Andaran atish’an

arlathvhen @ 2015-10-09T05:37:00

2015-10-09T10:37:45Z

PLAYER

Name: Ema
Age: 26
Contact: arlathvhen
Other Characters:
Interests: I would love to have plots that revolve around political intrigue, things like Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, where what you say and do effects the plot. Things that you can either fight or talk your way out of, and seeing different people use their different strengths to resolve that kind of situation. I would also like elfy stuff, because. I like elfy stuff.

CHARACTER

Name: Beleth
Canon/OC: OC
Journal: arlathvhen
Race: Elf
Nationality: Dalish
Occupation: Hunter
Age: 25

History

Beleth comes from Clan Ashara, where her mother is the keeper, and her twin brother is the Second. With three mages in the clan, including her own son, the Keeper had her hands full teaching them all. Beleth, with no magical talent to speak of, found herself shuffled significantly down in the list of the Keeper's priorities. The plague that brought down many of their clan did little to help. For a long time, the Keeper was preoccupied with attempting to save whomever she could, and afterwards, helping with the sudden abundance of orphans.

Her father was a Hunter, but he had little interest in tutoring Beleth when she became an apprentice, letting other Hunters teach her their ways. Beleth took her mother's negligence and her father's rejection poorly--She became focused on learning how to make other people like her, so she wouldn't be subjected to these feelings by anyone else. She learned how to get people to like her, how to tell them what they wanted to hear, and as she grew more successful, enjoyed a fair amount of popularity among her clan members.

Her twin brother as the exception, Beleth remained resentful of the other two mages who had occupied her mother's time, particularly Pel, being groomed to become the clan's Keeper some day.

When she was 15, the clan was attacked by a group of bandits. Though still an apprentice, Beleth was quick to take her bow up to defend her clan. Her first thought to seek out her twin Sorrel, and discovered bandits attacking him. Beleth remained calm enough to incapacitate two of them with her bow. Then she ran at the final one, attacking them with nothing but a dagger and mindless fury. She managed to win, but not without taking hits of her own, the large scar that she carries across her face the most obvious. It didn't matter to her--She had saved her twin, and that was the important part. However, the fight wasn't without casualties--Beleth and Sorrel's father had been killed. There was a feeling like she ought to have some guilt for saving Sorrel and not him, but she couldn't conjure it up. Years of being ignored left Beleth largely apathetic about her father's death.

While the young elf had always been edgy around humans, the incident stuck in her mind, and she has few positive feelings regarding humans in general. However, her ability to say and act to please other people still extended to them. To their faces, Beleth seemed perfectly unassuming. Her Keeper found the combination of ability to stay cordial while distant to be perfect for trading with the humans, and she became one of the main people to communicate with the humans while trading.

Personality

Beleth is troubled by issues of self worth built up from years of finding herself hopelessly mediocre in the face of far more interesting people. This has manifested in a fixation on making sure that the people around her like her, want to be friends with her, because if they think that she's a good person, than surely it must be so. But depending on others for your self worth comes with serious drawbacks.

Her actual personality is hard to pinpoint because she takes strides in adapting it to be as palatable as possible to the person that she's talking to. Joking or serious, kind or blunt, she tries to find out what the person responds best to, and subtly leans towards it. She's sparse with opinions as well, and while she rarely outright lies to someone about what she thinks, she'll try to nudge their opinions out, and will respond positively to them--'I can see why you think that,' or 'It makes sense when you say it like that'.

There are two exceptions to this: Negative opinions on the Dalish in general, or her friends. Speaking ill of either of these will earn you enough passive aggression to make a chantry sister proud. Beleth rarely demonstrates open anger, but seemingly idle comments and backhanded jabs are used with the finesse of an archer.

The default, the Beleth that most people see, is a nervous woman, friendly but worrisome. Always quick with a compliments or a polite remark, but just as quick to fret and fidget. She is soothing and kind, willing to go out of her way to help other people, whether it's to trek across the land and fetch a trinket for them, or simply lend a friendly shoulder to cry on, and an ear to listen to them.

The people that grow close to her will gain a strong loyalty, with a woman who's willing to do whatever necessary for them to stay happy, and stay her friend. But there's another side to her that they also get to see. Beleth is very much a haughty Dalish, with plenty of issues with humans and city elves. She would never voice any of these to the people in question, but fellow Dalish can hear her murmur about the flat-ear's betrayal of their roots, and for Sylaise's sake, stop messing with shemlen, or you'll catch something nasty.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths
Beleth's greatest strength in terms of fighting is her archery. While she's not the best hunter, she's still quite skilled. She's best at perching somewhere away from the melee, and staying in one spot, shooting accurately but slowly. Helping her make sure each shot count is her ability to craft poisons. If she's in a tight spot, she will often shoot poisoned arrows at her target, then try to run until the poison wears the target down. It's not just poisons she can make--she's also knowledgeable in potion-crafting. When you have to travel far from the clan to hunt down creatures that can turn on you, it's always good to make sure that you can heal yourself in a pinch.

Beleth has skills outside of combat, and often uses these to try to avoid combat with other people altogether. When talking to other people, she studies them, learns what they respond positively to, and does her best to imitate that. She's good at figuring out what people want to hear, and telling them it. She is quick to be appear sweet and cheerful to the people around her, and engender friendship with them. She makes friends easily, and people who spend time around her often become quite fond of her--though her opinion of them may be entirely different than what they think.

Weaknesses

Combat-wise, as a 5'3 tall elf with a willowy build, there's a reason she tries to stay far away from combat. She can't take much in the way of damage before she falters. She's not very strong, either. She's an efficient fighter from a distance, but get her in melee, and she can wind up in a lot of trouble. While she's not afraid to run when need be, her skill at archery greatly decreases while running, and if she wants to fire off a decent shot, she'll have to stop.

Focusing on other people instead of yourself comes with some reparations--Beleth has a lot of self-esteem issues, and suffers anxiety from faults both real and perceived. She bases her self worth on other people's approval, and thus is incredibly dependent on those around her for fulfilling her social needs. When she makes decisions, she's far more swayed by what the people around her would think than what might be good for her. But using other people's opinions as the foundation for your mental wellbeing is like building with a house of cards--It's one wrong move away from collapsing and taking her down with it.

Inventory

-Dalish bow, quiver, and arrows
-A variety of common plants
-Vials of healing potions and poison
-One set of Dalish scout armor, one set of clothing
-Lockpicking tools
-Probably some makeup that sure as hell isn't her natural lip color

Motivation

Beleth was content to live among the Dalish. She didn't wish for adventure, she didn't care about these idiot humans, and if they had managed to tear their countries apart fighting, that sure sounded like a personal problem. But Beleth's loyalty is ever steadfast, and when her friends said that they were going, she packed her own bags. After all, who else will make sure that they don't get their idiot selves killed by some snippy shemlen? And, secretly, she's terrified that her friends will not want to return to the clan after living outside of that, and she's hoping by going she'll be able to help dissuade them, or at least stay around them and remind them of their roots.

And, you know, there's a bunch of holes in the sky and an evil magister and those things are rarely good for anyone.

SAMPLES

[x] [x]

comments

Ruby City App

2015-08-07T05:43:44Z

PLAYER
Name: Ema
Age: 25
Personal Journal: amethystfrog
E-mail: purple_sprinkles_08@yahoo.com
AIM/MSN/etc: arlathvhen

CHARACTER
Character Name: Beleth Lavellan
Canon: Dragon Age
Age: 27
Timeline: Directly after completing What Pride Has Wrought, while fleeing from Corypheus through the Eluvian.
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: n/a

Personality: Beleth suffers from serious self esteem problems, and much of her personality is hinged on her attempts to cope with this. While she doesn't hate herself, she finds herself utterly inadequate when compared to anyone. She's too plain, too boring, not even bad, but damned to mediocrity. Surely it would be better if she was at least bad at something, it would at least add some flavor to what she sees as an utterly lukewarm existence. The fact that she's become the Inquisitor, the person responsible for saving the world, has definitely helped her in this, but in the end she reminds herself that the most interesting part of her is that her hand can fix the rifts.

One way that she deals with this, is to get other people to like her. If other people find her likable, she must be worthy of it. Therefore, a great deal of effort is put into having the people around her take favor with her.

Beleth is polite to everyone, taking time to think out her words. She errs on the side of caution whenever speaking about subjects where she doesn't know how the other person feels. She'll usually default to neutral opinions, even if her true opinions lie elsewhere. Once she's secured how they feel about a subject, she's quick to agree with them. If she doesn't agree, and feels like it's worth the risk of raising ire to argue, she'll state the opinion as cautiously as possible.

With her friends, Beleth is a good listener, always willing to hear someone's troubles. However, she tends towards telling other people what might make them feel better, even if it isn't what they truly need to hear. If their troubles are something that she can solve, or know a person who can solve them, she'll do what she can to help out. She's eager to please, and will do what she can to try to endear herself to the other person.

Putting herself under this much pressure results in a lot of anxiety and general nervousness, and Beleth is prone to panicking and fumbling over herself. In extreme situations, she can have a complete meltdown. In lesser cases, she will usually just fidget and ramble, her own nervousness causing her to trail on about subjects that had not been even transically related to the point of the conversation.

One thing that Beleth will never back down from, however, is her love of the People, her fellow Dalish. She is fiercely proud and protective of the Dalish and their culture, and one of the quickest ways to get her stirred up to anger is to talk negatively about them. She's always willing to explain about her culture to any interested parties, and enjoys talking about how the People have overcome hardships and work together. She's even protective over city elves, though they have forgotten their roots. She's more willing to trust and befriend other elves, to the point she has been deceived by them before, simply because her first instinct is to trust them.

As for humans, Beleth will always be polite to them, but she tends to keep them at an arms length. Enough humans have caused harm to her, enough have given her pointed looks and whispers behind her back that she finds trusting them difficult. However, she can befriend humans, if they prove themselves worthy, but it takes more time. Few humans realize that this barrier exists, however, for Beleth will treat them well enough, if somewhat distant.

Having been declared the Herald of Andraste has been a bit of a much-needed ego boost for Beleth, though she often worries about the consequences of her actions. After some thought, she decided that it could only benefit people for her to accept that she is truly Andraste's Herald, with the divine blessing of Andraste herself. Elves would benefit from seeing the mark of Andraste upon her, and others would feel hope at knowing the Maker hasn't abandoned them. Whether or not she has truly been blessed by Andraste, Beleth isn't sure. But in the end, it doesn't matter. She'll do what's best for others.

When Beleth has been annoyed enough to lash out, her first step is usually passive aggression. She'll smile politely and blithely lay on the passive aggression until the other person gets a hint. Sometimes, if she's been particularly made unhappy by the situation, she'll layer the passive aggression with a sullen, grouchy mood. It's rare to see Beleth well and truly angry, but when she gets there, it's explosive and volatile, and she lashes out at anyone perceived to be a part of whatever has wronged her, real or imagined. She doesn't think things out when she's like this, and one of the only times it happened left her with a large scar across her face.

History: Beleth is a Dalish elf, and grew up in Clan Lavellan, a Dalish clan that wandered the Free Marches. Beleth lived a fairly standard life for a Dalish, with her mother as the Keeper--or the head--of the clan, and her twin brother Sorrelean serving as her apprentice. With a mother focused on her brother, and a father largely disinterested in either child, Beleth was constantly aware of her own mediocrity in comparison to her twin. She strived to try to come into her own, and found comfort in learning to hunt for the clan.

There was a significant event when Beleth was still an apprentice that would have a serious effect on her, which can still be noted even now. Raiders attempting to enslave the elves attacked her clan. Beleth was quick to use her bow to help fend off the raiders. However, her first thought went to finding her twin. Seeking Sorrelean out, she discovered that he had let the halla, the sacred deer that pulled the landships the Dalish lived in, out of their cages, so they could flee from the danger. The Raiders had found him and attacked before he could lash out with his magic. Seeing her twin in danger, Beleth lost all sense of reason and leapt to his side, first attacking with her weapons, then hurling herself at the last Raider.

Thanks to Beleth's intervention, Sorrelean was saved, though both would bare deep scars across their face. Even in this, the clan would joke later, they had to match. The Raiders were driven back, but not without casualties. Beleth and Sorrelean's father among them. After the dead were buried, Beleth was raised out of apprenticeship, with the elders stating that she had proven that she could protect the clan. As killing your first game animal is the traditional way to graduate your apprenticeship, there was some debate over whether or not a human necessarily counted. But in the end, she became a full Hunter. There would be rumors following her for a while that this was only done out of pity for her losing her father, but they would fade in time. Beleth quietly mourned her father, though in her heart, she was relieved that her brother had survived over him. Just as with the cruel rumors, in time her grief faded. Life moved on, after all.

But the world moved on outside of their clan, and war had erupted between mages and templars, the people who both protected and jailed them. The mages were tired of their gilded prisons and rebelled, and Thedas reeled from the war. Even the Dalish were effected--rogue Templars and mages alike were a threat. The Divine, head of the Andrastian faith that most humans and those who lived amongst them held to, called for a Conclave, an attempt to broker peace between the two sides. Beleth's mother, knowing that the outcome would effect the Dalish, sent her to spy on the Conclave and learn what was to happen. As someone who was both adept at speaking to humans, and a skilled archer, it seemed like she was the best choice. Beleth was hesitant to leave her clan and her family, but agreed, and made the journey to the Temple of Sacred Ashes, where the Conclave was being held.

From there, her history follows along the Main plot of Inquisition, up to her current canon point, with the following decisions made:

Accepted being Herald of Andraste
Conscripted the templars
Briala rules through Gaspard
Hawke was left in the fade, Alistair spared
Grey Wardens rebuilt
Calpernia talked down
Respected the elven rituals at the well of sorrows, allied with its guardians
Drank from the well

Shortly after arriving at Skyhold, she was pulled to Ruby City for a while. While there, she fixed up the greenhouse, and began growing various plants from home. She helped Ruby City when she could, befriending many of the citizens. However, she was taken back to Thedas, and continued along the questline, with no memory of the city before. However, after she drank from the Well of Sorrows, she found herself pursued by Corypheus. Slipping through an Eluvian, she found herself back in Ruby City.

Abilities:
Elven - The elves of Thedas were once immortal, possessing magic and communing with nature. Those days are long gone, and only a few abilities of elves are left--She can see better in the dark than humans, and possesses a nimbleness humans lack.

Greenthumb / Potionmaker - Elves live off the land when they can, and Beleth has a good sense of the herbs and flowers of her own world, and what they do. She's good at growing plants, and ran the greenhouse in Ruby City.

Archery - Beleth is a skilled archer, having spent many years training and hunting in her clan. She has several moves that she has learned over the course of her travels.

Exploding Arrow: A powerful shot that explodes upon impact, damaging the target and all around it.
Long Shot: A single arrow that does more damage the father away it is from the target.
Leaping Shot: Beleth dives out of the way, releasing a hail of arrows on enemies trying to close in.

Poisons: Additionally, she carries a handful of poisons, and can make more if needed, and she has the ingredients necessary. These are primarily used for coating her weapons. None of the poisons are strong enough to kill, only wound, so they have few other uses.

The Mark of Andraste - The ability that landed Beleth as the Herald of Andraste, and the Inquisitor. Her hand has some kind of connection to the fade--It takes the appearance of covering her hand with a green fire, though it does not harm her. This mark, called an anchor by Corypheus, can open and close Fade rifts, even manipulating them to cause massive damage to enemies nearby. She won't doing a lot of opening and closing of the Fade here, and probably won't get much use out of the Anchor, save perhaps using it as a lantern.

Ballet - For her help in the event that took place shortly before she left, she was gifted a vial of magical liquid. When she consumed it, she was granted the ability to dance Russian-style ballet. Amusingly, she has no real idea what ballet is, beyond the fact that it's a dance that she is now skilled in.

Relationships to Canon Characters: As the Inquisitor, Beleth has an inner circle that she relies on for support on and off the battlefield. She is fairly friendly with most of her inner circle, but of particular note are the three that she usually prefers to take with her into the field:

Cassandra Pentaghast: Cassandra and her got off to a rocky start, to say the least. Something about being accused of killing the Most Holy and everyone else at the Conclave. But as they ran into danger, death, and dragons together, their bond strengthened. Beleth admires Cassandra's courage, determination, and really pretty eyes.
Solas: Another of the people, and though he scoffs at the Dalish, Beleth is fascinated by what knowledge he possesses of the ancient elves, often asking (and occasionally straight up pestering) him about everything he knows. She holds the knowledge of Elven lore dear to her, and he is a wealth of information that she enjoys listening to.
Cole: A spirit of compassion. Beleth doesn't entirely understand Cole, but she understands his sincere want to help people. She often gets flack for keeping a spirit around--Or a demon, as some insist on calling him--But Beleth trusts him and his compassion, often taking his advice, and trying to help him in turn, as he seems to worry about everyone but himself.

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comments

arlathvhen @ 2015-06-21T17:35:00

2015-06-21T23:52:54Z

Player
Name: Ema
Preferred Pronoun: her/she
Contact: arlathvhen

Character
Name: Beleth Lavellan, Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor
Canon: Dragon Age
AU: AU where she is the Inquisitor, and had previously stayed in Ruby City for a time

Pull-point: After defeating Corypheus

Power Opt-in post link: n/a

Content Opt-out post link: Here!

Age: 26, and looks so.

Gender/Sex: Cis female

Appearance: Beleth is average height for an elf of Thedas, though short among humans, at 5'3, with a willowy build. Her skin is tanned, with a few scars dotting it, the largest being across one side of her face. Her hair is dark brown in color, and cut short, and rather messily, with uneven locks poofing around her head. She has typically elven ears, purple eyes that reflect light in dim settings, and wears makeup--green eyeshadow that blends into the tattoos, and dark red lipstick.

She once bore the vallaslin of the Dalish upon her face, but after Solas revealed its true nature, she let him remove it.

[Yo]

History: Beleth lived amongst the Dalish her entire life, with her brother as Second, an apprentice for her mother, the Keeper for the clan. Beleth was skilled in both hunting, and trading with the humans, and when the mages and templars were called to peace talks, she was sent to spy on them. But the conclave exploded, with Beleth as the sole survivor, marked with a strange magic that allowed her to seal rifts in the sky. She was drafted into the Inquisition to seal the breach, and after recruiting the Templars, did so. However, the man behind the explosion at the conclave attacked the Inquisition, leading them to take the abandoned fortress of Skyhold.

Not long afterwards, Beleth was pulled into the strange land of Ruby City. She set up shop in a greenhouse, hunting deer and growing herbs to make healing potions. There she met some of the elves of Middle Earth, and became friends with many of them, learning some of their lore and language. She became particularly close to Maglor, nearly embroiling her in a fight thousands of years old. He gently rebuked her feelings and the two continued to stay close friends. She also befriend Galadriel, her daughter Celebrian, and others from Middle Earth. Things seemed quiet and almost relaxed, until she was taken from there, and found herself in this new land.

Recently, Beleth was put back in Thedas for some time. She saved Orlais by letting Celene get assassinated, then put Gaspard on the throne--With the spy Briala holding his leash. She stopped the Wardens from summoning a demon army, got dropped in the fade, got Hawke killed, then got the Wardens working for her. She then proceeded to go to an ancient elven temple, made friends with the ancient elves, drank from the well of sorrows, and had her vallaslin removed by her boyfriend who then broke up with her. Then she defeated Corypheus and saved the world.

Personality: Beleth is a nervous woman, constantly on edge about the world around her, and fretting over the multiple terrible possibilities that could happen. She tends to jump to conclusions, and these conclusions usually involve her assumption that she is going to spectacularly mess things up. She does, however, do her best to be not only polite, but friendly. Her urge to be friendly will, in fact, usually roll over any of her own views or opinions. She rarely voices these, preferring to agree with whatever other people think. She'll usually keep her thoughts to herself, even if she's troubled or in pain, not wanting to bother others with what she's sure is uninteresting nonsense.

When Beleth makes friends, she is very devoted to them. Their flaws, however glaring they may be, are overlooked, and she will defend them with all her ability. She is protective of them, and insulting them is one of the few ways to get her angry enough to speak out against someone. She is quicker to trust elves than humans, having experienced a great deal of racism at their hands, and has a great deal of pride in her Dalish heritage, and culture, happy to tell anyone interested all about it--In more detail than they probably wanted to know.

Abilities:

Elven - The elves of Thedas, once like the elves of Arda, were immortal, possessing magic and communing with nature. Those days are long gone, and only a few abilities of elves are left--She can see better in the dark than humans, and possesses a nimbleness humans lack.

Greenthumb / Potionmaker - Elves live off the land when they can, and Beleth has a good sense of the herbs and flowers of her own world, and what they do. She's good at growing plants, and ran a greenhouse in Ruby City for a while. She's also pretty skilled at making potions, both for healing and for poison.

Archery - Beleth is a skilled archer, having spent many years training and hunting in her clan. She has several moves that she has learned over the course of her travels.

Exploding Arrow: A powerful shot that explodes upon impact, damaging the target and all around it.
Long Shot: A single arrow that does more damage the father away it is from the target.
Leaping Shot: Beleth dives out of the way, releasing a hail of arrows on enemies trying to close in.

Poisons: Additionally, she carries a handful of poisons, and can make more if needed, and she has the ingredients necessary. She can use these to poison her weapons, and if an opponent dies from this poison, their body explodes into a cloud of toxic mist. Or, she has a poison that can become a cloud of toxic mist without needing corpses.

Artificer: Beleth has been trained in the art of engineering deadly mechanisms. She makes traps that can be used in the battlefield, positioning them so she can control where the enemies move--or just let them explode. She has two types of traps she specializes in: A simple spike trap that flings enemies into the air, or elemental mines, a handful of globes that she tosses out to cover the battlefield.

The Mark of Andraste - The ability that landed Beleth as the Herald of Andraste, and the Inquisitor. Her hand has some kind of connection to the fade--It takes the appearance of covering her hand with a green fire, though it does not harm her. This mark, called an anchor by Corypheus, can open and close Fade rifts, even manipulating them to cause massive damage to enemies nearby. She won't doing a lot of opening and closing of the Fade here, and probably won't get much use out of the Anchor, save perhaps using it as a lantern.

Ballet - This is a bit of magic from Ruby City. For her help in the event that took place shortly before she left, she was gifted a vial of magical liquid. When she consumed it, she was granted the ability to dance Russian-style ballet. Amusingly, she has no real idea what ballet is, beyond the fact that it's a dance that she is now skilled in.

Inventory:
-One set of armor, one set of everyday clothing
-One bow and quiver with arrows
-One dagger
-A silver ring that adds health whenever she makes a kill
-A ring made of mallorn bark
-A necklace that makes her a little more dexterous
-A collection of herbs and their seeds
-A wild hart that is an alarming shade of pink. Her name is Rumex, an ancient word for Sorrel, because Beleth is an asshole.

Anything else:

comments

Ruby City App

2015-01-10T10:25:49Z

PLAYER
Name: Ema
Age: 25
Personal Journal: None
E-mail: purple_sprinkles_08@yahoo.co,
AIM/MSN/etc: Skype: beautiful_in_death

CHARACTER
Character Name: Beleth Lavellan
Canon: Dragon Age Inquisition
Age: 27
Timeline: After the events at Haven, having just moved in to Skyhold, shortly after siding with the templars.
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: n/a
Personality: Beleth is, first and foremost, a polite elf. She knows what she's up against, and what people expect of a Dalish elf, and she takes great pains to try to show them that anyone, anywhere, can behave nobly. Even one of the 'savages' of the wilds. She's an easy person to open up to, and a good listener to boot. When she talks to you, she usually takes pains to make sure that you're comfortable speaking, and tries to say what you need to hear. However, for those whom she befriends, she focuses overly much on what you want to hear, and she struggles with telling people the truth when she knows that they would not like it. For this reason, she often keeps her opinions to herself, unless asked, until she can test out the waters, make sure that she doesn't slip up and say something that might cause arguments.

As one could imagine with a tendency to not ruffle feathers in conversations, Beleth in general achews conflict, and even outside of her inner circle, tries to take the diplomatic route. This too she can overly indulge in, and she has trouble knowing when to stop trying to bargain, and when to draw her bow. She constantly frets that if she takes action too swiftly, goes to violence too soon, that she will prove everyone right about the Dalish, that they'll say that it's true, all Dalish are savages who are easily provoked to violence.

She is, though, fiercely, powerfully proud of her people, the Dalish. She will, upon meeting another Dalish, instantly cleave to them, and consider them as good as kin, no matter their opinion on the subject, or on her. She is intensely interested in the forgotten lore of her people, and has been known to completely cast off whatever she had been doing to pursue this knowledge, whether it be speaking to someone who has gathered more knowledge than she has, or taking off to some remote temple. She dreams of the day that the elves will finally have their own land, and hopes that she could, with her power, bring that day closer to happening. She does not have as much love for city elves as for the Dalish, but she tries to be helpful to them. Sometimes this can come off as condescending, but her heart is in the right place, for Beleth loves the Elvish people, even those who have chosen to live among the humans.

While Beleth is a kind, polite person, she holds humans at arms length in terms of a deeper relationship. If a human wants to befriend Beleth, and get more out of her than polite decency, than it will take time to convince her that they are a friend of elves, are at least, not a racist asshole. While Beleth is nonconfrontational in most regards, there is one exception she makes, and that is when she notices people speaking cruelly of elves. She tolerates no racism, and will make a great scene of punishing these idiots as fully as she can, with whatever extent she is allowed. She rarely takes it to blows--Though if they intiate, she is quick to agree--But she will kick them out of her hold, and refuse them help, yelling and shouting with an anger rarely witnessed.

Beleth is considered to be the Herald of Andraste, often referred by those who believe as 'Her Holiness'. Though Beleth personally holds to the Elven gods, she understands that having an elf seen as the Herald of Andraste, that Andraste would choose a Dalish to be her emissary, would be a huge positive force, especially for those of her kin who do believe. And who is she to say that it wasn't Andraste who aided her through the Fade? Could the Creators and the Maker not work in conjunction? Either way, she is aware that her standing as a figure of religious fervor aids both the Inquisition, and her kind. Thus, Beleth never denies this title, and will affirm that she was chosen by Andraste to help save the world from the Breach. Her own thoughts are less important to her than the impact of her words to the rest of the world. She can only hope that this makes things easier for those of her people who have chosen to worship Andraste.

Beleth may be kind, but she demands respect. She has gone through the Fade and back to help out the world and to form this Inquisition, to seal the Breach, and by the gods, she will be given all due respect for it. She expects the people under her to follow her words, and those outside of the Inquisition to treat her as they would the leader of one of the growing forces in Thedas. She knows that her position is a delicate one, and she has to show that she is strong, that her forces are the ones who are going to save the world. She's still a soft-hearted person, though, but she will not hesitate to fire anyone disrespecting her, and cutting out anyone who won't give the Inquisition its due. She takes greater delight in proving just how needed they are, and has dragged people to some of the smaller fade rifts, and watched their faces as she has fought the demons spewing out of it, and then seal it. As she's the only one in the known world with the power to seal these rifts, she likes reminding people just how awful the rifts are.

There are things that you can't enjoy as a nomad, and as she has settled down in Skyhold for the moment, Beleth has taken the time to enjoy the finer things in life. Or at least, the things that you don't get while being a nomad with humans occasionally trying to run you down and kill you. She is fond of drink, though she takes great pains not to overindulge, and will often spend nights sipping at one drink, chatting up the people around her. Hot baths. Those are another thing that she enjoys, and often threatens to remain within until she grows gills. Thus far, she has not yet been forcefully extracted from one, though threats have been made. She knows little of the songs and stories of the humans, having spent most of her life within the Dalish, with their stories and songs. She immerses herself in them, and can often be found reading, or listening to the bards singing their stories (Samsons' Tale is a particular favorite of hers, perhaps because she dislikes Samson so much).

Her views on mages are complicated. On one hand, she firmly believes that they don't deserve to be caged like dogs, constantly watched, constantly controlled, like animal more than person. But the fact that they have the potential for danger is undeniable. However, as she has said once on blood magic, "If you criminalize something, the people who use it tend to, well, be criminals." She believes that the Dalish have the right of things, having one or two students training under an experienced mage. Perhaps something like that could happen for the rest of Thedas mages? She tends to defer to others more experienced in the mage situation, but she knows that something needs to be done, and what happened before simply didn't work. She chose the templars over the mages, but it was more out of fear that pouring more magic into the Breach would end up making an even bigger explosion. She does feel for templars, knowing that they can be good, or bad, just as mages can be, and that they do not have an easy lot in life, being forced to become addicted to lyrium. There must be some kind of compromise to be made, making sure that mages don't take over the world with blood magic and demons, without caging them like beasts.

History: Quick warning! There are Dragon Age spoilers in here.

The history of Beleth is tied to the Dalish, and thus, the history of elven kind. It was said, centuries ago, that the Elves were immortal, that they possessed great magics that mages of today could only dream of. They lived in Arlathan, the homeland of the elves, where they lived in harmony with nature, and were allowed to revere their gods in peace. Then the Tevinter Imperium came and elves spent centuries in slavery, until they agreed to help Andraste fight the Tevinters. Their reward was their own land in the Dales, which was hoped to be able to be a recreation of Arlathan. For 400 years, they had peace. But tensions with humans rose once again, and when the elves refused to worship Andraste, the humans led a crusade against them, destroying their new lands, and leaving them homeless, cast even farther from their culture and heritage than they were before.

The Dalish refused to settle among humans, and were forced to become nomadic. They have land ships called aravels, pulled by the halla, white deer that are held sacred by the Dalish. They travel around Thedas, rarely staying in one spot, but consistently staying away from Northern Thedas, where the Tevinter Imperium lies, for they still employ slavery, and are only too happy to capture rouge elves. Dalish clans are isolated from each other, and while friendly to one another, often differ in how they operate. Beleth's clan were on good terms with humans, and they would stop near villages, trading pelts and goods from the forest, though they always made sure to move on before they wore out their welcome.

That was the life that Beleth lived for most of her 27 years. She was a hunter, one of the most skilled with a bow among her kind. She was well known for her ability to slip through the woods, so quiet and quick with her bow that the creatures did not even know they had been killed. She was also one of the friendlier with humans, able to strike up conversations, and keep tempers calm. She often took part of the trading, her polite demeanor keeping the locales from getting upset. It was for these reasons that her Keeper, the elder of her clan, asked her to spy on the Conclave. The Conclave was a meeting, held by the Divine, the leader of the Andrastian church, to try to resolve the war that had erupted between mages and the templars. Beleth's Keeper knew that this would effect the Dalish and wanted to make sure that they knew what the word would be, before finding out on their own--possibly for the worse.

Up until then, Beleth had been a normal Dalish elf, happy with her lot in life, making do and hoping that one day, they would be able to claim a land for their own, and working to remember the old elvish ways. But the events at the conclave would shake her life forever. She has no idea what happened--She can't remember any of the events that happened. All that she knows is what people told her. The conclave blew up with an explosion so severe it rent the very sky, creating the Breach, and killed everyone who had been there.

Everyone, except her. She was spat out of the fade, and those who rescued her glimpsed a woman behind her, urging her out into the real world. It's become the general consensus that it was Andraste, who saved her, and gave her the mark on her hand that allowed her to close the Breach. Thus, she has become Andraste's Herald.

The truth of the matter, the truth that Beleth has yet to learn, is even stranger. The mark on her hand, called the anchor by Corypheus, was from an elven orb that Corypheus had obtained. His plan had been to use Divine Justinia as a sacrifice, and power the orb to open the Fade. From there, he would march in the Golden City, the city said to be occupied by the Maker himself, and become a new god, ruling over Thedas. But he had not expected Beleth, barging in right as Corypheus and his minions held the Divine, with the intent to sacrifice her. The momentarily distraction of Beleth allowed Justinia to smack the elven orb from Corypheus. Beleth scooped the orb up as it rolled, and the orb bound to her hand, giving her the mark, that allowed her to escape with the Divine into the fade, as the power of it unleashing caused the massive explosion that would level the temple the Conclave was held in.

Beleth and Justinia tried to escape the Fade but were besought by the demons in it. As they got to one of the rifts that would allow them escape, Justinia sacrificed herself to allow Beleth to escape. The woman that the people who retrieved Beleth from the temple saw was not Andraste helping her, but the Divine.

After that, things moved fast. Beleth became an integral part of the Inquisition, an organization set up to try to pull the world from the brink of chaos, and was now focused on the Breach, and the creature that had created it. They put an end to the templar and mage war by recruiting the templars into their ranks, exposing the corruption, both literally and metaphorically, of the higher ups of the order, people who had been turning the templars into monsters, to be used by none other than Corypheus. Using the templars now under their command, Beleth managed to seal the breach. It looked like the world was finally starting to regain some form of control.

They hardly had time to celebrate. Corypheus did not appreciate the Inquisition taking the templars from him, nor managing to close the breach. He took his army of Tenvinter Imperial cultists, known as the Venatori, and attacked Haven, the city that had become the stronghold of the Inquisition. Many lost their lives in the attack, and in order to save the remnants, Beleth faced off against Corypheus while the rest of Haven fled, knowing there was no way she could survive this altercation. But Corypheus' pride was his downfall for the evening. He was too busy boasting to the Herald to notice the escaping Haven citizens, and too busy to notice that the Inquisitor had positioned a trebuchet to fire on the mountains overlooking Haven, that would cause an avalanche of snow to cover Haven. Beleth managed to make the trebuchet fire while Corypheus spoke, forcing him to flee with his dragon. Beleth, not having a dragon, thought that this was the end, but miraculously managed to find an opened mine shaft, falling into it. Stunned but alive, she wandered out into the snow, and was rescued by searchers.

From there, she lead her people to Skyhold, a castle built high in the mountains, aided by Solas, who told her of the place. And there she stayed, working to make the inquisition an even greater force, always looking to gain enough power to be able to take on Corypheus and save all of Thedas from his aspirations to godhood.

Abilities:

Archery - Beleth is a skilled archer, having spent many years training and hunting in her clan. She has several moves that she has learned over the course of her travels.

Exploding Arrow: A powerful shot that explodes upon impact, damaging the target and all around it.
Long Shot: A single arrow that does more damage the father away it is from the target.
Leaping Shot: Beleth dives out of the way, releasing a hail of arrows on enemies trying to close in.

The Mark of Andraste - The ability that landed Beleth as the Herald of Andraste, and the Inquisitor. Her hand has some kind of connection to the fade--It takes the appearance of covering her hand with a green fire, though it does not harm her. This mark, called an anchor by Corypheus, can open and close fade rifts, even manipulating them to cause massive damage to enemies nearby, even killing them. Unfortunately, Ruby City has no connection to the fade, so this particular ability is useless. Within Ruby City, all it can do is make her hand glow. At least she won't have to worry about flashlights?

Relationships to Canon Characters: Beleth has collected a rag tag crew of strange but dedicated people who have pledged themselves to her cause. She's on friendly terms with most of her companions (save, perhaps, Sera, whom she can't seem to agree to disagree with on views of the Dalish), but she has a group of three people who are her closest friends, that usually come with her on her adventures to save the world.

Beleth's party was, before being taken to Ruby City, as follows:

Cassandra Pentaghast: Cassandra and her got off to a rocky start, to say the least. Something about being accused of killing the Most Holy and everyone else at the Conclave. But as they ran into danger, death, and dragons together, their bond strengthened. Beleth admires Cassandra's courage, determination, and really pretty eyes.
Solas: Another of the people, and though he scoffs at the Dalish, Beleth is fascinated by what knowledge he possesses of the ancient elves, often asking (and occasionally straight up pestering) him about everything he knows. She holds the knowledge of Elven lore dear to her, and he is a wealth of information that she enjoys listening to.
Cole: A spirit of compassion. Beleth doesn't entirely understand Cole, but she understands his sincere want to help people. She often gets flack for keeping a spirit around--Or a demon, as some insist on calling him--But Beleth trusts him and his compassion, often taking his advice, and trying to help him in turn, as he seems to worry about everyone but himself.

First Person: [Link]

Third Person:

Entering chantries always made Beleth nervous, to be honest. Before she had gotten into this whole mess, she would never had even considered such an act. What time did she have to spend on shemlen gods? But now that she had been declared a Herald of the Maker's bride, her thoughts were a little different. Still, she entered nervously, and she was glad that she was alone in this. She could imagine a companion's mocking voice asking, as she nervously toed into the santuary, What, are you afraid the Maker is going to strike you down?

But was that so odd to worry about? What if the Maker hadn't chosen her? Certainly, there were things that happened to her that one could describe as...well, miraculous. But was that the Maker? It could be her own pantheon, Andruil, or Mythal, even Sylaise, the hearthkeeper, the goddess to whom Beleth's vallaslin was dedicated to. Would the Maker punish her for claiming to work for him? Would the Elven gods punish her for claiming to not be working for them? That was unlikely--Not while they are locked up by the Dread Wolf.

But people have done worse, surely, and the Maker had let them free. That thought comforted her as she passed the pews, a few people sitting in them, heads bowed, murmuring supplications to themselves. They didn't notice her as she stepped forward, up to the alter, showered with candles, and a statue of Andraste raised up above. She stared up at the woman thoughtfully. Was that her? Was that the woman who pulled her from the Fade? Saved her life? The statue offered no comment, and it wasn't like Beleth could compare the statue to the woman who had helped her, for she bore no memory of it. Although, that might not have helped, either--It's not like these carvers knew what Andraste truly looked like.

Her gaze had caught the eyes of the clerics, and they recognized her easily. Few Dalish wandered into here, she supposed dryly, as they bowed down before her, thanking her for the visit. The woman's eyes darted among them. Humans, all. And then to the pews. There--There was an elf there, hands pressed together, wordlessly reciting the chant. Elves believed, yet how many were allowed power? Positions more than sitting there in the pew?

She could feel her heart steel within her, resolve growing. Was she the Maker's chosen? Was she just a freak accident? Beleth had no answers, but she didn't need them. She had the people's belief, and that was what mattered. As she urged the clerics to stand, she knew her path. She would be the Herald of Andraste that the people needed. That her people needed. Who needed to know a woman's thoughts? Who could measure the worth of one woman's beliefs against the needs of her people.

She padded quietly to the pew the other elf was in, and sat down next to her. The woman looked up, eyes widening in shock when she saw who her pewmate was. She opened her mouth, but Beleth raised a hand to quiet her. "Peace, sister. Let me pray with you." And they did. Together, with everyone watching, the two elves praised the Maker.

Blessed are they who stand before

The corrupt and the wicked and do not falter.

Blessed are the peacekeepers, the champions of the just.

Let it be known, that the Herald of Andraste was an elf. Beleth would make the Chantry realize that elves were there, that they deserved respect, that they were more than heathens. She would force the Chantry to accept elves, by Andraste, by the Dread Wolf, by any one who cared to listen, she would make people respect them, so help her.

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