kallian :: rogue :: city elf :: grey warden

OOC INFORMATION
Name: Era
Contact Information: sleepofreason
Personal Journal: eschatologically
Age: Auld
Characters Played: John Connor (AU), Natalia Romanova (AU), River Tam (AU)

IN-CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Kallian Tabris
Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins
Age: 18
Canon Point: Post-game, roughly a week after the death of the archdemon in Dragon 9:30
Original Universe or Alternate Universe? OU (I know, I know, don't fall over y'all)

Personality: 

Kallian's outward personality is one of stoicism coupled with persuasion. When interacting with strangers her main goal is to understand: what they need, what they want, what they expect of her, and what they can tell her about what's going on, usually in that order. She uses well-framed questions and patience in order to make her conversations with strangers as fruitful as possible, and does her best to remain tactful and understanding when speaking with her companions. Due to needing to speak to a wide variety of people as the ambassador for the Grey Wardens of Ferelden, she's learned to appreciate the nuances. Kallian has seen a lot of death, a lot of betrayal in the name of politics, and a lot of horrors - this has given her a strange sort of distance from the everyday frustrations of dealing with others. She engages in a lot of big picture thinking, but not to the point that she ignores the little picture. 

One of the aspects of her personality that might be easily overlooked is how much effort she puts towards putting others at ease, at helping them. With strangers this has manifested as financial or literal armed support in their times of need; with companions who became her close friends, this manifested as an almost compulsive need to give them gifts. Trinkets, for the most part, meant to express how much their trust in her meant to Kallian but that were also a reflection of her childhood in poverty, where gifts were a rare and impossible thing. When you don't have enough to eat, you don't tend to buy your friends or family things for holidays, much less "just because".

In terms of rage Kallian is careful not to allow her anger at a situation or toward a particular group necessarily dictate her behavior; she worries that if she were to start, she'd never be able to stop. There are entirely too many things that have happened in the last year that could easily drive her to throw up her hands and go on a bloody rampage, and too many instances of seeing others put in positions of danger to the explicit benefit of those in power. To this extent, Kallian is also somewhat distrustful of 'powers that be' on the whole, as her personal experience, both as an elf of an alienage and as a Grey Warden, has taught her that those in power will do nearly anything and harm nearly anyone in order to keep said power. This distrust is doubled when the power in question has religious roots.

Kallian's view of herself is built on the foundation of three aspects: female, city elf, and Grey Warden. These concepts are difficult for her to evaluate as stand-alone; instead the umbrication is so intense that she would have an impossible time of trying to imagine herself as male, not a city elf, or not a Warden. The combination of these aspects have been reinforced through her interactions with others; most are shocked to see a city elf in armor, or a woman Grey Warden, or both. This speaks to the incredible social stratification in Ferelden based both on race and along gender lines - a system that Kallian does not approve of but hopefully made an inroad towards changing, with her cousin being named the Bann of the Alienage, able to speak for them on a larger political scale. She is somewhat used to being bit of a spectacle - that pointy-eared woman in Grey Warden armor - but she is also used to proving herself through her actions and abilities, thus not allowing herself to internalize the doubts of those she encounters.

Her sense of humor tends towards the dry and sarcastic; you don't live a life like hers and end up with a sunny disposition 100% of the time. However, she also takes care not to be hurtful in her teases and jabs, as that's Morrigan's chosen lifeway; she likes jokes where everyone's laughing with, not laughing at anyone in particular. That said she is a teenager, and at times her age shines through in silly/sarcastic jokes she shares with those she cares about the most. 

Had anyone asked her about her greatest fear before the fall of the Archdemon, Kallian would have said that it was dying before the Blight was ended, for her death would have made everything she, Alistair, and their companions worked towards end up for naught. Now that the Blight has ended Kallian's fears turn toward the future. Becoming powerless tops the list, right above living a boring life of a boring housewife. Kallian knows that her personality would not thrive in a homemaking scenario, and that her own sense of duty and adventure would drive her to the road one way or another; as much as she loves her family, she strained against their expectations of her from the very start. 

Not that she thinks these things will happen, exactly, but they are what she fears most. 

Another fear of Kallian's is losing herself to her own emotions, in the form of demon possession. This does tie into why she does not allow her anger to rule her, but her fear directly involves being manipulated through the Fade. She knows of the existence of benevolent spirits of the Fade through Wynne's interactions with Faith, but she's seen a whole lot more demons than anything benevolent. To that extent, the idea of memory tampering would set her on edge like no one's business.

Is this character immune? Yes

Background: City Elf Origin & Dragon Age: Origins Storyline



Since the game depends on the actions of the player (as the Warden) I'll be including a list of some of the specific decisions Kallian made that another Warden might have made differently:

• Saved the town of Redcliffe
• Used the ashes of Andraste to save the Arl of Redcliffe
• Sided with the Mage's Circle at the Tower
• Supported Prince Bhelen for the throne of Orzammar
• Killed Loghain at the Landsmeet
• Did not sacrifice herself, or Alistair, to defeat the Archdemon

Other Notables: As mentioned before, Kallian is an elf! Specifically a low-class city elf. However, her physiology is very much the same as a standard (for Thedas) human being, the primary differences being that she is rather short (roughly 5 foot nothing) and has very pointy ears.

Inventory:

• Knives that I know good and well will end up blunted but idc
• Plain wedding ring and bloodied wedding clothes
• A complete set of Grey Warden heavy leather and metal armor
• Lockpicking tools (for approx. medieval european times)

SAMPLES
NETWORK SAMPLE: [ There's the sound of shuffling, a hand over the camera, and then a seated, smiling nurse looking up at you. ] 

Just like this? [ The voice is not the nurse's but whomever is wearing the glasses, and the nurse nods. "You've got it." ]

But they don't ...become Network all the time, just sometimes. 

[ "Only when you tell them to." ]

Alright. So. I just want to make sure I understand what's happened here: I've been conscripted because I am immune to your people's Blight - [ "Dysthropy." ] Dys...thropy, yes, and the metal disks in my back cannot be removed, I'm not to touch them or I could fall ill and die, yes? 

[ "That's essentially it, yes." ]

And I use Network to find other people who can tell me more, or if my companions are here, correct?

[ "Yep, that's it." The nurse beams. ]

Thank you. [ There's a bit of a bow and then the wearer turns out the door and heads down the hall before clearing her throat loudly. ] Find Alistair Theirin. 

Hm. How do I know if the magic is bloody working? 

LOG SAMPLE: Wardens falling in love.