#cousland x loghain

[myceliumtrees]

dragon age origins will always be the best simply because you can get the assassin loghain sent after you bouncing on it and moaning like a girl

[kiivg]

.King’s Council.

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

Alexander married Queen Anora in a lavish ceremony six months after her coronation, becoming the prince-consort of Ferelden. Many said that if the two did not end up vying for control of the throne, they would usher in a new golden age not seen since King Calenhad first united the barbarian tribes.

[queenofferelden]

Meanwhile, in Denerim, Loghain seized power. And declared himself the leader of Ferelden. His daughter Anora was apparently not too troubled by the death of her husband, King Cailan.

But some banns came out strongly against Loghain.

And also against calling the Grey Wardens traitors.

[qunaricatnip]

remembered once again that there was a significant number of the bannorn that wanted a cousland on the throne and all I can think about is an arranged marriage between f!cousland and loghain by maric to suppress any growing rebellion/discontentment

[pinkfey]

the thing abt rowena and alistair that kills me is how her making him king is (in her head) an act of love in the same way her parents sending her with duncan against her will was

[pavus]

i haven't linked any of them yet, but i've been making so many dragon age playlists lately & i think it's time that i slide them out into the ether. some of them are finished, but most of them are still wips!!

kehda mercar. ( x varric )

varric tethras.

suri cadash. ( x blackwall)

hawthorn ingellvar. ( x davrin)

davrin.

emerence trevelyan. ( x solas )

constance hawke. ( x isabela )

meredy hawke. ( x anders )

anais hawke. ( x dumar )

ecgwynn cousland. ( x loghain )

jehanne thorne. ( x emmrich )

[sky-kiss]

You know that I need to ask BG3 and Dragon Age 😉

Oh, lord. ALRIGHT. LET'S GET INTO IT, BABY! Thanks for the ask!

Dragon Age:

1. The first character I first fell in love with: Zevran or Morrigan. I don't remember which.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Cassandra <3

3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t : I'm putting a target on my head, because I know that most all of my friends played them but. Cousland. Like, I get why people like playing them but lord they're boring.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates : Loghain.

5. The character I used to love but don’t any longer : Hm. Maybe Alistair? I don't dislike him at all! I just wouldn't romance him.

6. The character I would totally smooch : It'd be boring to just say Morrigan or Zev, so I will say Sten or Orsino. I loved Orsino.

7. The character I’d want to be like : Bro, I don't think I wanna be like any of those nasty lil' freaks. They are disasters. Maybe Varric. Varric seems like he's doing alright.

8. The character I’d slap : If I see Meredith or Corypheus, it's on sight. They're catching hands.

9. A pairing that I love : Mahariel/Morrigan. Love the bog witch and her feral wolf boy, both baffled by the city and humans. Also Cassandra/Lavellan. Or. Varric/Hawke. (Also, Hawke/Fenris/Isabella).

10. A pairing that I despise: Bro, I dunno. UH. Anything involving Meredith or Corypheus I guess. Just on principle?

Baldur's Gate

1. The first character I first fell in love with: It was Astarion or Zevlor, way back in early access. Unless we are saying that it's Baldur's Gate on the whole, as a series. If that's the case, it's Jaheira. Been in love with her since I was 14.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Shadowheart. Day one in early access, she and I were not on good terms. Now, she is wife.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Gale. He's just alright.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates : Orin.

5. The character I used to love but don’t any longer : Maybe Gortash? I still like him a lot. But it's tempered a little bit. BUT I STILL LIKE HIM SO MUCH, DON'T COME AFTER ME.

6. The character I would totally smooch : Listen. Raphael, Haarlep, Jaheira. Probably Shadowheart. Jaheira.

7. The character I’d want to be like : Is it weird to say Jaheira? Nine-fingers maybe?

8. The character I’d slap : Raphael. But affectionately. I would slap Wyll's dad less affectionately.

9. A pairing that I love : Raphael x Tav/Durge, Raphael x Haarlep. Minthara/one of my friend's OC's. Jaheira/CHARNAME or older Tav. Astarion/one of my friend's OC's lol.

10. A pairing that I despise: Minthara/Orin isn't a favorite of mine. I don't know that I despise any pairings...there are some I don't like but like. I don't DESPISE a lot.

[fereldanwench]

started thinking about what worldstate i wanna create for my first run in veilguard because of course i have.

we can't import past saves and we won't be using the keep anymore, so I'm not sure how detailed we'll be able to get with it but I've got a few possibilities to play with:

the first and most likely is my mostly canon-compliant worldstate with these bbs:

lorelei cousland [rogue; double-wield] warden / queen of ferelden / li: king!alistair

daphne caron [rogue; double-wield] warden commander / ruler of vigil's keep / li: warden!bethany

ansley hawke [warrior; board & sword] champion of kirkwall / pirate / li: isabela

melisande trevelyan [rogue; archer] herald of andraste / inquisitor / li: cullen

rosalind hendry [mage; knight-enchanter] former chantry scholar / inquisition agent for leliana / li: blackwall

the second is my slightly less canon-compliant worldstate that i never brought into inquisition because i didn't want to have to choose between alistair and my favorite hawke in the fade lmao:

karina amell [mage; i do not remember her spec] warden-commander / li: warden!alistair

rhiannon hawke [force & elemental mage] champion of kirkwall / temp viscount of kirkwall / li: cullen or fenris*

*last summer i did replay da2 with an iteration of rhiannon that actually romanced fenris and i loved it and I've complicated shit for her, lmao. rhiannon x cullen were my goro x valerie of 2013-2014 and making her officially with someone else feels wrong bc i loved them together so much. but i just can't enjoy cullen anymore. so do i do i give rhiannon a boyfriend upgrade? do i make a whole 'nother hawke inspired by her? do i just let rhiannon x cullen and rhiannon x fenris exist in different AUs? i don't know!

and the third is kind of the opposite of the second one: a worldstate i made just for inquisition in the keep with some choices i had never made in the previous games. i don't even have the worldstate in the keep anymore so i don't remember everything but i think it was like this:

default f!mahariel [rogue; archer] no li / recruited loghain / made alistair marry anora

default m!hawke [mage] li: anders / sided with mages

keagan trevelyan [mage; knight-enchanter] herald of andraste / inquisitor / li: cullen (although i headcanoned a polycule with her, cullen, and josie)

one of my conundrums with all of these is, as i mentioned, i can't enjoy cullen anymore. he was obviously a big fave, i think his arc is fascinating especially in da2 and especially if you side with the templars and he has to contend with the shit he's done for meredith, and i enjoyed all the different shipping dynamics with all different kinds of ocs. but i can't separate him from his dipshit VA at this point. hearing his voice is just an instant NOPE for me now

i am 99% positive cullen will not be in veilguard for 2 reasons: 1) the writers said during inquisition that they were no longer trying to work in characters whose fates could be too varied depending on player choice and 2) that twitter shitstorm a few years seemed to guarantee ellis will never work with bioware again lmao

now i suppose there's a possibility that ellis could have recorded lines before that happened and somehow they would be able to be used despite all the changes that happened, but I'm trying to be an optimist here

nevertheless, all of the inquisitors i played were with him, and it sounds like we'll be able to engage with our inquisitors in some capacity in veilguard so do i even want to have a passing mention of cullen? idk. i mean, my disdain for his VA isn't so bad that this would ruin the game for me or anything, but i also feel like this is an opportunity to enjoy another character

between keagan and melisande, melisande was definitely my more developed OC, but i just loved playing as a knight-enchanter gameplay-wise so keagan is actually the only one of the two who did trespasser and jaws of hakkon. i never did the descent--the only DLC in all the games that i haven't played. I've been debating firing up my inquisitor!valerie game again to play that with her but i know the descent recommends a pretty high level and i can't remember how far i got in the story with her (I think i just reached skyhold that last time i played)

so anyway, i've got some decisions to make!

as for what i'm leaning towards playing in veilguard: at this point in time, i'm pretty sure my first rook will be a mage of some kind and lucanis sounds like he was made specifically for me lmao so odds are looking good that'll be my first ship

[laurelsofhighever]

Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins Characters/pairings: Alistair x Cousland Chapter: 11/? Rating: M Warnings: Canon-typical violence Fic Summary: The story of the Fifth Blight, in a world where Alistair was raised to royalty instead of joining the Grey Wardens.

Read on AO3!

--

Two more days of uneventful travelling brought the little group to the outskirts of civilisation, chilled and soggy under the pall of wet snow that had closed over them the night before. They had sheltered, shivering, in an abandoned barn, one of many along the old, paved road they were following, which had been in poor repair even before rumours of war had channelled carts and animals and the refugees who drove them out of the southern hinterlands. Now, it was a struggle to trudge through the lines of muddy, iced-over puddles where the flagstones left gaps, breath coming in harsh clouds of white fog and cold-numbed fingers tucked as much as possible under the folds of the oilskin cloaks Flemeth had been able to spare them.

“Lothering,” Alistair huffed when they finally paused for breath on a bluff overlooking the village. Thin banners of smoke rose from the hunched cluster of buildings in the settlement proper, and from the damp campfires dotted between the mass of grubby tents that spilled out over the southern boundary like flotsam from a shipwreck.

“Pretty as a painting.” He shot a sidelong grin to Rosslyn on his left. “I almost didn’t think we’d make it.”

“It’s a real sight, isn’t it?”

The new, reedy voice came from just off the road, from a small campsite set far enough back into the bushes that any travellers heading north would miss it on the way past. The thin, gaunt man it belonged to stepped out onto the path in front of them. Four others emerged after him, in front and behind to block their path, all in similar states of beggary with weapons drawn. Rosslyn’s own hand reached for her sword at the same moment Alistair stepped closer to guard her flank. The shiver of air along her spine told her that Morrigan, too, readied for an attack. She hoped it would not come. Though her shoulder had knitted together far faster than should be expected even with the aid of magical healing, the dull twinges that flared with every movement warned of the permanent damage that could be done if she got into a fight before the muscles fully recovered.  

“Let us pass,” she commanded from beneath her hood. At her side, Cuno growled his own threat, the sound a low vibration against her leg.

“Ah, the pretty one is in charge, I see,” the stranger cried, as if delighted. He looked malnourished, his hollow cheeks exaggerated by the cracked, ill-fitting leather armour strapped about his shoulders, the sour odour of his unwashed body an offence even from ten paces’ distance. Everything from his stance to the flashy, overly stiff grip of his sword screamed his lack of skill, even without the coating of rust on his neglected blade that would have gotten any squire in Castle Cousland flogged.

One of the other bandits shifted on his feet when she didn’t respond. “Uh… these ones don’t look much like them others,” he ventured. “Maybe we should just let them pass?”

“Nonsense,” the leader snapped, and turned a greasy smile on Rosslyn. “We have rules, you know. There’s a toll. A simple ten silvers and you’re free to move on.”

“You’re not very well dressed for tollkeepers,” Alistair noted. “Better hope Bann Dunstan’s militia doesn’t catch you preying on those fleeing the darkspawn.”

The man laughed. “Bann Dunstan went north with Teyrn Loghain, and took all his soldiers with him. There’s only a few templars left at the chantry now – so we’re taking the initiative.”

“You are fools to get in our way,” Morrigan told him with a sneer.

“Loghain came through here?” Rosslyn pressed, before the bandits could test the claim.

The leader shrugged. “Day before yesterday, leading his whole army and saying the Grey Wardens betrayed the king and got him and themselves killed.”

“That’s not –”

“No other survivors?” she interrupted.

“A few,” he answered. “Band of Ash Warriors came through yesterday – stayed right out of their way, I can tell you. But you aren’t Ash Warriors.”

“No?” she asked lightly. “We came from the south, we’re armoured and armed better than you, and I can tell you exactly how far the darkspawn are behind us. Are you really going to risk yourselves on a losing battle here when you could be running?”

“Uh… you don’t seem to realise –”

She feinted forward. He flinched, and she tilted a cold smile at him.

“Alright!” he huffed, throwing up his hands. “We’re just trying to get by, before the darkspawn get us all.”

“Then go,” she suggested. “And hope they don’t catch up.”

He risked a glance sideways at the campsite, one hand rising in a hopeless gesture that faltered with the deliberate step she took towards him, his eyes glued to the inch of white steel drawn from her scabbard.

“Those things don’t belong to you,” she reminded him.

“Yes, right.” He swallowed. “Of course. Come on, gents – it’s slim pickings here anyway.”

She kept her gaze on him as he stumbled backwards, tense in case of a double-cross, though she had spent enough time among her father’s hounds to know a beaten dog when she saw one. The patter of the rain fell heavily in the mud as he retreated with the rest of his miserable band slinking at his heels, reluctant, but not one daring enough to attack alone.

They would not remain cowed for long.

As soon as the last man retreated into the cover of the trees, Rosslyn turned and leapt the ditch between the road and the bandits’ makeshift camp, hissing a curse as her boot slipped on the landing and wrenched her shoulder.

“Uh… what are you doing?” Alistair asked, coming closer.

“Outfitting,” she replied. “Before they come back.”

“If they do, I say teach them a lesson,” Morrigan scoffed. She had stayed on the road, vigilant as a wolf with the distant scent of deer on the wind.

“The best way to win a fight is to not fight in the first place.” Busy hunting through the meagre spoils the bandits had managed to scrounge together, the adage came to Rosslyn’s lips almost without thinking. It crowded with others in her head, the stories retold by the hearth on winter nights that spoke not of the glory of battle but of the hardships that went between, nights of cold and hunger where morale wavered like a candle flame by an open window. There had been days, her father said, where the Orlesians had forced them to choose between the tired army and starving civilians.

Behind her, Cuno whined. A small animal, perhaps a yearling lamb, lay poorly spitted over the fire, its flesh half-cooked and the tips of its shanks beginning to burn. Drops of fat hissed as they surrendered to the flames. In the few days of travel from Flemet’s hut, the dog’s share of their meagre rations had been smaller than she would have liked, stretched as far as possible with grains but limited by all the things he couldn’t eat.

“Such a good boy,” she crooned, leaving off her inspection of a tatty bedroll to cut away one of the haunches for him. The heat of the bone warmed her numb fingers through the thick leather of her gauntlets, gone again the instant she wiped the juices away on the inside of her cloak.

“Are we taking this stuff, then?” Alistair tried. “You know it was stolen.”

“We’re taking what we can carry, what we need,” she corrected, without looking at him. “I don’t like it either, but you heard what he said about Loghain just as well as I did – we need all the advantages we can get.”

Morrigan delicately flicked a cleaning rag away from the rim of an engraved silver bowl so she could inspect it. “If the former owners of these items were foolish enough to allow themselves to be robbed, ‘tis no concern of ours.”

“The people who passed through here were desperate,” he insisted. “They had nothing else.”

“Neither do we,” Rosslyn reminded him, and sighed. “We can pass word in the village once we get there – maybe someone will come for what’s left.”

A long moment passed as he wrestled with his conscience, as the snow thickened overhead and Cuno crunched down the bones of his impromptu meal, until necessity overcame nobility and with a snarl at nothing in particular he tramped over to the bandits’ tent to dismantle it. Even through the thick layers of armour and cloak, the tension in his shoulders screamed loud enough that Rosslyn had to grit her teeth and turn away. She swiped a bag of dried provisions and a coinpurse from the bottom of an unlocked chest, and an extra cloak and bedroll that she hoped weren’t infested with lice, before hunting around for something that might serve to wrap the rest of the meat.

Further into the trees, they found a pair of tacked-up horses tied to the branch of a bare oak. One was of much finer quality than the other, with the tall, strong-boned confirmation of a knight’s charger, but both had been neglected, left to stand with no sign of fodder in a slurry of mud up to the fetlock.

“Ah, I see we are to rescue every pathetic creature that wanders across our path,” Morrigan commented as Rosslyn ran her hands over the destrier’s legs to check for swelling.

She shot a glare over her uninjured shoulder. “Would you prefer to carry the tent?”

--

With their baggage now strapped to the horses, the last stretch of the journey took less than an hour. By the time they reached the outskirts of Lothering, the blizzard had eased and a glance of pale sunlight managed to slip past the bars of cloud. The squalor it illuminated rose bile in the back of Rosslyn’s throat as surely as the smell. Families huddled beneath scavenged yards of cloth trying to stay dry as the few campfires still burning billowed acrid curls of smoke, their meagre possessions kept within sight and easy reach.

“I wonder, Alistair,” Morrigan commented as they passed through the gauntlet of wan, wary stares, “why do none of them recognise you? You passed through Lothering on the journey south, did you not?”

“I was considerably better dressed then,” he pointed out, but pulled the hood of his cloak lower over his forehead nonetheless. “It’s probably for the best that we’re not recognised, if what that bandit said about Loghain is true. It does make you wonder what all these people are waiting for, though. They have to know the darkspawn aren’t that far away.”

Morrigan clicked her tongue. “‘Tis not our concern if they wish to sit like rams waiting for the wolf.”

They trudged further in silence, until the cobbles of the road once more emerged from beneath the quagmire of the squatters’ field. In the distance, the tower of the village chantry rose above the lines of shingle roofs, its pennants flashing with gold-embroidered sunbursts. If any organised retreat existed, the templars would have charge of it, though to judge from the blasphemous ravings of the merchant they passed arguing with a lay sister, their grasp on order was tenuous at best.

“Please, sers – have you seen my mother?”

Rosslyn stopped cold. A small boy, older than Oren but not by much, and with lighter hair, huddled under the eaves of an empty doorstep, clutching a scrawny, point-eared mongrel about the neck. His clothes were thin and ragged at the hems, smeared with the dirt that also smudged its way across his cheek.

“Your mother?” she repeated, fighting back the shake of double vision.

“She’s really tall, and she has red hair,” the boy said hopefully. “Some mean men with swords came and Mother told me to run to the village as fast as I could, so I did. She said she’d be right behind me, but I’ve been waiting and waiting and I can’t find her.”

“Do you know where your father is?”

The boy’s gaze turned briefly to Alistair before settling on the dirt. “He went with William to the neighbours’ yesterday, but he didn’t come back.”

“‘Tis likely your parents are dead,” Morrigan told him, without sympathy. “Waiting for them here is pointless.”

“That’s not true!” The boy wiped his nose on his sleeve. “She said she’d come.” But his lip trembled, and he drew his arms tighter around the dog.

“Here,” Rosslyn interrupted, reaching to her side before the tears could truly come. “Get yourself something to eat, then go to the chantry. It’ll likely be the first place your mother will look for you.”

With a hearty sniff, the boy peered dubiously at the offering before lighting up in glee, his worry forgotten. “A whole silver!” He made to grab for it, then remembered his manners. “Thank you – you’re a really nice lady, kind of like mother.”

“Go on,” she commanded with a rough jerk of her head, and watched him disappear through the crowd.

“Poor thing,” Alistair muttered. He rounded on Morrigan. “Did you have to do that?”

“I only spoke the truth,” she retorted.

“And what good did it do?” Rosslyn demanded.

“What good is a silver to someone who will likely soon be prey to the darkspawn?”

In terms of cold practicality, the point was well barbed; it fired clean and struck true, even if the silver for the boy’s meal had come from an already-stolen purse. Rosslyn’s hands curled into fists nonetheless, the image before her eyes smeared not with mud from the gutter, but with blood.

“You don’t know that,” she growled.

“Denial will not –”

“I won’t argue this.” She drew in a steadying breath and clucked at the horses to walk on. “We should get to the chantry.”

Morrigan scowled at her. Alistair, too, held a wary edge in his posture, as if daring himself to ask whether she was alright, but she ignored them both to push on through the crowd of people milling about without much seeming purpose at all. Most wore the simply stitched clothes of farmholders, bundled up against the cold in cloaks of thick wool. A few, wealthier, had rabbit or squirrel trim about the collar, but none could be considered truly rich in their dress, and like the refugees beyond the village boundary they all kept close watch of their belongings, heads bowed like workhorses at the plough as they hurried about their business. Clearly, any with the means to leave had already made their escape.

Further on, a crowd had gathered in the lee of the chantry wall, their number shifting uneasily as a wiry man in the leather tunic and cross-tied cloak of a Chasind trader gesticulated at them from atop an overturned crate. His hair was lank and matted, his hose stained with mud to the thigh, and wild exhaustion creased the sun-darkened skin around his eyes.

“The legions of evil are on your doorstep!” he cried. “They will feast upon our hearts!”

“At last, someone who seems to understand the situation,” Morrigan noted dryly.

“There! One of their minions is already amongst us!”

Several faces turned in the direction of his point, and murmured amongst themselves as their eyes landed on Rosslyn, trying to guide her horse to the quieter side of the road. Travel-worn she might be, and scowling like a thundercloud, but a disappointing comparison to the monsters that haunted the dark edges of their bedtime stories.

“Prettiest darkspawn I ever saw,” someone laughed. “If they’re all like that, maybe I should join up.”

“This woman bears their evil stench!” the man insisted, spit flying from his lips. “Can you not see the vile blackness that fills her? The darkspawn will cover the world like a plague of locusts, and she is but the beginning! There is nowhere to run – better to slit your children’s throats now than let them suffer at darkspawn hands!”

Rosslyn stopped. Her lip twisted in a moment of indecision before she dropped the leading rein and started into the crowd with Cuno at her heels. Above, a bank of cloud shifted again and covered the sun, so that as she advanced, with onlookers scrabbling out of her way and drawn in her wake to see what would happen next, the sky darkened and the little warmth left bled from the air.

“I am not your enemy,” she declared, when she finally stood before her accuser.

“You are but the first of those who will destroy us!”

“What’s going on here?”

The Wilder shrank from the bite of the new voice, from the two soldiers in Gwaren Black fighting through the ranks of people, shoving with the hafts of their polearms when someone was too slow to move.

“You again!” spat the taller one, who had a sergeant’s band around his upper arm. “We’ve warned you. Move along, and stop causing trouble.”

“You would punish me, but not this thing of evil?” the wilder demanded. “Look on her! See the corruption thick in her veins.”

The soldiers were already looking, eyes half-lidded in affected disdain as they measured her. She stood, half a head taller than either of them, and glared coolly back.

“You’re well-armed, traveller,” the sergeant said. “Come from the south, did you?”

“Most recently,” she allowed.

The man scratched his chin. “No sigil, and no company. No mercs that I saw at Ostagar, and an honest soldier would wear a liege lord’s colours. Corrupted, you say?” he added, turning to the Wilder. “That sounds like a Grey Warden to me. I think we’ve just been blessed.”

“In what manner?” Rosslyn asked. These were not desperate farmers driven to banditry; all reports said Loghain trained his soldiers hard, ever fearful of a new invasion from Orlais, and they would not tuck their tails like scolded mongrels if she merely bared her teeth. She stood relaxed, drawn up to her full height despite the pain it brought to her shoulder.

“There’s a bounty out for traitors,” he leered.

As his hand shifted for a firmer grip on his polearm, his gaze slid to a point to Rosslyn’s left and widened in disbelief. A red-haired woman in the dawn-coloured cloth of a lay sister slipped into the open space the crowd had drawn around the confrontation, her graceful fingers splayed palm to palm in the sign of the sunburst as she placed herself gently as a feather between the soldiers and their hoped-for prize.

“Surely there is no need for trouble, gentlemen,” she said, her voice low and melodic, lilting with the precise inflections of court Orlesian. “No doubt this is but another poor soul seeking refuge.”

The sergeant gestured with his weapon. “Stay out of our way, sister, or you’ll get the same, chanter’s robes or no. The Wardens killed the king, or haven’t you heard?”

The crowd tensed. Rosslyn didn’t move. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Alistair hanging in the first line of onlookers, his stance and sword ready to aid her should any real fighting erupt, though he kept his hood low over his face, hunched to disguise his height. She could worry about his silence later, but for now she was glad neither Morrigan nor the horses were with him.

“It is no excuse for ambushing –”

“Loghain is the one who betrayed the king!” she called out over the Chantry sister’s misgivings, a clarion note on the dull air as she circled to once again stand before her opponent. “When the moment came for his support in the battle, he turned and fled, and left King Cailan and the Wardens to be overwhelmed. Their sacrifice is the only reason the darkspawn are not already swarming at your door.”

“Lies!” the sergeant spat. “This isn’t even a true Blight!”

“When the moment came,” she repeated, in a voice like winter, “he chose cowardice over loyalty.”

The insult struck. With a bellow like a bull the sergeant charged, polearm lowered to skewer her. She was ready. Whistling two quick notes, she stepped into the attack and drew her sword to parry the blow, the movement a graceful arc into his guard that slammed down into a pommel strike against his neck that sent him to the floor. His companion yelled a protest, but before he could intervene, Cuno’s massive jaws clamped around his arm. Surprise broke off into screams as he was borne to the ground and shaken like a dust rag. There was crack of bone.

“Alright!” the sergeant cried, as the crowd swayed, sickened by the sound. “Alright! You’ve won – we surrender!”

Rosslyn, her sword laid like a whisper against his neck, whistled once. In an instant her dog let go and backed off, though his thunderous growls still reverberated through the space, and left no doubt about his intentions should anyone else dare to attack his mistress. A few lost snowflakes drifted down against the stones.  

“They have learned their lesson now, I think,” the Chantry sister said, calmly, as if the soldiers had lost a chess match and weren’t both lying in the dirt, the one cringing against a white steel blade and the other cradling his bloodied, broken arm. “We can all stop fighting now.”

“Can we?” Rosslyn asked of the sergeant.

Eyes wide, he nodded. “Maker bless you for your mercy, ser!”

“My mercy,” she repeated. “There’s precious little of it. I want you to be of use to me.”

“Anything – anything!”

“You’re going to take a message to Loghain,” she said.

“Uh, what –” He swallowed. “What do you want to tell him?”

She glanced up and met Alistair’s eyes, the lines of his mouth pinched in worry as he slowly shook his head to urge her to caution. For a moment, her jaw clenched around the desire to rebel, to issue a challenge like those her ancestors had laid down before their enemies, a bright, shining pennant to unfurl across a battlefield, a streak of midnight intent, but the urge bled from her as she once again felt the ugly itch of the whispers in the back of her mind. Loghain possessed an army, and in sacrificing the Wardens had excused it the obligation of stopping the Blight; for now, Alistair’s survival, and her own identity, were the only tactical advantages they had.

“Tell him there are those who know what he did,” she growled. “And that we will see justice done for it.”

She took her blade away, and kicked him for good measure as he scrambled to his feet His lackey stumbled after, cowering away as she flexed out the rush of the battle-blood that made her fingers shake. She would pay for that burst of action later. All eyes were fixed on her, or on Cuno nosing up under her hand for a scratch behind the ear. Even the Chantry sister, who seemed far less bothered by the violence than should be expected, watched with curiosity to see what would happen next.

Her father would have known what to say; he would have chided her for shrinking back from her duty.

“I am a Grey Warden,” she told the gathered crowd. “Listen to me – the darkspawn are coming. King Cailan bought you time, but it is falling away and they cannot be stopped. They do not reason. If you do not leave, you will die.”

“Coward’s talk!” someone shouted.

“We’ll show ‘em if they dare creep out of the Wilds!”

“Maybe the Wardens killed the king and you’re trying to cover it up!”

The Chantry sister raised her hands. “Good people, please –”

“If it is so safe here, then why did the bann flee north?”

The voice did not come from one of the villagers, but from Morrigan. Her disdain rang so clear that it might have been amplified by magic, and it blunted the anger of the crowd into a low, uncertain buzz that faded entirely into silence as the lay sister once more stepped forward to address them.

“Please, do not despair,” she said. “The Maker sent this Grey Warden as a warning, to help us in our hour of need.”

“Do you think we should tell her who actually sent us?” Alistair muttered in Rosslyn’s ear as he sidled up to her.

“It would be interesting to see how things could get worse,” she muttered back.

“You handled those soldiers pretty well – I’d almost forgotten how scary you were in the lists.”

Disbelieving, she glanced at him and found nothing but sincerity in his shrouded features, a soft trust that stung not least because part of her wanted to throw back his hood and show him to the people in all disregard for sense. Such a move would certainly make them listen, but if Loghain had truly put out a bounty for captured Grey Wardens, how much more would he be willing to pay for Cailan’s only heir? Perhaps, at least until they met with Arl Eamon, it would be safer to pretend he was another Grey Warden instead, to shield him with her own status as much as it was her duty as a Cousland to shield him with her body.

As she mulled this over, the crowd succumbed to the lack of fresh entertainment and let itself be chivvied back about its business, clearing the path to Morrigan and the main doors of the chantry that had been their first destination. The lay sister remained, a demure smile upon her face as she waited for them to notice her.

“Thank you for intervening, Sister,” Alistair said. “We’re glad the crowd decided to listen to you.”

“I couldn’t just sit by and not help,” came the reply. “Though from your display of skill I see my aid was not required.”

“A welcome attempt nonetheless,” Rosslyn told her.

The woman smiled and dipped into a curtsey. “Then I am glad. Perhaps, if you wish it, I can offer further assistance by escorting you to the chantry?”

[unreadpoppy]

Thank you for caring

Alistar x Fem! Cousland Warden

Read on AO3

Summary: Alistair is awoken in the middle of the night by the mabari war hound and the Warden is nowhere in sight.

A/N: This is something I had on my mind for a time since you can't really change the warden's hair through the game and I HC my warden having longer hair and my heart melts everytime i see Alistair and so I decided to write this. Also, this is my first time writing for Dragon Age so I hope it's ok.

Alistair’s sleep was interrupted by the sound of Anneliese’s hound, Buddy, whining next to him and nudging him with his snout. 

He tried to ignore it, turning around and murmuring “Five more minutes, Anneliese, and I’ll go.” In his sleep-addled state, he hadn’t realized that the Warden wasn’t nearby. It was only when Buddy gave a playful bite on his hand that Alistair woke up. 

“Ow, that hurt.” He said to the dog, clutching his hand. Buddy sat, whining and looking at him. “It’s the middle of the night, it’s not time to play.” He tried to reason with the mabari but the dog stayed. “Go to your owner, she-” He began telling Buddy to leave, looking around when he realized that Anneliese was nowhere to be seen. 

“Where is she?” Alistair whispered, making the dog bark in response. He stood up, walking to where the Warden usually slept, but she wasn’t there. He turned to the dog. “Buddy, can you find her?” 

The dog barked and began sniffing the ground, trying to find a trail. When it had seemed that he found a scent, he began running after it. Alistair, quickly grabbing his sword, following Buddy. 

As the two wandered through the forest near camp, Alistair started to think about what could have happened: had darkspawn kidnapped Anneliese to turn her into one of those horrid broodmothers? Did the Crows decide to send another assassin to finish Zevran’s job? Had Loghain's forces found them?

Buddy’s pace picked up when Alistair began hearing a string of swearing followed by groaning and moans of pain and irritation. It was when he heard a familiar “Fuck!” that he realized it was Anneliese that was talking. 

Alistair ran even faster, somehow outrunning the mabari war hound, trying to cut a clear path through a bunch of bushes and vines. Finally, he managed to burst through the woods, eyes close because of the thorny bushes, sword raised high and shouted “Don’t worry Anneliese, I’m going to-” 

He stopped himself as he opened his eyes and saw that he was in the middle of a clearing, with the Warden perfectly fine, sitting on a fallen tree trunk, her hair down and a brush in her hand. 

“Save you?” He finished his sentence, confused. Buddy then showed up behind him, barking when he saw his owner and running to her side. 

“What are you doing?” She asked, frowning. 

“I was-I, well….” He stumbled on his words, the blood rushing to his cheeks as he felt embarrassed. “Buddy woke me up and I noticed you weren’t in camp so I just-” He took a deep breath. “I got worried that something had happened. Something bad.” He said, a little quieter. 

He scratched the back of his head, and began looking down when she said “It’s alright.” She gave him a small smile. “It’s…sweet. That you cared.” 

Alistair looked up. “Of course. I care about you.” He said, and under the moonlight, he could see the blush forming on her face, as she turned to the mabari hound once again, her hair falling over her face. 

It was then that he realized that that was the first time he was seeing the Warden with her hair down. Ever since they had first met, back in Ostagar, Anneliese wore her hair up in the same two braided buns every single day. 

Now, as he looked at her, he noticed how long her hair was, cascading down to her lap in various waves - though he could not tell if they were natural or if it was due to her always wearing braids. Maybe it was due to the scenery of the Warden sitting there in the moonlight or maybe it was due to Alistair’s growing feelings for her, but he couldn’t help but think how beautiful her hair - no, how beautiful she was. 

He already knew that, as the same thought came to him everytime he saw her killing an enemy in battle, or when she smiled at him. But this was a different part of her that he hadn’t seen before - the one that wasn’t wearing heavy armor, with a constant frown on her face due to stress. In that moment, he saw her as the Lady Cousland, the person she had been before all of this began. 

“Maker’s breath.” Alistair whispered to himself, catching her attention. 

“Alistair, don’t just stand there.” She said. “Come sit with me.” 

He gulped, shaking his head and walked to her, sitting next to her on the tree trunk. From where he sat, he could see a pond in front of him, the moon reflected on its waters. 

“So…why did you come here?” He asked, after a moment, putting his sword down.. “I thought I had heard you swearing earlier.” 

She sighed. “I was trying to brush my hair but it’s been hard.” She showed him the hairbrush, with chunks of dark brown hair stuck to it. She started to pick them off. 

“And you had to come all the way here to do that?” Alistair said, raising a brow and crossing his arms. 

Anneliese shot him a look that, for a moment, made him scared for his life. But she shook her head, looked down and said “I didn’t want everyone to hear me struggling with that. I guess I didn’t account for Buddy to come after me. And you.” She petted the dog and whispered “I can kill an ogre three times my size but I can’t seem to tame my own hair.” 

“Do you want help with it?” Alistair proposed. 

“Is that your way of saying you want to brush my hair?” She said, with a raised brow. 

“Yes. I mean no. I mean -” She shut him off by handing him the brush and turning her back to him. Then he saw why she had been struggling so, as the back of her hair was very tangled - likely due to not being well cared for. “You start from the bottom and slowly make your way up.” She instructed him. 

Alistair took in a deep breath, and began doing so, gently holding the ends of her hair and brushing it. Truth be told, he had no experience doing such a thing, as his own hair was short enough that he didn’t have to think much about it, but he tried his best, going slow and careful as to not pull too much. 

The two stayed silent as Alistair managed to untangle her hair, the brush going through it easier each time. In this proximity, he noticed that her hair wasn’t black, as he used to think, but a very dark brown, and on the top of it, gray hairs were beginning to show. He frowned looking at them, as she was around the same age as him and shouldn’t be having so much of those on her head. He remembered once hearing Wynne speak about how stress can make one’s hair grow white, and he wondered if that was why the Warden always wore her in these buns, to try and hide how much gray there was - how much stress she was truly under. 

Buddy was sleeping in Anneliese’s lap, and she closed her eyes, enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. The repeated motion of Alistair combing her hair and the quiet of the night made the Warden begin humming a tune. 

“I never heard that song before.” He whispered. 

Anneliese took a deep breath. “My mother she…she used to sing this, whenever she combed my hair.” She said, bringing her knees under her chin and Alistair stopped what he was doing. “Usually, it was the maids who took care of it, but mother’s hand was always gentler.” 

She grew silent again, and a moment passed, until Alistair heard a sob. He stood up, walking around to sit in front of her, as she covered her face with her hands. At first, he felt unsure of what to do, as he was not used to people - and much less Anneliese - crying in front of him. 

But then he remembered all the times she comforted him, when he was upset over Duncan’s death and he tried to do the same as she did.

“It's alright.” He whispered and she looked at him. 

“I’m sorry.” She said in between sobs, and he reached a hand forward to wipe her tears. “You shouldn’t have to see me like this.” She sniffed. “I don’t want you to think poorly of me.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“I just- there’s so much to do and here I am, crying. Pathetic” She scoffed. 

“What? No, no, no.” Alistair said, his gaze softening. “I could never see you as that, not after all you’ve done for me - for everyone. You don’t need to apologize for having feelings.”

Anneliese took a deep breath and nodded, Buddy waking up and licking her face, bringing a chuckle from her. “Thanks, Buddy.” She sniffed and looked down. “I thought I was over it at this point but I guess I’m not.” She said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be.” Annelise looked at Alistair, who was staring at her. “I never even got to bury them.” She whispered, another tear falling down from her eye. 

He moved once again, sitting next to her, and she placed her head on his shoulder. 

“Maybe…maybe when all of this is done, we could do a funeral for them and for everyone else who was lost.” 

She knew he was referring to Duncan and all the other Gray Wardens lost in the Battle of Ostagar. “You say that as if you were sure we are going to survive.” 

Alistair looked down at her. “With you leading us? I have no doubt we’ll win.” He smiled. 

Instead of saying anything, Anneliese hugged him. He freezed for a moment, but returned the hug and she hummed satisfied. 

“Thank you, Alistair.” She whispered. “For what?” 

She looked at him. “For being you. For being here.” 

He looked into her green eyes, swearing he could see a sparkle in them. “Always.” 

Anneliese smiled and stood up. “I think we should head back to camp, catch a few more hours of sleep before the sun rises.” 

He nodded and stood up. Then, she offered her hand to him and tentatively, he held it in his much larger one. He breathed deeply as she led them out of the clearing, Buddy following behind.

[v-arbellanaris]

Re: rarepair Hell. I would like to know how many pits we mutually occupy, so. Could I get a list of like, idk, your top ten (based in enjoyment level) rarepairs? And/or headcanons but I would prefer "and".

okay i'll assume you mean dragon age specifically MFDSKJFSDKJF but okay, i'll list some!!!!

the obvious ones:

fenders (fenris x anders) : i love a good narrative foil

zevistair (zevran x alistair) : idk if this counts as a rarepair but!!! their canon flirting banters always make me go sooo insane. that you can include zevran in the foursome w alistair if alistair is hardened (lol) makes me INSANE. they are basically canon aND YET!!!!!!

warden x loghain : ive written so much abt them already. you get the idea

nanders (nathaniel x anders)

the less obvious ones:

anders/merrill (bonus: anders/merrill/isabela): for all the same reasons i ship fenders (which i would argue is still relatively a popular pair, so not quite rarepair??); they're such good mirrors, they're both encapsulate what the other fears. anders being 100% okay to hurt people despite being a healer vs merrill being a blood mage who has never wanted to hurt anyone is just *chef kiss*. you can take a look at this for more compelling reasons to ship them.

fenris/merrill: for all the same reasons as above. i think if u dont ship each individual LI of the kirkwall polycule w each other, u shouldnt say u ship the kirkwall polycule.

solavelyan / soladaar / soladash / solas x non-lavellan inqs: i still think it should've been a romance option for all inqs tho i suppose they didn't really have the time to develop a non-lavellan route for them, but i love thinking about it, and i love the vibes for it so much. again, i love narrative foils, and i think it's so natural to be drawn to someone who could understand you like that.

alistair x bethany: a not-templar and a not-circle mage, in the wardens together. i think they'd really like each other and have a very interesting kind of energy!!! they've both got these secret bitter/spiteful sides to them, there's a lot of parallels (like alistair thinking warden conscription is a good thing bc it was for him and bethany having v different emotions abt being a warden in general). i've also really enjoyed most of the fics i've read for them.

nathaniel x f!cousland: UNFORTUNATELY THOUGH i dont think i've been able to find the kind of fic i want for them in the tag. i've got too many wips as it is, but maybe one day i'll write the nathaniel/f!cousland fic of my dreams...

nathaniel x anora: this one is admittedly @rosella-writes' fault, but they've got me by the THROAT as a concept

m!hawke/cullen: LIKE ESPECIALLY IF IT'S ONE-SIDED FOR CULLEN it's something that can be SO fascinating to explore (esp in an amell worldstate). [shaking cullen] babygirl what is WRONG with you!!!!!!!

m!hawke/sebastian: sebastian grappling with his admiration for hawke vs his chantry vows but THIS TIME make it mlm..... i think this is probably baby vee coming through w how hard i used to ship d/estiel in the early 00's LMAO. fsr they hit the same beats in my skull.

morrigan/leliana: noooo girlies don't fight haha <3 they should dump the warden and kiss instead <3

josephine/the iron bull: i read a few fics for them that admittedly captured my interest. i think their dynamic is something that could really be interesting to delve into for so many reasons. i've read the evidence and i find it compelling enough to put on this list

[queenofferelden]

Feel free to call me an all-rounder, but as a noblewoman, I want to meet other important people. I have already greeted the king, it was General Loghain's turn.

He strikes me as a fairly reasonable man.

[qunaricatnip]

You’d be so nice to come home to

He wasn’t entirely sure when it had happened, when he’d fallen in love with her, but it was a simple moment when the weight of it settled on his heart. Perhaps it was the warm glow of the low fire but Siobhan was radiant in the soft light, her strawberry-blonde curls turned into waves of rose gold down her back as she unpinned her hair for the night. She must notice him staring from her vanity mirror since she smiles gently as she brushes her hair

“Husband.”

It’s such a simple word really, but the enormity of it left him breathless. It was a title, a responsibility, a commitment Loghain had thought he’d never bear willingly again after Celia’s death. He and Siobhan had been married for just over two years now but tonight was the first time he’d truly seen her as his wife. No, that’s not true, is it.

Loghain was not the same man as he’d been that day in Denerim’s Grand Cathedral, hollowly pledging his life to his new bride in the eyes of his King and country. Siobhan had turned her sea-glass eyes on him that day and found him wanting, and Loghain could not blame her. Their marriage had not had an easy start, and Loghain was honest enough to admit his smarting pride and bruised heart had been most of the problem. But each day that passed had grown their respect for each other and slowly, like ice melting on the mountaintops, that respect had turned to a genuine fondness that had turned to love when he wasn’t looking.

He remembers the very first holidays they’d celebrated together here in Gwaren, how she’d opened the castle to their people on First Day and the somber feasts she’d organized for All Soul’s Day. He thinks of the long winter nights they’d spent going over household finance, of humid summer afternoons in the market stopping for everyone bold enough to approach their Teyrn. He tried to remember when he’d stopped sleeping alone, to think of that pivotal day he’d begun waking up with Siobhan’s hand lightly clutching his night shirt and can’t seem to recall just when it had begun.

“Wife.”

He’s not sure what she hears in his reply but Siobhan pauses mid stroke to meet his eyes through the mirror again, searching his face for something. He thinks she finds it because her gentle smile turns blinding. Her happiness made her vibrant in the low light of evening, Loghain knows then he’d do anything to keep her as happy as she was right now.

[rosella-writes]

For the DADWC: “there’s nothing wrong with you, and there never has been.” for Anora x Nathaniel Howe?

Thank you!! For @dadrunkwriting

~~~

“Did you really think all that time,” Anora muttered, “that he sent you away because he hated you?”

Nathaniel hummed. It was easier to answer her if he looked away — he leaned now against the stone windowsill, breathing in the cool spring air. “Well, you remember Rendon Howe. He chose his favourites.”

“But you were the one he wanted to see prepared! The one he invested time and training in.”

“But it was Thomas who remained at his side.”

Anora made a sound that reminded Nathaniel of her father. The last he’d seen the now-Warden Loghain, he had had precious little to be pleased about, and his scoffs of disdain were hereditary it would seem.

“Are you really trying to assure me,” Nathaniel murmured, pulling away from the window to turn towards the Queen, “that Rendon Howe, the man who massacred the Couslands and sent the country into chaos, had a single tender feeling in his heart for me? He would cast me aside if it served him, and you know it. He simply lacked the opportunity.”

Anora sat upon a settee in these, her apartments in the Keep. Her back was straight as an arrow, her shoulders square yet slim, and her graceful neck held her golden head high. She was adorned simply, wearing a mere gold band on her left ring finger, while her clothes were understated in colour and style. But he knew, if he touched her, that the fabric would be soft and luxurious. He knew that if he swept her into his arms, she would have precious little by way of garments beneath.

But her face was set, her mouth was stern, and reproach shone in her eyes. She brushed something invisible off her lap, as if cleaning away his very words.

“What I mean to impress upon you, Nathaniel,” she said quietly, “is that Rendon Howe’s opinion of you should hold no weight anymore. It does not matter what he thought. He is dead.”

Nathaniel frowned, swallowing down a retort. His chest felt tight.

Anora rose to her feet, and when she approached him he caught a glimpse of bare feet beneath her skirts. She caught his face in her hands as he tried to turn away.

“There is nothing wrong with you, Nathaniel Howe,” she said, her eyes fixed on his and liquidly blue. “And there never has been.”

[couslande]

oh pls tell i wanna hear your da fancasts! even if it's just for ocs 👀

ok! so my fancasts are super unfixed and very often its me watching something and going 'wow x would be a good y in the prestige dragon age adaptation that i would make and that would sweep the awards ceremonies.'

at the moment i've been watching a bunch of roman stuff so well. you'll see a trend here.

um this got long because i added pictures so its under a read more :3

oliver huntingdon as agrippa in sky's domina is who im currently vibing with for carver. in the show he just captures the perfect balance of gruff and caring which is carver to me

arnas fedaravicius is my faceclaim for antony (im aware picking a viking for a guy named after a roman is a choice and also there's like no visual similarities between hawke and carver but this is my mind <3)

jodie comer in the last duel is anora. to me <3

i have a post about this in my drafts but i'll just say it now. nadia parkes and kasia smutniak as livia in domina are blight and trespasser era tiarnan cousland

im kinda vibing with daryl mccormack as donnchadh trevelyan, my second worldstate inquisitor

and this one came to me while i was showering today and was tbh the inspiration for this post but. and hear me out (im aware this is the ultimate aforementioned 'this is because im watching this' cast) but ciaran hinds as caesar in rome is loghain to me.

ummm yeah thats all i can think of at the moment im sure i'll think of more as soon as i hit post though <3