This thought in my head wouldn't get out unless I wrote it, so I thought, I'm going to try writing a prologue for how I think DA4 should start. Let me know what you think.
(NOTE: I will be using the pronoun "he" for anything inspecific, but unless noted, females are the exact same)
Scene: Nighttime. A pair of qunari are atop a large outcropping of rock. One of them receives a message. He reads it, then silently directs the men under his command with silent arm motions. They move out.
A small contingent of chevaliers on horseback slowly worm their way through a mountain pass. In the center is a carriage, with it's lamps lit. The camera pans around it for a moment, only for the flame to go out.
STERN BARITONE VOICE: Damn drafts. Let's take care of that.
A small flame illuminates three shadows sitting in the carriage. The player has the option of choosing one of these shadows.
HUMAN - One of the most prolific races in all of the Thedas, Humans are also the most divided, and can be found almost anywhere. (Last name: D`Entremont)
ELF - Long subjugated after having lost several wars to the humans, elves can usually be found either in walled-off communities called alienages, or as the nomadic Dalish (Last name: Ulvallen)
DWARF - Former scions of a mighty empire beneath the earth, many dwarves come to the surface for reasons ranging from economics to banishment. (Last name: Ortan)
The player chooses race and gender, and is then given the opportunity to pick a class and review the history before deciding to accept.
HUMAN WARRIOR - Tradition, you enlisted in the Academy. You excelled at warfare, and are one of the finest Orlesian chevaliers. You have been personally selected by the Empire to report on the situation in Tevinter.
HUMAN MAGE - After the fall of the Montsimmard Circle, your family sheltered you and used your magical talents as an advantage in the Game. To prevent your return to the Circle, you volunteered to report on the situation in Tevinter
HUMAN ROGUE - Subtlety is an art in Orlais, and you were master at your muse. As a bard in service of your family, you spied and learned, gambling with the fate of many in your hands. Those quick skills did not go unnoticed by the Empire, and they selected you to report on the situation in Tevinter.
ELVEN WARRIOR - Most think elves as mere servants, but you were the bodyguard of an Orlesian noblewoman who fancied the idea of her foes underestimating an elf. For all her enemies, a pox took her not three scant months ago. The Court noticed her fancies, and your skills, and elected to hire you for a mission to the North.
ELVEN MAGE - After the fall of the Montsimmard Circle, you were recruited by Briala to serve in her network of elven spies. After the end of the Orlesian civil war, the distrust of magic slowly returned. You were selected for a long mission to report on the situation in Tevinter.
ELVEN ROGUE - Elves are almost invisible, but you take that more literally. Your talents in the Game, ferretting out information, made you both feared and respected. These talents made you invaluable for a mission to the North.
DWARF WARRIOR - Hired muscle is a crown for a bundle in the Merchant's Guild, but your skill garnered more interest than your average heavy. You were tasked with providing security for a mission to the North in Tevinter.
DWARF ROGUE - Secrets are as valuable in the Merchant's Guild as anywhere else, and those talents have made your family wealthy beyond compare, and ruined many more. After more than one assassination, your family pulled some favors to get Orlais to get you out of the city. They needed someone to report up North on a situation in Tevinter.
After choosing your character, the player is given the option of facial customization, voice selection, and naming. Once that is complete, the story returns. If the player character picked either human or elven mage, he is making the fire, and lighting the oil lamps in the carriage. The Player Character talks with the other two shadows (the other two races the player character did not choose. The player is also given the option to customize the face of these character, similar to Hawke in Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, he is not given the ability to select race, class, gender, or voice for them.)
The other two shadows are based on the player's choice. Characters playing a male get another character as a female, and the other as a male. Characters playing a female get the other two both as male.
The other two characters will also have a class based on the player's selection. The human will be a rogue, the elf a mage, and the dwarf a warrior unless the player's choices differ. There will always be one of each class.
The three characters will discuss their mission. They have been tasked by the Empire (either run by Celene or Gaspard) to get information on the hints of a qunari invasion. They are to head to Carastes on the coast to meet their contact, a Magister on friendly terms with Orlais. Just as the two of them start talking, shouts are heard. Knights outside have triggered an ambush. The qunari are slaughtering the knights, and battle begins with the three characters as controlled by the PC, beginning the tutorial for battle. After the tutorial is fought, the qunari retreat. Many knights and horses are dead, and those who aren't have fled. The three must walk to the nearest village of Perivantium.
Just as they begin to arrive, they come across a qunari patrol who attempt to fight them. However, their movements immediately become jerky, they attack each other, and their leader explodes in a fountain of blood. Behind them, a man wearing the vestments of the Imperial Chantry grimly waves of his obvious blood magic.
"Welcome to Tevinter."
Retour en haut
