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★ Character Information ★

Character Name: Mariane Cousland
Character Age: 17 20 after 3 years in Folkmore
Character Species: Human
Current Health: has been tainted by drinking darkspawn blood in the Joining. Eventually, that will cause her early death of corruption
Outfit: here

Character Canon: Dragon Age
Link to History: Mariane is the youngest child of Teryn Bryce Cousland and Eleanor Cousland, the highest ranking non-royalty in Ferelden. She was raised with the expectation of making a good marriage and settling into the life of a lady of Ferelden. Mariane never grew the stature needed to become a warrior, so instead she was trained as a rogue, to use stealth and trickery over brute strength. She excelled at her training and took up the sword and dagger as her weapons of choice.

Her life was upended when Rendon Howe attacked in the middle of the night. She was forced to fight her way through the castle to find her mortally wounded father accompanied by Duncan. It was only the prospect of living to gain revenge on Howe that got Mariane to leave and agree to Duncan's offer to become a Grey Warden.

After the disaster at the Battle of Ostagar, Mariane was set on fulfilling the treaties signed by various groups She travelled first to Redcliffe to see about getting Arl Eamon's aid and became caught up in the problems with Eamon being in a coma and his son, Connor, being possessed by a demon.

As a result, she took the group to the Circle of Magi to both gain their cooperation and see about getting someone to break the demon's hold on Connor. When Mariane found out that the Circle was under seige, she volunteered to go and save as many of the mages as possible, thus gaining their cooperation.

After that, she went to Honnleath after encountering a peddler with the control rod for a golem. She rescued Amalia from the demon, killing it. She then brought the mages back to Redcliffe to break the demon's hold on Connor and kill it. After that, she was sent on a quest to find Andraste's ashes to cure Eamon.

She refused the cultists' offer to taint the ashes and killed the High Dragon and returned to Redcliffe to cure Eamon. Then, she went to fulfill the treaty with the Dwarves where she resolved the succession crisis by backing Bhelen and sided with Caridin, killing Branka and destroying the Anvil of the Void.

Then, she approached the Dalish about their side of the treaty. After finding out the truth about the werewolf curse, she tried to initiate negotiations between Zathrian and the Lady of the Forest, finally convincing him to end the curse and his own artifically extended lifespan.

When Mariane went to Denerim, she became fully embroiled in Ferelden's civil war. She rescued Anora from Rendon Howe and finally obtained the vengeance against him she sought. When the time came to choose Ferelden's next ruler, she backed Alistair's claim to the throne, announcing herself as his queen.

When offered the Dark Ritual to save herself and Alistair, she chose to accept Morrigan's offer, though it pained her greatly. As a result, Mariane was able to survive killing the Archdemon, ending the Blight.

Canon Point: The end of Dragon Age: Origins, going out to greet the public
Canon Iteration: Original canon
Canon Iteration Explanation: N/A

★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★

Skills: Mariane is well practiced at fighting with a sword and dagger simultaneously with access to the full range of skills available by the end of DA:O. She also has the full range of Rogue skills available along with the Duelist and Assassin specializations.
Canon Abilities: She's a Grey Warden, which causes an increase to strength and stamina. Despite her seemingly fragile appearance, she goes out of her way to prove that she shouldn't be underestimated.
Role: Legend, much to her surprise
Role Qualities/Attributes: a halo, which will alarm her greatly. the only other place she's seen what look like halos drawn are on pictures of Andraste
Role Reasoning: while Mariane does have a vicious, vindictive side, that side had been sated by the deaths of Rendon How and Lohgain MacTir, along with the deposing of Anora. Her decisions at each of the other turns were motivated by mercy, to save Connor and the mages, to foil the slaving ring established in Denerim's Alienage, to try and bring peace between the werewolves and the Dalish. She also took on a large number of quests posted to the board outside of each Chantry she encountered, despite her own faith being severely shaken by what happened to her family. As a Legend, she'd be actively trying to encourage the peace as well as reaching out to Myths and Familiars she'd befriended. Though, it will take her a while to feel comfortable enough in doing so as she is rather shy and clinically depressed.

★ Personality ★

Please choose option 2, which questions you are answering:

Option 2. Choose FOUR-FIVE of the following questions to answer and expand upon. You may choose a fifth question if you feel it is integral to your character's personality. Each answer has a 100-300 word requirement.

OPTION 2 QUESTIONS (PICK 4-5) 100-300 WORD LIMIT EACH:

What was the most traumatic experience your character endured? How did this change them? The slaughter of her family at the hands of Rendon Howe and his men. Rendon Howe had been a family friend since before Mariane could remember and she knew her father trusted him without question, so she did as well. To have that trust broken and not only that, thrown into their faces horrified and enraged her. Mariane was incredibly depressed during the voyage between Highever and Ostagar, often going days without saying a word. Her only hope was that she'd catch up to her brother in time and even that was dashed by the news that he'd been sent out on a scouting mission and hadn't returned yet. This experience made her simultaneously needy and alone. She felt like she needed bonds to keep herself from getting even more depressed but felt that her family's murders had rendered her impossible of forming those bonds.

What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why? Her relationship with Alistair Theirin, without a doubt. When she got to Ostagar, she was sent to report to him. His earnest yet humorous way of looking at things was the first thing to start to shake her out of the near stupor she'd been in on the voyage from Highever. The first time she felt even a tiny bit like laughing was when Alistair stated that he refused to put on a dress and dance the Remigold. It was such an odd thing to say that she couldn't help but feel the tiny spark of life in her flare and brighten. Then, after the death of Duncan and the slaughter of the Grey Wardens, Mariane found herself in the role of comforter, rather than yearn to be comforted. But her experience losing her family helped her empathize with Alistair and his losses. She was intimidated by the beautiful, powerful Morrigan for a long time, so she relied on Alistair heavily, despite her role as the group's leader. When Alistair gave her the rose, she felt the twinge of feelings she thought she'd never get to have--true love. She also became very devoted to the idea of helping Alistair take the throne because she felt that someone with his empathy, yet strength was perfectly suited to rule.

What is your character's moral code? Do they have one? Why or why not? Mariane hates bullies. People who would take advantage of people in need. She first encountered someone taking advantage of others when she got to Lothering and found the bandits at the entry point. She was very tempted to kill them, but she chose to chase they away instead, giving back to those she could find who had lost resources to the bandits. I headcanon that due to Mariane's smaller size and shy nature, she'd been bullied by other noble children, all of whom were destined to become great warriors of Ferelden, at least in their minds. She remembers how awful the bullying had felt and how she didn't feel secure in expressing that hurt to anyone, not even her parents for fear of the bullying growing worse. It later became a strange and unsettling experience when people, even bandits, reacted to her with fear over her reputation she'd built as being a very calm and efficient killer. When she stated that she would be Alistair's queen, she had many goals in mind. Better schooling, more incentives for people to become guards, overhauling the Alienage system completely, and setting up orphanages which weren't affiliated with the Chantry, setting up the orphanages with sources of care other than the Chantries so that the children had a chance for long, fully educated lives and weren't used as Chantry fodder for more Templars and sisters.

What are your characters dreams and nightmares? Do you believe they are more likely to obtain one rather than the other? At the point in canon Mariane was taken from, her absolute dream would be to marry Alistair, rule justly at his side, and most importantly, bear his children. Mariane deeply wanted to become the mother of his children because she felt that such a good man should be the father to many children, not just an heir and a spare. And she also wanted many children to fill the gap left behind by the hundreds slaughtered by Howe. She wanted children named after her parents, her sister-in-law, her nephew, and of course a Duncan. But the thought of not being able to achieve that goal due to both her and Alistair being Grey Wardens was a nightmare to her. She tried to tell herself that she had time, she was only seventeen, it would be a long time until nobles began to whisper behind closed doors that she was barren and should be set aside. Such an idea was unthinkable, not just because she'd refuse to let herself be put aside but because the research being done by Avernus could potentially hold the key to ridding her blood of the taint. She'd let him live with that goal foremost in her mind. She would like to think that her dream will come through, even if it was only due to single-minded stubbornness, but feared that her nightmare was far more likely.

What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise. Mariane knows she has fits of melancholy (depression) that ebb and flow like the tides. She wants to overcome that as there's no place for a sad, mopey queen. However, Ferelden is not like modern America, there's no such thing as psychology or modern understanding of mental illness. She'd be left largely alone to fight off those thoughts and feelings and even though she'd know that Alistair would do whatever it took to help her, she felt that he had far more important goals in rebuilding a country badly damaged by the Blight. So she'd smile, look pretty, and do her best to make her womb cooperate and give them a child. It should also be noted that Mariane suffers from PTSD after the slaughter of her family and all that she'd been forced to do and endure on her way to killing the Archdemon.

★ Player Information ★

Player Name: argustar
Pronouns: they/them
Are you over 18?: far older than 18
Contact(s): PM the character journal
Who Invited You?: here
Current Characters: Currently applied for Tinya Wazzo, will also be applying for Misty Day
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: here, here, here, here, here

Permissions

⇓in character⇓

PHYSICAL AFFECTION: Not until she knows you very, very, very well and don't mind working to earn it. Even then, it would likely be limited to the occasional hug unless you're playing Alistair

PHYSICAL VIOLENCE: Mariaine has a kill count in the thousands, they're welcome to try? however, I have no problem with her losing due to insert reason here. no killing, though, not unless we've talked about it extensively and it makes sense within the RP

ROMANCE/FLIRTING: Absolutely! Yes please! She'll have no idea what to do with it!

SEXUAL CONTENT: No, unless you're playing Alistair

PSYCHIC ABILITIES: None. But there's a heavy stigma against that kind of power as it's seen as only achievable by blood magic

MAGIC/POWERS: she's a Grey Warden, leading to enhanced stamina, speed, and strength

MEDICAL INFORMATION: She's a Grey Warden, meaning she's been tainted by drinking darkspawn blood. Eventually, this will catch up with her and she'll have to go to the Deep Roads to die fighting.

OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS OR TRIGGERS: being talked down to as she's endured more in her seventeen twenty years than most people do in their entire lifetimes, talking casually about what happened at Highever, cruelty for the sake of cruelty

⇓out of character⇓

BACKTAGGING: Absolutely!

FOURTH WALLING: Please don't.

THREADHOPPING: Go for it!

CONTENT I ABSOLUTELY NEED WARNINGS FOR, BUT CAN STILL PLAY: For me, nothing.

CONTENT I ABSOLUTELY NEED WARNINGS FOR AND THAT I CAN'T PLAY: Harm to cats.

ANYTHING ELSE: I'm pretty easy-going! Even heavy subjects like rape don't bother me. The only thing which flat-out sends me into an anxiety attack is harm to cats.