#this little shred of tevinter is just a trial run

[bogunicorn]

"Doesn't tag Absolution spoilers" and "boneheaded takes on Absolution" are part of my unfollow/block criteria now oops

[pellelavellan-a]

Pelle + Post Trespasser Notes

When Pelle resigned from his position he did not actually disband the Inquisition because he still believed there was a need for it, but it needed to continue without him. What it needed was someone whose authority the nobility would respect ad it had become clear that he was not that person. In ways he understood how the situation had gone as far as it did even if he disagreed. A lot of the disapproval he had gained over the years actually stemmed back to the crucial missteps he made in the beginning like nearly inciting another elven rebellion with his stunt at the Winter Palace and his reckless language regarding the elves' position in the world. Does he still believe every word of it? ...Most of it but while he wouldn't take a single thing back he is aware of the controversial reputation it earned him. Moreover, while he had improved a great deal as Inquisitor, he still did not tolerate any maltreatment of himself, mages, or other elves for what they were and while he chose his words much better never backed down on the stances he stood upon when he was a much younger Inquisitor. When he resigned he appointed his disciple, Kane Trevelyan, to take over as Inquisitor. He did remain in Skyhold for some time after his resignation. The first reason was the huge risk it posed him to leave immediately. Cullen and The Iron Bull had warned him of the huge target that would be placed on his head once he was wandering without security and soldiers to stop an assailant from trying to assassinate him. He was well aware of the danger of course, and per Dorian's request he remained in Skyhold for a little while for his own safety. In the meantime, he took the time to decide what identity he wanted to take on once he was no longer Inquisitor Lavellan, as well as sought out Cullen, Bull, and Leliana to identify things about himself that would cause him to stand out in a crowd or give away the fact that he was a mage which to him was just as dangerous as being recognized by any other means. While it wasn't ideal, Cullen recommended he learn to desensitize himself from mana drain as it was often a telltale sign that someone was a mage. He recruited a trusted Templar, Captain Rylen to conduct some exposure therapy on him daily to help him get used to having his mana drained and with time no longer have a visceral reaction to it. He decided to remain amongst other elves in alienages once he was gone, easier to blend in that way. He would go by Sibs instead of Pelle. Both were technically his name, Sibs was just his nickname back home by many of the hunters. The endearing nickname originated from his surname before he was adopted by Keeper Lavellan. Sibil was his last name by birth, and he did identify with that when he was young but as he grew older his connection to Keeper Deshanna as her son encouraged him to embrace her name after her passing. Many within the Inquisition did not know his surname was not always Lavellan save for a select few so it felt a safe enough name to go by to avoid attention and so he committed to it.

Post Corypheus changes:

After Corypheus, Pelle became far better at his job when granted the time to learn it. He took up Leliana on her offer to teach him bard skills on the side, she also taught him a great deal about hiding his facial expressions as they often got him in just as much trouble as his mouth used to. He became better informed on politics from a lot of reading (and Josephine). Became a polyglot from picking up Orlesian, Tevene, and Antivan speaking a total of five languages when Common and Elven are added into the collection. He did not all three in this three year period, he picked up more Elven from Solas before Corypheus was defeated and the Tevene from Dorian here and there both before and after, and studied to fill in the gaps. Professionally it was simply useful to learn Orlesian and Antivan so he put in the effort to do so. Overall he matured a great deal, became more discreet, professional, informed, and able to communicate. His necromancy also improved dramatically.

Extra Post Trespasser:

Pelle was correct in believing that the nobility would respect Kane more than him but soon found it was for all the wrong reasons. Afraid of the nobility and what they were capable of he denounced Pelle entirely as a teacher and claimed to disagree with any views of values that Pelle had thoroughly enforced. The nobility liked him because unlike Pelle he was easy to manipulate and in time it was his sister, Mira, who was running the Inquisition in the background, pulling strings and putting ideas in his mind that benefited her and the empire. Cullen and Josephine resigned after Kane took over as they could not agree with his leadership. They were replaced by Mira and a chevalier. Seeing as the Inquisition had quite literally gone to shit, Pelle was still eager to help with things so long as his name stayed out of it and he had no further affiliation with the Inquisition, He became a bard, working for Leliana as a spy and venturing places she could not as Divine. He functioned somewhat like a Left Hand though never claimed that position as it would draw too much attention to him. He currently lives in an alienage built over the remains of the one that was burnt down years ago by Empress Celene. While he keeps to himself most of the time he is a Friend solely to help his people in a way that does not place him in the spotlight. It was slow going finding a shred of stability. For a long time he was wandering from alienage to alienage dodging templars and anyone who might have the slightest suspicion of who he was. As he'd expected there were a number of people who had gone through the trouble to track him down to harm him and so staying anywhere too long was far too dangerous. He found himself in a number of close calls, spontaneous squabbles, and made scenes places he really shouldn't have including restraining and nearly strangling assassins with the Vhenadahl in the Kirkwall alienage. It was almost two years before he was able to blend in enough with the rest of the elves wandering about in Orlais to go unnoticed in the common rabble. It still took a great deal of effort but finally after such a long time of running and cheating death he learned along the way how to cover his tracks and draw as little attention to himself as possible. Eventually, the attacks slowed as he became harder to track down. Working as a bard for Leliana was risky, but he couldn't justify sitting back and watching idly while all the hard work he and his advisers put into putting things back together was all being unraveled by his cowardice disciple. By the time he's thirty he's learned more than enough for her and from trial by fire to look after himself and avoid unnecessary danger. The downfall is having to occasionally appear in society again because despite his efforts it is impossible to become entirely invisible after the influence he had over Thedas for so long. If he catches any hint that someone knows who he is and intends harm he has had to become comfortable quietly killing them. It hasn't happened too often but he would be lying if he said he hasn't murdered people for discovering him out of self defense. Though it isn't entirely positive, he does consider the skill of discreet murder to have been a huge blessing the sole time he discovered someone who after Dorian during an assignment that brought him to Tevinter.