WORLD STATE (IN-PROGRESS)

[stumbledfromtheashes]

IONA LAVELLAN The lights go out all around me One last candle to keep out the night And then the darkness surrounds me DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION PLAYER NAME: Bree JOURNAL: istolefire PLURK: ThriceWiddershins DISCORD: Thrice.Widdershins#5204 TIMEZONE: CST

WORLD STATE DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS ➤ Female Tabris Warden; rogue (dual weapon; duelist) ➤ Romanced Zevran ➤ Recruited Leliana ➤ Freed Sten ➤ Didn't defile the Ashes of Andraste ➤ Sided with the Grand Oak ➤ Sided with both the elves and the werewolves; broke the damn curse ➤ Gained the support of the mages ➤ Crowned Bhelen king ➤ Went through with the Dark Ritual; Warden lives ➤ Made Alistair king ➤ DOUBLECHECK DRAGON AGE KEEP FOR AWAKENINGS/DLC STUFF DRAGON AGE TWO ➤ Lady!Hawke; rogue ➤ Blue/Purple Hawke ➤ Sided with the mages (DAMN IT, ORSINO!) ➤ DOUBLECHECK DRAGON AGE KEEP FOR THE REST OF THE FIDDLY BITS DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION ➤ RECRUITED EVERYONE ➤ Took the mountain path to the temple ➤ Allied with the mages (time traveled with Dorian) ➤ Reconciled Celene and Briala (fuck you, Gaspard) ➤ Left Stroud behind in the Fade (sorry Stroud) ➤ Pardoned the Wardens ➤ Allied with the Sentinels ➤ Drank from the Well of Sorrows (sorry Morrigan) ➤ Vowed to save Solas from himself ➤ INQUISITION FATE YET UNDETERMINED; need to finish Tresspasser DLC COMPANION CHOICES ➤ Supported Varric aiding Cole in becoming more human ➤ Encouraged Dorian to reconcile with his dad ➤ Destroyed the House of Repose contract ➤ Encouraged Cullen to not take lyrium (OF COURSE) ➤ Let Solas kill the mages ➤ Saved the Chargers ➤ Encouraged Sera to not murder the fuck out of what's his face and took his lands for the Inquisition ➤ Encouraged Cassandra to rebuild the Seekers ➤ Played Wicked Grace with Varric and a large number of her inner circle. ➤ Wasn't an asshole to Vivienne; gave her the snowy wyvern heart ➤ Pardoned Blackwall ➤ Leliana softened, and made Divine PERSONALITY Iona of Clan Lavellan has always been sneaky, ever since she was a bitty elf. She would duck off to explore or curl up with a book or scrap of parchment (more on that in a bit), and she would be near impossible to find… until her mother and other members of her clan learned her favourite spots and looked there first. Still, she was aces at hide and seek. And avoiding or otherwise delaying getting into trouble for some time. As she grew older she got better at that, learning to be less predictable, to vary the spots she chose to hide. She learned to adapt. She was charming, too, able to talk and encourage and wheedle her way into, around, and out of most situations. In a precocious, kid sort of way when she was bitty, but still charming. Which is good, because her mouth got her into trouble almost as much as it got her out of it. As a bitty elf Iona was only slightly less snarky and sarcastic than she was as an adult. Not mean, she usually had to be driven and pushed to meanness, but sharp tongued and witty. Another trait she’s always had is stubbornness. She’s had that in spades always. It only got worse as she got older (which is REALLY good for Ferelden). By the time she was in her teens, she’d devoured every book and scrap of parchment in Clan Lavellan’s hands, several times over. Learning was one of Iona’s greatest joys; she loved pouring through books, gleaning what she could from the pages, figuring out how she could use the information learned. Languages, too. At least a little. (Enough to swear vibrantly in them, anyway.) She never shirked her training as a hunter, though; she wouldn’t. As she got older, she grew into a skilled hunter, and that wit and snark and gift of being more than a little silver-tongued came in useful as hell. She found she was good at learning more than just from books and parchment. She was good at learning from people, too. Getting them to reveal more than they might have intended, discovering things about them. Secrets and hidden knowledge. Which went along with her desire to learn. But she tries to respect the secrets she learns. Tries to respect the people she learns them from, unless they give her a reason not to. She was pretty good at haggling, too. Although she tended to keep that for people who were assholes. It was a point of pride, then. Iona’s compassion, her heart, has gotten her in trouble more than once. She gives a damn about people. And not just HER people. She doesn’t have time for assholes, especially assholes who treat others horribly, like they’re less than human, that tread on the freedoms of others. But as a whole… she cares. It gets harder, as the Inquisition goes on, though. She gets angrier, more sarcastic and biting at times, as her duty, the responsibility and weight that she carries grows heavier. As she gets demonized and yelled at for doing what the world expects her to. Needs her to. She gets more and more done with everything. Just done. She’s serious about her duty, too, serious about the responsibility she carries. No matter how heavy it gets. Even if she sometimes wonders what the fuck anyone was thinking, putting her in charge. And no matter how snarky and sarcastic she might get. Sometimes your sense of humour is all you have to defend yourself against all the shit you’re going through. And her sense of humour is Iona’s primary line of defence. That, and her daggers. (And at least most of her companions don't seem to mind her sense of humour. Most of the time.) Despite herself, she couldn’t help the visceral sort of satisfaction at outsmarting Duchess Florianne at the Winter Palace. Just because she's an elf, just because she doesn't like to play the Game, doesn't mean she can't, when pressed. Florianne had underestimated her, and paid the price. It took all her effort not to outright LAUGH at being dubbed the Herald of Andraste at first, and she never was sure what to make of it. It was just WEIRD. She was an elf, for fuck's sake. But just because it didn’t make sense to her didn’t mean she didn’t TRY. She might not get it, might boggle at it and wonder what the hell they were thinking, but it meant something to other people (and after Haven hope is important). So she tried her best. But no matter her title, no matter how people think of her, what they call her, she IS an elf. That doesn’t change just because she’s trying to be the best Herald she can be. (And later, the best Inquisitor she can be.) That kind of put her at odds with Sera, sometimes, who is just frustratingly hypocritical at times, in Iona’s eyes. Treating her as someone lesser just because she’s an elf and happens to hold beliefs reflecting that fact REALLY bothers her. And she’s not going to give that up. She cares deeply for her people and their history. What they know if it, anyway. Or think they know of it, which Iona comes to learn in a very painful, dramatic fashion. The revelation feels like a punch to the stomach; so much of what they know, what they believe is WRONG. And she doesn’t know what to do with that, sometimes. But she still wants to learn. Even if she’s left wondering and reeling and floundering, and lost. Despite the occasional clash (and in Varric’s case, realizing that he believes in her being the Herald), she gets on with Varric and Dorian like an araval on fire. She appreciates their sass and snark and senses of humour, and they appreciate hers. Dorian is family, and Varric is pretty much the best. (He's also a bad influence, with the way references to Andraste and the Maker are slipping into her vocabulary. Just cursing, really, but still.) She likes Solas too, even if he’s WEIRD about the Dalish. About elves in general, really. Also dwarves, a little, too, but in a different way from elves. He doesn’t mind her questions and there’s so much interesting knowledge he shares with her. He even seems like he might enjoy it a little. So it's a win all around. ABOUT Being an only child, Iona caused her parents no small amount of amusement and vexation. They loved her dearly, but with her knack for being stealthy and finding trouble... she was kind of a little shitkicker. A rather polite little shitkicker, for the most part. But a little shitkicker. Before the Conclave she had no gift for magic. After, she had... a very specific and very limited sort of magic. A one trick pony, that slowly expanded to have a few more tricks related to the first. Her talents lay elsewhere, which honestly, she preferred. (As much as being able to throw around fire might be useful. And probably fun. If dangerous to the furniture) She took to blades like she was born to them, and her skill with dual daggers was almost unparalleled. She absorbed training like a sponge, the way she absorbed most things; it was easier with things she was interested in, naturally. And she was interested in a lot of things. She always had a habit to leap into the fray, to leap to the defence of others. Whether she was seven, or seventeen. Her tendency to step in, to protect others was always a part of her. And it sometimes got her in trouble. Worthwhile trouble. But trouble. It was quite the sight, to see bitty!Iona standing toe to toe with an elf several years her senior in defence of one of their peers. It probably was a good thing she was as silver-tongued as she was. Despite all of that; her love of knowledge, of learning and adapting and growing, when it came time for her to choose vallaslin, Iona’s choice came as a surprise to everyone. Especially Iona herself. Instead of choosing Dirthamen, or Andruil, or even June - all gods and goddesses that more obviously suited her... she instead chose Mythal. Protector. Deliverer of Justice. She wasn’t sure why. Couldn't explain it if she tried. Except that it felt right. And really, there’s nothing more protective than standing between the world and Corypheus. When the Conclave was announced, she was surprised to find herself chosen to attend at first. There were others of her clan that were more qualified, more experienced that could go in her stead. More fond of politics, too. Then she was told why she was chosen. Turns out, being sneaky and silver-tongued made her the perfect choice to spy for her clan. Made her quite the spanner in the works for Corypheus, too.

INFORMATION CANONPOINT: Variable AGE: 21; 23 in Tresspasser HEIGHT: 5'6" BUILD: lithe HAIR: blonde EYES: lilac APPEARANCE: Link STATUS: single/taken/married (Cullen was romanced canonically; but for PSLs and memes that's not necessarily the case) PERMISSIONS BACKTAGGING: Yes 4TH-WALLING: No THREADJACKING: Ask first MIND READING: Depends ROMANCE: Is there chemistry? FIGHTING/INJURY: Yes KILLING: Only if discussed AUs: Oh hell yeah

( efficio )