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ataraxion
May. 7th, 2014 09:17 pmP L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Al
OOC Journal:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
yrbirdcanscene
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Eighteen was so last decade.
Email + IM: aleecat @ gmail, yrbirdcanscene @ aim
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Darcy Lewis, Odessa Knutson
C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Marian Hawke
Canon: Dragon Age 2
Original or Alternate Universe: Original, with choices made listed in AU Clarification
Canon Point: Post-Game
Number: RNG
Setting: Dragon Age is centered on the continent of Thedas. There are four main races in Thedas: Dwarves, Elves, Humans, and Qunari. The Dwarven people are centralized in a vast underground city called Orzammar. There was a time when they had cities all over the continent, all beneath ground, connected by what's called the Deep Roads. Elves tend to come in two varieties. They are either Dalish, those who live in clans and try to keep the old ways, or City Elves, who live in alienages in Human cities, their culture and history all but lost to them. The Qunari are both a race and a religion of sorts. They come from a land across the northern sea, and call the islands ofPar Vollen home. Humans are by far the most prevalent race in Thedas. They have previously driven the Dalish Elves from their lands and enslaved them, and only tenuously co-exist with the Qunari. Dwarves and Humans don't have nearly as much active animosity toward each other, if only because the Dwarves tend to keep to themselves.
In Ferelden, as with most of Thedas, magic is viewed as a curse. The country's religion says that power of mages corrupted them, and created the Darkspawn, a literal Blight upon the land. It is the position of the Chantry that magic is made to serve man, and is not meant to rule. To this end, Humans and Elves who display magical talent (Dwarves have no affinity for it) are taken away from their families and placed with a Circle of Magi, where they are taught how to control their talents. They are never free people again. Mages are susceptible to possession by demons, causing them to become abominations. If a mage is judged to be too much at risk, they are made Tranquil, severing their connection to their magic. Tranquil mages are husks of their former selves, but seem to have no regrets, having been stripped of their emotions. Those who have witness this transformation tend to consider the Rite of Tranquility to be a fate worse than death. The very threat of it encourages many mages to go on the run from the Chantry and its Templar Order, which is charged with controlling mages. Any mage who does not submit themselves to the Circle is called an apostate, as the Chantry finds them in violation of their religious law.
The Tevinter Imperium has a different view on magic than the majority of Thedas. While they agree that magic should serve man, they believe that means that those with magic should use their power to rule. There, magic is valued, and those who possess a great deal of power and proficiency become Magisters, wielding significant political influence within the Imperium. But only the strong and well-connected live well in Tevinter, meaning that it isn't the immediately appealing option to mages on the run.
Dragon Age 2 takes place in Kirkwall, a city-state in the Free Marches. There, tensions with mages run higher than most. The veil between Kirkwall and the Fade is much thinner there, meaning mages in the city are much more prone to demonic possession. The Circle in Kirkwall is actually a former prison, and its inhabitants certainly feel the part. Apostates are a growing concern in the area.
History: Marian Hawke is the eldest of three children born to Malcolm Hawke, an apostate mage, and Leandra Amell, formerly a noble of Kirkwall in the Free Marches. The family never put down roots too deep, and this was doubly true when young Bethany began to show signs of taking after her father. A young mage is much harder to hide than an older, more experienced one. Moving around all the time for the sake of keeping Bethany's secret took its toll on the family, especially on her twin brother Carver, who, like his eldest sister, had been born without any magical affinity.
Malcolm Hawke died when the twins were only fifteen, meaning Marian stepped up to help her mother raise her siblings. The family was settled then in the town of Lothering, and with Bethany old enough to understand the gravity of her situation, it seemed they may be able to call the village home for some time.
Three years later, there was a call to arms. Marian and Carver joined King Cailan's army at Ostagar to drive back the amassing army of darkspawn. The Battle of Ostagar was a massacre. The king's own adviser had betrayed him, and the help that should have turned the tide of battle never came. Marian and Carver were lucky to escape with their lives. They returned to their mother and sister in Lothering, and barely had the time to catch their breath before the darkspawn hoard descended upon the village, destroying it utterly. With no home to go back to, they meant to make their way to the port city of Gwaren in the east, where they could take a ship to Leandra's home in Kirkwall and escape the Blight. The darkspawn were on their heels, however, and it was clear they would have to fight their way through them. When faced with an ogre, Carver drew his sword and moved to defend his mother. His bravery cost him his life, and dealt a blow to the family that they would never completely recover from.
With no end to the darkspawn in sight, the remaining Hawke family and their new companion Aveline Vallen were rescued by Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds, in the form of a massive fire-breathing dragon. In return for saving their lives, and and escort to Gwaren, Marian agreed to take an amulet to a clan of Dalish elves camped outside of Kirkwall.
Flemeth kept up her end of the bargain, and the family made their way by sea to the Free Marches. The city of Kirkwall was already teeming with Fereldan refugees looking to escape the Blight. Only those with legitimate business in the city were being let beyond the foreboding gates. Leandra's younger brother was tracked down by one of the city guard and brought to meet his estranged family. Gamlen Amell, it turns out, was a gambler and something of a weasel. The Amell family had been a noble one when Leandra had eloped with her apostate husband, but after her parents died, Gamlen had taken everything and lost it. There was no estate or influence left to get the Hawkes into the city, but Gamlen was able to find a company of mercenaries willing to take on the two Hawke girls, paying their way into the city in exchange for a year of service. With precious little choice, they agreed and so began their first year in what would be their new home.
Things did not get easier after that first year. The family was forced to share a small shack in the impoverished Lowtown, and Gamlen began to start requesting that his sister find some way to pay him for his hospitality. Finding it dubious that there truly was nothing left to Leandra, Bethany and Marian Hawke sought out their grandparents' will, which was still in the vault of their old estate. The will proved that everything had been in fact left to their mother, and once they cleared the estate of the slavers that Gamlen had lost their home to, Leandra began to petition the Viscount of Kirkwall for ownership.
Meanwhile, in an effort to build up the Hawke name and amass wealth and influence enough to keep the Templars away from her apostate sister, Marian negotiated her way into a partnership with a pair of Dwarven brothers looking to head an expedition into the Deep Roads. Varric Tethras, the younger brother, promised whoever bought on would become fabulously wealthy. But first, Marian needed to secure the coin. She took jobs all over the city, some less scrupulous than others, to earn the fifty sovereigns she'd need to buy her way into Bartrand's expedition. She put her skills with a bow to work killing slavers (where she met Fenris, a former Tevinter slave), providing backup for a duel gone south (introducing her to pirate captain Isabela), and assisting the city guard (elevating Aveline to the position of Guard-Captain). Soon, the name "Hawke" seemed to be on everybody's lips.
The only other thing they could need was maps of the Deep Roads. To this end, she sought out and befriended an apostate healer named Anders (sharing his body with a Spirit of Justice), who shared his knowledge as a Grey Warden in exchange for her help in attempting to free a friend from the Circle of Magi. Hawke experienced first-hand the horrors of a mage made Tranquil, and how they are aware somewhere deep down of what's been taken from them. The experience left her unsettled, but she had what she needed.
She also fulfilled her promise to Flemeth, delivering her amulet to Dalish Keeper Marethari. The Keeper sent Hawke and the trinket up the mountain with her First as a guide, a young Dalish woman named Merrill. When it was complete, Hawke was to take Merrill with her back to Kirkwall. The task seemed simple enough; all Merrill needed to do was recite a rite for the dead over the amulet at an old graveyard. But the graveyard was warded, and haunted by restless spirits. To protect them, and dispel the magic keeping them from their goal, Merrill revealed herself as a blood mage, causing Hawke to take a cautious approach with the elf going forward. When the rite was finished, Flemeth appeared to them and commended Hawke for keeping her promise. She then delivered a warning about the world being on the edge of change, and that Hawke should be prepared to jump. Her debt repaid, Hawke returned to Kirkwall with her new Dalish companion.
When it came time to venture into the Deep Roads, Hawke insisted her sister stay behind to look after their mother. If she had known that making her stay would leave her vulnerable to the Templars, she would never have left her there. The expedition was not an easy one. Bartrand had betrayed them, and left his own brother to die. While they were able to fight their way back to the surface, and with all the riches they had hoped to gain, the hard-won victory rang hollow when Hawke discovered Bethany had been taken to the Circle. Her sister might never know freedom again, and Hawke blamed herself for not having protected her from that.
In the following years, tensions with a Qunari contingent stranded in the city came to a boil. Zealots within the Chantry, in an attempt to turn their order against the Qunari, murdered the Viscount's son when he attempted to convert to the Qun's religious teachings. Despite all Hawke's efforts to keep conflict from breaking out, the Arishok – the Qunari leader – attacked the city. The Viscount's keep was taken, and the nobles within hostaged. The Viscount himself was beheaded by the Arishok. Hawke, having earned the respect of the Qunari leader over the years, engaged him in honorable one-on-one combat and defeated him, earning herself the title Champion of Kirkwall.
But while she was uncovering the plot against the Qunari, something sinister was happening in the city. Women were going missing after having a mystery suitor who sent them lilies. Hawke thought she had tracked down the man responsible and brought him to justice.
Until Leandra went missing, and there were lilies in the front room.
Hawke scoured the city for clues and eventually found where her mother had been taken, but she was too late. Leandra Hawke had been cobbled together with pieces of other women by a blood mage attempting to recreate his lost bride. There was nothing Hawke could do to save her mother, but she certainly avenged her. As Leandra died in her daughter's arms, she told her how proud of her she was. Hawke took up the mantle of Champion with a hardened heart.
Following the death of the Viscount, Meredith, Knight-Commander of the Templar Order, turned Kirkwall into a police-state. Things got worse than ever for the mages in the city, encouraging more and more to seek increasingly desperate measures to secure their safety. Many turned to blood magic, and many more became so enraged by their situations that they become abominations. Hawke uncovered a conspiracy to have Knight-Commander Meredith removed from her position. It ended violently, with most of the mages turning on their sympathetic Templar counterparts. Divine Justinia V, head of the Chantry, sent agents to Kirkwall to assess whether the city-state was in danger of breaking away as the Tevinter Imperium did. The threat of an Exalted March against the city – a crusade – loomed overhead. The Grand Cleric was instructed to leave for her own safety.
The conflict between the mages and templars came to a head, and there could be no compromise.
Anders destroyed the Chantry and everyone inside. Knight-Commander Meredith called for the Right of Annulment, which would sentence to death every mage in the Circle of Magi for the actions of just one. Hawke had to choose between the Templars, hoping to keep order in the city, and the condemned mages. She sided with the mages. Though the spark of rebellion was ignited, they would have to survive long enough to actually rebel. There was also the matter of what to do with Anders. In the end, Hawke could not kill her friend for his crimes, and instead insisted he fight with her to save the city from itself. Impossible task though that would be.
First Enchanter Orsino went mad trying to protect his people. He became an abomination that Hawke had to put down. And the Knight-Commander seemed to take all leave of her senses, declaring even members of her own order to be blood mage thralls. Hawke was forced to face her in combat, in which she was ultimately victorious.
But there could be no peace. The battle was over, but the war had only just begun. In the aftermath of it all, Hawke and her companions fled the city and the conflict that began there. The Tranquility might even seem like a vacation after all that.
Personality: Hawke is widely considered a champion of the people, and many believe that what she does, she does out of some sense of benevolence or altruism. This is only partially true at best. Hawke's motivations for taking up various causes do usually have something to do with whether or not she considers it just, but rarely does she do something without the promise of a reward. Whether it be coin, status, or a favor. Nearly everything Hawke does is for the security of her family. Even when she clawed her way up into the nobility, she didn't choose to take the name of her mother's family to be Lady Amell. She only wanted the protection bought with status, not a title (even if she wound up with one anyway as Champion of Kirkwall).
Sarcastic and charming, it can be difficult to get a straight answer out of Hawke. Being the eldest meant having to make sacrifices for her siblings' sakes, and hiding any discontent about the state of things. Hiding any bitterness about the situation (never about Bethany or Carver) under snark and charm served Hawke well. That said, it isn't impossible to get to know the real Hawke. Possession of a wicked sense of humor doesn't mean she won't speak her mind. If anything, it only encourages her. And when she comes to trust someone, she can be candid about her feelings, admitting when she's truly hurting, or angry.
Hawke laughs easily and takes genuine pleasure in the company of others. Even once her sister was taken away to the Circle, and her mother died, she wasn't alone in her estate. She had her staff, and her companions were in and out often, looking after her, and leaving reminders of their involvement in her life, which she was grateful for. Keeping busy kept the (proverbial) demons at bay, and it's what Hawke intends to keep on doing. She doesn't bottle up her feelings in this way, but it gives her a chance to find other distractions while she deals with the personal conflicts in her life on her own time.
One hot point of contention in Hawke's life is magic. Her father possessed it, as does her younger sister, but it took her mother's life. While she isn't closed-minded enough to feel that magic is inherently to blame for the various evils in the world, and she knows keeping all magic-affine locked up isn't the answer, she also realizes there's a reason the Chantry kept mages in Circles. Siding with the mages against the obviously insane Knight-Commander Meredith had been an easy choice, and it was the choice that kept her sister safe. But if it hadn't been for Bethany, and if Meredith had been open to reason... Hawke can't say she would have made the same choices. For all the certainty Hawke likes to project, this is one of those subjects where she knows she stands on shaky ground.
If there's anything Hawke is in firm possession of, however, it's a sense of adventure. She isn't one to back down from a challenge, and may even be too quick to leap into danger. While she's one for investigation, she's perhaps too quick to volunteer herself to be the one on the hunt of whatever-it-may-be. That she tends to emerge victorious at every turn only encourages this sense she has that throwing caution to the wind is a tried and true method of skating through life. Time will tell if this holds up on the Tranquility, but she isn't about to balk in the face of a new experience. Even if space will be a huge adjustment – to put it mildly. At least she'll be somewhere where she isn't expected to step up and solve everyone else's problems.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
William Tell Badassery: Hawke is a rogue with an emphasis in archery. She is a master of picking locks (for all the good it will do her in this digital age of nanites) and marksman, able to disable her foes with a well-placed arrow. She also has some skill in stealth and obfuscation, when her surroundings allow for it. (It's very much doubtful the Tranquility will allow many opportunities for stealth, and Hawke will be without things like smoke bombs, so it's not likely to come up often.) While Hawke is at her deadliest at range, she isn't helpless in a close confrontation. She can easily trade out her bow for a set of daggers to fight opponents who draw too near for a shot. She's not as skilled at it as someone who specializes in dual weaponry, however. She doesn't know just where to stab someone to inflict the most damage, but she can hold her own.
Luddite: Hawke has no experience with any technology beyond that of her world, and will be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to guns and the like. Computers are a source of complete confusion.
Inventory:
Appearance: Hawke is a white human woman with short cropped black hair, and piercing blue eyes of average height and athletic build. Years of playing hero see her carrying herself tall, like she's always in control of her surroundings.
She's just as comfortable in armor as she is in normal clothing, though she finds the elaborate garb worn by the nobility to be stifling. Give her a suit of plate any day over a corset and petticoats.
Marian Hawke and her sister, Bethany, and Hawke in the mantle of the Champion.
Age: Around 30.
AU Clarification:
Your Name: Al
OOC Journal:
yrbirdcansceneUnder 18? If yes, what is your age?: Eighteen was so last decade.
Email + IM: aleecat @ gmail, yrbirdcanscene @ aim
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Darcy Lewis, Odessa Knutson
C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Marian Hawke
Canon: Dragon Age 2
Original or Alternate Universe: Original, with choices made listed in AU Clarification
Canon Point: Post-Game
Number: RNG
Setting: Dragon Age is centered on the continent of Thedas. There are four main races in Thedas: Dwarves, Elves, Humans, and Qunari. The Dwarven people are centralized in a vast underground city called Orzammar. There was a time when they had cities all over the continent, all beneath ground, connected by what's called the Deep Roads. Elves tend to come in two varieties. They are either Dalish, those who live in clans and try to keep the old ways, or City Elves, who live in alienages in Human cities, their culture and history all but lost to them. The Qunari are both a race and a religion of sorts. They come from a land across the northern sea, and call the islands ofPar Vollen home. Humans are by far the most prevalent race in Thedas. They have previously driven the Dalish Elves from their lands and enslaved them, and only tenuously co-exist with the Qunari. Dwarves and Humans don't have nearly as much active animosity toward each other, if only because the Dwarves tend to keep to themselves.
In Ferelden, as with most of Thedas, magic is viewed as a curse. The country's religion says that power of mages corrupted them, and created the Darkspawn, a literal Blight upon the land. It is the position of the Chantry that magic is made to serve man, and is not meant to rule. To this end, Humans and Elves who display magical talent (Dwarves have no affinity for it) are taken away from their families and placed with a Circle of Magi, where they are taught how to control their talents. They are never free people again. Mages are susceptible to possession by demons, causing them to become abominations. If a mage is judged to be too much at risk, they are made Tranquil, severing their connection to their magic. Tranquil mages are husks of their former selves, but seem to have no regrets, having been stripped of their emotions. Those who have witness this transformation tend to consider the Rite of Tranquility to be a fate worse than death. The very threat of it encourages many mages to go on the run from the Chantry and its Templar Order, which is charged with controlling mages. Any mage who does not submit themselves to the Circle is called an apostate, as the Chantry finds them in violation of their religious law.
The Tevinter Imperium has a different view on magic than the majority of Thedas. While they agree that magic should serve man, they believe that means that those with magic should use their power to rule. There, magic is valued, and those who possess a great deal of power and proficiency become Magisters, wielding significant political influence within the Imperium. But only the strong and well-connected live well in Tevinter, meaning that it isn't the immediately appealing option to mages on the run.
Dragon Age 2 takes place in Kirkwall, a city-state in the Free Marches. There, tensions with mages run higher than most. The veil between Kirkwall and the Fade is much thinner there, meaning mages in the city are much more prone to demonic possession. The Circle in Kirkwall is actually a former prison, and its inhabitants certainly feel the part. Apostates are a growing concern in the area.
History: Marian Hawke is the eldest of three children born to Malcolm Hawke, an apostate mage, and Leandra Amell, formerly a noble of Kirkwall in the Free Marches. The family never put down roots too deep, and this was doubly true when young Bethany began to show signs of taking after her father. A young mage is much harder to hide than an older, more experienced one. Moving around all the time for the sake of keeping Bethany's secret took its toll on the family, especially on her twin brother Carver, who, like his eldest sister, had been born without any magical affinity.
Malcolm Hawke died when the twins were only fifteen, meaning Marian stepped up to help her mother raise her siblings. The family was settled then in the town of Lothering, and with Bethany old enough to understand the gravity of her situation, it seemed they may be able to call the village home for some time.
Three years later, there was a call to arms. Marian and Carver joined King Cailan's army at Ostagar to drive back the amassing army of darkspawn. The Battle of Ostagar was a massacre. The king's own adviser had betrayed him, and the help that should have turned the tide of battle never came. Marian and Carver were lucky to escape with their lives. They returned to their mother and sister in Lothering, and barely had the time to catch their breath before the darkspawn hoard descended upon the village, destroying it utterly. With no home to go back to, they meant to make their way to the port city of Gwaren in the east, where they could take a ship to Leandra's home in Kirkwall and escape the Blight. The darkspawn were on their heels, however, and it was clear they would have to fight their way through them. When faced with an ogre, Carver drew his sword and moved to defend his mother. His bravery cost him his life, and dealt a blow to the family that they would never completely recover from.
With no end to the darkspawn in sight, the remaining Hawke family and their new companion Aveline Vallen were rescued by Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds, in the form of a massive fire-breathing dragon. In return for saving their lives, and and escort to Gwaren, Marian agreed to take an amulet to a clan of Dalish elves camped outside of Kirkwall.
Flemeth kept up her end of the bargain, and the family made their way by sea to the Free Marches. The city of Kirkwall was already teeming with Fereldan refugees looking to escape the Blight. Only those with legitimate business in the city were being let beyond the foreboding gates. Leandra's younger brother was tracked down by one of the city guard and brought to meet his estranged family. Gamlen Amell, it turns out, was a gambler and something of a weasel. The Amell family had been a noble one when Leandra had eloped with her apostate husband, but after her parents died, Gamlen had taken everything and lost it. There was no estate or influence left to get the Hawkes into the city, but Gamlen was able to find a company of mercenaries willing to take on the two Hawke girls, paying their way into the city in exchange for a year of service. With precious little choice, they agreed and so began their first year in what would be their new home.
Things did not get easier after that first year. The family was forced to share a small shack in the impoverished Lowtown, and Gamlen began to start requesting that his sister find some way to pay him for his hospitality. Finding it dubious that there truly was nothing left to Leandra, Bethany and Marian Hawke sought out their grandparents' will, which was still in the vault of their old estate. The will proved that everything had been in fact left to their mother, and once they cleared the estate of the slavers that Gamlen had lost their home to, Leandra began to petition the Viscount of Kirkwall for ownership.
Meanwhile, in an effort to build up the Hawke name and amass wealth and influence enough to keep the Templars away from her apostate sister, Marian negotiated her way into a partnership with a pair of Dwarven brothers looking to head an expedition into the Deep Roads. Varric Tethras, the younger brother, promised whoever bought on would become fabulously wealthy. But first, Marian needed to secure the coin. She took jobs all over the city, some less scrupulous than others, to earn the fifty sovereigns she'd need to buy her way into Bartrand's expedition. She put her skills with a bow to work killing slavers (where she met Fenris, a former Tevinter slave), providing backup for a duel gone south (introducing her to pirate captain Isabela), and assisting the city guard (elevating Aveline to the position of Guard-Captain). Soon, the name "Hawke" seemed to be on everybody's lips.
The only other thing they could need was maps of the Deep Roads. To this end, she sought out and befriended an apostate healer named Anders (sharing his body with a Spirit of Justice), who shared his knowledge as a Grey Warden in exchange for her help in attempting to free a friend from the Circle of Magi. Hawke experienced first-hand the horrors of a mage made Tranquil, and how they are aware somewhere deep down of what's been taken from them. The experience left her unsettled, but she had what she needed.
She also fulfilled her promise to Flemeth, delivering her amulet to Dalish Keeper Marethari. The Keeper sent Hawke and the trinket up the mountain with her First as a guide, a young Dalish woman named Merrill. When it was complete, Hawke was to take Merrill with her back to Kirkwall. The task seemed simple enough; all Merrill needed to do was recite a rite for the dead over the amulet at an old graveyard. But the graveyard was warded, and haunted by restless spirits. To protect them, and dispel the magic keeping them from their goal, Merrill revealed herself as a blood mage, causing Hawke to take a cautious approach with the elf going forward. When the rite was finished, Flemeth appeared to them and commended Hawke for keeping her promise. She then delivered a warning about the world being on the edge of change, and that Hawke should be prepared to jump. Her debt repaid, Hawke returned to Kirkwall with her new Dalish companion.
When it came time to venture into the Deep Roads, Hawke insisted her sister stay behind to look after their mother. If she had known that making her stay would leave her vulnerable to the Templars, she would never have left her there. The expedition was not an easy one. Bartrand had betrayed them, and left his own brother to die. While they were able to fight their way back to the surface, and with all the riches they had hoped to gain, the hard-won victory rang hollow when Hawke discovered Bethany had been taken to the Circle. Her sister might never know freedom again, and Hawke blamed herself for not having protected her from that.
In the following years, tensions with a Qunari contingent stranded in the city came to a boil. Zealots within the Chantry, in an attempt to turn their order against the Qunari, murdered the Viscount's son when he attempted to convert to the Qun's religious teachings. Despite all Hawke's efforts to keep conflict from breaking out, the Arishok – the Qunari leader – attacked the city. The Viscount's keep was taken, and the nobles within hostaged. The Viscount himself was beheaded by the Arishok. Hawke, having earned the respect of the Qunari leader over the years, engaged him in honorable one-on-one combat and defeated him, earning herself the title Champion of Kirkwall.
But while she was uncovering the plot against the Qunari, something sinister was happening in the city. Women were going missing after having a mystery suitor who sent them lilies. Hawke thought she had tracked down the man responsible and brought him to justice.
Until Leandra went missing, and there were lilies in the front room.
Hawke scoured the city for clues and eventually found where her mother had been taken, but she was too late. Leandra Hawke had been cobbled together with pieces of other women by a blood mage attempting to recreate his lost bride. There was nothing Hawke could do to save her mother, but she certainly avenged her. As Leandra died in her daughter's arms, she told her how proud of her she was. Hawke took up the mantle of Champion with a hardened heart.
Following the death of the Viscount, Meredith, Knight-Commander of the Templar Order, turned Kirkwall into a police-state. Things got worse than ever for the mages in the city, encouraging more and more to seek increasingly desperate measures to secure their safety. Many turned to blood magic, and many more became so enraged by their situations that they become abominations. Hawke uncovered a conspiracy to have Knight-Commander Meredith removed from her position. It ended violently, with most of the mages turning on their sympathetic Templar counterparts. Divine Justinia V, head of the Chantry, sent agents to Kirkwall to assess whether the city-state was in danger of breaking away as the Tevinter Imperium did. The threat of an Exalted March against the city – a crusade – loomed overhead. The Grand Cleric was instructed to leave for her own safety.
The conflict between the mages and templars came to a head, and there could be no compromise.
Anders destroyed the Chantry and everyone inside. Knight-Commander Meredith called for the Right of Annulment, which would sentence to death every mage in the Circle of Magi for the actions of just one. Hawke had to choose between the Templars, hoping to keep order in the city, and the condemned mages. She sided with the mages. Though the spark of rebellion was ignited, they would have to survive long enough to actually rebel. There was also the matter of what to do with Anders. In the end, Hawke could not kill her friend for his crimes, and instead insisted he fight with her to save the city from itself. Impossible task though that would be.
First Enchanter Orsino went mad trying to protect his people. He became an abomination that Hawke had to put down. And the Knight-Commander seemed to take all leave of her senses, declaring even members of her own order to be blood mage thralls. Hawke was forced to face her in combat, in which she was ultimately victorious.
But there could be no peace. The battle was over, but the war had only just begun. In the aftermath of it all, Hawke and her companions fled the city and the conflict that began there. The Tranquility might even seem like a vacation after all that.
Personality: Hawke is widely considered a champion of the people, and many believe that what she does, she does out of some sense of benevolence or altruism. This is only partially true at best. Hawke's motivations for taking up various causes do usually have something to do with whether or not she considers it just, but rarely does she do something without the promise of a reward. Whether it be coin, status, or a favor. Nearly everything Hawke does is for the security of her family. Even when she clawed her way up into the nobility, she didn't choose to take the name of her mother's family to be Lady Amell. She only wanted the protection bought with status, not a title (even if she wound up with one anyway as Champion of Kirkwall).
Sarcastic and charming, it can be difficult to get a straight answer out of Hawke. Being the eldest meant having to make sacrifices for her siblings' sakes, and hiding any discontent about the state of things. Hiding any bitterness about the situation (never about Bethany or Carver) under snark and charm served Hawke well. That said, it isn't impossible to get to know the real Hawke. Possession of a wicked sense of humor doesn't mean she won't speak her mind. If anything, it only encourages her. And when she comes to trust someone, she can be candid about her feelings, admitting when she's truly hurting, or angry.
Hawke laughs easily and takes genuine pleasure in the company of others. Even once her sister was taken away to the Circle, and her mother died, she wasn't alone in her estate. She had her staff, and her companions were in and out often, looking after her, and leaving reminders of their involvement in her life, which she was grateful for. Keeping busy kept the (proverbial) demons at bay, and it's what Hawke intends to keep on doing. She doesn't bottle up her feelings in this way, but it gives her a chance to find other distractions while she deals with the personal conflicts in her life on her own time.
One hot point of contention in Hawke's life is magic. Her father possessed it, as does her younger sister, but it took her mother's life. While she isn't closed-minded enough to feel that magic is inherently to blame for the various evils in the world, and she knows keeping all magic-affine locked up isn't the answer, she also realizes there's a reason the Chantry kept mages in Circles. Siding with the mages against the obviously insane Knight-Commander Meredith had been an easy choice, and it was the choice that kept her sister safe. But if it hadn't been for Bethany, and if Meredith had been open to reason... Hawke can't say she would have made the same choices. For all the certainty Hawke likes to project, this is one of those subjects where she knows she stands on shaky ground.
If there's anything Hawke is in firm possession of, however, it's a sense of adventure. She isn't one to back down from a challenge, and may even be too quick to leap into danger. While she's one for investigation, she's perhaps too quick to volunteer herself to be the one on the hunt of whatever-it-may-be. That she tends to emerge victorious at every turn only encourages this sense she has that throwing caution to the wind is a tried and true method of skating through life. Time will tell if this holds up on the Tranquility, but she isn't about to balk in the face of a new experience. Even if space will be a huge adjustment – to put it mildly. At least she'll be somewhere where she isn't expected to step up and solve everyone else's problems.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
William Tell Badassery: Hawke is a rogue with an emphasis in archery. She is a master of picking locks (for all the good it will do her in this digital age of nanites) and marksman, able to disable her foes with a well-placed arrow. She also has some skill in stealth and obfuscation, when her surroundings allow for it. (It's very much doubtful the Tranquility will allow many opportunities for stealth, and Hawke will be without things like smoke bombs, so it's not likely to come up often.) While Hawke is at her deadliest at range, she isn't helpless in a close confrontation. She can easily trade out her bow for a set of daggers to fight opponents who draw too near for a shot. She's not as skilled at it as someone who specializes in dual weaponry, however. She doesn't know just where to stab someone to inflict the most damage, but she can hold her own.
Luddite: Hawke has no experience with any technology beyond that of her world, and will be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to guns and the like. Computers are a source of complete confusion.
Inventory:
- Mantle of the Champion, Hawke's armor
- Bassrath-Kata, her longbow
- A quiver and arrows
- Finery bearing the Amell family crest
- A pair of small knives designed for close-quarters combat
Appearance: Hawke is a white human woman with short cropped black hair, and piercing blue eyes of average height and athletic build. Years of playing hero see her carrying herself tall, like she's always in control of her surroundings.
She's just as comfortable in armor as she is in normal clothing, though she finds the elaborate garb worn by the nobility to be stifling. Give her a suit of plate any day over a corset and petticoats.
Marian Hawke and her sister, Bethany, and Hawke in the mantle of the Champion.
Age: Around 30.
AU Clarification:
- All companions recruited
- No romances, though she flirted a fair bit and carried a torch for Aveline until she extinguished it with her obliviousness
- Bethany was not taken into the Deep Roads, so she was taken into the Circle of Magi
- Hawke earned the respect of the Arishok, and bested him in combat, thus turning away the Qunari
- Sided with the mages
I intend to keep any companion-centric choices vague to allow any possible applicant wiggle room. But if I am required to make choices for the purposes of this application, I certainly can.
S A M P L E S
Log Sample: The oxygen gardens of the Tranquility aren't really anything like home. They're much too green to be compared to Ferelden, and the jungles are nothing at all like the stony coasts of Kirkwall, or Sundermount. But still, it's living and breathing, unlike the cold metal and plastics that seem to make up the rest of the ship. Hawke finds her new home terrifying and fascinating in alternating measures. She can't deny the conveniences that exist here – showers, for example. And there are fewer rats than her old home in Lowtown.
But there are no animals here. Even the most Thedasian area in the ship is still alien. Her bow is useless to her here, unless she wanted to try shooting at flies (that would be silly) and it leaves her feeling restless, and out of practice. Still, the gardens are a good location to find a place to rest, and if she closes her eyes, she can imagine for a moment that she's anywhere but an enormous ship sailing through the stars, and dream she's camped somewhere along the Wounded Coast.
But here she doesn't have to sleep on a bed of rocks. She doesn't have to mediate an impending war. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.
Comms Sample: [ These devices may as well be magic for all that Hawke is concerned, but that doesn't mean she distrusts them. They serve a unique purpose that she can't say doesn't come in handy. ]
You're all going to be terribly shocked by this, [ she's not entirely comfortable with her image on the screen yet, so she'll stick to voice as she addresses the network ] but I'm bored. I never thought I would miss having dragons to slay, thieves to catch, or even just fetching things for lazy nobles. I know I should be careful what I wish for, but... I could use some excitement right about now.
