(no subject)
Jul. 28th, 2012 09:29 am[- OOC Information -]
Name: Snow
Do you play any other characters in Outer Divide? Nope
[- Character Information -]
Character Name: Aveline Vallen
Fandom: Dragon Age II
AU or OU: OU
Canon Point: Act 3, just after Jeven's death in the Favor and Fault quest (and before the Chantry explosion)
Journal:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canandhave
Icon: http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/3097681/1598585
Appearance: Red hair, green eyes, freckled. She's a warrior, with broad shoulders and enough muscle to heft a sword around.
History: Link. Aveline was the one to deliver the mercy blow to Wesley, Hawke was a male mage, she became Captain of the Guard, Carver joined the Templars, she did marry Donnic, and Isabela fled near the end of Act II without returning.
Personality:
Aveline: You’re right.
Isabela: About?
Aveline: About knowing who you are. I’m the captain of the guard. I’m loyal, strong, and I don’t look too bad naked.
Isabela: Exactly. And if I called you a mannish, awkward, ball-crushing do-gooder, you’d say…
Aveline: (lightly) Shut up, whore.
Isabela: That’s my girl.
When Hawke first meets Aveline, she's skewering darkspawn. As soon as that battle is done, however, her husband, Ser Wesley a Templar, tells Hawke's party to stay back, as it consists of two apostates. Aveline tells him rather firmly to stow it, introducing her as someone who understands that she can't afford to turn aside help when it's lives on the line. Once Wesley dies, she makes her own decision about how afraid of mages she is -- and she chooses to stay with Hawke and work with him. When she enters Kirkwall with the Hawkes, she joins Carver and Garrett in working off the payment for them and Leandra being able to enter the city because she firmly believes in paying her own debts.
As soon as she's done with the year working for Meeran, Aveline joins the city guard. She's comfortable there, she understands how to gain respect from her fellow guardsmen and she needs something to focus her in a way that Hawke doesn't. However, the work itself is significantly less meaningful than she'd expected it to be, and she looks to Hawke not only to provide her backup when she does a little extra investigating but also to take her along on some of his quests to give her a way to help people. As she tells Varric, her following Hawke around is what she does in her off hours, for fun. She follows Hawke not only because she's quite loyal to him -- which she is -- but also because she enjoys the moral clarity of some of what he does and enjoys helping when she can.
Aveline's loyalty is initially to Hawke's family rather than just Garrett -- it's Leandra who originally tells Aveline that she'll come with them -- but Aveline's relationship with Garrett is what grows stronger over time. It's clear that she greatly appreciates the help clearing the patrols and finding out about Jeven's corruption. She involves herself in the other companions' lives to a degree, giving them advice and checking into their doings. It's with Garrett, however, that she takes as much advice as she receives. She and Hawke complement each other -- even the way that she travels with him benefits both of them. It gives her the ability to more closely keep an eye on him and make sure that he's both safe and making decisions she approves of and it gives him her support.
While lawful, Aveline isn't opposed to bending the law to do what is right, or to protect her friends. She herself would rather stay within the limits -- although she exercises the freedom she has there, like killing slavers in battle instead of arresting them -- and she grumbles about her friends expecting free passes simply because they're her friends, but she can often understand why they do what they do. She tries to create flexibility where she can and where it doesn't go against her conscience.
Another notable characteristic about Aveline is her strength. She prides herself on it, on being able to not only protect herself on her patrols but also in being able to watch other people's backs. Her battle cry is, "You go through me before anyone else," which isn't about being unstoppable but rather about being the first encounter. She doesn't know that she can stop everything in her path, but she can certainly try to keep it from getting past her to the people that she cares about. At the same time, she isn't stubbornly self-reliant. She knows when to ask for backup before she gets too deep into a situation, and she isn't ashamed to look outside the guard to Hawke when that's what seems appropriate. She proves herself to the guards when she's new by "busting some teeth and then buying some drinks." She knows how to balance her own abilities with looking for help but also not being a burden to others, or permanently aggressive.
Aveline takes Kirkwall as her new home, not just physically and financially, but emotionally as well. This is why the insults to her as an outsider, a Ferelden, sting: Kirkwall has been hers since she entered the guard and starting worrying about the people she knows here, rather than just following orders. And that happened naturally and nearly immediately. It wasn't marrying Donnic that made Aveline a citizen of Kirkwall, it was because she was a citizen (emotionally) of Kirkwall that she considered engaging in a long-term relationship with him. And it would have to be long-term, because Aveline doesn't go for short or emotionally light relationships. Her friendship with Hawke goes intensely deep, where he has a power to get under her skin when he says hurtful things or does things that she doesn't agree with, but when they're supporting each other they're capable of a lot more than they are alone.
Aveline has an interesting relationship with religion. While she respects the chantry, she has her own doubts about whether or not what it preaches is correct. For the most, she puts those doubts aside in order to focus on the real world that she deals with. She was named for Ser Aveline of Orlais, a woman who entered a fighting competition disguised as a man and was killed by her opponent when he found out. Andraste was killed by her mortal husband out of jealousy for her marriage to the Maker. Aveline fought at the Battle of Ostagar, where the help called for didn't come and most of the army was killed. Aveline and Wesley fled the darkspawn, and lived, until he was killed at the beginning of the game. These sets of events lead to Aveline having a strong desire to live by the ideals she knows. As she says inside the chantry, "I should feel more at home here, but...I know sacrifice, but I will not be a sacrifice." Unlike her namesake, Aveline wants to make her difference with her actions during her life, not with her death. (Headcanon: she prays, as most in the Free Marches do, but she doesn't pray for guidance. She's solidifying her own sense of right and wrong when she does so and she's praying that the factors not under her direct control don't go too badly. For instance she might pray that the Qunari will be reasonable, but she wouldn't pray to try to decide if she should go to them over the fugitives they're harboring. Her decisions come from her moral code, not Andraste.)
As the situation heads towards deterioration in Act III, Aveline becomes increasingly concerned with doing Kirkwall what justice she can. When she's offered the chance to return to her former position in Ferelden it isn't more than an idle consideration. Instead she starts worrying about the battle between mages and templars that everyone can see is coming. She has no desire to run from the duty she's accepted in Kirkwall, she's come to accept the city as her own. Still, she doesn't want a happy ending. She wants a just one, although she wouldn't mind there being happiness as well.
Powers/Abilities: She fights with a sword and shield with the knowledge of how to use them both to defend herself and close allies on the battlefield.
Possessions: Guardsmen armor, The Shield of the Knight Herself, a sword.
Arrival: Wake on the ship.
Reason for Playing: Aveline's really fantastic, and I love her sense of loyalty and right and wrong, as well as her doubts and the way she stands up for herself. I think she'd do well in Outer Divide because she's good at trying to make a bubble of order where the circumstances don't always encourage it.
[- Writing Samples -]
First person: Link and Link
Third person: Link. If that's not enough let me know and I'll write something longer.
Name: Snow
Do you play any other characters in Outer Divide? Nope
[- Character Information -]
Character Name: Aveline Vallen
Fandom: Dragon Age II
AU or OU: OU
Canon Point: Act 3, just after Jeven's death in the Favor and Fault quest (and before the Chantry explosion)
Journal:
canandhaveIcon: http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/3097681/1598585
Appearance: Red hair, green eyes, freckled. She's a warrior, with broad shoulders and enough muscle to heft a sword around.
History: Link. Aveline was the one to deliver the mercy blow to Wesley, Hawke was a male mage, she became Captain of the Guard, Carver joined the Templars, she did marry Donnic, and Isabela fled near the end of Act II without returning.
Personality:
Aveline: You’re right.
Isabela: About?
Aveline: About knowing who you are. I’m the captain of the guard. I’m loyal, strong, and I don’t look too bad naked.
Isabela: Exactly. And if I called you a mannish, awkward, ball-crushing do-gooder, you’d say…
Aveline: (lightly) Shut up, whore.
Isabela: That’s my girl.
When Hawke first meets Aveline, she's skewering darkspawn. As soon as that battle is done, however, her husband, Ser Wesley a Templar, tells Hawke's party to stay back, as it consists of two apostates. Aveline tells him rather firmly to stow it, introducing her as someone who understands that she can't afford to turn aside help when it's lives on the line. Once Wesley dies, she makes her own decision about how afraid of mages she is -- and she chooses to stay with Hawke and work with him. When she enters Kirkwall with the Hawkes, she joins Carver and Garrett in working off the payment for them and Leandra being able to enter the city because she firmly believes in paying her own debts.
As soon as she's done with the year working for Meeran, Aveline joins the city guard. She's comfortable there, she understands how to gain respect from her fellow guardsmen and she needs something to focus her in a way that Hawke doesn't. However, the work itself is significantly less meaningful than she'd expected it to be, and she looks to Hawke not only to provide her backup when she does a little extra investigating but also to take her along on some of his quests to give her a way to help people. As she tells Varric, her following Hawke around is what she does in her off hours, for fun. She follows Hawke not only because she's quite loyal to him -- which she is -- but also because she enjoys the moral clarity of some of what he does and enjoys helping when she can.
Aveline's loyalty is initially to Hawke's family rather than just Garrett -- it's Leandra who originally tells Aveline that she'll come with them -- but Aveline's relationship with Garrett is what grows stronger over time. It's clear that she greatly appreciates the help clearing the patrols and finding out about Jeven's corruption. She involves herself in the other companions' lives to a degree, giving them advice and checking into their doings. It's with Garrett, however, that she takes as much advice as she receives. She and Hawke complement each other -- even the way that she travels with him benefits both of them. It gives her the ability to more closely keep an eye on him and make sure that he's both safe and making decisions she approves of and it gives him her support.
While lawful, Aveline isn't opposed to bending the law to do what is right, or to protect her friends. She herself would rather stay within the limits -- although she exercises the freedom she has there, like killing slavers in battle instead of arresting them -- and she grumbles about her friends expecting free passes simply because they're her friends, but she can often understand why they do what they do. She tries to create flexibility where she can and where it doesn't go against her conscience.
Another notable characteristic about Aveline is her strength. She prides herself on it, on being able to not only protect herself on her patrols but also in being able to watch other people's backs. Her battle cry is, "You go through me before anyone else," which isn't about being unstoppable but rather about being the first encounter. She doesn't know that she can stop everything in her path, but she can certainly try to keep it from getting past her to the people that she cares about. At the same time, she isn't stubbornly self-reliant. She knows when to ask for backup before she gets too deep into a situation, and she isn't ashamed to look outside the guard to Hawke when that's what seems appropriate. She proves herself to the guards when she's new by "busting some teeth and then buying some drinks." She knows how to balance her own abilities with looking for help but also not being a burden to others, or permanently aggressive.
Aveline takes Kirkwall as her new home, not just physically and financially, but emotionally as well. This is why the insults to her as an outsider, a Ferelden, sting: Kirkwall has been hers since she entered the guard and starting worrying about the people she knows here, rather than just following orders. And that happened naturally and nearly immediately. It wasn't marrying Donnic that made Aveline a citizen of Kirkwall, it was because she was a citizen (emotionally) of Kirkwall that she considered engaging in a long-term relationship with him. And it would have to be long-term, because Aveline doesn't go for short or emotionally light relationships. Her friendship with Hawke goes intensely deep, where he has a power to get under her skin when he says hurtful things or does things that she doesn't agree with, but when they're supporting each other they're capable of a lot more than they are alone.
Aveline has an interesting relationship with religion. While she respects the chantry, she has her own doubts about whether or not what it preaches is correct. For the most, she puts those doubts aside in order to focus on the real world that she deals with. She was named for Ser Aveline of Orlais, a woman who entered a fighting competition disguised as a man and was killed by her opponent when he found out. Andraste was killed by her mortal husband out of jealousy for her marriage to the Maker. Aveline fought at the Battle of Ostagar, where the help called for didn't come and most of the army was killed. Aveline and Wesley fled the darkspawn, and lived, until he was killed at the beginning of the game. These sets of events lead to Aveline having a strong desire to live by the ideals she knows. As she says inside the chantry, "I should feel more at home here, but...I know sacrifice, but I will not be a sacrifice." Unlike her namesake, Aveline wants to make her difference with her actions during her life, not with her death. (Headcanon: she prays, as most in the Free Marches do, but she doesn't pray for guidance. She's solidifying her own sense of right and wrong when she does so and she's praying that the factors not under her direct control don't go too badly. For instance she might pray that the Qunari will be reasonable, but she wouldn't pray to try to decide if she should go to them over the fugitives they're harboring. Her decisions come from her moral code, not Andraste.)
As the situation heads towards deterioration in Act III, Aveline becomes increasingly concerned with doing Kirkwall what justice she can. When she's offered the chance to return to her former position in Ferelden it isn't more than an idle consideration. Instead she starts worrying about the battle between mages and templars that everyone can see is coming. She has no desire to run from the duty she's accepted in Kirkwall, she's come to accept the city as her own. Still, she doesn't want a happy ending. She wants a just one, although she wouldn't mind there being happiness as well.
Powers/Abilities: She fights with a sword and shield with the knowledge of how to use them both to defend herself and close allies on the battlefield.
Possessions: Guardsmen armor, The Shield of the Knight Herself, a sword.
Arrival: Wake on the ship.
Reason for Playing: Aveline's really fantastic, and I love her sense of loyalty and right and wrong, as well as her doubts and the way she stands up for herself. I think she'd do well in Outer Divide because she's good at trying to make a bubble of order where the circumstances don't always encourage it.
[- Writing Samples -]
First person: Link and Link
Third person: Link. If that's not enough let me know and I'll write something longer.
