#v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor )

[ourdawncomes]

since we are talking abt early inquisition and i was talking this w/ joly earlier: thora drafts an escape route for solas early in inquisition after promising to protect him, detailing ways for him to get out safely should his status be compromised. with her background as both a smuggler and a smuggler of mages through the mage underground it was only natural that one way she looked out for his safety was through that talent. it also doubled as her escape plan, one she knew she’d never actually use so long as she was the only one who could seal the breach, but it sure did help her cope.

this actually saved her life in haven as when she fell into the collapsed tunnel after the avalanche she recognised the shaft she’d fallen into as one she’d marked for him, making navigating it to the outside a simpler affair.

#[ thora: i'll protect u solas #solas: lmao ok sure #thora like a week later: ok so the best way to get out is through here but if you're cut off then you can go through this way and- #solas: wtf ] #write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #[ got two days off tomorrow / thursday so im going to be on solas writing tomorrow #and here thursday ]

[cloudgazercadash]

Does THORA ever have a moment where they believe they might actually be Andraste's chosen? If so, what inspires it?

Not really, but also yes?

Thora believes in the Maker, and Andraste, her doubt stems from her own sense of self-worth (or lack thereof) that was, in part, instilled in her by the Chantry. Dwarves are not the Maker’s children, at best, the Maker made the Stone, and the Stone made the dwarves– so like the Maker’s grandchildren, only the ones no one talks about. After all, the dwarves aren’t in the Chant. They aren’t allowed to join as sisters, even though many surface dwarves are part of the faithful.

When they start calling her the Herald, she doesn’t believe them, because she barely felt worthy to sing the Chant herself until then.

The closest she comes to believing would be after In Your Heart Shall Burn. She’s just outwitted Corypheus, survived an avalanche, and woken to find an Inquisition divided but quickly rallies around her. The song they sing is inspires a truly religious moment for her, and probably the closest she’s ever felt to feeling the Maker’s gaze upon her. It doesn’t last, and Solas quickly steals her attention, but that is the catalyst for Thora to find her own self-worth.

She may not believe she’s the Herald of Andraste, but she begins to believe she’s worthy of being Inquisitor.

#[ tbh ppl make fun of the singing but everything from meeting corypheus to solas leading you to skyhold #to becoming inquisitor??? probably one of the most moving points in bioware history for me #definitely the most moved i've ever felt on a protagonist's behalf ] #valorcorrupt #v; once more unto the breach #like dust i'll rise ( thora ) #( headcanons )

[ourdawncomes]

HEADCANONS: THORA AND COMBAT

After writing that fic exploring Thora in battle from Solas’ perspective I wanted to talk more about it in a headcanon format. A lot of it has been touched on before because her distaste for it on a moral and purely visceral level influence her decisions as Inquisitor. The following contains discussion / references to vomit so don’t read this if it makes you ill thinking about it!

As a warrior her talent is middling. Adding to this, her style is obviously self-taught at the beginning of Inquisition and obviously clunks. Her greatest talents both in the Carta and as Inquisitor were her negotiation skills and discretion rather than her abilities as a warrior, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a member of the Carta who didn’t know how to kill a man ten different ways.

Unlike in-game, she begins with a specialisation: Beserker. She adopts the style at the suggestion of Lantos when she’s still a girl due to blood and gore often making her sick. As she’s gotten older she’s learned to stomach it a little better, but there are still fights where after she’s woozy, or in worst case scenarios is physically sick. Getting blindingly angry (or blindingly something, she doesn’t actually always use rage) helps distract from the messy parts.

More than physical exhaustion battles leave her emotionally exhausted, often with unshed tears in her eyes and looking peaky. This is more pronounced when fighting humanoid opponents, Red Templars included, and later spirits.

She tries to hide all this at first, thinking it makes for an unleaderly, unheraldy first impression. The first person who catches her is Solas, who helps disguise any pauses with the excuse that he’s checking the Anchor on her hand. As Inquisition goes on the rest of the party does figure out it’s not just the Anchor, with party members like Iron Bull cottoning on quickly. She wouldn’t explain it to all of them, even as they become better friends, opening up to those she feels would best understand.

At Skyhold, rather than recruiting people to train her in a new specialisation, a Beserker from Orzammar is sent. I leave who open, I’m partial to the idea of Oghren (albeit the canon-divergent Oghren who exists in my head and wasn’t written as a bad joke). This improves her technique and makes her deadlier, although Thora’s never a master warrior nor does she particularly want to be. Her skills as Inquisitor and Herald lie always in her negotiation and compassion.

The quest that’s hardest on Thora to the point that she actually has trouble reaching what she needs to fight is Here Lies the Abyss. As I’ve mentioned before, Thora doesn’t see spiders in the Fade but the faces of her companions as they appeared in In Hushed Whispers. The entire time after the little nightmares show up, she’s having to put down people who look like her friends. At one point she has to stop to heave up every last drop of bile in her stomach.

Beserkers yell. A lot. At the end of a day where they fought a lot, Thora has a scratchy throat (often raw if she was sick, but most days she manages to control her gag reflex) and will sound noticeably hoarse, especially given her usual voice is round and warm.

Thora protects through damage output and crippling moves. She’s at a level where most opponents are at a disadvantage, more accustomed to fighting human-sized enemies. Often when people threaten others in the party her first move is to hit them from behind in the knees. It immunises the threat pretty efficiently, but it isn’t pretty.

Her main party through Inquisition rotates through Blackwall, Solas, Cole, Sera, and Cadri, sometimes having a bigger party than the game allows if discretion isn’t an issue. She works best with a sword and shield warrior to supplement the protection she can’t provide and a lot of barriers. After Solas leaves there are growing pains as she learns how to work with other mages after fighting side-by-side with him for three years. Ian will join the party as the only mage who sticks around.

To get the jump on enemies she sometimes leaps off a cliff and brings her hammer down on her enemies in a surprise attack, shielded by a well-timed barrier courtesy of Solas.

In case the above hasn’t made it clear yet: Thora hates violence. After Trespasser, the loss of her arm, and the dissolution of the Inquisition, she makes the decision that she’s going to avoid killing. She reluctantly takes up a hammer and relearns when Dagna’s prosthetic is functional, but she doesn’t reach for it much these days.

#emetephobia tw #write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #v; and then the dawn came ( thora | trespasser ) #[ i saw talk of combat so i figured i should finish this since its been in my drafts since november ]

[ourdawncomes]

24 & 35

24. what is their opinion on blood magic? would they ever use it, if given the chance?

The Carta semi-regularly employed apostates, either for healing, or magical knowledge, or to get an edge on the competition. We see this in Origins where Carta dwarves will occasionally be fighting alongside a mage, and I think from a practical viewpoint it makes sense. While certainly not all of these apostates were blood mages, I think it stands to reason that some of them were. It puts Thora in a position to have somewhat complicated emotions about the discipline, exposing her to some who used it in ways she was uncomfortable with and others who used it no differently than any other mage. Her opinion evolves from one of discomfort to... acceptance? I think there’ll always be something about it that gets under her skin, if you’ll forgive the pun, but it would be something practised by the people around her both in the Carta and then, later, post-Trespasser as she’s working outside dominant Chantry forces.

35. how do they feel about “the game”?

It’s no good! But also sometimes better than fighting!!

She’s glad the peace talks ended with the war over, no more soldiers sent to battle to die for Celene or Gaspard. She’s also glad she was able to spare the life of Florianne and, although she had been trying to vie for a position of power for Briala, she’s glad that roping her in seemed to have saved her life. She regrets Gaspard’s execution, and she’s also cognizant of the fact that there was a kitchen full of people she couldn’t save.

The diplomacy aspects of the Game are what Thora likes, that a problem can be solved without a drop of blood shed, but the sticking point is that it doesn’t actually go that way. In other parts of the Game beyond the Winter Palace, where she can charm a judge to do Josephine a favour and get things done without intimidation or battle, she’s more amenable to it.

#chiefambassador #( asks ) #write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #v; and then the dawn came ( thora | trespasser ) #v; dust to dust ( thora | youth ) #the dawn will come ( queue ) #[ had this in my drafts and im like... this looks finished why didnt i publish this... ]

[ourdawncomes]

At the Winter Palace the Inquisition wear uniforms designed by Thora’s sister, Sylvi. They don’t appear as the red-and-gold number we wear in game, but instead she opts for a white-and-gold theme. While trying to negotiate a truce in the midst of a civil war presenting an organised front felt important to Thora, she wanted people to be able to pick an Inquisition member from across the ballroom at a glance, be they human or qunari, and not question whether or not they belong.

However, she didn’t want complete homogeneity, either. It’s not accident that the Inquisition ended up with Dalish elves and literal spirits in their midst, and she doesn’t want that lost. Therefore, everyone is encouraged to put their own twist or accessorise as they desire. It likely has to pass Josephine’s standards test (put in place mostly because they were sure Sera would try something lewd).

For Thora’s part, she used make-up to extend her brand. We see in Orzammar that many Casteless choose to get their brand expanded, and while Thora doesn’t opt for ink, she does paint her brand up and over her brow so it resembles a crown across her forehead.

#write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #[ anyway now everyone has to tell me what their character would choose to wear ] #the dawn will come ( queue )

[ourdawncomes]

Stories of Thedas. Volume Two.

1. Campfire. (Read on AO3)

“I’ve got a story.”

The campfire flares as though in response, casting the small circle of companions in orange light as the Herald leans forward, bracing herself on her knees. Her eyes sweep across the faces of the people she’d come to know so well so quickly, a self-satisfied grin steals across her expression as she notes how they all turn to listen. Those who’d busied themselves with their hands paused their work, looking across the fire to where Thora sits. It’s a new feeling for the dwarf, who had learned long ago that the closer you are to the ground the less likely they are to listen. She lets the prelude hang pregnant in the air, cutting through the atmosphere mired in tales. Some real, some legends, all with a touch of fantasy that made one question which were which. When the time’s right, she sits up a little straighter, feigning hesitancy. “Though I’m not sure any of you’d believe me if I told it.” “Stop playin’ and tell us already,” Sera moans. “Before Varric tells another.” The man in question laughs. “Come to think of it, there was that Pride demon in Darktown.” With a dramatic groan, Sera throws boot over his head, only encouraging his laughter. When at last contains himself, he throws an apologetic look Thora’s way, grin still creasing the corners of his eyes. “We’re all ears, Sunflower.”

She’s biting back a grin, herself, struggling to contain herself for the sake of the mood. “Alright,” she begins, collecting herself. “This was in Ferelden, Amaranthine, in the days not long after the Blight. Ferelden was a strange place to be in those days, the memories from the Blight still hung heavy over its people, but there was hope, too. All the more since the Hero of Ferelden had chosen to make the arling her home.” She’d worried for a time if operating so close to a new Warden stronghold was wise, but as it turned out Wardens needed lyrium, too, and even after they’d saved the world official channels were still reluctant to relinquish any power. That’s where the Carta steps in. Same was true of the Conclave. A finger in every pie, that was the Carta motto, sometimes two if things seemed especially promising. “Good thing she did, too, or I’m not sure I’d have made it out of Amaranthine alive.”

Thora rocks back in her seat, eyes sweeping across the faces of her companions, wondering to herself if this is how the Hero felt during those days in Ferelden. Retiring to a well-lit campfire, surrounded by the strangest collection of people Thedas had to offer.

“It was in the weeks after the Darkspawn sieged Amaranthine that it happened. Cool Harvestmere evening, not so different from this one, when a stranger approached our camp. He had a hood on, threadbare, pulled all the way over his face so all we could see was the shadow cast by the fire. He asked for a bit of shelter from the road, and I couldn’t see a reason to refuse him.”

A disbelieving snort shoots from Varric’s nose. “Let me get this straight,” he says. “A mysterious stranger oozes from the shadows asking for a place at your fire and you just… let him?”

“My mama taught me the meaning of the word ‘hospitality,’ Master Tethras.”

Varric breathes a sigh, though he can’t fight his amusement anymore now than he could before. “I suppose it explains the company you keep.”

“Mhm, now, as I was saying.” She doesn’t continue right away, trying to seize her train of thought where it had left her behind. “He asked for shelter, and we let him. We’d… lost someone escaping Amaranthine, and had a bedroll to spare. It only seemed right. He was polite, a little odd, we taught him how to play Diamondback with only a half-deck of cards, never saw a man so happy to win a couple coppers, but times were hard enough I couldn’t say I was surprised.” Thora recalls how he fumbled them between his fingers like he was unaccustomed to the sensation of his fingers in thick leather gloves, after he put them away he kept patting his pocket just to make sure he could still feel the impression of them in his coat. “He thanked us before bed, and by morning he was gone. Not too out of the ordinary, most people have business on the roads. Only I noticed the grass where he’d pitched his tent had wilted overnight, like winter came early. In the weeks that followed we heard rumours, talk of Darkspawn who spoke King’s Tongue, and a friendly stranger who seemed to always precede a sudden breakout of the Blight.”

As she finishes her tale, a quiet settles over the camp. Varric’s face had grown paler in the telling, the dwarf uncharacteristically silent as he avoided her eye.

“Intriguing,” Solas says, “that is, of course, assuming it is true.”

“Would I lie to you, Solas?” She winks his way. “Could be he’s still wandering Ferelden, maybe we’ll meet up again. Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

#storiesofthedas2 #storiesofthedas #( my writing ) #like dust‚ i’ll rise ( thora | ic ) #into darkness‚ unafraid ( thora | companions ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #[ i dont expect to do every day but i wanted to write a short little something for day 1 #to declare my intentions to at least fill like a handful of the prompts #anyway thora inviting a darkspawn to play diamondback w/ her was very iconic of her if i do say so myself ] #v; dust to dust ( thora | youth ) #[ just b/c shes referencing her time in the carta / awakening ]

[ourdawncomes]

thora’s relationships within the inner circle

based on her perception of their relationships, and subject to variation depending upon interpretation. i went with a non-romanced playthrough for simplicity’s sake.

updated based on her latest playthrough!

template | artist

#become the storm you are hiding from ( thora | about ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #into darkness‚ unafraid ( thora | companions ) #the dawn will come ( queue ) #[ ok well i missed the arrow and did not queue this ] #[ dislike is honestly a strong word for vivienne but like she does some pass-aggro things to thora #they end up being sort of friends. but only when they dont talk abt politics... ] #[ respect is also a strong word for cullen. she respects him... in some respects lkjsdf ]

[ourdawncomes]

HEADCANON: THORA CADASH

❝ Every great war has its heroes. I'm just curious what kind you'll be. ❞

Those words spoken by Solas to Thora at the start of the game are a sentiment she takes almost the entirety of Inquisition to grapple with. 

Since she woke up from calming the Breach, there is a reverence to how people have treated her unlike anything she’s ever experienced, but Solas is the first to put it into words so plainly: they expect a hero, and she’s not sure she has it in her. In the moment, she jests, asking if she’s riding on a shining steed, but it is a question she takes seriously from day one as Herald, no matter her personal beliefs about her supposed chosen status.

She tries to do right by the world around her, for the first time in her life she’s equipped with the means to accomplish what she’s felt unable to before. In Kirkwall she and her brother would pass by veterans and refugees in Darktown with hardly two coins to rub together and move on because they barely had more themselves. In the Hinterlands, she secures blankets and food for the refugees in the Crossroads, but for the most part she’s working within her old wheelhouse. As a former Carta she’s able to charm Ritts into working with the Inquisition and convince Dennet to come tend to the Inquisition’s horses personally through her knowledge of the underworld.

Her first real chance is at Redcliffe. The red lyrium future haunts Thora for years after, she sees her companions as nightmares in the Fade at Adamant, yet her decision to ally with the mages is her proudest moment as Herald. In the immediate aftermath there’s anxiety and tension, especially as people like Cassandra and Cullen make their disagreement clear, but she still knows she did the right thing. There’s a lot she regrets in the years after about her time as Inquisitor, but never that. Yet at the time, it isn’t a moment where she felt particularly heroic. It was a quest marked mostly by failure and death, and the consequences thereof. She comes out of it thinking it’s her companions who are the real heroes of the story, after all, it’s just like Varric says: it’s the heroes who don’t make it out alive.

Sealing the Breach was much the same. She’d tried herself before to no avail, without the mages’ aid they’d be no closer than they were before. Yet in quiet moments she was able to tell herself that it was her word that sealed their alliance with the mages, that she played some part in this victory. When Corypheus attacks, she offers herself as a distraction for their escape. Her encounter with him is terrifying, but the point where Thora feels a spark of the belief people have placed in her is in the snow afterwards. Alone, exhausted, she isn’t sure if it was the Maker who brought her safely to the Inquisition’s camps, or if she did it herself.

When all eyes in the camp turn to her, their voices united in song, it’s an uncomfortable moment for Thora, still used to being in the shadows, but it’s a religious moment too. A complicated, conflicted one, but it’s the closest she’s ever come to thinking that maybe the Maker can see her, after all.

By the time she’s named Inquisitor she knows the hero she’s pretending to be in hopes of becoming her. It’s strange, because after that point most of her largest decisions are the ones leaving her feeling the worst. She takes the Wardens in, but alienates one of her closest friends in doing so. She saves Celene’s life, but is forced to work with Briala from the shadows (if they can ally at all). She drinks from the Well to spare anyone else the fate Solas warns her of, but costs the elves ownership of their history in trying to protect the ones she loves. Her moments of heroism, of feeling good about what she’s doing, come as she’s helping her friends or aiding people like Fairbanks. She molds Skyhold into a place where former Circle mages start families and where Dalish elves invoke Sylaise’s name as they warm themselves by the fires of her fortress. While she feels strongly about the importance of the Wardens, there is unease in her actions. These quests are less about answering the question of what kind of hero she is, but what kind of leader.

The true apotheoses of Thora coming to recognise herself as worthy of being thought of as hero are more personal moments. On the search for Ameridan’s final resting place, she thinks initially to find a human hero, perhaps a man born with a silver spoon in his mouth or someone more along the lines of the Champion of Kirkwall. When the truth is revealed, it’s both devastating and restorative.

It’s devastating to think that history erased Amerdian’s race and religion to something more palatable to Andrastrian sensibilities. It’s horrifying to consider they may one day do the same to her. Yet there is no question in her mind that Ameridan, who she shares so much with, was a hero. It doesn’t seem so far-fetched that she may be, too.

The second is after Descent, when she takes Solas (and potentially others) to Cadash Thaig and uncover her family history after Valta shared what little she knew about their exile. It’s there through Solas’ dreams she learns about Shale, who gave their life and body to save their kingdom and drive back the Darkspawn, the family who wouldn’t let their name go forgotten, and the Cad’halash, ancestors who locked blades with Kal-Sharok to save the elves they’d taken in out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s there she learns that her path these past few years isn’t an aberration or mistake. Heroism is and always has been in her blood, the will to do good that’s so strong it’s lasted through exile and near extinction at the order of their kin.

Thora has believed in the Stone and the ancestors since she was a child, but due to how ancient her clan’s exile was, there was never anyone to believe in. She found them, and in finding them she found herself: the dwarf who promised to stand for Thedas.

#v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #become the storm you are hiding from ( thora | about )

[ourdawncomes]

thora cadash + smiles

#the sun ( thora | visage ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #the dawn will come ( queue )

[ourdawncomes]

THORA & THE LAST TWO YEARS

Thora diverges from canon in that she completes the events of Jaws of Hakkon and Descent before the defeat of Corypheus, giving her plenty of time to pursue other matters of importance to her which were less pressing than earthquakes in the Deep Roads and a dragon-god invasion.

Her Inquisition timeline lasts three years and change rather than one, putting Corypheus’ defeat in midwinter of 9:45 Dragon (having started by my timeline in August of 9:41 Dragon).

Thora’s main party throughout Inquisition varied, but she almost always had Solas with her. It was his responsibility to care for the Anchor in case it reacted strangely with anything they encountered, and they had good chemistry both in and out of battle. The vibe of her party changes with him gone, it’s often a little sadder as in his absence she does lose her best friend, but she’s still in good company. She finds herself missing him a lot through the next few years.

Ian ( @theshirallen ) takes over many of the duties Solas once bore, having been taught how to manage the Anchor through more practical means which supplemented Solas’ innate control over it. Ian often accompanied the Inquisition before then, but it isn’t until after Inquisition that the two started to become close friends.

She also grows closer to Iron Bull and Sera.* While she never disliked Sera, she often found herself at a loss when in her company, but through Inquisition she found herself starting to connect and understand her more. Bull was often kept at arms’ length (often unfairly) because of his place with the Qun, but after the events of his personal quest she relents. They don’t always quite connect (he doesn’t like it when she asks what’s wrong) but they do start to forge a friendship. More often than not, they accompany her, Ian, Cadri, and Cole.

As the months go by, she starts losing more friends. In what order varies, Dorian returns to Tevinter, Varric to Kirkwall, Blackwall comes and goes as he works on fixing past mistakes. From in-game dialogue it seems like Sera, Iron Bull, Cassandra, and Cole are the companions which remain the closest at hand. There are indications that they, especially Cole, wander, but I honestly headcanon that companions were sometimes deployed as agents during Inquisition itself so I think of it as akin to that.

Thora returns to the Free Marches for some time, sealing Rifts there and in northern Orlais, and securing weapons that can heal Rifts beyond her reach. I imagine she does so around about the time Varric or Dorian leaves, so she can see them off in the Free Marches rather than Ferelden.

In the Free Marches she visits her family, she stays with her sister Sylvi who has since moved back to Ostwick, and makes sure to stay hello to her father and Lantos, who is distant family but family all the same.

Her most important diplomatic trip is to Orzammar. She established ties with King Bhelen after the events of Descent, and the two eventually decide to meet. Sera, Ian, Cole, and Iron Bull accompany her, as well as Gorim Saelac, the official head of House Tamar after his Paragon wife’s death. She has conflicting feelings about what she sees, even if a lot of it is what she expects, but she can’t deny she was proud to finally lay eyes on the city. Her hands shake as she peruses through the Shaperate, barely able to believe her luck. The party stays in a suite provided by Queen Rica Brosca, who Thora strikes up a friendship with.

The artefacts they collected over the course of Inquisition are for the most part surrendered, excepting dwarven ones which Thora can reasonably lay claim to (although some of them are also parted with when she comes to Orzammar). The Staff of Tyrdda Bright-Axe was given to Stone-Bear Hold years ago, the recreation of Suledin’s Blade is given to either Keeper Hawen or was given to a companion Lavellan upon its forging, etc.

Thora continues her studies, learning more about language and history while her knowledge of nobility admittedly falls a bit to the wayside. She begins to be able to grasp more of what the Well of Sorrows is telling her. Over time, she begins to suspect Solas may have been an ancient elf along the lines of Abelas, mostly drawn from what she learned of him over the course of their friendship. In hindsight though she wonders if the Well had something to do with her hunch.

* This is obviously subject to interpretation and I don’t hold any writers of this character to any of these notes.

#v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #v; and then the dawn came ( thora | trespasser ) #write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #into darkness‚ unafraid ( thora | companions ) #( long post ) #[ to be updated later w/ more info abt cadri ]

[ourdawncomes]

4, 9, 16, 25, 44, 49, 50

4. What are their views of the Chantry?

Despite Thora’s status as an Andrastian, and a fairly devout one at that, her perspective of the Chantry is still that of an outsider. Not as much as an outsider as a Dalish elf or a born follower of the Qun, but an outsider nonetheless. Like elves and qunari, dwarves are not included in Chantry customs or lore, not even being referenced in the Chant of Light itself. Thora herself grew up never attending Chantry services in-person, instead listening to the Chanters on street corners and worshipping in private, it isn’t until Inquisition she attends them and by that point her own way of keeping the faith is such habit.

Her view of the Chantry is that it lost its way. At the beginning of Inquisition she thinks it’s more recent, that at some point in near history the Circles turned against what they had been founded for and that the Chantry has become something meant to maintain power than spread charity and hope. Through the game she begins to realise it lost its way a long time ago, when the first Circle was built or when the second Exalted March was declared.

She isn’t in favour of dismantling it entirely, but would approve of and advocate for a reduction in the Chantry’s political power and a complete disbanding of its military. Even when she approves of the politics of Divine as is the case with Leliana the fact that one person can have that much power means that if the next person comes along and feels differently, everything’s undone. Similar to the reasons that she disbands the Inquisition, something as unaccountable as the Chantry can’t really be allowed to persist as it is.

9. Did they have Bull sacrifice the Chargers or the Dreadnought?

Thora almost doesn’t go. Had the Qun not offered forward the opportunity to strike a blow against the Venatori, she probably wouldn’t have, feeling any alliance with the qunari would inevitably cut both ways. Unsurprisingly, she chooses to save the Chagers, although it’s not an easy decision. If I can like stand on my soapbox for a second, I find this being one of the decisions that people will judge you for choosing the opposite missing the part where a boatful of people die if you sacrifice the Dreadnought. Now, sacrificing the Chargers also kills what’s likely a similar number, it’s implied the Chargers are a larger company than the half dozen we meet in-game, but my point is that your Inquisitor probably shouldn’t come away from that quest feeling good.

Thora doesn’t. She is sorry for the lives lost and the people who will mourn them back home, but ultimately felt that when the lives of civilians aren’t on the line her people take precedence. On a cold, practical note, she completes this quest sometime prior to What Pride Had Wrought, and that kind of blow to morale that close to a battle would bode poorly. But she can’t call what she did the “right” decision, because there wasn’t one.

16. How do they react to the corruption of the Wardens? Why?

It’s upsetting. Thora’s default Warden is Joly’s Aeducan, Tamar, who apart from being a shining example of what a good Warden can be is also a Paragon. That not all Wardens live up to the example set by her and later Blackwall (who she fully believed was a Warden) was a massive letdown to say the least. She had considered becoming one herself after the Blight, only deciding against it because she didn’t want to be unable to see her family. She’s glad she didn’t, now.

25. What makes them lose trust in someone?

When you take Blackwall and Solas into account deception alone apparently isn’t enough. I’ve explored it in fics, both lie about who they are but not how they feel, and in spite of that she still reflects upon the time she spent with them and feels she knows them both. Perhaps more than he cared to be known in Solas’ case. She can’t say neither deception hurt, but even when her faith in them wavers it doesn’t break.

Making and breaking commitments will cause her to lose trust. Tetrak and her always promised to watch one another’s backs, and him leaving shattered the relationship they had as brother and sister and salrokas. People who make promises they can’t, no, won’t keep will erode her trust faster than lying to her. The people in the Carta who lied to you were a dime a dozen, she lied about herself plenty, but if you kept your word you were golden. The people who promised the world and turned up with empty hands were the ones you had to watch out for.

44. How do they think their race plays into being Inquisitor?

She navigates a strange place in both being dwarven but not dwarven enough by the standards of the “traditional” dwarf. As a Carta dwarf she’s not recognised by the dwarven Surface “nobility” but as one put in a position of power her connection with the people she ran with isn’t as complete as it used to be. She wears armour that was fitted for her and not scavenged, she has coin, and while she builds up those connections again through Inquisition and after they contribute to her isolation during the early parts of the game. It’s important to note that it’s race and class that play into her role. Her experience would be very different if she were a dwarf of Varric’s status, for example. 

And then, of course, to humans she’s a dwarf. Sometimes conveniently not dwarven enough to have her dual faiths respected (I’m not quite sure how Cassandra would react to Thora believing in the Stone and the Maker, but in-game if you choose to say you believe in the Stone Cassandra undercuts it with “but aren’t you a Surface dwarf” so), but then also too dwarven to be respected as a human might. Her skills must be in her abilities as a warrior and not a scholar, or as a thief and not a negotiator, even though Thora’s true shining moments as an Inquisitor come from her bookishness and striving for pacifism.

They try to fit her into boxes she’s too big for. They can’t be surprised when she climbs out of it.

49. What is their least favourite foe to fight?

Spirits and demons, of any sort. They’re the ones she has zero experience with, she’s fought Templars in Kirkwall, the Carta’s been seen to employ apostates so she’s fought mages, and she’s locked blades with the occasional Darkspawn in her time. When the Breach opened she’d never seen them before, they were nightmares in the Chant and nothing else.

It gets worse when Solas tells her they’re people, and worse again when she actually starts to believe him.

50. Are they proud of what they accomplished?

Yes and no. There are some decisions which will never sit right with her— Halamshiral, for example. She’s not sure what she could go and do different if she had the chance, and wonders if letting Briala continue her work from exile is better than if she could go back and secure her a position as ambassador or marquise, but it doesn’t stop her from regretting it. That quest is also the instance where she is reminded that her accomplishments are already being rewritten, the mages she allied with are now enemies she vanquished on the lips of the herald who announced her entrance.

Some things, like her alliance with the mages, she is genuinely proud of and the good it does alone is enough to make her think it was worth everything else. The Wardens look to be reevaluating their Order, and hopefully improving what wasn’t working (at least south of Weisshaupt).

She’s worried too much pride will make her complacent, especially because everything she accomplished she hardly did alone. It’s hard not to feel good when she’s walking through Skyhold and seeing the beginnings of what she hopes is a better Thedas starting within its walls.

#( long post ) #ofrevas #( asks ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #become the storm you are hiding from ( thora | about )

[ourdawncomes]

THORA CADASH + ABILITIES

Earthshaking Strike. Your great blow tears open the ground with a shockwave that batters enemies caught in its path.

#gif tw #[ how does she do this? its a mystery ] #[ i like to think its something she learned with the anchor and she loses it post-trespasser but this is just a hc. in game bull does it too #and then with him and solas who i make inferno in the party its just fire particles everywhere ] #the sun ( thora | visage ) #write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #the dawn will come ( queue ) #[ anyway lisa hadnt heard of this ability so this is for them ]

[ourdawncomes]

SPOTIFY WRAPPED | selectively accepting

@theshirallen​ asked: 🎁 - Down to the River to Pray / alison krauss

“The Light shall lead her safely Through the paths of this world, and into the next. For she who trusts in the Maker, fire is her water.”

Her song is soft against the world’s, barely audible over the sound of river water tripping over stones. Thora sits in a Chantry made of wood pillars and soft earth, its windows branches which filter the light through their leaves. The trees that mark its borders are taller than the walls of the Grand Cathedral itself, old enough that they may remember the day Andraste’s ashes were carried through their midst, to what should have been their final resting place.

Old enough to remember Ameridan.

His final prayers, etched in Veilfire, echoes in her mind in pairs. A call and response, though the second verse is more hesitant, still unfamiliar to her.

“And before them, empty, Outstretched lay the land Which led to the gates of Minrathous.”

It isn’t until the birdsong above goes silent that she hears a twig snap in the clearing. Breath suspended in her throat, she whips around, met with the sight of a wolf loping into view. Something in her remembers Redcliffe, the teeth that sank into a hand that had only offered help, and that something twitches for her dagger. It’s a something she ignores, working a slow breath through her lungs, she manages a smile. “Ian—”

An uncomfortable twinge pulls at her gut as it dawns upon her that she hasn’t seen him properly since this all ended. Their respective roles had kept them apart, though he’s no doubt heard the news, she’s certain it’s still ringing from the lips of every elven soldier in the Frostbacks. “I’m sorry,” she says, never sure if Ian can understand her when he’s as he is now. “I thought I was alone.”

#like dust‚ i’ll rise ( thora | ic ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #( asks ) #theshirallen

[ourdawncomes]

( HOLD ) @ thora!

SEDUCTION MEME | selectively accepting | @shieldtheself

The battle is over, but her body fights on. The adrenaline that flooded her veins leaves her aching and empty. Her hands ball in her lap to combat how she trembles, elbows held out, stiff and straight, as she counts her breath. The stink of death coats her nostrils, constricting her throat and turning her empty stomach. While she stares with an even gaze at the fire blazing before her, her mind races with the memory of war. Every crack of flame snapping their kindling is an arrow loosed from its bowstring. It makes something in her jump, and maybe it’s that paranoia which feels Blackwall’s eyes upon her, watching from beneath a knitted brow.

“I’m alright,” she assures him, flashing a brief white smile she hopes will assuage the worry in his eyes.

“Of course you are.” Blackwall speaks with a conviction stronger than hers as he reaches out, slipping her hand in his with deceptive softness. It’s the same hand that not so long ago guided the sword that cut the life from their enemies, yet he wields it tenderly now. Maybe that’s the contradiction which beats in the heart of any warrior, whether they fight for the Carta or the Wardens. He holds it like a flower in his hand, and it opens for him, fisted fingers uncurling in the dark. The crescent-shaped memory of her fingernails still dig into her palm, she sees them for an instant before he lays his other hand over hers, enveloping it between his.

It does not still her, not right away. She shakes with weakness unbecoming of a Herald, but in between numbered breaths she meditates on the warmth of their hands laid together.

Slowly, she forgets the smell of death that followed her back to camp, and the voices of her companions engaged in easy conversation ring louder than the memory of violence in her ears. With a steady hand she stretches out and rests it over his, anchoring them together as the evening bleeds into twilight.

#shieldtheself #( asks ) #like dust‚ i’ll rise ( thora | ic ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #[ i am full of nothing but soft things ] #( my writing )

[ourdawncomes]

playing through valammar and i found this. the theory that thora / all cadash inquisitors are con artists tricking humans into thinking they can close rifts might be my favourite.

#( ooc ) #become the storm you are hiding from ( thora | about ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #( tas plays dragon age )

[ourdawncomes]

I’ve been continuing my Thora replay and had some thoughts that I may either expand upon later or just don’t deserve 200+ words detailing them.

Having had the low approval Vivienne cutscene this time, getting her quest and having Thora carry it out as instructed and her be there for Vivienne during Bastien’s death felt really sweet.

What really twists the knife during Blackwall/Thom’s quest is whatever comment he throws at you (dependent upon your war table choices), calling you corrupt or a criminal. Moreso if it’s a romance, but irregardless she’s hurt by it when she ultimately decided that freeing Thom was the morally correct decision.

Varric’s quest is a real big ball of uncomfortable feelings for Thora, she doesn’t like being lied to by people who are (in the weird, wobbly world of Surface dwarves) technically a higher caste than her but honestly just wishes Bianca had been forthcoming about that, everything else was just an honest mistake.

I struggled for a long time with Sera and Thora’s relationship and how to characterise it, but now that I’m working with a lot of 18-21 year olds at my job (and turning 28 next month) I realise that it was this dynamic. The “I’m getting old and the youngsters confuse me and I worry for you but I like you as a person” dynamic.

She’ll literally never be happy with the results of Halamshiral, no matter what result she gets in that particular playthrough.

#[ pt to be continued once i get joh working again lmao ] #( ooc ) #write me down in history ( thora | headcanons ) #v; once more unto the breach ( thora | inquisitor ) #[ sera could be older than 21 but thora is in her 30s and almost 40s by trespasser so ] #[ i work with one woman my age the rest are chaotic young adults ]