Name: Ammmy Age: Eight years older than the first FR app I wrote, jesus christ (and well over 18) Contact:prettiestwhistles or prettiestwhistles on Discord Other Characters: Julius, Cosima Niehaus, Vanya Orlov Interests: I'm weak for a spiky man who cares very much.
CHARACTER
Name: Siegfried Farnon Canon/OC: All Creatures Great and Small (2020 TV version) | Native AU Journal:inmycare Race: Human Nationality: Marcher Occupation: Vet/Healer with a specialty in animals Division: Research Mage or Not: Apostate mage Age: 44
History
(I didn't find an operative fan wiki for the 2020 show, and this version of Siegfried is significantly different from the real-life person he's based on, the book character, and the version from the 1970s show. That said, here is the Wikipedia page for the 2020 show, and I'm happy to explain more about the canon version I'm adapting from if needed.)
Siegfried was born in 9.6 in Ansburg to a Marcher father and a Nevarran mother.
Siegfried's magic manifested when he was around seven. His parents' reaction to the idea of sending him to the Circle was roughly "Hmmmm we'd rather not." This was facilitated by Siegfried's mother's connection to a trusted old friend from Nevarra with Mortalisi connections. The friend was able to provide enough training for Siegfried not to do magic accidentally and to let him hide his nature; the deception was made easier by his parents' dedication to rural life.
Siegfried assumed he would become a physician like his father, but his passion for animals manifested strongly and early. At some point in his early adolescence, Siegfried connected with a spirit that approved of his fierce desire to take care of animals and alleviate their suffering. He's mainly able to pass off spirit healing for animals as a "knack" (though some farmers who suspected were happy to look the other way after he saved a valuable portion of their livestock).
When he was old enough, Siegfried attended the University of Markham to learn mundane veterinary skills.
Siegfried's brother Tristan was born 9.26; their mother died in childbirth with him.
In 9.27, a trade dispute between Hercinia and Ansburg broke into outright hostilities that lasted roughly a year.* Siegfried volunteered as a field medic, but the realities of how people behaved in combat soured his initial heroic impulses.
After the fighting ended, Siegfried married his university sweetheart, Evelyn Sinclair, in 9.28.
Siegfried and Evelyn traveled between Marcher farming communities in a circuit, offering Siegfried's services. Their small house was remote, somewhere between Ansburg and Starkhaven.
Siegfried's father was killed in a mundane accident in 9.34. Evelyn and Siegfried adopted young Tristan.
Around 9.42, Evelyn died of cancer after a lingering illness.
Tristan, following in his brother's footsteps, trained to be a vet. He'd been talking about going to Markham, but the invasion of the Marches effectively put that on hold. He's also been talking about joining the Inquisition, an idea Siegfried has repeatedly discouraged.
About a year ago, Siegfried took on a partner to try to cover more ground. James discovered Siegfried's secret but pledged not to tell.
Recently, Siegfried was outed as a mage in a way that won't immediately blow over. For now, he's left practice to Tristan and James, who are both mundane vets with no secret magic.
* Note: If this is too big to make up, it can be amended or dropped.
Personality
Siegfried is gentle and intuitive with animals (and, usually, young children). He's a bit less great with adults, his patience being much shorter with them. He has a temper, which usually manifests in snappishness or sarcasm, though never violence. He's incredibly set in his ways and not great at compromise, as he's usually convinced his own way is the obviously best one. (As Sophie Brookover wrote for Vulture, "Siegfried must [eventually] acknowledge that being a well-intended control freak is not, in fact, a viable love language.") He's also terrible at admitting he was wrong under any circumstances. Siegfried is prepared to look at you blankly if you claim he said the opposite thing to you in your previous conversation, or that you did something that turned out badly because he suggested it. Obviously you misheard.
Pride aside, Siegfried is genuinely devoted to doing the best he can for every animal he cares for. His deep feelings for animals are unfeigned and the one place he's willing to make changes without resistance is in providing proven new methods of improved treatment. While he's less conscious of it, he feels equally deeply devoted to people if he lets them in; if he comes to care for a person, he is unflinchingly loyal and will do his best to take care of them in whatever way he thinks is best. He is not above deceiving people he loves for what he perceives as their own good, but he is genuinely well-intentioned when he does so. He conceives of himself as an intensely independent person, but he holds tight to the people he loves.
Despite his sometimes spiky exterior and his ego, at heart Siegfried is a good man who is disinclined to put anyone else in a tight spot needlessly. In his work, this often meant accepting a half a dozen eggs or a string of sausages in lieu of cash for payment. In his personal life, this means that if you need him to pick up supplies for a party, he will loudly complain all the way to and from fetching those supplies. His intention with Riftwatch is to mainly help with animals but he will inevitably find himself drawn in elsewhere, I expect.
Opinions & Affiliations
Aggressively non-political. Anti-Tevinter and Corypheus, especially since the invasion of the Free Marches, but in a broad way that suggests yes, someone should absolutely do something about that. He doesn't mind helping to that end, but it's not what brought him to Riftwatch. Would personally prefer not to be locked in a Circle, but also uninterested in the political work involved in actively campaigning for mage rights and sort of just hopes everyone will leave him alone about it. Zero tolerance for animal abuse of any kind, regardless of the motive or the person doing it.
Adaptation Notes
While there's a few ways to approach it, I wanted to explore Siegfried's gift with animals. In the show, it's clearly talent and experience, but in Thedas it seemed like beefing it up with magic would create some interesting RP opportunities. I also love the idea, after years of mage politics with Julius, of playing a person who couldn't care less about that. Siegfried is very content to build a small-scale life where he's a big fish in a small pond, and I'm intrigued by that contrast. After some thought, a Marcher background felt like it would fit a farm-facing existence. It will also inevitably mean he's had some incidental experience with Fade-touched animals and environments, which I think would be an interesting hook into the Research division. Obviously, the state of the world is going to create some differences from his "late 1930s England" original, but I think the bigger differences will be putting him in a new place where he isn't in charge.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Magic: spirit healing (animals, and potentially very young children, only)
Trained mundane vet
Especially great with horses; can ride bareback
Conversational in Nevarran, though his accent suggests fluency
Weaknesses
Diplomacy
Non-healing magic. Any spells that aren't from the spirit healer tree (or "heal," which is hilariously not in that tree) he'd have to do untrained. I'd propose that untrained spells generally have a chance of failing, maybe a dice roll, though we can talk about the mechanics of that if it feels too nerfed/not nerfed enough
Keeping an open mind
Organization when it comes to paperwork; good luck getting his reports in a timely fashion
Inventory
Small trunk full of veterinary supplies such as bandages, surgical instruments, tinctures, poultices, etc.
A few (roughly five) annotated books about animal husbandry, animal diseases and basic fundamentals of care, mainly focused on livestock and horses.
Clothes, including a heavy overcoat and gloves for messy work
A hand-sized portrait of his late wife
A few personal letters
If permitted: A pet rat named Volonel, with his cage
Motivation
After many years, Siegfried's magic was finally discovered and exposed in a major enough way it can't be swept under the rug. While no one is going to force him into a Circle at present, he can't continue practicing as he has been, and the world is shrinking enough that just starting somewhere else runs the risk of re-discovery. Since his options are a) defecting to Tevinter (absolutely not) b) joining the mages attached to the Inquisition (seems regimented in a way he doesn't care for) or c) joining Riftwatch, he's picking option c as the one most likely to just let him do his work as long as he makes himself useful.
Not that long days are so unusual, in his profession, though under pressure he would admit he feels them more than he did 15 years ago. Calves have an uncanny preference for being born at three in the morning, for one thing. Any hope for a nap after the early calving vanished when a messenger arrived with a note about a dog who'd throw his hip out of joint, followed promptly by the dog's owner noting that, while Siegfried was there, he could maybe take a look at a pig that was off his food.
So as he returns to the inn, he's looking forward to a quiet evening featuring a warm meal and perhaps a quiet card game. It's a bit late, but not so late he expects the kitchen to be closed or his assistants to have retired for the night.
What happens next, however, is: The cook has gone home early because his wife is in labor. James has, in fact, been called out to see about a horse with what sounds like stomach troubles. And Tristan has managed to fall asleep early with the help of several pints of beer.
With some warmed over stew that is better than nothing but hardly much comfort after the day he's had, Siegfried sets himself up at a table in the common room and begins a game of solitaire. Whether or not be particularly wants to play solitaire is not the point. It's the principle of the thing. He's earned a relaxing evening, and by the Maker, he intends to relax as hard as he can.
Siegfried Farnon | All Creatures Great and Small (2020) | Native AU
Name: Ammmy
Age: Eight years older than the first FR app I wrote, jesus christ (and well over 18)
Contact:
Other Characters: Julius, Cosima Niehaus, Vanya Orlov
Interests: I'm weak for a spiky man who cares very much.
Name: Siegfried Farnon
Canon/OC: All Creatures Great and Small (2020 TV version) | Native AU
Journal:
Race: Human
Nationality: Marcher
Occupation: Vet/Healer with a specialty in animals
Division: Research
Mage or Not: Apostate mage
Age: 44
History
(I didn't find an operative fan wiki for the 2020 show, and this version of Siegfried is significantly different from the real-life person he's based on, the book character, and the version from the 1970s show. That said, here is the Wikipedia page for the 2020 show, and I'm happy to explain more about the canon version I'm adapting from if needed.)
* Note: If this is too big to make up, it can be amended or dropped.
Personality
Siegfried is gentle and intuitive with animals (and, usually, young children). He's a bit less great with adults, his patience being much shorter with them. He has a temper, which usually manifests in snappishness or sarcasm, though never violence. He's incredibly set in his ways and not great at compromise, as he's usually convinced his own way is the obviously best one. (As Sophie Brookover wrote for Vulture, "Siegfried must [eventually] acknowledge that being a well-intended control freak is not, in fact, a viable love language.") He's also terrible at admitting he was wrong under any circumstances. Siegfried is prepared to look at you blankly if you claim he said the opposite thing to you in your previous conversation, or that you did something that turned out badly because he suggested it. Obviously you misheard.
Pride aside, Siegfried is genuinely devoted to doing the best he can for every animal he cares for. His deep feelings for animals are unfeigned and the one place he's willing to make changes without resistance is in providing proven new methods of improved treatment. While he's less conscious of it, he feels equally deeply devoted to people if he lets them in; if he comes to care for a person, he is unflinchingly loyal and will do his best to take care of them in whatever way he thinks is best. He is not above deceiving people he loves for what he perceives as their own good, but he is genuinely well-intentioned when he does so. He conceives of himself as an intensely independent person, but he holds tight to the people he loves.
Despite his sometimes spiky exterior and his ego, at heart Siegfried is a good man who is disinclined to put anyone else in a tight spot needlessly. In his work, this often meant accepting a half a dozen eggs or a string of sausages in lieu of cash for payment. In his personal life, this means that if you need him to pick up supplies for a party, he will loudly complain all the way to and from fetching those supplies. His intention with Riftwatch is to mainly help with animals but he will inevitably find himself drawn in elsewhere, I expect.
Opinions & Affiliations
Aggressively non-political. Anti-Tevinter and Corypheus, especially since the invasion of the Free Marches, but in a broad way that suggests yes, someone should absolutely do something about that. He doesn't mind helping to that end, but it's not what brought him to Riftwatch. Would personally prefer not to be locked in a Circle, but also uninterested in the political work involved in actively campaigning for mage rights and sort of just hopes everyone will leave him alone about it. Zero tolerance for animal abuse of any kind, regardless of the motive or the person doing it.
Adaptation Notes
While there's a few ways to approach it, I wanted to explore Siegfried's gift with animals. In the show, it's clearly talent and experience, but in Thedas it seemed like beefing it up with magic would create some interesting RP opportunities. I also love the idea, after years of mage politics with Julius, of playing a person who couldn't care less about that. Siegfried is very content to build a small-scale life where he's a big fish in a small pond, and I'm intrigued by that contrast. After some thought, a Marcher background felt like it would fit a farm-facing existence. It will also inevitably mean he's had some incidental experience with Fade-touched animals and environments, which I think would be an interesting hook into the Research division. Obviously, the state of the world is going to create some differences from his "late 1930s England" original, but I think the bigger differences will be putting him in a new place where he isn't in charge.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Weaknesses
Inventory
Motivation
After many years, Siegfried's magic was finally discovered and exposed in a major enough way it can't be swept under the rug. While no one is going to force him into a Circle at present, he can't continue practicing as he has been, and the world is shrinking enough that just starting somewhere else runs the risk of re-discovery. Since his options are a) defecting to Tevinter (absolutely not) b) joining the mages attached to the Inquisition (seems regimented in a way he doesn't care for) or c) joining Riftwatch, he's picking option c as the one most likely to just let him do his work as long as he makes himself useful.
Sample One
Test drive meme
Sample Two