18 réponses à ce sujet

[KawaiiKatie]

City Elves. You remember them--those "flat-ear" elves who find no respect amongst humans or their Dalish cousins. They were an interesting facet of DA:O, even an option for The Warden's origin, and yet their role in the series as a whole is significantly less than that of the Dalish and the elves of the Circle. One could even argue that there has never been a proper City Elf party-companion.

As a fan of City Elves, I'd like to see them explored more in DLC or a future installment of Dragon Age, especially considering the attention that the Dalish Elves have received. Below is an account of the elves we've seen in DA:O, DA2 and the DLC. When you add them up, it becomes clear that the City Elves are ready for some affection!

*

COMPANIONS:
Most of the companions in Dragon Age have been human, but if an elf is to accompany the player, it seems that the elf is most likely to be Dalish, especially considering that the legitimacy of the two "City Elf" compaions listed here is entirely debatable.

Dalish Elves
--Velanna
--Ariane
--Merrill

City Elves
--Zevran (Arguable: He wasn't raised in an Alienage, but by humans and elves in the brothel and the Crows.)
--Fenris (Arguable: He was raised in the home of his master, and in fact looks down on City Elves.)

Circle Elves
--Sketch

*

ELVEN NPCs:
I'm sure that I've missed a few, but hopefully no one critical. Here, it's clear that the Dalish Elves are well represented in both games, a lot of them used as returnign characters from DA:O. The Circle Elves, meanwhile, are outnumbered by their human counterparts, but at least they have Orsino to represent them in a major role. DA:O seemed to have the most amount of City Elves, as part of the City Elf Warden's backstory. A lot of the City Elves in DA2 may not even be from the Kirkwall Alienage.

Dalish Elves
--Tamlen
--Merrill (became a full-time companion)
--Feneral
--Merathari
--Zathrian
--Varathorn
--Lanaya
--Sarel
--Cammen and Gheyna
--Ilen
--Arianni (Arguable: Raised Dalish, Alienage-dwelling as an adult, but in some cases can return the Dalish.)
--Pol (Arguable: Alienage-born, but left to join the Dalish.)

City Elves
--Shianni
--Soris
--Cyrion
--Valendrian
--Athenril (Arguable: It's not entirely clear where she bases her operations out of.)
--Jethann (Arguable: Does he live in the Hightown brothel?)
--Nyssa
--Elren and his daughter (Arguable: They are apparently well-off, so they may not live in the Alienage.)
--Orana (Arguable: She was most likely raised in the home of her master.)

Circle Elves
--Eadric
--Aneirin (Arguable: Alienage born, Circle raised, but ultimately joined the Dalish.)
--Huon (Arguable: Lived in the Alienage for a time.)
--Orsino

*

THE WARDEN:

This is more of a direct complaint than a constructive observation, but if the elves of Thedas have no stories, no heroes (this comes up in Tabris' origin from two children, and from Velanna in DA:A) then why aren't the City Elves in DA2 singing the praises of the Alienage-bred Hero of Ferelden? Did I miss it?

*


In closing, if there are elves in future installments of Dragon Age video games, I would like to see a City Elf before I saw another Dalish Elf. The Dalish have had their turn, so let's look in the Alienages! Circle Elves are a bit under-respresented as well, but to me it seems the point of the Clircle of Magi is that they treat elves and humans the same--after all, a Templar will cut down an elven mage just as readily as a human mage. But City Elves have their own culture, their own unique stance in the world, and I, for one, would love to see them explored!

Modifié par KawaiiKatie, 05 juin 2011 - 03:07 .

[DragonRacer]

Definitely agree, as the City Elf was my favorite DAO origin and is my "canon" backstory import into DA2 (and featured heavily in my fanfic, lol).

[Special_Agent_Goodwrench]

KawaiiKatie wrote...

This is more of a direct complaint than a constructive observation, but if the elves of Thedas have no stories, no heroes (this comes up in Tabris' origin from two children, and from Velanna in DA:A) then why aren't the City Elves in DA2 singing the praises of the Alienage-bred Hero of Ferelden? Did I miss it? 

What about Garahel? I don't think it's stated whether he was city elf or otherwise before becoming a Warden, but he should count for something, no? He's pretty much the most famous elf there is, not to mention a greatly respected Warden, with him ending the Fourth Blight and all.


*

As for the city elves - I don't find them all that exciting, but I'd really love to see a CE companion with identity issues some time in the future. S/he is so desperate and sick of being treated like dirt his/her whole life, that s/he tries to be human, emulating them, and even going as far as cutting down his/her ears to look less than like an elf. Humans obviously don't give a damn and elves shun him/her, effectively isolating this character from both sides. I think it has potential for some interesting storytelling.


I had another idea (for when DA is set in Orlais), but I don't know enough about the Orlesian nobility to be sure if it would work. Basically, it would involve a female city elf who worked at an estate of a lesser, but quite well known in some circles noble who had passed away, leaving everything to his wife. His wife had an affair with said elf, and eventually fallen in love with her. Here's the part I'm not sure is allowed in Orlais, or anywhere else for that matter: can a noble leave inheritance for an elf? If so, the noblewoman leaves all her possessions the the elf in her will. Not long after that, the noblewoman is assassinated by rival nobles, therefore giving the elf the possession of a manor, titles, and coin. The elf is of course furious and decides to wage a personal war on the men and women responsible for the death of her lover. It's gonna be so... very Orlesian. With bards, assassinations, and backstabbing among other things. She could be a companion or an important to the story NPC. Maybe even both.

Both are just rough drafts, and not "classic" city elves, but something I'd like to see. I opted to make the second elf female because we never had female nobles/royalty as companions. We had Alistair in DA:O, Nathaniel in DA:O:A, and Sebastian in DA2. Noblewomen can kick major ass to you know. As for her being in a relationship with a woman, let's just say it was both a personal preference and something I easily see happening in Orlais. The genders could be changed I suppose, but that's the way I see it.

Modifié par DrunkDeadman, 05 juin 2011 - 03:05 .

[Patchwork]

An Alienage elf would have a unique perspective. Where Dalish elves are all about the injustice which happened centuries ago city elves are upset about what happened last month. Party banter would be interesting between city and Dalish elves too.

Yeah I'll add this to my DA3 companion wish list along with re-dwarfed Shale.

Modifié par Ser Bard, 05 juin 2011 - 08:50 .

[Wulfram]

It was sort of odd that we mostly went to the Kirkwall Alienage to visit Dalish elves - either Arianni or Merrill

[Get Magna Carter]

My main Grey Warden supports this thread
..and objects to the racism from humans which is causing her people to be ignored.
(The worst was in the comics....were there any elves in that at all?)
(Careful...you don't want to make her angry...)

[ReiSilver]

Putting in a +1 for more elves, even though I love the Dalish and would love to learn even more about their culture/nomadic lifestyle and more exploration of ancient elven artifacts (hopefully ones that don't have horrible, demon releasing problems) I'd love to see more of the city elves as well, maybe an ex-gang member or an informant, we already know Merrill was able to hide as an apostate just because elves in the city are overlooked as scenery, this would make city elves excellent potential spies and information gatherers.

[Bryzon]

I agree with the OP. City Elves are neglected in comparison to any ethnicity, by far.

[KawaiiKatie]

Wulfram wrote...

It was sort of odd that we mostly went to the Kirkwall Alienage to visit Dalish elves - either Arianni or Merrill

Exactly! I was so excited to go start investigating the Alienage... I thought, "Awesome! Maybe I'll meet the Haren! Maybe another no-nonsense chick like Shianni! Maybe- oh, another Dalish elf."

Seriously, we got no sense of the City Elf culture in DA2, except for a single codex entry. Even when Hawke tells Merrill that she should help the City Elves, Merill replies, "I never even look at them."

[berelinde]

I would love to see a City Elf as a companion in a future game. I'm not really an elvhenophile, exactly. I prefer humans and dwarves to elves, as a matter of fact, but if we have to have an elven companion, and apparently, there's some law that says we must, I would rather let the City Elves take a turn.

[stormrain]

I support this. CE was my favorite origin, and my lore-obsessed self loved learning about their culture in DA:O. I was disappointed when they were all out ignored in DA2.

Modifié par Captain Uccisore, 05 juin 2011 - 09:51 .

[Skilled Seeker]

Both Zevran and Fenris were city elf companions. So how can you say there haven't been any?

[KawaiiKatie]

Skilled Seeker wrote...

Both Zevran and Fenris were city elf companions. So how can you say there haven't been any?

You'll notice that, in my original post, I discuss the legitimacy of Zevran and Fenris' "City Elf" status. Neither fo them were raised in Alienages, and Fenris, in fact, looks down on City Elves. (He looks down on the Dalish, too, for what it's worth.)

Zevran was raised by both humans and elves in the brothel until he was seven, and then raised by the Antivan Crows, also a mix of humans and elves. I don't believe that he is a good representation of City Elves.

Fenris was raised in the home of his mother's master. He, too, owes no allegiance to a Hahren or anything related to the City Elves at all. And, as I said, he looks down on Alienage elves with disgust, so I doubt that he identifies as one.

So, no, I would argue that we have not yet had a proper City Elf companion, someone like Shianni or Tabris, and I would love to see one in a future installment of Dragon Age.

[Skilled Seeker]

So you want a generic alienage elf then, not a city elf.

[KawaiiKatie]

Skilled Seeker wrote...

So you want a generic alienage elf then, not a city elf.

Battle-ready Shianni would be my preference, actually. Nothing "generic" about her. And yeah, I'd take a "generic alienage elf" before I took another "generic Dalish elf."

[tmp7704]

Skilled Seeker wrote...

So you want a generic alienage elf then, not a city elf.

Alienage elf the best elf.

[Beerfish]

Roit, what do we want them damn knife ears in our party for? Can't be trusted, non of em. Crawlin round on their bellies in that alienage muck. I don't like the looks of em I don't. Always starin atcha with them big eyes they got. They're the devils brood I tell ya.

[Skilled Seeker]

tmp7704 wrote...

Skilled Seeker wrote...

So you want a generic alienage elf then, not a city elf.

Alienage elf the best elf.

[tmp7704]

Don't knock the fried rabbit of the city till you try it.