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

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

15. Did your Hawke stay in or leave Kirkwall? Where do you think they are now? Who has remained with them? 

Everyone but Sebastian and Fenris fought to help Ria protect the mages of the Gallows from Meredith and the Rite of Annulment. As such, everyone was forced to leave the city at the end, or else when the Chantry’s reinforcements arrived they’d all be arrested. Even Aveline (and Donnic) had to run, and they were the first to leave Ria, opting to go inland rather than escaping on Isabela’s ship. The rest of the team gradually branches off one at a time, and while in port in Bastion Ria and Anders disappear themselves and haven’t been seen since.

DLC Bonus Prompt: Tell us about your adventures in Legacy. (And that hellish battle with Corypheus…) Did it change your Hawke’s feelings about Malcolm?

First off, for setting: I head canon Legacy to take place about a year or so before the beginning of Act 3, just to give a bit of setting for where Kirkwall is at that time. Anyway…

Ria sides with Janeka against Larius regarding the plan to free Corypheus until the very end, against Anders’s better judgement. When it becomes obvious that the darkspawn that was locked away can’t be dealt with the way Elissa made a deal with the Architect (I assume either Anders, Warden!Bethany that comes with her on this quest, or both discuss at least part of these details with Ria no later than the first time they meet Janeka) and that he’s nothing but a threat, they have to destroy him, though. 

As for how she feels about Malcolm as a result of learning what happened in those ruins before, it doesn’t really change much. It explains a lot about him, about worried, somber stares into nothing that she always assumed before were were concern over keeping the family hidden but that she knows now were that and more. She’s actually much more disturbed by the fact that Corypheus was one of the original Magisters of the Violation—and his claim that the Golden City was already corrupted when they arrived. Ria was never very religious, and couldn’t help but to agree with Anders up to that point that that story was just an allegory. The implication that the Chant is a bit more literal than she’d always assumed—with the exception of the Black City always being “black” troubles her almost as much as it seems to bother Anders.

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

14. Choose one decision your Hawke had to make [examples: killing the Arishok instead of giving up Isabela, taking Torpor’s deal], and explain the motives and aftereffects of that decision.

As much as Varric loves to tell the story with her dueling the Arishok one-on-one, Ria had no intention of dying that day. She likewise wasn’t going to turn Isabela over—she’d told her friend to keep the relic so she could get it to Castillon and get him off her back. She was shocked when the Rivaini returned with the Tome, and handed it over to the Arishok. Ria still would have preferred not to have to fight (they had a saarebas after all, and those things were bitches to take down), but really there was no option by that point. Half of Kirkwall was burning, and Dumar’s head was lying in a corner of the Keep’s throne room, kicked there absently during the first scuffle with the Qunari before Isabela’s return.

So, she and the Arishok fought; but not single combat like he proposed and how Varric tells it, but everyone versus everyone until all the Qunari, Arishok included, were dead.

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

13. Does being Champion of Kirkwall suit your Hawke, or would they rather have done something else with their life? Has their emotional well-being suffered, or were they made stronger?

That answer really changes depending on who you ask.

On the surface, Ria revels in the attention her title grants her. She doesn’t exactly appreciate the social and political responsibility that is assumed of her, but she loves having all eyes on her. Isabela is usually brought along for the fun when Ria decides to head to the Keep for the afternoon, just for the hell of it, and the two crash a party thrown in Hawke’s honor (she’d declined the RSVP) about a year after the incident with the Arishok. In her so-called “off” time she still runs random jobs for the city, but prefers to work with and for random citizens, or Aveline and the guard, rather than for Meredith, Orsino, or Bran.

Ask anyone who knows her, though—well, anyone but Bela—and they’ll say they worry about her. The jobs she takes are more and more dangerous, and she cuts down her list of who she’s willing to bring with her on those jobs more and more. She never excludes anyone from the party’s time at the Hanged Man, or when she invites everyone to the estate to drink, but she’s very protective of (and thus, excludes) many of her friends. Only Anders, Isabela, and surprisingly Sebastian is allowed to come with her on most jobs; everyone else has to stay home where it’s safe.

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

12. Your Hawke’s opinion of the following characters: First Enchanter Orsino, Knight-Commander Meredith, the Arishok, Saemus Dumar, Feynriel, Keeper Marethari. [Extra Credit: Sandal.]

• *First Enchanter Orsino and Knight-Commander Meredith: After three years as Champion, Ria wishes these two would just leave her alone. Alternately, that they’d get a room and vent their frustrations with each other in other ways, but considering how tense each of them still are—and they just get worse and worse—she assumes that’s never going to happen.
• the Arishok: She’s not going to pretend for a moment that she has any idea what he’s talking about half the time. Whether she understands him or not, he’s normally consistent, though, which is better than some in Kirkwall. She was definitely not expecting him to attack the city, though she wasn’t terribly surprised that he tried to insist on taking Isabela and the relic back to Par Vollen. Ria couldn’t allow that, of course, but she also wasn’t a fool. Everyone fought together, and everything was over before Meredith made her way to the Keep’s throne room.
• Saemus Dumar: Ria was equally annoyed by and jealous of Saemus’s idealism. While she had no problem with his choice to convert to the Qun, he couldn’t have done so at a worse time. It probably would have caused less problems if he’d converted sooner rather than when he did or later.
• Feynriel: She really doesn’t know what to make of Feynriel, since she barely understands Bethany’s magic beyond the basic concepts. She does what it takes to keep him out of the Gallows, though, including sending him to Tevinter eventually.
• Keeper Marethari: Ria likes Marethari, but like most elves she doesn’t really know how to act around her. Luckily (?) the Dalish are just as unfamiliar with her, so they don’t notice when she says something too outlandish (which happens far too often back in the city where people understand her).
• Sandal: She used to give him salamanders whenever she could find them, since he always seemed so happy to get them, but after nearly losing the servants’ quarters to a fire Bodahn explained that they were somehow involved in his “booms” and Ria had to find new gifts to bring back from odd jobs instead.

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

11. Your Hawke’s favourite weapon and/or spell(s).

Ria used to keep her first pair of matched daggers for sentimental reasons, but had to leave them behind when the Hawkes fled Lothering. She doesn’t even insist on matched pairs anymore when selecting new daggers, though she does prefer it when they’re balanced in comparison to each other.

When she kills the Arishok the daggers she used that day will end up being saved and displayed someplace in a horrible, gaudy display before she’s recovered enough to stop it from happening.

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

10. Your Hawke’s favourite thing to do in their free time.

Poor Ria wouldn’t know what to do with a free day if it stared her in the face. She teases and pretends to complain whenever yet another problem is brought to her because “Hawke’s the hero” but she secretly loves the attention. She doesn’t always love the jobs themselves, or the people hiring her, but she loves knowing that she’s the only one that so many people trust to do a job right.

When she does have an hour or three free, she’s almost always at the Hanged Man while she’s out of the house. She tried for a while to help Anders at the clinic, but for all her grace and dexterity in combat, she tended to get in the way more than she helped so her contribution there is more in the way of funding and supplies. Her free time with him is spent at home now, instead. ^_~

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

9. With whom does your Hawke get along least, and why? Is there anything that would help them get along better, or is it ‘just the way it is’?

Growing up, it was always Carver. She loved her brother, of course, but by the Maker was he a little tit. By the time Ria reached Kirkwall with Mother and Bethany, she didn’t have too many problems with the companions she gradually acquired. She didn’t understand half of what came out of Merrill’s mouth, of course, and even less of what Sebastian said, though for completely different reasons. (Ria #1 never quite deciphered the accent.)

She had a lot more trouble with certain… officials… than she ever did with the people she chose to associate with. Elthina tried to be a good woman, but was too much a coward to admit that she supported Meredith. Meredith, well, was Meredith. And Dumar was just plain a coward to the day he died, constantly calling on her to try and fix problems that should have been his to handle.

Her real bane, though? Seneschal Bran. The man was smart enough to realize she was often up to no good where he and his office were concerned, but to his credit and her unending amusement he never failed to fall for Isabela’s distractions whenever Ria decided it was time to raid his office yet again. I’m sure he suspected her when items would randomly disappear (both when she did and didn’t have anything to do with it) but he could never pull together enough evidence to have her brought in on charges. It would certainly explain his distaste for her after she’d been in the city for a few years, though I’m not sure why he hated her so much at first, before she started her yearly ritual of breaking into his lockboxes and chests and stealing everything she could just because she could.

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.

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

7. Does your Hawke sympathise with the mages or the templars? Why?

Very much the mages over the templars. Granted at the point of the replay I’m currently at she doesn’t know Meredith’s backstory. Learning about Amelia would possibly make her question what she’d do if any of her loved ones became abomination, but it wouldn’t ultimately change her opinion. Girls like Amelia are the reason she’s helping to fight for the mages as much as she can—to prevent that horror from ever needing to happen again, specifically to take away the fear that likely caused Amelia to turn in the first place.

As for the “why” of the question… “A is for Apostates” goes into some pretty good detail, from Ria’s POV, regarding how she feels about apostates in general and why she works so hard to protect them.

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

6. Your Hawke’s favourite location in Kirkwall (or the outer reaches).

Ria never really got sentimental about locations—probably a side effect of moving so much as a child. If she was forced to give an answer she’d probably say the Hanged Man, just because that’s where she and the others spend most of their free time, but even that’s really just a matter of convenience.