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Yagellonica — Her King
#dragonageorigins #alistairtheirin #amellwarden #couslandwarden
Published: 2016-11-12 10:29:54 +0000 UTC; Views: 4049; Favourites: 79; Downloads: 0
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Description
Characters from Dragon Age Origins game.Yes, the woman on the left is my Amell mage-Warden.
And no, the woman on the right is NOT Queen Anora (Anora can rot at the deepest darkest bottom of the Fade for all I care), but my Cousland rogue-Warden character.
Both in the same picture? Allow me to explain...
First ever time I played DA Origins I played as a mage. I was used to playing as a mage from previous games and I liked being a mage. And the mage skills in DA Origins were awesome! Sooooo many skills! Such awesome effects! It was grand. The only tiny complaint I might have about the mages and their skills in DA Origins is perhaps the magic casting animations, because let's face it the mages look kinda ridiculous shoving back and forth their staff and even that isn't done vigoriously but rather lazily. (Mind you, in DA2 they went full Kung-Fu with the mages!)
So, I played as an Amell mage from the Circle of Calenhad. Met Alistair > and my mage was head over heals for him, of course. I mean, who can resist a shy funny guy that loves cheese?! His voice acting was spot on. His dialogue was hilarious, at times. And he was a good tank for my squishy mage. And, of course, I made Alistair into the king of Ferelden.
And then what happens? HE DITCHES MY MAGE!!! I was literally stunned at the end of DA Origins... I even used Morrigan's Dark Ritual to make sure Alistair wouldn't die in the last fight against the Archdemon > AND HE DITCHES ME?!
Seriously, I was upset in real life like almost 3 weeks, walking around the house, throwing stuff around, occasionally bursting out and shouting "HOW CAN HE DO THAT TO ME AFTER EVERYTHING I SACRIFICED FOR HIM?!"
(Thank goodness for Bioware for realising how pissed some female players might be at this and offering a snarky sarcastic comment for the Warden to throw at Alistair in the Awakenings dlc...)
So, me being a perfectionist, went on a internet rampage and found out that only a Cousland noble female can actually "get" Alistair in the end.
TIME FOR A NEW PLAY-THROUGH!
This is when I first got acquainted with other skills than magic. I had never really liked or even understood rogue or warrior skills, they were simply too weird for me. But for Alistair I was willing to try them out.
I rampaged through most of the game until finally got to the end point where was (FINALLY) given the dialogue option of "Alistair will be king and I will rule beside him!"
And Alistair was locked into the prison of marriage! YES!
On a side note, when I played as a Cousland I was pleasantly surprised at the beginning when my character got a whole family! I'm a single child myself and this was really nice... up until the point when my Warden's whole family gets murdered brutally. Seriously Bioware, all your games are about losing something you hold dear...
So, both my DA Origins characters are in the same picture because they both meant so much to me. I'd like to think that in some alternate timeline Alistair might have had a fling with an Amell mage but was forced to wed a Cousland noble for the sake of appearances. (And yes, I'm aware there would have been the option of letting Alistair keep the mage as his secret mistress, but hey, I'm an all or nothing kinda girl.)
Done on ClipStudioPaint
Banner behind is done by me but using the Theirin and Cousland crests from the game.
Dragon Age Origins and its characters belong to Bioware.
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Comments: 45
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Lol I love writing b/c I would totally be the same way!! Like What hell Alistair!? Lol
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I'm STILL a little (a lot) heartbroken over him dumping my City Elf the first time I played -and that was, what, over half a decade ago?
I want to hate the bastard, but he's just so lovable! 
The drawing is wonderful by the way. Makes me feel rather wistful (Is that the right word? I've been trying to expand my repertoire of words lately!).
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I'mm guessing the makers of the game must get a lot of "hate mail" due to the choice options given by Alistair...
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Not from me though, I "enjoy" being devastated emotionally. Does that make sense?
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Being devastated emotionally also sparks imagination and inspiration, at least for me. The stronger the feelings the better the art.
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Alistair can be persuaded into keeping the relationship, but not marrying anyone else who romanced him. I have a whole thing about my Female Mage, Cynara, lovingly being called the "Uncrowned Queen" by the people of Ferelden who love their HoF and respect her as their King's companion. It has come up in a few of my fanfics too. I laughed also that my only Dwarf Commoner had Alistair marry Anora and stayed with him as his Mistress. It gave me a chuckle that in DA2 the barkeeper will tell you about the King having a public Dwarf mistress and wonders how the Queen feels about it, LOL.
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Wow, the dwarf mistress is pretty awesome!
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Alistair dumping your character for the throne was so frustrating! I never completed my Cousland playthrough after my system died, but I intend to do a playthrough with the city elf and not put him on the throne so they can have their happily ever after and not have her be a mistress. I think my dwarf likely went back to Teagan.
Lovely work! I really love the work you put into the patterns on their clothing. It adds so much detail.
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Haven't played DAO since I last changed laptops, hence I have no save from Origins currently, but have just started a new game simply because I want/need a save-game to import to DA2.
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Fantastic picture, the shading and the detail are beautiful. Also, try playing and not knowing the significance of the Dark Ritual and then despite your love for Alistair you get killed *ouch*, that was my very first playthrough, I also went for a mage. I played it green and thus failed to "harden" Alistair and I also let Isolde die because I hated here and my character's last conversation with Alistair was getting chewed out for that decision -10 lol. As a Cousland I also went for the marriage and crown and I kept Zevran as a lover and had a threesome with Alistair and Isabela, out of all the Dragon Ages the first one definitely gives your character the most opportunities for promiscuity.
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Thanks!
I have to admit that in my first play-through as a mage, I "accidentally" ended up in Zevran's tent after he offered to give my mage a "massage"... Oops! Alistair was a sourpuss for a while after that.
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Yes he was unhappy with my Cousland but he still married her. Somewhere in the realms of fantasy Ferelden there's a prince with oddly pointed ears.
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Good my main character was a human noble rogue xD
But in fact...Dragon age Origins was great, friendship with companions was awesome!
My Cousland "get" Alistair too and that was really happy ending for me...but then when I finish the game I was thinking about next dragon age games...
DAII was (for me) really bad. I didn't like new character I missed my worden (queen 
Then I get DAI...why another character? I don't know wtf we get another stupid character ;/. But oh well, some1 told me that on DAI we will find some information about our first character-warden!
(That why I get this game too)
And then..........WTF!!!!!!!!! We didn't meet our first character we just get information that she is NOT HERE RIGHT NOW! We meet Alistair who said he is waiting for his queen (so nice) but we don't even know if our warden is still alive! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I actually played DA2 first before playing DA Origins, so I was ok with the champion Hawke-character.
And I find it interesting to be able to play different characters in different games of the same storyline. It gives a sense of continuity. Sort of like life goes on and people part ways, some are gone for good but made an impact in other peoples' lives, and new characters pop up.
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well I prefere 1 character like Shepard in Mass effect <3
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I know the feel man... Did exactly the same, when my mage warden was DENIED this beautiful shy lil' special snowflake <3
And btw
GREAT drawing!
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A really nice picture of your two wardens and Alistair. And those details... I have always liked detail rich drawings and I use quite detailed style myself too. Your use of colors is also to my liking and as Cousland and Amell origins are my favorites in DAO, you get a bonus praises from that. 
What comes to the those "nice surprises" Bioware serves us in DAO, I can relate to you to some degree. I got some of those too with my playthroughs as well so I know something about that. But I have come to a conclusion that games, which do not go just as we have planned or imagined and which put our game characters to the situations which may "hurt" and "wound" them (and us), are actually one of those best ones. Before DAO there had not been a single game which would have really touched me emotionally. DAO did it in the highest potency and mostly with those sadder feelings. Few examples with my first playthrough (female Cousland):
- A loving family killed (or more likely butchered) at the very beginning.
- Alistair really yelling with anger to my character after she killed Connor.
- Alistair killing archdemon and sacrificing himself while I had planned that my Cousland would do that. And the fact that you could do nothing to stop him if he loved your character. My glorious self sacrifice was all ruined (and they made Anora queen).
And Jowan suprised or, to be more precise, shocked my mage character more than once. Blood magic, Jowan?!?!?!
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Yes, agreed, the Bioware games are very emotional. Almost all of their games (I'm only acquainted with the Dragon Age and Mass Effect games) are games where your main character loses something dear. In DAO you lose your family (basically regardless of what race you play, always the same beginning > have family, then something horrid happens, and you lose that family); in DA2 you can lose your family again (or save only 1 sibling, if you chose the right path and options); and in Inquisition you end up losing your arm!
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I have played only Dragon Age games (and from those only DAO and DAI) so I am not familiar with Biowares other genres although I know ME and acknowledge that it is their another hit series. For some reason DA2 gave me a negative feeling already before it was published and later comments only stenghtened that feeling. But I do know the general events from it.
What comes to DA and emotions I think that DAO is the best in that aspect. While DAI is a good game and made many things better than DAO, it lacked more in the "emotional area", especially in the "loss department". Losing a hand is dramatic but does not compare with losing a family or a companion/loved one (Alistair, Wynne, Leliana for example). In DAO you also saw the consequences of your actions better. (for example Redcliffe, Dalish/werewolves) while in DAI the notifications in the war table are rather bland or anonymous. In DAO I felt much more heavily the consequences of my decisions. The best/difficult/most emotional of those being the case with Connor. Of course I cannot say anything about DA2 in this matter as I have not played it myself. Is the loss of Bethany/Carver/Leandra made emotionally well?
But putting that aside I comment one more thing about your picture here. The facial expressions of Alistair and your Amell here show quite well that loss we may experience in DAO.
And finally thank you for the llama and watch too. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're welcome for the llama and the watch. I always watch those who have great inspiring art, and are nice to me.
As for DA2, the answer on the emotional scale is yes. At least that's how it felt to me. Again, I'm a single child and have no siblings and barely any relatives to mention, so getting a family at the beginning of the game was awesome! ...only to see Bethany die in the prologue and my in-game mother basically blaming my character for it. And, then later on, if you take Carver to the Deep Roads and don't have Anders with you, Carver will die of the darkspawn plague (or whatever it was called, can't remember now anymore), and you have to watch him die and then go back and tell your in-game mom about it > and again she'll blame you for it! And then, if that wasn't enough, at one point some retarded maniac kidnaps your in-game mother and transforms her into some walking corpse > and you have to watch her die too!
A lot of people say DA2 is not a good game, but I beg to differ. Sure, it's short and very linear compared to DAO, and many other games of the same type, but it does have a solid story. Also, if you happen to romance Anders in DA2, in the end you might have to kill him, which again can cause a lot of emotional trauma...
I do recommend playing DA2 at least once through, just to find out the storyline in it.
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Well, perhaps I will give DA2 a change sometimes then.
And Anders... I liked him in Awakening but what I now know about him (and his actions) I cannot say that anymore. Bioware sure made Anders/Justice fusion to be a big mess.
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The details here are really amazing! 
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Thank you!
And yes, I've heard there are some bugs that can happen in regards to romancing certain characters. And it sucks when you have to restart due to those...
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I definitely sympathise with the love of mages, my first play I went in with an Elven Mage because I have a history of playing half-elven fighter mages (and yes, I did work my Warden around to become an Arcane Warrior).
I was not surprised by the events because I came to the game late and had access to walkthroughs, which meant on my first play I also knew what moves to "harden" him and bagged the position of his mistress.
Since then however my Warden and the RP character she was loosely based on merged, and the breakup did a turnaround so it was her doing (plus the Dark Ritual happened differently).
I have the start of a Human Noble play saved that I haven't gone back to because of depression, but I don't think she would get with Alistair either, because she's solidly based on my Mage Warden's sister, and not romantically available.
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To be quite honest, I did all those "hardening" things to Alistair without even knowing I was hardening him. Only later, after lots and lots of reading, I found out how exactly things work in the game. But I had already done those, sort of naturally.
It's rather disappointing that there aren't really any other males a female player can romance in the Origins. Sure, there's Zevran but personally I can't stand him, so that leaves just Alistair. Also, it would have been awesome if either Anders or Nathaniel would have been romanceable in the Awakenings...
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At best, for other romance options, one can investigate mods, but I would advise being careful about poking Karma's Companions - I tried to install it but it made my game buggy as hell. At the very least the Ser Gilmore mod (which keeps a Human Noble origin minor character alive) isn't a buggy mess.
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I tried the Ser Gilmore mod but couldn't stand his voice! Right after meeting him again at Lothering, had to uninstall the mod because he sounded soooo annoying!
Ah well, Alistair it is.
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Omg
Awesome picture!
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Thanks!
And my deepest sympathies for your misfortune with Alistair. We have all suffered the same fate!
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I guess DA origin is the game I played through most times ever (other games I start several times but not play them till the end), just to see how I can get Alistair
That aside: wonderful pic - just as a saw the thumbnail I went "Yeah! She did Alistair!" (this would have been the character I would have wished for had I won your raffle, BTW
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THANK THE MAKER FOR MODS! There's one where you can marry Alistair even if you are an elf, or a mage for that matter.... But I never used those since it didn't really feel lore-friendly. I do understand the logic behind Alistair having to ditch anyone who isn't of blue blood. Only in Disney-tales do princes marry commoners. (But I did get that mod that shows the whole wedding scene... "squeeeeee"!)
And yes, I think I've played DAO through at least 10 times by now. It's just so much fun. Also, I do like the fact that it's not a huuuuge game, it doesn't take forever to finish (like Skyrim which basically can drag for years).
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Since I still haven't played the other DA games, I consider this a very helpful tip regarding my character creation then. And until christmas, I think I'll just admire your art again.
But I can understand your anger so much. I would have probably thrown something across the room if that had happened to me.
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The DA Origins is one of the few games where there are decent romance options for male characters as well, while DA2 basically everyone is bi which really isn't any type of challenge for the player...
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I LOVE the background story this piece has. Stuff like this brings the art to life even more really
(Oh and great work as always of course 
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ooooh, harsh! Well, I can understand some of the anger over him dumping your character, even if I do not play such games myself, such things can feel rather personal
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Once you spend a great many hours playing a game, completely immersed in its world and characters, they become like "friends"... and having them behave against your expectations can be just as annoying and devastating as if real life friends were to stab you in the back.
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I bet! :/
at least you were able to lock him into marriage XD
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In the second part of Dragon Age2, if your Warden married Alistair and Al comes to see the champion of the second game, he will refer to his wife as the "old ball and chain"...
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There's a hilarious exchange of words between Alistair and his accompanying uncle, talking about the Queen (Al's wife). Alistair then just remarks something along with "Just because she killed an Archdemon dragon doesn't mean I have to be scared of her..."
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bet that he will regret those words XD
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