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whowhatwhy) wrote2012-09-26 03:11 pm
whowhatwhy) wrote2012-09-26 03:11 pm
APPLICATION : Mostly Harmless.
OOC:
Name: Ro
Are you over 16?: Aye
Personal DW:midvalley
Email: roorat[at]gmail[dot]com
Timezone: MST
Other contact: AIM: jolted volt |![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
ro_bot
Characters already in the game: None
How did you find us?: Deb, Jen, Mai, Francy, Manda--- okay, I have a ton of friends here.
IC:
Character name: Nathaniel Howe
Fandom: Dragon Age (Origins: Awakening and II)
Timeline: After the Act III quest Finding Nathaniel in, but before the finale of, Dragon Age II
Age: Somewhere in his mid-thirties, according to Word of God
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: As far as Dragon Age folks go, Nathaniel himself is pretty normal- the only thing out of the ordinary is the taint in his blood that he took on as part of becoming a Grey Warden. Because of that he can sense darkspawn- creepy monster things that come out of the woodwork once in a while in Dragon Age land to wreak lots of havoc- and occasionally hear their thoughts when he dreams. He can also sense his fellow Wardens, since they all have the same taint in their blood. This also shoots his metabolism through the roof and significantly shortens his lifespan.
Beyond that, he's a skilled marksman, preferring to use a bow and arrows rather than any sort of melee weapon- not that he isn't good with those either. His spent a lot of time abroad, training long and hard, and as such he's an expert at infiltration, picking locks, disarming traps, and other rogue-related things. (He is a rogue-class character, with the assassin specialization, though it's never really stated if he's an actual assassin or not.) He was able to break into Vigil's Keep- his once family home and now current headquarters of the Grey Wardens- undetected. When he was eventually caught, it took four Wardens to bring him down.
How would they use their abilities?: Being a Grey Warden isn't likely to come into play on the Thor, neither will his more conventional rogue skills, but if there's a need to fight or protect others, he'd gladly volunteer his services. Nate's all about practicality, and isn't going to go around shooting arrows at people for the lulz. He'd do a little questing/exploring if it ever came up and it was somehow in his interest to go.
Appearance: Nate is a sturdily-built and broad-shouldered dude thanks to all that archery. He has dark brown hair that comes to just above his shoulders, which he usually wears back in a half-ponytail-braid-Legolas-looking-thing, but a few wisps of it usually fall in his face anyway. His height is tricky to figure, but I'd guess he's average, leaning towards the taller side of things.
He has gray eyes, a bit of stubble and, of all things, a soul patch. Also let us not forget his marvelous Howe nose, that he so clearly inherited from his father. Bonus picture because why not.
Background/Personality: The Howes are among the oldest noble families of Ferelden, and they were widely regarded as protectors of their people and just leaders. That was until Rendon Howe, Nathaniel's father, let his ambitions get the best of them. He turned against his friends and fellow nobles, the Cousland family, allowing his soldiers to slaughter them all, save the eldest brother, Fergus, who was leading the Couslands' own army against an insurgence of darkspawn in the south. (The growing number of darkspawn attacks was a sure sign of a Blight, an attack by a large horde of darkspawn led by something known as an Archdemon.)
Rendon furthered his treachery by siding with Loghain Mac Tir, a Teyrn (which is equivalent to a Duke), and the father of the queen. Loghain had left the king for dead in a large battle against darkspawn, telling his army to retreat when they were most needed, and named himself regent upon the news of King Cailan's death. Loghain granted Rendon the titles of Teyrn of Highever, and Arl of Denerim, on top of already being Arl of Amaranthine. (An Arl in this case being equivalent to an Earl.) This made him the most powerful person in Ferelden, after to Loghain and his daughter. Rendon Howe did terrible things during his reign, including selling people into slavery and torturing innocents.
Rendon Howe was eventually killed by a Grey Warden who would later be named the Hero of Ferelden. (This is the Player Character, by the way, and I'll refer to them in pretty vague terms.) The Hero of Ferelden eventually defeated the Archdemon, putting a stop to both Loghain's treachery and the Blight. The ruler of Ferelden stripped the Arling of Amaranthine from the Howe family, and gave it to the Grey Wardens as a base of operations and place to replenish their numbers. The Hero was named Warden Commander, and sent to Amaranthine to oversee the operations there.
Nathaniel missed all of this, having been abroad for eight years. He returned home to discover his family dead, and his family's lands in the hands of the very person who had killed his father. Ignorant of his father's deeds, he was outraged, and formed a plan to break into his former childhood home, Vigil's Keep, to kill the Warden Commander. Once inside the Keep, however, he quickly changed his mind, and instead wanted to take what mementos and keepsakes he could and get out. He was caught before he could enact his plan, however, and locked in the dungeon to await the Warden Commander's judgement.
In a bizarre twist of fate, and despite his general bitterness towards the Commander, Nathaniel was conscripted into the Grey Wardens. He wasn't sure if it was a vote of confidence or condemnation, but nobody really has the power to turn down being conscripted. He survived the Joining- the ritual of becoming a Warden- and served under the Commander. Their numbers were still small, so Nathaniel had to work closely with the Commander a lot. (Along with a certain irritating mage by the name of Anders, and a self-righteous spirit of Justice.)
During that time, Nathaniel discovered that not only was his sister Delilah still alive, but she was living in the nearby city. He sought her out, determined to get her to come back to the Keep with him, and to stop living the life of a peasant. Everything would be okay, even if they did have nothing. Shock of shocks, Delilah is actually happily married to one of the merchants, and wouldn't trade her life now for anything. She informs Nathaniel of their father's deeds, and Nathaniel, while shocked, does eventually offer an apology to the Warden Commander.
At some point, the Wardens discover a very bizarre phenomenon: Thinking, speaking, intelligent darkspawn. While darkspawn before had been relatively mindless and driven by a sort of mob mentality, these ones were organized, and even went so far as to fight against other darkspawn. This was the work of a darkspawn who called himself the Architect. The Architect had somehow developed free will of his own, and took it upon himself to free his brothers from the driving force of the Archdemon. In his attempts, he accidentally created something called the Mother- an intelligent, albeit insane as hell, broodmother (a creature that gives birth to darkpawn)- with intelligent darkspawn followers of her own. The two worked largely against each other, and eventually, the Warden Commander was forced to choose between killing them both, or taking the Architect as an ally. Nathaniel himself was in favor of siding with the Architect, since it was the more logical option. The Architect wanted to stop the mindless slaughter just as much as the Wardens did.
With the Mother dead, business continued for usual with the Wardens. Though some of their little rag-tag group didn't stick around, Nathaniel had found his place there. He likes having a purpose, he liked being able to do some good, and it gave him a chance to distance himself from his father's evil legacy. Distance himself he did, when one day he came upon Fergus Cousland (now a Teyrn) on the road, under attack by bandits. Nathaniel saved him, and out of gratitude, Fergus granted some of his family's lands back to him, and even erected a statue in his honor. Nathaniel left these lands to his new nephew.
Fast forward some seven years later, and Nathaniel is still with the Wardens. He and a small expedition party were ordered to the Deep Roads- underground tunnels where darkspawn usually hang out- to follow the expedition path of the Champion of Kirkwall, a person by the name of Hawke. Hawke's party had ventured further into the Deep Roads than anyone had thought possible, and so the route was of great interest to the Wardens.
Unfortunately, Nathaniel and his party met heavy darkspawn resistance, and they became lost and separated. Nathaniel's sister was able to track down Hawke and friends and ask them to find her brother, which they did. Nathaniel was nothing but grateful, if a little surprised to see Anders of all people parading around with the Champion of Kirkwall.
It's at this point that he ends up on the the Thor. Also you may have noticed that I didn't expound upon Nathaniel's early years a lot, but that's because we don't know much about them. What we can figure, however, is that his relationship with his siblings- younger brother, Thomas, and younger sister, Delilah- seems to have been a normal, healthy one. (One of his fellow Wardens, a dwarf named Sigrun, finds an armless doll under her bed in the keep. Nate explains that it used to belong to his sister, and after a fight, he tore off the doll's arms and put them in places where his sister would find them, in typical big brother fashion.) He does deeply care for his siblings, as we find out, but harbored no love for his mother.
He describes her as a cruel woman, who would wait for her children to be paraded before her to approve of or criticize them as she saw fit. He actually remarks that he'd rather the painting of her in the throne room at Vigil's Keep be taken down because he thought it was staring at him.
We also know that he admired his father, despite him being similarly cruel. The fact that Rendon Howe makes no mention of his eldest son, and had in fact shipped him off to the Free Marches for eight years in likely terrible conditions, means it's probably safe to assume that he didn't much care for him. He actually admits to being practically raised by one of the Keep's staff. It's probably safe to assume that it was the Keep's servants and staff, and the love of his siblings, that largely shaped his personality.
Speaking of personality, Nathaniel starts out vengeful and cold. He harbors no love for the Warden Commander, the very person who killed his father. He believes very much in his father, having idolized him since he was a young boy. Despite what the Commander and others tell him, he steadfastly refuses to believe in his father’s treachery. He hates what his family has become, and spends a lot of time lamenting it. It’s only with the Commander's prompting- and practically forcing him to become a Warden himself- that he actually begins actively doing something about it.
As he begins to learn the truth about his father’s deeds, and becomes closer to the Commander, we get to know him a little better. He’s a generally soft-spoken person who cares deeply for his family and friends. All of the gift items he can be given are either things that belonged to his family, or useful, practical things, and his personality reflects that. By and large, he's practical and down-to-earth. There's a bit of dry sarcasm and deadpan humor in him, but it doesn't come forward very much. If goaded, though, he will goad back. Don't push his buttons, man. Just don't, because he can get downright mean, even if it is just for a moment.
He eventually comes to enjoy being a Grey Warden, but he’s not stupid enough to deny the risks of the job, or refuse to admit when he’s frightened. (At one point in a quest in Awakening, he remarks “Is anyone else afraid of what we'll find at the end of this corridor?”) Grey Warden or no, skilled fighter or no, he’s still human. He was also raised as a noble, so he has a tendency to act like one sometimes, but his fellow Wardens, most of whom came from true hardship, are quick to knock him down a couple of pegs. He takes this in stride, though, and mostly learns from sticking his foot in his mouth. Though that doesn't stop him from doing so many more times.
Have you read up on how the game works?: The plug-in is called FlamingFerret. Money can be earned though missions, freelancing, and mooching.
1st person sample: This way to the musebox.
3rd person sample:
Nathaniel liked to think that as the eldest son of a nobleman, he was well acquainted with the notion of paperwork. In a time before Blights and Grey Wardens and, as a certain red-haired, ale-swilling dwarf liked to put it, "daddy issues"- a time before Nathaniel and his father had become distant at best, he remembered his father's desk. It was a sturdy, oaken thing, and always scattered with papers. On days that Nathaniel poked his head into his father's study, Rendon would rise from his seat, and allow Nathaniel his chair. Feet dangling, Nathaniel paid rapt attention while his father poured over the different documents, outlining what they were and the proper way to deal with them. Even at a young age, Nathaniel could sense the distaste his father seemed to have for paperwork. He would unearth something new, or perhaps old and long forgotten, in the piles of papers, and just sneer for the space of a breath before continuing with his lesson.
Maker help him, he was actually kind of glad his father never lived to meet a Vogon.
These... beings, for want of a better term, since Nathaniel still wasn't sure how he felt about the word "alien", were absolute masters at paperwork. There was a form for everything. There were forms for acquiring other forms. Forms in all the colors of the rainbow, each with a different purpose. The whole arrival process had been a nightmare of paperwork.
The Vogons seemed to leave the refugees to their own devices for the most part, thank the Maker for small favors, but there was still an occasional need to deal with them. And where Vogons were concerned, there was always, always, always going to be paperwork. Right now, reminiscing as he was about things he rather tried not to reminisce about if he could help it, he'd forgotten if the Vogon at the front desk had said to bring a violet form or a purple one. He also had to wonder what the blighted difference was.
All he could think as he turned around to question the... being again, was what he wouldn't give for a straightforward Deep Road about now.
Questions?: Does this please you?
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Indeed!
Name: Ro
Are you over 16?: Aye
Personal DW:
midvalleyEmail: roorat[at]gmail[dot]com
Timezone: MST
Other contact: AIM: jolted volt |
Characters already in the game: None
How did you find us?: Deb, Jen, Mai, Francy, Manda--- okay, I have a ton of friends here.
IC:
Character name: Nathaniel Howe
Fandom: Dragon Age (Origins: Awakening and II)
Timeline: After the Act III quest Finding Nathaniel in, but before the finale of, Dragon Age II
Age: Somewhere in his mid-thirties, according to Word of God
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: As far as Dragon Age folks go, Nathaniel himself is pretty normal- the only thing out of the ordinary is the taint in his blood that he took on as part of becoming a Grey Warden. Because of that he can sense darkspawn- creepy monster things that come out of the woodwork once in a while in Dragon Age land to wreak lots of havoc- and occasionally hear their thoughts when he dreams. He can also sense his fellow Wardens, since they all have the same taint in their blood. This also shoots his metabolism through the roof and significantly shortens his lifespan.
Beyond that, he's a skilled marksman, preferring to use a bow and arrows rather than any sort of melee weapon- not that he isn't good with those either. His spent a lot of time abroad, training long and hard, and as such he's an expert at infiltration, picking locks, disarming traps, and other rogue-related things. (He is a rogue-class character, with the assassin specialization, though it's never really stated if he's an actual assassin or not.) He was able to break into Vigil's Keep- his once family home and now current headquarters of the Grey Wardens- undetected. When he was eventually caught, it took four Wardens to bring him down.
How would they use their abilities?: Being a Grey Warden isn't likely to come into play on the Thor, neither will his more conventional rogue skills, but if there's a need to fight or protect others, he'd gladly volunteer his services. Nate's all about practicality, and isn't going to go around shooting arrows at people for the lulz. He'd do a little questing/exploring if it ever came up and it was somehow in his interest to go.
Appearance: Nate is a sturdily-built and broad-shouldered dude thanks to all that archery. He has dark brown hair that comes to just above his shoulders, which he usually wears back in a half-ponytail-braid-Legolas-looking-thing, but a few wisps of it usually fall in his face anyway. His height is tricky to figure, but I'd guess he's average, leaning towards the taller side of things.
He has gray eyes, a bit of stubble and, of all things, a soul patch. Also let us not forget his marvelous Howe nose, that he so clearly inherited from his father. Bonus picture because why not.
Background/Personality: The Howes are among the oldest noble families of Ferelden, and they were widely regarded as protectors of their people and just leaders. That was until Rendon Howe, Nathaniel's father, let his ambitions get the best of them. He turned against his friends and fellow nobles, the Cousland family, allowing his soldiers to slaughter them all, save the eldest brother, Fergus, who was leading the Couslands' own army against an insurgence of darkspawn in the south. (The growing number of darkspawn attacks was a sure sign of a Blight, an attack by a large horde of darkspawn led by something known as an Archdemon.)
Rendon furthered his treachery by siding with Loghain Mac Tir, a Teyrn (which is equivalent to a Duke), and the father of the queen. Loghain had left the king for dead in a large battle against darkspawn, telling his army to retreat when they were most needed, and named himself regent upon the news of King Cailan's death. Loghain granted Rendon the titles of Teyrn of Highever, and Arl of Denerim, on top of already being Arl of Amaranthine. (An Arl in this case being equivalent to an Earl.) This made him the most powerful person in Ferelden, after to Loghain and his daughter. Rendon Howe did terrible things during his reign, including selling people into slavery and torturing innocents.
Rendon Howe was eventually killed by a Grey Warden who would later be named the Hero of Ferelden. (This is the Player Character, by the way, and I'll refer to them in pretty vague terms.) The Hero of Ferelden eventually defeated the Archdemon, putting a stop to both Loghain's treachery and the Blight. The ruler of Ferelden stripped the Arling of Amaranthine from the Howe family, and gave it to the Grey Wardens as a base of operations and place to replenish their numbers. The Hero was named Warden Commander, and sent to Amaranthine to oversee the operations there.
Nathaniel missed all of this, having been abroad for eight years. He returned home to discover his family dead, and his family's lands in the hands of the very person who had killed his father. Ignorant of his father's deeds, he was outraged, and formed a plan to break into his former childhood home, Vigil's Keep, to kill the Warden Commander. Once inside the Keep, however, he quickly changed his mind, and instead wanted to take what mementos and keepsakes he could and get out. He was caught before he could enact his plan, however, and locked in the dungeon to await the Warden Commander's judgement.
In a bizarre twist of fate, and despite his general bitterness towards the Commander, Nathaniel was conscripted into the Grey Wardens. He wasn't sure if it was a vote of confidence or condemnation, but nobody really has the power to turn down being conscripted. He survived the Joining- the ritual of becoming a Warden- and served under the Commander. Their numbers were still small, so Nathaniel had to work closely with the Commander a lot. (Along with a certain irritating mage by the name of Anders, and a self-righteous spirit of Justice.)
During that time, Nathaniel discovered that not only was his sister Delilah still alive, but she was living in the nearby city. He sought her out, determined to get her to come back to the Keep with him, and to stop living the life of a peasant. Everything would be okay, even if they did have nothing. Shock of shocks, Delilah is actually happily married to one of the merchants, and wouldn't trade her life now for anything. She informs Nathaniel of their father's deeds, and Nathaniel, while shocked, does eventually offer an apology to the Warden Commander.
At some point, the Wardens discover a very bizarre phenomenon: Thinking, speaking, intelligent darkspawn. While darkspawn before had been relatively mindless and driven by a sort of mob mentality, these ones were organized, and even went so far as to fight against other darkspawn. This was the work of a darkspawn who called himself the Architect. The Architect had somehow developed free will of his own, and took it upon himself to free his brothers from the driving force of the Archdemon. In his attempts, he accidentally created something called the Mother- an intelligent, albeit insane as hell, broodmother (a creature that gives birth to darkpawn)- with intelligent darkspawn followers of her own. The two worked largely against each other, and eventually, the Warden Commander was forced to choose between killing them both, or taking the Architect as an ally. Nathaniel himself was in favor of siding with the Architect, since it was the more logical option. The Architect wanted to stop the mindless slaughter just as much as the Wardens did.
With the Mother dead, business continued for usual with the Wardens. Though some of their little rag-tag group didn't stick around, Nathaniel had found his place there. He likes having a purpose, he liked being able to do some good, and it gave him a chance to distance himself from his father's evil legacy. Distance himself he did, when one day he came upon Fergus Cousland (now a Teyrn) on the road, under attack by bandits. Nathaniel saved him, and out of gratitude, Fergus granted some of his family's lands back to him, and even erected a statue in his honor. Nathaniel left these lands to his new nephew.
Fast forward some seven years later, and Nathaniel is still with the Wardens. He and a small expedition party were ordered to the Deep Roads- underground tunnels where darkspawn usually hang out- to follow the expedition path of the Champion of Kirkwall, a person by the name of Hawke. Hawke's party had ventured further into the Deep Roads than anyone had thought possible, and so the route was of great interest to the Wardens.
Unfortunately, Nathaniel and his party met heavy darkspawn resistance, and they became lost and separated. Nathaniel's sister was able to track down Hawke and friends and ask them to find her brother, which they did. Nathaniel was nothing but grateful, if a little surprised to see Anders of all people parading around with the Champion of Kirkwall.
It's at this point that he ends up on the the Thor. Also you may have noticed that I didn't expound upon Nathaniel's early years a lot, but that's because we don't know much about them. What we can figure, however, is that his relationship with his siblings- younger brother, Thomas, and younger sister, Delilah- seems to have been a normal, healthy one. (One of his fellow Wardens, a dwarf named Sigrun, finds an armless doll under her bed in the keep. Nate explains that it used to belong to his sister, and after a fight, he tore off the doll's arms and put them in places where his sister would find them, in typical big brother fashion.) He does deeply care for his siblings, as we find out, but harbored no love for his mother.
He describes her as a cruel woman, who would wait for her children to be paraded before her to approve of or criticize them as she saw fit. He actually remarks that he'd rather the painting of her in the throne room at Vigil's Keep be taken down because he thought it was staring at him.
We also know that he admired his father, despite him being similarly cruel. The fact that Rendon Howe makes no mention of his eldest son, and had in fact shipped him off to the Free Marches for eight years in likely terrible conditions, means it's probably safe to assume that he didn't much care for him. He actually admits to being practically raised by one of the Keep's staff. It's probably safe to assume that it was the Keep's servants and staff, and the love of his siblings, that largely shaped his personality.
Speaking of personality, Nathaniel starts out vengeful and cold. He harbors no love for the Warden Commander, the very person who killed his father. He believes very much in his father, having idolized him since he was a young boy. Despite what the Commander and others tell him, he steadfastly refuses to believe in his father’s treachery. He hates what his family has become, and spends a lot of time lamenting it. It’s only with the Commander's prompting- and practically forcing him to become a Warden himself- that he actually begins actively doing something about it.
As he begins to learn the truth about his father’s deeds, and becomes closer to the Commander, we get to know him a little better. He’s a generally soft-spoken person who cares deeply for his family and friends. All of the gift items he can be given are either things that belonged to his family, or useful, practical things, and his personality reflects that. By and large, he's practical and down-to-earth. There's a bit of dry sarcasm and deadpan humor in him, but it doesn't come forward very much. If goaded, though, he will goad back. Don't push his buttons, man. Just don't, because he can get downright mean, even if it is just for a moment.
He eventually comes to enjoy being a Grey Warden, but he’s not stupid enough to deny the risks of the job, or refuse to admit when he’s frightened. (At one point in a quest in Awakening, he remarks “Is anyone else afraid of what we'll find at the end of this corridor?”) Grey Warden or no, skilled fighter or no, he’s still human. He was also raised as a noble, so he has a tendency to act like one sometimes, but his fellow Wardens, most of whom came from true hardship, are quick to knock him down a couple of pegs. He takes this in stride, though, and mostly learns from sticking his foot in his mouth. Though that doesn't stop him from doing so many more times.
Have you read up on how the game works?: The plug-in is called FlamingFerret. Money can be earned though missions, freelancing, and mooching.
1st person sample: This way to the musebox.
3rd person sample:
Nathaniel liked to think that as the eldest son of a nobleman, he was well acquainted with the notion of paperwork. In a time before Blights and Grey Wardens and, as a certain red-haired, ale-swilling dwarf liked to put it, "daddy issues"- a time before Nathaniel and his father had become distant at best, he remembered his father's desk. It was a sturdy, oaken thing, and always scattered with papers. On days that Nathaniel poked his head into his father's study, Rendon would rise from his seat, and allow Nathaniel his chair. Feet dangling, Nathaniel paid rapt attention while his father poured over the different documents, outlining what they were and the proper way to deal with them. Even at a young age, Nathaniel could sense the distaste his father seemed to have for paperwork. He would unearth something new, or perhaps old and long forgotten, in the piles of papers, and just sneer for the space of a breath before continuing with his lesson.
Maker help him, he was actually kind of glad his father never lived to meet a Vogon.
These... beings, for want of a better term, since Nathaniel still wasn't sure how he felt about the word "alien", were absolute masters at paperwork. There was a form for everything. There were forms for acquiring other forms. Forms in all the colors of the rainbow, each with a different purpose. The whole arrival process had been a nightmare of paperwork.
The Vogons seemed to leave the refugees to their own devices for the most part, thank the Maker for small favors, but there was still an occasional need to deal with them. And where Vogons were concerned, there was always, always, always going to be paperwork. Right now, reminiscing as he was about things he rather tried not to reminisce about if he could help it, he'd forgotten if the Vogon at the front desk had said to bring a violet form or a purple one. He also had to wonder what the blighted difference was.
All he could think as he turned around to question the... being again, was what he wouldn't give for a straightforward Deep Road about now.
Questions?: Does this please you?
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Indeed!