❧ application for counted_stars
Player Information:
Name or Handle: Alishia
LJ: risingfire
Email: inaloadedroom (at) gmail (dot) com
AIM/ MSN / Plurk name: inaloadedroom (AIM); knightinqs (Plurk)
Any current characters here?: Mohinder Suresh
Character Information:
Character Name: Varric Tethras
Age: Mid-thirties. The game never gave specific ages for any of the characters, but given the depth of his resources and the fact that he and his brother owned a business with enough credibility to have been able to hire on enough people willing to go into the Deep Roads, I'd imagine he's older than Hawke.
Canon: Dragon Age II
Appearance: Being a Dwarf, Varric is relatively short -- likely around 4'5" if you consider the fact that he only comes up to his Hawke's shoulders -- and stocky. His hair is shoulder length and blonde, worn tied back in a sort of half ponytail, and his eyes are light brown. He has two piercings in his right ear, one on his left, and often sports a five o'clock shadow. Oh, yeah, and he has more chest hair than God -- to the point where it apparently became a running joke with the game's developers.
Personality:
• Varric is, for lack of a better term, a highly skilled bullshitter. Whether it's for a story he's telling or a means of getting someone to back down without bloodshed, he lies like a champ. The only exception to this rule seems to be when he's forced to talk about himself in painful or awkward situations -- he has a tendency to embellish so much that there's no possible way what he's saying could be true, as is seen when he tells Cassandra what happened when he confronted his brother Bartrand after his betrayal -- but otherwise? He definitely has a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you ... even if he has no idea what a Brooklyn is.
• As mentioned above, Varric prefers to talk his way out of sticky situations, but this doesn't mean he's a pacifist. He's not above fighting and killing when all other options have exhausted themselves, nor is he the type to stand by idly if he or his friends are being attacked. He just doesn't generally approve violence for the sake of violence.
• It takes a lot to get Varric angry, but when he is mad, he has a tendency to hold a grudge forever. If whatever you did that managed to earn his ire is relatively minor, chances are you'll lose some approval points he'll get back at you by spreading rumors or something likewise generally harmless. If you really managed to piss him off, though, chances are he'll be plotting your nasty demise behind your back, even if he never actually goes through with it, and then run around spreading nasty rumors. See also: all the conversations he had with Anders about what he planned on doing to Bartrand when he found him after he left them to die in the Deep Roads.
• If he likes you, chances are he'll give you a ridiculous nickname and bust your stones constantly. He may even write ridiculous fanfiction about you. Ask Isabela about the 'friend fiction' they wrote about Aveline once. It's all in good humor, though -- Varric is deeply loyal to his friends and if he thought his teasing was genuinely hurting them, he'd stop right away.
• Varric has mixed opinions on his brother. On one hand, he's more than a little resentful he's spent the majority of his life living in Bartrand's shadow -- to the point where he was seduced into turning on Hawke in the Fade by promises of having enough power and money to get out from under his brother's reputation -- and he's still pretty pissed of that Bartrand stabbed them in the back. On the other, it genuinely hurts and disturbs him to see what the idol did to his sanity. He does love him -- family is important to Varric, whether it's blood or the family you choose -- but he doesn't like him much, it seems.
• Varric has connections everywhere, from the Captain of Kirkwall's guard to some of the shadier members of the city's underworld. The latter, however, are not people he considers friends -- they're just people he can use or pay to get what he needs. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty to a certain extent, clearly, but he wouldn't die for any of them, and if his contacts went too far, he wouldn't be opposed to turning them over to the authorities. Or asking Hawke for help in dealing with them. Regardless of who he occasionally associates with, he likes being able to consider himself one of the good guys.
Background: Here at the Dragon Age Wikia. To clarify, Varric comes from the same version of events as Hawke and her sister, Bethany. You know -- siding with the mages, Bethany becoming a Grey Warden, that sort of thing.
Canon point: From the end of the game, up to and including his telling of the story of the Champion of Kirkwall to Cassandra Pentaghast. I chose this point because, well, Hawke's story is done at this point and he needs a new story to be a part of and eventually tell. It's the nature of who he is, and if he was taken from an earlier point, I can imagine he'd obsess over the details of Hawke's story -- since, from his point of view, it wouldn't be done yet -- rather than immersing himself in what's going on in the here and now.
Special Abilities: As far as supernatural abilities go, Varric doesn't have any. He is, however, an accomplished marksman and storyteller. He's also pretty good at picking conventional locks -- the type that require a key -- and being generally roguish. Which makes sense, considering his character class in game is rogue.
Sect: Civilian
Job: Knowing Varric, he'll probably end up as a smuggler or that guy that hangs out in bars, has connections with everyone -- and therefore has a little bit of dirt on all of them -- and collects information. Not that the latter exactly pays well, so ... he might do a little of both. Who knows?
Samples:
First Person:
[the feed kicks on when Varric falls out of bed. normally, he's not a restless sleeper, but his subconscious apparently realized that this was neither his room at the Hanged Man nor a room provided by him by the Chantry, and freaked out. enjoy your view of Varric's impressive chest hair, Revanites. not that it lasts long, as he's quick to get to his feet and move away from the datapad, not noticing it immediately]
I thought we were done here, Seeker. [a beat] But no -- no, you had to rob me of my dignity and my clothes and put me ... where ever here is. [another pause] If you liked me that much, you could have just said --
[he stops abruptly. he still hasn't noticed the datapad on the floor a few feet away, but he has noticed the view outside his window, and he has to admit, he's at a loss for words. mostly] ... Andraste's flaming knickers ... Bartrand was right. [there's one final pause, this one longer than the last two, and then] Bianca, I don't think we're in Kirkwall anymore.
[he'll notice that Bianca -- his crossbow -- is missing in a few minutes. he's still too busy staring]
Third Person:
"Read 'em and weep, gentleman."
Varric leaned across the table and the pile of coin that had amassed in the center of it to lay down his hand. The leader of the trio he'd been playing, some bigshot among Kirkwall's seedier avenues, looked down at the cards for a moment, disgusted, then threw his hand down on the pile, face down. While he was willing to admit defeat, however, it seemed that one of the bodyguards he'd brought ot the table wasn't interested in being quite as gracious, and he got to his feet in a rush, reaching for a dagger at his belt. Thankfully, all Varric had to do was lean back and drape one arm over Bianca's lathe, and he froze just as abruptly as he'd stood up.
Belatedly, the leader of the little troupe waved him off. "What do you want, dwarf?"
"Oh, nothing much," Varric started casually, his arm still around his crossbow, just in case. Men who were used to being in a position of power very rarely liked demands all that much, no matter how sweet he made them sound. "You walk out with whatever coin you brought to the table, I walk out with mine, and you leave anyone who happens to be cutting through the alleys in Lowtown well enough alone. Particularly sweet, oblivious Dalish girls who just can't seem to get enough of the flowers in the viscount's garden."
He gave the man opposite him a pointed look, knowing full well he knew who he was talking about and wanting to make sure he knew it, too. "Sound fair?"
"It depends," the other man answered. "How long do you expect us to leave your friend well enough alone?"
"Until I say otherwise." And that day would probably never come. Paying these thugs off regularly was starting to put a strain on his coin purse, but Daisy wasn't magically becoming any more observant. She still needed the protection, probably would need it as long as she stayed in Kirkwall, and he still felt obligated to make sure nothing too terrible happened to her. He supposed he could have gotten Hawke involved when the price got too steep -- she would have loved an excuse to put more people like this out of business, he figured -- but he also still felt the need to handle this quietly. If he could do it quietly and permanently, and all without ever raising a weapon, all the better. " ... unless, of course, you want me to start telling people about that, ah, incident shall we say? You know, the one last month?"
"You wouldn't dare."
Varric offered him his most charming smile. "Try me."
The leader of the trio growled, then leaned across the table to start scooping coins back into the pouch he'd brought them in with. "Fine, dwarf. You have a deal."
The smile turning to a grin, Varric moved to grab his ale off the table. He raised it in a mock toast and drained the last of the mug. "Pleasure doing business with you, boys."
Anything Else: Jolee Bindo! Blue milk!
Name or Handle: Alishia
LJ: risingfire
Email: inaloadedroom (at) gmail (dot) com
AIM/ MSN / Plurk name: inaloadedroom (AIM); knightinqs (Plurk)
Any current characters here?: Mohinder Suresh
Character Information:
Character Name: Varric Tethras
Age: Mid-thirties. The game never gave specific ages for any of the characters, but given the depth of his resources and the fact that he and his brother owned a business with enough credibility to have been able to hire on enough people willing to go into the Deep Roads, I'd imagine he's older than Hawke.
Canon: Dragon Age II
Appearance: Being a Dwarf, Varric is relatively short -- likely around 4'5" if you consider the fact that he only comes up to his Hawke's shoulders -- and stocky. His hair is shoulder length and blonde, worn tied back in a sort of half ponytail, and his eyes are light brown. He has two piercings in his right ear, one on his left, and often sports a five o'clock shadow. Oh, yeah, and he has more chest hair than God -- to the point where it apparently became a running joke with the game's developers.
Personality:
• Varric is, for lack of a better term, a highly skilled bullshitter. Whether it's for a story he's telling or a means of getting someone to back down without bloodshed, he lies like a champ. The only exception to this rule seems to be when he's forced to talk about himself in painful or awkward situations -- he has a tendency to embellish so much that there's no possible way what he's saying could be true, as is seen when he tells Cassandra what happened when he confronted his brother Bartrand after his betrayal -- but otherwise? He definitely has a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you ... even if he has no idea what a Brooklyn is.
• As mentioned above, Varric prefers to talk his way out of sticky situations, but this doesn't mean he's a pacifist. He's not above fighting and killing when all other options have exhausted themselves, nor is he the type to stand by idly if he or his friends are being attacked. He just doesn't generally approve violence for the sake of violence.
• It takes a lot to get Varric angry, but when he is mad, he has a tendency to hold a grudge forever. If whatever you did that managed to earn his ire is relatively minor, chances are you'll lose some approval points he'll get back at you by spreading rumors or something likewise generally harmless. If you really managed to piss him off, though, chances are he'll be plotting your nasty demise behind your back, even if he never actually goes through with it, and then run around spreading nasty rumors. See also: all the conversations he had with Anders about what he planned on doing to Bartrand when he found him after he left them to die in the Deep Roads.
• If he likes you, chances are he'll give you a ridiculous nickname and bust your stones constantly. He may even write ridiculous fanfiction about you. Ask Isabela about the 'friend fiction' they wrote about Aveline once. It's all in good humor, though -- Varric is deeply loyal to his friends and if he thought his teasing was genuinely hurting them, he'd stop right away.
• Varric has mixed opinions on his brother. On one hand, he's more than a little resentful he's spent the majority of his life living in Bartrand's shadow -- to the point where he was seduced into turning on Hawke in the Fade by promises of having enough power and money to get out from under his brother's reputation -- and he's still pretty pissed of that Bartrand stabbed them in the back. On the other, it genuinely hurts and disturbs him to see what the idol did to his sanity. He does love him -- family is important to Varric, whether it's blood or the family you choose -- but he doesn't like him much, it seems.
• Varric has connections everywhere, from the Captain of Kirkwall's guard to some of the shadier members of the city's underworld. The latter, however, are not people he considers friends -- they're just people he can use or pay to get what he needs. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty to a certain extent, clearly, but he wouldn't die for any of them, and if his contacts went too far, he wouldn't be opposed to turning them over to the authorities. Or asking Hawke for help in dealing with them. Regardless of who he occasionally associates with, he likes being able to consider himself one of the good guys.
Background: Here at the Dragon Age Wikia. To clarify, Varric comes from the same version of events as Hawke and her sister, Bethany. You know -- siding with the mages, Bethany becoming a Grey Warden, that sort of thing.
Canon point: From the end of the game, up to and including his telling of the story of the Champion of Kirkwall to Cassandra Pentaghast. I chose this point because, well, Hawke's story is done at this point and he needs a new story to be a part of and eventually tell. It's the nature of who he is, and if he was taken from an earlier point, I can imagine he'd obsess over the details of Hawke's story -- since, from his point of view, it wouldn't be done yet -- rather than immersing himself in what's going on in the here and now.
Special Abilities: As far as supernatural abilities go, Varric doesn't have any. He is, however, an accomplished marksman and storyteller. He's also pretty good at picking conventional locks -- the type that require a key -- and being generally roguish. Which makes sense, considering his character class in game is rogue.
Sect: Civilian
Job: Knowing Varric, he'll probably end up as a smuggler or that guy that hangs out in bars, has connections with everyone -- and therefore has a little bit of dirt on all of them -- and collects information. Not that the latter exactly pays well, so ... he might do a little of both. Who knows?
Samples:
First Person:
[the feed kicks on when Varric falls out of bed. normally, he's not a restless sleeper, but his subconscious apparently realized that this was neither his room at the Hanged Man nor a room provided by him by the Chantry, and freaked out. enjoy your view of Varric's impressive chest hair, Revanites. not that it lasts long, as he's quick to get to his feet and move away from the datapad, not noticing it immediately]
I thought we were done here, Seeker. [a beat] But no -- no, you had to rob me of my dignity and my clothes and put me ... where ever here is. [another pause] If you liked me that much, you could have just said --
[he stops abruptly. he still hasn't noticed the datapad on the floor a few feet away, but he has noticed the view outside his window, and he has to admit, he's at a loss for words. mostly] ... Andraste's flaming knickers ... Bartrand was right. [there's one final pause, this one longer than the last two, and then] Bianca, I don't think we're in Kirkwall anymore.
[he'll notice that Bianca -- his crossbow -- is missing in a few minutes. he's still too busy staring]
Third Person:
"Read 'em and weep, gentleman."
Varric leaned across the table and the pile of coin that had amassed in the center of it to lay down his hand. The leader of the trio he'd been playing, some bigshot among Kirkwall's seedier avenues, looked down at the cards for a moment, disgusted, then threw his hand down on the pile, face down. While he was willing to admit defeat, however, it seemed that one of the bodyguards he'd brought ot the table wasn't interested in being quite as gracious, and he got to his feet in a rush, reaching for a dagger at his belt. Thankfully, all Varric had to do was lean back and drape one arm over Bianca's lathe, and he froze just as abruptly as he'd stood up.
Belatedly, the leader of the little troupe waved him off. "What do you want, dwarf?"
"Oh, nothing much," Varric started casually, his arm still around his crossbow, just in case. Men who were used to being in a position of power very rarely liked demands all that much, no matter how sweet he made them sound. "You walk out with whatever coin you brought to the table, I walk out with mine, and you leave anyone who happens to be cutting through the alleys in Lowtown well enough alone. Particularly sweet, oblivious Dalish girls who just can't seem to get enough of the flowers in the viscount's garden."
He gave the man opposite him a pointed look, knowing full well he knew who he was talking about and wanting to make sure he knew it, too. "Sound fair?"
"It depends," the other man answered. "How long do you expect us to leave your friend well enough alone?"
"Until I say otherwise." And that day would probably never come. Paying these thugs off regularly was starting to put a strain on his coin purse, but Daisy wasn't magically becoming any more observant. She still needed the protection, probably would need it as long as she stayed in Kirkwall, and he still felt obligated to make sure nothing too terrible happened to her. He supposed he could have gotten Hawke involved when the price got too steep -- she would have loved an excuse to put more people like this out of business, he figured -- but he also still felt the need to handle this quietly. If he could do it quietly and permanently, and all without ever raising a weapon, all the better. " ... unless, of course, you want me to start telling people about that, ah, incident shall we say? You know, the one last month?"
"You wouldn't dare."
Varric offered him his most charming smile. "Try me."
The leader of the trio growled, then leaned across the table to start scooping coins back into the pouch he'd brought them in with. "Fine, dwarf. You have a deal."
The smile turning to a grin, Varric moved to grab his ale off the table. He raised it in a mock toast and drained the last of the mug. "Pleasure doing business with you, boys."
Anything Else: Jolee Bindo! Blue milk!