#tyla lavellan

[dragonofnevarra]

6. something written by your OC in response to an honor they’re being awarded - for anyone?

An unsent letter found crumpled and partially burned in the hearth of The Iron Bull’s quarters above the Herald’s Rest tavern. The handwriting matches that of Inquisitor Tyla Lavellan. Some passages are difficult to make out due to the ink running and burnt portions.

Hearth of my Youth,

I trust the Clan is well. The coming winter looks to be unforgiving this cycle, so I’ve sent what supplies Lady Montilyet would let me spare to you. I hope you know my heart travels with them. Would that I could give more, Lady Montilyet assures me any more will be seen as a bias by the human nobility.

Gods, Thoriel, the humans! They are fickle and unforgiving as the frost in these forsaken mountains. Every day I spend here, I feel as though I’m falling deeper into their machinations. Will I be able to pull myself free when all this is done? I pray Mythal guides me back to you one day. If She listens to me now.

Does the clan think differently of me these days? The Nightingale doesn’t like to tell me, this much I know, but she must think it’s important to tell me. I know some of our family-clans speak my name in ire. Much as I loathe it, I am a figurehead for the humans’ Chantry. The Orlesian Chantry has officially made me an Exalted - whatever that means outside of their smothering beliefs and faith. I cannot breathe in these walls, surrounded by their pyres and martyrs.

They say I’m theirs’ now, an image of Andraste reborn. They even sent a letter, as though this parchment lays claim to me. If I die here, I will surely be stolen for their symbols of sacrifice. Will they make statues in my name? With my ears cut short and the staff ripped from my hands? Will they wash my devotion from my face? Will Falon’Din find me when they’ve scrubbed me clean to their standards?

I know He will. I hope He will. I know in my heart that I am still faithful, that I am still of the People. So why, Thoriel, does every step down this road feel like a step away from the Dalish? Why does it feel as though everything I do to stop this madness strips me of who I am?  I am so far from home and comfort and everything I know.

It is selfish of me, and yet I almost with this war would end. For better or for worse, I don’t care. I want to leave. I want to come home. I don’t want to be dancing to the humans’ songs, smiling at those unkind eyes, letting them lead me down and away from everything I am. I’m so afraid, Thoriel. What if I cannot return from here? What will be left of me when the humans are done?

I’m scared. I do not know what to do. I do not think the Creators can hear me here. I am alone.

Missive ends unfinished. Scrawled in the margins are notes in another hand, translating difficult phrases from Evhen to Qunlat. Ink discoloration indicates the notes were written prior to its attempted destruction.

Inquisition Codex Prompts

[grinningjackal]

The Elves of Clan Lavellan

Counter-clockwise from top-left: Tyla Lavellan the knight-enchanter and first of her clan, Rosal Lavellan the two-handed champion, and Elian the dual-wielding artificer (formerly of Clan Baelas)

[dragonofnevarra]

Me, playing Inquisition as my first DA game with my elven mage: Hmm...I think she might romance Solas...maybe? Their morals kinda align.

Solas: *Is rude to the Dalish* *loses his shit and locks his romance when asked to slow down*

Me: Yeah, no, nevermind. Who else...

Cullen, essentially: "You don't have to sacrifice everything you have to this fight. Remember that you have us to lean on, as well."

Me: Hmm....he's funny to flirt with. Let's give this a go.

Me: *plays DA2 for the first time, actually learns about Cullen and his actions* fUCK!

[dragonofnevarra]

inquisitor ask prompt - 1-10 odd

Thank you! You didn’t specify which one, so I’ll use my main timeline Inquisitor.

1. what is your inquisitor’s name & race? 

Her full name is Iorethylan Metaraa Lavellan but, like with most of the clan (as far as my headcanons go), she simply goes by Tyla. Although, those close to her when she was a child called Little Badger, what with her temper.

3. what do they look like? (add screenshots, drawings, descriptions!)

I just revamped what she looks like, so I’ll snag some new screenshots as I play through DAI again and link them here later.

In the meantime, Tyla is the shortest of my Lavellans. She's got a kind of rounded face and softer features, her eyes are a light brown and her mouth is a little wide for her face. Her skin is a dark amber, gold undertone, and her hair is prematurely greying and kept just past her shoulders. She has Sylaise's full vallaslin in royal blue.

5. what are their religious beliefs, if they have any?

She believes heavily in the Creators, with an emphasis on worshipping Mythal and Sylaise. She's a fairly staunch believer, always arguing when people refer to her under the lens of Andrastian faith. There is very little that could alter her belief.

Her faith grew to encompass a little of Stone Dalish (I'll link to that post in a bit) beliefs about ancestors and late family watching over and guiding you through spirits after she met Elian.

7. who is your inquisitor’s best friend?

Early on, her best friend was Solas. They bonded over their shared ideals of magic, even if there was a tension on how they perceived the Dalish. That kind of fell through when he hinted at a relationship, she requested they take it slower, and he kind of cold-shouldered her after that.

After that, Varric, Leliana, Josephine, and Sera became her closest friends and confidants. Varric could always be trusted to make her forget any stress with humor. Leliana was a phenomenal listener with excellent advice on sudden change. Josephine had an avid interest in Dalish culture and helped her navigate the finer edges of human politics. And then Sera, who could make Tyla smile when no one else could and helped her see that she didn't have to devote herself to the Inquisition every second of the day.

9. who is their love interest, if they chose one? do you ship them with anyone else/non-romanceable options?

Oh, boy. Tyla has very little luck when it comes to love.

She was "married" (by human standards) pre-Inquisition. There was an Incident. There will be information on that eventually.

As mentioned earlier, there was the slightest crush on Solas. But that ended quickly after she asked for them to maybe slow down. Solas didn't respond well and they were never able to recover their friendship after that.

After, there was a regrettable whirlwind romance with Cullen. It began with subtle flirting and moved very quickly into a relationship based purely on physical attraction and, on her end, a way to spite Solas. It fell apart the second they actually began talking beliefs and politics. Frankly, it's a wonder that they manage to behave professionally after that.

For a little while after, she didn't have a love interest. And then Sera invited to pranks. It was childish and petty and foolish. And Tyla loved it. She hadn't really allowed herself to relax in Skyhold until she started actively spending time with Sera. Once Sera invited her on the rooftop for cookies, it was all over for the both of them. Tyla was smitten and Sera was never gonna let her live it down.

Again, thank you so much for the questions! I really don't talk enough about my actual characters.

You can find the questions here.

[dragonofnevarra]

Hey there! Kinda weird question... Can you tell me all about your inquisitor and your Hawke? I'm working on something special for you 😊😊

Fuck, I’m so sorry I didn’t get to this before! I’ve been a bit under the weather lately and didn’t notice it. I’ll put it under a Read More because I have a feeling it’s gonna get long.

My main timeline Inquisitor is Tyla, First of Clan Lavellan. She was chosen to be First because Keeper Istimaethorial saw in her the ability to make hard choices when pressed and her deep compassion. Her magical inclination was pyromancy, but she studied ice magic in order to promote self-discipline and finesse. Her life was fairly standard for the most part. She studied magic and the elvhen histories, she fell in love with a bowman named Seryas, and helped keep the clan safe from Templars and bandits alike.

Her life sort of turned about when she met an outcast of the Neverran clans named Elian. She found him passed out from a high fever in the ruins of a temple of Sylaise. They became fast friends, teaching each other what their clan’s didn’t know. They’re friendship fell apart when Elian led to the death of Seryas.

After that, Tyla lost a lot of the faith she had in her gods and much of the idealism she had as a young woman. When the question of the Conclave arrived, she volunteered, not wanting to lose any more of their dwindling clan. The rest is history.

Tyla is a deeply emotional woman who takes on too much responsibility upon herself. She tends to lash out at people when she feels helpless, but she will always put herself in danger’s way before others. She had a short-lived friendship with Solas (which ended when it became clear that she didn’t reciprocate his feelings for her), had to deal with the news that her clan was almost wiped out, had an ill-advised fling with Cullen (another disaster ending when she found out how he truly felt about mages), and eventually fell head over heels for Sera, who helped her realize that she could relax without the world falling to pieces. Sera is the only person in the Inquisition who Tyla allows to see her as anything other than a stoic leader.

She begins to grow as a person again as Inquisition goes on. She and the survivors of Clan Lavellan build a new home in Skyhold. They unite outcasts and races across southern Thedas. When the Inquisition inevitably disbands, they set up Clan Ameridan in Skyhold, a place for refugees, cast-outs, and those who’ve no other place to go.

You can find what she looks like here.

Now, my main timeline Hawke is Lochlan. He’s primarily a creation mage with some backup primal spells and specializations in spirit healing and force magic. He’s primarily a diplomatic person who uses humor to hide when he’s furious. Despite how much Carver pushed him away, he only ever wanted to help his brother. One of his greatest regrets is taking Carver down into the Deep Roads where he inevitably succumbed to the Blight.

Lochlan chose to become a smuggler to get into the city of Kirkwall because it already suited his abilities. He’s very good at hiding things and lying on the fly, he keeps a keen eye on his surroundings, and he’s a natural at blending into the crowd. He has very rogue-like qualities which he worked on to hide the fact that he’s an apostate. His staff is shaped to look like a spear and he heavily relies on melee, saving his mana for healing his friends.

Despite being wary, Lochlan has a good intuition when it comes to people he can trust. And so he made easy friends with the Kirkwall group. Anders was the only one to give him pause, mostly due to the horror stories he had heard about abominations, but they soon bonded over trading healing spells and techniques. They became as close as brothers.

Fenris was the one who he ended up falling for. They would drink together in Danarius’ manor, the quiet atmosphere lending itself better to Lochlan. It seemed that Fenris would only smile around him and so it became a challenge to find new ways to make him happy for small moments at a time. The conflict with Hadriana caused a rift between them for a time. And when Fenris needed time to process, to come to terms with things, Lochlan let him, with the assurance that he would be there should Fenris need anything from him.

When the Chantry blew up, Lochlan had never felt more helpless in Kirkwall. He had tried so hard to keep mages safe and he knew, as he watched the sky light up, that this was all the Templars needed as excuse to kill any mage they could find. He was never so devastated by a friend than upon realizing that Anders hadn’t trusted him with the truth. He had Anders fight with them, defending the mages until their last breaths if need be. After the battle, he vanished. Sometimes, letters still reach Varric, Merrill, and Isabela. As far as they can tell, he wanders Thedas with Fenris, killing slavers and freeing captured peoples.

I don’t have any screenshots of Lochlan, but if I had to pick a faceclaim, he’d look like Will Yun Lee.

[dragonofnevarra]

Well, the good news of having to restart Tyla's run through because I couldn't break up with the Templar apologist is that I can finally make her look more like she does in the story

[grinningjackal]

12, 22, 25, 31

You didn’t say which one of my dalish inquisitors, so I decided I might as well provide answers for all of them. Some spoilers for Into the Jaws of the Wolf, so you’ve been warned. It’s under the line because this turned out to be a long reply.

50 Inquisitor Questions

12: Did they drink from the Well of Sorrows? Why or why not?

Tyla: She doesn’t, but not because she doesn’t want to. She backs down, even though it’s her responsibility to keep the histories and culture of her people, because she can’t find it in her heart to take something so important from Elian. 

Elian: Elian drinks from the Well. Being in Tevinter as long as he did, along with being banished from his clan after he reunited with them, Elian feels hugely out of touch with his culture. The Well represents a reconnection for him. A way to reclaim some of what was taken from him. He wasn’t about to pass it up without a fight.

Rosal: It’s a hard decision for Rosal. On the one hand, it isn’t her place to claim it and she knows it wouldn’t do much good in her hands. On the other, any dalish is better equipped than a jumped up shem mage. If she had been the Inquisitor, she would have taken it, but warily.

22: What is their biggest regret?

Tyla: She missed something very important and dangerous that her lover was doing because she was too close to the situation. It cost the lives of several of her clansmen.

Elian: He regrets allowing his rage to strip him of his empathy. For a long time after he was banished, he let his anger and bitterness at what had happened to him warp his perception of justice and cruelty. There is some blood on his hands that he wishes he could wash away.

Rosal: When Wycome moved on Clan Lavellan, so many elves died. So few could be found afterwards with them scattered and hiding. Rosal was not there when the attack happened. She had been doing something personal, something selfish in her eyes, and she blames herself for not being there to help protect her clan.

25: What makes them lose trust in someone?

Tyla: Tyla doesn’t trust easily to begin with. She’s stubborn and prideful and angry at so many aspects of the world. Her trust is almost fickle because of this. But I think, someone turning their back on the ideals they upheld around her, revealing they only supported her to meet their own end, it would crumble her relationship with them.

Elian: Lies, particularly for selfish reasons that harm others in the process. Not the “I found out and it hurt my feelings” sort of lies, either, but the insidious ones. The ones that feel cheap when you see the carnage they’ve left in their wake.

Rosal: Acts of apathy make her wary. People who choose not to help others strictly because they don’t see the benefit or feel they don’t have the time are the least trustworthy people in her eyes.

31: Did they let Solas kill the mages?

Tyla: No. Solas is her friend for a long time, although a dubious one as the story goes on, but even she can’t abide for how he perceives the situation. A spirit is one thing, but a demon is a demon is a demon. She hesitates after seeing the spirit die, but she inevitably stops him.

Elian: If he had been there, he would have. There’s a part of Elian that hates the bloodshed, but it conflicts deeply with his perception that sometimes the most fitting response is death. He would have heard the conversation Solas and the spirit had, would have understood that sort of pain, and wouldn’t have begrudge Solas his justice.

Rosal: This is another “if they had been present” answer. Rosal would have stopped Solas. She would have seen it as a misunderstanding, a desperate attempt at self-defense. An honest mistake that can be learned from, and it didn’t do any harm if the spirit will come back into being.