this is fuckin' awesome

[ashehole]

Open RP Post


⊛ find a character you want to play with and respond to their thread. can't find who you want? let me know!
⊛ we can make up a scenario, adapt a meme of some sort, or... something else? whatever the fuck we want.
⊛ if you need ideas, the random scenario meme has just about anything you could want.
⊛ wanna do a picture prompt? we can do some picture prompts.
⊛ FUCK YEAH WE'RE TOTALLY ROLEPLAYING RIGHT NOW!!!

Handy-Dandy Quick Links:
Vanessa Cleveland ⊛ Catty Turner ⊛ Finnick Odair ⊛ Belle Beaumont ⊛ Chloe Saunders
Commander Shepard ⊛ Piper McLean ⊛ Jordan Langley ⊛ Jaime Lannister ⊛ Eli Keaton
Sally Malik ⊛ Corey Carling ⊛ Shadow ⊛ Fenris ⊛ Meetra Surik
Revan ⊛ Keiko Nakagawa ⊛ Alyss Heart ⊛ Ava ⊛ James
Percy Jackson ⊛ Frank Zhang ⊛ Helen ⊛ Jason Grace ⊛ David Levin
April O'Neil ⊛ Galen Marek ⊛ Reyna ⊛ Jackson Swift ⊛ Jaime Reyes
Fran Zhang (AU) ⊛ Jasa Grace (AU) ⊛ Piper McLean (AU) ⊛ Gretel ⊛ Sirius Black
Cullen ⊛ Liv Durand ⊛ Maddie Moss ⊛ Daniel Bianchi ⊛ Finley Odair (AU)
Persephone Jackson (AU) ⊛ Derek Hale ⊛ Raleigh Becket ⊛ Allison Argent ⊛ Liam Hunt
Seph McCauley ⊛ Jonah Kinlock ⊛ Edward Kenway ⊛ Aveline de Grandpre ⊛ Gale Hawthone
Will Scarlet ⊛ Korra ⊛ Carswell Thorne ⊛ Scarlet Benoit

Comments

Cullen | Dragon Age

[noleniency]

Re: Cullen | Dragon Age

[amageing]

[ The Gallows, they had called it. And looking around, it's easy for Amell to see why. Although it's been a long time since she's felt the urge to downplay her abilities as a mage, she finds herself shifting to make the staff strapped to her back appear less notable.

When her ship finally meets the docks, all she can think is how her initial impression of Kirkwall is the smell of fire.

And not just any fire.

The stench of a funeral pyre is undeniable. Blood has been shed here. And as a hand drifts defensively to grab her staff, the Warden-Commander eyes the pluming smoke with more than a little scrutiny. The scene that lays before her is not a pleasant one, and as she steps off into the gallows, Amell sees two things in piles that makes her tense.

To one side, there is a mountain of abandoned staffs.

To the other, ownerless swords and templar armor.

What in the Maker's name had happened here? Her presence here was a favor to King Alistair, but it's with a sick sort of dread that Amell realizes this is going to be hitting a little too close to home.

Mages and templars killing each other.

It was almost enough to make her miss the Archdemon.

Amell takes a deep breath and starts towards the gates. Someone there should be able to tell her what was happening to Kirkwall ]

[noleniency]

[There have been plenty of moments in his life where Cullen has questioned the choices he's made, and they are seem to circle around and around, like a serpent eating its tail.

He had been young and naive once, had thought mages were misunderstood. And when Ferelden no longer agreed with him, when he could no longer stomach being in the Tower there, he had left to find a place that would fit his new ideals, the change that was forced on him the moment that blood mage had taken over what had once been his haven.

So Cullen had come to Kirkwall where things were stricter. Where mages weren't your friend, but people to watch out for. And that had been fine. Meredith had been fine.

Until Meredith changed as well, and she turned a blind eyes to the horrors the other templars were committing, where she breathed poisoned about the blood mages and got under his skin. Not that it was hard to. The mages were already there.

This, though. The carnage. The insanity. This wasn't what Cullen had signed up for. Yes, most mages needed to be watched over, cared for, scrutinized. But the pointless death of so many? Not just mages, but innocent people, templars.

The Knight-Captain sits heavily on a broken patch of stairs, watching the final fires burning out slowly. He's distracted from his watch at a figure moving in the distance, and it's a sad reality when he can admit to himself - even after seven years - that he still recognizes the way she walks.] Solona.

[amageing]

[ again and again, Amell is hit by the incredible reality that even outside of the tower, her life continues to be encircled. It doesn't take a moment to recognize the man sitting on the steps, and she approaches with caution. Because even if this is Cullen, someone she grew up besides no matter how complicated their stations were, there is still a pile of staffs and the smell of burning robes.

She clears her throat and tries to ignore the smoke stinging her eyes ]

Cullen.

[ and that is all the familiarity she can allow for now. Something of incredible magnitude for Kirkwall's circle has happened here, and she can't help that small, doubtful voice echoing in the back of her mind. The one that whispers of Cullen's words after Uldred, of the hardness that had entered him during his imprisonment by the desire demon. She doesn't want to think the worst, but there are dead mages and dead templars and Amell has sadly grown use to being disappointed in people ]

What's happened here?

[noleniency]

[It's unbecoming of a Knight-Captain to sit around, Cullen supposes, so he stands as she approaches. He's broken, and he's not. It's a strange mixture of feelings swirling inside of him, but there's something else there now too. A strange light akin to hope. That's what he sees when he glances at Solona Amell and away again.

Oddly enough - or maybe not that oddly - it's the same feeling he has when he's around Hawke. They are family, after all. But where Hawke brings destruction where she steps, Amell brings... Peace.

There is a fundamental difference in the cousins and their actions.

Cullen wonders if she even knows about her family. The broken pieces that barely exist except for two Hawke siblings now and Gamlen Amell.]

Kirkwall. [His voice sticks, tongue glued to the roof of his mouth. There's smoke in his mouth and his throat, and it burns.] There's something fundamentally wrong with Kirkwall, beneath its streets and in the walls. [He sounds crazy, and maybe he is. Maybe it started with Uldred and the demons, but it's Kirkwall. The city should burn, he thinks.

He glances at the carnage before looking back at the Hero of Ferelden.] Mages revolted, and templars went mad. We're at war.

[amageing]

[ she closes her eyes, resists the urge to rub her temples, and silently curses that completely underhanded man she put on the throne. First taking charge of an arldom where she had murdered her predecessor, and now being thrown into a- what had he called it? A "small snafu with one of those city-states. You'd like it, Solona. Mage diplomacy. And I'll add another shiny title to your name." ]

It...looks as though I've missed the main party.

[ she mentally steadies herself. As much as she wants for the best, the best doesn't happen often in her dealings. ]

And. [ she hesitates, looking at Cullen and desperately wanting to see something of the stuttering guardsman she had known at the Tower ] Are we still at war, then?

[ it's hard, but she tries to put on a smile like the ones she wore before the Blight, tries to bring a small amount of levity to this...carnage ]

Because it was a really long boat ride here.

[noleniency]

This is only the beginning. [His arms cross over his chest. It might have started here, but this was a revolt. Mages breaking free of their chains, fight back against the Chantry, the templars. Before him is an example of a mage who seems stable enough, but how many has he seen resort to blood magic and demons? First Enchanter Orsino, someone he had expected to keep his cool in Meredith's madness.

Kirkwall's madness.

There is evil in these stones, breathing, corrupting. Is he still the same? He hasn't been the same in years.

He sighs softly, bone weary, tired.] A renegade mage by the name of Anders declared war when he blew up the Chantry. I am not naive enough to believe that revolution won't spread. Other circles will hear of this. It can't be contained.

[Mages can't be contained. Templars can't be contained.

He grits his teeth.] I don't believe your boat ride will be of much waste, but I doubt Kirkwall will be your final destination.

[amageing]

[ blew up the Chantry. Solona has to close her eyes for a moment at that, somewhat horrified at herself when the only emotion she can rally is the sensation of a headache coming on. It is no surprise that someone would retaliate against the Chantry, not after years upon years of being stowed away in towers, or barracks, or wherever else the speakers of the Makers could stomach them. ]

It is...not unexpected.

[ Because she remembers people like Niall and Jowan and the others. Uldred. She remembers growing up and hearing all the whispers. Whispers eventually give way to shouting, and she feels something twist in her stomach when she remembers coming back to the Circle and seeing Templars scraping what was left of her classmates off the wall.

A war of mages-

She's not a Circle mage anymore. That's the thought she needs to hold onto for this.

you can take the mage out of the circle, but you can't take the circle out of the mage. ]

Where is the First Enchanter? Perhaps I can speak with him.

[noleniency]

There were innocents in that chantry. [There are innocents lining the streets. There were innocents in the Circle in Ferelden. Innocents are the only ones who lose in war and bloodshed.

The First Enchanter?]

Orsino's dead. [He had thought Orsino was different. That he could have brought the mages together, maybe even have convinced Meredith to back down, breathe through this. But no. In the end, he was the same as any other mage, wasn't he? His mouth twists into something ugly for a moment, but then the dark feelings pass.

He needs to sit and rest, to eat. To get a drink of water. No, he needs something stronger than that, but he's pretty sure The Hanged Man is burning.] He resorted to blood magic in the end and allowed for a demon to possess him. [A beat.] The Knight-Commander is also dead. [He taps his fingers against his chest, listening to the hollow metal sound.] There's just me now, and the guard captain.

[amageing]

[ she nods, and beyond that she doesn't know what else to offer. war takes innocents, and she can't do anything about it. something that has been proven again and again to her ]

Blood magic. [ the repetition sounds hollow in her ears, and despite everything that's happened, her mind goes back to Jowan. His reasoning for adopting the darker arts. Love, power. The two went hand and hand so often and it was the recipe that brought upon his fate ]

And the...[ 'mage' doesn't feel fair. not after what he's started ] Aposta- Anders? [ he is a Warden, she reminds herself. He is a warden and they have been through so much together...

he murdered a chantry. the same chantrys that host refugees and orphans and widows]

[noleniency]

[Cullen grits his teeth at the sound of Anders' name. He knows the man, remembers him from Ferelden, in the tower. The mage who couldn't stand to be locked up. He remembers that he didn't agree that Anders should be in isolation, but he had been young then. Had no real clout among the templars And besides that, his friends all knew that he was a mage sympathizer. That he...

He glances at Solona again, allows himself to roam over her face.] He said it had been the only way, but there are other paths to take. [He remembers seeing Anders with Hawke and turning a blind eye because Hawke was important to Kirkwall. Kirkwall needed someone like Hawke and her collection of misfits.

Meredith had turned a blind eye, too. At first. And then couldn't do anything once Hawke had defeated the Arishok.] I don't know where he is now. Fled, I suppose. Unable to face the horrors he's begun. [A beat.] I thought Wardens didn't get involved?

[amageing]

[ Solona nods sadly, looking past Cullen to the smoking remnants of what she imagined to be the Kirkwall Circle. ] I think Templars and Mages can both agree on that, at the very least. [ she looks back to him, trying to make it clear where she stands. Part of her wonders why, between the two of them, she is the more seasoned, the more authorative. But for some strange reason, Solona has always felt the need to justify herself to this particular Templar more than the others ] He doesn't speak for all of us.

[ And of course, he ran. Anders was predictable in that one area, at the very least ]

They don't.

[ she can't help it as she bites down on her lower lip, feeling frustrated and tired, but she knows that she can't hold onto either of those emotions. It's clear that there is a lot to be done in Kirkwall, and she's only just arrived ]

I... [ I'm still a member of the Circle, she wants to say. But that's a lie. She had been cast out when she had helped Jowan's escape ] Anders is a Warden. [ she shakes her head ] Was a Warden.

[ a deep breath ] I conscripted him, back in Amaranthine. [ and she hates that again her weak heart has come back tenfold in the damage it's rendered ] If this is his doing, I'm... [ Solona trails off, gaze flatly taking in the carnage of the ruined Circle. ] He's my responsibility. [ because without her, Anders would have been taken into the custody of the Templars long ago. She had stepped outside of the Circle's law twice now, and both Jowan and Anders had made sure she suffered for it ]

[noleniency]

I know he doesn't. [It's an automatic response, but one he also believes in, strangely enough. He didn't think that it would be an honest answer, but he knows mages are as varied as other people. Still, there's that part of him that belongs to Uldred and the demons, the screams of his friends. That part exists, and he can't get rid of it.] But he's taken it on himself to do so, and neither of us are stupid enough to believe that people won't listen to him and what he's done.

[Cullen nods absently. Was a Warden, right. He remembered that part. He remembers a lot. A lot about Anders before. A lot about Solona before. A lot about himself before. His fingers clench, and he sighs.] He isn't your responsibility. [Another automatic response. Still honest.] You are not responsible for the actions of people anymore than Hawke is. [It would be easy to blame Marian, he supposes, but he knows it isn't her fault. It's not anyone's fault but Anders.] Don't take the blame for the actions he's committed and the consequences we will all face for it.

ALL YOUR CULLENS

[amageing]

ALL OF THEM 5EVA

[noleniency]

[Cullen isn't much of a templar these days. He still wears the armor though, most days. All days, but whatever. He's a templar that doesn't know where he is. What he's doing. He wonders if mages should be locked up or let free; neither solution works entirely.

It's hard to keep asking himself that whenever he looks at Solona. Ridiculous, really. Maker help him, you'd think several years would have given him time to get over her. She had been nothing but a silly boyhood crush, naive and wistful. They're not innocent anymore. Not naive or wistful or even entirely whole. They've seen too much at this point.

But when he looks at her, he doesn't really see a mage. He sees a woman who has carved a path for herself, who broke out of the circles that bound her and made her own way.

What Cullen sees in Solona is something he's never been able to do. Not that he believes she's free. She traded one cage for another, but at least this one allows for freedom of movement.

Today, he's out of the armor that bound him too. It makes him feel naked. Kirkwall is a hothouse of insanity, but he doesn't want to be a templar today. His sword is still strapped to his side, however.] How much longer do you think you will stick around?

8D

[amageing]

[ it doesn't take much for Solona to become enraptured with text. Old parchments, tomes, relics of the arcane- it didn't matter. Despite everything, the Blight, the war, there is solace to be found holed up behind a desk, elbow-deep in knowledge waiting to be sifted through and used. A Circle mage, if nothing else, is a product of their surroundings. And growing up, Solona's surroundings had included a very, very large library.

One that had not held anything remotely like what she was seeing now.

Orsino's effects had been left to her scrutiny, and she doesn't fool herself on the credentials. Orsino's research and relics were hers to evaluate only because she is mage enough for the remnants of the Circle to trust her, and enough steps away for the Templars to think her tamed but not a threat. Mage Amell is gone, but Warden Amell remains.

And Warden Amell is supposed to be uninvolved.

But as she sits, for the fifth or sixth night in a row, pouring tirelessly over Orsino's work (and there is no mention of blood magic, but Solona sees it all over the pages regardless. It is not obvious, but the absence of its influence betrays his hidden desperation. Orsino discusses trivial matters such as restricting certain supplies for the apprentices, what herbology is approved for the newly Harrowed, how many elfroots are in the stocks- but what Solona reads is a man losing more and more authority as the details become more trivial. A man losing everything. And a man who's lost everything can only give himself ) it becomes impossible to hold the middle-ground. She can't help but see the tidy scrawl of Irving's notes in the tomes Orsino has collected, and think of the young apprentices as her hands ghost over another page of the former First Enchanter's personal books.

This war is going to be the end of the Circle, she feels it in her bones. And the end of the Circle means the end of the Templar's protection, no matter how such a thing could be interpreted.

Solona leans back in her chair, closing her eyes and her mind drifts to the Hold. Of her Harrowing. Of Jowan. Of Uldred and what he had done to the mages his Abominations had dragged through the halls, screaming-]


[And Cullen's sudden question from outside of the office makes her startle back, knocking over a well of ink that spills liberally over the priceless, priceless inscriptions ]

Maker's rotting breath-

[ She reacts quickly, dabbing at the pages frantically with the sleeves of her robes, shaking parchments out as dobs of ink only splatter.


Years of fighting Darkspawn, of honing her magic, of hardening herself- and Warden Amell knocks over a well of ink and almost feels reduced to hysterics over it ]

-I'm sorry, what was the question?

[ the pages can be redeemed, maybe. Solona takes a deep breath and feels a similar satisfaction in rescuing Orsino's poultice recipe to the pride she held when slaying an ogre ]

[noleniency]

[The curse brings a smile to his face, and he's glad - for the moment - that she can't actually see him. It's gone by the time he turns and steps into the doorway of Orsino's office. Cullen takes a moment to look around. He realizes that he's never actually been in here before, despite the fact that they were only a few doors away from each other. Both strange and... Not.

Orsino was not Irving. Cullen didn't trust Orsino on a personal level, didn't really know him. But the horrors he remembers from that night when the Chantry blew, when the First Enchanter used blood magic to seal a pact with a demon...

It reflects on his face for a moment. Just a moment. And then it's gone.]

Here I thought that becoming a Warden gave you a special set of skills. Grace hasn't become one of them. [In reference to her spilling ink. Oops. There's a beat before he steps further into the room, one step at a time as if he's unsure. Because he is. He really is. He shouldn't be in here.]

I was asking how long you planned to stay in Kirkwall. [You know, not for any personal reasons or anything.]

[amageing]

[ she's too concerned with trying to save history from being...well, blighted-by ink, fortunately this time- to catch the expression, but she does hear the all-too familiar sound of hesitant Cullen steps. ]

I don't think I ruined the vellum... [ it's muttered to herself, and when she looks up and finally sees him, there is a strange sensation she feels when she notices there is no Templar armor on him today. He looks more like himself, and at the same time more of a complete stranger. And numbly, she realizes that she has worn nothing but Mage robes for the better part of fifteen years ]

Cullen. [ she offers a small smile in greeting "You look smaller" on the tip of her tongue but she staves it ] Grace isn't really required of the Wardens. They're more of a strike-with-lightning-now, ask questions never persuasion.

[ it takes another moment for her thoughts to fast forward up to speed in time with Cullen's question, and when it does she tries not to feel strongly one way or another as she contemplates her answer. she sighs, setting down the last of the parchments and stretching out the knot that had formed in her shoulder ]

Until I am needed more elsewhere, I suspect.

[noleniency]

Solona. [Despite himself, a small smile flickers across his face in response before it gets sort of buried underneath of everything else.] Ah, then that explains a lot, now that I come to think about it. Then again, I know plenty of those not a Warden that react the same way. [He lets his gaze roam over her for a moment, taking in what she's doing, the spill and the papers and her.

There's a nod, but also a bit of disappointment at the idea of her leaving. It's inevitable, of course.] Well, as I haven't seen that particular order come through just yet, I think it would be okay for you to leave this office for an hour or two. [A beat.] You haven't gone anywhere for days, and I am beginning to wonder what it is that you're living off of in here exactly.

[amageing]

[ she sees that smile, Serrah Serious Templar, and gives him a bigger, easier one in return. ] War, Blight, and too much ale will do that, I've discovered.

[ the statement catches her off-guard. True, she's been holed up in Orsino's office, but she...never really considered that someone here would be noticing her absence. Kirkwall, after all, is almost entirely a city of strangers aside from the man standing across from her ]

Tea? [ that shouldn't be a question. Solona knows she's been living off tea ] And willpower, mostly.

[ she smiles again at him, and the memory of seeing her after she had awakened from her Harrowing returns. How he had stuttered, and said she could talk to him whenever she liked.

...it feels like ages since she's been able to talk to anyone, really ]

Trying to get me away from here already, I see.

[noleniency]

[He's noticed her absence. He notices her presence, too. Solona is a noticeable woman, and he doesn't know how to focus on something not her when she's around. He feels like a kid again.

It's a strangely comforting feeling.

He smiles back at her again, body somewhat relaxed. He has never realized how heavy his armor was before he took it off, in all sense of the word.]

I am trying to make sure that you don't pass out over Orsino's desk. And to stop the rumors over your disappearance into this place. Some of the younger templars believe you might be a demon. [There's a note of amusement in his voice.] You need more than tea and willpower, Solona.

[amageing]

[ it's nice, to hear the joking again. The last time she had really talked to Cullen, he had been locked in the mental prison of a desire demon, thinking that she...

well. that she was something she imagined he hadn't wanted her to hear at the time ]

My particular brand of demon can last just fine with it. [ she starts to pace a little, cringing when she realizes just how long it's been since she stood up, went outside, or any of those normal, non-demon transforming mage activities. Solona turns to him with a small half smile ]

I suppose now's not the time to encourage wariness between mages and templars. What would you suggest doing to convince the recruits not to smite me?

[noleniency]

[We don't talk about that, Solona. That period of time.]

I wouldn't go around just dropping that word where others could hear, not after what's happened. [A few of the people believed that a demon had blown the chantry up, Orsino's story had spread. His voice is soft as he tells her that.

His eyes follow her as she paces, despite himself.] You need actual food. Let me take you out to eat.

[amageing]

[ right. never happened 8| especially not with Wynne standing like, right there.

her smile goes a little sad, at that. demons were never really a joking matter, but with the damage they've inflicted to the Circles lately, it was a more touchy subject than most ] I understand.

[ that catches her off-guard, and Solona's foot freezes mid-step to look at him ]

Out to eat? [ spoken as if he had just said something to her in Orlesian. ]

Are you sure?

[noleniency]

[Even before all of this, joking about demons would likely have been in bad taste in his eyes. He nods, though, when she says that she understands.

There's a pause then. He's caught the Here of Ferelden by surprise. A pathetic templar in barely a name-only sort of way. There's a definite smile on his face now.]

Am I sure that you are in need of food? Yes. Nobody can survive the way you have, not even you.