City Elf Appreciation Week - Day 2!

a rose by any other name is still a flock of blades

more doodlez from my replay

City Elf Appreciation Week

Day 5: Alienage

As the eldest Tabris cousin, it is Novhen's familial duty to show his younger cousin Shianni the ropes around Denerim, and in his rogueish mind, this obviously includes how to scam the city's human population. 2666 words.

and a thank you to @cityelfweek for putting all this together (and giving me the motivation to finish this fic) ^.^

inspired by this meme by sweepswoop_ on twitter

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 - 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 Tradition - 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]

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 - 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 Tradition - 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]

you ever think about a tabris that does the ultimate sacrifice

how their family and fellow elves fighting so fiercely to defend their home (just as they did when they passed through only mere hours before) see the retreating darkspawn and cheer so loudly surely their elven savior could hear them all the way at the top of fort drakkon

how shianni soris and cyrion all break away from the celebrations and shouts go retrieve tabris because there's no possible way a shem party could even come close to the one they'll have in the alienage (they can bring their friends too if they want, they did help tabris after all)

how joy so quickly turns to despair when they see those doors slowly creak open at the bottom with an unmoving tabris held in the arms of another, perhaps a friend, or a lover, with unrestrained tears flowing down their face (maybe with one witch absent, long gone before this even took place)

how shianni and soris cannot begin to believe that the savior, their savior, their cousin, is no longer with them, they were so alive before, and now they are not (their hero is something they will make the shems remember, they are gone so they could live)

how this is now the last time their father has to hold a funeral for his child, and only this time does he have a body to weep over (it's not any better than the first one)

do you ever just think

 obscure elven heroes! appreciation. post

The Pale Demon: after Orlais conquered Halamshiral in 2:20 Glory and the Dales fell, one of the Keepers of the diaspora clans became infamous for his vicious attacks on Orlesians. humans came to know him as the Pale Demon, for he set upon soldiers and even unprotected merchants with iceblasts and blizzards from his staff, even in summer. these attacks continued until chevaliers killed the Keeper and then slaughtered his entire clan. the staff he bore was called Yavanalis (it’s curious to me incidentally, that Flemythal named one of her daughters Yavana - any connection? maybe the two words share the same root word in elven).

Wenni di Ladia: a City Elf from Nevarra, she was one of the most famous elven heroes from the Towers Age. directly descended from one of the last Emerald Knights who protected the Dales, she took up her grandfather’s bow, Tenasarin (any relation to the river Tenasir, where shrines to the elven gods stood?), to fight when the Third Blight threatened Thedas. her deeds, skill and beauty inspired entire armies, such that I don’t think it would be a stretch to say Wenni was one of the Heroes of the Third Blight. after the Archdemon was defeated, her name launched revolts and rebellions in the alienages, becoming a rallying cry - mien’harel! human Marcher rulers were angered by this, and Wenni was forced to flee criminal accusations. she vanished into obscurity, not unlike some Wardens in some of the potential epilogue slides, but her legend still lives on in the hearts of City Elves. this is very important, because in the City Elf Origin elven children playing “Heroes and Humans” will tell Tabris that they don’t know any stories about elven heroes. I like to believe that Wenni’s story is one that every elven child knows and takes great pride and solace in, just like Garahel’s is noted to be. 

Rajmael: a great general. the elves of the Dales fought valiantly against the Exalted March, but defeat became obvious. in one last act of defiance, Rajmael threw his dragonbone waraxe, The Veshialle, at the oncoming enemy before committing suicide by jumping from the Forlorn Falls. his weapon is said to rebel against all but elven hands. Rajmael may have been an Emerald Knight. a verse in the Chant of Light insists that he recanted his faith in the Creators, but we all know that’s human bullshit. curiously, his tale bears some similarity to that of Nomaris, one of the last Emerald Knights alive after the Dales were destroyed. he too bore an axe - the Axe of Green Edges. he lodged it in a tree, declaring that it should remain there until his People were free, before flinging himself into a river, presumably to his death.

Iloren: the Keeper of a Dalish clan that wandered the Anderfels during the Second Blight, in a time when Keepers were priests that served as archivists and magical scholars. he was a hunter in his younger days, and as crafty as a wolf. he led his people in their flight from the darkspawn horde, staying always one step ahead by the grace of his wits alone. one night, the darkspawn cornered and ambushed them. but the dark ones fell into Iloren’s trap. he and the other hahrens called upon the old magic, and with lightning set fire to dry grass and kindling that the hunters had strewn around the camp in preparation. the area went up in flames, and not a single creature made it through the blaze to harm his clan. today his tale is preserved in its most cherished form in books.

Willem Trialmont: a City Elf who followed a company of the Legion of the Dead for three days through the Deep Roads, doggedly intent on fighting darkspawn with his family blade - a fine elven sword which would later come to be known as Topsider’s Honor in light of his deeds. he was quiet but insistent; the dwarves, confused at why someone from the surface would care to combat darkspawn underground, initially thought that he wouldn’t last, and threatened to kill him if his actions put them at risk. but he shocked them, for later, they witnessed him fight like a man possessed, with incredibly light, silent strikes and marked precision. they toasted and broke bread with him, and when he died in 7:5 Storm, they extended that which was sacred to them and conveyed him to the Stone as if he’d been born a dwarf. his epitaph reads that he served the Deep Roads better than a native son. many Legionnaires lived to see another day because Willem fought at their side and fell in their place. in death, the dwarves lauded his honor and claimed him as a brother in blood. his story is one of true family beyond kin and taking up arms against darkness.

Alidda of Halamshiral: the most famous elven criminal in all of Orlais. a City Elf, she was arrested in 4:45 Black for killing three knights - a deed which hardly makes sense to pair with the word “crime”, as chevalier initiation practices involve “testing their blades” by entering alienage slums after dark to murder innocent elves who happen to be out after curfew. Divine Clemence I presided over Alidda’s trial, where it came to light that she had actually killed twelve chevaliers, in justified retaliation for the abhorrent graduation ritual. she escaped and killed twenty more chevaliers - two in single combat - before finally being cornered. rather than be captured, she cut her throat with Knightslayer, her own dagger.

Orahn: A Dalish smith known to have created fine weapons such as the Dal’Thanu waraxe that was an heirloom in the possession of Deygan’s family. His grandfather passed it down to him. Family legend holds that it was used to fight in the service of Andraste herself, meaning Orahn may have been a contemporary of Shartan.

Corimae: Presumably a City Elf, she owned a beautiful dagger called the Voice of Velvet. She was an assassin - possibly an Antivan Crow? - and when a nobleman refused to take her as a lover, she used the dagger to open his throat.

Sendis and Iselle: A Dalish archer and blood mage respectively, this brother and sister pair were part of a band of heroes that saved the Free Marcher city of Kaiten, having aided Viscount Ravi in preventing an abomination from destroying the place. Their clan was led by Keeper Tianne. Over time Iselle and Ravi became lovers, and she eventually died bearing their elf-blooded son Eiton. Sendis later saved his clan from blood magic control by calling on Ravi for help.

Embri of Gwaren: A City Elf, she was a mage, though unfortunately one of limited talent. Testament to her brave spirit and selfless desire to help, Embri volunteered of her own volition to be made Tranquil. As a Tranquil she proved to be a skilled enchanter, despite her absent-mindedness. She always kept an array of magical herbs and other ingredients at her belt, and eventually the belt itself came to hold magical properties. Embri died of lyrium poisoning.

Temolai: A skilled craftsman who made The Long Sight, a helm which grants a strange and unnerving acuity. He made one more helm better than it, but that helm allowed him to gaze upon the Black City, and he was lost forever.

Korin: An elven king, from a tall tale Tabris can tell children in the Denerim Alienage.

Tathas: A sneaky elven bandit, from a tall tale Tabris can tell children in the Denerim Alienage.

Blargha: A mighty elven warrior, from a tall tale Tabris can tell children in the Denerim Alienage.

Leliana found her.

Briala! Illustration I did for Ukrainian Dragon Age zine :)