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eachdraidh
May. 24th, 2014 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyspitfire( CHARACTER INFORMATION )
- ★ NAME: The Warden (Elissa Cousland - Human Noble Origin)
- ★ AGE: Not given. I'd say she's about 23.
- ★ CANON & CANON POINT: Dragon Age: Origins, post-Witch Hunt DLC
- ★ CANON INFORMATION:
Origins
- Main Plot
- Cousland family history
- Human Noble Origin
The main quest involves finding the mages, Dalish elves, and dwarves to recruit them for the final battle. Along the way, the Warden is tasked with awakening Arl Eamon, summoning a Landsmeet to confront Loghain Mac Tir, rescuing Queen Anora, and choosing the next ruler of Ferelden. From there, the Warden discovers that they will die if they personally destroy the Archdemon plaguing the land and must make another choice: who will slay the demon? The final battle commences and then the game finishes.
An abridged version of Elissa's choices:
- She recruited Shale in The Stone Prisoner.
- She saved the mages during Broken Circle, including First Enchanter Irving, from the Rite of Annulment.
- She helped defend Redcliffe, freed Connor from the Fade, and had Jowan sent back to the Circle in Arl of Redcliffe.
- She changed the werewolves back and recruited the Dalish in Nature of the Beast
- The Urn was found, the High Dragon was left alone, and Brother Genitivi was spared during The Urn of Sacred Ashes. Arl Eamon recovered.
- In Orzammar, Bhelen was crowned King, Branka was killed, the Anvil was destroyed, and the Legion of the Dead promised to help Elissa in A Paragon of Her Kind.
- The group returned to Ostagar to give Cailin a proper funeral pyre.
- In Warden's Keep, Sophia Dryden was killed and Avernus helped them seal the portals. He was then executed for his crimes.
- During The Landsmeet, Cauthrien and her men were slain, all of the prisoners were freed, Anora was saved, and most of the Nobles rallied behind the Warden.
- Loghain was slain by Elissa.
- When Morrigan offered her Dark Ritual, Elissa had Alistair accept.
- All of the Companion Quests were completed:
. Alistair was hardened.
. Flemeth was killed and her real grimoire was brought to Morrigan.
. Leliana was hardened and Marjolaine slain.
. Zevran sided with Elissa and helped her kill Taliesen.
. Oghren hit it off with Felsi (after a rough start).
. Asala was found for Sten.
. Wynne reunited with Anerin and received his amulet.
. Shale discovered she was a female dwarf and visited her thaig.
- In the aftermath of the battle, Elissa killed the Archdemon with Sten, Wynne, and Dog in her party.
- In the Epilogue, she asked that the Wardens never be forgotten. She reunited with Fergus and spoke with her companions. She chose go with Sten to visit the Qunari homelands.
Awakening
- Main Plot
As Warden-Commander of Vigil's Keep, Elissa is tasked with building up the Keep, keeping it safe, and finding new Grey Wardens. Along the way, she encounters a being called the Architect, an intelligent Darkspawn who wishes to end all future Blights and the Mother, a human Broodmother who wishes to annhilate the Wardens and the Architect.
An abridged version of her choices:
- All of the companions were found, saved, and kept.
- She spared Nathaniel Howe and he came back to become a Warden.
- In The Righteous Path, she recruited Velanna and promised to help find her sister.
- During Last of the Legion, she recruited Sigrun and cleaned out Kal'Hirol.
- In Shadows of the Blackmarsh, she brought Justice back with them after discovering Kristoff's death and vowed to help him.
- During Oaths of Fealty and Defending the Land, Elissa chose to protect everything she could.
- But in The Peasant Revolution, Elissa had to peacefully put down an almost-rebellion, though it didn't last.
- All the Companion Quests were also completed.
- During the final stage of the game, Elissa recruited: Sigrun, Oghren, and Nathaniel to Amaranthine.
- Amaranthine was saved, the Keep was fortified enough.
- When approached by the Architect, Elissa refused to help him, and killed him.
- In Depths of Depravity, the Broodmother was killed (obviously).
Witch Hunt
- Hearing word that Morrigan was slinking around, Elissa went after her.
- Despite confirming their friendship, Morrigan refused to tell her about the Old God baby.
- Morrigan left through the Eluvian after saying goodbye.
- ★ PERSONALITY:
Unlike Dragon Age II, where the choices are very plainly skewed towards Diplomatic, Sarcastic, and Aggressive, Dragon Age offers more subtle choices and more grey areas. However, there are still Diplomatic, Sarcastic, and Aggressive choices to be had. Elissa chose mainly Diplomatic ones, owed to her lineage as a Cousland diplomat and her good nature. Like any playthrough, some aggressive and sarcastic options were chosen, but not to such a large extent that her personality was skewed. With the Diplomatic option in mind, the playthrough comes out differently than others.
Elissa was born a Cousland, one of the strongest families in Ferelden. In fact, many believe that her father, Bryce Cousland, should have been made king. Her estate is large, meaning that she's used to luxury and everything being put in her lap. Bryce and Eleanor are both kind, devoting parents and are very quick to oblige their children. They're a very tight-knit household, as well: Fergus has his wife and son living in the estate as well and the entire family is very comfortable with one another. The game even makes it clear that both children are trained in war and diplomacy equally, hardening them and preparing them for life's great challenges in an uncertain time, which gives Elissa an edge during the plot itself. But beyond that, there are no strange conspiracies or scandals going on, either, which says that Elissa has lived a very privileged life, full of happiness and minor disappointments.
From conversations with several of Highever's clan, Elissa's personality takes shape. She's a girl who speaks her mind, is overly curious, and always wants to be involved in her family's affairs. Both Eleanor and Bryce are fighters and, as such, their children are as well. Bryce trusts the entire estate to Elissa when he makes plans to go off to fight with Fergus, showing that she is a trusted member of the household and strong enough to take on the responsibilities imposed on her. Eleanor laments that this makes Elissa seem unattainable to suitors; Elissa's outspoken personality do not do her any favors in this regard. She has a fascination for adventure, having read a book about the theories on dragons and gossiping with Ser Gilmore about Grey Wardens. She takes particular interest in them, fawning over Duncan's presence and asking her father if she can speak with him personally, though he denies her entrance into their order.
Elissa is forced to change during the course of the game and quickly, too. When Howe, a long-time famil friend, attacks Highever and has her parents slain, she is forced to flee with Duncan and, essentially, grow up. She reluctantly adopts Bryce's old saying: "Our family always does our duty first." She must sit back and be patient, and soon enough, vengeance takes a backseat in her mind. When Duncan and Cailin die, it falls on her and Alistair's shoulders to decide what must be done. While Alistair holds reservations when some of the companions are recruited, Elissa does not; she knows that they need all of the help they can get, especially since all of Ferelden's Grey Wardens are dead.
Alistair thrusts her into the role of leader, something she doesn't contest even though everyone else does. She accepts the role with relative ease, especially since it was something she was "born" to do. She never gets much chance to whine about it, though there's added pressure from all sides to make the "right" decision. As such, Elissa takes many of her companion's thoughts into her decisions at first, though she eventually grows to put them aside; she's a Cousland and can make her up her own mind when she wants.
She is, however, a people-pleaser. She has the option of getting gifts for her companions, speaking to them at length, and learning a great deal about them. This comes from her natural curiosity, but it also speaks volumes about how much she desperately wants to keep the group together in some fashion. These people are her only family now but they are also the only allies she has in the entirety of Thedas. It can be painfully obvious sometimes, too, that the group is only connected through her: many times, the companions argue and fight, making it possible that they might have left had it not been for the Blight and Warden Cousland keeping them solid. She goes out of her way to do their individual quests, repaying her friends for their sacrifice in keeping her and the nation safe.
Despite her good nature, her willingness to do so much for her companions, and striving to be an upstanding noblewoman as a Cousland would need to be, there are times when she will forego all platitudes and instead go straight for the throat. By the time the Landsmeet begins, it's been months since the massacre at Highever. Elissa doesn't waste time with trivialities, instead focusing on doing what will get Alistair crowned at the Landsmeet and making sure that Howe and Loghain pay for what they've done. She executes Howe and allows Alistair to behead Loghain in a duel. When Anora tries to belittle Alistair (and after she sells the group out to Cauthrien), Elissa ignores her attempts to take back the throne, both to help her friend and also to do what's best for the nation; a queen who will turn her allies over at the smallest sign of trouble is no one she wishes to associate with. She takes the Warden oath to heart during the Blight, choosing the good of the many over her allies' personal wishes in many ways.
When Awakenings comes around, six months later, Elissa is a much more rounded diplomat and an even stronger Warden. She takes charge of Vigil's Keep and has many more responsibilities. She makes friends with her companions fairly easily, but nothing progresses further than "comrades", unlike in Origins. The atmosphere is much more strict and challenging, Elissa's life revolving around fighting Darkspawn, investigating their mysteries, and dealing with the nobles in Amaranthine. She has less patience with people outside of her "circle", putting the duties of the Grey Wardens first and the needs of herself and her richer allies last. She has become something of a distant and yet benevolent ruler, looking to protect as many as possible while involving herself in as few politics as she can. She's more concerned with fighting and scouting than she is with dealing with the whining nobility.
Even with all of these good qualities, Elissa is not without her faults. She does not take betrayal lightly, immediately closing herself off and biding her time. Many may find this a wise decision, but all it does is let the wound fester until she can close in and rip someone apart in one way or another. She spurns Anora's good graces in part because of a slight against her, something that many overlook in the chaos of the Landsmeet but it still stands as a mark on Elissa's record. Pride in her name, her title, and her work leads her to sometimes blind her to the facts. When she gets to Orzammar, Harrowmont is the kinder of the two dwarves, but she chooses practicality over a gentler ruler, despite Bhelen's treachery.
When given the option to "harden" both Leliana and Alistair, she does both. She tells Alistair that he needs to grow up and start looking out for himself, a lesson she's learned the hard way. Leliana is convinced to return to her life as a bard, despite her devotion to the Chantry. While neither of them fully give up who they are because of what Elissa says, they both take her words to heart and change gradually, becoming tougher individuals in a world of hardship. She needs warriors and people who will lead, not those who will slow them down. Looking back on it, she may regret pushing them, but at the time, she felt it was necessary. It's these kinds of decisions (acting without thinking on the ripple-effect it may bring) that are Elissa's greatest downfall. She reacts as a commander and rogue, taking practical advantage and using it for the good of the country instead of what might be better for those she cares about, especially after the Blight is over and her friends leave her.
- ★ COURT ALLIANCE: Seelie. Though Elissa can be kind and ruthless hand in hand, her true course is order and keeping peace in Ferelden.
Most of Elissa's actions are aligned towards Order. As a Warden, her primary job is to fight darkspawn and keep the world safe. She's made many questionable decisions, such as allowing Bhelen on the throne, murdering a Templar in order to protect one of her recruits, and has publicly slain several notable figures (Loghain, Howe, etc.). Allowing Bhelen to sit the throne was, in part, because Bhelen presented a willing attitude to not only help but to bring the dwarves out of their isolationism and he also promises to send more dwarves into the Deep Roads to aid the Legion and to eventually take back their homeland. Though this can be seen as a selfish act on her part (wanting someone she knew she could rely on to fight), it's also a practical one to ensure peace and cooperation in the future between humans, dwarves, and dwarves and the Wardens (the ensuing battle in which Harrowmont is killed is unexpected on her part, another reason why she jumps into the fray first and asks questions later, which could be a problem). In fact, one of Bhelen's quotes are "We need complete unity to fight against evil," something Elissa can immediately get behind.
Killing Rylock is all about ensuring that the Warden's meager forces don't lose another recruit (and because Anders is a friend and Elissa believes the treatment of mages to be unjust).
Elissa chooses to spare Amaranthine instead of the Keep because Amaranthine needed to be protected from the darkspawn, as those were innocents in the town. The Keep was fortified and the Wardens and their companions could hold the darkspawn tide back, but the city itself was powerless to stop a sudden onslaught and invasion of darkspawn.
Howe and Loghain were both traitors to the throne (the former kidnapping the queen with a possible intent to kill her and having murdered the Couslands, the latter because he betrayed the Wardens and then usurped the throne). Elissa wanted order and she got it by helping Anora and ensuring that the queen remained on the throne. All of this was to ensure that there would be a true force to unite against the darkspawn and that everyone - humans included - followed the code of the treaties given long ago to the Wardens. Elves, mages, and dwarves rallied to the call to fight against the darkspawn and the humans needed to as well. They made an agreement on this.
Elissa, at the end of the day, stands for order and for the protection of those around her.
However, her behavior (impulsive, deadly, pragmatic towards her cause) can be classified as Unseelie in some ways. So I think (if it's possible) that I'll leave this up to the app team because I can make a case argument for either house. I think Order fits her best because of how she tries to protect others, uphold her duty as a Warden, and hold fast to the tenets of the Wardens: "In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice."
- ★ ABILITIES:
Elissa is a rogue, which basically entitles her to quick movements, subtlety, stealth, and a myriad of potential specializations. Origins gives the option to spec characters as whatever you'd wish, and Elissa has a high strength specialization specifically so she can wear heavier armors and carry heavier swords. In fact, she dual-wields longswords (with the help of Dual-Weapon Mastery), instead of simply one greatsword or one longsword and a dagger.
Weapons can also be swapped out and so Elissa is also fairly skilled with a bow and crossbow, though not nearly as her friend Leliana.
Elissa's specializations (with the addition of Awakening) are three:
1. Bard - Elissa learned from Leliana how to be deceptive, how to be subtle, and how to have a flair for information gathering using whatever means they have on them.
2. Duelist - Learned from Isabela, Elissa has learned how to strike precisely and how to target foes face-to-face instead of simply slipping in from behind to kill someone.
3. Shadow - Learned in Awakening, this specialization allows Elissa to flit in and out of the shadows, to confuse her enemy, and to goad them into attacking friendly allies.
For all of these, she has learned every ability associated with them. As many of these are almost magical in nature (bard, specifically), instead of listing abilities (which I will if the mods would like), I'll simply give a rundown about how Elissa would appear in game-terms: Elissa will be capable of rallying her allies and being personable, as well as having a knack for gathering information by being charming. She is capable of slipping around fairly unnoticed, though can be detected by people with magical or psychic abilities, as she's not in full concealment, though she'd be able to slip by your average guard very easily. But she favors simply fighting her enemies, staring them down, and having a good time with it. She's proficient with archery and with a crossbow, but favors her blades above all else.
Being a Warden, Elissa has above average endurance and stamina to keep her going (and going and going) at the cost of a shorter lifespan, horrible dreams, and a ghoulish appetite in order to feed herself. She's a ticking timebomb until she degrades into something just like the darkspawn. But that's the price you pay by being a Warden.
As a note as well, Elissa is full up on the Heartseeker tree as well, which basically just means she's quicker and more precise, which combines well with the Duelist specialization.
- ★ INVENTORY:
- cloak
- leather armor
- Heartwood Bow with a quiver of normal arrows
- two swords: Vigilance and Starfang
- a small amount of gold and three potions (health)
( SAMPLES )
- ★ NETWORK SAMPLE:
[The first thing visible on the feed are the buckles and ties of armor, the camera shifting. It shuts off after a moment. It then turns on once more to show a young woman's face, dark hair in front of one of her eyes. She huffs, several strands flying in front of the camera. Annoyed that they won't stay in place, she shoves them back.
She mumbles irritably:]
This is not the sort of greeting I had in mind when I was heading back home...
[Elissa rights herself, though the camera is off-kilter. She does not seem out of place, considering, but it's clear she's a new arrival.]
And so we are to fight some grand war that we isn't ours? And are there no dissenters, no one who would speak against this? [A beat.] I know we were brought here of our own accord. ...Some of us, I imagine. [She had come of her own curiosity, wanting to know why these fairies called her. And now she was regretting it, quite obviously. Foolish, foolish, Elissa.]
To those of you who have been here far longer than I, have our [captors] hosts given any indication of how we are expected to defeat our enemies? Surely it is not so simple as a battle, or this would have been done already.
- ★ LOG SAMPLE:
http://fairynuff.dreamwidth.org/1631.html?thread=852831#cmt852831
note:
Date: 2014-05-26 06:43 pm (UTC)I'd also love to hash out character relationships with any impending or existing castmates as well since I don't want to step on any toes and make assumptions. Please PM me if there's any issue or if you need to talk to me about this!