Name: Hope Age: Sufficient Contact:asyndeton on Plurk Other Characters: Byerly Interests: Lookin to GET POLITICAL. Specifically, to have a character who’ll explore and discuss the class issues that underpin a lot of political strife/suppression in Thedas. Also interested in playing someone who can realistically get involved in more action-y plots.
CHARACTER
Name: Seranna Canon/OC: OC Journal:mien_harel Race: Elf Nationality: Orlesian Occupation: Thief Division: Forces or scouting, not sure yet Mage or Not: Nope Age: 26
History
+ Born in the Val Royeaux alienage. In Val Royeaux, the elves’ situation is particularly brutal: the alienage is tiny and population density is dangerously high. This danger is compounded by the Royan attitudes towards elves; for example, new Chevaliers in the city will get drunk and kill elves a sort of rite of passage. Neato! + Seranna was orphaned at a relatively young age: her mother and father both were killed by humans. So Seranna was cared for by neighbors as best they were able, then recruited early into the Thieves’ Guild, first as a lookout and then later as a thief proper. This gave her certain privileges; thanks to the power of the guild, elven guild members were able to get away with things like carrying weapons and traveling through the richer parts of the city. + Like many elven thieves in the guild, Seranna also joined the Nadas, the secretive self-defense force-slash-organized crime syndicate that protected the Alienage from harm (inasmuch as they could). Her service in the Nadas both sharpened her combat skills and introduced her to more radical ideals of elven liberation and armed uprising. + The Guild may be made of criminals, of course, but they’re still Orlesian patriots. So since the start of the war, they’ve been sending members into occupied territories to sabotage and spoil the Tevinter encampments. When Seranna was on a mission to poison food supplies, a rift opened nearby, getting her a rift shard and forcing her to head to Kirkwall to join Riftwatch.
Personality
+ Seranna is a genuinely kind person. She consistently tries to be deeply empathic towards anyone she comes across, attempting to understand their perspective and doing her best to avoid causing them any sort of emotional distress. She tries to take care of people - cooking for them, tending to wounds, looking after them and making sure they’re comfortable. Her manner is calm, bordering on serene, and generally she’s a soothing and likable person. + Seranna is also a person who is perfectly willing to commit murder, maim, injure, steal, et cetera. And she’s willing to do so in a way that’s particularly terrible, if necessary. She doesn’t go out of her way to be cruel, but sometimes messages have to be sent; if, for example, she were told to torture a person, she would torture them without hesitation or prevarication. + These two qualities seem pretty hard to reconcile, of course. She believes that the secret is to separate one’s professional self from one’s personal self. The things that she does for the Thieves’ Guild, or to protect her people, or to serve in the war - she sees them as brutal but necessary. That means that she can still be good when she’s not doing what’s necessary. + Deep deep down, in an unexamined part of her, these two aspects of herself aren’t actually so separate. There’s rage and terror in her, born of the deep trauma of living in the alienage surrounded by enemies, that only gets expressed through violence and danger. By associating her violent and risk-seeking behavior with her “work” self, she can avoid acknowledging it as a part of her true self, allowing her to also avoid dealing with that trauma and its effect on her. + The one area where she allows herself to really acknowledge the shittiness of her situation is when it comes to talking about politics. She is an advocate for reforms to improve the lot of elves, and believes that it’s right to turn to outright revolution if reforms do not come. + She’s someone who does find joy in daily life, for all that she is political, and for all that she does brutal work. She loves music, theater, art, dancing, parties, fashion, food, drink, all the happy things in life. In general, she is a fun person to be around, someone that people tend to like...as long as there are no lines to be crossed.
Opinions & Affiliations
The Chantry: Seranna is a devout Andrastean. She finds the Chantry to be often disappointing, due to their attitudes, but she believes in the Maker and has faith in the religious structure. Mages: As a devout Andrastean, she believes that mages belong in the Circles. At the same time, though, she understands that the Circle structure has caused them to suffer terribly, and knows that she doesn’t really have the full context to truly weigh in on this debate. Elves, generally: She believes passionately in the liberation of her people. She would give anything to improve their lot in life. Dalish, specifically: She’s curious about the Dalish, but also somewhat cautious around them; other city elves have said that the Dalish are condescending and judgmental. Humans: She thinks that she wishes humans well. In truth, she has a deep-seated mistrust of humans, which fluctuates between low-level anxiety and full-blown hatred depending on how much she allows it to be acknowledged. Dwarves: ?? Qunari: ?? Orlais and Orlesians: Under normal circumstances, she would be critical of Orlais’ attitude towards its elven citizens. Now, in the midst of a war, she’s unproblematically pro-Orlais. Nobility: :’) :’) :’) :’) She definitely has never stabbed a noble 20 times more than is necessary due to rage :’) :’) :’)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths +Rogue-ish combat. Seranna is particularly adept with twin daggers. +Thief skills: infiltration, lockpicking, and stealth. +Connections to underground organizations in Orlais, and, presumably, the connections necessary to connect with thieves’ guilds in other locations. Connections to pro-elf political movements. +Strong social graces, and skills in mediation of conflict.
Weaknesses -Discomfort with non-elves, especially humans. -A lack of familiarity with the world outside of Val Royeaux that borders on naivete. -Little experience or familiarity with anti-mage combat. -A weak foundation for emotional and psychological resilience. Her refusal to acknowledge her darker tendencies means that she’s pretty vulnerable to external stresses or anything that challenges her self-image.
Inventory
Thief’s kit: lockpicks, climbing equipment, etc. Weapons: daggers
Seranna | Native OC
Name: Hope
Age: Sufficient
Contact:
Other Characters: Byerly
Interests: Lookin to GET POLITICAL. Specifically, to have a character who’ll explore and discuss the class issues that underpin a lot of political strife/suppression in Thedas. Also interested in playing someone who can realistically get involved in more action-y plots.
Name: Seranna
Canon/OC: OC
Journal:
Race: Elf
Nationality: Orlesian
Occupation: Thief
Division: Forces or scouting, not sure yet
Mage or Not: Nope
Age: 26
History
+ Born in the Val Royeaux alienage. In Val Royeaux, the elves’ situation is particularly brutal: the alienage is tiny and population density is dangerously high. This danger is compounded by the Royan attitudes towards elves; for example, new Chevaliers in the city will get drunk and kill elves a sort of rite of passage. Neato!
+ Seranna was orphaned at a relatively young age: her mother and father both were killed by humans. So Seranna was cared for by neighbors as best they were able, then recruited early into the Thieves’ Guild, first as a lookout and then later as a thief proper. This gave her certain privileges; thanks to the power of the guild, elven guild members were able to get away with things like carrying weapons and traveling through the richer parts of the city.
+ Like many elven thieves in the guild, Seranna also joined the Nadas, the secretive self-defense force-slash-organized crime syndicate that protected the Alienage from harm (inasmuch as they could). Her service in the Nadas both sharpened her combat skills and introduced her to more radical ideals of elven liberation and armed uprising.
+ The Guild may be made of criminals, of course, but they’re still Orlesian patriots. So since the start of the war, they’ve been sending members into occupied territories to sabotage and spoil the Tevinter encampments. When Seranna was on a mission to poison food supplies, a rift opened nearby, getting her a rift shard and forcing her to head to Kirkwall to join Riftwatch.
Personality
+ Seranna is a genuinely kind person. She consistently tries to be deeply empathic towards anyone she comes across, attempting to understand their perspective and doing her best to avoid causing them any sort of emotional distress. She tries to take care of people - cooking for them, tending to wounds, looking after them and making sure they’re comfortable. Her manner is calm, bordering on serene, and generally she’s a soothing and likable person.
+ Seranna is also a person who is perfectly willing to commit murder, maim, injure, steal, et cetera. And she’s willing to do so in a way that’s particularly terrible, if necessary. She doesn’t go out of her way to be cruel, but sometimes messages have to be sent; if, for example, she were told to torture a person, she would torture them without hesitation or prevarication.
+ These two qualities seem pretty hard to reconcile, of course. She believes that the secret is to separate one’s professional self from one’s personal self. The things that she does for the Thieves’ Guild, or to protect her people, or to serve in the war - she sees them as brutal but necessary. That means that she can still be good when she’s not doing what’s necessary.
+ Deep deep down, in an unexamined part of her, these two aspects of herself aren’t actually so separate. There’s rage and terror in her, born of the deep trauma of living in the alienage surrounded by enemies, that only gets expressed through violence and danger. By associating her violent and risk-seeking behavior with her “work” self, she can avoid acknowledging it as a part of her true self, allowing her to also avoid dealing with that trauma and its effect on her.
+ The one area where she allows herself to really acknowledge the shittiness of her situation is when it comes to talking about politics. She is an advocate for reforms to improve the lot of elves, and believes that it’s right to turn to outright revolution if reforms do not come.
+ She’s someone who does find joy in daily life, for all that she is political, and for all that she does brutal work. She loves music, theater, art, dancing, parties, fashion, food, drink, all the happy things in life. In general, she is a fun person to be around, someone that people tend to like...as long as there are no lines to be crossed.
Opinions & Affiliations
The Chantry: Seranna is a devout Andrastean. She finds the Chantry to be often disappointing, due to their attitudes, but she believes in the Maker and has faith in the religious structure.
Mages: As a devout Andrastean, she believes that mages belong in the Circles. At the same time, though, she understands that the Circle structure has caused them to suffer terribly, and knows that she doesn’t really have the full context to truly weigh in on this debate.
Elves, generally: She believes passionately in the liberation of her people. She would give anything to improve their lot in life.
Dalish, specifically: She’s curious about the Dalish, but also somewhat cautious around them; other city elves have said that the Dalish are condescending and judgmental.
Humans: She thinks that she wishes humans well. In truth, she has a deep-seated mistrust of humans, which fluctuates between low-level anxiety and full-blown hatred depending on how much she allows it to be acknowledged.
Dwarves: ??
Qunari: ??
Orlais and Orlesians: Under normal circumstances, she would be critical of Orlais’ attitude towards its elven citizens. Now, in the midst of a war, she’s unproblematically pro-Orlais.
Nobility: :’) :’) :’) :’) She definitely has never stabbed a noble 20 times more than is necessary due to rage :’) :’) :’)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
+Rogue-ish combat. Seranna is particularly adept with twin daggers.
+Thief skills: infiltration, lockpicking, and stealth.
+Connections to underground organizations in Orlais, and, presumably, the connections necessary to connect with thieves’ guilds in other locations. Connections to pro-elf political movements.
+Strong social graces, and skills in mediation of conflict.
Weaknesses
-Discomfort with non-elves, especially humans.
-A lack of familiarity with the world outside of Val Royeaux that borders on naivete.
-Little experience or familiarity with anti-mage combat.
-A weak foundation for emotional and psychological resilience. Her refusal to acknowledge her darker tendencies means that she’s pretty vulnerable to external stresses or anything that challenges her self-image.
Inventory
Thief’s kit: lockpicks, climbing equipment, etc.
Weapons: daggers
Motivation
Caught a rift shard, tired of her hand hurting.
Sample 1
Sample 2