7972 réponses à ce sujet

[Tishina]

Soooo.....is Brasca or Aeducan the preferred playthrough of us dwarf supporters?

Brosca was my favorite because of how well written I felt it was, but I loved my Aeducan princess too.

[vertigomez]

Personally, I favor Brosca because I think making the Dwarf Commoner a Paragon could make the perception of the casteless and lower classes better.

This. DC is near and dear to my heart. I love the DN from a story perspective but I've never been able to get into it the same way, though I'm 90% sure it's more popular overall. The Dwarf Commoner and City Elf were my favorite origins- I think I just like underdogs showing everybody who's bawss.

I would LOVE it if y'all could share your DN characters with me, maybe provide a little inspiration haha? What's their personality like, how do they feel about the lower castes, about humans, about the "glory days" documented in the Shaperate..? Who was their favorite sibling or did they hate/love them both equally? Who did they romance and why? What did they think about the surface, about Oghren and Sigrun and Shale?

[animedreamer]

Aeducan is the prefered one for me. Bhelen shouldn't be allowed to live in my opinion.

[Who Knows]

Aeducan is the prefered one for me. Bhelen shouldn't be allowed to live in my opinion.

Harrowmont is arguably no better. He certainly makes things worse for the casteless.

[vertigomez]

I could never kill Rica's babydaddy.

[daveliam]

Aeducan is my preferred dwarf warden, but I have a real soft spot for my Lady Brosca playthrough.  I remember having a moment where she was standing on the cliff in Ostagar looking at the open sky and she heard a nearby soldier call her "Lady" and feeling like this would be an absolutely life-changing moment for her.  I  love a good rags to riches story.

[Neverwinter_Knight77]

I have a character from every origin except Dalish, and I was trying to decide which would be the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice. Ultimately, I decided on the Aeducan, since he was never going to be king anyway.

That said, my preferred dwarf is Brosca. It's a true rags to riches story, perhaps even more so than the city elf. He becomes a paragon, and if he supports Bhelen, then he becomes a real hero for the casteless. Plus, my dwarves were my only characters who romanced Leliana (Elves romanced Morrigan, and I didn't want the human noble to break anyone's heart when he married the queen), and I wanted at least one happy Leliana romance to carry over (which is Brosca).

[myahele]

I wonder if there'll be a quest to find a cure for Dwarven infertility? And that doing so will give you boost in Dwarven support, but a decrease in Dalish aide?

[Gilsa]

Super glad to see a dwarf with dark skin. I was worried for a minute that they weren't going to have that.

 

One thing I was thinking about recently: for those who are playing Cadash, how do you plan to have your dwarf feel about Templar vs Mages? Not trying to stroke any fires here, I am asking for your rp perspective.

 

It's an interesting feud for Cadash, because your average dwarf probably doesn't give a crap, but Cadash's family is so tied into the Lyrium trade, that you could really play with that. If they're a Carta loyalist (can we play that? lmfao it's so hard to tell right now), they could support the Templars, or they could try to toe the line so they don't make anyone mad...and in the end, they still have the lyrium to sell to the winners.

 

OR if your Cadash is really not into the smuggling life, they may have seen enough of the Chantry corruption wrt to lyrium that they're more predisposed to support the mages. (Or if theyr'e REALLY lawful good, they may support the Templars and just want to slash out the ones that were bad)

 

Another interesting thing to factor in is Cadash's history with the elves. The settlement they take their name from was the one that was destroyed by Kal-Sharok for helping elves. This probably matters more for the elf conflicts, but it's going to play into my Cadash's perspective on Templar/Mages.

 

Or maybe none of that factors in at all for your Cadash. What are you guys thinking? I'm going to play a Cadash who is sort of a hopeless romantic and wants to "restore" her family's "good" name, so she's going pro-mage, although her convictions are not ...as strong as she thinks they are, so there may be some hiccups along the way and if there's a truce option, she'll take it. 

 

My favorite post in the entire thread so far. I LOVE that you've put this much thought into it. My dwarf won't have a dog in that fight so she will need to be influenced by companions or story events. I'm just gonna read the codex at the beginning and see if I can get a better feel for how to proceed.

 

I like it!

...I still need to figure out a name for mine. How do you guys come up with your names?

 

Dwarven name generator or names of tough broads I know. For example, Bea Arthur's "Maude." ("Maud" works, too.)

 

This. DC is near and dear to my heart. I love the DN from a story perspective but I've never been able to get into it the same way, though I'm 90% sure it's more popular overall. The Dwarf Commoner and City Elf were my favorite origins- I think I just like underdogs showing everybody who's bawss.

I would LOVE it if y'all could share your DN characters with me, maybe provide a little inspiration haha? What's their personality like, how do they feel about the lower castes, about humans, about the "glory days" documented in the Shaperate..? Who was their favorite sibling or did they hate/love them both equally? Who did they romance and why? What did they think about the surface, about Oghren and Sigrun and Shale?

 

The goals of the DN dovetailed very nicely with the Grey Warden. The DN was groomed to lead an army and they were already in the Deep Roads every day fighting the darkspawn. The Grey Wardens did the same thing, just on the surface. I viewed her as Duncan 2.0, really.

 

The caste system prevented her from being with her lover Gorim so she sympathized with the lower caste. All dwarves were equal in the eyes of the darkspawn. The Legion of the Dead reinforced this.

 

Bhelen's betrayal cut deep. The DN felt like a fool. This had a direct impact on declining the dark ritual especially when Morrigan revealed she had ulterior motives from the start and refused to be forthcoming about her reasons. The DN felt that she was being played once again and refused to go along with it.

 

The romance interest started out with Alistair mainly because I was curious how a romance worked (it was my first Bioware game). Alistair sealed the deal forever when he poured his heart out by the campfire. One dialogue option was "Even though I'm a dwarf?" His response was, "Don't be ridiculous. If anything, I was wondering if I was too tall for you." I appreciated that the dwarf wasn't viewed as a defective, that he actually worried he wasn't good enough. It didn't end well because it was my first playthrough and I thought Loghain would be an asset to fighting the darkspawn. I truly thought the army he had at Ostagaar was going to be added to the three armies I already recruited, that I'd also have a follow-up conversation with Alistair to reason with him. I did not realize I was merely trading one companion for another. That was a low point in my game.

 

One of the best dwarven roleplay I read about actually came from KnightofPhoenix. His DN put Bhelen on the throne and deliberately kept Alistair malleable (not hardened). He chose the boon to be Alistair's chancellor, allowing the two dwarven brothers to work together and seize control of the dwarven and human empires.

[Cespar]

I prefer Brosca, but I did like being a noble dwarf also. The noble played around with the rag to riches trope, which was kind of fun to see. So is anybody going to have their dwarf inquisitor idolize their paragon warden? My Cadash may not follow all of the dwarven ways, but he is going to have a lot of respect for Brosca, because of how he went from casteless to becoming a paragon. 

[dragonflight288]

This. DC is near and dear to my heart. I love the DN from a story perspective but I've never been able to get into it the same way, though I'm 90% sure it's more popular overall. The Dwarf Commoner and City Elf were my favorite origins- I think I just like underdogs showing everybody who's bawss.

I would LOVE it if y'all could share your DN characters with me, maybe provide a little inspiration haha? What's their personality like, how do they feel about the lower castes, about humans, about the "glory days" documented in the Shaperate..? Who was their favorite sibling or did they hate/love them both equally? Who did they romance and why? What did they think about the surface, about Oghren and Sigrun and Shale?

 

Dwalkin Aeducan for me. 

 

Starts off as a traditionalist while in Orzammar. Is charismatic, smart, skilled sword and shield warrior, and fully earned his commander's commission at the beginning. 

 

The betrayal of Bhelen and being framed for fratricide was a real shock and eye opener for him. He goes to Duncan in the deep roads out of desperation, and his feelings of self-worth hit an all time low as he truly feels he no longer exists as part of his cultural background and the caste system, and thus has nothing to really live for. 

 

He's almost suicidal and reckless at Ostagar and Redcliff, pushing himself into battle after battle hoping for the honorable death he feels he deserves, in battle. But seeing Teagan caring for Connor, and Isolde sacrificing herself for Connor so Morrigan enters the Fade to free Connor, makes him realize that there are some things worth fighting for, and spends a great deal of time trying to figure himself out, and find out what is worth fighting for.

 

He finds comraderie with Alistair, Zevran and Sten, but when he went to the Urn of Sacred Ashes temple and saw Trian's shade, for the first time he felt peace.

 

He's not a convert to the Maker, he still believes in the Ancestors and venerates them, but he now fights for a code of honor that can never be taken away, despite what people think of him. After the Urn, he decides to face his past and goes to Orzammar. He fights for Orzammar survival, saves the Anvil to preserve the ability to make golems, and puts Harrowmont on the Throne as a matter of honor, and not perceived honor as he once did.

 

By the time of the Landsmeet comes around, he's acclimitized to the Surface, feels more at home there than back in Orzammar, while thinking most surfacers are idiots who don't take the time to learn from the past and don't put enough faith in themselves, instead relying on an unseen god who abandoned them twice. He puts Alistair and Loghain together in a duel as a sort-of-proving, and puts Alistair on the throne, and offers to serve as Alistair's chancellor and help him go through the muddy waters of politics.  

 

He fell in love with Morrigan and had the god baby with her, and eventually felt his honor demanded he be responsible for his son, and went with her through the eluvian. 

[veeia]

I love them both though, they're such interesting jumping off points for the main story.

 

In terms of nobility, I think Aeducan is infinitely more interesting than Cousland (although Cousland does, of course, get more interesting options later on)...the family dynamics and range of manipulations/motivations you can attribute to an Aeducan in the origin alone makes it a really meaty origin for a character and the return home is pretty epic. Very interesting to have a character who is used to power and agency and recognition get thrown into this completely new world that doesn't know nor care who they are. Also, Gorim.   

 

Brosca was my first, is my canon, and well, my favorite....but most of that is just because of how much time I put into fleshing that character and her world out. 

 

The dwarf origins are the best, imo, although I enjoy them all. It just depends on what kind of story you want to tell--or really, just which one grabs you. I think if I had played Aeducan first, would it be my favorite? I don't know, haha! Possibly not, I have a real soft spot for anyone who is overlooked or seen as disposable, but. I love them both. They work best when you've played them both, because you get such different perspectives on Orzammar. 

[Sifr]

It's really a very minor alteration in the grand scheme of things: Qunari are now on their second design iteration, and DA:I will introduce the third design of the Elves - adding a little bit of stubble to lady-dorfs is hardly lore-breaking. I tend to think of it as a little homage to Tolkien - and it's a feature that I did see requested/joked about way back when Origins came out.

In any case, if you don't want to have stubble, then don't add it in CC.

 

Aye, I had completely forgotten about the elves redesign in DA2 because I actually preferred it to their "small humans with pointy ears" look in DAO, but I guess that just goes to show that it really all comes down to personal preference.

 

As for fem!Dwarf stubble, why not lorebreaking I suppose, the sudden announcement of it so close to launch, with so few options, makes me wonder if it's not just a last minute addition? But yeah, since I don't have to use it, I don't have to and won't bedrudge those who do, same with those who don't opt to use tattoos on the Dalish Elf (which probably would be more lorebreaking).

 

Apologies for way overanalysing and nitpicking this!

 

Soooo.....is Brasca or Aeducan the preferred playthrough of us dwarf supporters?

 

I don't know, while the political intrigue (and potential baby-mama drama) on the Aeducan side makes it a lot of fun, I kind of have a soft spot for Brosca, since you manage to upstage some of the best warriors in Orzammar at a Proving, become a Grey Warden and become a Paragon... which is not bad work for a Duster.

 

A Female Brosca is probably even more fun, because we sometimes get dialogue that implies that Orzammar can kind of be a sexist place at times, so it's fun to see a female fighter manage to show up the male warriors. Coupled with the implication that your martial skill was enough that even Beraht realised you'd do better as merc than a noble hunter like he forced Rica to become, it makes Fem!Brosca come across as a badass straight out of the gate.

[Tishina]

Aeducan is my preferred dwarf warden, but I have a real soft spot for my Lady Brosca playthrough.  I remember having a moment where she was standing on the cliff in Ostagar looking at the open sky and she heard a nearby soldier call her "Lady" and feeling like this would be an absolutely life-changing moment for her.  I  love a good rags to riches story.

This! For both my DC and CE. I felt like both of them would have been looking over their shoulders to see who he was talking to before having it hit them just how much their lives had suddenly changed. Before becoming an outlaw again less than 24 hours later, of course...

[Tishina]

 would LOVE it if y'all could share your DN characters with me, maybe provide a little inspiration haha? What's their personality like, how do they feel about the lower castes, about humans, about the "glory days" documented in the Shaperate..? Who was their favorite sibling or did they hate/love them both equally? Who did they romance and why? What did they think about the surface, about Oghren and Sigrun and Shale?

Hmm, my Ozera was 100% warrior and military leader and

Spoiler

was perfectly ready to jump at the chance to join the Wardens to honorably escape the politics of Orzammar and focus on the real threat of the darkspawn. She disliked Trian, but she distrusted Bhelen because she knew the person kissing up to you is exactly the one who's preparing to stick a knife in you, and Trian's open enmity was a lot less dangerous. She also distrusted Harrowmont and suspected he had been manipulating Endrin and playing a deeper game, especially in allowing her unorthodox condemnation to the Deep Roads. She thought the casteless who were condemned to that for a legitimate crime deserved what they got, but thought it was too easy for a family to use that to blackmail family members and that there was no excuse for someone to be casteless by birth. She didn't necessarily have a problem with the caste system in general, but thought it needed more flexibility, upward (and downward) mobility, and more consequences for abuses. If Bhelan had waited for her to leave with the Grey Wardens then arranged Trian's assassination in an untraceable way, she'd probably have thought Rica was charming.

 

At the same time, she was a cheerful hedonist. She was very fond of Gorim but not in love, and she knew he felt the same, so she wasn't surprised to find out how quickly he moved on. She fell in love with both Alistair and Zevran (she'd have been quite happy with both at the same time if that was an option), but she had a soft spot for Alistair, especially once she realized he was completely unprepared for his role as Maric's son. It was obvious to her that his duty was to take the throne and marry a human noble, so she stayed with him until the Landsmeet to try to prepare him (he ended it just as she was about to do the same). She went back to camp and picked up with Zevran (and let Alistair believe she was just finding comfort for a broken heart while Zevran had long since realized she was just waiting until she tied Alistair to the throne).

 

Once she got used to being on the surface with plants and animals and the sky, she rather liked it, especially since humans didn't question her taking charge. In fact, she found a lot of them naive, and thought they were lucky that she wasn't interested in manipulating them beyond raising the forces she needed. Cailan seemed to have his head in the clouds too much to be a leader, much less a ruler, but Loghain's treachery shocked even her because deserting in the face of the darkspawn was the one crime she couldn't imagine anyone committing. She thought Teagan was charming, but no leader; Isolde was an idiot who shouldn't have been given authority over the contents of her closet, much less a household; and Eamon showed incredibly bad judgement several times (she also didn't much care for the way he'd treated Alistair after he'd agreed to raise him). The Dalish didn't impress her, but if she'd survived, she'd have gone back to the Alienage and pried Shianni and Soris out of there and taken them with her.

 

She made the US partly because, even though she couldn't forgive Bhelan enough to put him on the throne, she suspected Harrowmont would turn out to be a devastatingly bad choice and didn't really want to live with the guilt. But mostly, after she forced Alistair to face his duty and agree to become king and marry Anora to end the civil war, she couldn't bring herself to force him to go through the DR when he balked.

[Who Knows]

I wonder if there'll be a quest to find a cure for Dwarven infertility? And that doing so will give you boost in Dwarven support, but a decrease in Dalish aide?

I don't see any relation between Dwarven infertility and dalish approval. In fact, the dalish and dwarven cultures are probably at least almost the least connected out of any cultures in Thedas.

[Yinello]

I loved both origins but Brosca I love because of how you prove yourself in that arena and how Duncan sticks up for you and picks you because you really are the best of them all.

[Gilsa]

They're both fantastic, but I am more partial to the DN due to being able to take pride in dwarven people and their history. It allows me to nerd out in the Deep Roads and read everything, brush up on the lore, etc. The DC has less inclination to be a cheerleader because of the lower caste and being mistreated by her own people. Surface dwarves rank even lower than that, which will be interesting to see if they even care at all about their underground brethren in Inquisition.

 

I had a DC playthrough in which Brosca was the muscle while Leske was the sweet talker. I put zero points in persuade due to lack of social skills. The DC failed most persuade checks with one exception being for Cammen in the dalish camp. I strutted up to him and asked him to share his sob story, thinking that I would absolutely fail that and saunter off, but nooooooooooo. At least he declined the proposition to make him a real boy man.

[vertigomez]

Thank you all SO much for sharing your dwarves with meeee!

The goals of the DN dovetailed very nicely with the Grey Warden. The DN was groomed to lead an army and they were already in the Deep Roads every day fighting the darkspawn. The Grey Wardens did the same thing, just on the surface. I viewed her as Duncan 2.0, really.

The caste system prevented her from being with her lover Gorim so she sympathized with the lower caste. All dwarves were equal in the eyes of the darkspawn. The Legion of the Dead reinforced this.

Bhelen's betrayal cut deep. The DN felt like a fool. This had a direct impact on declining the dark ritual especially when Morrigan revealed she had ulterior motives from the start and refused to be forthcoming about her reasons. The DN felt that she was being played once again and refused to go along with it.

The romance interest started out with Alistair mainly because I was curious how a romance worked (it was my first Bioware game). Alistair sealed the deal forever when he poured his heart out by the campfire. One dialogue option was "Even though I'm a dwarf?" His response was, "Don't be ridiculous. If anything, I was wondering if I was too tall for you." I appreciated that the dwarf wasn't viewed as a defective, that he actually worried he wasn't good enough. It didn't end well because it was my first playthrough and I thought Loghain would be an asset to fighting the darkspawn. I truly thought the army he had at Ostagaar was going to be added to the three armies I already recruited, that I'd also have a follow-up conversation with Alistair to reason with him. I did not realize I was merely trading one companion for another. That was a low point in my game.

One of the best dwarven roleplay I read about actually came from KnightofPhoenix. His DN put Bhelen on the throne and deliberately kept Alistair malleable (not hardened). He chose the boon to be Alistair's chancellor, allowing the two dwarven brothers to work together and seize control of the dwarven and human empires.

I LOVED Alistair's "too tall" line for precisely the same reason. It made the human the outsider, if that makes sense. There have been some incredibly annoying and immersion-breaking lines in fanfic starring DA dwarves, where the dwarf is agonizing about how short/fat/ugly they are and why would a hot guy or girl like Alistair or Leliana (for example) be interested in them..? Like, excuse you? To a dwarf from a dwarven society... dwarves are normal! And sexy, and proportional, and all that good stuff. Humans and elves are the outliers. They're all long-limbed and gangly and so, so skinny! Half the human men remove their facial hair and elves don't even get that luxury. And the ladies, well... as Oghren says, where do you put the legs?

I'm curious how this dynamic is gonna work with a surface dwarf. I imagine they actually might feel insecure, because dwarves are a minority on the surface... tables and chairs are not built with them in mind, etc. I hope there's some kind of impact!

As for KoP's chancellor ending... ooh, I do like that. I can never decide whether to side with Harrowmont or Bhelen as a DN (from a non-metagaming perspective, that is). Was I just a sucker, and Bhelen the better strategist after all? Or do I say sod it to the dwarven people and put his traitorous head on a pike? Decisions, decisions...

I prefer Brosca, but I did like being a noble dwarf also. The noble played around with the rag to riches trope, which was kind of fun to see. So is anybody going to have their dwarf inquisitor idolize their paragon warden? My Cadash may not follow all of the dwarven ways, but he is going to have a lot of respect for Brosca, because of how he went from casteless to becoming a paragon.

Definitely! My surface dwarf may or may not give a fig for Paragons, but any dwarf who stops a Blight is a hero in their book, haha.

Dwalkin Aeducan for me.

Starts off as a traditionalist while in Orzammar. Is charismatic, smart, skilled sword and shield warrior, and fully earned his commander's commission at the beginning.

The betrayal of Bhelen and being framed for fratricide was a real shock and eye opener for him. He goes to Duncan in the deep roads out of desperation, and his feelings of self-worth hit an all time low as he truly feels he no longer exists as part of his cultural background and the caste system, and thus has nothing to really live for.

He's almost suicidal and reckless at Ostagar and Redcliff, pushing himself into battle after battle hoping for the honorable death he feels he deserves, in battle. But seeing Teagan caring for Connor, and Isolde sacrificing herself for Connor so Morrigan enters the Fade to free Connor, makes him realize that there are some things worth fighting for, and spends a great deal of time trying to figure himself out, and find out what is worth fighting for.

He finds comraderie with Alistair, Zevran and Sten, but when he went to the Urn of Sacred Ashes temple and saw Trian's shade, for the first time he felt peace.

He's not a convert to the Maker, he still believes in the Ancestors and venerates them, but he now fights for a code of honor that can never be taken away, despite what people think of him. After the Urn, he decides to face his past and goes to Orzammar. He fights for Orzammar survival, saves the Anvil to preserve the ability to make golems, and puts Harrowmont on the Throne as a matter of honor, and not perceived honor as he once did.

By the time of the Landsmeet comes around, he's acclimitized to the Surface, feels more at home there than back in Orzammar, while thinking most surfacers are idiots who don't take the time to learn from the past and don't put enough faith in themselves, instead relying on an unseen god who abandoned them twice. He puts Alistair and Loghain together in a duel as a sort-of-proving, and puts Alistair on the throne, and offers to serve as Alistair's chancellor and help him go through the muddy waters of politics.

He fell in love with Morrigan and had the god baby with her, and eventually felt his honor demanded he be responsible for his son, and went with her through the eluvian.

I love it, I love it, I love it~

I'm thinking about rolling a DN in this vein. He'll have an "I don't have time for this ****" attitude, more worried about the impending annihilation of his race than petty politicking, he's really too straightforward and honorable to fit in with his peers. Though... I don't see how anyone in Orzammar (save the casteless... maybe...) would think my guy'd make a great king, guileless as he is. Maybe that's why the nobles like him so much, LOL- easier to manipulate.

I love them both though, they're such interesting jumping off points for the main story.

In terms of nobility, I think Aeducan is infinitely more interesting than Cousland (although Cousland does, of course, get more interesting options later on)...the family dynamics and range of manipulations/motivations you can attribute to an Aeducan in the origin alone makes it a really meaty origin for a character and the return home is pretty epic. Very interesting to have a character who is used to power and agency and recognition get thrown into this completely new world that doesn't know nor care who they are. Also, Gorim.

*fistbump* I really like this. What would it be like to live your whole life sure in the knowledge that you're great and smart and perfect and lyrium shines out your butt... only to get thrust into the real world and learn that, um, that's not the case.

As for fem!Dwarf stubble, why not lorebreaking I suppose, the sudden announcement of it so close to launch, with so few options, makes me wonder if it's not just a last minute addition? But yeah, since I don't have to use it, I don't have to and won't bedrudge those who do, same with those who don't opt to use tattoos on the Dalish Elf (which probably would be more lorebreaking).

All I know is I wanna see cranky dwarven grandmas with beards in this game. Half-blind, shaking her cane at us, shouting about how back in her day the Carta was actually competent... ahhh.

Who knows, maybe she'll be the head of our happy little dwarf mafia family.

Hmm, my Ozera was 100% warrior and military leader and

Spoiler

was perfectly ready to jump at the chance to join the Wardens to honorably escape the politics of Orzammar and focus on the real threat of the darkspawn. She disliked Trian, but she distrusted Bhelen because she knew the person kissing up to you is exactly the one who's preparing to stick a knife in you, and Trian's open enmity was a lot less dangerous. She also distrusted Harrowmont and suspected he had been manipulating Endrin and playing a deeper game, especially in allowing her unorthodox condemnation to the Deep Roads. She thought the casteless who were condemned to that for a legitimate crime deserved what they got, but thought it was too easy for a family to use that to blackmail family members and that there was no excuse for someone to be casteless by birth. She didn't necessarily have a problem with the caste system in general, but thought it needed more flexibility, upward (and downward) mobility, and more consequences for abuses. If Bhelan had waited for her to leave with the Grey Wardens then arranged Trian's assassination in an untraceable way, she'd probably have thought Rica was charming.

At the same time, she was a cheerful hedonist. She was very fond of Gorim but not in love, and she knew he felt the same, so she wasn't surprised to find out how quickly he moved on. She fell in love with both Alistair and Zevran (she'd have been quite happy with both at the same time if that was an option), but she had a soft spot for Alistair, especially once she realized he was completely unprepared for his role as Maric's son. It was obvious to her that his duty was to take the throne and marry a human noble, so she stayed with him until the Landsmeet to try to prepare him (he ended it just as she was about to do the same). She went back to camp and picked up with Zevran (and let Alistair believe she was just finding comfort for a broken heart while Zevran had long since realized she was just waiting until she tied Alistair to the throne).

Once she got used to being on the surface with plants and animals and the sky, she rather liked it, especially since humans didn't question her taking charge. In fact, she found a lot of them naive, and thought they were lucky that she wasn't interested in manipulating them beyond raising the forces she needed. Cailan seemed to have his head in the clouds too much to be a leader, much less a ruler, but Loghain's treachery shocked even her because deserting in the face of the darkspawn was the one crime she couldn't imagine anyone committing. She thought Teagan was charming, but no leader; Isolde was an idiot who shouldn't have been given authority over the contents of her closet, much less a household; and Eamon showed incredibly bad judgement several times (she also didn't much care for the way he'd treated Alistair after he'd agreed to raise him). The Dalish didn't impress her, but if she'd survived, she'd have gone back to the Alienage and pried Shianni and Soris out of there and taken them with her.

She made the US partly because, even though she couldn't forgive Bhelan enough to put him on the throne, she suspected Harrowmont would turn out to be a devastatingly bad choice and didn't really want to live with the guilt. But mostly, after she forced Alistair to face his duty and agree to become king and marry Anora to end the civil war, she couldn't bring herself to force him to go through the DR when he balked.

Ooooh, I hadn't even considered being suspicious of Harrowmont! That's a good point!

And now I'm particularly fond of the idea of a DN hedonist who is THRILLED to be free of her responsibilities and just have fun. Wha- what's that you say? There's a Blight on the way..?

They're both fantastic, but I am more partial to the DN due to being able to take pride in dwarven people and their history. It allows me to nerd out in the Deep Roads and read everything, brush up on the lore, etc. The DC has less inclination to be a cheerleader because of the lower caste and being mistreated by her own people. Surface dwarves rank even lower than that, which will be interesting to see if they even care at all about their underground brethren in Inquisition.

Very true how the DN vs. DC can view Orzammar. I mean, DN basically has Dwarf Classic™ going on even despite the fratricide/backstabbing little brother thing. They're more likely to care about the records in the Shaperate considering, y'know, they're actually allowed to be in them.

But DC has a culture all their own, and it's not really less dwarven, at least from their point of view. They still get to use dwarven terms and phrases, drink horrible ale, and whine about humans and elves and how much better dwarves are- ha! It's a lot of fun, either way.

[veeia]

My favorite part of the dwarf-Alistair romance is when you ask him if he wants to spend the night with you even though you're not human, he says something like "especially because of that" or something very kind of flirtatiously winky. When I played my elven character, he just went "of course that doesn't bother me!". Wish I remembered the exact lines, but my point is....boy's got a dwarf thing.

[Zakhar]

I always love to hear people talk about their characters and the stories they built with then.

My dwarf canon was a commoner, held no respect for Dwarven society be it Paragons or the Stone. How could he given his position on the totem pole.

Joining the Wardens gave him a sense of purposr and despite the oddness of the surface world, he felt more at home there then anywhere.

Above all others, Leliana is what caught his attention. He had never heard the surface accents, let alone Orlesian ones.

To hear her speak so passionately in the Maker made him consider the Maker. Whilr he'd never would call himself a full believer he would stop to get the blessing of the Sisters of the Faith and he helped set up the Orzammar Chantry.

The decision on King was a no brainer for him, to do otherwise would ruin his sister's life and he could never do that.

When it came time for the dark ritual, he and Morrigan were friends bounded over a mutual confusion for human society.

I had liked to imagine he had Leliana's permission to perform the ritual, or more likely she smacked him upside the head and got him to do it.

Either way, he found his place in the world. Choosing to stay with the Wardens and I think, never returning to Orzammar.

[Neverwinter_Knight77]

The dwarves of Orzammar certainly have an interesting culture. It's just a shame that the surfacers are casteless.

[Finnn62]

Soooo.....is Brasca or Aeducan the preferred playthrough of us dwarf supporters?

I preferred Lady Aeducan, but always put Bhelen on the throne, because then the Warden gets their noble status back and the casteless & surface world gets a better deal. I always sided with Lord Dace over the surface dwarves' status, and disagreed with speaking ill of the casteless, so at least Bhelen sort of carries on the sort of progressive values I would have imposed if my Warden ruled Orzammar, albeit in a more violent manner. 

[vertigomez]

I always love to hear people talk about their characters and the stories they built with then.
My dwarf canon was a commoner, held no respect for Dwarven society be it Paragons or the Stone. How could he given his position on the totem pole.
Joining the Wardens gave him a sense of purposr and despite the oddness of the surface world, he felt more at home there then anywhere.
Above all others, Leliana is what caught his attention. He had never heard the surface accents, let alone Orlesian ones.
To hear her speak so passionately in the Maker made him consider the Maker. Whilr he'd never would call himself a full believer he would stop to get the blessing of the Sisters of the Faith and he helped set up the Orzammar Chantry.
The decision on King was a no brainer for him, to do otherwise would ruin his sister's life and he could never do that.
When it came time for the dark ritual, he and Morrigan were friends bounded over a mutual confusion for human society.
I had liked to imagine he had Leliana's permission to perform the ritual, or more likely she smacked him upside the head and got him to do it.
Either way, he found his place in the world. Choosing to stay with the Wardens and I think, never returning to Orzammar.

Aww, this sounds just like my Brosca! The only difference is he spared Loghain (one of my only characters to do so- he had been given a second chance by Duncan and believed he ought to extend the same courtesy to his enemy) who then died slaying the Archdemon.

I am seriously fond of Brosca x Leli. They both have dark and troubled pasts, a shot at redemption~

[veeia]

Well, since we are talking about our Broscas too!

 

I find the Dwarven "religion" extremely fascinating, and I sort of centered my character's arc in how she's reacted to that. A thing that I think doesn't get brought up enough in the game is that the casteless haven't just been rejected by society, they've been spiritually rejected too. They aren't "pure" enough to strengthen the Stone, they would actually weaken her. Since the dwarves refer to themselves as the Children of the Stone, it's essentially being rejected by a Mother "deity", and Brosca already has issues with her own mother. (This is why Wynne becomes such a meaningful character for my Brosca, because she's the accepting, strong mother figure she never had. Brosca never reads her as condescending and never fully realizes Wynne's flaws)

 

So Brosca essentially grows up knowing that her life is worthless, and her death worthless too. Brosca doesn't see a way out of the endless parade of misery that is her life....even if Rica's plan succeeds, she doesn't see moving up in castes as a better thing. Life may be easier, but it's not comfort she wants. She was handed this crappy lot at birth, without any say, and then it is just changed because of another birth? There's no choice there, just a plaything of fate..and more than anything, she wants to make her own choices.

 

I headcanon my Brosca as being especially Stone-sensitive, if you will. She's very in tune with it, she believes in its strength wholeheartedly, and she wants very desperately to be accepted by it, but she also kind of wants to burn Orzammar to the ground and leave all the nobles to die. So if she did become a Paragon, she'd only strengthen the society that called her worthless. The idea that she has to prove herself to the Orzammar nobles & upper castes....repellent to the max. This paradox leaves her angry, depressed, bitter, and lashing out. She's protective to the max of her fellow casteless and family, but if she can do something to hurt upper castes, she's on it. I imagine her going in and stealing things from noble's homes, and then just destroying them. Sad, little displays of defiance. 

 

Being a Grey Warden is how she finds ways to make her life meaningful, but not because she gets to save the world. It's because she ends up wanting to save the world. Her arc is so meaningful to me because she sacrifices so much to save a world that never did right by her, and didn't deserve her. Everywhere she goes, she sees people suffering at the hands of nobles/humans/templars/etc, and she's dismissed for who she is. But just that small degree of agency she gets from being a Warden--and the love and acceptance of her companions, especially her lover Alistair, is enough to make her stop obsessing over what her death means, and how she can make her life meaningful. 

 

I also have it for her, the longer she's on the surface, her Stone sense doesn't fade. Which is aggravating for her, because she wants to believe that if she can just get rid of it, she can believe that she's not beholden to what it means. I think when she goes back to Orzammar and begins to understand all the political machinations there, she finally realizes that her connection to the Stone is so strong because she is not cast out by it...that the Shaperate and the King are not the final word on those things, and that the strength she's derived from Orzammar is has carried her through her trials. When she's named a Paragon, she realizes that her experiences as a casteless were so that when she was recognized as a living ancestor, she could use that to guide the dwarves to a better understanding of the Stone...one where no one is too weak to shape it towards a better dwarven destiny.  Again, here she is strengthening a society that's rejected her, because only one who was rejected by it could save it. 

 

...I could go on forever, but I'll stop.