#sebcanon

Overall, Sebastian is a very brave man. He has relatively few fears and is confident of himself. He knows that he should face his fears, which is how he conquered a fear of spiders that persisted until his early twenties. However, like a lot of people, he has a phobia

Sebastian has a phobia of becoming permanently injured or disabled. Blinded. Loss or paralysis of one or both of his arms, legs, hands, feet. Afflicted with a disease or a broken spine that leaves him paralysed from the neck down. Hit in the head and left with brain damage that leaves him dependent on others or warps his personality or abilities. However, while extremely frightening, these are not the worst of his terrors. 

His very worst nightmare is being in a state of total paralysis- eyes open, able to see and sense and think, but incapable of doing anything about it.

He is absolutely terrified of the idea and finds it extremely difficult to even speak about it because speaking about it confirms that it’s a possibility. He occasionally has nightmares that inevitably result in either total silence as he breaks out in a cold sweat or outright screaming and thrashing with a sense of heart-pounding panic.

He is absolutely adamant that if he is ever left in such a state of complete paralysis with little or no chance of recovery- left in a state of dependency, of being cared for by others, of the loss of dignity, of being left at the whims of others, the intense certainty that he will be nothing more than a burden to the people he loves and the resentment he’s certain this would cause- that the plug be pulled and that he be allowed to die. 

His made his own sister swear to smother him with a pillow herself if she has to. 

*These are Sebastian's magical abilities as of Dragon Age: Inquisition. He will be less skilled in threads that take place during Origins and II.

While I personally would consider the spells made available in the Dragon Age games pretty limited when you consider what can and has been done with magic in-universe, broadly speaking, these are the spells that Sebastian knows and uses. 

They may not always be used as they are in the games- for example, Time Spiral is used to slow his perception of time and allow him to think in the midst of battle, and Cone of Cold is maintained and so functions as a particularly sharp, curved ice wall.

Wielding one of the three ancestral dragonbone staffs held by his family, Sebastian is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield as a powerful battlemage. It's not his raw power that should inspire wariness or trepidation- it's his fierce strategic mind, experience in the battlefield and a distinct willingness to fight dirty. Also vital is his tendency to never stay in place for more than a few seconds at a time.

Trained by his mother and father, both powerful former magisters, Sebastian is well-versed in magical combat both on his own and with allies, though he has less experience fighting alongside non-mages. He has learned spells and tricks suited both for one-on-one combat and to be used in conjunction with other mages, particularly his immediate family.

As a battlemage, Sebastian is comfortable both in the thick of combat and when flinging deadly spells from afar. Often the first in and first out, Frost step brings him in close to deal serious blows with his bladed staff while Hand of Winter, Cone of Cold and telekinetic blasts ensure opponents are left dead or reeling. 

Otherwise, he may hang back and harry opponents with spells of Grease and fire, dealing long-range pain with spells of chained lightning. Walking Bomb serves well when used against the weakest of the pack, while Crushing Prison keeps heavy hitters occupied and weak, short spells of paralysis enrage frustrated opponents. Haste and Telekinetic Weapons grant any allies and edge. 

As a former magister, Sebastian's father also taught him blood magic. He can boil and influence blood in the veins and use his own blood and that of others to augment his spellcasting, but he doesn't know how to manipulate minds with blood. Neither does he want to, as he recognises that he is not very good at resisting power and values freedom too highly.

Tutored by the Witch of the Wilds who lurked in the swamps of Antiva, Sebastian learned how to change his shape. Attempts to change into something larger than a cat were unsuccessful. Understandably, the Witch was not very pleased with what she thought was a promising pupil. Sebastian has not returned to Antiva.

He knows how to heal deep wounds, though the sooner they were made, the better. He cannot heal sicknesses or more than one person at a time. His barriers are impressive, but often short-lived, leaving him vulnerable and forcing him to rely on speed and skill with his staff. Glyphs and runes are more of a hobby, granting him enough knowledge to give some objects magical properties with the aid of his sister, but not enough to cast them in the midst of battle.

His name is Sebastian.

Seh-bass-tee-an.

Sehbassteean.

Sebastian.

Not Seh-bass-chin.

Not S'basschyun.

Sebastian.

Yes, Sebastian dabbles in it. Perhaps a little bit more than most people would be comfortable with, but what can you do? It is a means to an end, as most magic is, and he sees little difference between drawing his power from spirits in the Fade or corporeal beings. 

That said, he does not sacrifice the lives of others in any situation beyond open combat. In the field, he is not averse to slitting the throat of one opponent and draining their life force to use to empower himself. However, he does not kidnap people and experiment on them or murder the helpless. His sacrificial lambs are all part of the necessities of open combat, and if saving his own life or that of his colleagues means he must make someone's death a little more gruesome than usual, so be it. 

He uses few spells dedicated purely to blood magic, preferring to use the blood to fuel spells from other schools. Nevertheless, the temptation is always there.

Besides, no matter how he might defend it, he knows one thing for certain.

It's not his strong suit, that's for sure. Sebastian has a tendency to push people away and, though eloquent, he's not great at inspiring loyalty, nor does he have the patience or inclination to build it up or inspire confidence. Tough love is the only sort he tends to show to subordinates and while he can be an effective short-term leader, things tend to break down in the long run. 

However, he's not well-suited to grunt work or low ranks. Intuitive, intelligent and quick-thinking, Sebastian functions best in roles that allow him a certain degree of independence and flexibility. Although he can be persuaded to follow a plan to the letter if he trusts his commander implicitly, he's much more likely to improvise if he feels things aren't going his way.

Second-in-command is Sebastian's natural place. He's particularly good at filling in areas where his commander is lacking- whether his commander is too soft, too harsh, tends to overlook supplies or certain team members, Sebastian is often looking over their shoulder to correct them. Picking up on other people's mistakes is where he excels- a quality very useful for a second-in-command. Answering only to his direct superior also allows for improvisation and the reliance and trust of both his commander and subordinates, granting the degree of oversight and independence that Sebastian does best with.

In addition, if and when things go wrong, people seldom blame the second-in-command. He can also act as either the good guy or the bad guy to subordinates, occasionally letting him dodge responsibility and avoid the most difficult decisions that have to be made.