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cityandking · 6 years

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gold in my eyes

The sun rises on the day after the end of the end of the world. [f!Cousland & Alistair Theirin. 1.2K]

for @forcekenobi, who both suggested an afterwards to the Denerim battle and also gave me the prompt “anyone + a forehead kiss.” vague follow up to if we don’t dare to hold it.

title from smokestacks by layla

It comes to a rushing finale, noise and dust and fire and smoke swirling wild around her one moment and the next––

Silence.

She stands there a moment, her weight heavy on the pommel of the sword jutting from the beast’s neck, and wipes a bloody hand across her mouth. It comes away redder. She smiles at the smear of color against her palm, and tastes the copper on her tongue, and her ears ring with the hollow silence where the fight once raged.

She wants, inexplicably, to scream. To fill the air with noise again, if only for a moment.

But there is nothing to fill it with. Somehow, after everything, it is over.

She thought she’d feel different.

For a handful of heartbeats she stands alone with nothing but the creature dead at her feet and the itching sense that there should be something more, something else. Then Alistair stumbles up to her from behind the bulk of the monster, bloodied and panting and alive.

“Thank the Maker,” he says, helmet lost somewhere in the mess of the battle. There’s a line of dried blood down his jaw, and a wound to match it high on his cheek. “You’re alright.”

“Yes,” she says, taking in the shredded tails of his tabard and the scorch marks along his pauldrons and the relief spilled across his face. It eases a worry she is loathe to admit to. “As are you.”

He hesitates. “I guess Morrigan’s... ritual... worked.”

“Lucky us.”

He barks out a laugh. “Yes, I can’t say I’d have wanted that to be my last night on earth. Too much ruling to look forward to, you know. And––” He shudders. “Morrigan.”

She is too tired to dredge up a response. An apology seems appropriate, but it is hard to feel contrite after the chaos of the fight, or about being alive. She has been wholly wrung out, left with nothing but a tempered quietude and an ache in her belly she thinks might be hunger. It has been a long night.

“Lira?” he says, when she is quiet too long, staring half at him and half at the beast spread across the ruin of the tower roof, wings shattered and body broken. They’ve truly made a mess of things. She’s truly made a mess of things. The two are not wholly related.

She shakes her head, brushing away the thought and dragging her attention back to the man standing in front of her. Concern burns across his face, and in the light of the fire and the grey pre-dawn he looks almost regal, older than his years and hewn from something strong and solid. It makes her chest ache. She brushes that away too.

“Sit with me?” she invites instead. It will be a while, she thinks, before anyone manages to make it up here, and she is not overeager to face the world. Not yet.

“I––” For a moment she thinks he will refuse, but instead the concern bleeds into something more knowing and he says, “Yes, alright.”

They sit at the edge of the roof, feet dangling over the still-burning city far below with the behemoth at their backs. The horizon has just begun to go pink, and the smoke shatters the light into a hundred shades of red-orange-rose, as if the sky too is burning. Lira breathes deep and watches the sun rise on the day after the end of the end of the world.

“You know,” says Alistair quietly, “I never really thought about what happens now.”

Me neither, she wants to admit, but instead she asks, “Never?”

“No. It was always grr! argh! blight! end of the world! I never got around to thinking about this part.”

“But here we are,” she says, watching people move like ants below them. She wonders if any of them are her friends. She hopes they made it.

“Here we are,” he agrees, and she feels him shift at her side as he too stares down. Then, suddenly, his attention snaps back to her. “What about you?”

“What?”

“Afterward. Did you ever...” He trails off, waving his hand as if wild gestures will somehow get his point across better than words. A familiar warmth blooms in her chest, and she is too tired to hold back her smile.

“No,” she says, uncommonly easily. “I didn’t think I’d make it this far.”

“Oh.”

It’s not a sorry thing, she wants to tell him, but she isn’t sure he would understand. She’s not entirely sure she understands. It had never been a tragedy, only a duty. And maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad to go, to fade away with the dawn, but––

“I’m glad I did,” she admits, a little frail and a little tired but certain that she is glad to have made it, glad to be alive, glad to be sitting here with him watching the sunrise. “I... I think there’s still work for me to do.”

“And celebrations,” he says. “A parade, definitely. A bunch of meetings. Oh, and my coronation–– You’ll stick around for that?”

“I think I can manage that much.”

“You’d better,” he says, but there’s no heat to it, and when she glances at him he is smiling, small and a little wry but clear as the slow-building daylight. He leans over slightly to bump her shoulder. “Hey.”

“Yes?”

“We did it.”

“We did,” she says, and that building scream caught in her throat turns to a laugh, wild and a little manic but bursting and free. It spills from her lips and jumps into the air, dancing across the smoldering city in the peach light of early morning. "We did, Alistair.”

“Knew we would,” he says, chest puffed out in mock bravado. “You and me–– unstoppable. Showed them what a Grey Warden can do.”

She huffs out a laugh and leans into him, tired to the bone and scraped-out and hollow and somehow, someway, alive despite it all. He sighs with his full body, and he smells like smoke and steel and that ridiculous soap he likes, and she cannot help but breathe him in.

“Thank you,” she says suddenly, words out before she can stop them. He snorts quietly above her.

“For what?” he asks. “I didn’t do anything.”

“That’s not true,” she tells him, “and you know it.”

He doesn’t reply to that, but she feels him move, and then his hand cups her jaw as he presses a kiss to the crown of her head. Tears prickle at the corners of her eyes, and she breathes in sharp and long through her teeth and does not let them fall. Some things even exhaustion cannot wash away.

He drops his hand, and she lingers at his shoulder a moment before straightening up. She breathes deep, turning her face towards the sun just as it crests the horizon, brilliant, burning red spilling across the city more vivid than any fire or blood. She closes her eyes and leans back on her hands, red-orange blooming across the back of her eyelids, and she feels shot through with the morning light, rays cutting through the hollow glass figure of herself, filling that hollowness with the light of dawn.

“You know,” says Alistair at her side with an air of consideration, “this is a nice view. Maybe I’ll put my room here when we rebuild. Or is that too much?”

Lira tilts her head up and breathes, and breathes, and breathes.

#dragon age #cousland #alistair theirin #vague mentions of warden/alistair but in an unrealized heartache-y sort of way #mine; writing #lira #memery #thanks for giving me an excuse to finish this alana #.vigilance victory sacrifice #.da canon #mine; lira

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nanowatzophina · 9 months

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Get to know Alana Cousland! Through little notes and doodles! (I was gonna do Robin hawke next but I didn’t like how it was turning out so here we are)

#dragon age #character sheet #warden oc #warden x alistair #Alana cousland #Queen cousland #not my favorite of my playthrough but I do like her spunky spirit

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nanowatzophina · 1 year

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Here are just them.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dao #Alana cousland #solan Aeducan #Fen’nas #Art #my wardens #reference

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nanowatzophina · 2 years

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I apologize that this is how I like to draw comic things… legit just… make every panel a separate image.

Fighting off art block so Dragon Age comes to the rescue.

Finally finished my Alana Cousland PT.

She befriended all the scary known-killer people and romanced Alistair. So I thought it would be impossible for things like this not to happen.

Enjoy the silliness

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dragon age oc #Alana Cousland #dao #alistair #alistair x warden #cousland #cousland oc #Art #dao comic #da comic #alistair x cousland

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nanowatzophina · 1 year

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Pspspspsing you to tell us abt your wardens!!!!! Would luv to hear abt any other da ocs as well

GASP!! SURE!! You wanna hear about my wardens??? Yay!!!

This will give me a good excuse to redraw/make ref for em too!

Dragon Age Shit under the cut!!

((Holy crap. It deleted all my progress but here we go again. I hope I can remember all the details))

— Also for reference I’m only gonna talk about the pt’s I’ve actually finished. Which is only four of em.

First up we’ve got Rosal Surana!!

((Still proud of how this one turned out so she doesn’t get an update))

Circle Mage lady who just wants to learn as much as she can!! She’s my first COMPLETED pt. So I made the fact that I was always asking all the questions in each interaction part of her character.

She’s curious, a bit overly so.

She made her own outfit. This was like— designed before I got better at copying clothes fashion but I do like the idea of Rosal just… making this for herself. Not looking like she’s from any particular nation. Just herself.

She romances Zevran, whom I love dearly. She is best friends with Alistair and Morrigan. She never got as close with Leliana but they still friends.

Rosal was a Chantrified name for her. Instead of the traditional Dalish name that her mom named her. (I honestly can’t recall what it was originally. I was dumb and didnt right it down) She was born in the Denerim alienage and taken away at 8 when she accidentally used her powers against a human boy in the street who was picking on her.

I had like. This whole idea for a fanfic with her that takes place after Awakening where she goes on a search for her mother who was sold to Tevinter. Full of intrigue and drama.

Secondly! Alana Cousland!!

Grew up refusing to act like a lady, much to her mothers disappointment. Not doing her hair, running out to learn how to fight with daggers rather than manners, scaring off suitors with her blunt way of speaking and teasing. Just a real Princess Merida situation.

She grew up wanting to be like the great heroes she learned about growing up. Slaying dragons and fighting armies!

But then… her family was taken so suddenly from her. Everyone she knew and loved and grew up with, dead. She got her dream of being a heroic Grey Warden but… the cost always makes her feel guilty… like she brought this upon their family due to simply… wishing for adventure. She had a LOT of survivor’s guilt and became kind of a rude, blunt person. Cold and hardened.

But… then she met an idiot named Alistair. Who somehow managed to make her laugh despite terrible circumstances. And would listen to her and talk with her. He helped her to open up.

Despite being… herself. She managed to befriend all the companions pretty closely. Especially Sten and Leliana. Sten approves of her while Leliana is much like Alana’s mom, nagging her into brushing her hair and maybe… taking care of herself a bit more…

In the end Alana marries Alistair and became Queen. She finds it incredibly ironic that she was running from this type of life all of her youth and yet… walked right into being Queen. Because she saw it as… finally accepting her duty is important. And wanting to take that step with Alistair. She still struggles with public appearance sometimes. And would often rather be off fighting dark spawn. But she is also happy to be able to… rest. After everything…

((Tho the convincing Alistair to sleep w/ Morrigan to save their lives for the sake of the kingdom was… a little awkward. Especially since Alana is friends with Morrigan just… uncomfortable all around))

Next up we’ve got Solan Aeducan!

Solan Aeducan was on her way to being a great dwarven warrior. Which sucks. Leaving Ostagar was one of the hardest things to happen. Seeing the sky was a horrible reminder of what she had lost.

She was always a quick to anger, hot-headed woman. But after leaving Ostagar she became untrusting and just... more angry...

But then... she met Leliana. Who helped her to see the beauty of the stars... and then they fell in love. I love them so much.

Solan got Leli a nug in Ostagar. And listens to her stories, loving just how... smart Leliana is.

However... she is... the ONLY playthrough that I’ve done that she refused the ritual... and so she dies... and Leliana is left alone... So I’m a terrible person.

And Lastly! Fen’nas!

Fen’nas is a glorious himbo. He is bold and flirty though has a BIT of a short-temper. He likes doing nice things for people. Which... makes him and Morrigan a bit of a... unique situation.

He totally fell for her the second he saw her. Which is a surprise for all of us considering how Morrigan swooped in the way she did.

But he loves Morrigan and wants her to be happy. Even though she runs away after they make a baby. But he runs after her like the rom-com man he is.

And he goes through the mirror with her. And raises their kid together. And he is a great stay-at-home husband. Though... they never got actually married. But they are in love. I love them.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #the many wardens of na'no #rosal surana #alana cousland #solan aeducan #fen'nas #thanks for asking about them #it was very fun to figure out how to explain all the difference of them

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nanowatzophina · 4 months

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OC Questionnaire! (Warden Edition as well)

Thanks to @dungeons-and-dragon-age for tagging me! I'm gonna do my Wardens as well since... like her, I don't wanna go on too long and... I really would go on too long if I did anything besides my wardens...

Even with just my wardens it's going to go for a while... so I apologize

This is my second time typing this all out-- so bear with me...

NAME: Rosal Surana

NICKNAME: Rose/Rosie? Not a lot of people actually use nicknames for her but those are an option.

GENDER: Female (she/they)

STAR SIGN: ((I don't know enough about Star Signs or Tarot cards so-- I'm just not going to answer these ones)

HEIGHT: Average for an elf

ORIENTATION: Biromantic Asexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Ferelden! Born in Denerim to be specific but her mother was a Dalish elf.

FAVORITE FRUIT: Peaches

FAVORITE SEASON: Fall! When the air becomes crisp.

FAVORITE FLOWER: Lilies and Lilacs

FAVORITE SCENT: Floral scents remind her of her mother, Firewood, Old parchment, new books, charcoal

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot Chocolate or Chai with honey

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: Depends on if she has a new book she's trying to read... But usually like... 5? 5 hours sounds right...

DOGS OR CATS: Both!

DREAM TRIP: A historical trip around different places she's read about!

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: One really thick and fuzzy one.

RANDOM FACT: She can not do healing magic to save her life and yet that won't stop her from trying. That's how she got those scars, trying to heal herself in the fight going up the Tower of Ishal but just making it scar over really badly. But hey, at least it stopped bleeding.

NAME: Lannaris Mahariel

NICKNAME: Lan or Lanna

GENDER: Female (she/her)

HEIGHT: On the shorter side for an elf which makes her pretty short compared to humans.

ORIENTATION: Gay. Lesbian. Women.

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Dalish!

FAVORITE FRUIT: Plums or Blackberries

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring or Summer (before it gets to hot)

FAVORITE FLOWER: Geranium

FAVORITE SCENT: Woodsy, right after rain,

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Herbal tea

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 6. Schedules are important to her.

DOGS OR CATS: Cats, she's actually scared of dogs (which is why she never went to the kennel in Ostagar's camp)

DREAM TRIP: The Arbor Wilds, just to see the trees...

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1-2

RANDOM FACT: Her dream house would be a really cool treehouse. She'd love to live there with Leliana 3 cats and 6 nugs far away from other people... Just them and the forest.

NAME: Fen'nas Mahariel

NICKNAME: Fen!

GENDER: Male (he/they)

HEIGHT: Tall for an elf, around Morrigan's height

ORIENTATION: Bisexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Dalish! Was born in the Hinterlands

FAVORITE FRUIT: Berries! Favorite is probably blueberries or raspberries.

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring! He loves the flowers

FAVORITE FLOWER: He loves them all! Though loves Honeysuckle.

FAVORITE SCENT: Floral, Cedar and stronger scented herbs like rosemary and basil.

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Chai for sure.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: You guys count? (probably like... 8-9, honestly he probably sleeps in a lot later than he should and stays up later than he should too)

DOGS OR CATS: Either! Doesn't have too much of opinion.

DREAM TRIP: Anywhere with Morrigan <3

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1

RANDOM FACT: He loves halla. He was really hoping that he'd one day get to be a caretaker for them. He loved to feed them and brush them whenever he wasn't off hunting or patrolling for the clan.

NAME: Alana Cousland

NICKNAME: Pup (her father is the only one allowed to call her that though) Rose (Alistair only)

GENDER: Female (she/her)

HEIGHT: Average?

ORIENTATION: Demi

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Ferelden!

FAVORITE FRUIT: Oranges and Pears (not together... just... depending on her mood??? or what's in season?)

FAVORITE SEASON: Summer

FAVORITE FLOWER: Doesn't think much of flowers, honestly.

FAVORITE SCENT: Stables and gardens. Which I guess is to say manure but that doesn't sound like a good scent even though that's what it is... Earthy smells like that.

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee... with a lot of sugar and cream.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 6

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs. 100% Man's best friend.

DREAM TRIP: Adventure off somewhere, anywhere. It doesn't matter... just away from Ferelden.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 3-4

RANDOM FACT: She would actively scare away suitors, much to her Mother's chagrin... She would be purposefully blunt and rude in social situations and tease people relentlessly until they left her alone. She used to see being married off as the most torturous future possible. She also dislikes dresses. And probably wears pants around the castle to everyone's horror.

NAME: Solan Aeducan

NICKNAME: Sol, Nug

GENDER: Female (they/she)

HEIGHT: Short? Considering she's a dwarf? But probably a normal height for them.

ORIENTATION: LESBIAN.

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Orzammarian

FAVORITE FRUIT: Strawberries

FAVORITE SEASON: Any of them but Winter. She HATES the cold.

FAVORITE FLOWER: Orchid, though she's come to love most flowers, she didn't know there was quite so many of them just growing everywhere you looked.

FAVORITE SCENT: Steel, Fire, the smell of home, but also the smell of a clear night, and the expensive perfumes Leliana wears

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee. Black.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 5 but she doesn't need that much.

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs

DREAM TRIP: The Deep Roads, she always dreamed of going deep and finding a new Thaig, finding long forgotten treasures and gold and being an adventurer finding lost places down in the deep.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: All of them. Why is it so sodding cold on the surface??

RANDOM FACT: She loves the stars. It took a little bit to adjust but the stars were likely the first things she found truly beautiful about the surface after being cast out of her home. She loves finding constellations and learning the stories of them. She feels more connected to them than she ever did the Stone, though she would never admit it... except to Leli

NAME: Iris Tabris

NICKNAME: Petal, Little Flower

GENDER: Female (she/her) ((look at all this variety I have right?))

HEIGHT: Tall for an elf, average for a human

ORIENTATION: Asexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Ferelden Alienage elf!

FAVORITE FRUIT: Grapes, sweet ones

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring

FAVORITE FLOWER: Iris, it was her mother's favorite, which is why she was named after it.

FAVORITE SCENT: Floral scents, smell of fresh baked bread, cinnamon

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot Chocolate with lots of whipped cream

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 7-8. Sleep is important.

DOGS OR CATS: Cats, generally dislikes dogs though her mabari hound is a very strong exception.

DREAM TRIP: To big cities in other countries, like in Orlais or Antiva... She would love to see what their architecture looks like.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1, but only if it's very soft.

RANDOM FACT: Iris is really sensitive to textures and physical touch. It makes finding outfits a little difficult for her, considering Ferelden (probably) doesn't have a lot of great options in the way of textures, but because of that she got pretty good at making alterations to outfits. She is generally touch averse, though with permission, which Alistair is sure to always ask for, she's usually fine.

-----

blank meme:

NAME:

NICKNAME:

GENDER:

STAR SIGN:

HEIGHT:

ORIENTATION:

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY:

FAVORITE FRUIT:

FAVORITE SEASON:

FAVORITE FLOWER:

FAVORITE SCENT:

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE:

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP:

DOGS OR CATS:

DREAM TRIP:

NUMBER OF BLANKETS:

RANDOM FACT:

#and that's that!!#gosh... i can't believe i typed that all again #thankfully i remembered most of what i typed #i hope it's generally the same #maybe with improvements rather than information lost...#thanks again laya for tagging me! This was really fun!#I love things that make me ask questions about my mcs #might do this with my hawkes and inquistors next #those ones have a bit more variety in gender i feel like...#at least there is a couple more dudes and like... two enbies #also... why was the fruit question like... the hardest one for me???#my mind would just immediately go blank #like... what do you mean there is different fruits besides apple??? I can't remember any of them #got my mom to list off a bunch of them which helped #anyways #these tags are getting ridiculous #let's do the actual tagging that i need:#dragon age origins #wardens #oc quistionnairre #rosal surana #lannaris mahariel #fen'nas mahariel #alana cousland #solan aeducan #iris tabris #what a way to start the year!

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nanowatzophina · 3 years

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EMOJI PROMPTS

🧍🧍+Alana(((I can’t find the right emoji)))-With friends

Alana and Leliana are very close friends and kept in touch even after the blight. Getting together for tea and such

U’ll notice that Alana is rocking her pixie cut I’ve now decided the after-blight Alana gets to have.

((I really don’t like how this one turned out but I’m not really going to redo it cuz… I don’t want to…))

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dao #oc #dai #alana cousland #emoji prompts #art #digital art #sketch #warden oc #leliana #dragon age oc

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nanowatzophina · 3 years

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Emoji Prompts

✂️+Alana Cousland-New haircut

Her hair is very wild and thick. She never bothers to comb it, it gets tangly too easily. (not based on… personal experience or anything *cough*)

So she gets to rock a pixiecut. She probably never dared to cut her hair due to the anger it would have caused her mother.

Speaking of her mother. I was at first not sure whether it meant hair CUT like… length or it included hair do so my original idea was this:

And as u can see I just did both cuz why not?

#alana cousland #alana #dao #dragon age origins #art #fan art #emoji prompts #thank u drama addict for the prompt!

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nanowatzophina · 3 years

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OC PROMPTS

Alana Cousland + 11: Super simplified, but still recognizable

COLORS.

She’s just colors.

#alana cousland #cousland oc #cousland #I mean… it doesn’t look TERRIBLE?#I coulda probably simplied it more #I got too into it #too deep!#dragon age #dragon age origins #art #my art #dao

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nanowatzophina · 3 years

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What drew each of your Wardens to their LIs? What was the hardest decision(s) for them to make over the course of the Blight? Do they have any regrets from before or after becoming a Warden?

Well… let’s try this one at a time.

Question 1:

Lunamira:

(I have a comic for this actually)

Alana Cousland:

Uhm. This sums it up.

Solan Aeducan:

Leliana told pretty stories, was beautiful and kind.

She made life outside of Orzammar seem okay. And even made the stars sound beautiful, to a dwarf where everything in the sky seems as just a reminder of how she has been cast out.

Question 2:

Lunamira:

Everything went pretty smoothly. There wasn’t too many difficult choices. ((To be fair. I speedran the frick out of this one so I missed a lot of side quests)) The hardest part was probably the fact they made me feel GUILTY??? About killing LOGHAIN??? Like??? That was dumb.

Alana Cousland:

Becoming Queen with Alistair. It isn’t exactly what I wanted but… it was the best option in the end.

Solan Aeducan:

To sacrifice myself.

Question three:

Lunamira:

Becoming a Warden. It means I don’t get to live a full life with Zevran and my child, Ali.

Alana Cousland:

Leaving my family behind. I constantly think there is something I could have done… something I could have prevented. At least to save just one of them.

Solan Aeducan:

Trusting my brother.

———

These questions really made me think!! Thank you!!!

Some of them were harder to answer than others cuz I haven’t even thought of them. Especially considering I’m not close to done with Solan/Alana. Though I’ve already planned out what is going to happen cuz I’m crazy.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dao #dao oc #dao ocs #warden #warden oc #warden ocs #lostgirl answers questions #lostgirl plays dao #q and a #dao q and a #art #digital art

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