The Players:
Elissa Cousland: Queen of Fereldan and Commander of the Wardens:
Elissa, while born to a life a privilage was never complacent with her station, longing for a way to meaningfully change the world. Since she was a small child she dreamed of joining the Grey Wardens but kept her ambitions secret from her parents fearing their disapproval. Elissa spent almost every free hour with her mother, training her skills with the bow, when her mother wasn't avaliable Elissa entertained herself by exploring Highever, stealing pies from the cooks, and talking her way out of trouble when she got caught, which was infrequent. She developped into a cheery, eay-going young woman, charming, skilled and confident in herself but disatisfied with the life that her station had planned for her. Though it would be unfair to say that Elissa was glad at for the events that led to her initiation into the Grey Wardens, and indeed she harbored a burning grudge against their instigator for her whole life, they were a fulfillment of a life-long dream for her.
During her travels Elissa met and fell in love with Alistair. Soon after meeting they were inseperable, both willing to do anything for eachother, it was no suprise, but a little bit of a disappointment for Lelianna, when they married little more than a year after meeting.
On the battlefield Elissa is like a phantom. Elissa never prided herself on being the strongest, the toughest and she certainly never claimed to be magical but no one could avoid danger like Elissa. That statement may be a bit misleading, however, to clarify, Elissa was never afraid of combat and, indeed, often revelled in it but she did not like hurting others when other solutions presented themselves. In that capacity her cunning and skill with her tongue served her better than any sword, which isn't saying much because Elissa never wielded a sword in her life. Instead Elissa wielded the bow. Using a combination of stealth, well-placed shots and selfless allies Elissa was almost never close enough to an enemy for them to hit her. Even on the rare occasions when they were none ever landed a hit on her. Whenever they struck out she slipped past their attack earning her the nickname "Unscathed Elissa."
On a sidenote: Elissa is probably adopted.
Alecsander Hawke: Champion of Kirkwall and Current Fugative:
Alecsander was a goofy charmer with a heart of gold, an oversized sword and a borderline depraved elf-fetish. Among his redeeming qualities was a fierce, uncompromising loyalty, a burning dedication to freedom and a REALLY big sword.
Since Hawke isn't as much a creation of my imagination as Elissa I don't feel comfortable making up a pre-Kirkwall story and I shouldn't say anything about the plot and Alecsander's choices except that he sided with the mages every time and had a deep respect for the Qunari, taking their side as much as possible as well. In addition Alecsander romanced Merrill exclusively. From the moment he saw her he had eyes for no one else. It took a while for him to convince her that they could work but eventually they came together and let nothing seperate them.
On the battlefield Hawke is always in the front. Though he learned the basics of templar abilities to better understand and briefly pursued the rage of a berserker he never really varied from his twin pursuits of basic offense and defense. Hawke's ultimate goal in any battle is to keep his enemies away from his spellcasting and sharpshooting companions, hopefully in a group around himself. Instead of hiding behing a shield and calling names at his enemies Hawke makes them come to him by making himself seem the biggest threat. When he has gathered them all together his allies unleash a rain of arrows, torrents of fire and storms of ice on his position as Hawke slams the ground, stunning his enemies then charges out of the thick of them to spare himself his ally's wroth.
The Battle:
Bent low, Hawke charges Elissa, sword scrapping the weed-choked tiles. As he reaches her he snaps his whole body up, his sword roars as it slashes up from his thigh lightening fast. It catches only air. Hawke looks around confused, sword held defensively, waiting for her to strike. Sensing something coming he spins and strikes at their, again he contacts nothing. The trepidation rising in Hawke is quickly replaced by pain as a arrow pierces the meat of his calve from behind. It flys into his leg and rips out the other side, embedding itself in the ground. If he doesn't move Hawke knows she will hav e him and, in desperation, the rips the arrow from his leg and rolls away. Four arrows whish past him, missing by a hair's breathe. The fifth arrow catches him in the hand. In disbelief he watches as it rips one finger free after another. They spiral through the air trailing streams of Hawke's bright blood. Hawke leaps behind a pillar and crouches there. With quick motions he removes an Elfroot potion from his bag. Briefly preparing himself for the bitter taste, he closes his eyes then, in a moment of decision, he quaffs the whole bottle. Almost instantly his hand and leg have regrown. With his newly repair hand Hawke grasps the hilt of his greatsword and holds them emty bottle in the other. With a leonine roar Hawke leaps from behind the pillar expecting to immediately spot tohe almost-black skin and perfectly maintained hair that gave her away. She was nowhere to be seen. Slowly Hawke puts down the bottle that he had intended to throw at her for a moment's distraction. Hawke felt an arrow pass through his shoulder than another one through hs heart. Using the tiny bit left of the magic. Conciosness if faiding away from Hawke, it souldn't slike isablella