app for high_seas

[onetrackminds]

[Name]: Caten
[Age]: 26
[Contacts]:
♦ DW:
♦ AIM: ornicocastle
♦ Plurk: vikinged
[Timezone]: GMT+1
[Other Characters]: N/A



[Name]: Anders
[Canon]: Dragon Age
[Age]: 33
[Gender]: Male
[Canon Point]: Dragon Age II, end of the second act

[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]: Growing up, Anders was a good little andrastian, which is the popular religion in his world. He believed in the Maker, and in His bride Andraste; he knew the Chant; he knew that mages were bad and needed to be locked up; he believed every word of it. So when he then discovered that he was a mage, his world was, to put it mildly, turned on its head.

He discovered it by accidentally setting the barn on fire. Young mages generally can't control their powers, and at first he didn't even realise what had happened. But everyone where he was from feared mages. Soon, his own father grew scared of him, and all for something he couldn't help. Templars were called in, and he was informed he would never see his family again. He got to keep an olw pillow his mum had made him, but after that they chained him up and brought him to a strange country, far away from home. There he was to be locked up in a tower together with other mages. At that time, he was twelve.

Being brought to the Circle (as it's called), was traumatising for him, and it didn't stop there. Every day he would be told that mages were dangerous, repeating the words of the Chant he had so long believed. And some Templars took it further, seeming to think that mages barely deserved to live. To add insult to injury, they would explain that they were locked up as much for their own protection as for the protection of others. He saw what happened to some mages; he did believe it was safe at all.

He made friends in the Circle, and he had many lovers; and he enjoyed learning, especially about Spirit Healing. But he never could settle down there. During his time in the Circle, he escaped at least seven times, each time brought back to face a harsher punishment. The last time they placed him in isolation down in the dungeons for a year. He's still terrified of being locked up and of being alone because of it, and if anything, it only made him more determined to be free. He promptly escaped again.

Once upon a time, Anders used humour as self-defense, and refused to allow himself to grow too attached to any person or place. He knew he would never stay long, and even if he did, the Templars could easily get in the way if they so chose. So he joked and he ran. If pushed, though, his anger at the Templars and the Chantry became obvious. At first he might attempt to be witty about that, too ("yes, I so enjoy being woken up with a kick to the head every morning"), but eventually even the sarcasm would be dropped, and there would be no further attempts at friendship from him.

His sense of humour hasn't gone away entirely these days, but a few things has changed. The last time the Templars caught him, they then managed to get themselves killed by darkspawn on the way back to the Circle. The blame was shifted onto Anders for this, and the plan was to hang him; instead, he was recruited into the Grey Wardens. Becoming a Warden is for life, but Anders knew what it meant. His home country is at constant risk for darkspawn attacks, and the Wardens have a strong presence there. He was prepared to dedicate himself to it, thinking it a much better life than the Circle. And he might have stayed, if not for a few things:

The Warden who recruited him was none other than the Hero of Ferelden, who had stopped the darkspawn hordes from taking over the land. She could accomplish amazing things, and being around her made him feel as if one person wasn't such a small number after all. And while travelling with her, he also met a spirit of justice. This spirit was trapped outside the Fade (the dreamworld, essentially, where demons and spirits live), and while Anders was skeptical at first, unsure of the difference between a spirit and a demon, the two eventually learned to get along. And Justice kept pressing him on the issue of mages. Why would Anders try to escape his oppression, while other mages still suffered? Anders had never even attempted to help the others trapped in the Circle.

It still might not have been enough to change anything. But the Hero of Ferelden was stationed there only temporarily, and while she had trusted Anders, other Wardens were more faithful towards the Chantry. And the Templars hadn't given up, despite the fact that they have no authority over the Wardens. So instead they made a deal; one of their own joined the Wardens, and was sent on every mission together with Anders after that, to keep an eye on him. And finally, this Templar-turned-Warden fetched more Templars, not trusting Anders and deciding to turn on him, and it's at this point Anders decided to make his deal.

Neither of them had predicted the consequences, though. Anders had tried to suppress his anger for years, but now Justice felt it as well, and anger can be dangerous for a spirit. It warped him into a spirit of vengeance, and Anders, well. He became more focused. Hard-working. The anger bubbled to the surface and the part of him that joked his problems away was shoved down. It's still there, he can still joke, but half the time he's talking about Templars these days, and the rest of the time he's usually going on about the Chantry. He comes across as whiny, broody and, at best, boring. But he also doesn't care anymore.

He's dedicated himself to his cause of freeing mages, but also to his healing. He opened a clinic in the slums of Kirkwall, treating people for free. Where he gets the money to buy himself food, no one knows. He works, and rarely sleeps, and when he's got spare time he tries to find way to convince people that mages aren't dangerous. So far he's been using peaceful methods, for instance writing a manifesto, although he's getting frustrated in the lack of results. He's also actively helping smuggle mages out of the Circle in Kirkwall. Again, for free. Again, he really doesn't know how to look after himself anymore.

He's also a bloody hypocrite about it all. He has little sympathy for Fenris, a former slave, simply because Fenris doesn't trust mages - despite the fact that he has a really good reason not to. And if Anders believes in freedom for all, he should be able to emphatise, instead of always turning it into an argument for his own cause. It makes him self-centered, even if he honestly means well. Further, he'll complain about how the wrongdoings of a single mage is used as evidence to condemn them all; yet when he sees a mage doing wrong, typically by resorting to blood magic as a last resort, he condemns them in the same way. It's their fault for making them look bad. Of course, blood magic means consorting with demons, and Anders allowed himself to be possessed by a spirit. He's got no room to judge.

But despite all that, he's a kind man as well. He gives everything of himself to help others these days, pushing himself much further than what is healthy. If he can save one more person, then it's worth it, to him. And if you're his friend, then he'll be there for you whenever you need him. It's just too bad for him he's really bad at making friends these days.

Another side-effect of Justice's possession is that he's become more of a private person. Before he might not have minded mentioning what he himself went through in the circle (see: the comment about being kicked in the head, a year of isolation, and more), but now he speaks more in general terms. He doesn't want to seem selfish by making his cause about him; but he might have more success at convincing people if he gave more specific examples. Instead, all they hear is him talking about general injustices, and it's hard for people to realise just why it matters so much to him. Especially combined with his hypocricy.

In short: Justice and Anders were not a good match. But he hasn't lost himself entirely. He doesn't get drunk anymore, but he can still, if the mood strikes, join in with card games. He's terrible at them, and he tends to lose his trousers along the way, but the important part is that someone dragged him away from work for five minutes so that he could have some fun. And then he really will surprise them with the return of the terrible jokes.

And it's made him braver. He dares to challenge the Templars these days. It might be because he's not worried about himself anymore, but still. It means he might, if he gets the chance, take some positive risks as well. Such as staying in the same city for years, something he's never done before - it means he's got a real chance to make some friends, if they can put up with how, well, focused he is. To put it nicely.

And if he no longer had a cause to fight for, he might even allow himself to be happy. The fear of losing everything is still there, but Justice helps him overcome it. The irony is, of course, that Justice might disapprove of these things, as they are a distraction from work that needs to be done, but well. That's his problem, and Anders deserves to have a few good things, too.

[Abilities / Strengths & Weaknesses]: First and foremost, Anders is a spirit healer. That means he's got magic abilities allowing him to knit flesh, stop bleeding, cure infections, and even, to some extent, allieviate mental illness, as long as there's a physical cause to it. He's also had over three years experience running a free clinic in the slums, so he's used to dealing with strange injuries or problems, and he's got some knowledge of herbs should his magic fail him.

His offensive spells are not nearly as powerful, focusing mainly on fire and electric attacks. Still, he's an experienced fighter as well. And he's used to having to run from people chasing him, which is useful when your enemy prefers a sword.

Physically, though, he's... nothing to brag about. At all. He tends to overwork himself and forget to eat, and it shows on his body. You need food to develop muscles, and his constitution is shitty. He looks haggarn and drawn on the best of days, and it's a miracle sometimes that he can even keep himself going. He can probably blame the spirit possessing him for that.

Because he is possessed, and it's affecting his mental state. He's holding it together so far (mostly), but if he becomes angered, he loses more and more self-control. Eventually, the Spirit of Justice will come out to play, and Anders has no say over what happens then.

In addition to all that, Anders is a Grey Warden. They are a group of warriors and mages, sworn to defend the land, and to do so they deliberately poison them with blood taken from a breed of monsters called darkspawn. Side effects include: nightmares, hearing Archdemons speak in your head, being able to sense the presense of darkspawn, being sensed by darkspawn in return, and dying a slow death. He's got 25 years left, approximately. Good times.

[Limited Powers]: I don't think I'll really need to limit his powers (though I will if needed, obviously), but I'll try to avoid bringing out Justice as much as possible. It would be possible for someone else to app the spirit, and it would make me really happy if that happened, so yes.

[Other Important Facts]: He's cat person. He named one Ser Pounce-a-lot. And then the Wardens took his cat away, the monsters.

[Samples]:
♦ Thread: He doesn't take well to being threatened.
♦ Post: [written, in a surprisingly untidy scrawl.]

Dear diary,

I always thought being a pirate sounded like fun. The wind in your hair, a parrot on your shoulder, and all the gold you could want. And no Templars. Templars don't like the sea much.

And I'm starting to see why. Are the waves meant to go that high, or are they just trying harder than normal today? And what are you even supposed to do in a storm? Throw anchor? Sail straight through and hope for the best?

I knew I should have made Hawke listen when I told him we should at least find out what the term "batten down the hatches" means before we set out. Believe it or not, but a hat doesn't make you a sailor.