onetrackminds | app for havenrpg

Name: Caten
Contact Info: email: catenalwera [at] gmail [dot] com, plurk: vikinged
Other Characters Played: N/A
Preferred Apartment: None

Character Name: Anders
Canon: Dragon Age (Awakening and 2)
Canon Point: At the end of Act 2.

Background/History: The Dragon Age Wikia. Note also that Anders' canon Hawke will be an aggressive and sarcastic male warrior, and I'll consider Anders to have been rivalled by him (and not romanced, though Anders showed interest). His canon Hero of Ferelden is Elissa Cousland, who recruited him into the Grey Wardens.
Personality: Anders has always despised feeling trapped. He tried to escape from the circle at least seven times, and didn't give up even after he was put in isolation for a year. He hates the Circle and what it stands for too much to ever settle down there, even at the risk of being executed or made tranquil (have all his dreams and emotions severed, leaving someone an empty but very cooperative shell). In fact, he nearly was executed at some point, but even that was not enough to stop him wanting to escape. The Grey Wardens recruited him to save him, but he later on ran away from them as well, when they took his cat away from him.

His time with the Grey Wardens did affect him, though. He enjoyed travelling with the Hero of Ferelden (who gave him the cat in the first place), and had, in fact, offered to help out from the start. And when Vigil's Keep, the Grey Warden's fortress, was attacked, Anders gave it his all to protect it. It wasn't working for the Grey Wardens he hated, or having to fight for their cause; he only left after they started controlling his life. That, and all the travelling in the Deep Roads - giant tunnels below ground - they had to do.

What affected Anders most during this period was his encounter with the spirit Justice. While Anders can be incredibly loyal to those he cares about - explaining why he fought so hard to protect Vigil's Keep - he has never been interested in fighting for the sake of all mages. He might hate the circle, but it's risky enough just trying to save himself. Justice kept questioning him on this, though, asking why he never did anything for his fellow mages, and this slowly started to affect the way Anders saw the world. So when he met Justice again later, he agreed to let the spirit possess him, so that they could work together.

The two, unfortunately, had a negative affect on each other once joined. Anders is now more determined than ever to fight for all mages, but his anger at the current situation warped Justice into a spirit of vengeance instead. Anders realised this could potentially make him into a threat, but their common cause was too important for him to regret his decision. It did affect him, though; while previously Anders had been the type to make jokes in nearly every situation, approaching everything with sarcasm, after this he grew more pessimistic, more withdrawn. He'll still make jokes, but they're more rare, as he knows the situation he's in won't end well - and this time it's not just him it'll go badly for. But if he can help people in the process, it's a necessary sacrifice, is it not?

The cause has now turned into a Cause as well, and Anders talks about nothing else most of the time. He's even writing a manifesto, leaving copies upon copies of it around, which is impressive for a world where the printer most likely hasn't been invented yet. And while he'll stubbornly insist that being possessed by a spirit of Justice is not the same as being possessed by a demon, when he opens up to the people he trusts, he tends to warn them away from him. He's willing to go far for what he believes in, but he's not willing to drag down the people he cares about as well.

Anders is someone who believes in helping, not just when it comes to mages. He opens up a clinic in Dark Town - the slums in the city - helping refugees and the poor there. And he'll fight to protect his clinic, even knowing he'd risk his own life doing so. His own life means less now that he has Justice with him.

Meeting and travelling with Hawke has necessarily affected him as well, though. Hawke never had much time for Anders' beliefs, and told him off when he went too far. When Anders gets too angry, Justice takes over, and at one point this resulted in him nearly killing an innocent mage. He would have, if Hawke hadn't been there to help him. And being constantly told off by someone he respects makes him hesitate - though not enough to back down entirely. It confuses him, how much he respects someone who is everything that he hates, but he is inexplicably drawn to him regardless.

Abilities/Powers: Anders is a very talented healer. He can restore health, and even revive fallen allies in battle; and he even has abilities that cause those around him to regenerate faster. This is a temporary effect that also stops him from using any offensive spells while it is active. He can also produce a barrier to increase damage resistance.

His offensive spells focus on fire and ice. The latter can slow enemies down, and even freeze them. Similar to his healing skills, he also has skills that boosts the attack of those fighting alongside him. Other abilities include using telekinetic force to knock enemies over or keep them from moving forward; or to crush them beneath a "prison" of the same. He is also capable of temporarily paralyzing enemies.

Since being made Grey Warden he also has the ability to sense Dark Spawn - the mindless monsters of the Dragon Age world - and will know when an Arch-Demon is gathering power. He also gets the bonus of nightmares.

He is only capable of using so many abilities in a row before needing to rest or consume a lyrium potion. A mage draws their power from the Fade, which is where human and mages go where they sleep. It is also where spirits and demons live. If a mage uses too much magic it'll sap their own life force, and might kill them. The lyrium helps them connect to the Fade for extra power. Even when his mana is depleted, though, Anders does have a basic attack he can use at any time, which is also ranged. He essentially shoots out a burst of magic from his staff, but it has no other effect than dealing damage, and isn't particularly powerful. He also has a fairly weak constitution.

Sample Entry: voice testing at dear_mun
Sample Entry Two: Anders held the strange device - the phone up to his mouth, only to find that he didn't know what to say. He had so much of his manifesto written back in Kirkwall, so many arguments perfectly lined up, and yet here he found it impossible to come up with a single one. It was the lack of writing implements, he was sure; it was different to speak into the air. Or into the phone, in this case, which he was still sure was in some way magic; he'd never seen anything similar without a demon being involved.

Still, he felt it necessary to continue: "Many liken mages to a rabid animal, but this would only be correct for mages currently possessed by a demon. Locking up mages for potentially falling to temptetion is like locking up all dogs because one of them might catch a disease. And you would be heartless not to consider it worse to do so to a human being."

He turned off the phone again, giving himself a moment to gather his thoughts. He knew, of course, that his manifesto technically wasn't needed in this world. There were no templars, and no mages being persecuted. Instead there were others who needed his help, and his efforts were better spent towards freeing them from this city. But no matter what, he felt that it was important not to forget his work from home; he was determined to get back there some day, and he wouldn't forgive himself if he forgot any arguments because he neglected to note them down somehow. And more important than that, it let him forget for a moment that they'd all been kidnapped. It was almost meditative.

And of course, Hawke might eventually show up, if both Merrill and the Hero of Ferelden were here. And speaking of Merrill--

Anders switched the phone back on, broadcasting to everyone: "Mages who resort to blood magic are a danger to themselves and to others, and need to be locked up. However, the majority of mages do not display this weakness, and are of no threat at all. Anger and distrust should be directed where it is deserved, and not indiscriminately broadcast."