Fade Rift Application

[pinprick]

PLAYER

Name: Tori
Age: 34
Contact: toriangeli on Plurk
Other Characters: Colin
Interests: Diplomacy plots

CHARACTER

Name: Nathaniel Howe
Canon/OC: Canon
Journal: pinprick
Race: Human
Nationality: Ferelden
Occupation: Diplomat
Age: 42

History

Link

To detail the current world state: Nathaniel was conscripted by Jonas Cousland, rather than released and recruited of his free will. He found his sister, Delilah, in Amaranthine as per his companion quest. Delilah in turn later asked for Hawke's help finding her brother, and Hawke saved Nathaniel's life in the Deep Roads. Nathaniel was present for the battle against Meredith.

Since the events of Dragon Age 2, Nathaniel has been with the Grey Wardens. His close friendship with Fergus Cousland resulted in him saving Fergus' life and regaining some of his family's ancestral lands, which Nathaniel has set aside for his nephew to inherit. Otherwise, it's been smooth sailing. Well. Until the Calling went crazy and Clarel freaked out. Nathaniel defected with a number of comrades when blood sacrifice was brought up, but was separated and has been travelling only with Bethany Hawke ever since, tracking this Erimond asshole and trying to figure out the details of the plan. They hid in Highever for a short time (a week or so), but left when he was assured Erimond would not harm his sister and nephew.

During his time in this game, he has led the Wardens, "married" Anders, bonded with a griffon, and been cured of the Taint.

Personality



That's it that is the personality section.





Strengths & Weaknesses












No I'm kidding.

Personality

Loyal, reserved, sensible. Noble-born and well-bred, extremely self-conscious. Nathaniel is quiet, aloof, courteous, and places high value on practicality. He is of a melancholic temperament, grumpy but reasonable, where the issue is more important than ego. His latent anger issues are under control. He can have difficulty forming intimate bonds due to a history of childhood emotional neglect and the loss of his home and family, but the ones he does form are greatly treasured. Hard-working, pragmatic, and honest. Chronically prone to being the only sane man in the room.

Oghren describes him as "quiet and stoic." Sigrun calls him "a grump." Nathaniel is still shown to be exceptionally polite around companions. This seems to be in keeping with his upbringing, though it follows absolutely no pattern with his father and mother, given their own families and personalities. Rather, Nathaniel seems to have been influenced by household servants like Adria and Samuel rather than his own parents. He calls Adria "like a mother to me" and implies that his parents were guilty of extreme emotional neglect ("I don't have many memories of my family" is thing often said by such adult children; Nathaniel says it in Awakening). At least as influential for him would have been his old master, Ser Rodolphe Verley, a chevalier and cousin to Nathaniel's mother. Nathaniel's squireship under him reinforced his natural serious manner and gave him a real value for such knightly virtues as courage, honor, and integrity.

Nathaniel holds himself to a standard of conduct befitting a noble. Even his flirtations with Velanna are exceedingly polite. He deals with trying companions with patience, and even his snark usually lacks direct insult (though really, "you are a terrible person and your ears are clownish" is not the most cutting remark one can make to a mass murderer). He even tries to make friends with the worst among them, treating the least pleasant people with kindness and respect. If all else fails and he completely hates someone, his chosen curse is rarely more vulgar than "go soak your head."

Since the Warden is a Cousland, Nathaniel's entire attitude toward life has been shaped by Jonas' mercy toward him. Jonas' choice to save Amaranthine at the cost of the Keep taught Nathaniel a lesson, despite his protests at the time, in where a Warden's duty truly lies. Nathaniel lives his life now in dedication to the protection of those around him--citizens first, fellow Wardens second, and himself last. He has a keen understanding that he was given a second chance at life, and many do not--many, such as his late brother. His pursuit of his family's honor has been at least partially achieved, but over the years, he has found it more important to be honorable than to pursue honor.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Nathaniel is chevalier-trained with a sword but prefers the longbow. Related, he is big and strong enough to use a longbow. He is also sneaky enough to infiltrate a Warden fortress (scantily-crewed, granted) and starts out Awakening with skill in poison and picking locks (no doubt the latter was self-taught). Considering some of his gifts (like a sextant), I like to think he has drifted into the Ranger class, and has a good head for math. Twelve years as a Warden have refined him into a true professional both as a rogue and as a bowman.

Nathaniel is implied to have been severely emotionally neglected until he left home to squire in the Free Marches. He has a dour, melancholic temperament and is wary of people when he first meets them. He works well with people when there is a clear task ahead of them. Otherwise, he is good at going through the motions of interacting with people, politely, but not actually forming connections and friendships. He is trained to keep his feelings to himself, but feels deeply nonetheless, and this causes a great deal of internal conflict for him.

Physically, Nathaniel was badly wounded in a battle with a Vengeance demon, and suffers from a significant degree of traumatic arthritis as a result.

Inventory

-The Howe family bow and plenty of arrows
-The clothes on his back, plus one change of clothes
-A gambeson with leather bracers and archery glove
-Survival pack, rations, and money
-A long dagger
-A gold ring given to him by his sister when they were children
-A locket given to him by Anders

Motivation

After some months spent in Denerim as a diplomat, the Kirkwall branch has split from the Inquisition and even if Anders hadn't been fake-dead briefly, Nathaniel would have taken the opportunity to move to this new organization and start anew.

SAMPLES

TDM with Bethany Hawke

TDM with Kaidan, Celinie, and Anders