faderifto.

[poleaxe]

NATIVE APPLICATION

PLAYER

Name: pel
Age: 20+
Contact: wehwalt
Other Characters: nah.
Interests: well for starters I absolutely love the history of the medieval poor so playing Ioane will definitely suit my needs there. More specifically, I want to play a character who generally gets overlooked in most fantasy and historical narratives-- the maids and the help and the peasants and the working poor-- and tell their story. Which is a really noble and self-important way of saying I'll be happy with literally anything.

On a less pretentious note, I want to see Ioane flourish or fail in an environment that isn't the backwater slums she was born in.

CHARACTER

Name: Ioane of Denerim

(ioane is based on an oc named 'joan'; the 'j' was replaced with an 'i' like in many medieval names, 'ioan' is already a welsh male name, so an 'e' was added. how is it pronounced? however you want it to be, idc. the 'of denerim' is added because not all peasants have surnames so a toponym will do, etc.)

Canon/OC: OC
Journal: poleaxe
Race: Human
Nationality: Fereldan
Occupation: M...aid.
Mage or Non-Mage: Non-mage
Age: 19ish.

History

Ioane is the fourth of four children born to a family of Denerim's working peasant class. Her memories of early life are foggy, and the Blight happened when she was very young. She doesn't remember much of it, only being scared and hiding.

Her father Tomas was a tanner, which is disgusting work to do in any premodern situation, and you don't exactly get well paid for your efforts. The family had to live on the outskirts of Denerim because of the smell and the general desire of most people not to have to be around tanners. To top it off, her family had a poor reputation, her father was aggressive and her brothers were generally pugnacious, and she had few friends as a result. Her father was frequently physically abusive and her oldest brother would occasionally pile on as well. No one wants to hang around tanners, and no one will make exceptions to that rule when you're from a family of aggressive, rude, and generally quarrelsome assholes. With time, you just become one of those assholes yourself.

Things got worse when the only family member Ioane was actually close with, her twin brother Bede, was taken away by Templars for being, well, a mage. They promised each other they'd meet again one day, and off he went.

Things continued on poorly in Ioane's drudgery-filled existence until the Mage / Templar war broke out. She received word from her brother that he'd be at an upcoming summit, and she should meet him there. Ioane had to set out for a place called Haven in the Frostbacks. Many pilgrims were setting out in that direction, and Ioane went with the crowd, stopping at chantries for food and shelter along the way.

Eventually, word reached her that something horrible had happened at the Conclave, and Ioane feared for the worst. She still had a ways to go before she hit Haven, though, so she kept travelling. Eventually, she caught up with some Templars who were leaving the Conclave, and they confirmed her fears, that Bede had been at the explosion and almost certainly died. Ioane had to come to terms with the fact that she'd never know for sure.

At a crossroads, Ioane decided to keep traveling toward the Inquisition's growing base, though her pace slowed significantly, having no reason to hurry anymore. The only thing she could do was keep going forward.

Finally, she reached Skyhold, and took up residence in one of the refugee camps. There, hearing stories of the Inquisition's good, she decided to aid them if she could; the Inquisition's success could mean her brother didn't die entirely in vain. Of course, Ioane's skillset is limited; she ends up being drafted into the handful of servants being sent to assist the Inquisition in Kirkwall, because she says she's very familiar with city life and seems extremely thrilled at the proposition of making people's beds, which is rare enough to stand out.

Personality

Ioane is someone looking for hope. After the death of her brother and seeing so of Thedas ripped apart by war in the wake of the Mage / Templar conflict and the whole rift thing, she wants to believe something good can come out of this. She is trying to remake herself, because she can't remake the world.

Ioane knows her strengths, and that is strength. Physically strong, and unafraid of conflict (to the point that she often rushes into conflict more quickly than she needs to), she'll always try to use the playing field to her advantage. She attacks first when she feels threatened, and reacts to fear with anger. She's committed to never letting anyone see her as weak or vulnerable. She's alright with failing, getting hurt, that's fine, but quitting, admitting defeat, that's another thing entirely.

When she's not in a state of stress or anger, she tends to come across as grimly serious, surly or stoic. Her sense of humor is flat and cutting, blunt. Blunt can describe a lot of Ioane. Subtlety and finesse aren't traits she's interested in cultivating. Because she's a pragmatist, she'll deploy them if she feels they're absolutely necessary, but they'll never be her first or second or third or fourth choice.

That lack of subtlety makes her a poor hand at moderation. Anything she does, she tends to rush in with excess. She wants the battle-- and she views nearly everything as a battle-- to be won as quickly as possible from the first strike. She can take advice, and if someone else makes a plan that meets her approval, she'll follow it. But her plans will always be rough and brutish.

Thus, her personal safety relies on gathering power, and her sense of honor relies on wielding that power well, which means being loyal to anyone who is willing to follow her directives. Her friendships tend to be uneven-- she'll either jockey for position, trying to get the upper hand, or she'll allow herself to be the loyal and faithful lieutenant. She likes people who won't argue with her, because she doesn't trust most people to live up to her expectations, and she likes an easy victory.

She has, in short, made her abusive childhood into a moral code. It's her way of coping.

For all that she wants safety and success and security, she has an irrational fondness for underdogs. Ioane frequently feels freakish-- she knows she doesn't fit into the traditional feminine mold, knows she isn't a 'normal kid', knows her poverty made her an outcast-- and it makes her appreciate other misfits. Because she views herself as a formidable force-- or at least, she aims to be one-- she doesn't tend to disregard people who the odds are against.

Opinions & Affiliations

Ioane probably has more fondness for mages than is entirely common of the Fereldan poor. It's almost entirely due to her fond memories of her mage brother. That said, she isn't exactly anti-Templar. They have a job to do, and they have to get it done.

She appreciates the importance of places like the Circle, if only because when the Circle took her brother, they clothed and educated and fed him, and she appreciates that. Yes, she knows some Circles hurt mages, and she thinks the mages were probably right to break away if they felt like they really need to (she's pretty sure they'd know better than her) (look, her brother was a part of it, and she trusts his reasoning, though he never explained it to her). Still, she doesn't think the answer is abolishing all Circles, and she assumes her dead brother would agree with her.

In the end, Ioane is a moderate where the Circle is concerned. The rebellion was necessary, probably, but the Circle is necessary too, because it keeps Mages fed and clothed and safe. This means Ioane is kind of unsure about mages who haven't been to the Circle, and isn't entirely sure they're safe to be around.

Ioane has worked closely with elves, being, you know, a poor person. She never mingled with them on a deep social level, though, she's never had a close elven friend. She appreciates them as people but doesn't really understand their culture. She doesn't know anything about the Dalish, and assumes they're basically aliens. The same goes for the dwarves, but she's seen even fewer of those, and then only really at the market peddling wares she couldn't afford. (You could say they were fine Dwarven crafts.)

Speaking of aliens, she doesn't know shit about Qunari and finds herself mostly awestruck and curious. She's never met one, never seen one, and only knows that they're subhuman heretics with scary horns and scarier ideas.

Ioane is Andrastian, though not really more than the average Fereldan. She appreciates the Chant and believes it's beautiful and true, and doesn't really question it much. The Inquisitor was definitely the Herald of Andraste, though, she definitely believes that. In general, her thoughts on the Inquisition are largely positive, and she has great hope, awe, and respect for the organization.

Being Fereldan, Ioane has a very high opinion of the royal family and is highly loyal to them. This counts double for the Mac Tirs, who she is a huge fan of. Their humble beginnings, coupled with their loyal service to Ferelden, make her very, very fond of them and feel close to them. She's heard that Loghain did bad shit, but she personally believes it was probably a frame up or some kind of miscommunication; he'd never do anything to hurt the country or the royal family on purpose. Unsurprisingly, she is pretty foggy on the details of what, exactly, took place.

Anora marrying a Grey Warden and Loghain becoming one has made Ioane feel pretty positive about the organization as a whole (them saving Ferelden didn't hurt) but she is, again, pretty foggy on details. She knows they're special and they fight Darkspawn and saved Ferelden and are very noble and strong. Beyond that she doesn't think much of them.

(This also means Ioane thinks well of the Couslands, a noble family who she knows almost nothing about but recognizes their name in conjunction with the Mac Tirs and the Theirins, so obviously they're great people.)

Thinking is not something anyone has ever really expected her to do, and a lot of Ioane's political opinions are half-formed and underdeveloped.

Adaptation n/a.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Physical:

+ Ioane has the potential to be pretty strong physically, though she isn't exactly a practiced fighter. Genetically though her family is predisposed to muscle and physical skill. They're... large. Ioane is physically confident and is used to fighting people bigger than her.

- Lol malnourished. Every physical skill should be tempered with 'potentially' and 'untrained' and 'will be better once she gets more food in her stomach'. Ioane isn't huge. Once she starts eating good food regularly she'll be able to fill out, but she's always going to be a bit rangy and lanky due to growing up poor in a medieval setting.

And also, you know, she's untrained and only knows basic pit-fighting and medieval boxing, which is to say: dirty fighting against people who 1) have no magic, and 2) have no armor, 3) have no weapons (or only have, like, daggers), and 4) have very little formal training.

Mental:

+ From doing a lot of fighting against physically superior opponents, Ioane isn't a bad tactician. She can scope out the pros and cons of a fight pretty quickly, and can spot ways to use the setting to her advantage with little difficulty. She's a scrappy fighter, but she can play the long and the short game. She'll do anything to win.

- Uneducated, illiterate, no mathematic skills, speaks with a lower Ferelden accent and doesn't have a hope in hell of passing as anything else.

Emotional:

+ Ioane wants to be a provider. While she's not stoic, she can hold her emotions in check (unless it's anger) long enough to get things done. She wants to care for others and help them, because she's never been someone of consequence to another person enough for that to be a possibility.

Basically, Ioane has a lot of potential to be a nurturing presence, someone who has your back and will help you out if you need it. She's also not a bad liar, and is pretty good at figuring out when other people are lying as a consequence. She's good at thinking of ploys on her feet, and remembers to stick to the script and remember all her lies.

- Ioane is a good liar and whatever but lord she is not cool-headed, especially when she's backed into a corner. Or just if someone tries something. Or they appear to try something. Abuse and poverty have taught her that the best defense is a good offense, so if there's an appearance of conflict, she will often aggravate it to the boiling point so she can win the fight and get it over with. Being a servant for the Inquisition does mean she'll try to tone this down a little, but only with people she considers her superiors.

Also, you know, all the things in the pro column for emotions are all potential things. She has no actual skill with nurturing, leading, helping or being in any real positive emotional relationship with any actual depth for any length of time. Whoops!

Inventory

The clothes on her back and a lot of idealism wrt the Inquisiton.

Motivation

Ioane's twin brother died in the Conclave, and Ioane thus views the Inquisition as the successor of the Conclave and what her brother died for. Which is not, you know, actually true, but it's more of an emotional truth, you know? Whatever. Anyway, Ioane wants the Inquisition to succeed so her brother's death wasn't in vain, which means she wants to help, because it's not like she's got anything worth going back to in Denerim.

SAMPLES

eyyy. (lmk if you need anything else and i'll be happy to provide it!)