EccentricSage wrote...
On the subject of Zevran in Ostagar... I was thinking, maybe from the writer's perspective, an assassin might find the very idea of getting sentimental over a corpse disturbing. He's learned to become very desencetized about death, so I suppose messing with a corps would seem disguesting and a waste of time to him?
Also... Zevran isn't someone who holds royalty in high reguard. You're pretty much ONLY giving Cailan a pyre to honor him because of what he was, not who he was. Because lets face it, he was a ****** who cared more about personal glory than the fate of his people. He kind of had it coming after that statement about wanting a real Blight like the old days for the glory of battle. All my characters so far wanted to kick his teeth in when he said that. So here you are, giving this useless golden boy a pyre when none of his warriors who died under his command received any such treatment. He probably SHOULD be left to Darkspawn like his people were. Since he was their leader, it seems fitting, in a way.
Mind you I've not read the novels, so all I know of Cailan is what an ass he was when my PCs met him. A friendly ass, but an ass none the less.
So... maybe you could figure Zevran was filled in at camp about what happened at Ostigar and sees Cailan as just another arrogant noble who died because he was an arrogant noble, no better than any who have fallen from assassination. In fact worse, because so many died because of his failings.
Granted, I agree the disapproval seems a tad extreme by Zev standards... An inconsistency. But his opinion of the matter might not be so OOC when you think about it.
I did wonder if it was because Cailan was being singled out for special treatment. But then, it's not really his fault that his is the only body that has been crucified. I don't see Zevran as particularly anti-royalty. I don't see him having much of an opinion on Cailan, either. He's never been out of Antiva before. (Yes, he does have opinions on lots of other stuff. But not Cailan specifically).
Cailan, for all his faults, was at least willing to fight alongside his army and try to inspire them. I couldn't really hate him. He's probably not the only leader who has been drawn to glory. Had things been different, the blight may have made him a hero. It's interesting that Alistair has such hatred of Loghain, but never seems to hate Cailan though (even though he obviously didn't take to him).
It's difficult to understand Zevran's disapproval withouth knowing what he feels about death rituals. Is he disapproving of the king himself, or the funeral method? He doesn't just object to a royal send-off. He disapproves of leaving the body to the wolves too. But he does want him left for the darkspawn. And leaving him isn't as simple as leaving a corpse on a battlefield - the darkspawn have made a display out of his body. (Which humanises them int that they know who the king is, and what message doing that will send). Zevran thinking that the darkspawn 'deserve' the body is hard to imagine. He was trained to dispatch people, not desecrate their bodies. Unless he is acknowledging that he darkspawn are intelligent. Maybe I should just stop torturing myself with it

. But thanks for your thoughts.