#into darkness‚ unafraid ( thora

[ourdawncomes]

Stories of Thedas. Volume Two.

1. Campfire. (Read on AO3)

“I’ve got a story.”

The campfire flares as though in response, casting the small circle of companions in orange light as the Herald leans forward, bracing herself on her knees. Her eyes sweep across the faces of the people she’d come to know so well so quickly, a self-satisfied grin steals across her expression as she notes how they all turn to listen. Those who’d busied themselves with their hands paused their work, looking across the fire to where Thora sits. It’s a new feeling for the dwarf, who had learned long ago that the closer you are to the ground the less likely they are to listen. She lets the prelude hang pregnant in the air, cutting through the atmosphere mired in tales. Some real, some legends, all with a touch of fantasy that made one question which were which. When the time’s right, she sits up a little straighter, feigning hesitancy. “Though I’m not sure any of you’d believe me if I told it.” “Stop playin’ and tell us already,” Sera moans. “Before Varric tells another.” The man in question laughs. “Come to think of it, there was that Pride demon in Darktown.” With a dramatic groan, Sera throws boot over his head, only encouraging his laughter. When at last contains himself, he throws an apologetic look Thora’s way, grin still creasing the corners of his eyes. “We’re all ears, Sunflower.”

She’s biting back a grin, herself, struggling to contain herself for the sake of the mood. “Alright,” she begins, collecting herself. “This was in Ferelden, Amaranthine, in the days not long after the Blight. Ferelden was a strange place to be in those days, the memories from the Blight still hung heavy over its people, but there was hope, too. All the more since the Hero of Ferelden had chosen to make the arling her home.” She’d worried for a time if operating so close to a new Warden stronghold was wise, but as it turned out Wardens needed lyrium, too, and even after they’d saved the world official channels were still reluctant to relinquish any power. That’s where the Carta steps in. Same was true of the Conclave. A finger in every pie, that was the Carta motto, sometimes two if things seemed especially promising. “Good thing she did, too, or I’m not sure I’d have made it out of Amaranthine alive.”

Thora rocks back in her seat, eyes sweeping across the faces of her companions, wondering to herself if this is how the Hero felt during those days in Ferelden. Retiring to a well-lit campfire, surrounded by the strangest collection of people Thedas had to offer.

“It was in the weeks after the Darkspawn sieged Amaranthine that it happened. Cool Harvestmere evening, not so different from this one, when a stranger approached our camp. He had a hood on, threadbare, pulled all the way over his face so all we could see was the shadow cast by the fire. He asked for a bit of shelter from the road, and I couldn’t see a reason to refuse him.”

A disbelieving snort shoots from Varric’s nose. “Let me get this straight,” he says. “A mysterious stranger oozes from the shadows asking for a place at your fire and you just… let him?”

“My mama taught me the meaning of the word ‘hospitality,’ Master Tethras.”

Varric breathes a sigh, though he can’t fight his amusement anymore now than he could before. “I suppose it explains the company you keep.”

“Mhm, now, as I was saying.” She doesn’t continue right away, trying to seize her train of thought where it had left her behind. “He asked for shelter, and we let him. We’d… lost someone escaping Amaranthine, and had a bedroll to spare. It only seemed right. He was polite, a little odd, we taught him how to play Diamondback with only a half-deck of cards, never saw a man so happy to win a couple coppers, but times were hard enough I couldn’t say I was surprised.” Thora recalls how he fumbled them between his fingers like he was unaccustomed to the sensation of his fingers in thick leather gloves, after he put them away he kept patting his pocket just to make sure he could still feel the impression of them in his coat. “He thanked us before bed, and by morning he was gone. Not too out of the ordinary, most people have business on the roads. Only I noticed the grass where he’d pitched his tent had wilted overnight, like winter came early. In the weeks that followed we heard rumours, talk of Darkspawn who spoke King’s Tongue, and a friendly stranger who seemed to always precede a sudden breakout of the Blight.”

As she finishes her tale, a quiet settles over the camp. Varric’s face had grown paler in the telling, the dwarf uncharacteristically silent as he avoided her eye.

“Intriguing,” Solas says, “that is, of course, assuming it is true.”

“Would I lie to you, Solas?” She winks his way. “Could be he’s still wandering Ferelden, maybe we’ll meet up again. Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

[ourdawncomes]

thora’s relationships within the inner circle

based on her perception of their relationships, and subject to variation depending upon interpretation. i went with a non-romanced playthrough for simplicity’s sake.

updated based on her latest playthrough!

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[ourdawncomes]

THORA & THE LAST TWO YEARS

Thora diverges from canon in that she completes the events of Jaws of Hakkon and Descent before the defeat of Corypheus, giving her plenty of time to pursue other matters of importance to her which were less pressing than earthquakes in the Deep Roads and a dragon-god invasion.

Her Inquisition timeline lasts three years and change rather than one, putting Corypheus’ defeat in midwinter of 9:45 Dragon (having started by my timeline in August of 9:41 Dragon).

Thora’s main party throughout Inquisition varied, but she almost always had Solas with her. It was his responsibility to care for the Anchor in case it reacted strangely with anything they encountered, and they had good chemistry both in and out of battle. The vibe of her party changes with him gone, it’s often a little sadder as in his absence she does lose her best friend, but she’s still in good company. She finds herself missing him a lot through the next few years.

Ian ( @theshirallen ) takes over many of the duties Solas once bore, having been taught how to manage the Anchor through more practical means which supplemented Solas’ innate control over it. Ian often accompanied the Inquisition before then, but it isn’t until after Inquisition that the two started to become close friends.

She also grows closer to Iron Bull and Sera.* While she never disliked Sera, she often found herself at a loss when in her company, but through Inquisition she found herself starting to connect and understand her more. Bull was often kept at arms’ length (often unfairly) because of his place with the Qun, but after the events of his personal quest she relents. They don’t always quite connect (he doesn’t like it when she asks what’s wrong) but they do start to forge a friendship. More often than not, they accompany her, Ian, Cadri, and Cole.

As the months go by, she starts losing more friends. In what order varies, Dorian returns to Tevinter, Varric to Kirkwall, Blackwall comes and goes as he works on fixing past mistakes. From in-game dialogue it seems like Sera, Iron Bull, Cassandra, and Cole are the companions which remain the closest at hand. There are indications that they, especially Cole, wander, but I honestly headcanon that companions were sometimes deployed as agents during Inquisition itself so I think of it as akin to that.

Thora returns to the Free Marches for some time, sealing Rifts there and in northern Orlais, and securing weapons that can heal Rifts beyond her reach. I imagine she does so around about the time Varric or Dorian leaves, so she can see them off in the Free Marches rather than Ferelden.

In the Free Marches she visits her family, she stays with her sister Sylvi who has since moved back to Ostwick, and makes sure to stay hello to her father and Lantos, who is distant family but family all the same.

Her most important diplomatic trip is to Orzammar. She established ties with King Bhelen after the events of Descent, and the two eventually decide to meet. Sera, Ian, Cole, and Iron Bull accompany her, as well as Gorim Saelac, the official head of House Tamar after his Paragon wife’s death. She has conflicting feelings about what she sees, even if a lot of it is what she expects, but she can’t deny she was proud to finally lay eyes on the city. Her hands shake as she peruses through the Shaperate, barely able to believe her luck. The party stays in a suite provided by Queen Rica Brosca, who Thora strikes up a friendship with.

The artefacts they collected over the course of Inquisition are for the most part surrendered, excepting dwarven ones which Thora can reasonably lay claim to (although some of them are also parted with when she comes to Orzammar). The Staff of Tyrdda Bright-Axe was given to Stone-Bear Hold years ago, the recreation of Suledin’s Blade is given to either Keeper Hawen or was given to a companion Lavellan upon its forging, etc.

Thora continues her studies, learning more about language and history while her knowledge of nobility admittedly falls a bit to the wayside. She begins to be able to grasp more of what the Well of Sorrows is telling her. Over time, she begins to suspect Solas may have been an ancient elf along the lines of Abelas, mostly drawn from what she learned of him over the course of their friendship. In hindsight though she wonders if the Well had something to do with her hunch.

* This is obviously subject to interpretation and I don’t hold any writers of this character to any of these notes.

[ourdawncomes]

Trespasser Headcanons

i. The Exalted Council

The Exalted Council is one of the most difficult point of Thora’s journey as Inquisitor, pitting her morals against her own desires. She arrives firm in her belief that the Inquisition should persist, both out of the opinion that its existence was beneficial to the people of Thedas and the fearful question of what she would be if it didn’t exist.

She advocates for its persistence through most of the early days of the Council, although there are cracks. Bann Teagan’s remark about their continued military presence in Crestwood does make her consider the length of its influence, and if it has a reason to maintain it. Had the qunari plot not tangled things, she may have offered to withdraw troops from their bases across Ferelden and Orlais, save those who were merely her allies (such as the Blades of Hessarian). As it stands, she never had the chance.

Speaking of the qunari plot, it serves at first as a justification for why they’re here. If not for them, it would have gone undetected, the whole of southern Thedas sundered in one swift, decisive action courtesy of the Viddasala.

The moment Thora changes her mind about the fate of the Inquisition is in the last scene before she sets out for the Darvaraad. Her doubts about their military presence in Ferelden and Orlais, the fact that as she locked steel with the qunari she realised how little she wanted to fight, coupled with the Inquisition’s deception and infiltration by qunari agents— who were they protecting? Thedas, or themselves?

More information cements her decision to disband the Inquisition. Her promise to prove Solas wrong, she feels, will be easier accomplished when he knows less about her activities, and she’s worked underground before (quite literally). That, and she wants to let go of the past while encouraging Solas to do the same.

One final piece is the fact that the Inquisition can only persist as an arm of the Divine. Thora isn’t blind, she knows the Inquisition was started by the Left and Right Hands of the last Divine by her orders, but through her influence as Inquisitor the order was turned, at least in part, from these roots. Dalish elves, Stone-led dwarves, Avvar, spirits, and the faithless all joined their cause, and Thora herself was not orthodox Andrastrian. They welcomed mages as equals, established places within Skyhold for non-Andrastrians to practise their religion, and generally acted like no Andrastrian organisation had acted before, save Ameridan. Thora has a great deal of respect for Divine Victoria (Leliana), and supports her policies quite vocally, but she couldn’t accept being the arm of any Divine. She would’ve turned down the Maker himself, had he asked. It would feel like a betrayal of what she had created, and she doesn’t know where it would go after she stepped down.

ii. Reunions*

In the years since Corypheus’ death her relationship with Sera, while never hostile, strengthened. Thora takes Sera’s offer on becoming a Jenny, when offered. It strikes a more favourable medium for her, going forward.

She’s not sure how to feel about being Kirkwall nobility, now, but the Cadash’s place on the Merchants Guild will be a boon for her family. Not long after Trespasser she returns to the Free Marches and her half-sister Sylvi becomes House Cadash’s representative in the guild.

Cassandra’s congratulations for a non-existent proposal makes Thora a little sad that (if she’s in a relationship) she’s not already married. It’s something she starts to regret more and more as it looks like she’s going to die.

The greatest contrast between first meetings and the Trespasser reunion is between her and Bull. She’s openly suspicious and a little hostile of Bull during his recruitment, but doesn’t feel it’s her place to turn down a group of mercenaries as respected as the Chargers. By the time of Trespasser a lot has changed between them and she’s glad to help the Chargers surprise him for his birthday.

Hearing Blackwall’s Thom’s stories about his atonement to his men and the chance meetings with prisoners makes her cry.

Almost all of her companions (even Solas, although his is much sadder) receive reunion hugs, the definite exceptions are her advisors (she and Cullen never establish that sort of rapport and she sees Josephine all the time) and Leliana, who may have to wait until they’re in private. Some hugs are bigger than others.

When the time comes to step through the final eluvian, she does so hand-in-hand with Ian ( @theshirallen ), another person who she became much closer to after the defeat of Corypheus. Her reunion with Solas is alongside Ian, and overall it’s even more emotional and tearful than in the game.

I’ve written more about her reasons for choosing to spare Solas in the past and I won’t repeat them in detail here, but in short: Thora has shown mercy and offered reason to everyone she was able. As her best friend Solas is shown the same mercy. That, and she’s not certain that simply defeating him and moving on would be the right option for the world. What she learns in Trespasser makes her question if the Veil should exist, and if there are other ways to dismantle it. Her motivations are more than her affection and love for her friend, and if something happened to Solas in Dragon Age 4 she wouldn’t stop looking for answers.

* None of these are set in stone and open to individual interpretations.

iii. Investigating the Qunari and More

Thora kills as few people as possible through the events of Trespasser. Having drank from the Well, she’s able to speak the password which grants them safe passage through the Dread Wolf’s Sanctuary, she spares the former Templar qunari, and tries to reason with the Viddasala the moment she gets the chance. Thora has never had a stomach for killing, but by this point she’s so tired of it.

This may seem contradictory for a woman who is advocating for the existence of and her place at the head of a military organisation, and in many ways it is, but as Inquisitor Thora was able to choose non-violence far more often than she ever was as a Carta agent. The mercy she showed in the Carta was often illegal (saving the lives of runaway mages) and always risked her own neck (if the Dasher found out, she’d be the one to pay). As Inquisitor she was able to recruit and connect with people, saving the lives of innocents and her enemies.

She discovers the secret room in the Deep Roads and finds out the elves minded Titans. Eventually she puts the pieces together and realises the focus, and therefore her Anchor, were powered by a Titans death.

Thora finds the pieces needed to figure out Solas’ true identity without him telling her. She suspected him of being an ancient elf in the time after his departure, but didn’t think much more of it. So much of what she saw and heard from him through the course of their friendship, coupled with the clues, causes her to come to the realisation at the final fresco.

The Anchor throughout most of her time with it didn’t cause her pain but numbness, moments where her fingers felt like they had pins and needles or that it didn’t exist at all. Any issues were attended to by Solas and, in his absence, Ian. Only Ian, Cadri, and any love interest are aware of her situation, although she may downplay it to the latter two for their peace of mind. The last few days with it were almost impossible to bear, and while as a Beserker her companions grew used to Thora’s cries on the battlefield, they’d never heard her scream like she does on the last assault on the Viddasala’s forces.

Solas’ retrieval of the Anchor dissolves her hand and part of her forearm, but it’s an uneven and painful process. The rest of it is amputated by Ian up to the elbow.

[ourdawncomes]

[ourdawncomes]

Varric & Thora

Varric: You know, I keep feeling like I’ve seen your face before.

Thora: I was in Kirkwall a few years back, little before the qunari started kicking up shit. You might’ve seen me in the Hanged Man, wasn’t like there were many other places to be in Lowtown.

Varric: Shit, I knew it! Small world, but I’m a little insulted you never came to say hello.

Thora: We knew your brother’s reputation. It was no coincidence we showed up only after his, uh… disappearance. Tetrak and I figured it’d be better we keep our distance.

Varric: My brother and I’ve never had much in common.

Thora: You both had money, that was more than enough for us.

Thora: Mind if I ask a personal question?

Varric: Sure, why not?

Thora: Your family know what they did to get kicked Topside?

Varric: Oh, yeah. My father was caught fixing a Proving, before I was born, but, happened recently enough that we haven’t forgotten– even if the Memories have.

Thora: That’s a rough one.

Varric: Worked out for me alright.

Thora: For you, sure. I’m guessing it was more than just your father they exiled.

Varric: Everyone from him to the people who cleaned his bed pans, far as I know.

Thora: Yeah. That’s what I figured. Hope things shook out alright for them, too.

(in the Hissing Wastes)

Thora: It’s amazing what our people can build.

Varric: Not enough windows for my liking.

Thora: Maybe you should leave something in the suggestion box. I’m just saying, this stuff is impressive. Makes you wonder what else we used to do.

Varric: Sometimes you sound like Chuckles, with all that talk of what we were.

Thora: I’ll take that as a compliment.

Thora & Vivienne

(in Val Royeaux)

Thora: I– just saw a woman with a basket of fruit in her hair…

Vivienne: Did you? Perhaps we’ve stepped back in time yet again. That look went out of fashion months ago.

Thora: But if you all thought it looked good then, what’s different now?

Vivienne: Fashion is a living, breathing art. Wear the same thing too long and it grows stale and common, it’s only by moving forward we stay relevant.

Solas: (if present) A pity Orlesians don’t apply this logic to more than fashion.

(in Val Royeaux)

Vivienne: I passed by the most darling headscarf this morning. I took the liberty of buying it for you.

Thora: You didn’t have to– oh. It’s beautiful.

Vivienne: Isn’t it just? I noticed you seemed to be growing your hair out, these scarves are perfect when you come to that length where nothing seems to look good.

Thora: I’m guessing you know from personal experience?

Vivienne: Unfortunately.

[ourdawncomes]

(all banter set during The Descent)

Thora & Varric

Thora: So. Titans. Varric: Yep. Thora: Bet you didn’t expect this when you woke up this morning. Varric: With you, Sunflower, I’ve learned to leave my expectations at the door.

Thora & Solas

Solas: You believe in the Stone, Thora, do you not? Thora: Yeah. I mean, the Stone speaks to us– or, not me, but people like Valta. That’s more than most people have. Solas: Then what is your opinion of these Titans? Thora: I– I mean, it’s not so different, is it? It’s something bigger than us, something my people can hear. Maybe we didn’t remember it exactly right. It just sounds like we forgot their name, which is a bit embarrassing. Thora: But there’s so much we can learn. I wonder if the Shapers will listen to us, when this is over. This is earth-shaking stuff. Literally.

Thora: You alright? Solas: It is difficult, down here the dreams are quiet, and these Titans sing sad songs. Thora: That isn’t what I mean. Solas: I know, but my answer remains the same.

Thora & Valta

Thora: What’s the Shaperate like? Valta: It’s the sort of place you could get lost in forever. There’s so much in it, I don’t think there’s anyone alive who could know it all. Thora: It sounds amazing. Valta: It is, but it has problems. Every so often you get a noble who wants to erase some embarrassing family history, or worse, sometimes the Shapers themselves. Thora: Does it happen often? Valta: If it happens at all, it’s too often.

Valta: Are dwarves respected on the Surface? We have so much about Orzammar, and the lost thaigs, but almost nothing about you Surfacers. I’ve always been curious. Thora: Depends on what kind of dwarf you are. People like Varric, the merchants guild, they might be unpopular with some, but they give people stuff they need– or want. The Carta are about as well-loved here as I hear they are in Orzammar. Thora: Mostly, we do okay. It’s not like the elves, or the mages, but… it seems everywhere I turned growing up, there were always people telling me what I can or can’t be. Valta: And here you are. Thora: Yeah, but I never wanted to be Herald of Andraste growing up. I would’ve settled for a Chantry Sister.