#starkhvn

This is my excuse to welcome you to the Nannaverse, aka I have a lot of wardens but not a lot of drive to make all of them worldstates, so i canonized them in Nanna's. Lets'a go—

𝐌𝐘𝐑𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐀

he/him Battlemage

Myrddin was born a regular elven child in Amaranthine's alienage, often going with his parents to their work on the docks until his magic manifested at nine, and things took a turn for the worst. His father, a devout man, was repulsed by his son's gift and kept his distance until it hit a snapping point and tried to drown the child. It was only by chance that Templars happened to be near, and Myrddin was taken from his father and weeping mother to Kinloch Hold.

In the Circle, Myrddin excelled in his magical studies, and was complimented by his teachers as a driven student—the primary thing that hindered him was his insistent need to prove himself to those around him, making him endearingly clumsy in his attempts to show off and painting himself unintentionally as a bit of a class clown. Nanna and her Circle of friends—being a few years older—often looked at him like a little brother, annoying attention seeking included, and Nanna often helped him get ready for the day when he left things forgotten in lieu of trying to impress someone.

After the scandal that saw Jowan's escape and Nanna disastrously recruited to the Grey Wardens, Myrddin saw his chance to advance—he was suddenly elevated as First Enchanter Irving's apprentice a few scant days after the event. Though not by his choosing, and with how quickly Irving replaced his former pupil, the boy wasn't about to waste his chance. Myrddin, like many apprentices who came to the Circle as bereft children, adored Irving, and relished the chance to learn from him directly. He grew quickly to be a star pupil in his own right, and because of this, was permitted the rare opportunity to train as a Battlemage.

Myrddin is a staunch Aequitarian, and when the Circles fell, he stood with the rest on the principle that the Circles were a necessity and opposed the push to succeed from the Chantry. However, he had the situational awareness to understand that continuing that conversation meant keeping the mages alive and protected. And so he joined the Rebellion under the condition that he act as a protector for those traveling peacefully and not as an active combatant.

𝐆𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐒

they/them Sword & Shield. Berserker Spirit Warrior

Without a Grey Warden to intervene on their behalf, the tragedy that was Gavain's wedding ceremony resulted in them left imprisoned and at the mercy of human justice. Though they didn't regret the retribution they brought down on the Arl of Denerim's house, they lamented in isolation that their life seemed to be over... until the elven riots.

The assault that the arl's son had enacted on their community had been the final straw for many in Denerim's alienage, and the elves had begun to fight back. In the midst of this chaos, Gavain had been given the chance to slip out of the dungeons and back into the protective arms of their family, at least for a little while. But still being considered a criminal in the eyes of the law, they knew harboring them would only put them in further danger with the violence, so when the rest of the Tabris clan would not leave with them, they fled the city on their own.

Gavain spent the next ten years of their life in a mercenary company, flitting across Ferelden's borders for work on various jobs. After the Mage-Templar war began, their company had been hired by a mysterious benefactor under the name of Dark Wolf to act as a guard for mages traveling the Hinterlands seeking shelter from the warfront.

It was there that they met Myrddin.

Set on similar jobs, the two ended up growing close in their work and fell into a surprising but devoted romance. Having less opportunity than they'd wish to engage in their own community, Gavain cherishes Myrddin deeply and hopes for a brighter outcome to this war to give them both space to carve out a life together—something that, the more they learn and understand about the conflict, the more they see as harder to achieve with the Circles in place. Understandably, this also extends to having a particular distaste for Irving and what they see as an emotional manipulation, though they don't voice this often to keep the peace.

headcanon asks - @starkhvn

Being a templar is still at the core of her being; it is, ultimately, what drives her day after day - to serve and protect and prevent anyone from enduring what she did as a child. It's a lot of unresolved trauma, 'solved' in her mind, by doing what she can to save others. It is a fundamental part of her identity, beginning the very day she lost her family and was saved by Ser Wentworth Kell. With a resolve of steel, she had decided then, as a very young child, that she would become a templar.

That said, however, as she has ascended through the ranks, implementing new, effective methods to better control the mage population of the Gallows, Meredith became hungry for power. From her point of view, more power meant more control; for Kirkwall, her birthplace and her home are important to her, and to imagine going beyond its borders and leaving permanently would almost be unfathomable in the sense that she has never truly left the city-state, besides the occasional 'work' trip to the White Spire in her years serving as Knight-Commander.

While it would not be a decision made lightly, were Meredith to be offered a promotion to become Knight-Vigilant, she would take time deliberating it, ensuring that everything she had done for Kirkwall's Circle would be kept and maintained. Depending on when this theoretical promotion is offered to Meredith, she would discuss with Grand Cleric Elthina to prepare Cullen to take on the role as her direct successor and one that, for the most part, Meredith believes would follow in her footsteps.

Of course, being in command of the entire Templar Order (well, as likely subject to the Knights Divine, of course), would allow Meredith to implement the same regiment changes across all Circles under the Chantry's command. It would be one of those "with great power comes great responsibility" moments for Meredith, but I do believe with enough planning and thought, she would take it. Her hunger for power at some point would take over her desire to protect her home city, doing more than she ever could've imagined as that scared little girl.

edit: I realized I kind of contradicted myself so I'm amending this and referring to this headcanon for the bit about Viscount.

However, were she offered the position of Viscount - I think she would refuse. Her place in the context of Kirkwall is in the Templar Order. After all, enacting Martial Law and blocking an election, rather than necessarily claiming the throne for herself speaks volumes; she is playing the role without necessarily giving people genuine cause to call her a true tyrant or dictator. She remains in control of her templars, and uses this armed force to take control of the city-state without actually taking the title itself. She is not a politician, but she plays the game of politicking with what she has and what she is 'allowed' to do - but her interest is not to necessarily control Kirkwall. She is only interested in placing yet another puppet on the throne with the interests of the Chantry and Templar Order in mind, much like how she and Elthina threatened Dumar to allow them to do what Val Royeaux and the Chantry desire with regards to Kirkwall. So, if she was asked to become Viscount and to leave her station as Knight-Commander, she would refuse.

Send [ APPROVAL ] + (a decision that your muse is making) || selectively accepting

To start, his eyes hurt.

The middle part of it is that Sebastian sent him a missive that is pages long. Not scrolls, no they've surpassed that long ago - when rebuilding a trade route long left to rot by their predecessors. The first page had been updates, the pressing things that needed tending to and a guiding hand from both sides, and Varric had scrawled notes along with each paragraph ( Bran had yelled at him long ago not to mark up the official letters as that would be seen as disrespectful, so a journal it was ).

He cares less and less as the missive moves away from the workings of triangular trade, how Kirkwall is offering banking support to Starkhaven and Markham, how Starkhaven is providing wool to Markham, Markham is sending lumber to Starkhaven and Kirkwall - and the cycle carries on and on, but the letter turns into how a community in Starkhaven is getting a new Chantry and then another paragraph on how the circle is expanding, then the page flips - there is a back, hell is real and Prince Vael has locked him in it.

It's a page on how the Divine is visiting them, and he already has a paragraph penned in his head telling Sebastian in the most diplomatic matter to pound sand ( Starkhaven is suited for the Divine's visit, may she find it as colourful and as vapid as the shoes she buys of course Bran would make him edit that - to not start another event ). The page carries on, and his eyes almost dare to droop; he knows the men who care for the bells are long asleep, and the chance is the hours are getting larger rather than smaller - like they tended to.

He scans, like he normally does, his chin resting on his knuckles as he does it, idly he's not paying much attention at this point. He needs it read, so he can reread it and reply. He cannot explain this about himself, but he must scan quickly.

Well, until something about Kirkwall - about how Hightown serves roast nug during the high holidays- how it's a delicacy, a holdover, and entirely true. Varric laughs, a real one, in the middle of the night, those hours ticking away, and he pulls fresh parchment out of the bottom drawer and starts on the heading before he returns to his reading.

'Hey! Choir Boy, You got me! We all eat nugs in Hightown...'

send me hc prompts

by default and what one would catch him wearing the most is a suit of silver plate armor with deep blue surcoat. however, he does have some embellishments to the armor. a mantle made of deep red cloth fastened under his pauldrons and draped across his back. they were a standard practice to signify a rank of importance within the imperial legion or ruby ranks. while it means little in undeath and self exile, he kept it as homage and simply because he likes it. then, in a form of reverence, he wears an amulet in the shape of a chalice overflowing underneath for stendarr. some bird feathers looped in belt for kynareth and an imperial dragon badge over his left hip for akatosh and cyrodiil. armor ref.

this doesn’t change much while at camp / haven / skyhold other than him removing his gauntlet and wearing black leather gloves and switching out armored boots for a plain brown pair. sometimes he’ll wear a simple leather armor when his main set is under repairs or other maintenance.

 @starkhvn​   asked :     are   there   things   varric   wrote   into   or   left   out   of   the   tale   of   the   champion ?     meaning :   did   the   book   differ   from   reality ,   and   if   so ,   was   it   a   huge   difference   or   just   minor   things ?     how   does   he   feel   about   the   book ?     has   he   read   it ?

the major difference, by far, is that legacy is omitted. in retrospect, he almost wishes it was just because it would have meant people knew about corypheus. with the things he found out about his family and father, it was far too personal for him to be okay with it being included in the book. 

another detail left out is his blood magic. again, it’s just not something he wants widely known. it was safer for him to leave it out. otherwise, he let varric write it however he wanted. it was a biography and a story in one. while the events are true, there are liberties taken in terms of flourishes and dramatics. personally though, i know a lot of people think the arishok fight as it played out in-game was embellished re: being impaled, but i don’t.

he doesn’t particularly like the book, but he doesn’t hate it either. history gets written. what happened in kirkwall is a part of it, and he played a major role. if it wasn’t written by varric, it would have been written by someone else. he would rather have a friend who was present for it all write it over someone that wasn’t and might get important things wrong or misconstrued. 

Ohh!  I’m always excited to provide these!  (Will keep this mostly to Dragon Age / fantasy blogs,  to keep with the theme of this blog.)

Under a cut,  because I went a little overboard.

nexusmods.com/dragona… is it this one?? I’ll keep digging but that’s the first one to come up