00 » OOC: Appearance, Personality, Canon History, Abilities
» APPEARANCE
Game concept art
Game screencap (on the right)
» CANON PERSONALITY
Wynne is a woman at the end of a full life: she is a Senior Enchanter, a high-ranked mage at the Circle of Mages in Ferelden, and has seen both peace and strife during her days. In a world where mages are often regarded with fear and their lives strictly regulated by the Chantry (the main religious order in Ferelden), Wynne has embraced her role and been content with a life of work and service.
At first sight, Wynne is world-wise but not world-weary: intelligent, practical, and moral, but not without a glimmer in her eye. Her sense of humour is surprisingly earthy, and she rarely becomes tongue-tied even around the more raunchy members of the Warden's party. There is, however, a time for jesting and a time for serious conversation.
Her life in the Circle has been cloistered, as mages are seldom allowed to venture out of the tower. Wynne does, however, participate in the war efforts of King Cailan at the start of the story, as mages are valuable in battle for both their offensive and defensive abilities. She seems to consider this her duty to the throne and perhaps even more so to the common people under threat. As pertains to religious matters, she believes that personal faith and honest work for the Maker are more important than the letter of the Chant.
Describing herself as having been much more uptight, strict and judgmental in her youth, Wynne appears to have mellowed with experience. She takes her role as the sort of parental figure of the Warden's party with gentle if sometimes subtly edged humour. There is a wide streak of a mentor in her, too: she is glad to educate, even when the other parties are less than appreciative of her teachings. Most often gentle and even (grand)motherly in demeanour, she still has a strong sense of right and wrong and will stand by her own moral judgment to the end. She appreciates cleanliness and consideration, and may be quick to administer a thorough tongue-lashing at anyone seeming to lack in basic manners.
Wynne values both dedication and moderation, and often advocates a careful, rational approach to problem-solving. Her respect is won swiftly with a willingness to put oneself on the line, whether the task at hand is mundane or heroic. She doesn't put stock in bravado or tall tales. A person is measured by their deeds. Everyone can earn their place with honesty and the right choices.
In a nutshell, Wynne is no-nonsense, dutiful, upstanding, strong-willed, kind, often fussy, fastidious, and glowing with a quiet joy for life.
» CANON HISTORY
Senior Enchanter Wynne came to the Circle of Magi by Lake Calenhad at the age of nine. She was an orphan taken in by a peasant family, but when her magical aptitude manifested and she set the family's son's hair on fire, the templars were alerted and she was taken away to study magic with the Circle.
She has spent most of her life in the Circle Tower, which is the more common name for the Tevinter tower fort of Kinloch Hold. After an uncertain early life, she describes her arrival at the Tower as a homecoming.
She fully embraces her role as a mage and a spirit healer. She is a member of the Aequitarians Fraternity, which advocates diplomacy and moderation in the Circle's dealings and considers the chief role of mages to be serving Ferelden with their powers.
Information of Wynne's earlier years is based mostly on the conversations she can have with the Warden. She reveals that when she was first assigned students, she was given supervision of an elven apprentice named Aneirin. Adamant that she would make the shy, reticent youth a mage, she drove him harshly and ignored the fact that he had just been transported to a place and to people strange to him, and would have needed a gentler hand.
Finally he ran away from the Circle, and the Templars hunted him down as a fugitive and slew him. Wynne carried the regret of her too-stringent treatment of him for years to come. The incident taught her to listen to her students and to offer them support and counsel as well as discipline.
Intimate relationships between mages are discouraged, but Wynne apparently engaged in at least one. As a result, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The baby, however, was taken away by the Chantry while she was still weak from the birthing, and she never saw him again. This does not stop her from still wondering what became of him.
Dragon Age: Origins begins as Ferelden is bracing for an oncoming Blight. The Blight is an assault by the darkspawn, monstrous creatures who according to the lore of the Chantry were once mages cursed by the Maker for their sins. The dwell deep underground, but once in a great while, an Archdemon rises to lead them, and they surge to the surface in an endless raiding, killing horde.
The Grey Wardens are an old military order formed for the purpose of battling the darkspawn. Their star is on the wane in Ferelden, though, despite that they are idolised by the young King Cailan. The king gathers an army at Ostagar, which is also joined by Wynne along with other Circle mages, in order to defeat the darkspawn horde in one decisive attack. The strategy is foiled when Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir, the king's military advisor, betrays the king and the Grey Wardens and leaves them to die at the hands of the darkspawn.
Only two Wardens survive Ostagar: Alistair (who is King Maric's bastard son and Cailan's half-brother) and the PC Warden, the main character of Dragon Age. The Grey Wardens have, however, made treaties with all the peoples of Ferelden to render them aid when a Blight threatens. The two Wardens therefore set out to gather an army to defend Ferelden.
Their path eventually brings them to the Circle Tower at Lake Calenhad. At this time, the Circle is under attack from within. One of the mages, Uldred, has gone rogue and filled the tower with abominations. Abominations are mages possessed by demons from the Fade, the dream realm of the world, and the risk of a mage turning into an abomination is the reason for the Chantry's short leash on the practitioners of the arcane arts. Thus, the Templars have locked down the Tower and are preparing to raze it to the ground, along with any survivors still inside.
The Warden's party enters the Tower to investigate. They encounter Wynne, who has raised a barrier in a room to protect a group of young mages and acolytes. She then joins the Warden in order to excise the taint from the Tower before the Templars can destroy it.
At this point, Wynne harbours a secret. She was killed in the attack on the Tower, but a spirit of Faith from the Fade entered her and now sustains her life. This spirit seems to have had a long-time attachment to Wynne, as she has felt it near her all her life.
During the journey through the overrun tower, the party is derailed into the Fade by a demon of Sloth that traps them all in a nightmare. Wynne is caught reliving her regret for the fallen young mages and apprentices, but the Warden rescues her from the nightmare. With the Warden's help, Uldred is confronted and brought down, and the Circle of Magi is spared. Wynne insists that she accompany the Warden instead of stay and help rebuild the circle, as she sincerely believes she can do more good working to stop the Blight.
In the Warden's company, Wynne travels across Ferelden to secure help from the Dalish elves, the dwarves of Orzammar, and Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. The band of disparate warriors, witches and wanderers encounters myriad dangers, walks the Deep Roads of the dwarven kingdoms and the Brecilian forest where the elven tribes live their nomadic lives.
The Warden gathers his army for a decisive battle against the darkspawn horde. He recruits a clan of Dalish elves after aiding them against a group of werewolves led by a spirit of the forest. He helps resolve a succession crisis among the dwarves by placing the old king's youngest son on the throne. He cures the ailing arl of Redcliffe by recovering a pinch of the ashes of Andraste, the prophet of the Maker and the founder of the Chantry in its present incarnation.
Wynne's role in the party is most often to be a healer, a mentor, and a sort of moral compass. The quest belongs to the Warden: she never hesitates to speak her mind, but supports him even through decisions with which she might personally disagree. She develops different relationships with the other members of the Warden's company, from her grandmotherly regard of Alistair to her thwarted attempts at lecturing Morrigan on her wild apostate ways. She befriends the bard Leliana and displays a wary fascination with the taciturn Qunari warrior, Sten.
With the Warden's help, again, she also discovers that Aneirin, the apprentice that her harshness drove away from the Circle, survived his hunters and joined a clan of Dalish Elves. She meets him again in the Brecilian Forest, and they reconcile: he has found his place in the world, and she can continue on the Warden's quest with a newfound peace of mind. She also eventually reveals to the Warden that she is living on borrowed time, the spirit of Faith the only thing keeping her alive. However, this doesn't deter her from pledging her aid to his task for as long as she can. As she herself says, she could die any day in battle, so she will not lie around waiting for death. It is better to put her remaining days to good use, as she sees the situation.
Finally the Warden has gathered his army, and it is time to deal with the usurper Loghain. With Arl Eamon's help, the Warden calls a Landsmeet, a gathering of Fereldan nobles whose purpose is to give the country a new king. With Arl Eamon's suggestion, the Warden puts forth Alistair as the Theirin heir. The Warden persuades the Landsmeet to unite against Loghain. The former general is brought down and slain in an honorable duel.
At the same times, news arrives that the darkspawn horde, with the archdemon at its head, is marching on Denerim. The arls and banns rally to join the Warden's army in a last attempt to bring an end to the Blight.
» ABILITIES
To avoid extensive game mechanics jargon, I've tried to describe the effects of spells Wynne has access to in each school of magic. Each spell ability tree in Dragon Age has four spells. As a compromise, I've picked the trees she starts with and given her the three first spells in each (except for glyphs).
Mages in Thedas open a brief connection to the Fade, the dream realm, to channel its forces to shape into spells. Wynne seems to be the exception to this rule, as she is bonded with a spirit of Faith that saved her life. The spirit currently sustains her life and she can tap its power to fuel her spells, but this also means her lifespan is finite. She is dying, slowly but surely.
It would make the most sense to me that the spirit were still bonded to her in Edensphere. It is nonsentient and does not communicate, but Wynne describes it as a warm, soothing presence she can sense with her.
Unlockables [All Dormant]
» Spirit healer spells
Spirit healers can infuse multiple allies in healing energy with a single casting, rouse a person from unconsciousness, or place a ward over a fellow warrior that renews their health when they become seriously wounded. (Group Heal, Revival, Lifeward)
» Primal spells
Wynne commands a variety of earth-elemental spells that can harden her skin against blows, knock down a target with a stone projectile hurled with great force, or make the nearby ground itself shake and unbalance anyone standing there. (Rock Armour, Stonefist, Earthquake)
» Creation spells
Healing: Wynne's array of healing spells consists of a basic curative spell that targets one person, knitting injuries and sealing wounds, a spell that restores some of a person's mental energy and reserves (i.e. mana, chi, magic points, whatever you want to call this), and lastly a working that greatly boosts a body's regenerative capacity for a short while. (Heal, Rejuvenation, Regeneration)
Enhancements: Wynne can infuse an ally with focus and strength, enhancing their attacks, cast a protective aura that deflects most light missiles, or grant an ally the ability withstand cold, fire, electricity and other forms of spell energy, although this saps the target's strength somewhat. (Heroic Offence, Heroic Aura, Heroic Defence)
Glyphs: Wynne can inscribe a magical glyph on the ground that paralyses the first creature to pass its bounds for a time. (Glyph of Paralysis)
» Vessel of the Spirit
This is an ability granted by the Spirit of Faith that has bonded with Wynne. It is a great surge of magical energy that disorients nearby enemies and restores allies to health and mental focus in the same range. It does, however, expend so much power at once that it leaves her weary and light-headed for a time.
Passive abilities
By Fereldan standards, Wynne is a learned woman. She's been educated by the Circle and has at least theoretical knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. She has also served in war as a battle mage, so she has an understanding of tactics and strategy. She is also trained in basic staff combat, I would like to say, for those times when there is no chance of magical self-defence.
Game concept art
Game screencap (on the right)
» CANON PERSONALITY
Wynne is a woman at the end of a full life: she is a Senior Enchanter, a high-ranked mage at the Circle of Mages in Ferelden, and has seen both peace and strife during her days. In a world where mages are often regarded with fear and their lives strictly regulated by the Chantry (the main religious order in Ferelden), Wynne has embraced her role and been content with a life of work and service.
At first sight, Wynne is world-wise but not world-weary: intelligent, practical, and moral, but not without a glimmer in her eye. Her sense of humour is surprisingly earthy, and she rarely becomes tongue-tied even around the more raunchy members of the Warden's party. There is, however, a time for jesting and a time for serious conversation.
Her life in the Circle has been cloistered, as mages are seldom allowed to venture out of the tower. Wynne does, however, participate in the war efforts of King Cailan at the start of the story, as mages are valuable in battle for both their offensive and defensive abilities. She seems to consider this her duty to the throne and perhaps even more so to the common people under threat. As pertains to religious matters, she believes that personal faith and honest work for the Maker are more important than the letter of the Chant.
Describing herself as having been much more uptight, strict and judgmental in her youth, Wynne appears to have mellowed with experience. She takes her role as the sort of parental figure of the Warden's party with gentle if sometimes subtly edged humour. There is a wide streak of a mentor in her, too: she is glad to educate, even when the other parties are less than appreciative of her teachings. Most often gentle and even (grand)motherly in demeanour, she still has a strong sense of right and wrong and will stand by her own moral judgment to the end. She appreciates cleanliness and consideration, and may be quick to administer a thorough tongue-lashing at anyone seeming to lack in basic manners.
Wynne values both dedication and moderation, and often advocates a careful, rational approach to problem-solving. Her respect is won swiftly with a willingness to put oneself on the line, whether the task at hand is mundane or heroic. She doesn't put stock in bravado or tall tales. A person is measured by their deeds. Everyone can earn their place with honesty and the right choices.
In a nutshell, Wynne is no-nonsense, dutiful, upstanding, strong-willed, kind, often fussy, fastidious, and glowing with a quiet joy for life.
» CANON HISTORY
Senior Enchanter Wynne came to the Circle of Magi by Lake Calenhad at the age of nine. She was an orphan taken in by a peasant family, but when her magical aptitude manifested and she set the family's son's hair on fire, the templars were alerted and she was taken away to study magic with the Circle.
She has spent most of her life in the Circle Tower, which is the more common name for the Tevinter tower fort of Kinloch Hold. After an uncertain early life, she describes her arrival at the Tower as a homecoming.
She fully embraces her role as a mage and a spirit healer. She is a member of the Aequitarians Fraternity, which advocates diplomacy and moderation in the Circle's dealings and considers the chief role of mages to be serving Ferelden with their powers.
Information of Wynne's earlier years is based mostly on the conversations she can have with the Warden. She reveals that when she was first assigned students, she was given supervision of an elven apprentice named Aneirin. Adamant that she would make the shy, reticent youth a mage, she drove him harshly and ignored the fact that he had just been transported to a place and to people strange to him, and would have needed a gentler hand.
Finally he ran away from the Circle, and the Templars hunted him down as a fugitive and slew him. Wynne carried the regret of her too-stringent treatment of him for years to come. The incident taught her to listen to her students and to offer them support and counsel as well as discipline.
Intimate relationships between mages are discouraged, but Wynne apparently engaged in at least one. As a result, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The baby, however, was taken away by the Chantry while she was still weak from the birthing, and she never saw him again. This does not stop her from still wondering what became of him.
Dragon Age: Origins begins as Ferelden is bracing for an oncoming Blight. The Blight is an assault by the darkspawn, monstrous creatures who according to the lore of the Chantry were once mages cursed by the Maker for their sins. The dwell deep underground, but once in a great while, an Archdemon rises to lead them, and they surge to the surface in an endless raiding, killing horde.
The Grey Wardens are an old military order formed for the purpose of battling the darkspawn. Their star is on the wane in Ferelden, though, despite that they are idolised by the young King Cailan. The king gathers an army at Ostagar, which is also joined by Wynne along with other Circle mages, in order to defeat the darkspawn horde in one decisive attack. The strategy is foiled when Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir, the king's military advisor, betrays the king and the Grey Wardens and leaves them to die at the hands of the darkspawn.
Only two Wardens survive Ostagar: Alistair (who is King Maric's bastard son and Cailan's half-brother) and the PC Warden, the main character of Dragon Age. The Grey Wardens have, however, made treaties with all the peoples of Ferelden to render them aid when a Blight threatens. The two Wardens therefore set out to gather an army to defend Ferelden.
Their path eventually brings them to the Circle Tower at Lake Calenhad. At this time, the Circle is under attack from within. One of the mages, Uldred, has gone rogue and filled the tower with abominations. Abominations are mages possessed by demons from the Fade, the dream realm of the world, and the risk of a mage turning into an abomination is the reason for the Chantry's short leash on the practitioners of the arcane arts. Thus, the Templars have locked down the Tower and are preparing to raze it to the ground, along with any survivors still inside.
The Warden's party enters the Tower to investigate. They encounter Wynne, who has raised a barrier in a room to protect a group of young mages and acolytes. She then joins the Warden in order to excise the taint from the Tower before the Templars can destroy it.
At this point, Wynne harbours a secret. She was killed in the attack on the Tower, but a spirit of Faith from the Fade entered her and now sustains her life. This spirit seems to have had a long-time attachment to Wynne, as she has felt it near her all her life.
During the journey through the overrun tower, the party is derailed into the Fade by a demon of Sloth that traps them all in a nightmare. Wynne is caught reliving her regret for the fallen young mages and apprentices, but the Warden rescues her from the nightmare. With the Warden's help, Uldred is confronted and brought down, and the Circle of Magi is spared. Wynne insists that she accompany the Warden instead of stay and help rebuild the circle, as she sincerely believes she can do more good working to stop the Blight.
In the Warden's company, Wynne travels across Ferelden to secure help from the Dalish elves, the dwarves of Orzammar, and Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. The band of disparate warriors, witches and wanderers encounters myriad dangers, walks the Deep Roads of the dwarven kingdoms and the Brecilian forest where the elven tribes live their nomadic lives.
The Warden gathers his army for a decisive battle against the darkspawn horde. He recruits a clan of Dalish elves after aiding them against a group of werewolves led by a spirit of the forest. He helps resolve a succession crisis among the dwarves by placing the old king's youngest son on the throne. He cures the ailing arl of Redcliffe by recovering a pinch of the ashes of Andraste, the prophet of the Maker and the founder of the Chantry in its present incarnation.
Wynne's role in the party is most often to be a healer, a mentor, and a sort of moral compass. The quest belongs to the Warden: she never hesitates to speak her mind, but supports him even through decisions with which she might personally disagree. She develops different relationships with the other members of the Warden's company, from her grandmotherly regard of Alistair to her thwarted attempts at lecturing Morrigan on her wild apostate ways. She befriends the bard Leliana and displays a wary fascination with the taciturn Qunari warrior, Sten.
With the Warden's help, again, she also discovers that Aneirin, the apprentice that her harshness drove away from the Circle, survived his hunters and joined a clan of Dalish Elves. She meets him again in the Brecilian Forest, and they reconcile: he has found his place in the world, and she can continue on the Warden's quest with a newfound peace of mind. She also eventually reveals to the Warden that she is living on borrowed time, the spirit of Faith the only thing keeping her alive. However, this doesn't deter her from pledging her aid to his task for as long as she can. As she herself says, she could die any day in battle, so she will not lie around waiting for death. It is better to put her remaining days to good use, as she sees the situation.
Finally the Warden has gathered his army, and it is time to deal with the usurper Loghain. With Arl Eamon's help, the Warden calls a Landsmeet, a gathering of Fereldan nobles whose purpose is to give the country a new king. With Arl Eamon's suggestion, the Warden puts forth Alistair as the Theirin heir. The Warden persuades the Landsmeet to unite against Loghain. The former general is brought down and slain in an honorable duel.
At the same times, news arrives that the darkspawn horde, with the archdemon at its head, is marching on Denerim. The arls and banns rally to join the Warden's army in a last attempt to bring an end to the Blight.
» ABILITIES
To avoid extensive game mechanics jargon, I've tried to describe the effects of spells Wynne has access to in each school of magic. Each spell ability tree in Dragon Age has four spells. As a compromise, I've picked the trees she starts with and given her the three first spells in each (except for glyphs).
Mages in Thedas open a brief connection to the Fade, the dream realm, to channel its forces to shape into spells. Wynne seems to be the exception to this rule, as she is bonded with a spirit of Faith that saved her life. The spirit currently sustains her life and she can tap its power to fuel her spells, but this also means her lifespan is finite. She is dying, slowly but surely.
It would make the most sense to me that the spirit were still bonded to her in Edensphere. It is nonsentient and does not communicate, but Wynne describes it as a warm, soothing presence she can sense with her.
Unlockables [All Dormant]
» Spirit healer spells
Spirit healers can infuse multiple allies in healing energy with a single casting, rouse a person from unconsciousness, or place a ward over a fellow warrior that renews their health when they become seriously wounded. (Group Heal, Revival, Lifeward)
» Primal spells
Wynne commands a variety of earth-elemental spells that can harden her skin against blows, knock down a target with a stone projectile hurled with great force, or make the nearby ground itself shake and unbalance anyone standing there. (Rock Armour, Stonefist, Earthquake)
» Creation spells
Healing: Wynne's array of healing spells consists of a basic curative spell that targets one person, knitting injuries and sealing wounds, a spell that restores some of a person's mental energy and reserves (i.e. mana, chi, magic points, whatever you want to call this), and lastly a working that greatly boosts a body's regenerative capacity for a short while. (Heal, Rejuvenation, Regeneration)
Enhancements: Wynne can infuse an ally with focus and strength, enhancing their attacks, cast a protective aura that deflects most light missiles, or grant an ally the ability withstand cold, fire, electricity and other forms of spell energy, although this saps the target's strength somewhat. (Heroic Offence, Heroic Aura, Heroic Defence)
Glyphs: Wynne can inscribe a magical glyph on the ground that paralyses the first creature to pass its bounds for a time. (Glyph of Paralysis)
» Vessel of the Spirit
This is an ability granted by the Spirit of Faith that has bonded with Wynne. It is a great surge of magical energy that disorients nearby enemies and restores allies to health and mental focus in the same range. It does, however, expend so much power at once that it leaves her weary and light-headed for a time.
Passive abilities
By Fereldan standards, Wynne is a learned woman. She's been educated by the Circle and has at least theoretical knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. She has also served in war as a battle mage, so she has an understanding of tactics and strategy. She is also trained in basic staff combat, I would like to say, for those times when there is no chance of magical self-defence.