Andaran atish’an

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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