(no subject)
User Name/Nick: Chi
User LJ: queen_chihuahua
AIM/IM: queenchii23
E-mail: I'd like to be contacted through PM, please :)
Other Characters: None to speak of!
Character Name: Anders is the name goes by, though it's a nickname of sorts. His real name is never stated in his cannon.
Series: Dragon Age (Awakening, and Two)
Age: Never stated directly, but from the point in cannon I'm taking him, I would place him roughly at 30.
From When?: After the destruction of the of the Kirkwall Chantry, and Anders' death.
Inmate/Warden: After a lot of consideration, I think Inmate. Anders did think his redemption for the deaths he has caused and the wrongs he has done would be his own death; he never considered it might come after that! He certainly has a lot to feel guilty about (killing his lover, killing an innocent girl he was supposed to be protecting, blowing up a church and causing the deaths of those inside) so I think that helps to qualify him. I think there are some things that could help redeem him though, which I will list in the appropriate section.
Item: N/A
Abilities/Powers: Because there is a chance Anders MAY turn into a warden much later in the game, (and because I listed all of his powers here before I knew if I wanted to make him an inmate or a warden) I have included his powers here.
Anders' specialized skill tree is here, but I'll list the skills he has, too :)
~*Healing Spells*~
Pancea: Anders always had a knack for healing. While this mode is active, nearby allies recuperate quickly, even in the heat of combat. This mode allows Anders to use Aid Allies and Regroup, but cannot be used the same time as Vengeance, and Anders cannot cast any offensive spell for the duration of the effect. This is Anders' "healing mode".
Aid Allies: Anders learned a great deal about healing while running a hospice in Kirkwall. He can now apply those skills to heal the whole party with a single spell. (Panacea must be active.) Basically, he can heal more than one person at once. This includes things like cuts, bruises, fractures, broken bones, ect. However, it takes a portion of his own energy to heal. The worse the damage, the more energy it takes. He could only heal one person from a fetal injury before becoming completely exhausted, say. However, he could heal a few different minor injuries. Because he's an inmate, I'm going to say Anders can only heal minor injuries before becoming exhausted.
Regroup: Anders can revive fallen friends even in the heat of battle; plain speak? He can revive someone who's unconscious. Same rules as above apply.Depending on the severity of the unconsciousness (fainting vs near death) I would put a tentative limit of once to three times a day on this, normally. Because he is an inmate, I think this ability should be blocked all together
~*Vengeance Powers*~
Vengeance: While this mode is active, Anders gains a measure of control over the spirit within. His attacks and spells inflict much more damage, and he becomes able to cast Martyr, but he is more susceptible to damage and cannot be healed. Takes hits harder, can not heal OTHERS or heal HIMSELF. This is his "attack mode".
Martyr: Anders sacrifices his own health to replenish mana and cast spells more rapidly. (Vengeance must be active.) Plain speak? He draws power from his own LIFE FORCE rather than his energy, allowing him to cast more spells. This is only to a certain point though, because it is his own life power he's using. As an inmate he can only do this very minimally-- so much so that it probably doesn't make a difference if he's drawing on his energy or his life force.
Blood of my Enemy: Anders gains health for every enemy he fells.Because he is an inmate, I think this ability should be blocked all together.
~*Other Powers*~
Fireball: Anders creates a small amount of flame that he can throw like a weapon.As an inmate, I think he should only be able to create a small amount of flame (as much as a lit candle) at the tips of his fingers)
Mind Blast: A spell that knocks enemies off their feet with minimal knock back. As an inmate, I think this spell would generate as much force as knocking into someone with a strong hand to the shoulder.
~*~*~*~
NOTE: Vengeance Powers and Healing powers can NOT be used in conjunction.
I'm pretty cool with nurfing the powers, though, if I didn't do it enough. Just let me know if it's needed :)
Personality: I have to state right away that Anders is a very complicated character. It's hard to even know where to begin! I may end up describing a little history here, to give my description of his personality context.
When he was 12 he was taken away from his parents, and sent to The Circle, which is a sort of prison for people born with magic. This gave him a deep sense of injustice about the way mages are treated in his society. Though, in his youth, he was less vocal about this feeling. He harbored (and still harbors) his more serious emotions under a joker persona.
Anders spent his youth learning the art of magic from those inside The Circle, but never stopped trying to escape. There were seven failed attempts in total. He's very determined, and very willing to keep fighting for what he believes in, despite any obstacle. He's very willing to break the rules and risk the punishment if it's for something he believes in, like freedom for himself and his people. Though Anders is quite intense about his beliefs, he comes off as a joker and a bit lecherous (he jokes quite a bit, with and without innuendo). Anders was capable of being selfish, earlier in his life. He would often drink, and fool around with other mages of the circle, thus forgetting the injustice he and they faced when he could.
Something that changed Anders quite a bit was his fusion with Justice, a spirit from The Fade (which is the world all magic comes from in his verse). Anders was touched by the spirit's plight; he was trapped outside his homeworld, he needed a living body to survive. When they fused, both of them changed. Anders says that he he thinks his own anger at The Templars (the "mage police", essentially) changed Justice, who he is now irreversibly fused with. This event changed Anders from being a somewhat selfish kid into a reckless adult. He suddenly a mind for suffering outside of his own, for his people as a whole, and a new hatred for those who held the chains of thier oppression.
After the fusion, Anders' "harder" side was brought more into light. Though He still jokes and makes light, but he's much more vocal about the oppression of his people. He has no choice but to fight for the rights of mages everywhere, because it is what Justice (and thus, what he himself) demands. He feels guilty about getting drunk, and feels that he does not deserve love. He begins to act more somber and withdrawn, losing the playfulness and lightheartedness he had shown before. He feels all of this as if of his own free will, even though he never would have thought them prior to Justice.
Anders' hatred for those who would oppress mages grew deeper and darker, to the point where he regards all Templars with utter disgust, even if they are working within the order to help mages. His distrust blinds him. He doesn't extend the same hatred to non-mages, but he does IF they openly condemn/fear the use of magic. All of this demonstrates the way Anders tends to group things into black and white categories-- he has no patience for "shades of grey".
Other traits that should be described: Anders is daring, with more regard for what he believes in than what he cares about; even lower in importance for him are the actual rules. He will risk his own life, and the lives of others for "the greater good". He's also cannonly pansexual. In game, he states he's always believed that you fall in love with a whole person, and not just a body. Anders can also be a somber, pessimistic individual, due to the vast amount of suffering he's seen in his life. He lets things grate on him without thinking to speak of his troubles, because he often feels that they are his alone to bare.However, he tries to (though does not always suceed) hide this aspect of himself by jesting and teasing. If someone gets to know him well enough, they might get to see past all that. This somberness comes from the weight of carring about mage-kind as a whole; he states in game that sometimes, he misses being selfish like he used to.
How will he react to the barge? He will be... bitter. Anders thought that his redemption for the wrongs that he has done would come with his death. He'd probably feel contempt being put in the same group as people who have done serious wrongs, where most of what he has done has been "for the greater good". Though, he's not lost on the idea of redemption. If it was explained to him that it was why he was here, he might slowly warm up to the idea (once learning to actually trust that it was true). Not saying he'd be kittens and sunshine about it, but he wouldn't fight tooth and nail against his warden/things he was to do. Still, expect smart-assery.
Path to Redemption: There are two things I think a potential Warden should be teaching Anders in order to redeem him. One, he needs to learn to control the spirit inside of him and two, he needs to learn to see things in shades of grey. Do no expect either of these to be easy.
The spirit of Justice turns quickly to a blind vengeful thing when confronted with brutal oppression. Justice had Anders kill an innocent girl because of his rage, and I think Anders definitely needs to learn better control the spirit he is fused with. Justice also keeps him from doing things he likes, like drinking. He makes it difficult for Anders to be difficult with others. Therefore, learning to control Justice can only mean good things for Anders.
Another things Anders had trouble with is seeing things in Shades of grey. He views things as either all good or all bad, and does not believe in compromise when it comes to serious issues. That would be the driving logic for his little act of terrorism, in which he blew up Kirkwall's Chantry. I think if Anders could learn to be more flexible in his views of things, he would not always have to jump to the most extreme course of action.
Anders will respond best to persistence, honesty, and respect. He will not take kindly to being judged, and will not listen plain preaching. He will respond best if he feels he is being listened to, and if he forms a good relationship with his Warden.
A BIG trigger for him is oppression and injustice-- those are the things with the potential to rile up the spirit inside him.
Oh, and if his Warden would like to win him over with a little more ease? Give him a cat. Anders has a soft spot for cats~
History:
Anders was taken away from his parents at the age of 12, because of his magic. In his world, to be a mage is to be condemned. He was sent to The Circle, a place that is much a prison as a school for mages. He lived there for some years, learning of magic from the other mages but always trying to escape, no matter how much trouble it caused him. He started a physical but not emotionless relationship with a male mage, Karl.
His seventh escape attempt landed him in solitary confinement for a year, which was a punishment enough to really shake him. His final attempt after that was finally successful, because he was picked up by a group of travelers headed by a Grey Warden. Grey Wardens are a guild charged with keeping the world safe from the threat of a Blight, which is a massive attack from an army of twisted dark creatures. In order to forever leave The Circle, Anders too became a Grey Warden.
But he wasn't completely out of the woods. A Templar (the "police" who watch the mages of the circle) also joined the gray wardens, if only to keep an eye on Anders. This Warden was a constant source of trouble for him, always watching closely and berating him.
During his service Anders met a spirit from The Fade, which is the dream world from which all magic comes. The creature was haunting a corpse, trapped outside it's own world with no other choice. The spirit (who is not so much the essence of a person, but more the essence of justice) and Anders decided to work together, to bring justice to every child ever ripped away from his/her mother to be brought to the circle.
Anders took the spirit into himself, and the fusion changed them both. The Templar who joined the Wardens to watch Anders was the first to stumble on him after his fusion, and was quick to term him as dangerous and unstable. He stirred the Wardens into attacking a disoriented Anders, who responded with his new power, ripping apart the unsuspecting camp. Disoriented and terrified, Anders abandoned the Grey Wardens and went into hiding.
He escaped to Kirkwall, a town full of refugees fleeing the current Blight. There he set up a small clinic in the slums, where he treated the sick for free. Here, he began to write letters to Karl, and plan for his escape.
Anders was then approached by the future Champion of Kirkwall, ________ Hawke, the protagonist of the second game. He strikes a deal with Hawke, agreeing to give him/her his old Warden Maps if Hawke assists him in freeing Karl. However, the plan goes astray when they enter the church. Karl was made Tranquil (which is a process of cutting someone off from all emotion and magic) and Anders lost himself to the spirit of Justice, attacking the Templars that came down on them. Karl was momentarily returned to normal after the attack, and asked Anders to kill him. Full of heart ache, Anders felled his former lover, and returned to his clinic.
With nothing else driving him at that moment, Anders agrees to help Hawke if he/she is ever in need. In his his travels with Kirkwall's future champion, Anders is shown again and again the suffering that mages face because of the oppression of the Templars. Justice and he grow more and more displeased, and the anger they feel becomes hard to rien. Anders loses control of himself again, and almost kills and innocent girl, OR actually kills her based on how the player handles the situation (I'm going to say he killed her). Desperate and quickly unraveling, Anders comes to the decision that he must destroy the Chantry (which is the church whose doctrine condemns mages). He gathers the ingredients and plants the bomb, detonating it in the presence of the town's key figures to prove his point, "the mages must be free". Depending on what the player chooses, Anders can be killed here for his actions, which is what I;m going to go with.
Sample Journal Entry:
[The feed cut in to the bottom half of a man's face. His mouth is twisted into a grimace of concentration, and for a few long moments he seems to be only fiddling with buttons. Then, a look of realization! He rights the camera and it focuses on his face]
Is this... recording me?
[It takes a few moments for the idea to settle. A bare bitter smirk curls the corner of his mouth]
Strange little device... You would have made writing my manifesto so much easier. All that writer's cramp, wonderfully avoided...
[For a few moments, he's lost himself in deep thought]
If anyone is watching this, please know I am utterly and completely at a loss. I have no memory of coming here, and the last thing I remember is--
[The color drains from his face, and for a few moments he seems to forget all about the recording communicator. When he speaks next it's more to himself than anything else]
Maker... what has happened to me...?
[End feed]
Sample RP:
None of what was happening made any sense, but Anders continued to run it over and over in his mind. He remembered the surging red light of a powerful magic explosion, and the dusty stone spray of crumbling rock. The Chantry went down, and he felt the burn of Hawke's unforgiving gaze. The man couldn't understand, and Anders had known that from the beginning. He had expected his companion's blade-- and in fact, a tiny part of him had been waiting for it. There was blood on Anders' hands; his victims deserved justice, as much as any other. He'd known that the moment he died.
Yes, Anders remembered dying. But then why was he here? And more prominently, where the was here? He didn't imagine The Maker sectioned off those deserving of punishment into neat little rooms. There was certainly less torment in the afterlife (if that was in fact what this was) than he was expecting.
Anders had taken a little time to explore the small room. He'd discovered and fiddled with a strange recording device, and found that there was nothing extraordinary about his confines. The door was even unlocked. He was cautious as he ventured out into the hall, missing the assuring weight of his staff on his back.
The distant sound of voices taunted him; where there others in this strange place? Could they tell him where he was? Did he even want to meet them? It was possible that they wouldn't be the friendliest... Anders' musings were interrupted at the sight of a railing, which seemed to be spanning the deck of a ship. Confused more than ever, Anders approached and peered out, hoping to get his barrings. But it was not water that the ship was sailing across. He stared down, transfixed confused and fascinated.
"Maker's breath... where am I?"
Special Notes: