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[apurrstate]

OOC INFORMATION

Name: Lysoke
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact: DM, Lysoke on Discord or Lysoke
Other characters: N/A
Permissions & opt-out: Permissions, Opt-out

IC INFORMATION

Name: Anders
Canon: Dragon Age
Age: Mid-late thirties (probably)
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearance: Reference He’s tall, roughly 6’ 4” and lanky to malnourished in build, he has blond hair that goes to the nape of his neck when down and amber-brown eyes and pale skin.
Canon point: End of Act 3, while in the gallows preparing for the Meredith Fight

History: Here, for broadsweeps of his world state: he was on friendly terms with a Cousland Warden, was friends with a Humorous/Charming female Hawke, but is not romanced. Hawke supported his decision to blow up the Chantry and didn’t kill him.

Personality answers:
1)Who in your character's canon influenced the most growth in your character? What do they think about this character?

The single person who caused the most change and growth in Anders was the spirit of Justice that joined the Wardens shortly after Anders did through possession of a dead Warden’s body. Anders got to know Justice and, when Justice heard of what Anders and mages at large go through in Thedas, Justice started to push on Anders’ values and stoke his anger about the system he’d been stuck in. Though, obviously, the biggest change came when Anders’ life was at stake and Justice merged with him to save him. Once Justice was part of him, it was impossible for Anders to ignore the things he tried to turn a blind eye to out of self-preservation before. All injustice, but especially that of what mages go through in the South became everything Anders focused on apart from healing the abandoned and forgotten of Kirkwall. Fusing with Justice was what drove him to destroying the Kirkwall chantry in answer to Meredith’s curling fist (and call for annulment even before the Chantry incident), it also affected Anders’ own self-perception drastically through making him believe he was the one who corrupted Justice with his anger and deepening his self-hatred.

Because of all this, it’s easiest to say his feelings on Justice are complicated. He loves him as a friend and as a part of himself that protects him and drives him, but he also canonically states he doesn’t know where he ends and where Justice begins, how much of the self-hatred is Anders and how much is Justice, resentful of being stuck and unable to enact the virtue he stands for due to Anders’ “weakness” etc. It’s a mutually beneficial and toxic relationship, certainly.

2)What is justice to your character? How important is it to them?

On that topic, justice before being possessed by the very spirit and ideal of it, was a concept Anders felt very strongly about, and fueled the pit of anger he covered with jokes and sarcasm as he got older, but by the time he met Justice, he’d all but given up on Mages ever seeing any for themselves in their lifetimes. The systems were too entrenched and the odds too hopeless, so while he believed all people deserve justice, he wasn’t convinced he’d ever see it for mages until Justice convinced him to try. Now that he’s carried the spirit of Justice in him for 7-ish years, he still firmly believes all people deserve justice; he just also acknowledges it takes sacrifice and costs a lot more often than not. He’s a lot more likely to speak out about an injustice he comes across than just bury it like he might have when he was younger.

3) What would be your character's lowest, darkest moment they've lived through? How did they respond to their troubles and face their demons?

Undoubtedly, the lowest we see Anders is during and at the end of Act 3 of the game, he’s lost most of the Mage Underground who were resisting Kirkwall’s increasing oppression and abuse against mages to raids and murder, he’s lost what hope he had at the end of Act 2 that a compromise might be reached with the head of the Templars after 3 years of her going more insane and more tyrannical, and he’s distinctly pulled away from the rest of the group as his friend Varric tries to joke with him and invite him to card nights like he used to partake in, which Anders shuts down in both cases. He’s become desperate to enact change and end the templar’s increasing brutality against his people, and his letters to the Chantry for help or answer go ignored and his bids for an audience with the Grand Cleric are denied. He feels cornered and alone and like he doesn’t have any other options open to him but desperation and an act no one can ignore or bury. He turns to blowing up the Chantry, the source of supposed compromise between the templars and mages, and ultimately the force that’s allowing the abuses, since the Chantry should be stopping the templars and isn’t. In making this decision, he also decides that the people he knows he’s going to end up killing with the action will also deserve justice, and resolves that he will let himself be killed for his actions. While Anders has always had an edge of suicidal ideation, it’s at its worst and highest in Act 3, when he changes into a ‘funeral style’ all black robe and tries to give his most prized possession (his mother’s pillow) to his friend, Varric. In the end, he pulls away completely and refuses to tell even a supportive Hawke of his plan, only that he’s planning something desperate, and faces those consequences with the hope his victims and Justice will all be avenged with his death. In his worldstate, since Hawke did not decide to kill him, he was convinced to turn his guilt into a bid for atonement and helping others going forward, though arguably, he hasn’t managed to climb out of that place and deal with his demons yet, since it’s his canon point.

4) Explain which event in canon is most pivotal to your character's development, and who they are today.

Anders’ entire life was planned from the moment he was sent to the Circle in Ferelden to the day he died, since mages don’t have many options in the Circle. That all changed when, after one of his many escape attempts, his arresting templars stopped at a Grey Warden keep to rest. When it was attacked and the templars were killed, Anders faced either going back to the Circle or joining the Wardens. Since it promised at least more freedom than the Circle, he gladly accepted joining the Wardens. While it came with its own drawbacks, it was the first time he’d been given trust, some freedom, friends, and a goal bigger than himself, and he was happy while he was with them until mage vs. templar politics caught up with him even there. It’s also where and how he met Justice, which changed his life even further.


Inventory: His default staff, an Imperial Chantry symbol, his mother’s embroidered pillow, and some elfroot seeds
Powers/Abilities: As far as Anders' magic goes, he has all of the Creation tree, Spirit Bolt, Dispel Magic and Spirit Mastery. He also has Chain Lightning, Tempest, Winter’s Grasp, Mind Blast and Crushing Prison. He also has a specialty tree called Vengeance, though without access to Justice, he won’t be able to access the lower half of it.
Anders is also an Herbalist, meaning he can identify and use plants for potions and poultices.


Samples: Here & Here
Player Goals: Other than unpacking Anders' messy psychology post-Chantry explosion, I'm also looking forward to him figuring out who he is without Justice actively present in his mind at all times, and who he is now with the guilt and the drive to atone. Outside of himself, he's an anarchist at heart, and he's going to want to set up medical options for locals and Augmented that isn't Pathogen, and if that means corrupting himself on purpose to access his plant healing more, then so be it!
Soul Choice: Terra (Healing)