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elfyourmother · 4 years

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Gisele Surana: Warrior Sorceress of Light Masterpost (WIP)

Intro:

For all her life, Gisele Surana, apprentice of Ferelden’s Circle of Magi, believed the mysterious entity who guided her in the healing arts was a Spirit of Love from the Fade. Then came the Fifth Blight, and she became a Grey Warden, leading the desperate fight to save her homeland from the horrors of the darkspawn horde. At last, when Gisele stood atop Fort Drakon at the fateful Battle of Denerim, and laid down her life and her very soul to destroy the Archdemon and save all she loved, that gentle Spirit of Love revealed Herself as none other than Hydaelyn: the eternal Mothercrystal of the distant world which bore Her name. Instead of the oblivion she was promised, Gisele’s soul was ushered through the Lifestream, to Hydaelyn, thus reborn to a new life in the land of Eorzea, and an even greater purpose.

tl;dr:

What happens when The Warden from Dragon Age: Origins dies in the Ultimate Sacrifice ending, but their soul gets yeeted by Hydaelyn to become the Warrior of Light in Final Fantasy XIV?

That said, Gisele’s profile is under the cut, along with a collection of relevant links.

(warning: contains spoilers for various FFXIV expansions. It’s also Very Long.)

(5.0 - 5.3)

Full Name: Lady Gisele Surana Varlineau des Fortemps et Borel (as of 5.4)

Age: 29 (As of ARR)

Gender/Pronouns: Femme, she/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Race: Wildwood Elezen/Rava Viera (she was transformed when pulled through the Rift to the First; reverted back post 5.3)

Home City: Ul’dah (ARR) / The Republic of Ishgard (HW onward)

Grand Company / Rank: The Immortal Flames / Flame Captain

Guardian Deity: Halone, the Fury

Nameday: 13th Sun of the 3rd Astral Moon

Jobs:

Gisele is an omnidisciplinary mage, though her signature Jobs are Red Mage and Astrologian, which she helped to popularize. She learned the Samurai arts from Lord Hien and Gosetsu; her Samurai crystal belonged to Lord Kaien, and Hien gifted it to her as a lover’s token.

Main - Red Mage / Astrologian / Dancer

Secondary - Black Mage / White Mage / Summoner / Scholar / Sage

Melee - Dark Knight / Samurai / Paladin / Reaper

DoL - Botanist / Miner

DoH - Weaver / Goldsmith / Leatherworker / Alchemist / Culinarian

Ships/Catpiles/???:

FYI: I write everyone as polyamorous and bisexual unless otherwise stated

[In Depth Shipping Meta!]

Primary:

Gisele/Haurchefant/Aymeric/Estinien (ot4: heavensent) /Ysayle (ot5: saints and sinners) /Stephanivien

Gisele/Haurchefant (otp: silver dove)

Gisele/Estinien (otp: for the sky)

Gisele/Aymeric (otp: promises kept)

Gisele/Ysayle (otp: a rose in winter)

Gisele/Stephanivien

Gisele/Emet-Selch (otp: rose and pomegranates) /Hythlodaeus

Secondary:

Gisele/Thancred

Gisele/Urianger (otp: writ in the stars)

Gisele/Thancred/Urianger/Y’shtola (archon ot4)

Gisele/Hien/ (otp: silk and steel)/ Haurchefant (ot3: steel blossoms)

Gisele/Minfilia (otp: daughters of hydaelyn)/Thancred

Gisele/Ysayle/Y’shtola (ot3: dark is bright as fire)

Gisele/Ysayle/Vrtra

Gisele/Zenos (otp: wild hunt)

Non-WoL:

Thancred/Minfilia W.

Ysayle/Y’shtola

Lyse/Y’shtola

Thancred/Urianger/Y’shtola

Ryne/Gaia

Francel/Haurchefant

Aymeric/Estinien (otp: forged in fire)

Lucia/Hilda

Hien/Aymeric

Pipin/Nanamo

Sadu/Cirina

Krile/Tataru

Azem/Venat

Azem/Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus

Denial City, Party of Me:

Gisele/Gaius (no tag)

Eorzean Bio (Cliffs Notes, detailed pages to come):

ARR:

- Gisele stabbed Urthemiel at the precise moment Bahamut was unleashed at Carteneau Flats. Hydaelyn used Louisoix’s summoning spell to “piggyback” so to speak and draw Gisele’s soul through the Lifestream to Her.

- “Here, think, feel” happened. Gisele awakened a full adult Elezen in Thanalan with no memory of her past, only her name. She meets Brendt at Black Brush Station and takes his wagon to Ul’dah, seeking out the Thamaturges’ Guild to learn magic from them. She gets the idea to join the Adventurers’ Guild, having no other form of income, besides doing odd jobs for the Order of Nald’Thal.

- Momodi assumed she was one of the many shell-shocked veterans of Carteneau who to turned to adventuring as a means to support themselves, and Gisele had no reason not to believe her. This is what everyone believes for a long, long time.

- Eventually, she met Thancred and he recruited her to the Scions. They become serious lovers.

- She joins the Immortal Flames around this time, and silently nurses a crush on Raubahn while developing an unlikely and close friendship with Nanamo. She goes to the other city states and joins the various guilds and slowly starts the process of becoming an omnidisciplinary mage, with her natural aptitude for magic and insane work ethic.

- Every time she got a crystal, she got back a few more of her memories, but everything was jumbled. Minfilia helped her to piece together what happened, through the power of the Echo

- At the Praetorum, when Gisele was fighting Ultima Weapon, all her memories came flooding back as a result of Hydaelyn giving her the power boost.

- As of the Seventh Astral Era, only the Scion inner circle knows Gisele’s true history and identity. This is also when she meets X’rhun Tia and becomes a Red Mage, which will become known as her signature discipline. They become fast comrades. “Sorceress of the Red” is the epithet he gives her, and it sticks as much as Warrior of Light.

- The Bloody Banquet almost destroyed Gisele emotionally. Haurchefant helped her pick up the pieces, when she and her surviving friends fled to Coerthas, and their long simmering UST came to a head and resolved itself in pretty spectacular fashion. By the time Gisele goes to Ishgard, she is known to everyone in Camp Dragonhead as Lord Haurchefant’s lover. He’s also the first person outside of the Scions she’s told about her real past.

HW:

- In Ishgard, she begins study of Sharlayan astrology under Leveva and Jannequinard, and at some point discovers her Dark Knight crystal to begin learning that discipline.

- On the Great Dravanian Road trip, Gisele falls for Estinien and Ysayle. Things are awkward to say the least, with Gisele caught in the middle of their feuding and playing mediator.

- Gisele and Estinien hook up the night before the fateful parley with Hraevelgr, and quarreled afterwards because Gisele insisted on staying to console Ysayle.

- She did go with him to the Aery though, and fought at his side against Nidhogg.

- Gisele saved Haurchefant at the Vault using Astrologian trickery. This was a major turning point for “Gisele and the lads” as I like to call them, and during Haurchefant’s long convalescence at the Congregation’s infirmary, Aymeric and Estinien (who have been long term lovers for years before the game events) become a triad with him. This goes a long way to keeping Estinien safe from the Eye’s influence.

- Similarly, Gisele saved Ysayle at Azys Lla with an unknowing assist from Minfilia; Midgardsormr’s deal with Hydaelyn notably didn’t extend to Minfilia, and she exploited that loophole in the geis on Gisele to give her just enough of a power boost to shield Shiva from the Garlean dreadnought’s hail of fire.

- While Gisele et al hunted down Pope Asshole and the Douchebags of the Round, Cid ferried Ysayle back to Ishgard, and Aymeric took her under his direct protection, placing her under the care of the Hospitaliers. (This had reprecussions later on, during the True Brothers of the Faith storyline.)

- Afterwards, the Scions unanimously voted to make Gisele the new Antecedent, though it’s largely a ceremonial/figurehead type of honor. They all still basically do their own thing. But they wanted to acknowledge just what she meant to them, and Thancred in particular believed Minfilia would have wanted it given her feelings for Gisele.

- The True Brothers of the Faith began as a cadre of Concerned Priests who found out that Ysayle was being treated at the Congregation thanks to a sympathetic mole in the Hospitaliers, and petitioned Aymeric as Acting Archbishop to try her for heresy. When he refused, citing her near-fatal injury and lingering ill health, that was the impetus for the assassination attempt. To the fundie wingnuts, this “softness on heresy” was proof positive that Aymeric had conspired with the Dravanians (and House Fortemps) in a coup against his father, and that the “peace” he sought was a sham to sell Ishgard down the river for sate his ambition for power.

- (The going conspiracy theory was that Ysayle and Gisele were heretical harlots who seduced Aymeric with their ~witchy wiles~ into doing the bidding of the dragons.)

- It was on Gisele and Alphinaud’s return journey to Dravania to beg Hraesvelgr’s intervention once again, this time with Aymeric, that Gisele and Aymeric’s long simmering UST boiled over and they finally gave in to their feelings and made their confessions (ironically, at the same camp site near Zenith).

- Ysayle and Haurchefant (who was mostly recovered by now) were physically present to help Gisele and Alphinaud pry the Eyes of Nidhogg from Estinien’s armor, thus saving his life after the battle on the Steps of Faith.

- Not too long after that, Ysayle was arrested by the Inquisition on the charge of Heresy Most High, over the bitter objections of Aymeric. It’s a long story that I plan to fic out eventually, but due to some crafty politicking, the Tribunal dismissed the charges against her and remanded her to Temple Knight custody. She was put on trial instead by Parliament. It was the trial of the century to put it mildly, the first real test of the Republic, and it ended with Ysayle’s acquittal on the charge of treason after an impassioned speech by Gisele on the floor of Parliament. But she was found guilty of conspiracy and sabotage, for the destruction of Daniffen’s Collar.

- Instead of death, which Aymeric successfully argued would jeopardize Ishgard’s new fledgling peace with the Dravanians, Aymeric agreed to release Ysayle to the custody of the Scions, who claimed authority in the matter since Ysayle has the Echo and the Blessing of Light. As penance, she begged to join the order, and Parliament agreed to allow it as a form of restitution. So that’s how Ysayle ends up a Scion.

- Job-wise, Ysayle is a Black Mage and a legitimate Allagan-style Summoner.

- Haurchefant begged to join as well, and did. He’s a Paladin (Ishgard has had its own Paladin tradition for a thousand years that has nothing to do with the Sultansworn). His Holy/Light-based powers are entirely the result of permanent disruption to his aether from Zephirin’s lance of light. Gisele mentors him and teaches him how to heal, and he uses his modest gifts quite well. Worth noting: Haurche is a spoonie, who deals with lingering chronic pain as a result of his near-deadly injury, and has not let that stop him from being a complete and utter badass.

- After the war, Gisele started a fashion house in the Jeweled Crozier named Atelier Surana, started with seed money from her adventuring and recompense from Teledji Adeleji’s estate. Ready to wear items are created by her apprentices--retainers of House Fortemps--to her incredibly exacting standards. Those who want her specific services pay outrageous sums for one of a kind bespoke couture. It’s a very exclusive list of clients, and Gisele only takes commissions once in a blue moon.

- Aymeric begins to formally court her around this time, also. The dinner was the start. (They had sex for the first time that night; the Fortemps Knight’s interruption came when they were in the afterglow.)

SB:

- Gisele et al were joined by Haurche on the journey to the Far East. But the night before they left, Gisele and the lads secretly got married, pretty much on a whim, with the quiet ceremony taking place in the little chapel atop the Congregation and performed by “Little” Mother Sephrenia de Vanion, the long time and much beloved Temple Knight chaplain.

- Gisele and Haurche purchased a small home in Shirogane shortly after arriving that serves as their home base away from Hancock and his weeb nonsense. Haurche dubbed it The Floating Lotus. (Ah, to be a filthy rich Ishgardian nobleman)

- Yes, Haurche got the Kojin’s blessing. Yes, he does exactly what you think with it.

- Gisele begins mentoring Alisaie in Red Magic on this trip, and Alisaie develops a crush on Gisele much the way her brother did in Dravania, much to Gisele’s consternation. (Haurche thinks it’s hilarious.)

- OTOH, he AND Gisele fell madly in love with Hien, and none of them especially felt the need to hide the relationship they had together. Even after SB they’re known in the Steppe and Doma alike as “Lord Hien’s lovers”. Everyone ships it.

- Hien gave Gisele his father’s Samurai crystal, and trained her in the Rijin School, along with Gosetsu.

- The Buduga tried to claim Haurche when the Oronir captured them all. Oil wrestling happened and Haurche lost for obvious reasons (bisexual stupidity). Gisele pulled rank and they relented, but they wrote a rather bawdy battle song in his honor about the “white haired warrior from the snows who’s hung like a dzo” and sung it as loudly as possible when they fought in the Nadaam.

- They absolutely sung that shit in Ala Mhigo too, btw.

- Ysayle was finally well enough for field work by the time the Qalyana Ananta summoned Lakshmi, and she helped Gisele defeat the Primal. Lesbian Sex Magic was involved.

- Fordola was killed in battle in Ala Mhigo by Gisele. Ysayle takes her place during the battle against Lakshmi in the throne room during the first patch.

- Gisele starts having weird sex dreams about Zenos after she kills him. She’s deeply disturbed by them.

- Not long after the Battle of Ala Mhigo, Gisele and the lads were officially married at Saint Reymanaud’s Cathedral in Ishgard. It was a suitably grand affair and was as much a celebration of Ishgard’s new beginnings as it was the love of her most cherished champions. (Yes, polyamorous marriage is legal in Ishgard.)

- Artoirel de Fortemps’ first official act as Count of House Fortemps was his wedding gift to Haurchefant, a final peace offering: the use of the family name. Haurche still keeps the “Greystone” as a matter of pride and honor, so after the wedding his legal name is Lord Haurchefant Greystone des Fortemps et Borel.

- Artoirel also made Estinien a Knight of House Fortemps, much to the latter’s flabbergasted consternation.

- Gisele saved Yotsuyu after defeating her as the Primal Tsukuyomi, and Hien agreed to let the world to think she died there at the Castrum. She lives at the Rising Stones and works for the Scions on a contract basis, helping Tataru with the bookkeeping.

- Ysayle was in Dravania meeting with Vidofnir when she collapsed, roughly around the time Y’shtola and Urianger did.

- Haurchefant was the last of the Scions to be summoned to the First, collapsing just after Alisaie did following the battle vs the Eredar Twins Varis’ bodyguards at the Ghimlyt Dark.

- Gisele joined Troupe Falsiam while biding her time, and this is when she became a Dancer.

ShB:

- Gisele found herself a Viera when she was called through the Rift and deposited in Lakeland.

- Haurche was on the First for a year by the time Gisele showed up. He stayed in Lakeland since everyone else was elsewhere, and for the Scions he was “mission command” so to speak, keeping tabs on everyone else. But he took Lakeland as his purview, and with the Exarch’s permission, trained the Crystarium guard in Ishgardian fighting techniques, war strategy and siege tactics, saving a ton of lives as a result, and basically turned Fort Jobb into another Camp Dragonhead.

- Haurche was admittedly extremely pissed off at the Exarch for the Scion-nappings and needed to get away from the Crystarium before he said something he really regretted. Jobb was close enough that he could coordinate with Lyna as needed, and still get correspondence/updates from his friends.

- Gisele reunites with him inside Holminster Switch during the Sin Eater attack on the town. Funny enough they kept just missing each other before then.

- Haurche’s extreme Light-attunement as a result of the old injury makes him light up like a Starlight tree to Sin Eaters, and they’re drawn to him like moths to a flame as a result. One of the reasons he became so respected by the guard even before he began to train them is because he’s so good at hunting Eaters.

- Ysayle, meanwhile, was on the First for five years, and took off on her own to fight the Sin Eaters after falling out with the others re: their plan to have Gisele to take down the Lightwardens. Her beef was that it ought to be her, because she also had the Blessing of Light and could do it instead (not out of pride, but to save Gisele yet another burden, because she loved her). Urianger bluntly said she wasn’t as strong in the Blessing and it was too dangerous and everyone sided with him.

- He was right, for the record. It really would have turned her into a Lightwarden the first time she tried it.

- She ended up in the Greatwood, running afoul of the Viis of Fanow, and barely escaped with her life to Slitherbough. She was with Y’shtola and the Night’s Blessed after that, and they knew her as Lady Vidofnir.

- Ysayle’s role was ultimately quite similar as to Haurche’s to the Crystarium guard, and she trained the Night’s Blessed in guerilla tactics that helped them a great deal in skirmishes with not only Sin Eaters but the Children of Darkness (and later, the Eulmoran soldiers).

- Ysayle and Y’shtola resolved a bucketload of UST and became lovers during this time.

- Gisele does not reunite with her until she reaches the Greatwood, and they have a handfasting conducted by Runar after the Qitana Ravel events. It’s the gayest most granola thing ever. Haurche cried more than anyone.

- Gisele tried to use Emet-Selch’s willingness to find common ground to sway him to the Scions’ cause, and in the process fell in love with him; it was greatly returned, though it ended rather badly at Mt. Gulg when she couldn’t contain the Light.

- Gisele and Thancred finally reconciled after their long awkward romantic separation following the events of Amh Araeng when Ryne assumed Minfilia’s powers as Oracle.

- She retrieved a shard of Hades’ auracite after the battle in Amaurot and crafted it into a gorgeous pendant that she wears over her heart. It’s her way of keeping the promise.

- Estinien joined the Scions following his return from Garlemald, because of Gisele.

- At some point during 5.3, Gisele turned back into an Elezen with Beq Lugg’s help. For the final battle vs. Elidibus, she used the Azem crystal to summon her old Thedosian crew to help her fight him: Alistair, Leliana, Zevran, Morrigan, Loghain, Sten, and Wynne.

- Emet-Selch returned and joined the Scions after they all came back from the First, not long after they woke G’raha Tia up. (It’s a full house at the Stones.) He currently goes by Hades d’Amaurot and as far as the world knows, he’s just a Garlean defector.

- Ysayle spends a lot of her time doing everything possible to aid in the reconstruction of the Firmament, and Francel’s vouching for her goes a long way toward softening people towards her.

- A certain Architect is also surreptitiously helping.

EW: (WIP)

- Upon the Scions’ arrival to Sharlayan, the extra Scions were introduced thusly:

Lord Haurchefant Greystone des Fortemps et Borel, Dauphin of House Fortemps. As an Ishgardian aristocrat and heir to one of the High Houses, he is using the vast wealth at his disposal to finance the rebuilding of the Students of Baldesion, and is personally offering his martial prowess as well.

Lady Ysayle Surana Dangoulain de Fortemps, priestess of Saint Shiva, and Ishgardian ambassador to Dravania. Retained by the Students of Baldesion due to her vast knowledge of Dravanian folklore.

Lord Hades d’Amaurot, Garlean scholar and historian hired by the Students as a consultant.

- When the Scions split up near the start, Haurchefant and Ysayle were part of the group that went to Thavnair; Hades remained in Sharlayan.

(TBC)

Thedas Background:

Pre-Blight Biography

Ships (anything post-DA:O doesn’t happen here, for obvious reasons)

Other Related Tags/Posts:

House Tour: (WIP)

Warden of Light AU (not really updated anymore but here for posterity’s sake, older posts might be outdated; probably where more crossover cosmology stuff will go)

AO3 Collection (longer fics in this universe)

Other Fics (short form fic, drabbles, challenge and prompt fills, etc. this is my general writing tag so you will see other fandoms in here if you go back enough)

FAQs:

Okay, but Why?

Because I started playing FFXIV during Stormblood and didn’t want to get too Involved, so I purposefully just rerolled my favorite OC as my PC, to try to trick my brain (I normally can’t do AUs because of how my brain works with these games). But then I got Involved, and decided to make it an AU of her canon DA story. I prefer it now, tbh.

Yes, it became pretty damn hilarious when Shadowbringers came out.

Note: this is not a crack ‘verse, this is my actual canon FFXIV ‘verse. Everything I write takes place in the same continuity.

Any NOTPs?

WoL/Exarch is really the only ones. You do you, it’s just not my cuppa for various reasons.

Are you/Gisele available for RP?

No. Please don’t take it personally, but I’ve had very uncomfortable experiences in the past RPing on MMOs, and prefer to write fic and meta about Gisele on my own. Occasionally I collab with my irl gf @dandelionofthanatos but that’s it.

Can I ask you stuff about her?

YES PLEASE, OF COURSE! I would prefer asks stick to her post-rebirth period though, unless it’s crossover cosmology/worldbuilding stuff with an emphasis on how DA fits into FFXIV here (eg: “What are the Ascians doing in Thedas?” vs. “What’s [insert DA character here] doing after she died?”). Reason being is my present love/hate relationship with Dragon Age has veered more into hate. I vastly prefer Final Fantasy XIV at this point and would much rather talk about it than the former.

Do you take fic prompts?

Always! If I don’t answer right away it’s likely because of lacking spoons or being busy/preoccupied. Rest assured I see them though and hold onto them if I don’t. Sometimes it takes me a while to write them!

#gisele surana #masterposts #master posts #warden of light au #trying to do some blog organization #for the benefit of new(er) followers #necessary spoilers for all the expansions under the cut #also: i hope someone caught the eddings reference #i know dandy will but XD #and yes the spoilers include 5.3

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