application: fade rift

[dairsmuid]

PLAYER

Name: MJ
Age: 28
Contact: keelahselai
Other Characters: Alistair
Interests: STILL DRUFFY. I'm also here to add more Templar to our Mage v. Templar fights, play a character with a broader interests than Alistair with his Grey Warden preoccupation, promote shaved heads for all, etc. I like RP that involves debate and decision-making in addition to action/adventure.

CHARACTER

Name: Elian Abascal
Canon/OC: Dragon Age OC
Journal: dairsmuid
Race: Human
Nationality: Rivaini
Occupation: Inquisition soldier, ex-Templar
Age: 25

History

Elian is the youngest of five children from a Rivaini merchant-class family that fell to pieces when their mother died and no one was left to keep their drunk, gambling father in check. The oldest three siblings were married or self-sufficient, but 12-year-old Elian and his 13-year-old sister Alis were given over to the Chantry in nearby Ayesleigh. (This was ultimately a kindness: their father lost the family's home within a year and has since only resurfaced to ask for money.) Elian was routed into Templar training because he was a boy; Alis joined him at her own insistence. Neither child had been raised to be devout, but Elian took well to the academic aspects of learning the Chant and Thedosian history and didn't suck at the other aspects, either. He took his vows at 18.

His life as a Templar was largely uneventful--a few deaths during Harrowings, a few people he was sad to see made Tranquil, but overall things were quiet. He had an amicably distant relationship with most of the mages. Among other Templars he was well-liked enough--occasionally a bit of a killjoy in a way that separated him from the rambunctious set, not very devout in a way that separated him from the somber true believers, but nonetheless one of the boys when it came down to it.

Things got more difficult after the events at the Gallows, then after the White Spire and Andoral's Reach. Elian was shifted into work tracking down apostates rather than guarding the Circle. But the effects didn't reach Rivain until Seekers in Ayesleigh checked on the Circle in Dairsmuid and found possessed wise women, freely traveling mages, heresy all over. Elian and Alis were among the Templars brought in to handle it. When the mages resisted, it became an Annulment. Elian hesitated, but he was rebuked for it, and in the end he followed orders.

Things couldn't really get worse after that. Elian continued serving under his Knight-Commander during the war, participating in no further outright massacres but killing his fair share of apostates. In 9:41, he accompanied his Knight-Commander to Haven because he was among those more accustomed to defending against mages in the wild. Elian was left far enough behind when the peace talks were scheduled to begin that he wasn't touched by the explosion, but he was close enough to be among the first responders who recovered the Herald. Motivated in equal parts by belief and having nowhere else to go, he joined the Inquisition's army. He attempted to send for his sister, with no luck; Alis was at one time at Theirinfal Redoubt, but she disappeared with the other Templars the Inquisition failed to recruit.

Personality

Left alone, Elian would have been--and still usually is--a shy man, personable in a soft-spoken way but regularly too quiet and occasionally too serious. He isn't afraid of talking to people, no blushing or stuttering, but he'll wait longer than average to speak up and does a lot of thinking before he opens his mouth. His sense of humor is dry and decent when employed but comes with a situational on/off switch that defaults to off whenever he's focused on anything else, so he doesn't always notice when other people are joking or being sarcastic or making fun of him. His temperament would have lent itself better to life as a scholar than a holy warrior; it's too late for that now, but his faith and his fighting style are both more academic than organic.

Before the war, Elian wasn't much of an Andrastian. He knew the Chant well the same way he knew history well, but his devotion was to the the people in the Order who had taken him in and raised him rather than Andraste. He retains some of his parents' chill Rivaini pantheism in practice and personality, if not strictly in theology, and Andraste and the Maker felt more like additions than replacements. Since the events at Dairsmuid, however, Elian has doubled--maybe tripled--down on his belief. He needs the Chantry to be right so he doesn't have to wonder if he was wrong.

Over the past year he's gotten increasingly adamant and ruthless, and magic or arguments regarding it can make him lash out with a viciousness he never exhibited before the war. Formerly a persistent daydreamer, Elian is now more of a day-dweller. The outward appearance of getting lost in thought is the same, but it's less pleasant, and he's taken up fidgeting and portable puzzles and mental recitation to keep from falling down any holes. He has nightmares (but who doesn't anymore) and the occasional panic attack. Unfortunately, nearly everyone who might know him well enough to recognize that he isn't himself is already dead.

He's not as soggy with overflowing compassion as my other handsome Templarish dude, but he can usually find a tactical advantage to helping the needy if one exists. He doesn't like animals, but he's awkwardly nice to other people's pets; he does like children, but since Dairsmuid, he's uncomfortable around them. The Templars' sense of duty and (ideally) protective purpose came much more naturally to Elian than religion, and he's transferred both easily to working for the Inquisition. He sincerely believed in the Herald and continues to sincerely believe in the Inquisition itself, particularly admiring Cullen and Cassandra, and he does his best to keep himself in line, even when it comes to the mages.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Templar: Elian has been in the care of the Chantry since he was 12 and a Templar since he was 18; he's resistant to magic, capable of counteracting it, reliant on lyrium, and knowledgeable about magic to the extent that Chantry-approved knowledge is correct. Since 9:37 he's been trained more to hunt mages in the countryside rather than guard them in Circles, so he's also decent at tracking, stealth in the "looking nondescript until the right moment" sense, and general survival.

Fighty Things: Elian's preferred weapons are daggers, he knows his way around a shortbow, and he swaps between the two like Origins and the good Lord intended. His Templar training included swords and shields and heavy armor, so Elian is passably competent at handling them, but he's quicker and leaner than he is strong and shouldn't be anyone's first choice if they're looking for a meatshield.

Nerdy Things: Clever, good memory, head for tactics, etc. He knows the Chant backwards and forwards and upside down and is good at dispensing trivia, called for or not. The downside is that he sometimes has trouble focusing on menial tasks and equal trouble switching his focus away from challenging ones, and he's prone to getting lost in his own head or being unable to let go of things until he understands them.

Miscellaneous: Elian is functional, it's usually completely unnoticeable, but he can present PSTD symptoms at inopportune times--not enough to have a meltdown, but enough to cause hesitation or poor decision-making. He's introverted and has particular trouble making friends outside the built-in camaraderie of military structure. He's scared of heights. However! He's very cute and has badass facial scars, so who cares about anything else.

Inventory

↠ A boring dagger, a Rivaini dirk, and a Templar shortbow.
↠ Templar armor he no longer wears.
↠ A drawing from one of several nieces.
↠ Everything else he owns is standard stuff provided to Inquisition soldiers.

Motivation

Elian was among the Templars who traveled to Haven for the Conclave but were not important enough to actually attend. He joined the Inquisition in the immediate aftermath of the explosion and now serves among Commander Cullen's forces. He genuinely believes the Herald was sent by Andraste, saw her step out of the Fade with his own two eyes and everything, so he won't be leaving anytime soon.

SAMPLES

1. On the TDM

2. It takes the sound of a fist on a face to jerk Elian's attention away from the depths of his half-empty tankard, and by then the other soldiers he'd been sitting with, while they talked about this time or another they'd been graced with a kind word from the Herald herself, are already on their feet.

Across the tavern, there's a brawl brewing. Templars--the sort who still wear their armor here--and mages. Elian needs a second to locate the center.

The Tevinter. An Orlesian. Light and the reality-shift of magic. The spotty teenaged soldier standing next to Elian starts to step toward the throng, but Elian catches his forearm on his way up out of his chair, pulls him back while stepping forward, until he would have to climb around Elian to get involved.

Maybe he would have done. Maybe Elian would have, too, instead of continuing to watch with sharp eyes and curled fists and thudding heart. But it's over more quickly than it began, cut short by Seeker Pentaghast and the Qunari mercenary.

His companions sit down as soon as the churning of the crowd stops, but Elian stays standing, watching the snarling and spitting and slow dispersement until it's over, and they're all back to their usual low-level risk of being killed. And then, "I'm going to bed," he says. It's a long hike down to the tents in the valley. He isn't sure anyone hears him, but no one stops him, either.