#rowan lore

1. Does your OC die before or after their lover? How old are they when they die?

Rowan goes before Dorian, even though he’s about 7 years younger than Dorian is. (In any of his OCxOC verses, Rowan dies first there too if he was the Inquisitor.) As for how old he is when he goes…. ughhh. My gut instinct has always told me he’s only in his late 50s, which is still so young and I hate that my brain goes there. I’ve been trying to convince myself to push it into his mid-to-late 60s at least, but I don’t know. Let’s just say it’s at some point within that span of a decade or so.

2. How did they die?

Rowan's death is slow, quiet, and a long time coming. He doesn't go down in a blaze of glory or anything, like some might expect that the Inquisitor would. Rather, the residual effects of the Anchor wear his body down more and more as time goes on until he becomes gravely ill.

There was a stretch of about 10-15 years after the loss of his arm that things seemed alright—little more than the chronic fatigue that he’d already been dealing with before when he still had the mark. But after that, his health begins a slow yet steady decline until he spends the last couple years of his life frail, weak, and almost constantly in pain.

Dorian recruits the best healers he can find, not only in Minrathous but across Thedas, in an effort to keep Rowan comfortable and stave off the inevitable for as long as possible. Eventually, the treatments stop helping and the medical attention becomes too much to bear. Rowan asks that Dorian just let him go peacefully and on his own terms.

3. What were their last words?

"It's alright. I'll get to see them again."

‘Them’ being his parents, and the rest of his clan. Said softly, with a small smile that’s as reassuring as he can manage, as he lies there with Dorian about a week or so after he stopped treating his illness. Dorian responds with something along the lines of “and you’ll see me again too, one day.” Rowan nods before he goes to sleep, and then doesn’t wake up again.

4. How are they mourned? How do all their loved ones react?

Rowan is given Dalish funeral rites (similar to what we see in Veilguard for Cyrian). Dorian enlists the help of Varien (Rook) to make sure he gets it right. I’m not certain what the Dalish traditions surrounding burial/cremation/etc are and I’m also not sure where to find that kind of thing atm, but Rowan is cremated afterwards. Dorian takes a couple months of bereavement to travel and spread Rowan’s ashes in various places across Thedas—Rowan was a wanderer in life, and Dorian knows he will be in death too.

Dorian, while he knew it was coming for a long time, is heartbroken and distraught. It didn’t matter how much time he had to “prepare.” Almost like that made it worse, somehow—all the times he came within arm’s reach of losing Rowan (Haven, Adamant, Trespasser, the incredibly painful couple years post-Trespasser, Veilguard) and yet watching Rowan suffer for years and knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it was worse than all of those put together. He heals with time, of course. He knows that Rowan wouldn’t want him to spend the rest of his life wallowing, because Rowan himself lost too many years to grief as it was. He never loves again, though. His heart’s been broken and mended and broken again too many times to risk it, and there’s no one else he’d want to give it to anyway.

He mourns and honors his husband in a lot of little, everyday ways—planting and tending to the flowers (even though he’s terrible at it), making Rowan’s favorite foods (not great at that either, he’ll never make the hearth cakes like Rowan did), rereading his books. And on the subject of books: when Rowan became an author after the Inquisition, he published all of his work under a pseudonym. (He didn’t want his books to sell just because of his name.) Dorian and all of Rowan’s friends/family still respect this after his death, and they don’t confirm or deny it whenever fans question if the author of their favorite adventure novel was in fact the late Inquisitor. However, when rummaging through Rowan’s things one day, Dorian finds a manuscript for an autobiography that Rowan had been working on in the last year leading up to his death, with a note that he wanted it to be published posthumously under his real name.

The book details everything. Lays it all out. Leaves no questions about the kind of person he was, after he lived most of his life in the shadows. Some topics more in depth than others, certainly… but he’d been reminded time and time again that his life was going to leave a mark on the world, and since he knew he was dying, he wanted to make sure that the final words on the matter would be his own. Dorian arranges the publication, and also dedicates as much time as he can to ensuring that the historians get the story straight, so there won’t be any doubt in the generations to come that the second Inquisitor was a brave and selfless Dalish elf—just like the first.

Varien also takes Rowan’s death pretty hard. The two of them formed a close bond after they reconciled their differences post-Veilguard. Losing Rowan is losing a friend, a brother, and the absolute last piece Varien had left of his clan (time heals all wounds, sure, but it never quite closed, even all those years later). After Rowan is gone, Varien takes a solo trip back out to Wycome to find the place where they’d officially laid their clan to rest decades ago. They’d planted three trees together back then, and Varien plants a fourth for Rowan, right in the center.

Super gentle and no pressure tags for some of the list: @the-archons-moustache @in-the-drowning-deep @rooks-dagger @tevivinter @serjory @babydinosaur930 @flowersforthemachines @chaosherald @grand-crow @handsignals @lunastarhawk @mythals-whore @pixiedurango @kogarashi-art @ourinquisitorialness

1) What event (in game or made up) would determine whether your OC becomes hardened or inspired?

Rowan’s personal quest would of course be centered around the ‘Protect Clan Lavellan’ war table chain, but expanded into an actual playable quest of some kind that’s available to all Inquisitors regardless of origin. Triggering his quest hinges on having high enough approval with him—and you’ll have to work for it. It isn’t easy to earn his approval, but it’s the only way he’ll feel comfortable asking the Inquisitor for help when he receives notice that his clan is is danger. Anything less than ‘warm’ approval will not allow his companion questline to trigger. It can only be started mid-game, after either Here Lies the Abyss or Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts has been completed.

*For the purposes of this quest, a Dalish Inquisitor is not from Clan Lavellan.

**The reason Rowan joins the Inquisition at all is only because Clan Lavellan’s First was sent to the Conclave and was killed in the blast. The Keeper wanted to send someone to infiltrate the inside and learn what happened to bring answers back to the clan, as well as determine if this fledging ‘Inquisition’ is a threat to their safety. Somehow, Rowan gets tangled up in the Inquisitor’s inner circle in the process. Like everything else with this prickly bastard, whether or not Rowan reveals the truth behind his presence to the Inquisitor depends on his approval rating.

Rowan will approach the Inquisitor and tell them that he received a letter from his clan that they are in danger and have fled to Wycome. At this point, the Inquisitor can choose to help… or not. I think it would be wild if they didn’t help, but hey, people like options. Rowan will be hurt if the Inquisitor says no, but simply say he understands that the Inquisition can’t spare the resources. (Spoiler alert: he’s so not fine about it). In this case, the clan will be destroyed and Rowan will be automatically hardened, feeling that the Inquisitor let him down and betrayed his trust after it had taken so much courage to ask for their help.

If the Inquisitor chooses to help, the quest itself will play out pretty much the same as it does in the canon war table chain. Once the advisors scope out the situation, the Inquisitor is presented with three options:

Reason with the Nobles: Josephine will step in and attempt to reason with the nobility of Wycome and convince them that the Dalish elves aren’t a threat. Too far gone on red lyrium already, the nobility (and citizens of Wycome) will not believe her and proceed to attack the elves. The plan fails and the clan will be destroyed. Rowan becomes hardened.

Send in the Troops: Cullen’s approach is to send in Inquisition forces to destroy the red lyrium in Wycome and force the nobility to surrender. This plan also fails, causing confusion and chaos among Wycome’s forces, the Inquisition’s army, and the Dalish elves. Fighting breaks out, and the clan is destroyed. Rowan becomes hardened.

Aid the Clan’s Escape: Leliana’s approach is a stealth mission to usher the elves through and eventually outside the city, where they can seek shelter and safety elsewhere. Choosing this option will open up a fast-travel point to Wycome, and trigger a playable quest where Rowan, the Inquisitor, and their party embark on a timed mission to help the clan escape. Failing the timed portion of the mission results in some casualties, but overall the plan succeeds and the clan is saved. Rowan becomes inspired.

Rowan will advocate for the stealth mission, but the choice, of course, lies in the Inquisitor’s hands.

There’s a few more different outcomes based on Rowan’s approval rating:

Hostile or Cold approval do not allow Rowan’s quest to trigger, so the clan will be destroyed by default. Rowan will approach the Inquisitor in a cutscene and express that he never expected them to help anyway, so he didn’t bother to ask. He’ll reveal why he was there in the first place and say that there’s no reason left for him to stick around. He’ll leave the Inquisition and can’t be convinced to stay. The Inquisitor/inner circle never hears from him again.

Neutral approval also does not trigger Rowan’s quest, so the clan is destroyed by default. A similar cutscene to the above will happen, except that this time Rowan will ask the Inquisitor if they want him to stay. He’s seen the threats they face, and is at least willing to stick it out to finish what they started. The Inquisitor can choose to let him go if they please. If Rowan doesn’t leave, he becomes hardened.

Warm or Friendly approval give the Inquisitor the opportunity to help Rowan’s clan, of course. Rowan will stay with the Inquisition regardless of what happens.

2) Would there be any dialogue differences? (Greeting, observational comments, banter, etc.)

I'll drop a link to my original OC as a Companion post where I listed his greetings/dismissals based on approval. All of them work for this game too!

Hardened Rowan will barely talk. He’s already a quiet guy who doesn’t pipe in much unless asked, and it only gets worse after the loss of his clan. He asked the Inquisitor to trust him when he needed it, and they didn’t. Looks a whole lot to him like what he has to say doesn’t matter. His greetings won’t be more than a glance and maybe a “What?” or “Yes?” If taken out in the party, he won’t offer up any commentary, and will only engage in banter if someone addresses him first. (There are a few members of the inner circle he’s more likely to banter with, like Sera, Varric, Dorian, and Bull.)

Inspired Rowan will be… not chatty, per se, but significantly more friendly and willing to hang out with the Inquisitor/other members of the inner circle. He’ll offer up his opinions when asked and engage in more party banter when he’s taken out. Along those same lines, he’ll have more general commentary to offer in the overworld, such as comments about the local flora and fauna and perhaps an anecdote or two about his travels with his clan. He’ll also have a lot more to say in cutscenes after major story quests are completed, often offering up support and a listening ear to the Inquisitor whenever he can.

He'll also make more stupid puns.

3) How does their personality change? (e.g., body language, facial expressions, etc.)

Any personality changes will align with the dialogue changes I outlined above. Rowan is pretty consistent in his demeanor no matter what: quiet, aloof, evasive, and a little prickly. It's just who he is until you get to know him, at which point he becomes a wise-cracking little shit with a heart of gold.

Hardened Rowan, however, will take those first few things to the extreme. Even though he's stayed with the Inquisition, it's abundantly clear that he's unhappy there and feels like little more than a means to an end. He'll rarely be seen around Skyhold—once the Inquisitor has run around and thinks they've finally found his hiding spot, he'll be in a different one the next time they come to look for him. Most of his dialogue options related to his personal life will disappear, save for one that allows the Inquisitor to ask about his clan and how he's faring with his grief. If asked, Rowan will dodge the question and end the conversation. Any dealings with the Inquisitor will be professional and transactional; no smiles, no quips, just a nod of acknowledgement and he'll continue on with his business. He will always be wearing that signature scowl of his.

Inspired Rowan still isn't a social butterfly, but he's much easier to find and happier to entertain conversations or hang out a bit. He still guards information about his personal life/family/clan closely, but as the player raises his approval he'll gradually open up more (especially so if he's romanced). He'll participate in activities with his friends/the inner circle, like playing chess with Cullen or Wicked Grace with the rest of the gang. You'll also see a lot more of his personality in banter and cutscenes—sarcastic quips, gentle teasing, and his sly little smiles. Rowan is a good friend. Loyal. He'll make sure the Inquisitor knows it.

4) How do their abilities change? What’s the give and take? (e.g., no healing but more damage output, less combos, but more aggressive play style, etc.)

Rowan is already kind of a lone wolf when it comes to combat in general, but there might be a few notable differences.

Hardened Rowan will be far more reckless and take a lot more risks in combat. He foregoes precision in favor of higher damage output, so more of his shots will miss but the ones that hit really hit. That said, all of his shots are his own and he won’t bother to combo with the Inquisitor (or anyone). He’s just there to take out whatever enemy he sees first without regard for the game plan or orders. He’ll use his Tempest elixirs liberally, turning himself into a literal flaming target, but not use any healing potions until the last possible second—if at all. The mages in the party will probably be wasting a lot of revives on him. Rowan essentially turns himself into a glass canon with little regard for his own safety, because he feels that he has nothing left to lose.

Inspired Rowan will be much more of a team player. While he still won’t be front and center in battle, he’ll always make sure to have the Inquisitor’s back and take out any enemies that might be flanking them. Having Rowan in the party might also help the Inquisitor avoid combat situations in general, as he’ll spot targets from a distance and take them down before a battle even has to start. He doesn’t have any magical healing abilities, but the player will have the option to let him carry more healing potions at the cost of longer cooldown times for his Tempest abilities. An inspired Rowan is willing to forego some of his own elixirs to help the Inquisitor and their party members stay safe.

I really like the idea of different armors for the hardened/inspired routes, but that boy never changes his outfit so we’ll do weapons instead.

Inspired Rowan will get the Grunsmann's Bow (left). No reason other than it’s my favorite and the bow he uses in canon because it looks cool. Unfortunately this bow doesn’t have any Dalish significance (even though it looks like it should, imo), but for the purposes of this quest we’ll say that it does. Maybe it’s something he brought back when he returned to the Inquisition after saving his clan.

Hardened Rowan will get Elgar’nan Enaste (right). Kinda self-explanatory given the name. This bow’s basic attack includes a fire damage AoE explosion, which tracks for his recklessness and increased use of elixirs during combat in his hardened state.

5) Are they still romanceable if they’re hardened? Can their approval be earned again? Why or why not?  

It depends on whether or not the player has officially ‘locked in’ to Rowan’s romance route prior to his personal questline. His romance is pretty slow (no speedrunning to that sex scene 👀) so it’s unlikely that locking him in before his personal quest will happen unless the player has really high approval.

If the player has not started a romance with Rowan, it will not be possible to begin one if he’s hardened. The Inquisitor can still attempt to flirt with him, but he won’t reciprocate and may even snap back.

If the player has started but not locked in a romance, Rowan will break it off, saying that he doesn’t have the time or energy to commit to a romantic relationship anymore. He won’t say it outright, but it’s heavily implied that he blames the Inquisitor for the death of his clan and can no longer be close to them after they failed to protect his family.

If the player has locked in a romance, it will continue, albeit after Rowan gets some distance for a little while. Like I said, it’s highly unlikely that his romance can be locked in before this point unless the player did everything right to raise his approval to almost the max and hasn’t taken any major hits with disapproval.

Hardened, non-romanced Rowan won’t date anybody else in the Inquisition. Inspired, non-romanced Rowan may start a relationship with Dorian, if he isn’t already taken by the Inquisitor or Iron Bull.

As for general approval, it’s unlikely that a non-romanced Inquisitor can earn it again if Rowan is hardened, unless they were already very close beforehand. He will be far more critical of every move they make. (i.e. the only way he’ll approve of the Well of Sorrows choice is if the Inquisitor is Dalish and drinks it themselves. Morrigan or anon-elven Inquisitor drinking the well will earn a Rowan Greatly Disapproves, and then you’re shot.)

You'll be seeing this often.

*Prior to his personal quest, Rowan is generally neutral on most major matters, which is why it's difficult to raise his approval. He doesn't care about politics, or if the Inquisitor is good at playing The Game, or adept at commanding armies. Rowan's approval comes from the Inquisitor showing him who they are at their core. Who, when, and how they choose to help. How they treat others around them. (Sorry, but you'll have to bring him along for all those annoying fetch quests, like hunting down a bunch of meat for the refugees in the Hinterlands.)

Well, that got a lot longer than I anticipated. Anyway, I learned two things in doing this tag game: one, that Rowan would be a huge pain in the ass as a companion, and two, that I find it very difficult to imagine a version of Rowan that doesn't lose his clan. Horrible. I'm so sorry bby but it's just an integral part of your Lore(tm).

Passing along some gentle tags to the list (zero pressure, I know this one is a lot, and no pressure to read all my rambles either lmao) @the-archons-moustache @in-the-drowning-deep @tevivinter @aetherflowers @juniper-and-dragonthorn @serjory @serbarris @babydinosaur930 @blackwall-my-tiny-husband @flowersforthemachines @chaosherald @fenrelmercar @davrinsleftpectoral @sandcastlekings @grand-crow @handsignals @larkinna @mythals-whore @lunastarhawk @master-of-the-elements (Tag list info here)

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1) What event (in game or made up) would determine whether your OC becomes hardened or inspired?

2) Would there be any dialogue differences? (Greeting, observational comments, banter, etc.)

3) How does their personality change? (e.g., body language, facial expressions, etc.)

4) How do their abilities change? What’s the give and take? (e.g., no healing but more damage output, less combos, but more aggressive play style, etc.)

For starters, Rowan is demisexual, and no he does not know what that means. All he knows is that he never knew what it felt like to want intimacy with somebody, and spent a lot of time thinking something was wrong with him. His only experience with anything remotely sexual prior to DAI was when he tried to… well, do something about that, and sought out somebody in the clan as a rebound from getting rejected by his Best Friend Who He Was In Love With. It didn’t go well.

(In short: he felt nothing for the person, and they tried to push it further than Rowan was comfortable with. He ended it before anything could go too far, but it soured his taste for anything sexual in general. He’s already a very guarded person as it is, and none of this helped him want to be vulnerable with anybody.)

That said, Dorian is his first. First everything. First kiss that meant something (important distinction for Ro), first relationship, first sexual partner. In my canon, both versions of Dorian’s romance scene happen—Rowan turns him down at first because he wants to try a relationship before jumping into bed. So their first time isn’t until after Here Lies the Abyss.

I’ll spare you the nitty gritty of how that went down and instead skip to the important parts: premature ejaculation! 🎉 and crying after sex! 🎉

(can’t believe I finally had an opportunity to publicly unleash those lore tidbits)

Listen, the crying doesn’t happen every time. Though it’s not exactly… infrequent either. In all seriousness, sex is a huge emotional undertaking for Rowan, and therefore a huge emotional release. He spends so much time bottling everything up and pushing it all away, so being that vulnerable with somebody undoes him at every level. He and Dorian pretty much never address this. Emotional constipation and all.

Anyway, onto the fun details:

Rowan generally leans sub because it makes the most sense for his dynamic with Dorian, but over time he definitely becomes a switch (this has been a really interesting thing to explore with some of his OCxOC ships actually). Once he starts gaining confidence in bed, he discovers that he feels a lot more comfortable when he’s the one in control—though it’s not actually about the control, per se. It’s about the attention not being on him, and the fact that he can give and give and give and never get tired of it can definitely be traced back to his innate need to provide and feel useful (dontcha love when #issues come out in the bedroom?).

Once the attention is on him though, he’s a blushing mess. He's very insecure with a fair amount of body image issues, and it takes him a while to start working through those things. I'm sure this also contributes to the crying to some degree—feeling appreciated and adored when he doesn't see how or why anyone would feel that way. Whoops. Who's crying now? Is it me?

So that said, he loves foreplay and taking his sweet, sweet time with those wonderfully dexterous hands of his. He's very much into body worship and can/will spend ages mapping out every last detail, on top of being an incredibly focused, observant, and dedicated lover overall. Rowan's not here for anything quick or meaningless; Dorian, coming from his background where everything is quick and meaningless, doesn't know what hit him. Ultimately, they both end up learning a lot from each other. Dorian learns how to slow things down and appreciate intimacy for what it is; and Rowan learns (slowly) how to be a bit more confident and adventurous.

He isn't overly kinky, though, beyond maybe the occasional edging (as I mentioned, he takes. his. time) and some hair pulling. Don't tie him up, and especially do not blindfold him. He has enough trust issues with the limited vision in the right eye as it is, so not being able to see what's coming heh would just make him anxious. If anything, the boy has a bit of a praise kink... but he absolutely will not ever admit that. Ever. If his partner has anything they want to try, he's generally willing to give it go as long as they're on the receiving end, but he wouldn’t be too comfortable with a whole lot in the BDSM realm, tbh.

Oh, and don’t touch his ears.

And that’s that. I’ll end this with one of my favorite dumb Rowan memes bc it’s relevant here: