You Can't Save the Spider *and* the Butterfly

Meme master post found here. Elissa’s master post there.

26. NPCs. Choose four random NPCs in the game – they can be anyone you want – and describe what your warden thinks of them and their relationship.

1. Ser Cauthrien: Elissa never really knew Loghain’s first until the Blight. They’d met once, maybe twice, but never spoken. But in spite of Cauthrien’s service to Loghain, including being aware of and not acting on some of his worse decisions, like the slavers raiding the alienage, Elissa has an enormous amount of respect for the older woman. She sees Cauthrien as a woman who is well and truly dedicated not only to a leader worthy of respect, but more importantly to the land and that’s something Elissa recognizes she needs at her back as queen. Cauthrien flat-out challenges the wisdom of her promotion, seeing as she’s already “betrayed” one master by allowing the Wardens into the Landsmeet. Elissa makes it clear that if she ever oversteps her bounds as queen or as Warden Commander that she expects Ser Cauthrien to do what is right for Ferelden and its people, especially if she is “no longer the woman who saved Ferelden” the way Loghain was no longer the man who’d saved it from the Orlesians during the rebellion. They don’t see much of each other for the next year after the initial promotion of Cauthrien to commander of the King’s army, but when they do they settle into an agreeable working arrangement and eventually Cauthrien relaxes enough to become friendly as well.
2. Bethany (and Leandra) Hawke: Leliana introduced Elissa to Bethany and her mother briefly before leaving Lothering. Bethany didn’t know who she was, but Leandra recognized the Cousland crest on the pommel of Elissa’s sword immediately. (I always figured being just across the sea from each other, that Highever and Kirkwall would have their own trade between one another, and that the noble families of each city would often know one another.) Leandra and Eleanor had once been friends, and Leandra gave Elissa a sympathetic shoulder to cry on out of sight of her companions that afternoon. Before Leliana and Elissa left the Hawkes’ home, Leandra packed them sufficient food and supplies to reach Redcliffe, and Bethany sorted out a number of items of her older sister’s for Elissa to use, since she literally had nothing but the armor on her back after the battle at Ostagar. Much later in the Blight, the party passed through Lothering again; the home was abandoned when they reached it, but Bethany left a letter behind for Elissa just in case she returned, to let her know they left Lothering safely and hadn’t been caught up in the darkspawn attacks. Bethany and Elissa met again years later when the young mage was stationed at Vigil’s Keep, and Elissa would visit every now and again even after retiring her position as Warden Commander to see her and the few Wardens who remained from her time in Amaranthine.
3. Denek Helmi: Helmi acted as the Wardens’ host while they stayed in Orzammar, opening his home to them and sharing his insight and knowledge of dwarven politics. He never openly requested anything as repayment, though it was clear that he was banking on the Wardens’ need for a stable king in Orzammar to get their army. Elissa joked one evening over drinks that she should put his name forward to the Assembly in place of either Bhelen’s or Lord Harrowmont’s, since he clearly was the only one with his head on straight. He threatened to throw them out on the street for the rest of their stay if she did, and while his tone was light and joking at the time, Elissa suspected it was no empty threat and didn’t bring up the issue again. Later, after the Blight, she requests Lord Helmi as an official intermediary between Orzammar and Denerim. He agrees, but only visits Denerim once; afterward representatives from Denerim go to Orzammar in Alistair’s and Elissa’s names instead, and Denek gladly houses them and makes the appropriate introductions around the Assembly to not be required to return to the surface himself.

Dragon Age II: Hawke/Champion of Kirkwall (the original meme:)

8. Details of your Hawke’s relationships with their family members (including Gamlen).

Leandra - Ria understood why her mother lashed out the way she did, blaming her for accidents and bad luck where the twins were concerned, but it bothers her more than she lets on. She avoided Leandra more and more as the years passed, something she now regrets.

Malcolm - She was always fascinated by her father’s magic, and for a while she wished she had magic of her own. In spite of the fact that she wasn’t a mage, Malcolm taught her as much as he could about magical theory and the dangers of magic, in addition to giving her a general education that not many farmers’ daughters would have access to. Ria never feared losing her father to the Templars; it was sickness that took him from their family and Ria had no choice but to step up and take care of the family’s affairs while Leandra recovered from the loss.

Carver - Clicking his name will take you to his entry in The Champion’s Letters. TL;DR Ria actually envies him in some ways. Maker willing, Carver’s at peace now, something Ria will probably never know. 

Bethany - Clicking her name will take you to her entry in The Champion’s Letters, but tl;dr is that she adored her baby sister. There was no way in the Void she was going to let Beth stay in Kirkwall surrounded by Templars without her, so she blamed herself with Beth was infected with the Taint. Sending her little sister away was the hardest thing she’d ever done, and she was even more upset years later by Bethany’s coldness toward her when they re-met during the Qunari siege of the city. 

Gamlen - While Ria would never actually come up behind him and cut out his kidneys with a dull blade, she did make that threat once while drunk at one point during the year she was preparing for the Deep Roads expedition. Gamlen’s kept his distance ever since, just in case.

Charade - Ria really likes Charade, once they finally meet and get over the whole running in circles after that stupid gem bit. Ria actually wills the estate to Charade, but since she became an outlaw instead of dying in defense of the city, the Templars ransacked the place and left it to rot. If Charade is aware that the estate is now hers, she hasn’t claimed it by the time Vrania arrives in the city 2-3 years after Ria goes on the run.

…Vrania? - Ria’s aware that she has Amell cousin(s) that were sent to the Circle, but hasn’t met any of them. If and when she eventually meets Vrania, they’ll likely end up partners in crime—and not the cheery  ”let’s bust some heads” way that Ria and Bela were. Ria changed a lot after the destruction of Kirkwall’s Chantry, and while she doesn’t agree with Anders’ choice of target, I seriously doubt she’ll find fault in attacking phylactery chambers.

NONONO I REFUSE TO CONTINUE I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT