(no subject)
Name: Reve
Age: 28
Journal: yellow_ideya
Contact: ciedrik(@)gmail(dot)com | circle0fseven (AIM)
1. Character's Name: Fenris
2. Fandom: Dragon Age 2
3. Time Frame: Early in Act 3, immediately after realizing that his sister sold him out to Danarius.
4. Age: Never stated, but likely in his early-mid 30s.
5. Background: Fenris heralds from the Tevinter Imperium, a nation where slavery is legal and mages are the ruling body. There, he was the property and bodyguard of the magister Danarius, who had a particular interest in tinkering with lyrium: a magical ore. Although he would later lose the memory of doing so, Fenris volunteered to have himself tattooed with lyrium in exchange for the freedom of his mother and sister. The process was excruciating and effectively walled off all of Fenris' memories prior to that point, leaving him unwaveringly loyal to Danarius. Having magic literally carved into his skin also gave him a unique ability to phase his physical form through solid objects, be that a wall, a door, or someone's ribcage. This, combined with his skill with two-handed greatswords, made him an effective and lethal warrior; one that Danarius kept on a very short leash.
Things changed when he went with Danarius to the island of Seheron, where the Imperium and the Qunari were fighting for territory. The Imperium was forced into a retreat but Fenris was left behind as collateral damage, much to Danarius' displeasure. He barely escaped with his life into the surrounding forest where he was found by Qunari rebels called the Fog Warriors. They nursed him back to health and he spent the following months with them, growing fond of their freedom and way of life. Unfortunately, Danarius eventually returned and tracked him down. When the Fog Warriors refused to give Fenris back, Danarius ordered him to kill them. Like a good slave, Fenris obeyed.
Horrified and guilt-stricken after realizing what he'd done, he fled, stowing aboard a ship bound for mainland Thedas. From there he moved south, either avoiding or killing the mercenaries, bounty hunters and assassins Danarius sent in pursuit. Determined to get his distance from Tevinter's seat of power before facing his former master, Fenris eventually found himself at Kirkwall on the southern shore.
It was here that he hired a dwarf to find him someone to distract the most recent set of Tevinter mercenaries so he could dispatch them. That someone happened to be Hawke, an up-and-coming name around the city's "less than legal" corners. When the ambush turned up evidence that Danarius was staying in Kirkwall, Fenris requested Hawke's help in confronting him. Unfortunately, the mansion the magister was supposed to be staying in was empty save for demons and shades. It didn't deter Fenris, who lay unofficial claim to the derelict house under the pretense of waiting for his master to come reclaim his property; feeling a debt of gratitude, he put himself in Hawke's service and began steeling himself for what he felt was the inevitable confrontation with Danarius.
What he didn't know was that it would take six years to get to that point.
Not long after falling in with Hawke, he joined the group's expedition to the Deep Roads: labyrinthine dwarven tunnels carved under Thedas but home in modern times to more blight-afflicted Darkspawn than dwarves. It was there they were betrayed for an artifact by Varric's brother Bartran, who locked them in a forgotten thaig and left them for dead. It took a miracle of carving through demons, darkspawn and rock wraiths but they were eventually able to claw their way back to the surface and Kirkwall. The expedition, even for as disastrous as it was, had left Hawke amazingly wealthy with the treasure they'd found, allowing the former Ferelden refugee to relocate legally from the slums to Kirkwall's Hightown. Fenris, for his part, continued to squat in Danarius' mansion for the next three years, sustaining himself by taking on mercenary work around the city when he wasn't working with Hawke.
It was during an excursion with Hawke that they were ambushed by Tevinter bounty hunters looking for Fenris. They were dispatched easily but not before it was revealed that Danarius' apprentice Hadriana had orchestrated the whole thing and that she was hiding just outside the city. Furious and chomping at the bit to get at the woman who had done nothing but make his life even more miserable than it already was during his years in enslavement, Fenris went with Hawke in search of her. When they found her, she pleaded for her life, promising to tell Fenris about a sister he couldn't remember if he would spare her. He kept his word just long enough to get the information before ripping her heart out.
Unfortunately, finding his sister--Varania--was not so easy and there were other things that were becoming more important. Mainly the Qunari that had been stranded in Kirkwall for the last several years. Tensions had been rising steadily and they were about to overflow. Despite Hawke's remarkable efforts to keep the peace, things finally came to a head and the Qunari launched an all out attack from within Kirkwall's own walls, storming through the city and taking the Viscount's keep for their own. With the help of the Templar Knight-Commander and First Enchanter of the Circle of Magi, they were able to get inside and confront the Qunari leader: the Arishok. Drawing on his history with the Qunari, Fenris was able to convince the Arishok to duel Hawke one-on-one for control of the city; a fight Hawke won against all odds, earning him the title "Champion of Kirkwall".
The Qunari attack left Kirkwall without a viscount and over the next three years, the city slowly began to smother under the default custody of the Templars and Knight-Commander Meredith. Rather than worry about a growing animosity that didn't involved him however, Fenris focused his efforts on finally locating his sister, who he discovered had been living as a tailor back in the Imperium. Eventually, he was able to send her enough money to make the trip to Kirkwall. When news of her arrival reached Fenris, he asked Hawke's help once again, still fearing the threat of walking into a trap despite the eagerness to see his long-lost family.
As it turns out, his suspicions were well founded. When he approached Varania at the Hanged Man, it was amidst a hazy of forgotten memories: his mother, playing with his sister, and his real name: Leto. It was almost enough to distract him from the realization that something was very wrong. At Hawke's urging, he looked up and into the face of the man who had haunted his life for the past six years. Danarius.
And then everything went black and he woke up in the Keep...
6. Personality: Fenris is a man driven by a complex snarl of emotions, some of which he barely even understands himself. As a former slave who spent most of his life caring only about his master and conditioned to take orders and receive nothing in return, he has a hard time relating to other people and understanding their motives beyond assumptions of selfishness. No one had seen fit to help him, even after he escaped Danarius (and the only ones who did, he murdered on command), so why should anyone start now? His friendship with Hawke is slowly changing that, but Fenris is still highly defensive and more likely to believe that kindness from others is just an attempt to demean or mock his plight.
That plight- a life of torment and misery- has left him jaded and angry at the world, especially when it comes to magic. Because he comes from the Imperium, where magic is so often casually abused for power and personal gain (the proof of which is carved into his skin, as he's usually quick to point out), he has a deep-seated mistrust of mages, believing that they are all inherently dangerous to anyone around them. He has a begrudging respect for the Circle and the templars because of this, but if you ask him, the only "safe" mage is a dead mage. It's a harsh prejudice and one he adjusts only for the rare special case, such as Hawke's sister Bethany, who he admits is "strong".
The shell that he wears around himself most of the time is cold and critical, hardened by years on the run and even more years of slavery and one would be hard pressed to get a good word out of him unless he's determined a person safe to lower his guard around. The few he counts among his friends- primarily Hawke and a few of his other companions- are allowed glimpses of the man under the armor: someone who is tired of running and confused by a life of supposed freedom.
He's slow to trust and even after he's formed what passes as a bond for him with someone, it's not inconceivable that he could force himself to leave if he felt threatened or frightened. It's a fault that he privately blames on cowardice masquerading as malice. For Fenris, it's easier to be angry than admit a shortcoming, a threat that he finds grows larger the closer he gets to someone. Weakness and insecurity are not things he deals with easily and he prefers to lash out instead of deal with them; so it's usually his friends that bear the brunt of that particular backlash. Those that stick it out through the fit will find that he's usually remorseful after the fact for upsetting them.
When he's more at ease, Fenris has a dry, sometimes questionable sense of humor (he's one of the few to laugh at or indulge Isabela's often filthy jokes) and isn't adverse to cards or drinking. In fact, he has quite the taste for fancy wines, likely picked up when he raided Danarius' abandoned cache of the stuff at the old mansion.
7. Previous Game Developments:
8. Appearance: A pic-a-toor. Although without the red band. The only significant change Fenris undergoes at any point is when his Lyrium tattoos glow. They shed a blue light when activated. Like all elves in Thedas, he's generally of a smaller build than an average human male, being shorter and slimmer.
9. Abilities: Fenris is proficient with two-handed greatswords, presumably having been trained thoroughly in his role as bodyguard. He may look frail, but his slight build has been conditioned almost exclusively for fighting and he has no problems lifting the weight of a grown man larger than himself off the ground. In canon it's stated that he uses "Tevinter fighting techniques", although it's not exactly said what makes them so special.
His lyrium tattoos, when activated, allow Fenris to phase himself in and out of the physical realm. He literally becomes partially incorporeal for a time. He mostly uses this skill to reach into the bodies of his enemies, phasing his arm or hand back into existence while inside and crushing their internal organs. He's never shown doing more than that, but as "Lyrium Ghost" is one of the abilities of his specific talent tree in-game, it's implied that he could probably move his entire body through solid objects if he wanted to. The lyrium also provides him with boosts to speed and strength.
At Holloway's Keep, his sword will be dulled and rendered non-lethal. His lyrium phasing will be limited to only a few seconds at a time and leave him extremely taxed afterwards. And even when activated, it will be much harder for him to pass through solid objects; like the difference between putting your hand into a bowl of water versus a bowl of mud or cement. The denser the object, the harder it'll be for him to move against it.
10. Languages: Speaks Common, Arcanum, and Qunari but can't read or write at all.
11. Items: A few silver, two health potions and a stamina draught.
12. Weapons: Just one lone greatsword. I guess his gauntlets could count too? They've got claws on the fingers, which will of course be blunted in the same was as his blade edge.
13. Writing sample - Third Person:
Cards at the Hanged Man: how had this turned into a regular thing? Sometimes, when he was feeling particularly disinclined to put up with the world and the people in it, he had to wonder how he had somehow made this part of his life. The very notion of it scoffed in the face of everything he'd ever known; a filthy hovel filled with noise and too many people,
where his bare feet stuck to the grimy floor and the smell never failed to cling to him for hours afterward. It was a complete antithesis to the spotless, painfully manicured estates that he was sure would forever haunt his memories.
He wondered, in these times, if he was supposed to enjoy it. Hawke certainly seemed to. But Fenris just hated the blighted hole-in-the-wall.
It was too crowded, too noisy, too dirty and too smelly.
It was also one of the few places that happened to collect the entirety of anyone he might have dared to call "friend". Not out loud of course- maybe in private- but on the days he didn't want the whole of Kirkwall to go take a long walk off a short pier, he had to admit that there might be something to the fact that he kept coming back. Blame it on Hawke; blame it on Varric or Isabela or Donnic- Maker take the man for being the only reasonable one of them all.
He could blame it on whoever he liked, but in the end he was still sitting at that table with everyone else. He wasn't even very good at these games, but he played them anyway. Maybe because a part of him wondered if this was how free men felt. He had nothing to judge it against of course, but he wondered none the less.
14. Writing Sample - First Person:
Hawke. [Fenris' voice is tight. Controlled.] You are- [No. Not going to say it.] I.. respect the decisions you choose to make, even if they are...
...misguided... [That was a diplomatic enough word, right?]
Your judgement has always been sound enough, even if only in retrospect, and no doubt there will be an explanation for this, too. There had better be, at any rate. But I'm beginning to think Varric had the right idea when he abandoned us at the shore.
[Which was probably for the best, since the two men were currently up to their knees in a mire that would undoubtedly make the Kirkwall sewers seem like an Orlesian garden by comparison. And Hawke had the gall to look pleased as he held up a scrap of rope. "Andraste's Sandle Strap", is what he'd declared it to be and CLEARLY it was worth the trip.]
I don't care if it's a piece of her nuptial small clothes! This is ridiculous! Why did I even agree to come with you?
[All he gets is that infuriating little grin of Hawkes that clearly proves he knows the answer and it takes everything Fenris has not to try and punch it off the Champion's face.]
...Blighted rope. I'm going back to wait with Varric.
15. Tattoo: Following the major lines of lyrium up his right arm, from elbow to shoulder.
16. Room Preference: If the mods are feeling kind, then as far away from anyone else as possible. If they're feeling particularly antagonistic, then next door to Anders or pretty much anyone with magical abilities.
Age: 28
Journal: yellow_ideya
Contact: ciedrik(@)gmail(dot)com | circle0fseven (AIM)
1. Character's Name: Fenris
2. Fandom: Dragon Age 2
3. Time Frame: Early in Act 3, immediately after realizing that his sister sold him out to Danarius.
4. Age: Never stated, but likely in his early-mid 30s.
5. Background: Fenris heralds from the Tevinter Imperium, a nation where slavery is legal and mages are the ruling body. There, he was the property and bodyguard of the magister Danarius, who had a particular interest in tinkering with lyrium: a magical ore. Although he would later lose the memory of doing so, Fenris volunteered to have himself tattooed with lyrium in exchange for the freedom of his mother and sister. The process was excruciating and effectively walled off all of Fenris' memories prior to that point, leaving him unwaveringly loyal to Danarius. Having magic literally carved into his skin also gave him a unique ability to phase his physical form through solid objects, be that a wall, a door, or someone's ribcage. This, combined with his skill with two-handed greatswords, made him an effective and lethal warrior; one that Danarius kept on a very short leash.
Things changed when he went with Danarius to the island of Seheron, where the Imperium and the Qunari were fighting for territory. The Imperium was forced into a retreat but Fenris was left behind as collateral damage, much to Danarius' displeasure. He barely escaped with his life into the surrounding forest where he was found by Qunari rebels called the Fog Warriors. They nursed him back to health and he spent the following months with them, growing fond of their freedom and way of life. Unfortunately, Danarius eventually returned and tracked him down. When the Fog Warriors refused to give Fenris back, Danarius ordered him to kill them. Like a good slave, Fenris obeyed.
Horrified and guilt-stricken after realizing what he'd done, he fled, stowing aboard a ship bound for mainland Thedas. From there he moved south, either avoiding or killing the mercenaries, bounty hunters and assassins Danarius sent in pursuit. Determined to get his distance from Tevinter's seat of power before facing his former master, Fenris eventually found himself at Kirkwall on the southern shore.
It was here that he hired a dwarf to find him someone to distract the most recent set of Tevinter mercenaries so he could dispatch them. That someone happened to be Hawke, an up-and-coming name around the city's "less than legal" corners. When the ambush turned up evidence that Danarius was staying in Kirkwall, Fenris requested Hawke's help in confronting him. Unfortunately, the mansion the magister was supposed to be staying in was empty save for demons and shades. It didn't deter Fenris, who lay unofficial claim to the derelict house under the pretense of waiting for his master to come reclaim his property; feeling a debt of gratitude, he put himself in Hawke's service and began steeling himself for what he felt was the inevitable confrontation with Danarius.
What he didn't know was that it would take six years to get to that point.
Not long after falling in with Hawke, he joined the group's expedition to the Deep Roads: labyrinthine dwarven tunnels carved under Thedas but home in modern times to more blight-afflicted Darkspawn than dwarves. It was there they were betrayed for an artifact by Varric's brother Bartran, who locked them in a forgotten thaig and left them for dead. It took a miracle of carving through demons, darkspawn and rock wraiths but they were eventually able to claw their way back to the surface and Kirkwall. The expedition, even for as disastrous as it was, had left Hawke amazingly wealthy with the treasure they'd found, allowing the former Ferelden refugee to relocate legally from the slums to Kirkwall's Hightown. Fenris, for his part, continued to squat in Danarius' mansion for the next three years, sustaining himself by taking on mercenary work around the city when he wasn't working with Hawke.
It was during an excursion with Hawke that they were ambushed by Tevinter bounty hunters looking for Fenris. They were dispatched easily but not before it was revealed that Danarius' apprentice Hadriana had orchestrated the whole thing and that she was hiding just outside the city. Furious and chomping at the bit to get at the woman who had done nothing but make his life even more miserable than it already was during his years in enslavement, Fenris went with Hawke in search of her. When they found her, she pleaded for her life, promising to tell Fenris about a sister he couldn't remember if he would spare her. He kept his word just long enough to get the information before ripping her heart out.
Unfortunately, finding his sister--Varania--was not so easy and there were other things that were becoming more important. Mainly the Qunari that had been stranded in Kirkwall for the last several years. Tensions had been rising steadily and they were about to overflow. Despite Hawke's remarkable efforts to keep the peace, things finally came to a head and the Qunari launched an all out attack from within Kirkwall's own walls, storming through the city and taking the Viscount's keep for their own. With the help of the Templar Knight-Commander and First Enchanter of the Circle of Magi, they were able to get inside and confront the Qunari leader: the Arishok. Drawing on his history with the Qunari, Fenris was able to convince the Arishok to duel Hawke one-on-one for control of the city; a fight Hawke won against all odds, earning him the title "Champion of Kirkwall".
The Qunari attack left Kirkwall without a viscount and over the next three years, the city slowly began to smother under the default custody of the Templars and Knight-Commander Meredith. Rather than worry about a growing animosity that didn't involved him however, Fenris focused his efforts on finally locating his sister, who he discovered had been living as a tailor back in the Imperium. Eventually, he was able to send her enough money to make the trip to Kirkwall. When news of her arrival reached Fenris, he asked Hawke's help once again, still fearing the threat of walking into a trap despite the eagerness to see his long-lost family.
As it turns out, his suspicions were well founded. When he approached Varania at the Hanged Man, it was amidst a hazy of forgotten memories: his mother, playing with his sister, and his real name: Leto. It was almost enough to distract him from the realization that something was very wrong. At Hawke's urging, he looked up and into the face of the man who had haunted his life for the past six years. Danarius.
And then everything went black and he woke up in the Keep...
6. Personality: Fenris is a man driven by a complex snarl of emotions, some of which he barely even understands himself. As a former slave who spent most of his life caring only about his master and conditioned to take orders and receive nothing in return, he has a hard time relating to other people and understanding their motives beyond assumptions of selfishness. No one had seen fit to help him, even after he escaped Danarius (and the only ones who did, he murdered on command), so why should anyone start now? His friendship with Hawke is slowly changing that, but Fenris is still highly defensive and more likely to believe that kindness from others is just an attempt to demean or mock his plight.
That plight- a life of torment and misery- has left him jaded and angry at the world, especially when it comes to magic. Because he comes from the Imperium, where magic is so often casually abused for power and personal gain (the proof of which is carved into his skin, as he's usually quick to point out), he has a deep-seated mistrust of mages, believing that they are all inherently dangerous to anyone around them. He has a begrudging respect for the Circle and the templars because of this, but if you ask him, the only "safe" mage is a dead mage. It's a harsh prejudice and one he adjusts only for the rare special case, such as Hawke's sister Bethany, who he admits is "strong".
The shell that he wears around himself most of the time is cold and critical, hardened by years on the run and even more years of slavery and one would be hard pressed to get a good word out of him unless he's determined a person safe to lower his guard around. The few he counts among his friends- primarily Hawke and a few of his other companions- are allowed glimpses of the man under the armor: someone who is tired of running and confused by a life of supposed freedom.
He's slow to trust and even after he's formed what passes as a bond for him with someone, it's not inconceivable that he could force himself to leave if he felt threatened or frightened. It's a fault that he privately blames on cowardice masquerading as malice. For Fenris, it's easier to be angry than admit a shortcoming, a threat that he finds grows larger the closer he gets to someone. Weakness and insecurity are not things he deals with easily and he prefers to lash out instead of deal with them; so it's usually his friends that bear the brunt of that particular backlash. Those that stick it out through the fit will find that he's usually remorseful after the fact for upsetting them.
When he's more at ease, Fenris has a dry, sometimes questionable sense of humor (he's one of the few to laugh at or indulge Isabela's often filthy jokes) and isn't adverse to cards or drinking. In fact, he has quite the taste for fancy wines, likely picked up when he raided Danarius' abandoned cache of the stuff at the old mansion.
7. Previous Game Developments:
8. Appearance: A pic-a-toor. Although without the red band. The only significant change Fenris undergoes at any point is when his Lyrium tattoos glow. They shed a blue light when activated. Like all elves in Thedas, he's generally of a smaller build than an average human male, being shorter and slimmer.
9. Abilities: Fenris is proficient with two-handed greatswords, presumably having been trained thoroughly in his role as bodyguard. He may look frail, but his slight build has been conditioned almost exclusively for fighting and he has no problems lifting the weight of a grown man larger than himself off the ground. In canon it's stated that he uses "Tevinter fighting techniques", although it's not exactly said what makes them so special.
His lyrium tattoos, when activated, allow Fenris to phase himself in and out of the physical realm. He literally becomes partially incorporeal for a time. He mostly uses this skill to reach into the bodies of his enemies, phasing his arm or hand back into existence while inside and crushing their internal organs. He's never shown doing more than that, but as "Lyrium Ghost" is one of the abilities of his specific talent tree in-game, it's implied that he could probably move his entire body through solid objects if he wanted to. The lyrium also provides him with boosts to speed and strength.
At Holloway's Keep, his sword will be dulled and rendered non-lethal. His lyrium phasing will be limited to only a few seconds at a time and leave him extremely taxed afterwards. And even when activated, it will be much harder for him to pass through solid objects; like the difference between putting your hand into a bowl of water versus a bowl of mud or cement. The denser the object, the harder it'll be for him to move against it.
10. Languages: Speaks Common, Arcanum, and Qunari but can't read or write at all.
11. Items: A few silver, two health potions and a stamina draught.
12. Weapons: Just one lone greatsword. I guess his gauntlets could count too? They've got claws on the fingers, which will of course be blunted in the same was as his blade edge.
13. Writing sample - Third Person:
Cards at the Hanged Man: how had this turned into a regular thing? Sometimes, when he was feeling particularly disinclined to put up with the world and the people in it, he had to wonder how he had somehow made this part of his life. The very notion of it scoffed in the face of everything he'd ever known; a filthy hovel filled with noise and too many people,
where his bare feet stuck to the grimy floor and the smell never failed to cling to him for hours afterward. It was a complete antithesis to the spotless, painfully manicured estates that he was sure would forever haunt his memories.
He wondered, in these times, if he was supposed to enjoy it. Hawke certainly seemed to. But Fenris just hated the blighted hole-in-the-wall.
It was too crowded, too noisy, too dirty and too smelly.
It was also one of the few places that happened to collect the entirety of anyone he might have dared to call "friend". Not out loud of course- maybe in private- but on the days he didn't want the whole of Kirkwall to go take a long walk off a short pier, he had to admit that there might be something to the fact that he kept coming back. Blame it on Hawke; blame it on Varric or Isabela or Donnic- Maker take the man for being the only reasonable one of them all.
He could blame it on whoever he liked, but in the end he was still sitting at that table with everyone else. He wasn't even very good at these games, but he played them anyway. Maybe because a part of him wondered if this was how free men felt. He had nothing to judge it against of course, but he wondered none the less.
14. Writing Sample - First Person:
Hawke. [Fenris' voice is tight. Controlled.] You are- [No. Not going to say it.] I.. respect the decisions you choose to make, even if they are...
...misguided... [That was a diplomatic enough word, right?]
Your judgement has always been sound enough, even if only in retrospect, and no doubt there will be an explanation for this, too. There had better be, at any rate. But I'm beginning to think Varric had the right idea when he abandoned us at the shore.
[Which was probably for the best, since the two men were currently up to their knees in a mire that would undoubtedly make the Kirkwall sewers seem like an Orlesian garden by comparison. And Hawke had the gall to look pleased as he held up a scrap of rope. "Andraste's Sandle Strap", is what he'd declared it to be and CLEARLY it was worth the trip.]
I don't care if it's a piece of her nuptial small clothes! This is ridiculous! Why did I even agree to come with you?
[All he gets is that infuriating little grin of Hawkes that clearly proves he knows the answer and it takes everything Fenris has not to try and punch it off the Champion's face.]
...Blighted rope. I'm going back to wait with Varric.
15. Tattoo: Following the major lines of lyrium up his right arm, from elbow to shoulder.
16. Room Preference: If the mods are feeling kind, then as far away from anyone else as possible. If they're feeling particularly antagonistic, then next door to Anders or pretty much anyone with magical abilities.