huntmaster smiled broadly, a tiny quirk of the mouth'. And they call Lavellan Little Shadow, because when Lavellan was small, she would sit and watch them as they worked without speaking, like a little shadow.
Questions for the Huntmaster!
3. What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?
4. And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?
14. Do you have any quotes tied to the character, either from the story itself or from another source that fit them?
From the Character Asks:
For Clan Lavellan's Huntmaster:
It was their role/ personality, because those things informed each other.
Lavellan is a hunter, and I needed the Huntmaster as her mentor. And as I put her through the wringer enough, I was going to give her a happy backstory (and then I used her beloved clan being lost in the Fade to torment her, but you know. These things happen.) I also wanted to have a beloved figure with a similar amputation, to soften the blow a little bit for her, because her beloved, super competent Huntmaster was missing their left hand, and they were the Huntmaster!
And so, because the Huntmaster was a mentor, I gave them the best of two of my own most beloved mentors who were right for the person the Huntmaster needed to be, and they ended up non-binary as a result, because one of my mentors was a man, and one was a woman.
And Lavellan got to have an autistic mentor because I had one, and it meant a great deal to me to have one, and it felt like flying and like being truly home (though ironically, we both received a formal diagnosis within weeks of each other years later.)
Names are almost always trickiest for me, and the Huntmaster's is Taneth, but the Huntmaster is who they are.
Their appearance came fairly easily while I was playing aroud in Veilguard's character creator; I wanted them tall and spare, and sort of hawk like and intimidating looking, and I think red-tailed hawks first when I think of hawks, so I made them a red-head, with their hair lightening up with age, and an aquiline nose, with a strong jaw and a serious looking mouth that looked like it could smile, rarely, but mostly didn't.
For quotes, I think this sums up the Huntmaster pretty well, from an upcoming chapter of A Sinking Star:
“It is not every hunter who can say that they caught the Dread Wolf,” said a dry voice. “But as I see you have lost none of your skill, I suppose that is to be expected, though he has rather less pelt than I thought for a wolf.”
He turned as his vhenan looked over at a tall, one-handed hunter stepping down from behind the outcropping who bore a claw for the left that was made to hold the great bow they had slung on their back.
“If you try to understand how they are, wolves will let you watch them,” she said with a slight note of warning, “you taught me that. But if you taunt them, they might run away. Or growl.”
This was her Huntmaster, then, who had trained her and whom she dearly loved, that he had seen in her memories. It must have been easier to adjust to the loss of her hand, with the example of her mentor in front of her. He was glad of that. The Huntmaster laughed.
“Wolves are playful creatures,” they said, “and I can hardly imagine that your wolf would not have a sense of humor.”
Well. Since he had been challenged to prove his mettle.
“Less pelt in this form, Huntmaster,” Solas answered. “More in another,” and he turned and shifted.
Not the form of a small wolf, his full Dread Wolf form. He grinned a wolf’s grin, lolling tongue and sharp teeth, blinking his six glowing eyes, shaking his mane and standing tall.
“More pelt indeed,” said the Huntmaster, crooking their neck to appraise his Dread Wolf form. He was impressed at their poise.
#3, #4, and #20 for the character asks, please!
From the Character Asks:
Clan's Lavellan's Huntmaster.
What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?
Their role, maybe? I knew that I wanted Lavellan to have a mentor who had lost a hand in their youth, so that it would make the loss of her hand a little easier, to have that example before her.
And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?
Name. It's almost always the name. It's Taneth, but they go by the title most of the time. It's who they are.
Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about
Ahhh, Huntmaster really gets some good scenes in A Sinking Star.
This one, at the end, is one of my favorites, where they express regret for the necessity of what they had to teach Lavellan. It was just a really touching little moment for me.
“I am glad for you, little shadow,” the Huntmaster said. “Your path has always been a difficult one to walk, and I see that you and your Wolf have found a way of your own, for you to wish to run to him instead of away. I am glad that you have found someone who understands you as you are, not who they think you should be.”
“I had you,” she said.
The Huntmaster gave her a small, regretful smile.
“I could not make the world what you needed it to be, little shadow,” they said. “So I made you what you had to be to survive it. And you learned well, and you were everything that was needed and I wish you had not ever had to know it. Here, in the Beyond… Perhaps you were always meant to run at the Wolf’s side. Though I am not made for staying in one place like this, little shadow. Wycombe was a great trial. This is stranger, with nowhere to escape to the peace of the forest.”
“I have my own place here, with its own peace,” she said, “Would you walk it with me, Huntmaster?”
They nodded, and with the long experience of two hunters that were used to finding quiet moments for themselves away from the clan, she led them quietly out of the main gate and into her forest. She watched as they breathed easier as they both fell into the familiar easy long stride of a Dalish hunter.
“It is strange,” they said. “Yet familiar. Very like your vallaslin. It is the memory of all the forests that have been shelter to the clan, rather than being one forest. It changes when you do not watch it, yet remains the same. This place, I think, has always been the place where you have wanted to be, in your mind.”
She nodded.
“And your wolf shares this with you?” they asked, as they got to her camp and she started to put the kettle on the fire for a cup of tea before they returned.
She shook her head.
“He told me to keep this for myself,” she said. “He realized before I did that I needed a place of my own. And he holds to that, unless he has been invited or matters are very urgent.”
The Huntmaster smiled with that little quirk of their mouth that was so beloved and familiar.
“He impresses me more and more that he should have seen that,” they said. “That is well indeed. And I thank you for bringing me here, to your camp. I understand what it means to you, that you would share it with me, this forest made of your vallaslin. You will always be a part of the clan, but you have grown beyond it. Many of the clan would fair well in your stronghold, but not all. You and I are not the only hunters that need a place more free.”
She smiled back, a small thing of the eyes, with her Huntmaster. Her Huntmaster had always known her best; had understood her since she was very small. And that was the feeling, she thought, that the clan was too small to hold her now once she had held the Fade in her hand. She just hadn’t wanted to believe it, for a time.
“I think you’ll be pleased in the end,” she said. “The clan will go to the Crossroads, and there will be wonderful new things to learn there, new places to explore. The Fade is only another piece of the world, as the sky is different from the land, but a bird may be part of both.”
“Well,” said the Huntmaster, “I am not so convinced that I am a bird, but I suppose that I may still learn to fly, even still at my age. As you have, little shadow.”
9. Star(eater) - "We all join the hunt, but only the Huntmaster is able to eat them"
Hey, it's one of my ocs! I'm sure he's having a great time!
Clean version here