i'm quite accustomed to being a pariah;

NAME: Lynn
AGE: well over 18
CONTACT: pm this journal, please!
CURRENT CHARACTER(S): n/a

NAME: Dorian Pavus
CANON: Dragon Age
AGE: 31
CANON POINT: Post "And Doom Upon All the World" i.e. end of Inquisition's main campaign; the in-game year is 9:42 of the Dragon Age, where "ages" are every 100 years

BACKGROUND: A Hot Mess in C Minor

PERSONALITY: Dorian's character card calls him "The Redeemer," a descriptor that encompasses most of what drives him. Mages from the Tevinter Imperium are seen everywhere else in Thedas as "villainous cliches," cliches that are more often than not also reality in a nation where the constant upward accumulation of power centers the entire ruling class. Unsurprisingly that engenders a terrifying amount of ruthlessness, meaning the highest positioned magisters are probably the ones who performed the most human sacrifices and summoned the most demons.

Inquisition's antagonist is the most extreme example of all those traits possible, a man whose arrogance drove him to seek literal godhood. Dorian joins the Inquisition to prove at least one mage from Tevinter will stand against that kind of all-encompassing corruption, that his homeland is worth saving.

Having something to prove might in fact be in the running for what most significantly defines Dorian, despite his frequent declarations that he has nothing of the kind. He blusters that being a pariah is part of his charm, but he also says he didn't like the life from which he's effectively exiled himself; if he respects/has a friendship with the Inquisitor, what they think of him matters deeply; if romanced he'll shy away from asking even the smallest of favors, and worries about a perception of "undue influence," not wanting to be seen as using his relationship with the Inquisitor to social climb. Additionally, he does his best to earn the approval of the rest of the companions despite starting from the deficit of the whole Tevinter mage thing; notably he does manage to win the majority of them over, probably considerably more through his actions than his actual words. A veneer of constantly shouting about how handsome and clever he is covers (...poorly) a person with incredible self-worth issues; he's been taught, however inadvertently, that if he's loved for his true self by those he's closest to in the Imperium (his immediate biological family), it's in spite of who he is, not because of it.

Usually I'd shy away from talking too much about sexuality in a personality section, but in this case it's notable that Dorian's queerness informs much of his life experience to date. With the exception of nobles being expected to produce heirs, sexuality in Thedas is by and large live and let live; so had he not been born into an upper class family in Tevinter, the fact that he "prefers the company of men" would have been no more remarkable than, say, having dark hair. But as noted in history the problem there is that Tevinter mage houses "breed for desirable traits," most specifically to produce more and more powerful mages. Dorian's family hoped that their heir might someday be Archon, the highest official position in the Imperium. Citizens of his standing are expected to put aside personal feelings for the sake of their family's legacy; as an example his parents apparently hate each other, but endure that unhappiness for the sake of a good genetic match. Dorian wasn't willing to do that, and it was the resulting split with his father that's been the impetus for a lot of his self-worth/being wanted issues. If he has a positive relationship with the Inquisitor he'll declare them "his best and possibly only friend," and while they can certainly do a lot of good in his life, basic decency is kind of a rock-bottom standard for acceptance. In a relationship he'll express surprise that the Inquisitor wants anything more emotionally driven than casual sex, and while that's also a perception ingrained by life in Tevinter, it says more than he means it to about what he thinks he can offer another person.

To quote an inimitable film classic, Dorian has a lot of feelings; a quality which according to him is at its heart also essentially Tevinter. He tends to resist expressing sincerity, though, probably not surprising when being honest about his emotions has met with a lot of trampling in the past. Yet once he's close to a person - that takes patience and quantifiable acts of caring for him for who he is - he exhibits a fierce loyalty and concern for their welfare, as a rule putting it before his own. While ostensibly that's an admirable quality it also means he's willing to forgive a great deal, maybe more than is healthy for him--he can't forgive his father for trying to like, brainwash him straight, but again that's a pretty extreme baseline for boundaries.   

Summing up with the surface persona most characters will encounter, Dorian is cheerful and blustery, possessed of dry wit and a lot of grandstanding about how spectacular he is. That's a personality that tends to endear people or uh, strongly not, so while his relationships with other characters might be positive or negative, they definitely won't be boring.

ABILITIES/POWERS: 

• High intellect, though nothing outside the realm of ordinary human capabilities; he excelled academically (...once he stopped miserably self-sabotaging) and has what amounts to a prestigious university education.
• Moderately capable as a physical fighter; mages in DA essentially learn staff-based martial arts, so in a pinch if he needed to defend himself by smacking someone with a stick he'd be able to do that.

SPIRIT

• Barrier ( + Energetic Defense upgrade ) A barrier provides an additional health bar that must be destroyed before the target will take any damage. Barrier is vulnerable to dispel effects.
• Dispel: You remove hostile magic and status effects from allies while stripping beneficial effects from enemies.
• Mind Blast ( + Fortifying Blast upgrade ) You send enemies staggering with a explosion of Willpower that drives them back and makes them less likely to target you again.

NECROMANCY (specialization)

• Horror ( + Despair upgrade ) You unleash spirits of fear that terrify all enemies within the area.
• Haste: You increase the speed of the entire party. While this ability is active, all enemies move and attack more slowly by comparison.
• Walking Bomb ( + Virulent upgrade ) You curse an enemy, inflicting ongoing spirit damage, and then trigger the curse in a devastating explosion.

INFERNO

• Flashfire ( + Blistering Pain upgrade ) You ignite an enemy in searing pain and send them fleeing in panic.
• Fire Mine ( + Searing Glyph upgrade ) Targets hit by the Fire Mine are launched into the air and set aflame, leaving them burning. 

STORM

• Chain Lightning ( + Arcing Surge upgrade ) You unleash a blast of lightning that shocks one target and arcs to nearby others.

WINTER

• Winter's Grasp ( + Winter's Chill upgrade ) You lock a target in a sheet of ice, freezing it in place.
• Fade Step ( + Energizing Step upgrade ) You let invisible waves of magic carry you forward, blurring ahead a short distance. (this is basically the mage equivalent of Dodge)

INVENTORY: I'm outlining what he has "equipped" as of the end of the game just to be thorough, the actual stats probably aren't terrifically relevant to text RP.

Heart of Rage (Staff)

Ring of Doubt
Superb Ring of Flanking
Andraste's Sacrifice (Amulet)
Belt of Life 

Five lyrium potions, assorted crafting supplies (elfroot, blood lotus, paring knife blah blah)

Grimoire

Battlemage Coat
This Spectacular Helmet (its stats also don't matter but they're incredible)

Criticisms of the Inquisition's uniforms, in detailed list format
Extra pair of warm socks 8(

LINKED SAMPLES: One & Two!


WRITTEN SAMPLE: