true tests never end.

men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature's. independent & selective dragon age multimuse. written by marianne.

[worldevoured]

hello my doves !! i’m condensing blogs and moving a few characters over to @starsdusted for now ( aelith, sorcha, katheryn, ceridwen, and alistair). i may bring back other characters later on, but for now i’m keeping it small. if you’d like to write with any of them, you can find me there !! and if there are any characters i was writing here that you’d like to write with there, drop me a message, i’ll probably be up for it !! c: 

[worldevoured]

i was talking abt this a couple of days ago and i think it’s worth putting on my blog – it is very important to me that aelith remains soft. 

     i’ve talked abt it before, i’ll probably talk abt it again, but i’m a rape survivor, and one of the things i struggle with a lot is the portrayal of rape survivors in media. of the media i’ve engaged with i can only think of two survivors who were portrayed in a way that felt authentic, respectful, and well-rounded to me. so often, survivors are written in such a way that they are diminished, and their humanity is denied them – they don’t exist outside of their tragedy, they aren’t allowed to grieve, they aren’t allowed to heal. what happens to them is used for someone else’s growth, or – kill me now – a love triangle or ship angst, and as they are often supporting characters they tend to be relegated to the edges of their own experiences while what they’ve suffered is coopted and used as someone else’s motivation or character growth. 

     i think that fandoms have adopted this in a lot of ways, even while saying they haven’t. there’s this idea of survivors as a monolith and any portrayal that deviates from a very specific and very limited narrative is deemed harmful to “survivors” as a whole, usually by people who don’t actually bother listening to any of us. 

     when i began writing aelith she was largely informed by my desire to see survivors portrayed as people. she is a survivor herself – she was fifteen when she was raped, and nineteen when she was taken captive by vaughan kendalls. she is a woman in a world in which women are subjected to horrific violence, an elf in a world in which elves are subjected to horrific violence, she is given the responsibility to save that world at a very young age, and right after a trauma, to boot. aelith has every single reason to be angry, every single reason to carry her trauma like a shield and refuse to grow beyond that. 

     and for me, that’s regressive – it encourages the belief that a survivor’s identity relies wholly upon the hurt that’s been done to them. i understand the value and the necessity of a good revenge fantasy, trust me, and i appreciate people finding ways to express their hurt and anger through fiction. for me, though, it causes more damage than it heals, and it’s not something i want to take part in. 

     aelith’s trajectory is one of healing; she takes action, she moves forward, she carries with her the incredibly difficult belief that there is good in the world, that she can find it, that it deserves to be preserved. it’s a difficult decision to make, to see the world like this – it took me about five years, and three therapists, and i still struggle with it a lot. we’re nearly ten years in now and it’s still something i have to wake up and choose each morning. to take your anger and allow it to be the thing that gets you up and moving is important, but to be able to outlive that anger when it only makes things worse is near impossible. 

     that’s a choice aelith makes daily. she is never “over” what happened to her; she is never “past it” or entirely “okay” with what she’s suffered. but it’s important to her to allow herself to heal. that’s why, while she can very easily ship with someone who’s got a harsher personality, who’s suffering themselves, she cannot and will not remain in a relationship with someone who’s “hardened” – it’s a matter of maintaining her own well-being and her own hard-won optimism. her history is important to her, but so is her future, and she drives herself forward with the belief that she can be okay, she will be okay, and that what happened to her was horrific but it isn’t all of her. that’s also a big part of why i love shipping her so much: she can feel, she can love, she can desire, without it delegitimizing the pain she felt or the hard work she put in to her survival, and without her trauma being the only thing about her that counts.

     anyway, the moral is: she’s the softest girl in thedas and that’s !! going to be a constant.

[worldevoured]

i cannot believe i haven’t talked abt this before but - 

     aelith loves the wardens. aelith defines herself as an elf and a warden first and foremost. aelith would die for any and all wardens, especially those under her command, in a heartbeat. with that said, she never forgives duncan for his inaction in denerim. 

     a total of five women are kidnapped during the wedding - an unnamed bridesmaid, nola ( who is killed ), valora, shianni ( who is raped ), and aelith. if you play the male tabris origin, apparently - and i didn’t realize this before now and it’s making me kind of sick - after the guards kill nola they say she’s still warm and ask if the others are picky. this indicates to me that there is not a single guard who is genuinely unaware of what vaughan does, either because they are simply aware of it or because they are active participants themselves, which seems significantly more likely. and given the freedom with which vaughan and his guards simply waltz into the alienage to find women in the beginning, and shianni’s immediately violent reaction, this has absolutely happened before.

     and other elves not knowing how to react, that’s normal. any parent is going to be afraid of their child being the next target. i doubt that the violence was confined to women. given the purge on the alienage, fear of violent reaction is a normal thing. given how poor the elves in the alienage are - many of them are malnourished, many of them are being driven from their homes due to poverty, there are likely relatively few who have any training with a weapon and who would be able to do much more than end up getting killed themselves. and yet it’s still other elves who go in after them. 

     and duncan, for all his talk about how wardens can’t intervene, can intervene if he chooses to. he can do more than provide young men with little or no training with weapons and tell them to go in and defend themselves against an entire palace full of trained guards. duncan can save the five women there, and duncan chooses not to. and that’s not something that aelith ever forgets - nor does she forget that duncan probably wouldn’t have done anything if he hadn’t already isolated her as a potential warden recruit, as per their earlier conversation. 

     because she loves alistair, aelith bites her tongue about duncan - she doesn’t actively say anything negative or even critical about his memory, though if alistair prompted the discussion she would be honest, if a bit softer than is strictly necessary. and because she holds the wardens in such high regard, she wouldn’t discuss this with a non-warden.

     as a result of her feelings about duncan, aelith does not see him in her dream, as presented by the sloth demon. instead, she’s back home and with her father, soris, and shianni, and cyrion is telling her how proud he is of her. breaking out of the dream is one of the hardest things aelith does, and before she touches the fade pedestal, she sits in the fade that’s mimicking her home and she weeps.

[chan-gemma]

[worldevoured]

i have to do some Thinking abt how i want to treat leliana’s song in terms of whether or not i accept it, bc the general impression that i (and most people it seems?) get from origins is that adaia died when tabris was much younger, and not five years before the start of the game. my general approach is that leliana didn’t meet adaia, but that that model for adaia is still canon. 

[mirielsart]

Like mother, like daughter. I have this headcanon that Adaia is of Rivaini descent.

[worldevoured]

on surana and the circle – sorcha and uldred

sorcha’s choice to study under uldred was a relatively rare one. not to say that elves never study under humans in the circles – simply that elven apprentices try to stick largely with elven enchanters.

     when sorcha arrives at the circle, she is – as could be expected – deeply traumatized and very, very angry. she makes two escape attempts in her first three years, and neither takes her very far. these escape attempts, and her very obvious hatred of the circle, prompts the templars to keep a much closer eye on her than they would otherwise. she also makes it clear that she wants nothing to do with most of the senior enchanters, and though she’s more willing to work with the elven senior enchanters, she more often than not refuses to complete her lessons, or to engage. 

     following her second escape attempt, two years after her arrival at the circle, uldred makes his first attempt to engage with her. for uldred, it’s a wise choice: she is a libertarian in the making, with a strong personality and enough raw power that she was responsible, however unintentionally, for the deaths of two templars, and the serious injury of a third. he learns what he can of elven history and magic, and when he speaks to her, he is very direct. she won’t get out of the circle, no matter how much she tries – and he respects that she tries. what she can do is learn everything they try to teach her, so that she can protect herself, and someday, she can fight back against the idea that mages need to be locked away.

     she’s nine years old. it’s the best thing she’s heard in years. sorcha is reluctant at first, but she gives uldred a chance – and by the end of their first month working together, they get along beautifully. she is uldred’s star student soon enough, and by the time sorcha is fifteen, she is the only student whom uldred will instruct on an individual basis. he is one of the very few humans she holds in high esteem – he reminds her in a lot of ways of zathrian, with the collected way he instructs her and the way he always seems to understand what she’s feeling, and to help her express it and deal with it. 

     uldred’s instruction is good for her. she never stops being angry that she was taken, but she learns to let the anger be a motivation, rather than something that shuts her down. she learns to maintain better control of her reactions, rather than to let her feelings force her in one direction or another. he encourages her to ask questions, and to challenge the authority around her. there is not a single templar with whom she gets along – and she views irving with disdain and distrust. uldred considers teaching her blood magic, but her fear of it is obvious, and she takes zathrian’s warnings against blood magic very, very seriously. 

     sorcha is blocked from completing her harrowing until she is twenty-four, years older than most other mages, in no small part because of uldred’s influence. she is very skilled in magic, and by this point has taken an interest in teaching the younger mages. irving is concerned that her political leanings, and her closeness with uldred – whom he already suspects of corrupting younger mages by teaching them blood magic – will make her a potential problem. in truth, irving is right to suspect that, because one of the first things that sorcha does, after taking her vallaslin, is help jowan try to escape.

     when sorcha returns to the circle, and learns what uldred has done, she is horrified. to see that someone she held in such esteem – someone she genuinely loved as family when she didn’t think she had any left – has treated mage lives with such disregard is a shock to her, and it leaves her absolutely agonized. with every step she takes through the tower, she is driven back to the anger she felt as a child ( in no small part because she doesn’t know how else to express or understand her grief ). by the time she’s reached uldred in the harrowing chamber, she’s fully prepared to attack him, though she’s unable to when she hears him speaking. for a moment she hopes he can be saved somehow, and when she realizes that he can’t, she attacks him. 

[worldevoured]

on surana and the circle – elves and elven culture

as far as the origins go, i’m always a little disappointed that amell and surana don’t have distinct origins, and so i’ve tried to give sorcha a unique backstory. i also have a hard time believing, as is suggested by both amell and surana in dialogue options, that elves and humans are treated equally even within the circle. here are some important points regarding sorcha’s characterization –

     THE NAME “SURANA” IS APPLIED TO ELVES WHO ENTER THE CIRCLE WITHOUT SURNAMES. this is most frequently applied to dalish elves, who don’t have marriage and birth records filed with the local chantry or with their alienage, if their alienage keeps records. this also gets applied to elves who are delivered to the chantry anonymously as children, or who are found and taken by templars and who refuse to identify themselves, usually to protect a family member who is an apostate. when the name is applied, it’s done with the intent of erasing an elf’s prior identity and applying a new one which depends upon the circle to exist. ( human children whose names are unknown are given the surname of either the first enchanter, or of a circle’s patron. ) 

     THE ELVES WITHIN THE CIRCLE TEND TO STICK TOGETHER. the distinction of city elf / dalish isn’t quite as pronounced – the elves, for the most part, adopt something of a siege mentality, and make a point of looking after one another. they make an effort to pool their knowledge of their history and heritage, and create a community of elves which tries to blend dalish and city values. this includes sharing stories, particularly of the evanuris, and teaching one another elvish. THIS ALSO INCLUDES MAKESHIFT VALLASLIN. the circle elves give one another facial tattoos meant to mimic vallaslin, based on a combination of the god whom they worship or the type of magic they practice. the vallaslin is given after they complete their harrowing. if the templars, or the human mages, ask, it’s a strictly aesthetic choice; they’ve wisely decided that tempting agents of the chantry to crack down on one of the few parts of their culture they’ve been able to bring into the circle with them is a Bad Move.

[worldevoured]

on morrigan — parentage, flemeth, and motherhood

on morrigan’s parentage. morrigan’s biological parents are unconfirmed in-game or in supplementary material. alistair suggests that she “looks chasind,” and material in world of thedas refers to morrigan as “chasind,” often in reference to how she’s perceived. i think, then, it’s fair to assume morrigan is chasind, though her exact parents are not confirmed; she even says outright that she’s not sure if flemeth is her biological mother. as far as morrigan’s concerned, her biological parents don’t matter; the only mother she’s known is flemeth. in my portrayal, morrigan’s biological parents are both chasind warriors, and morrigan was taken from them when she was a toddler and began displaying signs of magic. beyond this, her origins are largely unknown; flemeth cared little for the information and so she never bothered to learn, and never gave morrigan much to go on if she ever wanted to explore this further.

     in fact, flemeth pretty clearly raises morrigan to be dismissive of the chasind; she tells a child morrigan stories about kidnapping and sexually assaulting chasind men, and that morrigan will one day be expected to do the same ( from a conversation with leliana in origins ); and morrigan repeatedly refers to and treats the chasind as uncivilized and their lives as being without value, particularly compared to her own. this fits in with morrigan’s attitude towards the elves — she’s pretty clearly modeled on a colonialist archetype, and she treats cultures as things to be picked apart so that she can take what she wants without needing to deal with context. morrigan knows nothing about her birth parents, or even that a birth parent beyond flemeth exists, and is not interested in exploring this futher. 

     on morrigan and flemeth. just for the sake of keeping things easy to find, here are my notes on morrigan and flemeth. the gist of it is that i follow origins’ characterization of morrigan, and her relationship with flemeth: morrigan is not frightened of flemeth. she is angry at flemeth, and willing to engage violently with flemeth, but she is not frightened of flemeth. 

     on morrigan and motherhood. in origins, morrigan’s interest in motherhood is nonexistant. she is interested in power. it’s why she waits so long to tell the warden about the ritual — she knows that the timing must be perfect, so that she can manipulate the warden and/or alistair into giving her what she wants. once kieran is born, however, morrigan’s attitude towards motherhood changes. while she’s hardly perfect, she does try her best to be a good mother, and especially to be a better mother than flemeth was, including by refusing to raise kieran in total isolation, as she was raised. at least by witch hunt, she has allies she trusts enough to guard her child while she’s traveling; if kieran’s father is the warden, she’s willing to the warden coming with her; and she settles into the orlesian court, ensuring an education for her son, as well as his relative safety. ( i say relative — the orlesian court is not a safe place for anyone, let alone a child. ) 

     morrigan’s attitude towards the well is somewhat troubling: in-game, she’s willing to drink from the well, despite not knowing what this will potentially do to her and despite being the sole person responsible for kieran’s well-being. she makes no arrangements to ensure his care, should the well kill or injure her, and in-game, she does not turn custody of kieran over to anyone else, despite knowing that she is controlled now by flemeth. ( this is particularly frustrating if morrigan is terrified of flemeth: she’s essentially handing indirect control of her son over to the person she fears most, in that case. ) this is the major point of morrigan’s approach to motherhood that i’m changing: in my portrayal, if morrigan does drink from the well, she will ask alistair or the warden to look after him, for fear that she can’t protect him. she does this because it’s the most responsible choice she can make, and though she’s heartbroken to be separated from her son, she won’t put him at risk. if alistair and the warden are unable to care for kieran, she will ask leliana to look after him, in the hopes that she can find a way to free herself from flemeth’s control, and thus ensure her son’s safety.

[worldevoured]

on alistair & fanon —

fandom response to alistair is at times a little frustrating and there are several pieces of fanon that, while not harmful, just do not Work for me. so a quick rundown of those, and my tastes on them. 

     “alistair is a man-child in origins, a bad friend, and a bad romantic partner.” we can thank david gaider for the most ice-cold take on alistair ever. alistair is a traumatized twenty-one-year-old dealing with the loss of the only family he’s ever known to treat him with kindness, the loss of his biological brother, witnessing constant death, and bearing the responsibility of saving the world. he’s got a silly sense of humor, which is a blessing in that degree of constant trauma, and he gets easily overwhelmed, so he does turn control of the party over to the warden very quickly. this is also part of the nature of the game, because think of how boring it would be if you couldn’t make any decisions in your hundred hours of rpg. 

     his refusal to remain with the party if loghain is spared isn’t pettiness or childishness; it’s a choice to leave people who do not share his values in a way he cannot accept. think about it this way: if the warden spares loghain, the warden has, in his eyes, made it clear that they can excuse and accept regicide, mass murder, and slavery. it’s not a nuanced look, but frankly, it doesn’t have to be. he’s allowed to have an emotional response after keeping it together in the worst year ever. 

     “alistair is nothing more than comic relief.” alistair has a silly sense of humor as well as a fully-formed personality that includes a deeply loving and compassionate nature, a strong sense of right and wrong, and an immense capacity for growth and learning.

     “alistair might not be fiona’s son.” he is. 

     “alistair is a bad king.” alistair maintains his sense of humor but still has a strong sense of dedication and obligation to his people. he may be a work in progress, but he’s always working, and is canonically responsible for some of ferelden’s most progressive changes — changes that do not occur if anora rules alone. he’s well within the realm of the reasonable to push the mages out of redcliffe after they’ve invited a hostile foreign power in and displaced the citizens. 

     “alistair is anti-mage.” alistair is deeply in favor of justice and will fight for it. he correctly identifies meredith as the greatest threat to kirkwall in da2; he actively speaks against the templar order’s actions; he witnessed a single harrowing and was disgusted enough that he wanted out of the chantry, and took the opportunity to go with duncan. he is supportive of mages as a whole. he will defend people against harm, whether or not that harm comes from a mage.

[worldevoured]

RAYDAN LYKEL B. 9:09 DRAGON || COMPANION

STATISTICS

FULL NAME Raydan Lykel.

DATE OF BIRTH 9:09 Dragon.

PLACE OF BIRTH Abanthus.

RACE Human.

GENDER Cisgender man.

PRONOUNS He/him/his.

SEXUALITY Bisexual.

NATIONALITY Stormholter.

RELIGION Avvar.

POSITIVE TRAITS Compassionate, courageous, loyal, patient.

NEGATIVE TRAITS Calculating, manipulative, repressed, ruthless.

PHOBIAS None.

MENTAL HEALTH Healthy.

AFFILIATION Aurelian monarchy, Order of the Black Asps, Stormholt monarchy.

TITLES “Raydan the Ratter,” Spymaster of Aurelia, Spymaster of Stormholt, Black Asp, King of Stormholt ( conditional ).

SKILLS & ABILITIES

CLASS Rogue.

SPECIALIZATION Artificer.

WEAPON Daggers.

COMPANION STATS

RECRUITED Kenna reaches out to the Inquisition first through a War Table mission, in which she offers her support with a force of about six hundred and fifty ( a hundred soldiers from each of the Five Kingdoms, and Aurelia, and fifty mages from the Blackspines ), on the condition that the Inquisition aid her as well. She can identify one of Corypheus’ lieutenants, the magister Azura Ducitora, whose attempt to conquer the Five Kingdoms was halted only by her alliance with Corypheus. If they can stop her, they can deal a blow to Corypheus — and protect the Five Kingdoms. Raydan joins Kenna in her travels to Haven when their offer of support is accepted.

IN HUSHED WHISPERS Slightly approves of alliance with mages, slightly disapproves of conscripting mages.

CHAMPIONS OF THE JUST Slightly approves of alliance with Templars, slightly disapproves of of disbanding Templar order.

HERE LIES THE ABYSS Approves of leaving Warden Contact behind, disapproves of exiling Wardens.

WICKED EYES AND WICKED HEARTS Disapproves of Celene ruling alone, slightly approves of Celene reunited with Briala, greatly disapproves of Gaspard ruling alone, greatly approves of Briala ruling through Gaspard.

WHAT PRIDE HAD WROUGHT Disapproves of the Inquisitor drinking from the Well.

JUDGMENTS AT SKYHOLD Approves of recruiting judgments.

JAWS OF HAKKON Approves of all help given to the Avvar.

CONNECTIONS

FAMILY [Redacted] ( father, estranged ); [Redacted] ( mother, estranged ); [Redacted], the Adder of Lykos ( sister, estranged and recently reunited ).

WANTED SHIPS Raydan/Inquisitor, Raydan/Josephine, Raydan/Leliana, Raydan/Iron Bull, Raydan/Cassandra.

NOTES

ON RAYDAN’S HISTORY Raydan makes a serious effort to hide the details of his past. There are some things that are, more or less, a matter of public record due to his involvement with Kenna. He is the brother of the Adder of Lykos, leader of the Order of the Black Asps, whose real name is unknown; he is estranged from his parents, whose identities are unknown; even his original surname is unknown, and if he marries Kenna, he takes her name. Please do not assume your character knows much of anything about Raydan, even Leliana !! He is a spy on-par with Leliana; unless he is King of Stormholt, he keeps a very close guard on his history and personal information.

ON RAYDAN’S SPECIALIZATION Raydan is, in-game, trained in the skills of both an assassin and an artificer. His assassination skills are excellent, but in combat, he is more focused on distraction and traps; as such, rather than having two specializations, he’s an artificer who’s maxed out stealth, as well.

ON RAYDAN’S LOVE INTERESTS Raydan is one of Kenna’s love interests in-game. While I am happy to play him as single, and open for shipping, he may be married to Kenna in threads without a possibility of shipping.

CROSSOVER INFORMATION

Codex: A brief overview of the Five Kingdoms as they fit into Dragon Age’s timeline.

Codex: A very badly edited map; companion to the overview. In progress.

Codex: Azura Ducitora, antagonist, Tevinter magister.

Quest: “Sleepers Waking at the Dawn.”

Quest: “The Hollows of her Footprints.”

Quest: “Let Chaos be Undone.”

War Table Operation: “An Overture of Friendship.”

War Table Operation: “A Message from Tevinter.”

[worldevoured]

KENNA RYS B. 9:12 DRAGON || COMPANION

STATISTICS

FULL NAME Kenna Rys

DATE OF BIRTH 9:12 Dragon.

PLACE OF BIRTH Stormholt.

RACE Human.

GENDER Cisgender woman.

PRONOUNS She/her/hers.

SEXUALITY Bisexual.

NATIONALITY Stormholter.

RELIGION Avvar.

POSITIVE TRAITS Brave, charismatic, confident, heroic.

NEGATIVE TRAITS Arrogant, high-handed, reactionary, stubborn.

PHOBIAS None.

MENTAL HEALTH PTSD, unrecognized and ignored.

AFFILIATION Stormholt monarchy, Inquisition.

TITLES Queen of Stormholt.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

CLASS Warrior.

SPECIALIZATION Champion.

WEAPON Kor Kitar / Golden Montain Fang.

COMPANION STATS

RECRUITED Kenna reaches out to the Inquisition first through a War Table mission, in which she offers her support with a force of about six hundred and fifty ( a hundred soldiers from each of the Five Kingdoms, and Aurelia, and fifty mages from the Blackspines ), on the condition that the Inquisition aid her as well. She can identify one of Corypheus’ lieutenants, the magister Azura Ducitora, whose attempt to conquer the Five Kingdoms was halted only by her alliance with Corypheus. If they can stop her, they can deal a blow to Corypheus — and protect the Five Kingdoms.

IN HUSHED WHISPERS Approves of alliance with mages, slightly disapproves of conscripting mages.

CHAMPIONS OF THE JUST Approves of alliance with Templars, slightly disapproves of of disbanding Templar order.

HERE LIES THE ABYSS Slightly disapproves of exiling Wardens.

WICKED EYES AND WICKED HEARTS Slightly disapproves of Celene ruling alone, slightly approves of Celene reunited with Briala, disapproves of Gaspard ruling alone, approves of Briala ruling through Gaspard.

WHAT PRIDE HAD WROUGHT Approves of the Inquisitor drinking from the Well.

JUDGMENTS AT SKYHOLD Approves of recruiting judgments.

JAWS OF HAKKON Approves of all help given to the Avvar.

CONNECTIONS

FAMILY Marcellus Rys ( father, deceased ), Adriana Rys ( mother, deceased ).

WANTED SHIPS Kenna/Inquisitor, Kenna/Iron Bull, Kenna/Cassandra.

NOTES

ON KENNA’S WEAPONS Kenna uses either a Kor Kitar — a double-bladed staff gifted to her by the Monks of Rajkur at the completion of her training — or a Golden Mountain Fang — a glaive gifted to her by Annelyse Adair, after she helps liberate Aurelia. Both of these weapons are two-handed and are exclusive to Kenna.

ON KENNA’S CANON LOVE INTERESTS In-game, Kenna has six potential love interests ( five, if Tevan dies, and current in-game bugs require his death ). Though I’ll typically play her as unmarried, all of these love interests will factor into her backstory: Dominic Hunter as her best friend and right hand; Raydan Lykel as her close friend and spymaster; Annalyse Adair as her close friend and ally; Val Greaves as her close friend and one of her generals; Diavolos Nevrakis as her ally and potential friend. If she does arrive to the Inquisition married, she’s married to Raydan, and Dom and Val have remained in Stormholt as regents in her stead.

CROSSOVER INFORMATION

Codex: A brief overview of the Five Kingdoms as they fit into Dragon Age’s timeline. 

Codex: A very badly edited map; companion to the overview. In progress.

Codex: Azura Ducitora, antagonist, Tevinter magister. 

Quest: “Sleepers Waking at the Dawn.”

Quest: “The Hollows of her Footprints.”

Quest: “Let Chaos be Undone.”

War Table Operation: “An Overture of Friendship.”

War Table Operation: “A Message from Tevinter.”

[worldevoured]

CROSSOVER WORLDSTATE — THE CROWN AND THE FLAME

THE ORIGINS OF THE FIVE KINGDOMS, AURELIA, AND THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACKSPINES

As the Tevinter Imperium swept through the south in the -700s TE, countless Alamarri retreated from the land they’d called home. While the majority moved into the Frostback Mountains, the Korcari Wilds, or were conquered by the Imperium, a great many took to the seas in search of somewhere safe and untouched by the Imperium. In their search, they found a modestly sized island, which they settled. It was far enough from the mainland continent ( roughly seven hundred miles ) that the Imperium kept their focus on holding what is now Ferelden — and that, while the existence of this land was suspected by some, it was considered a fantasy for several hundred years. 

     The Alamarri began to settle throughout the land, various holds and clans banding together to create communities. With their movement restricted to the island, a relatively isolated community, and a desire to be prepared should the Imperium ever find them, most decided that they were best suited in developing settled communities. These five groups, which would become the Five Kingdoms, each put forth one representative, and struck an alliance: they would support one another and maintain alliances, and they would remain peaceful. A sixth group took to the mountains lining the western coast instead, certain that the Imperium would come back soon enough, and determined to adapt to the less hospitable mountain regions, which provided the Blackspine people with a more defensible position.

     For hundreds of years, the various communities carved out a space of their own. The Five Kingdoms developed feudal societies, focused in large part on creating defensible fortresses around which the people could live. Each kingdom took a slightly different approach, leading to five very distinct groups. In the mountains, named the Blackspines for the people that lived there, the people split into various smaller factions, all of them allied as the people of the mountains but all developing individually. A group of these smaller factions moved south, settling in a valley well-hidden from the rest of the land’s inhabitants, establishing the independent city of Aurelia in the early -200s TE. Roughly two hundred years later, as the Aurelians began mining, they discovered that they were living over a massive deposit of gold. With little use for so plentiful a metal that was neither strong nor sturdy, the Aurelians used it strictly for decorative purposes, and Aurelia became known as the Gilded City. 

     ( For the sake of ease in adapting the world of TCATF into Thedas, I am eliminating the steampunk elements of TCATF. This includes the desert labyrinth and the Technocrats. The Blackspines now make up most of the eastern border. My map editing skills are extremely, extremely limited, so you’ll have to imagine that there’s some flat coast past the mountains; my changes to the map are the absolute best I can manage, and that’s still very bad. )

THE FIVE KINGDOMS

     Five distinct kingdoms rose. These kingdoms — Fydoria, Stormholt, Bellemere, Ebrimel, and Abanthus — coexisted in relative peace for more than a thousand years, and only became known to the Thedosian continent during the reign of Asha Campana, in 4:81 Black. A short note on each of the Five Kingdoms ( adapted from the Choices wiki ):

     FYDORIA The highly arable land of Fydoria allowed the people who settled there to live in relative comfort as they built their home. Even more so than a desire to build a defensible fortress, the people of Fydoria turned their attention to record-keeping. The capital city, Ennan, was initially the home of a massive monastery, at the center of which sat a scriptorium. Fydoria developed initially as a theocracy, with the king chosen from among the priests; eventually, the monastery was adapted into a university, with the scriptorium becoming the great Library of Ennan. Fydoria is often considered the heart of culture within the Five Kingdoms; royals throughout the Kingdoms will send their children to be educated at Ennan, and Fydoria was the first of the Kingdoms to reach out to Asha Campana and strike a trade alliance with Thedas. Its wealth is unparalleled among the Kingdoms, challenged only by Aurelia. However, little attention is paid to Fydoria’s military, which is often considered more decorative than functional, as Fydoria’s close relationship with Bellemere to the south and Stormholt to the east keeps them protected from invasion from Abanthus or Ebrimel. In 5:25 Exalted, after the end of the Fourth Blight, Fydoria renegotiates its borders with Bellemere, promising Bellemere priority access to and pricing for Thedosian goods in exchange for control of the river and the forest on its western banks. ( New border & Fydorian land marked in green on map. ) Though Fyroria’s king, Amanth, is killed by Luther Nevrakis, rule remains within the Drammir family throughout the war, falling first to his son Tevan and after to his daughter Aurynn.

                    Capital city: Ennan.                     Known for: Culture and scholarship, weak military.                     Ruling family: Drammir; current queen, Aurynn Drammir.

     STORMHOLT The smallest of the Five Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Stormholt is, in actuality, a single city with surrounding villages. Stormholt Castle is an impenetrable fortress which has withstood invasion from Bellemere, Ebrimel, and Abanthus alike. The castle’s walls are extremely thick, and the castle itself is surrounded by a moat and a second wall, almost as tall as the first. The small villages surrounding the city of Stormholt are primarily agricultural, and largely peaceful, as the villages trade their surplus grain for a military presence which discourages foreign attack or invasion. In theory, this military force is dispatched by the ruler of Stormholt; in theory, most of Stormholt’s soldiers simply return home when not in active war and remain as guardians of their communities. Due to its small size, the monarchy of Stormholt splits its focus between military might and diplomacy: Stormholt’s military is powerful, though not quite as powerful as that of Abanthus, but the Rys dynasty, ruling Stormholt from the Steel Age onwards, prove to be masterful diplomats. Under the Rys line, Stormholt develops alliances with Fydoria, Bellemere, and even Ferelden and the Free Marches, even going so far as to marry one of the younger daughters of the Rys line to a Theirin king during the Storm Age. It is under Queen Adriana Rys that the Five Kingdoms are once again united, through complicated treaties and alliances. Stormholt’s queen, Adrianna, is killed by Luther Nevrakis, and the kingdom is briefly ruled by his son, Marco, acting as regent.

                    Capital city: Stormholt.                     Known for: Impenetrable fortress, impressive diplomacy.                     Ruling family: Rys; current queen, Kenna Rys.

     BELLEMERE South of Fydoria and Stormholt, Bellemere was originally the largest of the Five Kingdoms, and is constantly expanding into the forests just west of the Blackspine Mountains. ( Expansion marked in purple. ) Ruled from its capital city of Thorngate, named for its ruling family, Bellemere is heavily forested, and the only home of the Heart Oak. The Heart Oak, developed through all kinds of cross-breeding plant stuff I know nothing about, is the aptly-named heart of Bellemere: a wood which is as strong as iron but which grows very slowly, Heart Oak is the most dearly prized resource in the kingdom, and is very carefully, sometimes viciously, guarded, to ensure that it remains in Bellemere alone. Their military, though powerful, is best served in long-range combat, and is made up primarily of archers, armed to the teeth with Heart Oak longbows and arrows; the landscape is dotted with small fortresses, full of these archers, to maintain Bellemere’s borders and the safety of the people. Of the Five Kingdoms, Bellemere and Abanthus are most frequently locked in skirmishes and battles at the border, which rarely break into all-out war. This has, however, happened twice: first, in the Glory Age, when the Heart Oak was first developed, and again in the Blessed Age. This second Bellemere - Abanthus war cost Bellemere the last control it had over the major river running through the Five Kingdoms ( the rest of that control belonging to Fydoria and Stormholt ) as well as the land between the river and the mountains. ( New border & land lost to Abanthus marked in dark blue ). Before Adriana Rys’ successful bid to unite the Five Kingdoms, Bellemere and Abanthus were locked in decades-long battle over contested land between the mountains and Ebrimel, which both kingdoms claimed — Abanthus insisting that the land was included in the admittedly poorly-worded treaty, Bellemere insisting that it was not. ( Contested land marked in light blue. ) Bellemere’s king and queen, Ewan and Daphne, are killed by Luther Nevrakis, and the kingdom is briefly ruled by his brother, Vassilios, as acting regent.

                    Capital city: Thorngate                     Known for: Heart Oak, archers.                     Ruling family: Thorn; current queen, Rowan Thorn. 

     EBRIMEL Home to one of the two major ports in the Five Kingdoms ( the other at Fydoria ), Ebrimel has become the largest of the Five Kingdoms. In friendly ( albeit constant ) competition with Fydoria, Ebrimel’s focus has become trade, and is best known for its ships. Each ship takes a significant amount of time to build, but is proudly deemed unsinkable, and the fastest ships in the Five Kingdoms. The ruling families of Ebrimel have for centuries sought an alliance with Bellemere to give them access to Heart Oak, and each attempt has been rebuffed. Bellemerans often joke that their fortresses exist solely to stop Ebrimelan rogues and thieves from stealing the Heart Oak, and Ebrimelans pretend offense; the attempted theft, once quite serious, has become something of a running joke between the two countries. Largely peaceful, Ebrimel maintains a trade alliance with Abanthus, and is the only of the Five Kingdoms to have a trade relationship with Orlais. The trade alliance with Abanthus developed into a political one, leading Abanthus to attempt to annex Bellemeran land to the south to make travel and trade between the two easier; Ebrimel has remained allegedly neutral, but practically allied with Abanthus, throughout the conflict over the land. Ebrimel’s queen, Kalalei, is killed by Luther Nevrakis, and the kingdom is briefly ruled by one of his allies, Florian Tartassis, as acting regent.

                    Capital city: Panrion.                     Known for: Ships and shipbuilding.                      Ruling family: Keawe; current regents, Noa and Kailani.

     ABANTHUS The most cosmopolitan of the Five Kingdoms, Abanthus is firmly the center of both intrigue and military might. Its capital city, Lykos, is home to a massive network of spies and assassins called the Order of the Black Asps; overlooking the Amaranthine Ocean, Lykos is a sprawling city built into the rocky shoreline, and a thriving metropolitan as beautiful as it is dangerous. The city guard is notoriously brutal, and easily bought; the military is well-trained and absolutely merciless. The ruling monarch and the Order of the Black Asps are in constant competition with one another, with neither one ever fully defeating the other. Abanthus is the only kingdom that has remained under the rule of a single family since its inception — Abanthus and the Nevrakis line are wholly inseparable, and though rule has shifted from one branch of the family to another due to murder and espionage within the family, there has always been a Nevrakis on the throne. Due to its military might and strict regime, Abanthus appears as something of a threat to the other Five Kingdoms even in times of absolute peace. Through aggression against Bellemere and alliances with Panrion, Abanthus’ boundaries have expanded, slowly but surely, over the centuries. 

                    Capital city: Lykos.                     Known for: Spies, crime, military might.                     Ruling family: Nevrakis; current king, Diavolos Nevrakis.

THE BLACKSPINE HOLDS, THE RUINS OF RAJKUR, AND AURELIA

    While a great many of the relocated Alamarri began to build feudal societies, a sixth faction moved into the woods and the mountains, where they fractured into smaller clans that operate not unlike the modern Avvar. A short note on the Blackspine holds, Rajkur, and Aurelia:

    THE BLACKSPINE HOLDS Numerous small clans and villages can be found within the Blackspine Mountains, named for the people to inhabit them. Each clan is unique, but all are bound by codes set into place every year when the leaders of each clan gather together to re-establish alliances, settle minor disputes, and approve and initiate new thanes. The Blackspines value the use of magic, which they believe to be the best and most valuable weapon to defend against the Tevinter Imperium. Each hold fosters the use of magic, with many family lines combining in the hopes of producing more mages. The mages are trained in elemental magic primarily, with an emphasis on fire magic, and the best of their mages are trained in shapeshifting. Only those Blackspine mages who have ‘found their wyvern’ through their training are eligible to hold positions of authority within holds, including as thane. The Blackspine mages are held accountable to a small force of guardians, spirit mages whose responsibility is to neutralize and contain mages who are out of control or causing harm to the hold. Despite some infrequent and relatively minor violent disputes, the Blackspine people have maintained a functional and relatively peaceful community, though throughout the centuries, more and more insulated communities have left the mountains to integrate into the Five Kingdoms, tired of the difficult life within the mountains.

    As such, many of the remaining Blackspine holds, though growing in size as people unwilling to enter the Five Kingdoms are left without communities and holds and join other existing ones, have become more isolated, and less willing to engage with three of the Five Kingdoms. The only exceptions are Fydoria — the Drammir family having encouraged Blackspine mages to attend their University to train as healers and spirit mages, and offering support in the way of trade into the mountains — and Stormholt — the Rys family having offered support and patronage to the Monks of Rajkur, discussed below. This cultural and economic exchange has allowed for members of each society to integrate into the others. The Blackspine relationship with Fydoria was seriously threatened around 9:14 Dragon, when Lord Horas Alacantar murdered his late brother’s wife, Idara — a Blackspine mage who had married a Fydorian lord — and, allegedly, her infant son. The child’s body was never found, and the thane of Idara’s former hold demanded that her body be returned and that Horas be turned over to the hold for execution. Since then, relations have been reestablished, though are tenuous. Relations with Bellemere and Panrion have been hostile for centuries, with each of the two kingdoms attempting to expand into the mountains or forests claimed

                    Known for: Fire magic, shapeshifting.                     Notable rulers: Thane Anu Rhuka.

    THE RUINS OF RAJKUR Around the early Glory Age, the Blackspine holds moved into the forests just outside the mountains and began building three temples: one dedicated to Korth the Mountain-Father, one to the Lady of the Skies, and a third to Hakkon Wintersbreath. Initially, the monasteries were intended as a place to begin recording their history and their practices; fearful of another Tevinter invasion, the Blackspines were determined that their culture, which they had worked so hard to preserve, would not be wiped out. The monks, then, split into two groups: the first, dedicated to record-keeping, and the second, dedicated to defense. Within a century the Monks of Rajkur were among the most powerful and feared fighters to be found anywhere in the Five Kingdoms — including Abanthus. 

     Near the end of the Towers Age, the king of Bellemere began expanding into the forest again, in search of more land in which to plant their Heart Oak. The Monks of Rajkur warned against further expansion, insisting that they would not bend to his whims and abandon their temples. In response, the Bellemeran army — strong, certainly, but no match for the Monks unless they were outnumbered — launched an assault on the Temple of the Lady of the Skies. It was destroyed, the monks within slaughtered, many of them guarding the records they had dedicated their lives to creating. The monks at the Temple of Hakkon Wintersbreath matched the Bellemeran army, driving them back; all the surviving records were hidden, and the monks at the Temple of Korth the Mountain-Father sent an ambassador to the nearest kingdom: Stormholt.

     The Rys queen responded quickly, sending a force with her and the monks back to Rajkur; by the time they reached the monastery, the Temple of Korth the Mountain-Father was rubble, the monks dead in droves. Only the monks of Hakkon Wintersbreath ( all of whom had studied war in honor of their god, and all of whom were fading ) remained; the Rys queen joined the fight with her army and pushed the Bellmeran forces back. The remaining Monks of Rajkur forged an alliance with Stormholt that lasted centuries: the ruling family would send its guards and heirs to Rajkur to work and train, to learn among the fiercest warriors before they returned to Stormholt, and the Monks of Rajkur would trade with Stormholt, turning to Stormholt for protection when needed. 

                    Known for: Ruins, highly-prized secrets and records, martial might.

     AURELIA After the discovery of gold in the mountains, the Aurelians isolated heavily, refusing to engage with the Blackspines or the Five Kingdoms except in moments of absolute necessity. Guarded on all sides by mountains and hidden from the world, Aurelia faded into myth: the famed Gilded City, settled atop a seemingly endless deposit of gold, whose people thought of nothing besides pleasure and hedonism. Even the rest of the Blackspines forgot about Aurelia, and the mountain passages that kept Aurelia from the rest of the Five Kingdoms remained closed. In reality, the people of Aurelia struggled — first, to find arable land to provide for the people, and later, to guarantee that they would be protected from invasion. Aurelia’s most precious resource was not its gold, but volcanic aurum: a metal so strong it would not break, able to be sharpened to a deadly degree. Aurelian armor and weapons were built exclusively from this volcanic aurum ( gold in color ), and the highly-prized Golden Mountain Fang, a glaive rumored to be able to cut through anything, became the weapon of the whole of the royal army. But beyond preparing for a defense, warfare was secondary to Aurelians until the Nevrakis invasion; instead, the Aurelians focused on art and architecture, building elaborate and magnificent palaces, tending to rare and beautiful gardens, and finding ways to combine armor with high fashion. While the ruling family, the Adairs, once boasted powerful warriors, the current queen, Annelyse, is known more for her skill in diplomacy than her ability to swing a glaive. 

                    Known for: Immeasurable wealth, architecture, gardens.                     Ruling family: Adair; current queen, Annelyse.

[worldevoured]

JOSEPHINE MONTILYET  B. 9:13 DRAGON || COMPANION

STATISTICS

FULL NAME Josephine Cherette Montilyet.

DATE OF BIRTH 9:13 Dragon.

PLACE OF BIRTH Somewhere between Cumberland and Val Chevin.

RACE Human.

GENDER Cisgender woman.

PRONOUNS She/her/hers.

SEXUALITY Bisexual.

NATIONALITY Antivan.

RELIGION Andrastian.

POSITIVE TRAITS Charming, graceful, intuitive, vivacious.

NEGATIVE TRAITS Conventional, indulgent, opportunistic, repentant.

PHOBIAS None.

MENTAL HEALTH Healthy.

AFFILIATION Montilyet family, Inquisition.

TITLE Lady, Ambassador of the Inquisition.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

CLASS Rogue.

SPECIALIZATION Bard.

WEAPON Dual blades.

COMPANION STATS

Josephine is not available as a companion, and does not engage in combat.

CONNECTIONS

FAMILY Yves Montilyet ( father ), Amalia Montilyet ( mother ), Laurien Montilyet ( brother ), Antoine Montilyet ( brother ), Yvette Montilyet ( sister ), Michel Montilyet ( brother ).

WANTED SHIPS Josephine/Inquisitor, Josephine/Blackwall, Josephine/

NOTES

ON THE INQUISITOR If the Inquisitor is involved in a romantic relationship with Josephine and goes behind her back to steal the contract on her family from the House of Repose, Josephine will be extremely frustrated with the Inquisitor for not trusting her to handle things herself. She is very independent, and doesn’t appreciate being treated as though she cannot manage her own family and life. 

[worldevoured]

CASSANDRA PENTAGHAST  B. 9:03 DRAGON || COMPANION

STATISTICS

FULL NAME Cassandra Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena Pentaghast.

DATE OF BIRTH 9:03 Dragon.

PLACE OF BIRTH Somewhere between Cumberland and Val Chevin.

RACE Human.

GENDER Cisgender woman.

PRONOUNS She/her/hers.

SEXUALITY Bisexual.

NATIONALITY Nevarran.

RELIGION Andrastian.

POSITIVE TRAITS Dedicated, honorable, selfless, wise.

NEGATIVE TRAITS Conformist, impatient, reactive, temperamental.

PHOBIAS None.

MENTAL HEALTH PTSD.

AFFILIATION Pentaghast family, Seekers of Truth, Divine Justinia, Inquisition.

TITLE Seeker, Hero of Orlais, Right Hand of the Divine, Divine Victoria ( conditional ).

SKILLS & ABILITIES

CLASS Warrior.

SPECIALIZATION Templar.

WEAPON Sword and shield.

COMPANION STATS

Follows most Inquisition canon regarding approval and disapproval.

CONNECTIONS

FAMILY Matthias Pentaghast ( father, deceased ); Tigana Pentaghast ( mother, deceased ); Anthony Pentaghast ( brother, deceased ); Vestalus Pentaghast ( uncle ); Loren Pentaghast ( cousin ).

WANTED SHIPS Cassandra/Leliana, Cassandra/Inquisitor, Cassandra/Regalyan

NOTES

ON THE INQUISITOR Cassandra does genuinely believe that the Inquisitor was chosen by Andraste, and that the Inquisitor is divinely inspired; however, she does not believe that the Inquisitor is divine, and has no qualms about telling the Inquisitor no in personal settings, nor about arguing with the Inquisitor in official settings if she believes them to be in the wrong. A relationship between Cassandra and the Inquisitor may have a degree of power imbalance — most relationships do — but that doesn’t make it inherently unhealthy. Cassandra will not become involved with anyone to whom she is unwilling to say no, and that is the line she will draw with an Inquisitor. 

[worldevoured]

so while i’m rolling around in the trash heap of my problematic faves, let’s get on to morrigan, and some important notes on how i write her —

i follow, above all else, her characterization in origins. it’s a bit flat and inconsistent, especially regarding her romance, but that’s my baseline. i incorporate most elements of her characterization in inquisition, except for her fear of flemeth; instead, she’s primarily angry. 

her behavior towards / regarding flemeth in origins suggests that she’s not afraid of her mother, but that she’s angry, and the two are set as clear foils for one another ( and i’ve said it before, i’ll say it again: morrigan is to flemeth as leliana is to corypheus ). i think that morrigan’s fear of her, which really doesn’t seem consistent to me, was added to make morrigan more sympathetic, and it doesn’t really fit how i understand her.

as such: morrigan and flemeth, in my characterization, are more different ends of the same spectrum, and clash over it. morrigan likes power, morrigan wants power, and eliminating flemeth gives her power. 

this brings me to a couple of other v important points. first: morrigan wants. she wants things unabashedly, unashamedly, and without much concern for anything but getting what she wants. she’s a highly ambitious woman who makes no apologies for the lengths to which she’ll go to get what she wants. 

this includes, to a huge degree, theft from the dalish. she steals from ariane’s clan in witch hunt — a pretty priceless relic, one of the few artifacts engaging with the dalish’s otherwise lost history. she posits herself as an expert on eluvians, and as the only one who understands, truly, the well of sorrows, even if your inquisitor is dalish. she has no qualms about going into elven spaces and taking what belongs to them, and then belittling the culture that produced them.

this is pretty in line with a colonizer archetype. this will be emphasized, criticized, and never once skated over. for anyone who doesn’t want to deal with morrigan as the “expert” on mythal or the arcane advisor to the inquisition, please know that i typically prefer to write morrigan as an orlesian ambassador to the inquisition rather than the sole arcane advisor ( @ all velannas and merrills: let’s be friends and write this shit ). she’ll still pretend she knows more than anyone else, but she won’t be the only other option for the well of sorrows.

second: morrigan isn’t super concerned about the people she harms in the process, primarily elves. this is true, as well, for the warden, until she becomes closer to the warden and starts to develop genuine affection for them. she’s still responsible for how she presents the dark ritual ( including trying to coerce the warden / alistair, but i’ve got a post on the dark ritual i’l reblog later ). flemeth uses her, undoubtedly, but morrigan also uses the warden. 

as a result, there really isn’t the potential for a healthy relationship with morrigan until an inquisition timeline. she’s withholding vital information about the warden’s survival; she’s willing to coerce, lie, and manipulate; the fact that flemeth has manipulated her doesn’t absolve her of the choices she makes. 

this doesn’t mean she’s incapable of a healthy relationship later on, just that at this point, she has no idea how one would work. a lot of this changes with kieran’s birth: because there is, suddenly, a child wholly dependent upon her and her alone, morrigan has to start thinking beyond herself and her own survival. she’s not a perfect mother, but she’s a pretty good one, and she tries. sometimes she fails, but everybody does !! kieran pretty radically alters her approach to love in any form, and friendship, and selflessness. she’s better equipped for a romantic relationship to be healthy in an inquisition timeline.

with that said: i’m never going to like or want to ship morrigan / alistair.

if morrigan does drink from the well of sorrows, once she realizes that she’s bound to flemeth, she will leave kieran in someone else’s custody until she can learn how to undo it: his father’s, if his father still lives; the warden’s, if the warden still lives; or leliana’s. she figures she can’t keep him safe and so her best bet is to bring him to someone who can.

[worldevoured]

VARRIC TETHRAS B. 9:01 DRAGON || COMPANION

STATISTICS

FULL NAME Varric Tethras.

DATE OF BIRTH 9:01 Dragon.

PLACE OF BIRTH Kirkwall.

RACE Dwarf.

GENDER Cisgender man.

PRONOUNS He/him/his.

SEXUALITY Bisexual.

NATIONALITY Marcher.

RELIGION Atheist.

POSITIVE TRAITS Captivating, eloquent, humorous, objective.

NEGATIVE TRAITS Centrist, dishonest, opportunistic, self-indulgent.

PHOBIAS None.

MENTAL HEALTH Healthy.

AFFILIATION Dwarven Merchant’s Guild, Hawke’s party, Kirkwall.

TITLE Head of House Tethras, Deshyr of Kirkwall to the Dwarven Merchant’s Guild, Viscount of Kirkwall.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

CLASS Rogue.

SPECIALIZATION Marksman.

WEAPON Crossbow, named Bianca.

COMPANION STATS — DA2

Follows most DA2 canon regarding approval and disapproval.

COMPANION STATS — INQUISITION

Follows most Inquisition canon regarding approval and disapproval.

CONNECTIONS

FAMILY Andvar ( father, deceased ), Ilsa ( mother, deceased ), Bartrand ( brother, estranged ).

WANTED SHIPS Varric/Hawke, Varric/Bianca, Varric/Inquisitor.

NOTES

ON BIANCA Varric is an adult who chooses to continue a relationship of any kind with Bianca; he is equally responsible for their relationship, whatever its nature. By default, my approach to Bianca is that she and Varric remained friends, though their friendship is somewhat strained by her marriage to Bogdan and her focus on her work; they are in infrequent contact, but care very much for one another. They have complicated feelings about one another, but Varric, overall, thinks highly of her, and if he speaks of her at all — which is rare — he will typically speak highly of her.

ON HAWKE Unless Hawke is truly vile, Varric is at least a little in love with them. I will never assume a ship with a Hawke; however, by default, Varric absolutely has feelings for them, and simply refuses to talk about this or acknowledge it at all. With that said, I love the Hawke/Varric ship and would love to write it, so if you want to explore that dynamic, please don’t hesitate to let me know!