A Helpful List Of City Elves :)

inspired by this meme by sweepswoop_ on twitter

I wish we could have gotten some cutscenes with Hawke teaching Fenris how to read — there’s like that offer in act 2 after giving him the Book of Shartan and the thought makes my heart soft <3

Progress Under Cut

Alienage slice of life

For day 3 of City Elf Appreciation Week (organized by @cityelfweek thank you so much for organizing this btw I am loving all of the entries) I am posting an old piece of writing I never posted on Tumblr. It's the day before her wedding, and Astala Tabris is enjoying an evening off with her friends and coworkers. Everything is going well for her: she's having fun, she has people she can rely on, she's got everything figured out job-wise... or does she? A slice-of-life story centered around the necessity and frustrations of holding a job, and the friends at your side as you walk through life. Enjoy!

“There he is!” Tehriel called and jumped up.

Astala threw her cards aside and followed suit. It had been a bad hand, nothing worth holding on to. The five of them sprinted over to Ilmanis, who had just stepped through the gates to the Denerim alienage. Blond mane flaring out behind him like a knight from a story book, Doher led the charge and stopped a mere heartbeat before colliding with their long-awaited friend.

“How did it go?”

“Did you get the job?” Astala threw herself over Doher to get a look at Ilmanis, who was short enough to disappear entirely behind any reasonably sized elf. “If you didn’t, they’re fools, because you’re the most competent person they could’ve hoped to hire.”

“Tell us, what does it feel like to walk around in a shem palace?” Tehriel asked. “Was it full of dogs?”

“The dogs stay in the kennels,” Astala said. “I want to know if the chamberlain treated you right. Or was he too good to interview you? Is it still that guy with the weird haircut who hired my father?”

Ilmanis mumbled something unintelligible and Doher aggressively shushed them.

“You’re asking the man too many questions at once.”

“That’s right,” Elnasran nodded. “Come, we saved you some food."

Read on AO3

I don't know what happened but I fell into the Evka/Antoine pit overnight after rereading parts of Tevinter Nights, and there's only a handful of things when I search for them so I'm adding to that pile myself!!

They've appeared multiple times in short stories and even the comics so I'm just waiting for DA4 stuff like "👀". Bioware pls give us the cute Wardens (preferably alive and well shjhfg but I'm expecting them to hurt me emotionally anyway bc this is DA after all, and there's been so much foreshadowing ;;v;;)

(Lineart below)

Day 3: Community

Mi amor,

By the time this letter reaches you, if it reaches you at all, I will be far away.

I tire of shadows, yet I am more weary of danger, or to be more precise, the danger my presence puts others in. My time among the Dalish was short, and were it not for the intervention of another, may have ended with blood. Innocent blood, that is. There was no shortage of Crow blood to be had. Pray my time in Ansburg is peaceful.

The city’s elves have made me feel quite at home. The elder herself has given me shelter under her roof. Each morning I find children at my doorstep, coveting my attention like I am a hero worthy of their aspirations. I do not tell them what I truly am, though I suspect their elders know.

They live humbly here, but I think you would enjoy yourself— the Minanter flows more freely than your beloved Drakon, and we are far enough north that all manner of fruits and vegetables come through the city’s markets. True, I have not the coin to buy them, but what is the harm in relieving a merchant of a peach here and there?

I will beg the Maker for forgiveness later.

I once told you I considered myself lucky for an orphan, and in many ways that still holds true. I often wonder, however, what would have happened if I was trusted not to the brothel, but my people. I do not remember the Alienage in Antiva City, or, indeed, in Rialto. Would they have guarded me so closely there, as they do here? Would I have been safe? Would I have been happy?

Ah, but what use is there in wondering? You know poverty’s sting as well as I, mi amor. I might have been happy, yes, but I am happy now, knowing your warm embrace awaits me in cold Amaranthine.

Con cariño, Zevran

Written for @cityelfweek day 3!

I REALLY LOVE ROMANCE WITH ALISTAIR

City Elf Appreciation Week

~ 5th of August - 11th of August ~

Here are some optional prompts for next week! Please feel free to do whatever you like with them. Remember to tag @cityelfweek or use the tag #cityelfweek24!

Day 1 - Vhenadahl

- A pillar of many alienage communities. Firewood in others.

Day 2 - Folklore and History

- Show the folklore that city elves have created over time. Superstitions, stories, heroes, villains... anything!

Day 3 - Community

- Close-knit family, or claustrophobic little box?

Day 4 - Customs and Traditions

- Andrastian? Dalish? Somewhere in between, or something all new?

Day 5 - Alienage

- The only home many city elves ever know.

Day 6 - OC

- A day to celebrate original city elf characters!

Day 7 - Free Day

- All things city elf!

[original post][divider credit]

The people have spoken...

City Elf Appreciation Week will take place between the 5th of August and the 11th of August 2024!

Optional prompts soon to follow <3

CONFESSION:

I know it's insignificant and unlikely, but I've been wanting to go to Tevinter since my family was sold into slavery in DAO and, like.... I just want to know if Valora is okay? If Bioware could put her name above an NPC's head or something, I'd be happy. My poor Tabris never got to rescue her, and I need closure.