Story
I'm okay with a large threat, but I'm really tired of it being supernatural and ancient, and a large beast. Yes, there should be dragons to kill. Yes, give me many different ones (and really different. Not the same dragon with different flavor of super breath), but make the threat something no less dangerous, but modern. The Qunari invade. There, perfect.
Setting
If the Qunari invade, obviously, we'll have to be in Tevinter, or some other place North. Keep the setting small, so lush and vibrant locations can be made, and I can learn about a specific spot. I don't mind a quick jaunt to Antiva or even Rivain, but it would be best to keep it small. Different locations in Tevinter. Minrathous, Qarinus, places like that. Keep the open worlds from Inquisition, but do give us some cities to explore too. One of my favorite locations are the keeps, and Redcliffe Castle. Show me different places too: Inquisition did that right, build on it.
Also, keep it very close to when Inquisition happens. A few months, no more than a year, afterwards.
Characters
In keeping with Dragon Age tradition of setting the Protagonist from the setting of the previous game, the hero needs to be Orlesian.
They are a bard, one of Celene's/Gaspard's personal best. Intel from the North had a worrying account of what was going on, and this character (who will be referred to as "The Bard") is to investigate. The Bard can be male or female, with a choice of human (a minor noble's third child taken in by C/G when the family fell to the infighting), elven (a city elf used as a spy) or dwarven (C/G is a patron of their smuggling family, and the dwarf was given to them to train as their spy) (Qunari being antagonists and rare in Orlais, it would be doubtful the ruler would have one to spare), and warrior, mage, or rogue (Each class having it's own Bard variant: Warriors boast and tell tales to gain attention and aggro, mages have flashy parlor tricks, and rogues have advanced stealth and infiltration)
Start of Plot
The Bard is sent to meet with C/G's contact, a Revered Father and Imperial Magister, who goes on a mission with them, only to find that, not only are the qunari indeed invading, but a massive slave revolt, led by a mysterious and powerful being, is also happening. The fighting is mostly around the coast, and the slaves are fighting the Qunari in addition to Tevinter. The Bard is ordered to help the Magister rally Tevinter's forces and bring peace back, stopping the Qunari and the slaves.
Party Members
The Magister (Human Male Mage) - Raised in the Chantry from an early age, from a proud prestigious Tevinter home, where sons serve as Imperial Fathers and daughters serve as First Enchantresses. He is proud of his homeland and it's rich heritage, and is full of faith in the Imperial Chantry. He explains the difference between Andrastrianism and Imperial Chantry (quick to point out that worship of Andraste is false, because "There is but one God, and he is Our Maker", and personally, thinks Andraste should only be seen as human, for if she is attainable, then everyone can do the amazing. He thinks she wasn't a mage, though, and that such a thing is theology, but irrelevant. He thinks that slavery is personally abhorrent, but given that the society relies entirely upon slaves, freeing them all would create nothing but famine and chaos. He encourages the Holy Day of the Tevinter Chantry, the date of Archon Hessarian's death, as a day when mercy should be shown, and tries to get others to free slaves. He is close friends with similar minded reformers, including Magister Tilani, whom he holds in high regard. After the defeat of the Venatori, her coalition has steadily gained in allies and power, but some are fair weather.
He is married, although his wife dies early in the game. He is romanceable by females of all races. He loves thrilling books, and you can find him rare stories, with a few callbacks [He gets a new book by Varric, and a copy of the book Velanna wrote with Dalish tales] He practices blood magic, but only the sanctioned Imperial version: He can use his own blood and that of willing sacrifices.
His personal quest involves making deals and eliminating rivals hoping to sway over the reasonable figure that is Archon Radonis. Some are brutal butchers and must be killed, others are on the fence. The Bard can help make him either ruthless (eliminating the competition outright) or compassionate (exposing the really bad ones to encourage good behavior)
The Crow (Female Elven Rogue [Dual-wield] - An Antivan Crow that works for a fellow, the Crow is gifted to The Bard after winning a important victory in Qarinus, thinking that the Bard will be a symbol of hope, and needs all the help they can get.
She came to the Crows late in life, in fact, she was a guard for the Queen. She fought a Crow to defend the Queen, but realized too late that it was a trap, that his partner had killed the Queen while he dealt with her. Impressed by her quick skill, he gave her a choice: Join or a quick death. She joined, and became exceptional at the killing. She took that Crow as her lover, killing the partner who killed the Queen silently during a mission.
Her personal quest involves taking contracts on targets via dead drop. However, during the mission, she'll realize she's killing Antivan Crows from rival cells, as someone is sabotaging her marks. Other folks also try to kill her when she gets her dead drops. She goes to find her old friend, and they raid the culprit together, only to find that she realizes he was in on it. He admits it: He had learned the Crows killed his family, and, knowing how decentralized their masters were, played them against each other, using someone else to do it. But it got out of hand, since he had expressly forbidden them from going after her. He asks her to join him in the life, and The Bard can convince her to abandon the Crows or to stay with them and kill him. If she abandons the Crows, the final mission is a large cell, where they kill many Crows and cripple the organization, her friend dying in the attempt. If she kills him, she gets her biggest target yet, the new King of Antiva, a dithering fool who is leading the country to ruin and will fall apart if the Qunari get pushed that far east.
She is romanceable by all races and genders, with different flavor text on each. She loves simple pleasures, like jewelry and fine foods, since as an assassin, she knows life is fleeting and she should take pleasure in small things more than anything. If romanced, she gives the Inquisitor a gift of a charm bracelet, that was carried by her friend.
The Seer (Female Human Mage) - An apprentice seer from Rivain who traveled to Tevinter to study magic before she returned back home. She is very nervous, naive in the ways of the world, and desperately wishes to be wise and studious. She joins with The Bard when the Qunari attack her town, and, thinking that nothing will be safe if they are around, offers to stick with The Bard until the job is done.
She was never meant to be a seer, that fell to others in her home, but when the Dairsmund Circle was annulled, she was pretty much the only one left.
Her personal quest involves undertaking trials to become a seer, and learning the truth about how they work, that they are abominations with Spirits of Wisdom inside them. She meets with spirits over her journey: Wisdom, Survival and Purpose, and she learns that she wants to be herself, not a union. Eventually, she returns home to find a Qunari force invading. She attacks, she defeats them, and she is reunited with her family. They see the wisdom she has learned, and the elders grant her leave to finish the quest with the qunari, and she becomes a seer to lead her people to a better age.
She is romanceable by mages only: Male or Female, Human or Elf. She loves artifacts that remind her of home, talismans and statuettes, and the like.
The Hunter (Male Elven Warrior [Two-Handed Sword]) - A hunter from a Dalish clan far in Tevinter's west, with vallislin of Andruil. He hates humans with a passion, thinking them nothing more than ill-trained dogs that might not bite you. Proud of his elven heritage and the Way of the Three Trees, he is ordered by his Keeper, to join with The Bard. While he doesn't like the idea, he accepts and goes with the group.
He opens up easily with elves, and is okay with dwarves, but it takes a lot of him to talk to humans. He is devout, and prays frequently to Andruil and June, He is quick to blame humans for the death of his parents, but, when he tells his story, The Bard can point out there are holes in it. As it turned out, his family was actually slain by rival Dalish, who defended their area like bandits, killing anyone who entered.
His personal quest involves trying to get his clan away from the fighting, getting them passage to Nevarra. As it turns out, they don't leave. A Tevinter magister who lives away from the city had the brilliant idea of enslaving and selling a Dalish Clan. With fury, the Hunter descends upon the shem, only to discover that it's an elven magister. This fractures his faith in elven unity, which is furthered when he meets city elves who, while not happy with their fate, don't join the Dalish because they are seen as savages.
Eventually, a more moderate human noble agrees to help get the clan to safety. His payment is only that the Dalish teach him some of their magic, as he thinks the different techniques will give him an advantage, and eventually a seat on the Magisterium. The Hunter's sister, the clan's Second, agrees to do so. When they meet, they fall in love. This goes against everything the Hunter believes in, and he has no idea what to believe in. Helping him through it leads him to turn over a new leaf, becoming more amenable, thinking that, while the elves deserve their freedom and a nation of their own to be safe in, peace can be obtained not through seclusion, but through understanding.
He can be romanced by female elves, while male elves can enter a friends with benefits relationship. If The Bard romances neither of them, he enters into such a relationship with The Crow. He likes gifts of elven origin.
The Friend - Charade Amell (Female Human Rogue [Archer]) - The Friend of Red Jenny and cousin of the Champion of Kirkwall, Charade moved base from her base in Tantervale to head up north to Neromenian, assisting slave revolt which were starting to format. However, they soon turned on her in their paranoia. The Bard can rescue her, and she joins with him.
Like she was in Dragon Age 2, Charade is a rogue who is an accomplished archer and thief. Her Red Jenny goals involve making Tevinter a safer place for the Soporati and slaves. Her more professional approach involves planning heists of truly decadent nobles, and some embarrassment. Plans that, if The Bard helps poorly, can go wrong (causing loss of approval).
If they are alive, Charade also gets quests where she can meet with Bethany or Carver, and then Hawke, who is headed to Weisshaupt. They help her on a quest before going on their separate ways. If they are not alive, Charade and the Bard do the quest on their own.
Charade is romanceable by males, and she likes jewelry and things that remind her of the Free Marches.
The Exile - Male Dwarf Warrior [Sword and Shield] - A proud Orzammar dwarf who served as a member of the Warrior Class. Some thought he might even become a Paragon due to his mastery of battle tactics. But, fifteen years ago, in an excursion to recover some lost mines, he broke ranks, and allowed the noble leading the party to be killed in exchange for saving the lives of his fellow warriors. The Assembly didn't take too kindly to it, and Lord Harrowmont, a staunch traditionalist, led a motion in the Assembly to exile him to the surface.
Distraught over what he had lost, he made his way from Ferelden to Tevinter, since the dwarven embassy was underground. With Orzammar unable to reach it, it's used mostly by kalnas surface dwarves. He becomes a bodyguard, guarding lyrium shipments, all the while missing Orzammar. He was reading through old books one day (or, if the Warden was dwarven, a story about that person), old dwarven archives, when he realized that Paragons could leave and come back to the surface, without loss of caste. He immediately threw himself into becoming the best warrior ever, so much that not even the dwarves could deny him. He thinks that defeating the horde of qunari would be one more step in this plan.
His personal quest involves visiting old dwarven outposts, looking for relics of Paragons and other dwarven leaders, taking in good fights all the way. The Bard can be supportive of his dream, or try to convince him that it's stupid, the dwarves will never accept, and he's better off focusing on the surface. He goes to Orzammar regardless, the relic of a lost Paragon is a capable enough bribe to allow him in with a temporary casteless brand. Before he presents his finding to the Assembly, he takes part in a Proving, where the Inquisitor can again try to convince him that living for Orzammar is either good or pointless. If he lives for Orzammar, he loses, because the deshyr fighting is a noble who taunts him as dirt, and he was taught to submit to nobles. If he lives for himself, he wins, and accidentally kills the noble. Either way, the Assembly does not believe the ancestors favor him. If Bhelen was made King, he grants a concession: Naming him Ambassador to the surface and his exile rescinded, he is a surface dwarf tasked with regaining the favor of the Ancestors through surface. If Harrowmont is King, he refuses to even consider it and banishes him for good.
In the end, the Exile, if encouraged to be for Orzammar, keeps trying on his fruitless quest. If he doesn't, he learns to appreciate the beauty of the surface, and no longer feels burdened by the sun.
The Exile is romanceable by female dwarves. If his quest resolves to live for the surface, he can love female elves or humans.
That's what I've got for right now. Tell me what you think
Retour en haut
). Definitely love to see some more history brought up with the elves. Or even the Deep Roads. I'd totally love to have my own thaig....
but to Antiva or beyond.
