[underworldwars] application
|| Player Information ||
Name: Mitsu
Personal Journal: minrathous
Time zone: GMT+7 (Bangkok)
Contact:
email: mitsutama [at] gmail [dot] com
aim: enkindlers
Current Characters: N/A
|| Character Information ||
Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins
Name: Grey Warden Cousland (default name: Aedan Cousland)
Canon Point: Post-Witch Hunt
Is this character dead? Nope.
History:
The Warden Hero of Ferelden can come from six different origins, different genders, and three different races and throughout the game, the Warden can make various different choices to influence the world. This Warden in particular comes from the Human Noble origin.
Aedan Cousland is the second son of Teyrn of Highever, Bryce Cousland and his wife Eleanor. The Couslands are a powerful noble family, second only to the crown, however while Bryce and Eleanor does their best to instill the importance of duty and honor to their children, they’re unlike most nobles in Ferelden in that they allow their children freedom in living their lives and choosing whom they want to marry (even if that doesn’t stop Eleanor from sometimes trying to match her son with some respectable lady at parties.) The family has a lifelong friend in one Arl Rendon Howe of Amaranthine. It’s hinted that Aedan and his brother Fergus often spent time playing with Arl Howe’s children, and later on Arl Howe even tries to match the youngest Cousland with his daughter Delilah, much to her and Aedan’s dismay. Somewhere along the line, the Blight began and King Cailan calls the various nobles of the land to arms at Ostagar. Teyrn Cousland, along with Fergus and Arl Howe were to lead their troops south, while the Teyrna was to leave with her friend Lady Landra, leaving Aedan in charge of Castle Cousland with a handful of troops. The day before the Cousland officially troops set out for Ostagar, Arl Howe announced that his troops are delayed, so the game begins with Teyrn Cousland asking Aedan to go tell his brother to set off ahead without him. Aedan was more curious in the Grey Warden named Duncan who supposedly came to scout Ser Roland Gilmore, one of the Knights serving the Couslands, and expressed his interest in possibly trying out the recruitment as well before his father completely shot down the idea and sent him on his way. That night after the Cousland family had a heart-warming goodbye before Fergus takes off for Ostagar, Aedan woke up to find the castle under siege and the attacking party happened to be bearing the coat of arms of Arl Howe’s house. Neither Aedan nor his mother could believe this was happening at first but it seems as if the Arl was intent on wiping out the Couslands, even going as far as to kill Aedan’s young nephew, Oren. Eventually thanks to the help of Ser Gilmore, Aedan and the Teyrna were able to meet up with Bryce before the escape way in the larder. There they meet Duncan again who only promises to help the Teyrn’s wife and son escape if he would let Duncan recruit Aedan to become a Grey Warden. Both Bryce and Aedan accepted, but Eleanor insisted on staying behind with her husband. In the end Aedan escapes Castle Cousland to go to Ostagar with Duncan, the only relics of his life that he has left are the family sword and shield and his faithful mabari hound.
General events of Dragon Age: Origins’ main plot after the Human Noble origin story
General events of Awakening expansion pack’s story
General events of Golems of Amgarrak DLC story
General events of Witch Hunt DLC story
Since the choices the Warden makes can influence the world and differs according to each person, here’s a check list of all the major decisions Aedan made in no specific order:
- Recruited all possible companions, did their quest, gave them all their plot- important items and maxed their approval; Leliana was hardened, Alistair wasn’t.
- Flirted with every NPC ever and even slept with Iona from the origin story, and later Isabela, but otherwise never romanced any of the companions.
- Saved the Mages in Broken Circle.
- Convinced Zathrian to lift the curse in Nature of the Beast.
- Saved Redcliffe village without casualties.
- Isolde and Connor were saved with the help of the Circle and Jowan.
- Sided with Branka to save her, but later convinced her to destroy the Anvil during Paragon of Her Kind.
- Sided with both Bhelen and Harrowmont initially but in the end, chose to crown Bhelen as King of Orzammar.
- Refused the the Cultists’ offer, slayed the High Dragon, completed the Guardian’s trial, allowed Brother Genitivi to spread the findings and cured Arl Eamon with the Ashes during Urn of the Sacred Ashes quest line.
- Killed possessed!Sophia Dryden in Warden’s Keep and allowed Avernus to continue his research, albeit more ethically.
- When recruiting Shale, completed the puzzle and killed the demon, reuniting the girl with her father.
- Found all of the letters and Cailan’s armor during Return to Ostagar, later gave Cailan a Funeral Pyre.
- Peacefully surrendered to Ser Cauthrien after rescuing Anora and was broken out of Fort Drakon by Leliana and Morrigan.
- Proposed to Anora and agreed to support her in the Landsmeet since Alistair didn’t want to be king.
- Killed the Slaver and rescued the elves at the Alienage.
- Defeated Loghain at the Landsmeet, and recruit him. Alistair flounces the Wardens.
- Declared to rule by Anora’s side, Anora immediately orders for Alistair’s execution but Aedan persuaded her to spare him. Alistair becomes a wandering drunkard in Kirkwall.
- Persuaded Loghain do the ritual with Morrigan, since he wanted to prove to his father in law that he won’t cheat like Cailan and start the marriage off with a lie. It was super awkward.
- Asked to continue serving the crown during the post-coronation event. Fergus is revealed to be alive and congratulates Aedan on his impending marriage to the queen.
- Became the temporary Warden-Commander of Amaranthine at the request of the First Warden.
- Concsripted Anders to save him from the Templars at the start of Awakening. Later helped him get rid of those Templars when they refused to leave him alone. Gave him Ser-Pounce-A-Lot.
- Recruited his old pal Oghren and persuaded him to remain in his child’s life, agreeing to help him with the letters if he wants.
- Freed Nathaniel from his cell, but lets him join the Grey Warden when he later comes back and asks to be recruited. Helped him reunite with Delilah. Gave him his grandfather’s bow.
- Recruited Velanna, defended her against her old clan. Gave her a blank journal to record her tales.
- Recruited Sigrun, helped her with her old friend by paying her so that Sigrun can keep the ring. Gave her a spyglass like the one her friend from the legion talked about.
- Sided with Justice during the Blackmarshes quest, later recruits him and helps him meet up with Kristoff’s wife, gave him the Lyrium Ring.
- Did all the side quests and fully upgraded the Keep. Crafted the Vigilance sword.
- Saved Amaranthine.
- Vigil’s Keep survived the Siege.
- Spared the Architect.
- All companions are alive at the end of the game.
-Gathered all the research and defeated the Harvester in Golem of Amgarrak.
- Some time after the end of Awakening, it’s implied that he passes the title of Warden-Commander on to someone else and returns to court life in Denerim.
- Approximately two years after the Blight (Bioware is a hooker with these timelines), he finds Morrigan again and peacefully parted ways with her after she gave him a warning about Flemeth and the changes that are soon to happen in the world at the end of Witch Hunt.
He’s mentioned a few times in the course of Dragon Age 2, indicating that he’s still married to Anora and sometimes, 10 years after the Blight, he has mysteriously disappeared along with Hawke but otherwise he isn’t shown so to make things easy, he’ll be taken from the end of Witch Hunt and since that’s set somewhere in the three years in between Act 1 and Act 2, Aedan has no idea what happens in the world in Act 2 and Act 3 circa DA2. Except maybe that one of Hawke's siblings was recruited into the Grey Wardens, and that while he was away doing the Golem of Amgarrak quest, something bad happened in his absence that made Anders flounce the Wardens.
Personality:
When you first hear that Aedan has been called a pompous prat, you’ll probably believe it. After all, he certainly doesn’t lack the self-confidence, and doesn’t seem humble at all and the way he jokes around all the time might give the impression that he’s a shameless idiot who doesn’t take anything seriously, especially since he likes to tease and flirt and often ends up jumping into trouble because he can’t seem to resist helping a beautiful woman in distress; whether it be a village girl looking for her brother in a town plagued by the undead, a widowed queen requesting to be rescued or those times when the damsel in distress isn’t quite a damsel at all but a demon looking for a victim in the Fade. Thankfully, he does all that with a charm so even the grouchiest women might allow herself a small smile and even though flirting may seem to be in his nature, he’ll always try to be chivalrous, and respect the wishes of any lady he meet. His father taught him well, after all, and his mother would tut at him from her grave if he didn't remember to be courteous.
However one can’t be the famed Hero of Ferelden that recruited various allies and ended the Blight if one was truly an idiot cruising on just luck alone. Aedan can be sharp and observant in addition to possessing a strong natural charisma, it’s just that he prefers to act quirky and over the top to make people underestimate him or judge him as a fool, especially since most people tend to let their guard down around people they don’t find threatening. He shoulders a lot of responsibility but rather than make a fuss, he’s the type who prefers to hide his thoughts and throw humor to deflect any questions concerning his opinion unless the person asking happened to be one of the people who had his trust. Of course, all his pomp isn’t entirely an act; for one thing his chivalrous need for heroism and his soft spot for women is very much real and sometimes blindsides his more rational thoughts. Not to mention that Aedan really does have a whimsical sense of humor and enjoy his trolling, as well as indulging in all the finer things in life, after all, what’s the fun in living if you don’t try to enjoy the excitement and experience the thing life has to offer? He also happens to be a bit of a hopeless romantic, wishing that he would one day find a love like his parents, so despite flirting his way throughout Ferelden, when he eventually became infatuated with the queen and her strong personality, he hoped to treat her better than her late husband so that one day she would return his feelings.
When the situation calls for it, he is capable of seriousing it up . He may have a love for the heroics but he’s well-grounded in his idealism. Cousland do what must be done and Grey Wardens will do whatever it takes to defeat the Blight and despite their shared optimism and, to an extent, their admiration for the Wardens, unlike Alistair, Aedan views the word in shades of gray and doesn’t believe that their order is without its dark spots. Although he tries to gravitate towards doing morally “white” choices, Aedan isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and settle with the morally gray if he had to if it meant he was working towards the greater good. He prefers to listen, study and analyze the situation even when it doesn’t look like he is and tries his best to form a solution that will be bring about the most agreeable outcome, especially when it concerns difficult decisions such as the crowning of the Dwarven King of Orzammar where he craftily played both sides until he finally makes the final choice of choosing the Machiavellian Prince Bhelen over the traditional Lord Harrowmont, due to his belief that even if it were for the dwarven prince’s own selfish reasons, at least Bhelen was attempting to do a much needed reform to the dwarven society and gave opportunity to the unfortunate Casteless. Aedan sincerely believes that everyone deserves a second chance, and is always willing to offer the chance for redemption to anyone who needs it or request it from him, even if sometimes this might come back to bite him; he persuades Branka to destroy the Anvil and commit honorable suicide even after he rescues her from Caridin because the Anvil of the Void was a twisted invention.
Although he could hardly feel like bothering with all the formalities and cutthroat politics, if there was one thing that Aedan took to heart, and practiced from all his parents’ teaching about being a noble, it was idea of Noblesse Oblige. Aedan does his best to serve the people and help those in need, as evidenced in how he’s willing to do nearly every little side quest aiding every other villager in need during the Blight, and even after the Blight when he’s sent to be the Warden-Commander of Amaranthine, he favors the common folk and the farmers rather than the self-important nobles. However his sympathy towards the less fortunate only goes within reasons, so even though he feels for the plight of the mages in Ferelden and tries whatever he can to help them and turn a blind eye to rebellious apostates like Anders in Awakening, he still believes that the Circle is necessary to help educate mages from being harmful to themselves and others.
All in all, Aedan is a nice person and a general bro but in his own eccentric way, Aedan trusts people who’re selfish and outright mean more than people who are nice and “honorable”, even if when it comes down to it, both are just trying to use him. Perhaps it’s because being around nobles all his life made him vary of people’s intentions and pragmatic people like Anora and Loghain, in his opinion, are more honest about their intentions than people like Eamon. If he were to be truthful with himself, with the exception of Alistair, Aedan probably initially trusted the more morally dubious members of his party more than the nicer ones. Of course in the end he ended up holding a special affection for all of them as his strange rag-tag family and trusted them all with his life. That said, Aedan is very loyal to his friends and the people he cares about, he’s willing to go out of his way to help them; whether it be their wingman, helping them get closure or looking for a single sword in the whole of Ferelden.
Skills | Powers:
Aedan is Warrior class character, which means he can either swing around a big two-handed weapon, duel wield or go for the classic sword and shield. Characters in Dragon Age: Origins also have specialized skills learned throughout the course of the game, in particular, Aedan has Templar, Champion, Spirit Warrior and Guardian.
Aside from that, as a Grey Warden, he can sense Darkspawn and has better stamina than ordinary people, although this in turn shortens his lifespan up to, at most, around 30 more years.
First Person Sample: ((I've read the comments of the faqs and noticed that it was okay to link a thread, so here's a sample thread from another game, but if that's not enough, below is a written sample.))
[The video flicks on. Then off. Then on again, to reveal a blonde-haired man. His expression scrunched up in thought as he fiddled with the tablet.]
What is this? A Nevarran relic? A Tevinter artifact? A miniature Eluvian?
[The feed alternates between on and off and on again before the Warden brings up one hand to scratch his chin thoughtfully.]
Are you supposed to do anything except show my reflection? If you are, then you're rather underwhelming for a relic, aren't you? Now, I know my charming regal visage is a wonderful thing to reflect, but good magical relics should carry more suspense and danger, like a horde of undead or demons swooping down after I touch you.
[As if remembering something he chuckles and shakes his head.]
Or maybe it's good that you don't. After all, as a friend of mine once said, swooping is bad.
Third Person Sample:
It was strange, watching Finn and Ariane. In a way, how the two of them bicker reminded Aedan of Morrigan and Alistair when they started their journey to end the Blight. Even if in the latter two's case, it was more vitriolic than what the mage and the Dalish warrior were throwing at each other now.
He missed them. His two oldest friends. That much he could acknowledge to himself.
He lost many people over the years, his companions during the Blight each going their separate way after it ended. But those two were the ones that left him with the most unfinished feeling - he lost Alistair to politics, and he lost Morrigan to the promise he and his father in law made her on the eve of march to Denerim, the witch disappearing once the Archdemon was slain.
In the years following the Blight, he had been searching for Alistair's whereabouts with Bann Teagan Guerrin's help, hoping that there was some way he could make it up to his former Warden brother for how the Landsmeet ended. Perhaps Aedan could not raise him back to the status of nobility and risking Civil War, but idealistically, he hoped that he could at least help Alistair begin again. Morrigan, on the other hand... he had promised her that he would never seek her out again, and usually Aedan Cousland was a man that kept his promise, however, when he heard rumors of her reappearing in the Wilds, he could not help but follow it.
He was glad he did because there at Flemeth's old hut was where he met Ariane hoping to find her to retrieve a relic from her clan, and the Hero of Ferelden had agreed to help the elf, in hope of not only seeing his friend, but also to ideally resolve the problem his friend had with the Dalish clan peacefully. Since, from his personal experience, the Dalish tend to get... more than a little crazy when they're on a path of vengeance.
So here Ferelden's Warden-Commander was, in the familiar setting of a late night camp as he, and his two new companions made their journey to what would hopefully be their destination in the Dragonbone Wastes. He lazily tending to the fire while the other two prepared the ingredients to make whatever would end up being their dinner.
It was a short time that the three of them and his mabari began travelling together, but Aedan could say that he was fond of them, and he honestly hoped that the worst would not come to past if they did indeed find the Witch of the Wilds at the Dragonbone Wastes' Eluvian, because if it came down to a choice between defending Morrigan, or defending the other two, he wouldn't hesitate to choose his old friend. He owed too much to her to choose otherwise.
Name: Mitsu
Personal Journal: minrathous
Time zone: GMT+7 (Bangkok)
Contact:
email: mitsutama [at] gmail [dot] com
aim: enkindlers
Current Characters: N/A
|| Character Information ||
Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins
Name: Grey Warden Cousland (default name: Aedan Cousland)
Canon Point: Post-Witch Hunt
Is this character dead? Nope.
History:
The Warden Hero of Ferelden can come from six different origins, different genders, and three different races and throughout the game, the Warden can make various different choices to influence the world. This Warden in particular comes from the Human Noble origin.
Aedan Cousland is the second son of Teyrn of Highever, Bryce Cousland and his wife Eleanor. The Couslands are a powerful noble family, second only to the crown, however while Bryce and Eleanor does their best to instill the importance of duty and honor to their children, they’re unlike most nobles in Ferelden in that they allow their children freedom in living their lives and choosing whom they want to marry (even if that doesn’t stop Eleanor from sometimes trying to match her son with some respectable lady at parties.) The family has a lifelong friend in one Arl Rendon Howe of Amaranthine. It’s hinted that Aedan and his brother Fergus often spent time playing with Arl Howe’s children, and later on Arl Howe even tries to match the youngest Cousland with his daughter Delilah, much to her and Aedan’s dismay. Somewhere along the line, the Blight began and King Cailan calls the various nobles of the land to arms at Ostagar. Teyrn Cousland, along with Fergus and Arl Howe were to lead their troops south, while the Teyrna was to leave with her friend Lady Landra, leaving Aedan in charge of Castle Cousland with a handful of troops. The day before the Cousland officially troops set out for Ostagar, Arl Howe announced that his troops are delayed, so the game begins with Teyrn Cousland asking Aedan to go tell his brother to set off ahead without him. Aedan was more curious in the Grey Warden named Duncan who supposedly came to scout Ser Roland Gilmore, one of the Knights serving the Couslands, and expressed his interest in possibly trying out the recruitment as well before his father completely shot down the idea and sent him on his way. That night after the Cousland family had a heart-warming goodbye before Fergus takes off for Ostagar, Aedan woke up to find the castle under siege and the attacking party happened to be bearing the coat of arms of Arl Howe’s house. Neither Aedan nor his mother could believe this was happening at first but it seems as if the Arl was intent on wiping out the Couslands, even going as far as to kill Aedan’s young nephew, Oren. Eventually thanks to the help of Ser Gilmore, Aedan and the Teyrna were able to meet up with Bryce before the escape way in the larder. There they meet Duncan again who only promises to help the Teyrn’s wife and son escape if he would let Duncan recruit Aedan to become a Grey Warden. Both Bryce and Aedan accepted, but Eleanor insisted on staying behind with her husband. In the end Aedan escapes Castle Cousland to go to Ostagar with Duncan, the only relics of his life that he has left are the family sword and shield and his faithful mabari hound.
General events of Dragon Age: Origins’ main plot after the Human Noble origin story
General events of Awakening expansion pack’s story
General events of Golems of Amgarrak DLC story
General events of Witch Hunt DLC story
Since the choices the Warden makes can influence the world and differs according to each person, here’s a check list of all the major decisions Aedan made in no specific order:
- Recruited all possible companions, did their quest, gave them all their plot- important items and maxed their approval; Leliana was hardened, Alistair wasn’t.
- Flirted with every NPC ever and even slept with Iona from the origin story, and later Isabela, but otherwise never romanced any of the companions.
- Saved the Mages in Broken Circle.
- Convinced Zathrian to lift the curse in Nature of the Beast.
- Saved Redcliffe village without casualties.
- Isolde and Connor were saved with the help of the Circle and Jowan.
- Sided with Branka to save her, but later convinced her to destroy the Anvil during Paragon of Her Kind.
- Sided with both Bhelen and Harrowmont initially but in the end, chose to crown Bhelen as King of Orzammar.
- Refused the the Cultists’ offer, slayed the High Dragon, completed the Guardian’s trial, allowed Brother Genitivi to spread the findings and cured Arl Eamon with the Ashes during Urn of the Sacred Ashes quest line.
- Killed possessed!Sophia Dryden in Warden’s Keep and allowed Avernus to continue his research, albeit more ethically.
- When recruiting Shale, completed the puzzle and killed the demon, reuniting the girl with her father.
- Found all of the letters and Cailan’s armor during Return to Ostagar, later gave Cailan a Funeral Pyre.
- Peacefully surrendered to Ser Cauthrien after rescuing Anora and was broken out of Fort Drakon by Leliana and Morrigan.
- Proposed to Anora and agreed to support her in the Landsmeet since Alistair didn’t want to be king.
- Killed the Slaver and rescued the elves at the Alienage.
- Defeated Loghain at the Landsmeet, and recruit him. Alistair flounces the Wardens.
- Declared to rule by Anora’s side, Anora immediately orders for Alistair’s execution but Aedan persuaded her to spare him. Alistair becomes a wandering drunkard in Kirkwall.
- Persuaded Loghain do the ritual with Morrigan, since he wanted to prove to his father in law that he won’t cheat like Cailan and start the marriage off with a lie. It was super awkward.
- Asked to continue serving the crown during the post-coronation event. Fergus is revealed to be alive and congratulates Aedan on his impending marriage to the queen.
- Became the temporary Warden-Commander of Amaranthine at the request of the First Warden.
- Concsripted Anders to save him from the Templars at the start of Awakening. Later helped him get rid of those Templars when they refused to leave him alone. Gave him Ser-Pounce-A-Lot.
- Recruited his old pal Oghren and persuaded him to remain in his child’s life, agreeing to help him with the letters if he wants.
- Freed Nathaniel from his cell, but lets him join the Grey Warden when he later comes back and asks to be recruited. Helped him reunite with Delilah. Gave him his grandfather’s bow.
- Recruited Velanna, defended her against her old clan. Gave her a blank journal to record her tales.
- Recruited Sigrun, helped her with her old friend by paying her so that Sigrun can keep the ring. Gave her a spyglass like the one her friend from the legion talked about.
- Sided with Justice during the Blackmarshes quest, later recruits him and helps him meet up with Kristoff’s wife, gave him the Lyrium Ring.
- Did all the side quests and fully upgraded the Keep. Crafted the Vigilance sword.
- Saved Amaranthine.
- Vigil’s Keep survived the Siege.
- Spared the Architect.
- All companions are alive at the end of the game.
-Gathered all the research and defeated the Harvester in Golem of Amgarrak.
- Some time after the end of Awakening, it’s implied that he passes the title of Warden-Commander on to someone else and returns to court life in Denerim.
- Approximately two years after the Blight (Bioware is a hooker with these timelines), he finds Morrigan again and peacefully parted ways with her after she gave him a warning about Flemeth and the changes that are soon to happen in the world at the end of Witch Hunt.
He’s mentioned a few times in the course of Dragon Age 2, indicating that he’s still married to Anora and sometimes, 10 years after the Blight, he has mysteriously disappeared along with Hawke but otherwise he isn’t shown so to make things easy, he’ll be taken from the end of Witch Hunt and since that’s set somewhere in the three years in between Act 1 and Act 2, Aedan has no idea what happens in the world in Act 2 and Act 3 circa DA2. Except maybe that one of Hawke's siblings was recruited into the Grey Wardens, and that while he was away doing the Golem of Amgarrak quest, something bad happened in his absence that made Anders flounce the Wardens.
Personality:
When you first hear that Aedan has been called a pompous prat, you’ll probably believe it. After all, he certainly doesn’t lack the self-confidence, and doesn’t seem humble at all and the way he jokes around all the time might give the impression that he’s a shameless idiot who doesn’t take anything seriously, especially since he likes to tease and flirt and often ends up jumping into trouble because he can’t seem to resist helping a beautiful woman in distress; whether it be a village girl looking for her brother in a town plagued by the undead, a widowed queen requesting to be rescued or those times when the damsel in distress isn’t quite a damsel at all but a demon looking for a victim in the Fade. Thankfully, he does all that with a charm so even the grouchiest women might allow herself a small smile and even though flirting may seem to be in his nature, he’ll always try to be chivalrous, and respect the wishes of any lady he meet. His father taught him well, after all, and his mother would tut at him from her grave if he didn't remember to be courteous.
However one can’t be the famed Hero of Ferelden that recruited various allies and ended the Blight if one was truly an idiot cruising on just luck alone. Aedan can be sharp and observant in addition to possessing a strong natural charisma, it’s just that he prefers to act quirky and over the top to make people underestimate him or judge him as a fool, especially since most people tend to let their guard down around people they don’t find threatening. He shoulders a lot of responsibility but rather than make a fuss, he’s the type who prefers to hide his thoughts and throw humor to deflect any questions concerning his opinion unless the person asking happened to be one of the people who had his trust. Of course, all his pomp isn’t entirely an act; for one thing his chivalrous need for heroism and his soft spot for women is very much real and sometimes blindsides his more rational thoughts. Not to mention that Aedan really does have a whimsical sense of humor and enjoy his trolling, as well as indulging in all the finer things in life, after all, what’s the fun in living if you don’t try to enjoy the excitement and experience the thing life has to offer? He also happens to be a bit of a hopeless romantic, wishing that he would one day find a love like his parents, so despite flirting his way throughout Ferelden, when he eventually became infatuated with the queen and her strong personality, he hoped to treat her better than her late husband so that one day she would return his feelings.
When the situation calls for it, he is capable of seriousing it up . He may have a love for the heroics but he’s well-grounded in his idealism. Cousland do what must be done and Grey Wardens will do whatever it takes to defeat the Blight and despite their shared optimism and, to an extent, their admiration for the Wardens, unlike Alistair, Aedan views the word in shades of gray and doesn’t believe that their order is without its dark spots. Although he tries to gravitate towards doing morally “white” choices, Aedan isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and settle with the morally gray if he had to if it meant he was working towards the greater good. He prefers to listen, study and analyze the situation even when it doesn’t look like he is and tries his best to form a solution that will be bring about the most agreeable outcome, especially when it concerns difficult decisions such as the crowning of the Dwarven King of Orzammar where he craftily played both sides until he finally makes the final choice of choosing the Machiavellian Prince Bhelen over the traditional Lord Harrowmont, due to his belief that even if it were for the dwarven prince’s own selfish reasons, at least Bhelen was attempting to do a much needed reform to the dwarven society and gave opportunity to the unfortunate Casteless. Aedan sincerely believes that everyone deserves a second chance, and is always willing to offer the chance for redemption to anyone who needs it or request it from him, even if sometimes this might come back to bite him; he persuades Branka to destroy the Anvil and commit honorable suicide even after he rescues her from Caridin because the Anvil of the Void was a twisted invention.
Although he could hardly feel like bothering with all the formalities and cutthroat politics, if there was one thing that Aedan took to heart, and practiced from all his parents’ teaching about being a noble, it was idea of Noblesse Oblige. Aedan does his best to serve the people and help those in need, as evidenced in how he’s willing to do nearly every little side quest aiding every other villager in need during the Blight, and even after the Blight when he’s sent to be the Warden-Commander of Amaranthine, he favors the common folk and the farmers rather than the self-important nobles. However his sympathy towards the less fortunate only goes within reasons, so even though he feels for the plight of the mages in Ferelden and tries whatever he can to help them and turn a blind eye to rebellious apostates like Anders in Awakening, he still believes that the Circle is necessary to help educate mages from being harmful to themselves and others.
All in all, Aedan is a nice person and a general bro but in his own eccentric way, Aedan trusts people who’re selfish and outright mean more than people who are nice and “honorable”, even if when it comes down to it, both are just trying to use him. Perhaps it’s because being around nobles all his life made him vary of people’s intentions and pragmatic people like Anora and Loghain, in his opinion, are more honest about their intentions than people like Eamon. If he were to be truthful with himself, with the exception of Alistair, Aedan probably initially trusted the more morally dubious members of his party more than the nicer ones. Of course in the end he ended up holding a special affection for all of them as his strange rag-tag family and trusted them all with his life. That said, Aedan is very loyal to his friends and the people he cares about, he’s willing to go out of his way to help them; whether it be their wingman, helping them get closure or looking for a single sword in the whole of Ferelden.
Skills | Powers:
Aedan is Warrior class character, which means he can either swing around a big two-handed weapon, duel wield or go for the classic sword and shield. Characters in Dragon Age: Origins also have specialized skills learned throughout the course of the game, in particular, Aedan has Templar, Champion, Spirit Warrior and Guardian.
Aside from that, as a Grey Warden, he can sense Darkspawn and has better stamina than ordinary people, although this in turn shortens his lifespan up to, at most, around 30 more years.
First Person Sample: ((I've read the comments of the faqs and noticed that it was okay to link a thread, so here's a sample thread from another game, but if that's not enough, below is a written sample.))
[The video flicks on. Then off. Then on again, to reveal a blonde-haired man. His expression scrunched up in thought as he fiddled with the tablet.]
What is this? A Nevarran relic? A Tevinter artifact? A miniature Eluvian?
[The feed alternates between on and off and on again before the Warden brings up one hand to scratch his chin thoughtfully.]
Are you supposed to do anything except show my reflection? If you are, then you're rather underwhelming for a relic, aren't you? Now, I know my charming regal visage is a wonderful thing to reflect, but good magical relics should carry more suspense and danger, like a horde of undead or demons swooping down after I touch you.
[As if remembering something he chuckles and shakes his head.]
Or maybe it's good that you don't. After all, as a friend of mine once said, swooping is bad.
Third Person Sample:
It was strange, watching Finn and Ariane. In a way, how the two of them bicker reminded Aedan of Morrigan and Alistair when they started their journey to end the Blight. Even if in the latter two's case, it was more vitriolic than what the mage and the Dalish warrior were throwing at each other now.
He missed them. His two oldest friends. That much he could acknowledge to himself.
He lost many people over the years, his companions during the Blight each going their separate way after it ended. But those two were the ones that left him with the most unfinished feeling - he lost Alistair to politics, and he lost Morrigan to the promise he and his father in law made her on the eve of march to Denerim, the witch disappearing once the Archdemon was slain.
In the years following the Blight, he had been searching for Alistair's whereabouts with Bann Teagan Guerrin's help, hoping that there was some way he could make it up to his former Warden brother for how the Landsmeet ended. Perhaps Aedan could not raise him back to the status of nobility and risking Civil War, but idealistically, he hoped that he could at least help Alistair begin again. Morrigan, on the other hand... he had promised her that he would never seek her out again, and usually Aedan Cousland was a man that kept his promise, however, when he heard rumors of her reappearing in the Wilds, he could not help but follow it.
He was glad he did because there at Flemeth's old hut was where he met Ariane hoping to find her to retrieve a relic from her clan, and the Hero of Ferelden had agreed to help the elf, in hope of not only seeing his friend, but also to ideally resolve the problem his friend had with the Dalish clan peacefully. Since, from his personal experience, the Dalish tend to get... more than a little crazy when they're on a path of vengeance.
So here Ferelden's Warden-Commander was, in the familiar setting of a late night camp as he, and his two new companions made their journey to what would hopefully be their destination in the Dragonbone Wastes. He lazily tending to the fire while the other two prepared the ingredients to make whatever would end up being their dinner.
It was a short time that the three of them and his mabari began travelling together, but Aedan could say that he was fond of them, and he honestly hoped that the worst would not come to past if they did indeed find the Witch of the Wilds at the Dragonbone Wastes' Eluvian, because if it came down to a choice between defending Morrigan, or defending the other two, he wouldn't hesitate to choose his old friend. He owed too much to her to choose otherwise.