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hawkethisnthat) wrote2013-03-15 08:11 pm
hawkethisnthat) wrote2013-03-15 08:11 pm
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boomtown
Player's Name: Froda
Are you over 16? Yes
Characters Played Here: N/A
Character: Marian Hawke
Series/Canon: Dragon Age 2
From When? Post-canon.
History: Hawke @ the Dragon Age wiki. Hawke's background is the same no matter how s/he is played, but decisions made during the course of the game can be quite different. Hawke as I play her is a mage, which means that in the flight from Lothering, her sister Bethany was killed by an ogre. A few other major choices made that affect this Hawke's history:
+ Deep Roads Expedition - Hawke brought her brother Carver along, as well as Anders. Carver contracted the Blight, and Anders was able to save his life by handing him over to the Grey Wardens.
+ Took the friendship path with all companions except Fenris, with whom she had a rivalry.
+ Earned the Arishok's respect, and fought and killed him in single combat to save Isabela and end the attack on Kirkwall.
+ An apostate mage herself, Hawke made a few key pro-mage decisions through the course of the game, ending ultimately in siding with the mage rebellion. After defeating Orsino and Meredith, she was forced to flee the city.
+ Spared Anders, lost Sebastian as a result.
+ Romanced Fenris
If you need any more information about events in the game, I'll be happy to provide!
Personality: Hawke is probably the last person one would expect to be a great hero, the Champion of Kirkwall and the instigator of a religious war. For one thing, she never seems to take anything seriously. Sarcasm and a rapier-sharp wit are her bread and butter, they're what she primarily faces the world with. This means that, while she can be quite charming, not everyone is going to like her much. There are some people who find her annoying and obnoxious at best, and outright offensive at worst. She's great at parties, but probably not a good choice to give a eulogy or comfort a young widow. As of the end of the game, her sarcasm is as much a defense mechanism (and occasionally a weapon) as it is a sign of genuine good humor. Hawke has seen a lot of terrible tragedy in her life, she's seen and done a lot of horrendous violence, and as such she doesn't take a terribly rosy view of the world at large. Her sarcasm helps her deal with things - or, rather, not deal with things that might otherwise be deeply emotionally scarring.
However, under the brittle, sarcastic exterior, Hawke is a genuinely good-hearted woman, with a lot of compassion. She's got a soft spot for underdogs, which likely explains how she managed to take up with such a motley collection of misfits and castoffs, and at least partly explains why she sided with the mages in the end, aside from the fact that she is one, herself. She may be cynical, but that won't stop her from trying to help people when she can, even if she's occasionally putting her foot in her mouth from making tasteless jokes. She gets particularly vicious with people who are slavers, who hurt children or generally prey on those who are weaker than themselves. And there's no doubt that she's a damn good fighter - the multitudes of corpses left in her wake over the years can attest to that.
Family is important to Hawke. She's never been particularly ambitious for herself, but she was highly motivated to take care of her family (she was often the primary breadwinner back in the bad old days when they were poor refugees) and protect them. She doesn't have much actual family anymore, so the ties of friendship have become just as important to her. She is loyal - sometimes to a fault - and will pretty much do anything asked of her by those she trusts. Case in point, when Anders asked for her help sneaking into the Chantry. He refused to say why he needed to sneak in, and despite her misgivings about the situation, Hawke agreed to help him, because she trusted him. That action quite literally blew up in her face. It may take a while to initially earn her trust, but once earned, that trust is complete.
While she may often joke about how much she likes money and power, it's really people Hawke cares most for. The individuals closest to her are always her number one priority, and she's most focused on helping people on an individual level, rather than being overly concerned with the "big picture". She'd much rather keep a handful of innocent apostates safe, for instance, than sacrifice a bunch of lives in a rebellion against the system oppressing them.
Hawke is also good at inspiring loyalty. For purposes of my headcanon at this point, I am going to assume that Hawke followed the friendship path with all companions, except Fenris, with whom she had a rather more tension-filled relationship. Despite the fact that many of them have deeply opposed beliefs regarding politics, religion, mage rights, etc, somehow Hawke managed to bring them all together through loyalty to her, often getting them to fight together against common enemies. The most obvious case in point here would be Fenris and Anders who, while deeply opposed to each other ideologically, are able to eventually at least tolerate each other's presence for Hawke's sake. Aveline and Isabela have a similar dynamic, and eventually reach a point of something like friendship. Hawke's chosen companions are essentially her family, and she is the glue that tends to hold people together.
As far as religion, politics, and all of that, Hawke has never had very strong beliefs one way or the other. She's not exactly a churchgoer (that would be kind of disastrous given that she's an apostate) and she generally believes that mages should be free from the Circle, though she's never subscribed to Anders' extreme stance on the matter. She does fall very strongly into the anti-blood mage camp, however. Her father, Malcolm, had a very strong sense of morality and instilled that in his daughter, especially regarding making deals with demons. Hawke has never dabbled in blood magic, and never will. The only blood mage Hawke has ever had any patience for is Merrill, and that stems primarily from the fact that Merrill reminds Hawke rather strongly of her dead sister, Bethany at times.
Hawke is often blunt and straightforward, and is pretty much the farthest thing from "ladylike" that she can be while still self-identifying as female. She's never acted like the other noblewomen of Kirkwall - it's not a life she was born to, and even if it had been, she's always been perfectly willing to ignore social convention when it suits her. Even at a fancy party, you won't see her wearing a dress. She keeps her hair short and never wears makeup, though when she isn't sweaty, covered in mud, slime or blood, she's rather attractive. Not that she's ever paid any attention to it - she's not the kind of person who uses her looks or "feminine wiles" to get ahead in life. Frankly, the thought just doesn't cross her mind.
The things that Hawke values most are her own freedom and independence, and the freedom and safety of her loved ones. Threaten those things, and Hawke will make sure you regret it.
Post-canon, Hawke will be on the run, looking for somewhere new to start again. The prospect of New Dodge, a place she can start over and not have to hide her abilities, in addition to her adventurous streak, will be very, very appealing to her.
Why do you think your character would work in this setting? Frankly, Hawke is very well-suited to something like this, especially post-canon. For one thing, she knows what it is to be poor, to have to make do with very few resources - and she's damn good at managing that way. She's an opportunist at heart, and always has been. She's great at sniffing out opportunities for profit and gain, and making the most of them.
Furthermore, post-canon, Hawke has every reason to want to find a safe haven, of sorts. New Dodge will therefore be very appealing to her. After events in Kirkwall at the end of Act 3, she was forced to go on the run, and nearly every authority figure in her home world is looking for her, trying to hunt her down. Disappearing off the face of Thedas, an opportunity to start a new life among people who have no idea who she is? She'll be all over that deal in a heartbeat.
Inventory: Aside from the clothes on her back, Hawke will bring with her
+ A handful of lyrium potions
+ A handful of health potions
+ A handful of injury kits
+ Her staff, The Hawke's Key, which once belonged to her father. (This is necessary for her to effectively use magic.)
Samples: And now for the hard part! If you need a prompt for your samples, refer back to the Applications Page.
Third-Person Sample: "Let's stop here for the night," Hawke heard herself say. The sun was well and truly set, and they were far enough outside the walls of the city that she felt safe to pause and rest. For a few hours, anyway.
She doubted the blighted Templars would give her much of a head start.
Her companions were unusually quiet. Normally, they'd be chatting and joking, ribbing one another or arguing about something. Now, they were all subdued. Aveline and Donnic were speaking quietly to one another, out of earshot of the rest. Varric was inspecting the crossbow Bianca carefully. Merrill murmured something about finding kindling for a fire, and Isabela followed her, to keep an eye on her. Fenris had pulled a whetstone out from his pack and was polishing his greatsword. She hadn't asked any of them to follow her into exile, and yet here they were, all the same. Part of her felt relief, that she didn't have to face this alone. Another part of her was worried - she wasn't nearly as confident in her ability to protect her friends as she once was. Maybe they'd even be better off without her.
And Anders, Hawke could see his outline, even in the dim twilight. Away from the others, his back bent and his head bowed, the picture of despair. Any other day, Hawke would've approached him, tapped his shoulder, made him scoot over to make room for her. She would've flashed him a grin, cracked a joke, promised to find him a kitten, anything to cheer her friend up.
Today, though, today she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not with all of Kirkwall burning behind them. Not with his betrayal still gnawing away at her inside. She wasn't sure, yet, if she could forgive him. Or trust him again.
Hawke had never believed in fate, or destiny. She wasn't sure if she even believed in the Maker, most days. Most days, it didn't matter to her one way or the other. She'd always been determined to find her own path. But now, she found herself recalling something Flemeth had said to her, all those years ago. Hurtled into chaos, you fight... And the world will shake before you. She couldn't help but wonder if the witch had known something, known what was to come. The world felt a bit shaky just then.
"Hawke." There was Fenris, solid and dependable as always. She thought perhaps she could make out the faint glow of his lyrium markings in the twilight. She shook her head, and put on a smirk.
"Planning on killing a bunny rabbit with that big sword?" she joked, letting him lead her back toward camp.
First-Person Sample: Ah, freedom! Nothing like the smell of... dirt. And grass. Well, it's better than Kirkwall.
Actually, it is much better than Kirkwall. I wonder now why I stayed so long. After Mother died, I should have packed up and left. Perhaps I grew too attached to the place - every smelly, grimy, depressing corner of Lowtown, the worst parts of Darktown. Andraste's tits, even parts of Hightown were beginning to grow on me, I suppose.
But here - I don't have to fear. There are no Templars. I won't be imprisoned for what I am. I can live in the open, for the first time in my life. What's better than that?
Could use some of my friends, though.
Are you over 16? Yes
Characters Played Here: N/A
Character: Marian Hawke
Series/Canon: Dragon Age 2
From When? Post-canon.
History: Hawke @ the Dragon Age wiki. Hawke's background is the same no matter how s/he is played, but decisions made during the course of the game can be quite different. Hawke as I play her is a mage, which means that in the flight from Lothering, her sister Bethany was killed by an ogre. A few other major choices made that affect this Hawke's history:
+ Deep Roads Expedition - Hawke brought her brother Carver along, as well as Anders. Carver contracted the Blight, and Anders was able to save his life by handing him over to the Grey Wardens.
+ Took the friendship path with all companions except Fenris, with whom she had a rivalry.
+ Earned the Arishok's respect, and fought and killed him in single combat to save Isabela and end the attack on Kirkwall.
+ An apostate mage herself, Hawke made a few key pro-mage decisions through the course of the game, ending ultimately in siding with the mage rebellion. After defeating Orsino and Meredith, she was forced to flee the city.
+ Spared Anders, lost Sebastian as a result.
+ Romanced Fenris
If you need any more information about events in the game, I'll be happy to provide!
Personality: Hawke is probably the last person one would expect to be a great hero, the Champion of Kirkwall and the instigator of a religious war. For one thing, she never seems to take anything seriously. Sarcasm and a rapier-sharp wit are her bread and butter, they're what she primarily faces the world with. This means that, while she can be quite charming, not everyone is going to like her much. There are some people who find her annoying and obnoxious at best, and outright offensive at worst. She's great at parties, but probably not a good choice to give a eulogy or comfort a young widow. As of the end of the game, her sarcasm is as much a defense mechanism (and occasionally a weapon) as it is a sign of genuine good humor. Hawke has seen a lot of terrible tragedy in her life, she's seen and done a lot of horrendous violence, and as such she doesn't take a terribly rosy view of the world at large. Her sarcasm helps her deal with things - or, rather, not deal with things that might otherwise be deeply emotionally scarring.
However, under the brittle, sarcastic exterior, Hawke is a genuinely good-hearted woman, with a lot of compassion. She's got a soft spot for underdogs, which likely explains how she managed to take up with such a motley collection of misfits and castoffs, and at least partly explains why she sided with the mages in the end, aside from the fact that she is one, herself. She may be cynical, but that won't stop her from trying to help people when she can, even if she's occasionally putting her foot in her mouth from making tasteless jokes. She gets particularly vicious with people who are slavers, who hurt children or generally prey on those who are weaker than themselves. And there's no doubt that she's a damn good fighter - the multitudes of corpses left in her wake over the years can attest to that.
Family is important to Hawke. She's never been particularly ambitious for herself, but she was highly motivated to take care of her family (she was often the primary breadwinner back in the bad old days when they were poor refugees) and protect them. She doesn't have much actual family anymore, so the ties of friendship have become just as important to her. She is loyal - sometimes to a fault - and will pretty much do anything asked of her by those she trusts. Case in point, when Anders asked for her help sneaking into the Chantry. He refused to say why he needed to sneak in, and despite her misgivings about the situation, Hawke agreed to help him, because she trusted him. That action quite literally blew up in her face. It may take a while to initially earn her trust, but once earned, that trust is complete.
While she may often joke about how much she likes money and power, it's really people Hawke cares most for. The individuals closest to her are always her number one priority, and she's most focused on helping people on an individual level, rather than being overly concerned with the "big picture". She'd much rather keep a handful of innocent apostates safe, for instance, than sacrifice a bunch of lives in a rebellion against the system oppressing them.
Hawke is also good at inspiring loyalty. For purposes of my headcanon at this point, I am going to assume that Hawke followed the friendship path with all companions, except Fenris, with whom she had a rather more tension-filled relationship. Despite the fact that many of them have deeply opposed beliefs regarding politics, religion, mage rights, etc, somehow Hawke managed to bring them all together through loyalty to her, often getting them to fight together against common enemies. The most obvious case in point here would be Fenris and Anders who, while deeply opposed to each other ideologically, are able to eventually at least tolerate each other's presence for Hawke's sake. Aveline and Isabela have a similar dynamic, and eventually reach a point of something like friendship. Hawke's chosen companions are essentially her family, and she is the glue that tends to hold people together.
As far as religion, politics, and all of that, Hawke has never had very strong beliefs one way or the other. She's not exactly a churchgoer (that would be kind of disastrous given that she's an apostate) and she generally believes that mages should be free from the Circle, though she's never subscribed to Anders' extreme stance on the matter. She does fall very strongly into the anti-blood mage camp, however. Her father, Malcolm, had a very strong sense of morality and instilled that in his daughter, especially regarding making deals with demons. Hawke has never dabbled in blood magic, and never will. The only blood mage Hawke has ever had any patience for is Merrill, and that stems primarily from the fact that Merrill reminds Hawke rather strongly of her dead sister, Bethany at times.
Hawke is often blunt and straightforward, and is pretty much the farthest thing from "ladylike" that she can be while still self-identifying as female. She's never acted like the other noblewomen of Kirkwall - it's not a life she was born to, and even if it had been, she's always been perfectly willing to ignore social convention when it suits her. Even at a fancy party, you won't see her wearing a dress. She keeps her hair short and never wears makeup, though when she isn't sweaty, covered in mud, slime or blood, she's rather attractive. Not that she's ever paid any attention to it - she's not the kind of person who uses her looks or "feminine wiles" to get ahead in life. Frankly, the thought just doesn't cross her mind.
The things that Hawke values most are her own freedom and independence, and the freedom and safety of her loved ones. Threaten those things, and Hawke will make sure you regret it.
Post-canon, Hawke will be on the run, looking for somewhere new to start again. The prospect of New Dodge, a place she can start over and not have to hide her abilities, in addition to her adventurous streak, will be very, very appealing to her.
Why do you think your character would work in this setting? Frankly, Hawke is very well-suited to something like this, especially post-canon. For one thing, she knows what it is to be poor, to have to make do with very few resources - and she's damn good at managing that way. She's an opportunist at heart, and always has been. She's great at sniffing out opportunities for profit and gain, and making the most of them.
Furthermore, post-canon, Hawke has every reason to want to find a safe haven, of sorts. New Dodge will therefore be very appealing to her. After events in Kirkwall at the end of Act 3, she was forced to go on the run, and nearly every authority figure in her home world is looking for her, trying to hunt her down. Disappearing off the face of Thedas, an opportunity to start a new life among people who have no idea who she is? She'll be all over that deal in a heartbeat.
Inventory: Aside from the clothes on her back, Hawke will bring with her
+ A handful of lyrium potions
+ A handful of health potions
+ A handful of injury kits
+ Her staff, The Hawke's Key, which once belonged to her father. (This is necessary for her to effectively use magic.)
Samples: And now for the hard part! If you need a prompt for your samples, refer back to the Applications Page.
Third-Person Sample: "Let's stop here for the night," Hawke heard herself say. The sun was well and truly set, and they were far enough outside the walls of the city that she felt safe to pause and rest. For a few hours, anyway.
She doubted the blighted Templars would give her much of a head start.
Her companions were unusually quiet. Normally, they'd be chatting and joking, ribbing one another or arguing about something. Now, they were all subdued. Aveline and Donnic were speaking quietly to one another, out of earshot of the rest. Varric was inspecting the crossbow Bianca carefully. Merrill murmured something about finding kindling for a fire, and Isabela followed her, to keep an eye on her. Fenris had pulled a whetstone out from his pack and was polishing his greatsword. She hadn't asked any of them to follow her into exile, and yet here they were, all the same. Part of her felt relief, that she didn't have to face this alone. Another part of her was worried - she wasn't nearly as confident in her ability to protect her friends as she once was. Maybe they'd even be better off without her.
And Anders, Hawke could see his outline, even in the dim twilight. Away from the others, his back bent and his head bowed, the picture of despair. Any other day, Hawke would've approached him, tapped his shoulder, made him scoot over to make room for her. She would've flashed him a grin, cracked a joke, promised to find him a kitten, anything to cheer her friend up.
Today, though, today she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not with all of Kirkwall burning behind them. Not with his betrayal still gnawing away at her inside. She wasn't sure, yet, if she could forgive him. Or trust him again.
Hawke had never believed in fate, or destiny. She wasn't sure if she even believed in the Maker, most days. Most days, it didn't matter to her one way or the other. She'd always been determined to find her own path. But now, she found herself recalling something Flemeth had said to her, all those years ago. Hurtled into chaos, you fight... And the world will shake before you. She couldn't help but wonder if the witch had known something, known what was to come. The world felt a bit shaky just then.
"Hawke." There was Fenris, solid and dependable as always. She thought perhaps she could make out the faint glow of his lyrium markings in the twilight. She shook her head, and put on a smirk.
"Planning on killing a bunny rabbit with that big sword?" she joked, letting him lead her back toward camp.
First-Person Sample: Ah, freedom! Nothing like the smell of... dirt. And grass. Well, it's better than Kirkwall.
Actually, it is much better than Kirkwall. I wonder now why I stayed so long. After Mother died, I should have packed up and left. Perhaps I grew too attached to the place - every smelly, grimy, depressing corner of Lowtown, the worst parts of Darktown. Andraste's tits, even parts of Hightown were beginning to grow on me, I suppose.
But here - I don't have to fear. There are no Templars. I won't be imprisoned for what I am. I can live in the open, for the first time in my life. What's better than that?
Could use some of my friends, though.