application ☇ memoria

[acrimoniously]

Player Information

Player Name: Jaclyn
Contact: PERSONAL alcoholiccoffee || AIM Sisulart || MSN mr.ampersand [ at ] live [ dot ] com || E-MAIL
Timezone:  US CST.

Character Information

Character's Name: Morrigan
Character Journal:acrimoniously
Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins; technically the Witch Hunt DLC.
Point Taken from Canon: The end of Witch Hunt, when she's stepped through the Eluvian.
Appearance: She's very wild looking.
Abilities: Morrigan is a powerful mage, being that she was raised by the one and only Flemeth and she has spent her whole life training under her and understanding her powers. She starts the game with a shapeshifter specialization and most of her points spell-wise in Entropy, so it's safe to assume that she's not completely adverse to using dirty magic to get her work done. Again, it's not a matter of morals to her, it's a matter of strength.

Mages in Dragon Age use lyrium to power their spells, which is a powerful mineral that the dwarves (who are highly resistant to lyrium; dwarves can never be mages) process to a less harmful substance. Raw lyrium will right out kill a person, especially mages, but processed lyrium can be used to refill a mage's mana or allow them to go into the dreaming realm, the Fade. Lyrium is also used to enchant items and control templars, but that's a bit off-topic then. The point is, without mana, Morrigan can't cast, and without lyrium she's out of mana until it recharges of its own accord.

Although the Shapeshifter Specialization only includes spider form, bear form, and the flying swarm (along with the respective corrupted versions), Morrigan can shapeshift into virtually any kind of animal to my understanding. It just so happens that these are the ones she studied in combat intensive ways, is the way I interpreted it.

Going off of her beginning of game abilities + respective maxed out trees (if she was initially in them) just because man, this would be such a mess to deal with if I had to give the spells or other specializations she learned.

Shapeshifter Specialization
Spider Shape ; The shapeshifter can transform into a giant spider, gaining a large bonus to nature resistance as well as the spider’s Web and Poison Spit abilities. The caster’s spellpower determines how powerful the form is. With Master Shapeshifter, the mage becomes a corrupted spider, growing still stronger and gaining the Overwhelm ability.

Bear Shape ; The shapeshifter can transform into a bear, gaining large bonuses to nature resistance and armor as well as the bear’s Slam and Rage abilities. The caster’s spellpower further enhances this bear’s statistics and abilities. With Master Shapeshifter, this form transforms the caster into a powerful bereskarn and gains the Overwhelm ability.

Flying Swarm ; The shapeshifter’s body explodes into a swarm of stinging insects that inflict nature damage on nearby foes, with the damage increasing based on the caster’s spellpower and proximity. While in this form, the caster gains Divide the Swarm, and any damage the shapeshifter suffers is drawn from mana instead of health, but the caster regenerates no mana. The swirling cloud of insects is immune to normal missiles and has a very good chance of evading physical attacks but is extremely vulnerable to fire. With Master Shapeshifter, the character gains health whenever the swarm inflicts damage.

Master Shapeshifter ; Mastery of the shifter’s ways alters the forms of Bear Shape and Spider Shape, allowing the caster to become a bereskarn and a corrupted spider, both considerably more powerful than their base forms. In those forms, the shapeshifter also gains Overwhelm. Additionally, the Flying Swarm shape drains health from foes whenever the main swarm inflicts damage.
Herbalism & Poison-Making
While Morrigan doesn't start the game with poison-making, she references knowing how to make at least 15 different poisons, so I think it would make more sense if she did at least have some knowledge of it.
Improved, Expert, & Master Herbalism ; The character's vast knowledge of herbs permits creation of potent fourth-tier potions, poultices, and salves.

Improved Poison-Making ; The character has survived the difficult learning process of making simple poisons and grenades. → The character can now create deadly second-tier poisons and grenades.
Combat Training
Improved, Expert, and Master Combat Training ; The character is highly experienced in combat and gains small bonuses to armor and attack. Warriors and rogues gain access to top-tier weapon talents. Mages can take more damage from an attack before it interrupts their spellcasting.
Primal Magic
Winter's Grasp ; The caster envelops the target in frost, freezing lower-level targets solid. Those that resist suffer a penalty to movement speed.

Frost Weapons ; While this mode is active, the caster enchants the party's weapons with frost so that they deal additional cold damage with each melee attack.

Cone of Cold ; The caster's hands erupt with a cone of frost, freezing targets solid unless they pass a physical resistance check, and slowing their movement otherwise. Targets frozen solid by Cone of Cold can be shattered with a critical hit. Friendly fire possible.

Blizzard ; An ice storm deals continuous cold damage to everyone in the targeted area and slows their movement speed while granting bonuses to defense and fire resistance. Targets can fall or be frozen solid unless they pass a physical resistance check. Friendly fire possible.
Spirit Magic
Mind Blast ; The caster projects a wave of telekinetic force that stuns enemies caught in the sphere.

Force Field ; The caster erects a telekinetic barrier around a target, who becomes completely immune to damage for the duration of the spell but cannot move. Friendly fire possible.

Telekinetic Weapons ; While this mode is active, the caster enchants the party's melee weapons with telekinetic energy that increases armor penetration. The bonus to armor penetration is based on the caster's spellpower and provides greater damage against heavily armored foes.

Crushing Prison ; The caster encloses a target in a collapsing cage of telekinetic force inflicting spirit damage for the duration.
Entropy Magic
Vulnerability Hex ; The target suffers a hex that inflicts penalties to cold resistance, electricity resistance, fire resistance, nature resistance, and spirit resistance.

Affliction Hex ; A contagious hex inflicts penalties to cold resistance, electricity resistance, fire resistance, nature resistance, and spirit resistance on the target and all other enemies nearby.

Misdirection Hex ; The target suffers a frustrating hex of inaccuracy. All hits become misses, while critical hits become normal hits.

Death Hex ; The target suffers a hex of lethal bad luck. Every normal hit it suffers becomes a critical hit.

Disorient ; The caster engages in subtle mental manipulation that disorients the target for a short time, making the target a less effective combatant by inflicting penalties to attack and defense.

Horror ; The caster forces a target to cower in fear, unable to move, unless it passes a mental resistance check. Targets already asleep when the spell is cast cannot resist its effect and take massive spirit damage.

Sleep ; All hostile targets in the targeted area fall asleep unless they pass a mental resistance check, although they wake when hit. Sleeping enemies cannot resist the Horror spell, which will inflict additional damage.

Waking Nightmare ; Hostile targets are trapped in a waking nightmare unless they pass a mental resistance check. They are randomly stunned, attack other enemies, or become the caster's ally for the duration of the effect. Enemies that are already asleep cannot resist.

Drain Life ; The caster creates a sinister bond with the target, draining its life energy in order to heal the caster.

Death Magic ; While active, the caster draws in nearby entropic energy, draining residual life-force from any dead enemy nearby to heal the caster.

Curse of Mortality ; The caster curses a target with the inevitability of true death. While cursed, it cannot heal or regenerate health and takes continuous spirit damage.

Death Cloud ; The caster summons a cloud of leeching entropic energy that deals continuous spirit damage to all who enter. Friendly fire possible.

Weaknesses: Morrigan's most obvious weakness is her naivety. No, that's not typically what most people would associate with Morrigan, but it's true; she has virtually no idea of how to interact with people beyond day-to-day interaction. She has no idea what a friend is, what any kind of true affection is, until the Warden (even then, that depends on the choices the player makes). While she is careful not to expose the part of her which is uncomfortable with interacting with people on a deeper level and will play it off as her own hatred of dependence, it's still there.

That may also clarify as a weakness, though. Morrigan has difficulty going to others for help. The only time she does it in canon is when the situation deems it absolutely necessary - for example, when she needs to kill Flemeth in order to avoid the possession of her body. In addition, Morrigan will willingly leave the party at any point and doesn't seem to enjoy sticking around at all, but she will always return at the end of the game to propose her demonic ritual, because she requires the cooperation of the Wardens in order to achieve her goals.

The largest reason Morrigan is a difficult character to romance is because of her difficulties with dependence and trusting others. Her upbringing has led her to believe that independence and relying solely on yourself is the only way to ensure survival, and others should only be used. Of course, human relations require some manner of dependence and trust, so Morrigan always has difficulty with them and wording her thoughts. She thinks it safer to stop things like that before they begin.

There isn't really much that makes her 'tick', so to speak - Morrigan is very capable of keeping level-headed, in her own way. She is never exactly friendly, but she is more often than not calm. She does think decisions which are based in emotions and whimsies are foolish, though, and will often berate the Warden for making said choices. It's doubtful this truly boils down to making her angry as much as it just bemuses her, though.

Housing Preferences: Morrigan ... would probably dislike her housing no matter where it was, to be honest (just on the basis that she dislikes the situation). She'd probably appreciate something like a wide, expansive space she could keep to herself, though.

History: For the absolute bare bones of her history, see the Dragon Age Wikia page. Of course, thanks to the way that Dragon Age works, I'm going to have to detail her history regardless.

Morrigan is one of the many daughters raised by the infamous Witch of the Wilds, Flemeth. While she is one of many, Flemeth has a particular purpose with her daughters, which is to say she kills them in order to prolong her own life. As a result, Morrigan has never met any of Flemeth's other daughters, and she is quite unaware of what her 'mother' intends to do with her.

Actually, Morrigan's life prior to Dragon Age is more or less a complete mystery. We know that she lived with Flemeth and was raised in the Korcari Wilds, often spending her free time using her shapeshifting magic to play with the wildlife and helping her mother, whether it be with her dirty work or simply with mundane tasks like cooking. She did wander into human settlements occasionally, although the only time the hero is ever told of this is the first time.

Morrigan's first time examining a human settlement went well enough. She stayed in animal form and hid in the shadows, simply observing, until a fairly rich woman came around in her carriage. Morrigan was so dazzled by the woman's riches and beautiful possessions that she stole a single hand mirror from the carriage and scurried off into the wilds with glee.

Flemeth punished her for being a fool, risking discovery for nothing more than a mirror, when she returned home. She smashed the mirror to pieces, and Morrigan recognized that she had been being foolish. Keep in mind that she was just a child at the time; these are the kinds of life lessons she received from Flemeth.

And you wonder why she's how she is.

Regardless, her time with Flemeth was spent learning her mother's trade, the shapeshifting and all manners of other magic. Flemeth and Morrigan were apostates, mages who lived outside of the Circle Tower (mostly considered unruly abominations by Ferelden logic).

When the Grey Warden, in this case being the a female Tabris rogue (Kallian Tabris, for consistency -- being that Kallian is the default first name), searches the Korcari Wilds for the Grey Warden treaties as their first assignment from Duncan, Morrigan shows up to crash the party's search expedition. Really, Kallian, Alistair, and the other two schmucks that no one remembers their name because they die two scenes later anyway, find the chest where the treaties are supposed to be and Morrigan swoops in to wonder who exactly is in her Wilds.

She certainly scares the group, most of them insisting she is a Witch of the Wilds and she'll likely boil them in a stew, or something equally ridiculous. However, Kallian opts for a more civil approach, giving Morrigan her name and wondering who she is. Morrigan reveals the Grey Warden treaties that were supposed to be protected actually had the seal wear off on them some time ago, and her mother has been keeping them safe. She brings the party back to Flemeth's hut and Flemeth hands over the treaties, and all is well and they never appear in the story again as the main party heads back to Ostagar.

... Well, not quite. When Loghain botches Cailan's defense against the darkspawn at Ostagar, Alistair and Kallian end up trapped atop the Tower of Ishal while hordes of darkspawn charge towards the camp, lines of defense completely broken. Rather, they should be trapped, but Flemeth saves them from their fate and brings her back to her hut in the Korcari Wilds.

Good news, except for the part where all of the other Wardens are dead and as a result Alistair and Kallian are now entrusted with stopping the whole damn Blight. Flemeth suggests using the Grey Warden treaties just as Duncan had intended to use them, as a way to rally together forces to fight against the Blight. Although it's a very daunting task and they still have to deal with possibly bringing about civil war by revealing Loghain's betrayal, they are the only two Grey Wardens left, and if the Blight isn't stopped then all of Ferelden will be consumed.

Flemeth also suggests Morrigan go along with them, because she is strong and always has room to become stronger.

Bother Alistair and Morrigan think this is a hilarious suggestion and oh, Flemeth, you! She is being very serious, however, and Flemeth has quite an influence on her daughter, so Morrigan ends up being the second party member to join you in Dragon Age. While you can get her to leave the party multiple times throughout the game, this particular Kallian did not.

For the sake of not making this history any longer than it absolutely needs to be, I'll just summarize the choices or relationships this Kallian made (due to Dragon Age's format of a W-RPG where the player makes the decisions that heavily affect the game):

› recruited all possible party members (including Shale, barring Loghain)
› defeated Kolgrim and the Cult of Andraste, preserved the Urn of Sacred Ashes
Morrigan disapproves of this, likely because of her thoughts on power. To her, it looks like a stupid decision for the Warden to make, considering the power of the Cult of Andraste and her already severe dislike of any of the religion nonsense in Ferelden.
› allowed Brother Genitivi to live
› freed Jowan at Redcliffe
Something Morrigan approves of. Jowan is a blood mage and an apostate at this point, but Morrigan has never been a fan of the Chantry or the Circle Tower, and she's certainly dabbled in her own fair share of dark magics.
› allowed the Circle mages to use lyrium in Redcliffe
› sided with the mages in Broken Circle
› convinced Zathrian to remove the curse on the werewolves in Nature of the Beast
An interesting note about Nature of the Beast: Morrigan approves whether you decide to convince the werewolves to slaughter the elves, help the elves slaughter the werewolves, or get Zathrian to lift the curse. The most approval comes from slaughtering the elves, but letting the elves slaughter the werewolves or lift the curse results in the same amount of approval.
› sided with Caridin and destroyed the Anvil of the Void
Something else that Morrigan disapproves of because of her definition of power. The Void is a ridiculously useful piece of technology, being the thing that allows golems to be created. Destroying it by request of Caridin is a silly, emotion-fueled response. Wynne at one point compares the Anvil using life to power the golems as something akin to blood magic, which Morrigan already has no qualms with.
› put Harrowmont on the throne of Orzammar
› killed Caladrius in the Alienage
› killed Loghain at the Landsmeet, put Anora on the throne, Alistair remains a Grey Warden
› killed Flemeth on Morrigan's behalf
One of the various sidequests in the game. Kallian found the Black Grimoire in the Senior Mage Quarters while trying to fix the Circle Tower. The Black Grimoire was one of Flemeth's books that was apparently taken ages ago, and Morrigan had asked the Warden to bring it back to her, so Kallian did. Morrigan finds out that the Grimoire isn't actually Flemeth's real grimoire, but it does detail that fun process of raising daughters specifically to take over their bodies and keep herself young forever.

With this in mind, she asks the Warden to go and kill Flemeth, being none too keen on being the next sacrifice. Kallian agrees, kills Flemeth, brings back her real grimoire to Morrigan as well as the Robes of Possession (special armor for Morrigan that looks just like her normal armor but is substantially stronger), and as a result their approval skyrockets upwards. ... Also, Morrigan has all manners of magic in her hands.
› accepted Morrigan's Ritual (done with Alistair)
Morrigan suggests just before the final battle that she sleep with Alistair, being the only male Grey Warden, and conceive a child that would take the archdemon's soul instead of having it transfer to and kill Kallian or Alistair. While her intentions seem sincere, in that Kallian and Alistair were a couple in the game and she suggested the ritual so they could stay together happily, it's more than likely that Morrigan was plotting something. Which brings us to ...
› allowed her to escape through the Eluvian
At the end of the original Dragon Age, Morrigan left and told the Warden to never follow her. Two years after, the Witch Hunt DLC takes place, which is where I'll be apping Morrigan from the end of. In the DLC, Kallian has caught word of the fact that Morrigan has apparently been searching for ancient Dalish mirrors called Eluvians, though for what purpose remains unknown. Kallian goes on a search across the world along with some more replaceable party members that Bioware likes to throw at us in DLC, and eventually finds Morrigan and an Eluvian in the Dragonwastes.

Morrigan reveals that she was looking for the Eluvian to transport her and her child, now born, into a separate realm where she could raise him and prepare him for his destiny. She also gives a few warnings on Flemeth and her state of affairs -- mostly, that she's not dead and the world is about to change.

And then Kallian lets her go, though Morrigan finishes them off on a good note with a 'goodbye, my friend'.

Which is the point from which I'll be taking Morrigan from. She's just walked through the Eluvian, expecting to find a new realm, and a new realm she'll have! Terrific, isn't it.

Personality: Morrigan is innocent. She is beautiful. She is vulnerable.
Kate Mulgrew, Flemeth's actor
I think this quote is absolutely precious. No one looks at Morrigan and says, "this woman is vulnerable and innocent." I don't think many people play the game and recognize that, even, but it's true. Morrigan has never spent time with human companions, has never been socially involved with anyone. She goes on about power and relationships being feeble and weak, but she's never understood them; she thinks that faith and feelings are weak because she has never been experienced with them.

The faith she knows is the kind that leads people to believe her and her mother are vicious Witches of the Wilds, and Flemeth has taught her time and time again that power should always have more priority than whims of the heart. She has conditioned her to be careful and diligent, to be strong and strong-hearted. There is hardly much of a motherly love between Flemeth and Morrigan; they clearly share a bond, but it's not one built out of love on Flemeth's part. Morrigan shows she has some manner of affection for her mother, despite her teasing, by being somewhat upset by the revealings of the grimoire, but she just as soon tells the Warden to kill Flemeth.

And she certainly does intend for the Warden to kill Flemeth on her behalf, explaining to the Warden if they come back and lie to her about Flemeth's demise that she had trusted them with her survival. She promptly leaves the party, only to come back for her Ritual at the end of the game. She genuinely puts her trust and faith in the Warden, and if the Warden lies she insists that they have broken her trust and she must fend off Flemeth herself.

It's a moment where Morrigan stops thinking simply in black and white terms: her power doesn't matter here. Flemeth could just as easily do the ritual if she went along with the Warden, or if she went alone; she recognizes she cannot do it without help, and she turns to the Warden and honest to god places some manner of faith in them. Morrigan is not someone who believes in power above all else out of her own will; she is someone who believes in her survival over all else because of Flemeth's conditioning, and she has simply never been faced with a situation where she cannot rely on her own power.

On the flip side of the situation, if the Warden returns with the Grimoire and either actually kills Flemeth or persuades Morrigan that they have killed Flemeth, she is overjoyed. She states it upfront then and there: Thank you. For helping me. No one has ever ... Thank you.

It is not so much that Morrigan is an unfeeling, unbelieving abomination who has no need for others; it is only that she has never experienced any need for others. She is very vulnerable and innocent in the way that truly, when it comes to human interactions, she has no real idea of how to act. She has never had friends other than the animals, and she has never really been out of the Wilds.

In some ways, Morrigan is still very much like a child. She is sarcastic and bitter and snarky outwardly, but emotional things -- those will catch her. While she certainly doesn't get emotional over things often, when she does she is horribly unsure about them. If a male Warden (or female Warden, with mods) attempts to romance Morrigan, she will sleep with them with almost no approval required. However, when her approval gets high enough, she refuses to do so and she will eventually approach the Warden about her feelings toward them.

She is afraid of feeling genuine affection; she is unsure and she is afraid and she does not want to risk anything. The conversation with Morrigan at this point can end in a multitude of ways, and a number of these end in either breaking the relationship or losing oodles and oodles of approval. She has never before in her life experienced anything like human affection or closeness or, god forbid, love. She is terrified of being weak, being dependent. Love is a weakness to her only because she believes that she must be self-sustaining and self-dependent at all times.

It's part of her "survival of the fittest" mantra, the idea that as long as she can protect herself and not fall for any stupid human tricks and remember that power goes above all like good old Flemeth taught her, she will survive. She doesn't have much of a moral scale, but she's also not evil. She's just misguided, and she's certainly not absolutely power-hungry but she does believe that decisions which grant the most power are more often than not better choices.

And now we have a dog, and Alistair is still the stupidest member of the party.
Morrigan
Bringing us back to Morrigan's attitudes outwardly, she is a very sarcastic, bitter individual. She has absolutely no issue with mocking anyone and will generally always turn a conversation which would otherwise embarrass her back on a person. It's easier to do with some than others, but it's generally a fair assumption that if she knows anything about you she's found something to mock if you choose to be nasty to her first.

Conversations about her mother, her childhood, her home tend to be deflected, typically with some great ease. She's really kind of scarily good at turning conversations back on people.

Alistair
So let's talk about your mother, for a moment.
Morrigan
I'd rather talk about your mother.
Alistair
There's nothing to talk about. And besides, isn't your mother a scary witch who lives in the middle of a forest? Much more interesting.
Morrigan
To you, perhaps. You would find the moss growing upon a stone interesting.
Alistair
You know what's more interesting than that? Apostates. Mages outside of the Tower. That's illegal, you know.
Morrigan
You did not read that in a book somewhere, did you? I hope the small letters did not strain you overmuch.
Alistair
Or we could not talk about your mother. That works for me.

She's not nice, but she also doesn't really have much of a reason to be. It's sort of like if you're the new kid at school and no one ever stops bothering you about where you came from and asking what it was like and stuff. Well, you've never really known anything other than that -- to you it's normal, it's not interesting, it's kind of just annoying. Especially for Morrigan, who sees no reason to tell anyone much of anything. It's no one else's business, and she certainly doesn't find it something that's brilliantly entertaining to speak about.

Really, she doesn't like explaining much of anything to anyone. Even to Shale, who simply asks her to explain magic to her, she insists that she go and ask Alistair or someone -- not her. She generally really enjoys teasing people, mocking people, lots of interactions that don't involve actually being helpful. It's just part of her personality, in addition to being how she was raised. She thinks people and their customs are more often than not very silly, overly formal. She is at heart a Witch of the Wilds.
Character Quote: "The Chasind have tales of we witches... I have prowled shadows that you never dreamed existed. Am I an unnatural abomination to be put to the torch?"

Journal Sample: [ A calm voice, and yet with some frustration that's just barely audible in tone. ]

This ... is not the realm beyond the Eluvian. [ Not a question. ]

'Tis unlike the Fade, though the influence of magic is present. These locals do not seem so dissimilar to demons, but there serves no purpose in masquerading as commonfolk. Any demon worth their magic would take a more direct route.

[ Sterner, harshly: ] Nor would any demon resort to branding.

I require both explanations and a return to my world. [ A hint of a snarl? Of course not. An extra Eluvian would be nice, too. ]

ooc; there's also this old sample, this slightly less old post from an old game, and ... I'm sure I have more samples somewhere if you would prefer it.

Prose Sample: The culmination of the Grey Warden treaties was the Landsmeet, and the eyes of all of Ferelden were focused upon it.

It all went as one might have guessed; the Grey Wardens challenged Loghain, and the various Banns voiced their support. Loghain refused to accept defeat gracefully, and instead a duel was proposed. It was not a shocking turn of events, and Morrigan could have guessed that would have occurred as well.

She was not anticipating being volunteered as the Warden's champion, though she did not argue it. It was something akin to an eye to an eye; the Warden had been her champion in the fight against Flemeth, though titles were not formally handed out and the comparison was both amusing and somewhat revolting (to think anyone would need to champion for her!).

Clasping her hands together, smiling a wry, mocking smile, bouncing slightly to show her ever present enthusiasm, she voiced her opinion. “Oh, I shall, shall I?”

And though she did not quite lose her smile (because she would not claim there was no amount of satisfaction in the opportunity to best Loghain), she reached a hand back for her staff and straightened her posture. “'Tis so kind of you to volunteer me.”

With a flick of her wrist, she was on the teyrn. A brief flash of sparks, present for perhaps only as long as a standard blink, was the only real warning to the hail of flame.

Anything else? I recycled parts of this application from a previous app, so if you'd like more game-specific aspects answered, I'd be happy to! Other than that, please don't hesitate to get into contact with me or ask for any clarifications. 8)

Also I'm always sorry for TL;DR. Always.