application for synodiporia

[onetrackminds]

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Caten
AGE: 27
PLAYER JOURNAL: viking
TIMEZONE: GMT+1
CONTACT: vikinged, aim: ornicocastle
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Anders
CANON: Dragon Age
POINT IN CANON: Post his Justice quest in Act III
AGE: 36
APPEARANCE: I am just going to shamelessly hotlink this.
CANON HISTORY: The Dragon Age Wiki
CANON PERSONALITY: Where Anders is from, nearly everyone follows the Chant of Light, the teachings left behind by Andraste - think Joan of Arc and Jesus all rolled up in one. And growing up, Anders was a good little andrastian. 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. But mages have to be locked up, and soon Templars were called in, and Anders was informed he would never see his family again. He got to keep an old 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 live his life in a tower together with other mages, and with more Templars around to keep an eye on them. 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 monsters called 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, a group of people dedicated to protecting the land. They have the right to conscript anyone, and though the Templars objected, there was nothing they could o Becoming a Warden is for life, but Anders knew very well 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 with a demon with Justice and let the spirit possess him.

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 empathise, 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 all 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 if the mood strikes, he can still 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 if Anders gets too attached to other people, as they are a distraction from work that needs to be done. He's constantly torn in two directions because of it, which really isn't any easier.

POINT OF DEPARTURE: Not so much AU as the effects of such variations as you'd expect there to be in an RPG as involved as Dragon Age. Specifically, it's possible to play Hawke (the protag) as either diplomatic, sarcastic, aggressive, or some combination thereof. The Hawke currently in this game is sarcastic; Anders remembers one leaning heavily towards the aggressive side of things. And while Hawke-as-played-by-Lynn is a mage who sides with mages, again, Anders will be very confused by this, and insist that Hawke is in fact a warrior who sides with Templars.

This affects Anders in a few very noticeable ways. Firstly, he and Hawke never got along much. Anders admired him and followed him around and offered aid where needed, and he desperately wanted to convince the man to his side, but he also despised his views and could never quite bring himself to trust him. After all, Hawke believed people like him should be locked up. Anders is also... somewhat more miserable, which comes from not having had such a close and important friend. He's got other friends and allies, but no matter his feelings on the man, Hawke will always be very important to him. He's... conflicted.

Another difference is actually Anders' view on Justice. With a supportive Hawke, Anders is more confident of himself and his cause, and he doesn't question his relationship with Justice to the same extent. He will continue to insist that the two are now one, although not in a married sense. With a Hawke who disagrees and argues with him a lot, Anders definitely questions himself and his actions, and towards the end of the game, will admit that he and Justice are two separate beings, and that Anders failed to control the spirit. He will also, if pushed, admit to having experienced blackouts - and we know that these are times when Justice outright takes control of his actions.

He also knows a different warden than the one currently in game, his being a human noblewoman and a rogue. This doesn't particularly affect his personality, since he only knew the warden for a few months, but it's still worth mentioning for the potential confusion.
ABILITIES: First and foremost, Anders is a spirit healer. That means he's got magic abilities allowing him to knit flesh back together, stop bleeding, cure infections, mend a broken leg, and even, to some extent, alleviate 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 elemental and electric attacks, with some arcane spells mostly geared towards defence, such as mind blast. Compared to other mages, he might deal less damage; 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.

His special ability in Dragon Age II, called Vengeance, also grants him two modes - panacea and vengeance. The first allows him to cast more powerful healing spells, and more frequently, but stops him casting offensive spells. Vengeance does exactly the opposite, strengthening his attacks but blocking his healing abilities. He becomes more vulnerable as well.

His possession is also affecting his capabilities, although that's mostly limited to the few times when Justice comes out to play. When that happens, Anders' defense skyrockets. A short story written about him has him take a sword through his chest while in this state, which he just shrugs off - because swords can't hurt a spirit.

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 themselves 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 presence of darkspawn, being sensed by darkspawn in return, and dying a slow death. He's got 25 years left, approximately, depending on whether being possessed can save him. That one's still up in the air.
INVENTORY;
- a magic staff
- two small lyrium potions, for restoring mana
- a few health poltices, salves, etc that he's made, and always has with him
- likewise, bandages, needle, thread, for non-magical treatment of wounds
- a tevinter chantry amulet
- obviously his clothes, he's not arriving naked
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON: Here, and also here.
THIRD PERSON: Anders wasn't unused to buildings defying laws of gravity, or physics going haywire. Mysterious disembodied voices were also nothing new. You saw strange things as a mage - and especially asleep, visiting the Fade with all of its sights and illusions. So he wasn't particularly worried when finding himself in this place, only mildly curious about it at first. If this was some demon's attempt at imitating reality, he had to wonder whose brain it came from. Maybe it had copied this from Merrill.

But Demons also normally managed to include themselves in the illusion, except there didn't seem to be any around currently. Anders frowned as he started to walk, peering back at the various people. Justice would know, he was fairly sure. Justice also seemed to disagree that this was the Fade, though. And that was... strange. Anders paused again. No eerie mist all over the place, no one trying to tempt him into anything, and -- he glanced out a window -- no sight of the Black City, either. Either this was actually a really good demon, capable of confusing even a spirit, or something was seriously off.

Slowly, Anders reached for his staff, giving the people around him careful looks. Experience told him they were likely to attack at any moment. It also told him, though, that he had to learn what was going on if he wanted to figure out how to leave, so, after only a brief hesitation, he headed for one of those stairs.

He was feeling really uneasy, and a bit jumpy, but it wasn't as if he hadn't been through some strange things before. And this would be a story to tell Varric in the morning.

[[confession: I shamelessly c/p'd this from what I posted to the test drive, because it fit the bill anyway, and was long enough. The rest of the thread is here, if you're curious]]