Name: Redvers Keen Canon/OC: Native OC Journal:atonally Race: Human Nationality: Free Marcher (Starkhaven) Occupation: Templar Division: Forces Mage or Not: Not Age: 40s
History
After being orphaned in infancy and enduring a terrible, chaotic early childhood under the care of a relative, Redvers and his older brother Connolly were dumped on the Chantry when Redvers was around six. Both sturdy boys, they were soon routed into Templar training.
Connolly was also a bully with a temper, often lashing out in Redvers' defense but sometimes just because, until the stern hands of their trainers taught him to rein it in (when they were looking). When he underwent his vigil and became a knight, several years ahead of Redvers, he was assigned to Kirkwall.
Absent his protector/overshadower, Redvers came out of his shell in his teens and blossomed into, actually, a total slacker who got along fantastically with his peers while being reprimanded by his guardians for things like turning up to chapel under the influence of elfroot or being absent from combat training because he was chatting over the fence to the lay sisters and lost track of time. He was just barely good and faithful and likable enough to be permitted to join the Order.
He spent his first few years out of training as a guardsman in the Starkhaven Circle, where he would have handily won a vote for Least Likely To Ever Be Knight-Commander. That prediction was made even more accurate when he naïvely enabled the escape of a charming mage who claimed he only wanted to attend a family funeral. The mage did not return quietly, killing thirty-seven people before being killed himself.
Redvers—a slacker, but a fundamentally honest one—promptly confessed his involvement. But his superior was fond of him and reported it up as his having fallen asleep at his post, rather than choosing to allow it. She had him assigned to apostate-tracking outside the Circle as both punishment and lesson.
Motivated by guilt, fear, and the desire to never screw up so badly again, Redvers turned out to be very good at hunting mages. So rather than return to the Circle permanently once his lesson had been learned, he continued working primarily as a mage-catcher (or mage-retriever, often enough, when it was only a child someone needed to hand over) until the rebellion. He was called back to the Circle in Starkhaven before it fell, as the Knight-Commander knew trouble was brewing, and arrived in time to, like, not stop it at all.
He fought in the Mage/Templar War—reunited with Connolly, briefly, before he was killed in action by a young mage—and then with the Inquisition, and most recently with the Templars who reformed at the Divine's call. But now he's caught an anchor, so he has to come hang out with Riftwatch. He's mad about it. He wants Corypheus handled a little more than he doesn't want to work with these people, though, so he's joined up instead of sulking in the fortress.
Personality
Redvers retains some vestigial traits from a slacker youth: he's a little slouchy, often chewing on something, and gets a recognizable please kill me middle-distance glaze in the presence of bouncy overeager types, suck-ups, and politicians. He's generally straightforward and unpretentious, with a sense of humor that ebbs and flows depending on the company but is rarely entirely absent. He gets along well with farmers and laborers and others who have no involvement in Circles or the Chantry; he likes to have a pint and hear about the latest local scandal or how his drinking companion goes about picking out healthy cows. He doesn't carry himself like he has a stick up his ass.
But he kind of does. Underneath the lowkey, wall-leaning demeanor, he's a chronically honest, rule-abiding stickler. He'll notice and tell you if your report is a day late—but he probably won't tell your boss unless it's still missing a couple days later, you're welcome. He's spent the better part of his life pursuing people who were not where they were supposed to be (in his estimation) and putting them there, and even while he's on break for the ceasefire or whatever, he retains a doggedness that makes it a little difficult for him to stop gnawing at perceived problems.
He doesn't like chaos. He doesn't believe in taking votes. He trusts traditional authority, if not completely, at least to be better than the absence of any of it at all. He's confused when people think their personal feelings about problems bigger than them matter very much.
But he does all of that with an even temper and a casual air that can come across as wry or good-humored or even willing to entertain other people's ideas if only for the sake of a thought exercises. Sometimes it is those things, in part. But it's also a kind of smug self-assurance in his convictions—he doesn't need to get wound up about anything because he's right and it's only a matter of time until he gets his way—that it's very fair to find infuriating.
Opinions & Affiliations
Templars: The ones who have remained with the Order are his bros. His pals. His buddies. The ones who deserted or are quitting lyrium or any of that nonsense are not. He expects the Templar Order to reform and resume its work of protecting Thedas from magic, after all of this, and he'll be extremely disappointed if that doesn't happen.
Mages: He firmly believes that mages (and rifters) belong in Circles, no matter how harmless and charming some of them might be, and he'll be happy to tell them so to their faces. He also believes it's his job to protect mages (and rifters, fine) from other people when they need it.
Chantry: Big fan. He trusts the Chantry. Happy to pin the Mage/Templar War on the last Divine being a bad one. This one's better. Would prefer that the Templar Order answer to the new Divine rather than go rogue, if possible. Religious in a habitual/ritualistic way more than an emotionally fervent one.
National Relations: Barely a thing he's aware of. He'd hate Orlais with more exposure but the only Orlesians he's ever known were Templars and they were fine.
Grey Wardens: Distrust bordering on dislike. They're clearly involved in a lot of shady nonsense and if someone else (like the Divine!!) had a check on their power and oversight of their secrets maybe some of this bullshit wouldn't have happened.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Redvers has a solid Chantry-provided education in reading, arithmetic, history, and religion, and he began combat training around the age of eight. He's primarily a sword-and-shield person, but he can handle two-handed weapons and carries a crossbow if he anticipates the kind of trouble a crossbow might solve. He uses lyrium and has the ability to cut off or nullify magic as well as to inflict damage on spirits/demons. He's not as sheltered or cut off as some Templars (and most mages) might have been, and he's well traveled in the Free Marches, though much less so beyond them.
Weaknesses include an addiction to lyrium, such that going without it for more than a few days would cause him serious problems, as well as the early effects of longterm dependency. He's reached the age where he's slower and more prone to lasting injuries. He lacks the moral flexibility that a lot of Riftwatch's work favors and is likely to cause problems if ever included in missions that require it. And he's very unlikely to make very many friends.
Inventory
Standard-issue sword, shield, crossbow, lyrium kit, Templar uniform, and various tools and oils for their maintenance. Normal-person clothes, not-as-tattered-as-it-should-be old copy of the Chant, maybe some personal knickknacks but nothing magic or useful.
Motivation
He's here because he acquired an anchor and isn't willing to cut his hand off just to get out of it. Yet.
redvers keen | native oc
Name: MJ
Age: 36
Contact:
Other Characters: Bastien, Kostos, Wolfram, Xiomara
Interests: Druffy
Name: Redvers Keen
Canon/OC: Native OC
Journal:
Race: Human
Nationality: Free Marcher (Starkhaven)
Occupation: Templar
Division: Forces
Mage or Not: Not
Age: 40s
History
After being orphaned in infancy and enduring a terrible, chaotic early childhood under the care of a relative, Redvers and his older brother Connolly were dumped on the Chantry when Redvers was around six. Both sturdy boys, they were soon routed into Templar training.
Connolly was also a bully with a temper, often lashing out in Redvers' defense but sometimes just because, until the stern hands of their trainers taught him to rein it in (when they were looking). When he underwent his vigil and became a knight, several years ahead of Redvers, he was assigned to Kirkwall.
Absent his protector/overshadower, Redvers came out of his shell in his teens and blossomed into, actually, a total slacker who got along fantastically with his peers while being reprimanded by his guardians for things like turning up to chapel under the influence of elfroot or being absent from combat training because he was chatting over the fence to the lay sisters and lost track of time. He was just barely good and faithful and likable enough to be permitted to join the Order.
He spent his first few years out of training as a guardsman in the Starkhaven Circle, where he would have handily won a vote for Least Likely To Ever Be Knight-Commander. That prediction was made even more accurate when he naïvely enabled the escape of a charming mage who claimed he only wanted to attend a family funeral. The mage did not return quietly, killing thirty-seven people before being killed himself.
Redvers—a slacker, but a fundamentally honest one—promptly confessed his involvement. But his superior was fond of him and reported it up as his having fallen asleep at his post, rather than choosing to allow it. She had him assigned to apostate-tracking outside the Circle as both punishment and lesson.
Motivated by guilt, fear, and the desire to never screw up so badly again, Redvers turned out to be very good at hunting mages. So rather than return to the Circle permanently once his lesson had been learned, he continued working primarily as a mage-catcher (or mage-retriever, often enough, when it was only a child someone needed to hand over) until the rebellion. He was called back to the Circle in Starkhaven before it fell, as the Knight-Commander knew trouble was brewing, and arrived in time to, like, not stop it at all.
He fought in the Mage/Templar War—reunited with Connolly, briefly, before he was killed in action by a young mage—and then with the Inquisition, and most recently with the Templars who reformed at the Divine's call. But now he's caught an anchor, so he has to come hang out with Riftwatch. He's mad about it. He wants Corypheus handled a little more than he doesn't want to work with these people, though, so he's joined up instead of sulking in the fortress.
Personality
Redvers retains some vestigial traits from a slacker youth: he's a little slouchy, often chewing on something, and gets a recognizable please kill me middle-distance glaze in the presence of bouncy overeager types, suck-ups, and politicians. He's generally straightforward and unpretentious, with a sense of humor that ebbs and flows depending on the company but is rarely entirely absent. He gets along well with farmers and laborers and others who have no involvement in Circles or the Chantry; he likes to have a pint and hear about the latest local scandal or how his drinking companion goes about picking out healthy cows. He doesn't carry himself like he has a stick up his ass.
But he kind of does. Underneath the lowkey, wall-leaning demeanor, he's a chronically honest, rule-abiding stickler. He'll notice and tell you if your report is a day late—but he probably won't tell your boss unless it's still missing a couple days later, you're welcome. He's spent the better part of his life pursuing people who were not where they were supposed to be (in his estimation) and putting them there, and even while he's on break for the ceasefire or whatever, he retains a doggedness that makes it a little difficult for him to stop gnawing at perceived problems.
He doesn't like chaos. He doesn't believe in taking votes. He trusts traditional authority, if not completely, at least to be better than the absence of any of it at all. He's confused when people think their personal feelings about problems bigger than them matter very much.
But he does all of that with an even temper and a casual air that can come across as wry or good-humored or even willing to entertain other people's ideas if only for the sake of a thought exercises. Sometimes it is those things, in part. But it's also a kind of smug self-assurance in his convictions—he doesn't need to get wound up about anything because he's right and it's only a matter of time until he gets his way—that it's very fair to find infuriating.
Opinions & Affiliations
Templars: The ones who have remained with the Order are his bros. His pals. His buddies. The ones who deserted or are quitting lyrium or any of that nonsense are not. He expects the Templar Order to reform and resume its work of protecting Thedas from magic, after all of this, and he'll be extremely disappointed if that doesn't happen.
Mages: He firmly believes that mages (and rifters) belong in Circles, no matter how harmless and charming some of them might be, and he'll be happy to tell them so to their faces. He also believes it's his job to protect mages (and rifters, fine) from other people when they need it.
Chantry: Big fan. He trusts the Chantry. Happy to pin the Mage/Templar War on the last Divine being a bad one. This one's better. Would prefer that the Templar Order answer to the new Divine rather than go rogue, if possible. Religious in a habitual/ritualistic way more than an emotionally fervent one.
National Relations: Barely a thing he's aware of. He'd hate Orlais with more exposure but the only Orlesians he's ever known were Templars and they were fine.
Grey Wardens: Distrust bordering on dislike. They're clearly involved in a lot of shady nonsense and if someone else (like the Divine!!) had a check on their power and oversight of their secrets maybe some of this bullshit wouldn't have happened.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Redvers has a solid Chantry-provided education in reading, arithmetic, history, and religion, and he began combat training around the age of eight. He's primarily a sword-and-shield person, but he can handle two-handed weapons and carries a crossbow if he anticipates the kind of trouble a crossbow might solve. He uses lyrium and has the ability to cut off or nullify magic as well as to inflict damage on spirits/demons. He's not as sheltered or cut off as some Templars (and most mages) might have been, and he's well traveled in the Free Marches, though much less so beyond them.
Weaknesses include an addiction to lyrium, such that going without it for more than a few days would cause him serious problems, as well as the early effects of longterm dependency. He's reached the age where he's slower and more prone to lasting injuries. He lacks the moral flexibility that a lot of Riftwatch's work favors and is likely to cause problems if ever included in missions that require it. And he's very unlikely to make very many friends.
Inventory
Standard-issue sword, shield, crossbow, lyrium kit, Templar uniform, and various tools and oils for their maintenance. Normal-person clothes, not-as-tattered-as-it-should-be old copy of the Chant, maybe some personal knickknacks but nothing magic or useful.
Motivation
He's here because he acquired an anchor and isn't willing to cut his hand off just to get out of it. Yet.
One, two.