ataraxion. application.

P L A Y E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Samm
OOC Journal: neveryourmuse
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: DID YOU KNOW I WAS 25 WHEN I FIRST APPED HERE, what the fuck.
Email + IM: neverrryourmask @ gmail, nneveryourmaskk @ aim
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Charles Xavier, Caprica Six, Rick Grimes

C H A R A C T E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Garrett Hawke
Canon: Dragon Age
Original or Alternate Universe: OU + AU clarifications due to malleable protagonist rules.
Canon Point: The conclusion of Dragon Age 2
Number: RNG me.

Setting: Thedas is a sprawling continent of sword and shield medieval fantasy world that conforms to a lot of typical high fantasy traditions -- humans, elves, dwarves, and some more unique races and creatures inhabit the population. Magic use is common, but politicised, dragons and giants are occasional problems, and there is usually a hero. There is a lot to cover, and so the below description covers what pertains mainly to Hawke.

Hawke grew up in Ferelden, his family always on the move before settling in a rural village called Lothering. Ferelden is a kingdom with a history of war, both from external forces as well as civil. It has seen unity in its recent history, out of pure necessity to fend off the coming Fifth Blight -- a phenomena that describes a period of time when demonic darkspawn plague a territory under the direction of an Archdemon. Hawke has grown up during the Fifth Blight and its aftershocks, fleeing his village and losing his sister to darkspawn when it was overrun.

From there, he spends the next several years in Kirkwall. With a grim history of being the hub of slave trade under the rule of magisters, it was reclaimed during a slave revolt and continued to exist as a vital trading port city. Nevertheless, the shadows of its history loom over it, making it a fitting stage for the battles and rebellions that take place there during Hawke's time.

The above descriptions introduce important concepts to the world of Thedas. A history of slavery, still enacted in some corners of the world, but outlawed in Kirkwall, present cultural clashes and dilemmas amongst the many others.

Mages are generally treated with suspicion and are required to join the Circle of Magi, under Templar control, especially if proven to be dangerous. Hawke avoids this fate due to being the protagonist, thanks Bioware, but also fate in helping the right people, convenience in being so inextricably involved in politics, and eventually, status as the Champion. Sometimes, that suspicion isn't entirely unfounded -- mages who delve into blood magic attract the outcome of turning demons loose onto the world, or turning into a monstrous Abomination themself.

The Templar Order is a military division under control of the Chantry, the main religious order of Thedas, which seek to control and contain mages. In the same way that some mages are harmless and some are incredibly dangerous, some Templars do good in this world, and some abuse their status and uphold oppressive laws.

The divide between these two factions ultimately makes up the political landscape of Kirkwall, and all of Thedas, and features in Hawke's story when he is faced with the need to choose a side to fight for.

History: The canon history of Hawke can be divided into the three chapters of the game itself and focus primarily on his rise from Ferelden refugee through to becoming the Champion of Kirkwall. Early life was a simple existence, born of a Ferelden mage father and a noblewoman from Kirkwall who ran away from home to be with the man she loved. Garrett was the eldest of two siblings -- Carver, his brother who has a tense, occasionally antagonistic relationship with Garrett, and Bethany, twin to Carver and only daughter who assumed their father's magical talents, as Garrett did as well. Malcolm Hawke is dead three years prior to the beginning of the game, survived by his wife, Leandra.

Garrett grew up in the small rural village called Lothering, and his family was forced to flee during the Fifth Blight as the horde of Dawkspawn overtook it. During their escape, Bethany was killed by an ogre. The rest of the Hawke family (as well as future companion Aveline, whom they run into) are surrounded by dawkspawn and facing death, when a dragon interferes and rescues them. She transforms into a human form, and offers them passage to a port town so they can continue their journey to the city of Kirkwall, where many refugees like themselves are fleeing. In return, Garrett must carry out a favour, and he agrees.

ACT ONE

In Kirkwall, Leandra expects that they will be able to make contact with her brother Gamlen and gain admittance as well as a place amongst Kirkwall nobility, but this is not the case, as Gamlen has gambled away the family fortune and estate. In addition to this, they have to pay off the fee for admittance into Kirkwall at all, due to the massive influx of refugees being turned away. For one year, Garrett and Carver work as contract mercenaries to pay off their debt, which they accomplish -- but they still require funds to reclaim their family home and name.

They agree to embark on an expedition into the Deep Roads with companion Varric and his brother Bartrand, for which they must buy in to be partners, an investment. So ensues their accomplishing of various tasks to raise this money, and in this time, Garrett's infamy as a capable man and hero starts to spread. He meets people involved in the brewing tensions between mage and templar and becomes involved himself in a number of small ways, exposed to the nuances of this political climate, if with a joke ready too.

Garrett meets Isabela, a pirate captain who drags trouble along with her like mud tracking in. He meets Fenris, an elf and former slave for a cruel magister, on the run and mad about it and super temperamental to romance. He meets Anders, a former Grey Warden mage who has a lot of feelings. He meets Merrill, an apostate Dalish elf new to the city, with a tendency to do blood magic. He meets Sebastian, who is a prince and not-Scottish and of the Chantry. He flirts with them all a little but pursues Fenris with heart eyes.

The expedition goes badly when Bartrand betrays them all and makes off with a Red Lyrium relic, but they survive the demons of the deep and collect enough treasure anyway for Garrett to reclaim his home and his family's noble name.

But not without a price. Carver contracts the taint of the Darkspawn, and is made a Grey Warden in order to save his life. Garrett expects never to see him again, but at least I can start referring to him as 'Hawke', now.

ACT TWO

Three years pass, Hawke having assumed the property of his mother's noble lineage, living out of the Amell estate as a recognised member of Kirkwall nobility. When the story resumes, hostility between Kirkwall and the Qunari is beginning to boil over. The Qunari describes a race within the world of Thedas, as well as their religion as followers of the Qun to which members of other races can still be converted. Their presence in Kirkwall was due to shipwreck, where they remained stranded, and seemingly await the opportunity to return to their own lands.

This turns out to be more complicated than that. After doing a task for the Arishok (the leader of this particular expedition of Qunari in Kirkwall), Hawke is informed that they cannot leave the city until a relic is returned to them.

On top of this, there is a trickle of Kirkwall citizens choosing to follow the Qun, and not the least of these being the Viscount of Kirkwall's own son, Saemus -- it is unclear if this is going to be used as political leverage in the event the Qunari become aggressive. Upon investigation, Saemus turns up murdered by a Chantry sister, Petrice, who intends to frame Hawke for his murder on behalf of the Qunari, staging that Saemus had come to repent. Hawke obviously does not have with this, and a battle breaks out, leaving Hawke the victor with Petrice stripped of her title, and then assassinated at the hands of the Qunari. This is another nail in the coffin of growing tensions.

While the political landscape rages on, Hawke's personal life also takes certain turns. After investigating a serial killer targetting women (with the token clue being a white lily), Hawke's mother Leandra also goes missing. She is abducted and used as part of a horrific experiment at the hands of a blood mage, Quentin, and when Hawke arrives, it's too late. Her reanimated corpse is briefly possessed by a demon, but once released, she passes away in Hawke's arms.

The Qunari eventually storm Kirkwall, but only after a final conflict sets spark to the powder keg in the form of two elvish prisoners who had fled to join the Qunari and thus were under their protection. Hawke actually stood up for these men, earning the respect of the Arishok, but it wasn't enough to prevent the battle that followed. The Arishok kills the viscount, and Hawke duels him in single combat for the protection of the city. Hawke's subsequent victory results in the Quinari leaving the city, and Knight-Commander Meredith naming him the Champion of Kirkwall.

ACT THREE

Almost three more years pass, and Knight-Commander Meredith of the Templars remains steward of the city, imposing stricter crackdowns on the Circle of Magi and mages in general, to the protest of Orsino, First Enchanter of the Circle. It became an ever escalating cycle -- efforts to control mages were oppressive and violent, and so many would turn to blood magic and other truly dangerous acts of magic to overcome Meredith's tyranny, or so was the view Hawke held.

An attempt to overthrow the Knight-Commander between mages and sympathetic Templars led to the deaths of many and mutual, bristling suspicions between the two factions beneath Orsino and Meredith (although this turns out not to be the work of either of them, but ironically, an attempt to bridge peace between mage and templar). Other such acts of rebellion continue to plague Kirkwall, and in response, the Divine of the Chantry (the main religion of Thedas) is contemplating instigating an Exalted March on Kirkwall, that would see mage rebellion violently put to rest. The Grand Cleric of the Kirkwall Chantry asks Hawke to meet with the Divine's agent, Leliana, and persuade her this won't be needed. Hawke does as asked, and helps fend off an ambush, but regardless of his attempts to convince her, Leliana leaves him with a warning: war is coming, and Kirkwall is not safe.

She was right, but sooner than expected. During yet another public row between Orsino and Meredith, the unthinkable occurs. One of Hawke's companions, Anders, destroys the Chantry in a gigantic magical explosion that kills the Grand Cleric and everyone in the building. It's his belief that there will never be peace, and that the conflict must come to a head if forward movements for mage kind can ever be made.

Meredith immediately calls for the Right of Annulment, which would see all of the Circle of Magi killed, and then demands that Hawke choose a side. Furious though Hawke is with Anders, he still of course sides with the mage rebellion, and spares his friend's life, allowing him to fight alongside him. All his companions do, including his then romantic partner, Fenris, despite the elf's impassioned hatred towards mages (who aren't Hawke).

The battle begins. Orsino, in an effort to protect his people, turns into an Abomination (the ultimate dangerous cost of blood magic) and forces Hawke to fight him. Meredith, driven mad by a weapon of Red Lyrium (the same Red Lyrium originally uncovered in the Deep Roads-- just-- don't worry about it) which she uses to enhance her own strength and agility, fights Hawke in one last battle. She is ultimately vanquished and, upon seeing what became of their apparently unstable leader, the Templars allow Hawke and his friends to leave.

And Hawke does. They all disband, save for Hawke and Fenris, who disappear from Kirkwall completely. It is their hope that the looming threat of an Exalted March won't come down on an already broken city, with their departure, which may or may not be so.

Hawke is too in space, now, to know.

Personality: Immediately, Hawke presents as a man who has been hardened against the awful things that go on in the world and his life to the point that it now brings out a sense of humour, or rather, has always brought out a sense of humour. Occasionally, a joke will be ill-timed and make a bad situation worse, but just as often, it will diffuse tension and turn a conversation towards the better. Other times, it can be used as hefty armour, a defense mechanism that has its practical uses -- it is not so much that Hawke is out of touch with his feelings or irreverent in a way that implies stupidity or insensitivity, but that it is a much easier thing to be witty, and perhaps he wouldn't mind for people to be as sharp humoured with him as he can be with them. It can be nigh impossible to have a straight forward conversation with him when it comes to some topics, especially very serious topics.

In contrast to what appears to be a bland insincerity in the way he talks about himself or situations that present themselves to him, Hawke makes a great listener. He is most sincere when inquiring after the problems and thoughts and feelings of his friends, and will listen patiently and interestedly to their unique stories. He will not always have the most unique insight to provide them, nor will he always empathise or understand immediately, but it doesn't take too many false starts to get to the heart of a thing.

He loves passionately and is fiercely loyal to his friends, and demonstrates occasional ruthlessness to his enemies that would betray him as an impulsive, impassioned person, but for the large part, he leaves feelings of fiery passion to the people around him. He runs off common sense, with a morality that steers towards the underdog and giving them the benefit of the doubt, especially when it comes to the downtrodden mage, but not to the point of harming others. He has killed a lot of people and is glad to take opportunities that spare people's lives, almost as glad as he is to murder a person who is spouting insane bullshit. Or happens to be a slaver.

The closest companionship he has out of all his friends is with Fenris, probably the least likely one of them all, and yet also the only romantic courtship Hawke has pursued. His open admiration for Fenris' wit (in spite of his dour nature), his ability to kill things awesomely, and his svelte figure all opened the door to more romantic interaction, and as they worked together, Fenris was able to at least ignore Hawke's soft spot for other mages and own mage-like nature in favour of appreciating that Hawke was ruthless when it came to slavers, and equally compassionate to the enslaved. Their conversations revolve around their pasts and the current events that relate to them, and Fenris demonstrates an ability to open up to Hawke that it's implied he hasn't with anyone else, encouraged by events such as during a confrontation that culminated with Fenris meeting his sister (and discovering her betrayals), Hawke stepped back and allowed Fenris to do what he would which happened to be violent murder, to the general disapproval of their friends. They eventually fell into each others arms, even if the relationship itself was not without turmoil due to Fenris' trauma, but eventually, battle-loyalty and a deft hand at handling Fenris (even when they argue) won out to the point that the elf found himself fighting on the side of the mages during the Kirkwall rebellion.

His other defining relationship for at least the first act of his story involves the tense rivalry he has with his brother, Carver. Carver's desire to get out from under Hawke's shadow as well as Hawke's status as a mage tended to drive a wedge between an already rocky relationship -- Carver tended to view Hawke's being a mage as somewhat Hawke's own fault, attracting trouble and negative attention from the Templar Order. Hawke's manner of handling his little brother was generally through blithe dismissal of his concerns, from backhanded comments and sharp rejoinders through to sharper reprimand, but occasionally also just taking the brunt of the kid's ire as part of his responsibility as older brother. After Carver became a Grey Warden, the brunt of his blame was directed at Hawke, yet again, for making the call to save his life in the way, although this time, there existed an ironic slant to these complaints.

The option to support the decisions of his companions is an option that this Hawke often took, perhaps in contrast to the fact he could not do so for Carver, or those of the Hawke family that died before. Occasionally for the worse, all the way from Aveline's misguided attempts at courting one of her guards through to unwittingly assisting Anders in his act of blowing up the Chantry. Ultimately, siding with them in small ways won their loyalty, which became invaluable in the end but was unpolitical at the time. Despite being a catalyst for the fate of Kirkwall and being involved in the lives of so many, minor and major, Hawke avoided being the judge of people's fates unless it truly rested in his hands. He has, by now, seen too many facets of the same argument to assume that each dilemma he runs into is black and white, and he knows, given the chance with regard to Bethany, to Carver, to Leandra, he would have liked to have had a choice in their fates too, and so he tries to give people chances and decide their own fates. So, for example, despite his own suspicions of blood magic, he trusts Merrill's ability and assists her in her mission to fix her magic mirror because it means so much to her, but steps in to fix things when it all goes fucking terrible.

Hawke has lost a lot, and the increasing burden of the death of his sister, the loss of his brother, the horrific end of his mother, do weigh on him, but he has a way with burdens. You have to, to be named the Champion of a whole city. Due to the ability to take on the blood magic specialisation during act three, I'm of the opinion that Hawke has by now internalised much of this grief to the point where he will gladly give away everything he has to protect the people he loves still in his life, as well as the city at large. It's hilarious heroism hedging into getting a little sad and carried away, with blood magic being literally self-sacrificial, but he never allows it to become a problem, being someone who has seen what blood magic can do, and doesn't know any temptation to stray that far. His very bold declaration to Meredith that mages turn to blood magic because they have to do it to protect themselves lends some credence to this interpretation.

But much of him hasn't changed, too ingrained and too useful to let go. He is a hilarious flirt, possesses a sense of humour that can be as silly as it is sharp, and deals with serious situations by attempting not to take them too seriously, and is always glad to highlight this to the people around him when given a chance (or a word in edgewise).

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: As a malleable protagonist, Hawke has access to advancing in various branches of magic, but there's a limit with regard to specialisation. Here, Hawke will focus on elemental magics in his capacity as a battle mage, with a specialisation towards becoming a force mage. What all that means is specified below. In general, these brands of magic are depicted as a flashy array of supernatural power, needing no command save for practice, knowledge, and inherent skill.

Short term limitations are based off a mage's mana. In a non-video game interpretation, this can be seen as an inherent quality that born mages possess, a sort of inner energy from which they draw their power. It means, simply, that larger, more powerful spells cannot be cast in too quick succession, and he will lose his ability to use magic if he uses it too much, experiencing spiritual burn out.

Fire and Ice: These two elemental forces are learned together and controlled in similar ways -- an aggressive command of two extreme elements, and Hawke has mastered them both. He can summon fire from above to rain down on his enemy, as well as direct concentrated balls of flame via his staff. He can manipulate ice in a similar way, from invisible wintry blasts that chill his enemy from the inside out, to generating defensive barriers of ice in short bursts.

Force Mage: This school of magic is a powerful manipulation thereof in its purest form, manifesting as brute strength shows of telekinetic ablity. Hawke possesses no fine control over this ability, but he can pummel his opponents backwards, create telekinetic barriers around himself and his allies to fend off attack, and create points in space that seem to draw people towards it to slow them down for moments at a time through gravitational manipulation.

Inventory:

Mantle of the Champion, a custom set of impressive armor that probably takes half an hour to put on, but by the Maker he will do it

An apostate's staff, taller than he is, with one end that channels and directs spellcasting and the other with a hooked blade for combat

Fancily decorated utility dagger

Blade of Mercy, a greatsword that Hawke gifted Fenris

Some clothing basics besides armour: trousers, shirt, belts, boots, cloak

His mabari war hound, named Dog

Appearance: Tall and muscular, Hawke is a white man with shaggy black hair characteristic of his family, and bright brown eyes, and appears to be in his early thirties. He often grows a beard. Here is the HD version of what he looks like. Supplementary PB may be Eric Bana, but otherwise, video game visage is what I roll with.

Age: ~30

AU Clarification:

Basic stats: male, mage, "purple" personality traits (charismatic/humourous dialogue options).

Companions: All companions remain friendly and allied.

Sibling: Bethany dies in the prologue; Carver lives, is taken to the Deep Roads wherein he contracts the Taint and is made a Grey Warden so as to spare his life

Romances: Fenris, with whom he disappears from Kirkwall

Sides with the mages during the Kirkwall Rebellion

S A M P L E S
Log Sample: [ Set during the current plot. ]

Sure, it made some sense, didn't it? As suddenly as Hawke had appeared here, perhaps it then made sense that he would appear elsewhere, and this was nice enough that for a moment he could believe it. Fire in sconces, light warm on grey stone. A silver rain outside slanting sideways against thatching, loud and thick. A place that is hidden. Secret, and safe, before they had to move on again, inevitably, always running. They made an obvious pair.

And still, Hawke had a headache, like someone was wedging a dagger through his skull from the base of his skull, or like he's spent a night trying to drink Varric beneath a table.

Beneath him was a lovely expanse of lean muscle and olive skin, the splay and spread of silvery lyrium markings that seem to brighten and respond to Hawke's own nearness. Fenris' hands are long fingered, and come up to grip his head between smooth palms. Doggish, Hawke lists into embrace, hands pinned on either side of narrow shoulders, feeling bulky and clumsily human made more so by still beneath trapped in his own leathers and fur.

Then he sees it. Crimson droplets strike Fenris' shoulder, streak against collarbone. Blood, at a trickle, from his own face.

Naturally.

"Sorry, this is going to be a little awkward," he says, "but it turns out you're the embodiment of wishful thinking, and I'm in space."

The elf's hands firm, a cynical wrinkle developing above the flat slope of his nose. What are you talking about, Hawke. Lower, lower, Hawke is coaxed lower, and he closes his eyes, and imagines against the kiss that is coming. He imagines the Fenris here, the one that can hardly stand him, and he thinks he can imagine him, pacing, pacing, in a corridor

just like this one

that Hawke opens his eyes to, on all fours, the hard floor empty beneath him save for where blood is spattered. He sniffs.

Back to work, then.

Comms Sample: A whole new world. Linked with permission.