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

Elissa would probably have ended up in an arranged marriage to Teagan after all, or else would have succeeded in her plan to run away to Orlais to escape the wedding. Considering they still would have had to escape Lothering for Kirkwall, Ria would have just continued working for Athenril until she managed to get enough status within the gang to branch off on her own. Vrania would been raised a noble in Kirkwall if she were totally mundane, or if still a mage but nothing “special” would have died during Uldred’s rebellion if she hadn’t managed to escape at that time.

I don’t know, really… Elissa is endlessly curious and genuinely interested in things she doesn’t understand. Ria honestly believes in mage freedom due to the way she was raised. If anything, she publicly downplays that passion early on just to fit in, until she and Anders become involved. And Vrania is 100% no-fucks-given. Only if she needs to establish herself in a community so that they treat her as one of their own if and when the templars come does she do anything other than just live like a normal, non-magey person.

Elissa primarily has all sorts of official tomes, filled with the sort of information we’d find in the codexes, the info from the wiki that would be known in-universe and not just as meta, and the World of Thedas book—an entire library’s worth of that sort of thing and then some. She does also have her private library, which includes both more work-related things (including but not limited to private Warden documents about the histories of the Blights, as opposed to public layman works on the topic) and epics and novels and such for personal enjoyment for the rare occasion she gets to read for pleasure anymore. And yes, quite a few of her “personal” books are trashy novels of mostly Nevarran and Orlesian origin, in addition to silly adventure stories.

Ria doesn’t read often, because she’d rather be doing something than just sitting in place, so her library at the estate is mostly filled with her mother’s collection. I’m sure Isabela probably provided a few choice selections that Leandra pretended to be scandalized to find, however.

Vrania doesn’t typically have the luxury of shelves, though, since she’s on the move so often. Just enough belongings to fit in a pack or two and off she goes whenever the templars seem to be sniffing her out. Back when she had access to the Circle’s library she was more likely to be studying above her approved level after curfew than to be reading anything traditionally considered “pleasure” reading. Although like Ria, she often prefers to be doing than just sitting; so, reading was fine when there was something to get out of it but for leisure she was far more likely to play cards or chess with her not-friend Alim. (She was willing to confide certain secrets to him, but never actually considered him a friend as he was an elf and she had been nobility before coming to the Circle.)

…Yeah, I could definitely see Ria being interested in role play. More with Isabela than with Anders, though, I think.

Elissa: Serpent’s song clawing at her soul.

Ria: Loves hats, daggers, ale, and apostates.

(If I can think one up for Vrania I’ll add it in later; technically she’s not a Warden though and I don’t want to make this post wait on her anymore.)

Drinking head canon? Ria is a very happy, very affectionate, sometimes handsy drunk. And even when she’s not being handsy, she’s still very physically affectionate, hugging on and kissing pretty much all of her friends. She tones down a little bit once she and Anders are together, but only by focusing all the attention on him; the actual amount of attention shown doesn’t change, just the target becomes much more precise. Prior to Anders, and in alt!Ria’s world overall, it makes for some very interesting evenings on the rare occasion that Sebastian accepts her invitations to come play cards with everyone at the Hanged Man.