Post by weasel on Dec 6, 2012 18:45:31 GMT -5
[Alistair]
Spoiler alert! Sort of obvious, but still, just in case: Spoiler Alert!
Age: Twenty one
Gender: Male
Rank: Lost
Fandom: Dragon Age
Canon Pull Point: At the end of Dragon Age: Origins. After the killing of the Archdemon- unaware of the pact between Morrigan and the Warden, he’s almost positive that he’s actually dead, and is pretty surprised that he’s still existing. That’s okay, though, the afterlife is fine. He just didn’t expect the afterlife to have so many dragons.
Appearance: Alistair stands at a few inches above six feet- he's not huge by any means, but he's certainly not anywhere near short. He does lean towards the more 'tank' side of things, which can really make him seem tougher than he might actually be. Part of that might be the armor. -So- much armor, and not leather armor or anything like that, but full splint-mail which is sort of terribly inconvenient when you don't live in a world with awful abominations attacking you constantly. The 'tough' thing is sometimes cast away even before he speaks, though.
Alistair's face is extraordinarly expressive, which is unfortunate, because he often expresses in the dorkiest way possible. He doesn't have the grizzled, sharp and dark look you'd expect of someone who fights (well, fought) hellcreatures for a living. Rather, he leans more towards the side of soft and silly looking- he smiles quite frequently, and isn't about to hesitate to pull out puppy-eyes or a lip-wibble. With hazel eyes and short red hair, he has the possibility to be handsome, but it's ruined by how great he is at looking pouty and upset.
Personality: Heroes tend towards the side of cool, smart, charming- they're people you want to look up to and be like someday. Alistair isn't one of those kinds of heroes; rather, he comes off as a dork, answering questions with jokes and doing some relatively dumb things. Okay, some really dumb things.
It's not that Alistair is stupid; he was just never really a fan of studying. What sort of Templar needs to know arithmetic? Or, at least, that was always his excuse when the Chantry brothers were upset with him not doing his work. He can show a good deal of common sense in situations he's at least somewhat familiar with, and is always ready to speak caution when a situation looks dangerous. Danger isn't good, because danger gets him hurt, and he bruises easily.
Common sense or no, Alistair won't lead. He will, and has, gladly passed on authority to people who are younger, less experienced, and who he barely knows. As far as he's concerned, this is a pretty good choice- after all, the last time it happened, it lead to a best friend and the killing of the Archdemon. When forced to lead, however, Alistair can do alright. He's quite good at being open and honest with people, and can give quite a good, stirring speech, provided he truly cares about the subject matter. He sort of hates doing that, though, so please refrain from asking him to say anything charming and brilliant during important events.
Alistair, while not the best leader, is a damn good follower. He's the sort to go to a dangerous place with nothing but jokes and snark, provided he's following a friend. Friends are something Alistair really likes, and he's more than willing to put his life on the line for those friends. The man will march to his death if it's for people he cares about or the common good. He has before, and he's willing to do it over and over again.
It's hard to define someone as a 'good guy' or 'bad guy' most of the time. There's no such problem with Alistair. He is almost painfully moral, all things considered, and he will stop in the middle of the most important quest of all time to help one person. The warrior wants to help -everyone- he can help, though he's come to the realization that he can't. You can't ever save everyone, no matter how hard you try. That doesn't stop him from trying, though.
He's no saint- not by any means, really. The man's more like a dog than anything, at the very core of things; loyal to the end, protective, and generally friendly enough. However, Alistair isn't the forgiving sort- he harbored anger against the man who raised him for years, and traitors are given a 'shoot on sight' sort of mentality. Betrayal is one of the most horrible things in his eyes, and if that betrayal got people killed, he will happily be the one to deliver the execution.
Really, his morals are sort of flexible when a really good friend is there to convince him it's necessary for the greater good. The man won't be happy, however, and he will make that unhappiness known. Even if the situation has no good outcome, he'll pull aside the person who decided and demand an explanation. When it's pressed how needed it was, he'll eventually grumble and nod, but he isn't going to like it. At all.
Not to say Alistair is some sort of staunch bastion of rightness and morality. The man will make jokes during horrifically somber and terrible moments. You know, like when they're being set upon by monstrosities from the depths of the earth. Jokes tend to help those situations. He enjoys sarcasm and comedy that isn't always the nicest thing possible, and is pretty good at it- he can stand up and return the deadpanning and snide remarks of pretty much anyone, and he likes to think he's fairly funny when he does it. Or, he hopes so, because if he isn't, that means everyone who ever laughed was laughing -at- him, not with him, and he really doesn't need more people to laugh at him.
Humor is also some sort of protective barrier for Alistair, and he'll hide the truth with a few witty one-liners if he thinks it means he doesn't have to say things that are hard to say. Such is especially true for his past- or, was at least. While that faded a bit in Ferelden, he's not exactly eager to have everyone on Pern knowing about that one time where everyone but the Warden and him died.
Oh, the Warden! The Warden is really one of the best things as far as Alistair is concerned. Did you know that once the Warden saved all of them from the Fade? It was very impressive, because one moment they were there and the next they weren't and then they fought and they were back in the Tower! While he may not be a fan of telling about the more tragic moments of his time as a Grey Warden, he's got a thousand and one stories to tell about his and his companions adventures. The Warden is the central figure in most of them, because, well, they were the center of everything. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if the Warden showed up one day to get him out of this distressingly dragony afterlife!
While not often shy, Alistair is the most awkward when it comes to the area of romance. Raised in the Chantry, he doesn't take love lightly. If you're going to do things like that, you better well be in absolute complete and total love. Otherwise, that's...that's...not good. He's not about to harp on people for such things, though; it's more a standard he holds himself to, and he's willing to listen to slightly, uh, bawdy jokes and comments. Just as long as he isn't involved, okay?
The absence of anything resembling religion on Pern confuses Alistair, especially because he's convinced this is where he went after he died. It should be full of people praising the Maker and Andraste and it's really, really disorienting. He went from a world where the dominant organized religion had power that was more than considerable to...this. Alistair isn't a bigot or about to force beliefs down anyone's throat- he isn't the most religious person himself, but it does worry him slightly that no one even knows the things about religion a child would.
On the subject of things that confuse him, dragons pretty much dominate that. Where he comes from, there are four sorts of dragon-ish things- you've got drakes, which are sort of wher-sized male dragons. Then you've got the High Dragons, which ae all female and really one of those terrifying things you can encounter. The only things more scary are, uh. Other dragon things. Mostly the Archdemon- a corrupted version of the Old Gods of the Tevinter Imperium (Gods that are -also- dragons, by the way, and there's one that's the god of slaves and their all sleeping and oh Maker it's awful), it's what starts the Blight. That is, the thing that killed pretty much everyone in his country.
Still, Alistair is -especially- wary of dragons than anyone may ever be ever, even if the dragons of Pern can't even harm a human. Dragons are just bad news! Bad news, and they're a bit too big to be comfortable with. Just..don't trust dragons, okay? Not even those strange, tiny ones that are as big as his arm! They'll probably eat your eyes or something, true story.
History: Alistair is the son of a king and, supposedly, a serving girl- there's a bit of speculation about an elven mage and some fraternizing going on there, but just some lady who died is the official story. It doesn't really matter too much, because he never really knew either his mother or father, and was raised by Eamon, the Arl of Redcliffe.
He didn't exactly have the best time, as a child. The Arl's wife -Arlessa Isolde- was convinced that Eamon's interest in raising him stemmed from him being the Arl's son, and she didn't even begin to hide her distaste of him. As in, she made him sleep in the stables, and when they visited the Arl of Denerim, he had to sleep with the dogs. It was great, really, especially when Eamon was convinced to send Alistair to the Chantry, despite the fact his intention had been to protect the boy from the wrath of the Queen.
In a shocking turn of events, being cast out from the only home he had ever had was not something that pleased Alistair at all. While the anger has faded now, he was furiously unhappy with the Arl- he'd broken his mother's pendant (later repaired by the Arl, though he hadn't ever gotten the chance to give it to Alistair and it was instead left up to the Warden to do such) during the argument before he was sent away. He refused to see Eamon when he visited, and, eventually, the Arl just stopped coming.
His time in the Chantry, where he trained as a Templar, changed him for life. A fear of mages still persists to this day. More specifically, a lifelong fear of being turned in to a toad. More pressingly, he was also terribly miserable. While he believed in the Maker and Andraste and all of that, he wasn't fit for the life of a righteous soldier. The quiet of an abbey wasn't what Alistair wanted, and he did pretty much everything to put off taking his vows.
Savior came in the form of Duncan, a Grey Warden that had come to observe the tournament the Chantry put on in honor of his organization. Alistair was not the winner by any stretch of the imagination; he was beat by many Templars who would later go on to be some of the most renowned warriors in Fereldan. It was a surprise when Duncan had asked to recruit the light-hearted man who had joked about his own failings. Not a welcome surprise, either. The Grand Cleric wasn't prepared to let anyone go, and the Right of Conscription had to be invoked.
On the plus side, Alistair was totally okay with it. More than okay, actually, because Duncan had quickly become a father figure. The Grey Wardens were a good replacement for family, though Eamon remained important once his anger faded. The Wardens were happy, boisterous, something else. Everyone knew they would die soon -sooner than most, even if they survived the Blight- and the nightmares weren't pleasant, but it was a group of people that understood.
He had only been with the Wardens a short while when the Blight struck, but he was eager to fight and protect Fereldan. Alistair didn't get much of a chance to, instead sent with the Warden to light the beacon in the tower during the Battle of Ostagar. The beacon had been meant to signal Teryn Loghain to attack with his reinforcements. Instead, the Teyrn sounded the retreat, and the battle became a massacre.
An entire army -and all of the Grey Wardens, save The Warden and Alistair- had died. The pair had survived thanks to Flemeth, the 'Witch of the Wilds'. The King perished, as had Duncan, and the man was set on by grief. Still, with the Warden's support, he agreed to do his absolute best to stop the Blight. Flemeth was quite happy with this, and gave them the best gift she could: her daughter, Morrigan.
He and Morrigan didn't get along well. She was a creepy witchy lady and he was a stupid Templar and they argued and argued and argued and it was very stressful and awful for everyone involved. Also, mostly hilarious.
So the quest had started- they'd venture to each of the groups that had promised to aid the Grey Wardens during the Blight, and wonderful people would join them on the way. A grey giant that had murdered an entire family, an assassin that had been hired to kill them, a statue that had killed its previous master and many other colorful, friendly characters. And a dog!
For Alistair, the most important of these quests revolved around saving Redcliffe from the undead, and the follow up- to recover Andraste's Ashes so as to bring Arl Eamon back from the brink of death. It was during the journey to get these that Alistair met his first dragon- the High Dragon was huge, worshiped by a cult of debatable sanity as the incarnation of Andraste herself. That dragon was also killed, so she probably wasn't Andraste. Which really makes him feel better, because Alistair would feel terrible for rekilling the Maker's wife.
Perhaps one of the most pivotal moments of the entire journey (or, at least, for Alistair) was the Landsmeet. Meant to deter the civil war that Ferelden was falling in to, it was attended by the present, widowed queen, her father, Teryn Loghain, as well as more nobles than you could ever possibly want in one place. It was here that Alistair's heritage was put forward as an alternative to Queen Anora. He really wasn't partial to that idea, and that was okay with the Queen, and everything was perfect. Except that the Queen wanted him killed because he was a possible usurper and he had only been saved by the Warden. Fun, that.
The pivotal moment of...well...everything came soon- the final battle against the Darkspawn at Denerim, where the Archdemon had finally shown it's face. In all previously known cases, the Grey Warden that killed the Archdemon perished. They didn't really die- or, at least, they didn't just die. Rather, they didn't even go on to exist in the Fade; the taint in the Warden's body attracted the Archdemon's soul, and both spirits were destroyed by the joining.
Alistair had struck, as far as he knows, the killing blow, and is rather sure this isn't how things are supposed to do. Unaware of the ritual undergone by Morrigan and the Warden that provided the soul of the Archdemon an unborn child to flee to, he had quite expected to not exist. Right now, he's sort of existing, and there are dragons and it's awful.
Etc: While it's nothing that will ever really matter in Pern, the Dragon Age comics, The Silent Grove, revealed that Alistair has dragon blood, thanks to Callahan Theirin, ancestor of the royal bloodline. It really doesn't have any effect in his canon -aside from that everyone decides that it's a good idea to try and kidnap a king because he's super special and dragony so he can awaken the Old Gods-, and so it doesn't especially matter. It's just sort of a neat, semi-relevant thing that no one will ever know or care about. All it does is sort of explain why he really likes statues and archaic runes.
{Pearl}
Color: Green
Sex: Female
{Fighter}
Appearance: Oh, what a lovely firelizard! Where her egg was unfortunate and ugly, Pearl is beautiful as her namesake. A round little firelizard, she is on the small side for a green. Her legs are short and thick, with short toes that end in small claws that will make her clumsy while climbing. Her tail is at odds with her chubby torso, as Pearl has inherited the long, thin tail of her mother. Her wings are short and broad, furthering her round appearance. Her neck is a bit bizarrely short, though not enough to impede her movement or cause her any distress.
Her head is wide when compared to her neck, with a broad and pleasant face. Her eyes are large and set somewhat high on her face. Her muzzle is short and wide, and her fangs poke neatly from her lips. Her eyeridges are somewhat unusual for a firelizard, being set higher on her face then normal and being very light.
Personality: Intelligence can be an eerie thing on an animal. It can give one the feeling of being hunted, at times. Pearl is prone to giving that feeling. She almost seems to be sizing up those around her from her perch on Alistair's shoulder, judging whether they're a threat or not. Pearl is a shrewdly intelligent Green, delighting in puzzles and able to solve them with ease. She loves riddles and is fascinated by new things, often taking to exploring Alistair's things just in case he got a new trinket while she wasn't looking. Training is something she takes to readily, though unlike some firelizards she won't become destructive when denied it. She is much more polite then that, thank you very much.
Pearl is polite in general, actually. This firelizard is downright refined. While Alistair may be content to play the role of the jester, Pearl reacts to most things with a sense of stoic politeness. She greets most humans with detachment and little interest, unless Alistair assures her that they are friends. She may appear cold to those who spend little time around her. It's probably the truth. She distrusts most humans and doesn't allow them to touch her unless Alistair tells her they're okay, and even then she can be a bit standoffish. A gesture of affection from this green is a pretty great honor. Within her fair, she expects to be treated with respect by the other firelizards and isn't afraid to put others in their place, despite her small size.
Unless you're Alistair. Alistair is the one exception to that rule, because he's her darling. Pearl loves Alistair with every fiber of her refined little being. She'll even show her playful side around him, demanding games of fetch or pouncing on him once she's certain no one is around to see her moment of weakness. She takes to scolding him if she thinks he isn't taking care of himself, or grooming his hair if it isn't just right. Really, she seems to think she's his mother or something. She will eventually extend some of this treatment to those Alistair truly cares for, mostly the scolding. However, this treatment is easily taken back and once someone falls out of her favor they will likely not find themselves back in it.
She is, amusingly enough, incredibly protective of her human. It's a bit absurd, considering Alistair is a trained templar and all, but Pearl is determined to protect him from all the bad humans in the world. She isn't the type to engage in direct combat, but she will quickly alert her fair to the presence of someone she currently has a grudge against, and generally make a nuisance of herself in little ways like glaring, hissing, and stealing valuables. Her temper is easily soothed by Alistair and she will give up her crusades easily enough, but she'll remember those who have earned her ire for later glaring sessions, even if she won't steal from them anymore.
"You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together."
Spoiler alert! Sort of obvious, but still, just in case: Spoiler Alert!
Age: Twenty one
Gender: Male
Rank: Lost
Fandom: Dragon Age
Canon Pull Point: At the end of Dragon Age: Origins. After the killing of the Archdemon- unaware of the pact between Morrigan and the Warden, he’s almost positive that he’s actually dead, and is pretty surprised that he’s still existing. That’s okay, though, the afterlife is fine. He just didn’t expect the afterlife to have so many dragons.
"It used to get so quiet at the monastery that I would start screaming until one of the brothers came running. I would tell them that I was just checking. You never know, right?"
Appearance: Alistair stands at a few inches above six feet- he's not huge by any means, but he's certainly not anywhere near short. He does lean towards the more 'tank' side of things, which can really make him seem tougher than he might actually be. Part of that might be the armor. -So- much armor, and not leather armor or anything like that, but full splint-mail which is sort of terribly inconvenient when you don't live in a world with awful abominations attacking you constantly. The 'tough' thing is sometimes cast away even before he speaks, though.
Alistair's face is extraordinarly expressive, which is unfortunate, because he often expresses in the dorkiest way possible. He doesn't have the grizzled, sharp and dark look you'd expect of someone who fights (well, fought) hellcreatures for a living. Rather, he leans more towards the side of soft and silly looking- he smiles quite frequently, and isn't about to hesitate to pull out puppy-eyes or a lip-wibble. With hazel eyes and short red hair, he has the possibility to be handsome, but it's ruined by how great he is at looking pouty and upset.
"Just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no."
Personality: Heroes tend towards the side of cool, smart, charming- they're people you want to look up to and be like someday. Alistair isn't one of those kinds of heroes; rather, he comes off as a dork, answering questions with jokes and doing some relatively dumb things. Okay, some really dumb things.
It's not that Alistair is stupid; he was just never really a fan of studying. What sort of Templar needs to know arithmetic? Or, at least, that was always his excuse when the Chantry brothers were upset with him not doing his work. He can show a good deal of common sense in situations he's at least somewhat familiar with, and is always ready to speak caution when a situation looks dangerous. Danger isn't good, because danger gets him hurt, and he bruises easily.
Common sense or no, Alistair won't lead. He will, and has, gladly passed on authority to people who are younger, less experienced, and who he barely knows. As far as he's concerned, this is a pretty good choice- after all, the last time it happened, it lead to a best friend and the killing of the Archdemon. When forced to lead, however, Alistair can do alright. He's quite good at being open and honest with people, and can give quite a good, stirring speech, provided he truly cares about the subject matter. He sort of hates doing that, though, so please refrain from asking him to say anything charming and brilliant during important events.
Alistair, while not the best leader, is a damn good follower. He's the sort to go to a dangerous place with nothing but jokes and snark, provided he's following a friend. Friends are something Alistair really likes, and he's more than willing to put his life on the line for those friends. The man will march to his death if it's for people he cares about or the common good. He has before, and he's willing to do it over and over again.
It's hard to define someone as a 'good guy' or 'bad guy' most of the time. There's no such problem with Alistair. He is almost painfully moral, all things considered, and he will stop in the middle of the most important quest of all time to help one person. The warrior wants to help -everyone- he can help, though he's come to the realization that he can't. You can't ever save everyone, no matter how hard you try. That doesn't stop him from trying, though.
He's no saint- not by any means, really. The man's more like a dog than anything, at the very core of things; loyal to the end, protective, and generally friendly enough. However, Alistair isn't the forgiving sort- he harbored anger against the man who raised him for years, and traitors are given a 'shoot on sight' sort of mentality. Betrayal is one of the most horrible things in his eyes, and if that betrayal got people killed, he will happily be the one to deliver the execution.
Really, his morals are sort of flexible when a really good friend is there to convince him it's necessary for the greater good. The man won't be happy, however, and he will make that unhappiness known. Even if the situation has no good outcome, he'll pull aside the person who decided and demand an explanation. When it's pressed how needed it was, he'll eventually grumble and nod, but he isn't going to like it. At all.
Not to say Alistair is some sort of staunch bastion of rightness and morality. The man will make jokes during horrifically somber and terrible moments. You know, like when they're being set upon by monstrosities from the depths of the earth. Jokes tend to help those situations. He enjoys sarcasm and comedy that isn't always the nicest thing possible, and is pretty good at it- he can stand up and return the deadpanning and snide remarks of pretty much anyone, and he likes to think he's fairly funny when he does it. Or, he hopes so, because if he isn't, that means everyone who ever laughed was laughing -at- him, not with him, and he really doesn't need more people to laugh at him.
Humor is also some sort of protective barrier for Alistair, and he'll hide the truth with a few witty one-liners if he thinks it means he doesn't have to say things that are hard to say. Such is especially true for his past- or, was at least. While that faded a bit in Ferelden, he's not exactly eager to have everyone on Pern knowing about that one time where everyone but the Warden and him died.
Oh, the Warden! The Warden is really one of the best things as far as Alistair is concerned. Did you know that once the Warden saved all of them from the Fade? It was very impressive, because one moment they were there and the next they weren't and then they fought and they were back in the Tower! While he may not be a fan of telling about the more tragic moments of his time as a Grey Warden, he's got a thousand and one stories to tell about his and his companions adventures. The Warden is the central figure in most of them, because, well, they were the center of everything. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if the Warden showed up one day to get him out of this distressingly dragony afterlife!
While not often shy, Alistair is the most awkward when it comes to the area of romance. Raised in the Chantry, he doesn't take love lightly. If you're going to do things like that, you better well be in absolute complete and total love. Otherwise, that's...that's...not good. He's not about to harp on people for such things, though; it's more a standard he holds himself to, and he's willing to listen to slightly, uh, bawdy jokes and comments. Just as long as he isn't involved, okay?
The absence of anything resembling religion on Pern confuses Alistair, especially because he's convinced this is where he went after he died. It should be full of people praising the Maker and Andraste and it's really, really disorienting. He went from a world where the dominant organized religion had power that was more than considerable to...this. Alistair isn't a bigot or about to force beliefs down anyone's throat- he isn't the most religious person himself, but it does worry him slightly that no one even knows the things about religion a child would.
On the subject of things that confuse him, dragons pretty much dominate that. Where he comes from, there are four sorts of dragon-ish things- you've got drakes, which are sort of wher-sized male dragons. Then you've got the High Dragons, which ae all female and really one of those terrifying things you can encounter. The only things more scary are, uh. Other dragon things. Mostly the Archdemon- a corrupted version of the Old Gods of the Tevinter Imperium (Gods that are -also- dragons, by the way, and there's one that's the god of slaves and their all sleeping and oh Maker it's awful), it's what starts the Blight. That is, the thing that killed pretty much everyone in his country.
Still, Alistair is -especially- wary of dragons than anyone may ever be ever, even if the dragons of Pern can't even harm a human. Dragons are just bad news! Bad news, and they're a bit too big to be comfortable with. Just..don't trust dragons, okay? Not even those strange, tiny ones that are as big as his arm! They'll probably eat your eyes or something, true story.
"What? Lead? Me? No, no, no. No leading. Bad things happen when I lead. We get lost, people die, and the next thing you know I'm stranded somewhere without any pants."
History: Alistair is the son of a king and, supposedly, a serving girl- there's a bit of speculation about an elven mage and some fraternizing going on there, but just some lady who died is the official story. It doesn't really matter too much, because he never really knew either his mother or father, and was raised by Eamon, the Arl of Redcliffe.
He didn't exactly have the best time, as a child. The Arl's wife -Arlessa Isolde- was convinced that Eamon's interest in raising him stemmed from him being the Arl's son, and she didn't even begin to hide her distaste of him. As in, she made him sleep in the stables, and when they visited the Arl of Denerim, he had to sleep with the dogs. It was great, really, especially when Eamon was convinced to send Alistair to the Chantry, despite the fact his intention had been to protect the boy from the wrath of the Queen.
In a shocking turn of events, being cast out from the only home he had ever had was not something that pleased Alistair at all. While the anger has faded now, he was furiously unhappy with the Arl- he'd broken his mother's pendant (later repaired by the Arl, though he hadn't ever gotten the chance to give it to Alistair and it was instead left up to the Warden to do such) during the argument before he was sent away. He refused to see Eamon when he visited, and, eventually, the Arl just stopped coming.
His time in the Chantry, where he trained as a Templar, changed him for life. A fear of mages still persists to this day. More specifically, a lifelong fear of being turned in to a toad. More pressingly, he was also terribly miserable. While he believed in the Maker and Andraste and all of that, he wasn't fit for the life of a righteous soldier. The quiet of an abbey wasn't what Alistair wanted, and he did pretty much everything to put off taking his vows.
Savior came in the form of Duncan, a Grey Warden that had come to observe the tournament the Chantry put on in honor of his organization. Alistair was not the winner by any stretch of the imagination; he was beat by many Templars who would later go on to be some of the most renowned warriors in Fereldan. It was a surprise when Duncan had asked to recruit the light-hearted man who had joked about his own failings. Not a welcome surprise, either. The Grand Cleric wasn't prepared to let anyone go, and the Right of Conscription had to be invoked.
On the plus side, Alistair was totally okay with it. More than okay, actually, because Duncan had quickly become a father figure. The Grey Wardens were a good replacement for family, though Eamon remained important once his anger faded. The Wardens were happy, boisterous, something else. Everyone knew they would die soon -sooner than most, even if they survived the Blight- and the nightmares weren't pleasant, but it was a group of people that understood.
He had only been with the Wardens a short while when the Blight struck, but he was eager to fight and protect Fereldan. Alistair didn't get much of a chance to, instead sent with the Warden to light the beacon in the tower during the Battle of Ostagar. The beacon had been meant to signal Teryn Loghain to attack with his reinforcements. Instead, the Teyrn sounded the retreat, and the battle became a massacre.
An entire army -and all of the Grey Wardens, save The Warden and Alistair- had died. The pair had survived thanks to Flemeth, the 'Witch of the Wilds'. The King perished, as had Duncan, and the man was set on by grief. Still, with the Warden's support, he agreed to do his absolute best to stop the Blight. Flemeth was quite happy with this, and gave them the best gift she could: her daughter, Morrigan.
He and Morrigan didn't get along well. She was a creepy witchy lady and he was a stupid Templar and they argued and argued and argued and it was very stressful and awful for everyone involved. Also, mostly hilarious.
So the quest had started- they'd venture to each of the groups that had promised to aid the Grey Wardens during the Blight, and wonderful people would join them on the way. A grey giant that had murdered an entire family, an assassin that had been hired to kill them, a statue that had killed its previous master and many other colorful, friendly characters. And a dog!
For Alistair, the most important of these quests revolved around saving Redcliffe from the undead, and the follow up- to recover Andraste's Ashes so as to bring Arl Eamon back from the brink of death. It was during the journey to get these that Alistair met his first dragon- the High Dragon was huge, worshiped by a cult of debatable sanity as the incarnation of Andraste herself. That dragon was also killed, so she probably wasn't Andraste. Which really makes him feel better, because Alistair would feel terrible for rekilling the Maker's wife.
Perhaps one of the most pivotal moments of the entire journey (or, at least, for Alistair) was the Landsmeet. Meant to deter the civil war that Ferelden was falling in to, it was attended by the present, widowed queen, her father, Teryn Loghain, as well as more nobles than you could ever possibly want in one place. It was here that Alistair's heritage was put forward as an alternative to Queen Anora. He really wasn't partial to that idea, and that was okay with the Queen, and everything was perfect. Except that the Queen wanted him killed because he was a possible usurper and he had only been saved by the Warden. Fun, that.
The pivotal moment of...well...everything came soon- the final battle against the Darkspawn at Denerim, where the Archdemon had finally shown it's face. In all previously known cases, the Grey Warden that killed the Archdemon perished. They didn't really die- or, at least, they didn't just die. Rather, they didn't even go on to exist in the Fade; the taint in the Warden's body attracted the Archdemon's soul, and both spirits were destroyed by the joining.
Alistair had struck, as far as he knows, the killing blow, and is rather sure this isn't how things are supposed to do. Unaware of the ritual undergone by Morrigan and the Warden that provided the soul of the Archdemon an unborn child to flee to, he had quite expected to not exist. Right now, he's sort of existing, and there are dragons and it's awful.
Etc: While it's nothing that will ever really matter in Pern, the Dragon Age comics, The Silent Grove, revealed that Alistair has dragon blood, thanks to Callahan Theirin, ancestor of the royal bloodline. It really doesn't have any effect in his canon -aside from that everyone decides that it's a good idea to try and kidnap a king because he's super special and dragony so he can awaken the Old Gods-, and so it doesn't especially matter. It's just sort of a neat, semi-relevant thing that no one will ever know or care about. All it does is sort of explain why he really likes statues and archaic runes.
"That's what I'm here for. To deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners."
[/i]{Pearl}
Color: Green
Sex: Female
{Fighter}
Appearance: Oh, what a lovely firelizard! Where her egg was unfortunate and ugly, Pearl is beautiful as her namesake. A round little firelizard, she is on the small side for a green. Her legs are short and thick, with short toes that end in small claws that will make her clumsy while climbing. Her tail is at odds with her chubby torso, as Pearl has inherited the long, thin tail of her mother. Her wings are short and broad, furthering her round appearance. Her neck is a bit bizarrely short, though not enough to impede her movement or cause her any distress.
Her head is wide when compared to her neck, with a broad and pleasant face. Her eyes are large and set somewhat high on her face. Her muzzle is short and wide, and her fangs poke neatly from her lips. Her eyeridges are somewhat unusual for a firelizard, being set higher on her face then normal and being very light.
Personality: Intelligence can be an eerie thing on an animal. It can give one the feeling of being hunted, at times. Pearl is prone to giving that feeling. She almost seems to be sizing up those around her from her perch on Alistair's shoulder, judging whether they're a threat or not. Pearl is a shrewdly intelligent Green, delighting in puzzles and able to solve them with ease. She loves riddles and is fascinated by new things, often taking to exploring Alistair's things just in case he got a new trinket while she wasn't looking. Training is something she takes to readily, though unlike some firelizards she won't become destructive when denied it. She is much more polite then that, thank you very much.
Pearl is polite in general, actually. This firelizard is downright refined. While Alistair may be content to play the role of the jester, Pearl reacts to most things with a sense of stoic politeness. She greets most humans with detachment and little interest, unless Alistair assures her that they are friends. She may appear cold to those who spend little time around her. It's probably the truth. She distrusts most humans and doesn't allow them to touch her unless Alistair tells her they're okay, and even then she can be a bit standoffish. A gesture of affection from this green is a pretty great honor. Within her fair, she expects to be treated with respect by the other firelizards and isn't afraid to put others in their place, despite her small size.
Unless you're Alistair. Alistair is the one exception to that rule, because he's her darling. Pearl loves Alistair with every fiber of her refined little being. She'll even show her playful side around him, demanding games of fetch or pouncing on him once she's certain no one is around to see her moment of weakness. She takes to scolding him if she thinks he isn't taking care of himself, or grooming his hair if it isn't just right. Really, she seems to think she's his mother or something. She will eventually extend some of this treatment to those Alistair truly cares for, mostly the scolding. However, this treatment is easily taken back and once someone falls out of her favor they will likely not find themselves back in it.
She is, amusingly enough, incredibly protective of her human. It's a bit absurd, considering Alistair is a trained templar and all, but Pearl is determined to protect him from all the bad humans in the world. She isn't the type to engage in direct combat, but she will quickly alert her fair to the presence of someone she currently has a grudge against, and generally make a nuisance of herself in little ways like glaring, hissing, and stealing valuables. Her temper is easily soothed by Alistair and she will give up her crusades easily enough, but she'll remember those who have earned her ire for later glaring sessions, even if she won't steal from them anymore.
