ranawaytothegrey

PLAYER

Name: Tang
Age: 23
Contact: tangelo#5169 on discord and PMs to this account
Other Characters: n/a
Interests: Action scenes and mystery, political type stuff, explorations into the nature of the world

CHARACTER

Name: Mana Prialt
Canon/OC: Dragon Age
Journal: ranawaytothegrey
Race: Human
Nationality: Starkhaven
Occupation: Mercenary/Grey Warden
Division: Forces
Mage or Not: No
Age: 19

History

Mana is the youngest of two daughters of a house of nobility from Starkhaven, the Prialts. The Prialt household only recently became nobility after Mana's grandfather was granted a small title in exchange for saving the life of the prince's consort. Mana's mother, the current head of the house, however, is an aspiring social climber and uses her daughters towards that end.

Mana's older sister, Mari, was judged to be about better than her in every way, from combat, to diplomacy, to education. Where Mana was excitable and scruffy, her sister was dignified and severe. Mari was the standard to which Mana was held up to. For quite some time Mana did her best to match up to every expectation; up until Mari took ill and passed away when Mana was 11. The weight of the heir's mantle fell onto Mana's shoulders and she found that it wasn't quite to her liking.

After a series of increasingly escalating fights between Mana and her mother, she eventually took a knife and scarred her own face with it, to prevent her from being fit for "proper company". Mana's mother locked her in their home after that, up until she climbed out of a window and ran to join a small party of Wardens who took her to Orlais for the Joining when she was 17.

In the Wardens, Mana had some trouble fitting in, and was rather prone to getting into fights with the other recruits. Still she proved to be an able combatant and fiercely loyal- when someone earned it. She adjusted well in the structure of the grey wardens but it wasn't very long until the false calling began.

Mana did not take to the false calling very well. She was pretty panicked at the idea that she'd soon die and desperately did not want to, and responded to the call to Adamant fortress, looking for some solution to this problem. However, when the answer turned out to be "turn to blood magic and kill the archdemons before they awaken" she refused to go along with it, denouncing the plan as heretic lunacy, never having been completely comfortable with even mages in the Wardens.

The splintering of the Wardens after that was pretty devastating for Mana, as the organization had really become a home. The coup de tat in the Anderfels was deeply unsettling for her- part of the appeal of being a warden was being away from nobility, and her noble roots still see that as a sort of blasphemy.

After that, Mana distanced herself from the organization, with a couple regrets for the choices she made when she was seventeen. She turned to working as a mercenary for a living, far from the standard she grew up with, and the order she had come to appreciate the Grey Wardens for, before coming to work with the Inquisition.

Personality

Mana's standard emotional baseline can probably be described as acerbic. She angers easily and challenges people whenever she feels slighted. She's not here to make friends- she's here to get the job done. Her relationship with her sister was very competitive, a competition that Mana often came out of a little worse for wear. She's insecure about herself and her capabilities and will default to an iciness and arrogance to defend herself when feeling threatened.

It's a response that's improved with her time with the Wardens- you can't work as a team if you keep getting into fights- but she's still rather unwilling to get attached to people and if you ask her- she'd prefer to spend her time alone. Despite her training in politics, Mana's a blunt person who will tell you what she thinks of you- and generally it's not a high opinion. She hates liars and being lied to, and fancy talk-arounds because then she feels like she's getting tricked. Unfortunately, Mana's first instinct is usually to believe what's told to her, so she compensates with unnecessary amounts of suspicion.

Despite the fact she doesn't have all that much self awareness, she's pretty firm on being exactly who she is and not changing that for anyone, even if that person is a prickly motherfucker. For example, Mana's a pretty lonely person! She craves affection and validation, but essentially refuses to admit it. She's aware she's on the prickly side when it comes to people, but doesn't quite have the self awareness to realize that that's something she can change, nor that it's something that's not exactly healthy for her to be.

Mana does have a soft side though, particularly with people who pose no threat to her perceived status, so children and animals and people who need her assistance in some way. While she thinks of herself as cold, she really has a decent amount of empathy for those around her in need. She'll help people out because it's an ego booster, but it's also partially out of a sense of genuine altruism as well. With a little practice, Mana could eventually be a good person.

Opinions & Affiliations

Despite Mana's rather violent severance with her family ties, she still carries quite a few of their prejudices.

Chantry: Mana grew up in Starkhaven which has a heavy emphasis on the Chantry. She grew up a believer but has distanced herself somewhat from the institution itself after she joined the Wardens and started meeting people who have some serious problems with the Chantry. However, she believes in the Maker and Andraste and the Chant.
Qun: Barbaric invaders who don't deserve the time of day. When Thedas comes into contact with Qunari, it's bound to end in a fight.
Mages: Mana's very wary of mages and considers them bombs waiting to explode, or tools to be used at best. Her beliefs have been challenged since she joined the wardens so she's not as outspoken on them as she used to, but she still holds that distrust close to her chest.
Elves: Elf prejudice is unfortunate but it's how the world works.
Grey Wardens: Mana grew up on stories of their heroism and entered their ranks starry-eyed. She is now significantly less starry eyed and harbors some resentment for the organization. After the false calling and Clarel's plot, she's more than a little afraid that the Grey Wardens are just monsters in disguise.
Inquisition: The inquisition

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths-

- She was trained in combat as a noble's daughter and also as a Grey Warden. She's a dual wielding rogue and fast with her blades.
- Doesn't really give up
-She's a hard worker and hates feeling useless. She'll search out stuff to help with if she's idle for too long.
- She's quick to think on her feet
- She's very loyal, once you get her to the point of being loyal to someone

Weaknesses:

- She doesn't have the best hold on her temper. She's brash and impatient.
- Despite her suspicions, she'd probably be really easy to manipulate, provided you hit the right buttons.
- That stubbornness can work against her. Sometimes she gets single-minded.
- She's not socially graceful and ulterior motives would fly over her head.
- Relies on not taking a hit to make it through battle
- Can be pretty ruthless
- Secretive. She doesn't like to talk about herself

Inventory

She doesn't have a lot! She left behind most of her material possessions when she ran away from home.

Things of note that she does have include:

- Two shortswords, kept in good order and of standard Grey Warden issue
- Warden armor
- A couple letters from sister
- A fistful of her mother's jewelry, stolen in a bitter impulse

Motivation

If anyone can cure the Calling, it's the Inquisition, with their resources and powers, and pursuit of darkspawn like Corphyeus. Of course, it's a difficult to get cured of the taint if no one knows you've got it, but she needs to know that the Inquisition is something she can trust before she jumps in.

SAMPLES

"C'mon," she mutters. "It's fine, you little turd." She had her leather gauntlets on, along with the rest of her armor. If the cat decided to scratch her, she'd be fine.

Kirkwall was only a week's march from Starkhaven, which, if anyone cared to ask Mana her opinion, was much too close to a home she had no intention of returning to.