#elmyth

9. Do animals likethem?  Do they get on well with animals?Rolfe is particularly fond of birds and spends a lot of time in Leliana’srookery.  There’s one raven who sort oflatched on to him and will bring him shiny rocks or interesting looking twigsalong with his messages.  Rolfe will hand-feed the raven treats and can pick him out from all the others even though they all look similar.  There’s also acalico cat that likes to make the rounds between the tavern and the smithy thatoften winds herself around his legs when he’s talking with Cassandra and will butther head against his chin when he picks her up for snuggles.  Rolfe’s named her Maggie and she’ll comerunning when she sees him, putting her paws against his leg and loudly meowinguntil he picks her up.

28. What is theirbiggest fear?  What in general scaresthem?  How do they act when they’rescared?Failing to protect those put in his care is his biggest fear.  Failing to live up to people’s standards isanother, although he already knows he’s done that in spades with his parents.  Failure and putting people’s lives in dangerin general.  And spiders, because thosethings are Maker-awful looking.

When he’s scared, he tries to bottle up and shut down hisemotions.  To him, fear leads tomistakes, and since mistakes can put people’s lives in danger (which is hisnumber one fear), he shuts everything down and relies on his training to seehim through.  It’s in those moments thathe loses all traces of his humor and flirty ways and gets stone deadserious.  When he’s truly afraid of something,there is no bravado or witty remarks.  Heturns into the killing machine that his profession made him and while notexactly comforting to his allies, it assures them (especially if they don’tknow what he’s feeling at the moment) that he has things 100% under control andeveryone will come out alive.

Depending on the severity of the danger, it’s only after thethreat has passed and he’s by himself that he’ll break down with shaking handsand “oh shit oh shit oh shit” panic.  Hedoes his damndest to hide how he’s feeling from everyone else, but most timesCassandra or Varric or Bull can see through his act.  The latter two will drag him into a tavernfor a round of cards and drinking to help get his mind off of what happened,but Cassandra will just sit with him in silence as a way to offer her support.  She knows that he’s over the worst of it whenhe makes some sort of horribly cheesy come-on line to her, to which she’ll rollher eyes and punch him in the arm just to hear him laugh.

35. What’s theirguilty pleasure?  What is their totallyunguilty pleasure?Have I mentioned the full literary analysis of Swords andShields yet?  When Cassandra is asleep,he’ll carefully mark the pages to keep her place in whatever book she’s readingand read for himself.  Then he’ll watchher reaction and eagerly go “you got to the part about the Duke and how heconfessed his feelings, didn’t you?” because he has SO MANY FEELINGS and needsto talk about them, pronto. If the book is absolutely dreadful, he’ll go off toVarric and the two of them will have a bitching session about authors with norespect for their craft.

His guilt-free pleasure is just hanging out with good food,good friends, and taking the day off. All Serious Inquisition Matters are not to be discussed and everyonegets a chance to decompress before having to pick up their respective mantlesand getting back to work.

48. Do they enjoy anyparties?  If so what kind?  Do they organize the party or just turnup?  How do they act?  What if they didn’t want to go but weredragged along by a friend?If Rolfe were a party animal, he’d be a chameleon.  He can go for the loud and rowdy parties, ortone it down for quiet, more intimate affairs. He’s horrible at organizing parties though, but he will drop inuninvited if he thinks it’s a good time. Most times, the parties he crashes get even better once he arrives andpeople either overlook the fact that he wasn’t on the guest list or else theythink they invited him in the first place.

If he didn’t want to go but were dragged along by a friend,he’d make the best of a bad situation. Nine times out of ten, he’d find other people who were similarly draggedalong and he’d hang out with them, creating a little party within a party thatis usually more fun than the original event.

“I can’t believe they even have a shop like this here!”

“It’s Orlais, of course they have a shop like this.”  The last was said with a hint of disdain, butBlackwall smiled when Ravena took hold of his hand and tugged him closer to theentrance of the hat shop.  They were inVal Royeaux on business, but the both of them had decided to take the eveningoff and play tourist while they could. Blackwall had admitted that he used to live close by the city for years, but hehadn’t visited in a long while.

He did, however, remember all of the little hole in the wallplaces he used to frequent, and he didn’t mind being her tour guide for animpromptu Date Night.  He took her offthe beaten path and he loved watching her face light up at each new discovery.

The hat shop was new though.  It was part of some sort of gentrification effort to reuse some of the older buildingsin what used to be a seedier side of the glittering town. There had been a nicelittle pub there once, where the wine had been strong and no one really caredwhat your name was if your money was good enough.  He was sad to see it gone.

The little brass bells above the door chimed as they walkedin.  A salesman greeted them hesitantly,then their smile grew wider when Ravena launched into fluent Orlesian.  Blackwall played along, his accent slightlyrustier than hers, but it did seem to set the salesman more at ease.

“Wouldn’t he just dieif he found out he was serving a pair of Marcher trash?” she whispered, apretty red cloche perched jauntily on her head.

“Ah, then you heard at the hotel.”  They were staying at a ritzier place than hewas used to – Josephine’s doing, no doubt – and the concierge at the front deskhad probably thought that he hadn’t understood the insult he had muttered underhis breath as they passed by.  Blackwallfigured it was because he hadn’t tipped him when they’d arrived, but there was no telling.

She shrugged.  “Itdoesn’t bother me.  Does it bother you?”

“Rather be Marcher trash than Orlesian refuse.”  He ran his fingers over the rim of a fedora.  Clearing his throat, he tried to recapturethe playful atmosphere that had settled comfortably between them allevening.  “What do you think of thisone?  Does it suit me?”

She regarded him critically before plopping a Newsboy stylecap on him.  “Actually, this one mightlook better on you.”  She took the darkbrown fedora out of his hands and set it on her head instead.  “Well? What do you think?”

He had to grin.  Thebrim of the hat shaded her eyes, but it seemed as if it were meant forher.  “Stunning,” he told hertruthfully.  His eyes went to thesalesman hovering nearby.  “We’ll takeit.”

“I’ll have to wear it on my next dig,” she said, digging inher purse for her credit cards. Blackwall beat her to it, pulling out his wallet from an interior jacketpocket.  “Blackwall!”  Her eyes widened.  The hat hadn’t been cheap.

“Humor me.”  Hepointed to the red cloche that had looked so nice on her.  “That one as well, please.”

“This is too much,” she protested.  “At least let me pay for the most expensiveone.”

His grin widened. “Not going to happen, my lady.  How often do I get the chance to spoilyou?”  He waved the shopkeeper off whenhe went to box up the cloche, settling it on Ravena’s head instead.  The color went well with the bright redlipstick and contrasted beautifully with the dark black of her hair.  “As if you needed anything else to make youmore beautiful than you already are.”

He signed the little paper slip, barely giving a thought tothe chunk the purchase had just taken out of his available credit.  He rarely bought anything for himself thatextravagant, but he wasn’t about to let an opportunity to present Ravena withgifts go by.  The pleased smile and faintblush on her cheeks was worth every single copper.  Taking the offered hat box her fedora residedin from the salesman in one hand, he gallantly held out his other arm forher.  “Shall we?”

Ravena beamed up at him, her arm twining easily withhis.  “Why don’t we make a pit stop atthe hotel, drop these off?” she offered. “You know, I’ve actually studied here for a while back in college.  There’s a little café a few blocks down fromwhere we’re staying.  Can I buy you a cupof coffee?”  Her tone was light andflirty, and she looked up at him in such a way that had his lips curling up tomatch the smile on her face.

Impulsively, he bent his head and brushed his lips againsthers.  “I think I’d like that,” he said,untangling their arms so he could sling his over her shoulder to tug her closeto him as they walked.

The Fool: When hasyour character been exited to start a new journey?

Any time she sets out for a new dig or assignment.   Raven loves the planning portion beforehand:the gathering of supplies, what items to take to combat whatever weather, whatreference books and Maker, does she have enough blank journals to record her findingsin?  It’s the sense of new that she loves.  The one in particular that stands out abovethe rest is the very first time she goes along with her cousin Henri.  By this time, she’s grown accustomed to sittingin a library looking up facts but not having any sort of context away from herbooks.  Henri tucks her under his wingand with a flurry of half-finished sentences and scribbled notations, has herpacking gear and setting off on her first grand adventure.  The night before they leave, she can hardlysleep.  It might be a routine excavation– Henri had called it impossibly dull, but a worthy expedition to get her usedto field work – but Ravena knew that whatever happened – or didn’t happen –that this first trip was the start of something big for her.

The Emperor inReverse: When is your character inflexible or stubborn?

Ravena usually digs her heels in when she knows that what’s going on is wrong andshe has an opportunity to make it right, even if it takes extra time orattention away from something else.  Thiscould be as simple as pouring over a translation because something doesn’t sitwell with her to stubbornly refusing to give in on a political move because shedoesn’t agree with the other person’s ethics. 

The World in Reverse:What is your character holding back?

She holds a lot of herself back when entering intorelationships.  She was burnt prettybadly with her first “True Love” where she threw herself a hundred percent inwithout even once thinking that it might not be a bad idea to get to know the guyfirst.  After that, she took a few yearsoff of seeking out romances (mostly because she swore off Templars and focusedon actually learning how to be aChantry scholar instead of brooding about getting shuffled off somewhere shedidn’t want to be), she had a handful of brief, no-strings-attached affairswhere everyone parted ways so well that they usually hang out later on, even ifnothing romantic happens when they later bump into the other somewhere down theroad.

2. What’s the oneprinciple they don’t compromise on?

Helping anyone when she’s in a position to help them.  Marle makes her living as an herbalist/healerand will often open her shop or visit people who can’t afford to pay to go tothe town’s doctor.  If they don’t have adoctor in the village, then she sees it as her responsibility to use hertalents to help.  She has the future inmind all the time and knows that she has wandering feet.  While she’s helping wherever she’s currentlyliving, she does her best to find someone willing to train under her to take upher position when she ultimately decides to leave.

She also stops to help people, even if she doesn’t thinkthat those people deserve her help.  Ifthey die, then fine, but it won’t be because of anything she didn’t do.

9. Do they believethere are instances when killing another person is permissible?

Yes.  She might becompassionate to a fault, but she does know that there is evil in the world andsome people need to be dealt with.

10. What would theythemselves describe as their most immoral act?

This goes with the above questions: Using the trust peoplehave for her against them.  She wastravelling when she stopped for a few days at a nearby town to restock suppliesand see if this would be a good place to hang her hat at for at least a fewyears.  The local person in power was seriouslysick, and Marle didn’t even think twice before offering her services to helphim. Eventually, he began to come back from the brink of death in her care andwas extremely grateful to her.  Shedidn’t really find out about his cruel nature until he got better and beganterrorizing his subjects again.  Shenever commented on the way he blithely killed the people she had gotten toknow, but she decided to stay on long enough to realize that some of thetownspeople were planning to take the keep by force.  She spoke with these people in secret and saw thattheir leader was a good, kind person who would be a much better match to leadthe town.  She also knew that the currentlord wouldn’t go down without a fight and that lives would be lost.  Marle begged the rebel leader to hold off onhis plans before putting anything into action and went back to the castle. 

She weighed her options for a very long time before decidingthat sparing the lives of the many outweighed her own personal morals to neveruse her knowledge of medicine for harm. Marle mixed up a potent poison to give the lord, telling him that it wasmedicine that would clear up the last of the illness that was still lingeringin his system.   The lord took it withouteven questioning that Marle would ever do him harm and praised her for all thehelp she had given him.  He died laterthat night and the rebel leader took up the position of power the nextday.  Marle packed up her bags and neverreturned to the town again, although she had heard news in her travels of how wellit was prospering now that the new lord was in charge.

Vivian hissed as the antiseptic did its job.  She tried to wiggle away from the pain, butall she did was make the desk she was sitting on squeak in protest.

“That’s what you get, starting a fight like that,” Fenrissaid, rinsing off her other hand before treating her knuckles.  “I’m surprised that you haven’t been bannedfrom the Hanged Man yet.”

She shrugged and looked at the wall somewhere behind hisshoulder to distance herself from the bubbling noise coming from her splitknuckles and whatever Fenris was using to disinfect her wounds. He’d added morebooks to his collection, most of them installments of Hard in Hightown.  Shesquinted.  And Isabela had added 101 More Ways to Use Root VegetablesErotically, Volume 2 to his collection. “Corff likes me, and besides, thatjerk was hitting on Nora.”  That jerk happened to have three veryugly friends with him, who hadn’t liked the fact that a tiny slip of a womanhad stood up to them.  Threats had beenmade, people hadn’t backed down, and suddenly someone was minus a tooth and wassporting a black eye.

Fenris rolled his eyes and gently wrapped bandages aroundher fingers.  “You’re just lucky you didn’tbreak anything,” he said.

“Yeah, well you ought to see the other guys.”

“I did.  You did quitea number on them.”  Lifting her hand upto the light, he inspected his work.  “Canyou move your fingers?”

Vivian flexed her hands, wincing when the split skin on herknuckles stretched underneath the bandages. “Hurts, but nothing a few days and some poultices can’t cure.”

“I’m surprised. Usually you go running to the Apostate.”

She sighed.  “Not tonight,Fenris, please?”  She looked at him fromunder the mess of hair that had gotten pulled out from the normally tidyponytail she kept it in.  “Maybe I wantedto see you after all that.”

Still holding onto her hand, he brought it up to hislips.  “Very well.”  Kissing each injured knuckle, he looked ather from under hooded eyes.  “Better?”

She smiled.  “Surprisingly,yes.”

Placing her right hand on her knee, he picked up her lefthand and treated it with similar kisses. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“What for?”

He moved his attention from her knuckles to the inside ofher wrist.  “You didn’t take on fouridiots on your own just because one of them was harassing Nora.  They said something about me, didn’t they?”

Vivian looked away and bit her lip.  “How did you know?”

“Because,” his lips moved up her forearm, causing goosefleshto break out in his wake.  “One of themwas still conscious by the time I got there. They told me I had to learn how to contain my bitch of a woman.”

“And what did you do?”

“Knocked him out cold. No one insults you, Hawke.”

Vivian stretched out her legs until Fenris was standingbetween them.  “No one insults youeither, Fenris.”

He chuckled.  “What apair.  We’re going to make Aveline’s lifemiserable with all the reports she’s going to have to file, aren’t we?”  Leaning closer, he held her hips in his handsand pressed his forehead to hers.  Hemoved one of his hands up to cup her cheek but stopped when she flinched.

“One of them got in a lucky shot,” she explained.

Carefully, as if she were made out of glass, Fenris turnedher face to the lamp he had set on the desk to see what he was doing.  “That’s going to bruise,” he said, his eyesnarrowing.

“Nothing can be done about it.” She slid her hand up overhis shoulder until she could gently rake her nails against his scalp, his hairrunning through her fingers like silk. “And Aveline already warned me that she’dmake the both of us do community service if things like this kepthappening.  My guess is that we’llprobably have to take on a few more people before everyone else gets the driftto leave us the Void alone, and serve some time training her recruits.”

He grinned.  “Doesn’tsound too bad.”

“I can suffer through it if you can.”  Hooking her legs behind his thighs, shetugged him closer.  “You know, my handsdon’t hurt as much.  I think there’ssomething to this whole kissing and making it feel better thing.”

“You don’t say?”

She tilted her head, presenting her bruised jaw.  “My face would probably feel a lot better,you know.”

Fenris let out a low, gravely sounding laugh that buzzedagainst her chest.  “The things I do foryou, Hawke,” he murmured, lips gliding across her jawline.  For good measure, he nipped at the uninjuredportion, making her gasp.

“Fenris?”  Her handstightened in his hair and she melted bonelessly against him when he swiped atthe bite with his tongue.

“Hm?”

“With all that ruckus, I seem to have forgotten that my lipgot split.”

That earned her a full-bodied laugh.  “What am I going to do with you, Hawke?” heasked, tracing her bottom lip with his thumb.