Elise Trevelyan is a human warrior, former Templar, and member of the Trevelyan family who, through a series of events, would become the Herald of Andraste and the leader of the Inquisition.
Appearance and Personality[]
Elise is a tall, rather imposing woman with short, bright red hair and green eyes. She typically wears heavy armor when out fighting and more formal clothing around Skyhold.
In conversation, Elise is very direct and doesn't mince words: she says what she means. She is quite confident and isn't afraid to speak her mind.
Still, she's idealistic and wants to make the world a better place, which she does by embracing her title of "Herald of Andraste". She believes in the Maker and follows the Chantry's faith.
Under the tough warrior, however, is a kinder, softer, even somewhat humorous side that comes out around her friends and loved ones. She can be a bit unsure of herself and sometimes puts her foot in her mouth in romantic situations, owing to spending most of her life in the Templars.
Despite her membership in the Templars, Elise is surprisingly neutral in the mage-Templar conflict. While she believes that the Circle has its place and that magic is dangerous and needs oversight, she also believes that the Templars have too much power, and that through abusing that power to mistreat the mages, they've brought their situation on themselves. Elise later adopted a more pro-freedom viewpoint after working with the Inquisition's mages, and supported Leliana's decision to disband the Circle of Magi.
History[]
Early life[]
Elise was born in 9:12 Dragon to Bann Jon Trevelyan and his wife Lady Mara. She is the fourth born of her seven siblings, although she is only older than her twin brother Rodrik by a few minutes. She has three older sisters: Asha, Jeanne, and Beatrice, and two younger sisters, Priscilla and Charlotte.
Elise and Rodrik were always rather close in childhood, as well as Priscilla and Charlotte when they came along. But while Rodrik was rather shy and soft-spoken, Elise was brash, outgoing, confident, and a little headstrong. She was also quite the troublemaker and enjoyed playing pranks and enacting practical jokes around the family's estate.
That all changed when Rodrik's magic manifested when they were ten. While Jon wanted to hide his magic so he could be the heir, Mara refused to break the laws of the Chantry and turned him in, claiming that her husband's desire for a male heir cursed their family with a mage child. Elise, who still loved her brother and wanted to keep contact with him, had several arguments with them about the subject. Her mother encouraged her to become a Templar so she could protect mages like her brother, and Elise agreed, heading to a monastery to train when she was eleven.
Templar Order[]
Elise spent eight years at a monastery training to become a Templar. She was quite popular during that time, and she excelled during the training. While she took the rules seriously, her fun-loving nature didn't exactly go away, and one of her pranks nearly got her expelled from the Order. She calmed down a little after that.
Once Elise had finished her training, she was stationed at the Gallows in Kirkwall. While there, Elise very quickly realized two things: the "noble purpose" of the Order was essentially to be glorified prison guards, and that the knights that were supposed to protect people and combat dangerous magic weren't always the most noble of folk. Ser Alrik was the worst of them (even getting into a swordfight with Elise at one point) but he certainly wasn't the only one. She got into frequent arguments with Knight-Commander Meredith and was nearly expelled from the Order after she helped a mage who was going to be legally made Tranquil escape. However, Lady Mara pulled some strings in the Chantry to get Elise transferred instead of expelled, citing her frequent disagreements with Meredith as a clash of personality that was taken too far. Thus Elise found herself in the calm, but backwater Circle at Ansberg.
Ansberg’s Circle couldn’t be more different from the Gallows - in large part because Knight-Commander Imogen couldn’t have been more different than Meredith. Imogen was a firm believer in having mages and Templars cooperate and work together, and she was very liberal in her treatment of the Harrowed mages as long as they weren’t doing anything illegal, allowing them to leave the tower daily to help the local farmers or scare away threats. Apprentices had limits on their freedom, but that was more for safety than anything else. Her way of running things was controversial, but hey, the people of Ansberg liked their delicious, magically enhanced crops enough to protest the Chantry trying to replace Imogen with someone stricter. That being said, Harrowings were still practiced, the Rite of Tranquility was used (albeit as a voluntary procedure and *never* as a punishment), and the practice of taking mages’ children away was still carried out, although Imogen and Nikolas tried to get them adopted rather than simply shunted into orphanages.
Elise quite liked being a Templar at Ansberg; she was doing what she wanted to be doing and protecting mages, and she also picked up a lot of her culinary skills there. That being said, the things she’d witnessed in the Gallows had scarred her and while she knew it was better at Ansberg, she still feared what would happen to the Circle when Imogen retired (she was getting pretty old at that point). Adding to her worries was her distrust of First Enchanter Nikolas, who took over when the previous First Enchanter died of a sudden illness. There were whispers that he was poisoned, but no one could prove anything, and Nikolas won the other mages over with promises that he’d increase the Circle’s wealth and standing. Imogen didn’t like him much, but she’d promised to make the new First Enchanter entirely up to the mages and she didn’t want to go back on her word, so the man was appointed. Almost immediately, he showed his true colors as a slimeball. He formed his own farm on the Circle’s grounds and put the apprentices to work on it in their off time (punishing or harassing those who refused to work) and he raised the enchanting quotas to an extent that the Tranquil couldn’t keep up. While he brought in some Tranquil from other Circles, he also took steps to increase the use of the Rite at Ansberg itself, singling out apprentices who showed a knack for enchanting and rune craft and forcing them through the Rite. He didn’t do it often enough to attract notice, but it still happened. His big mistake was forcing the Rite on Colin, who was Charlie Amell’s lover. Charlie did some digging, found out about Nikolas’s actions, and killed him while they were on a mercenary job together. The First Enchanter who succeeded him, Flora, was a Loyalist who didn’t really do much, nor did she want to. The most she did was reverse Nikolas’s forced labor policies on the apprentices.
Then the Chantry boom happened, and Imogen was forced to crack down on her previously lax policies on leaving the tower for the mages’ safety after the Circle was nearly stormed by an angry mob. The incident forced Imogen to confine the mages to the tower and its grounds; they could no longer leave the Circle freely like they used to. Charlie Amell and a few of her friends escaped a few months after the crackdowns, but only two of them were successfully apprehended afterwards.
Ansberg went on quietly for the next few years until the mages voted to break from the Chantry and the Templars went rogue in retaliation. Imogen, at this point, allowed anyone who wanted to leave to leave, but promised protection for those who stayed. That lasted for a bit - until Imogen (who was essentially holding the Ansberg Circle together single-handedly) was assassinated by her own Knight-Captain. Her death sent shockwaves through the Circle and caused its rebellion and fall. The remaining mages and Templars went their separate ways, and Elise, in the aftermath, left the Order and moved to Orlais to live with her older sister Jeanne and her husband, a chevalier.
Elise had enough time to recover from lyrium withdrawal before she got a letter from her sister Beatrice, now a Revered Mother, asking her to go to the Conclave and explain what had happened at Ansberg. Hoping for peace, Elise agreed.
The Explosion of the Conclave[]
During the Conclave, Elise got caught up talking to some of the mages and Templars who used to be part of the Ansberg Circle. One of them told her that despite the Conclave being ready to meet, the Divine was nowhere to be found, but claimed that she had been seen with a few Grey Wardens. Elise, curious, decided to look for her, and she found her...being prepared as a human sacrifice for Corypheus. A short altercation ensued, and the next clear memory Elise had was being chained up in a dungeon and interrogated by Cassandra.
Forming the Inquisition[]
After being declared innocent by the new Inquisition, Elise decided to go about trying to gain an alliance with the Templars, hoping that some of her old friends in the order would be willing to help her. Lord Seeker Lucius didn't take her up on her offer, and shortly after, she was approached by Grand Enchanter Fiona about an alliance with the rebel mages instead. Elise was reluctant to work with the rebels until she reunited in the Hinterlands with her long-lost twin brother Rodrik Trevelyan, who had been allied with the rebel mages himself and encouraged his sister to give them a chance to prove themselves. Elise took his advice, but quickly found that the mages were no more receptive than the Templars, who had been taken from Fiona's leadership by the Tevinter magister Gerion Alexius. Elise was about ready to give up on getting either faction to help them when she met Dorian Pavus, a Tevinter mage who introduced her to time magic and filled her in on the situation.
Later on, Elise infiltrated Redcliffe Castle with the help of Leliana's spies, but things quickly went downhill when Alexius sucked she and Dorian into a bad future where "the Elder One" had taken over Thedas and pretty much destroyed it. With the help of both Dorian and a horrifically tortured Leliana, Elise managed to defeat Alexius and make it back to the present.
After everything was said and done, Elise was furious at Fiona for getting Tevinter involved and very nearly destroying the mages. Still, she didn't want to treat them like criminals, knowing that such treatment wouldn't endear her to her allies, so she recruited them, deposed Fiona as their leader, and put Rodrik in charge of the rebel mages. The decision was a highly controversial one, with some questioning why she let the mages go free and others accusing her of trying to prop up her family by putting her brother in charge of the Inquisition's most important allies.
The Fall of Haven and the Appointment of the Inquisitor[]
Soon after the Breach was closed, Corypheus attacked Haven with the help of former Templar Samson, and the Inquisition was just barely able to hold him off long enough for everyone to escape the village. Elise's attempt to buy time brought her face-to-face with Corypheus, who's failed attempt to force the Anchor off of her actually gave her more control of it. While Elise barely survived the encounter and the subsequent trek through the mountains, she made it to the rest of the Inquisition's surviving forces and led them to Skyhold with Solas' help.
Once at Skyhold, Elise was named the Inquisitor, as her survival was seen as divine providence. Elise declared the Inquisition for faith, promising to guide the people of Thedas back to the light.
Wardens and Champions[]
With Varric's help, Elise came face to face with Astrid Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall. Despite their opposing viewpoints, the two women got along quite well, managing to bond over their shared sense of humor and the burden of their unexpected responsibilities. Hawke then helped Elise get in touch with the Grey Warden Loghain, who had been forced into hiding after being branded a traitor to the order. Travelling to a distant fortress in the Western Approach, the group found out that the Orlesian Warden-Commander Clarel was in league with the Tevinter magister Livius Erimond, a servant of Corypheus who was binding the Warden mages to demons to create an army. After a short altercation, Elise found out that the Wardens had retreated to Adamant Fortress, and gathered the forces to attack it.
During the Siege of Adamant, Elise pushed back the demons and managed to get some of the free Wardens on their side. With Blackwall's help, she almost managed to convince Clarel to stop, but they were unsuccessful. What did manage to convince Clarel to stop was the arrival of Corypheus' tainted dragon, which convinced Clarel to turn on Erimond.
Elise, her companions, Hawke, and Loghain pursued Clarel to the top of the fortress, but in the Warden-Commander's efforts to stop the dragon, she destroyed the bridge they were on, forcing Elise to open a portal to the Fade to save their lives.
In the Fade, Elise regained her memories, and discovered that she had been the one to prevent Corypheus from completing a ritual that would have likely destroyed the world. She also discovered that the mark on her hand was a result of that altercation, and that Divine Justinia had sacrificed her life to help Elise escape the Fade. Elise was quite shocked to learn that she wasn't chosen after all, and that gaining the Anchor was just an accident.
The group finally managed to confront the Nightmare with the help of a spirit taking the form of the Divine. During the escape from the Fade, Loghain threw himself at the huge demon, sacrificing his own life to buy everyone else time to escape.
Elise returned from the Fade to find that without the Nightmare, the Warden mages had their own minds back again. She was willing to give the order another chance to prove themselves and let them stay in Orlais and help the Inquisition. Astrid Hawke left to inform the senior Wardens at Weisshaupt what happened and would not be seen again until years later when she and her sister Bethany abruptly appeared in Kirkwall.
After the events at Adamant, Leliana requested that Elise contact Jocelyn Amell, the Hero of Ferelden and Leliana's lover, to see if she was involved in any of this. As it turned out, she hadn't been, as she had fled to the West when she started hearing the false Calling in search of the cure.
Livius Erimond, who had caused all of this, showed no remorse at his judgement at Skyhold, and Elise executed him personally.
Pieces in the "Great Game"[]
With the Grey Wardens freed from the influence of the Elder One and working for the Inquisition, Elise turned her attention to the Orlesian Civil War. With Josephine's help, she managed to secure invitations to a ball at the Winter Palace, where they had heard that an attempt on Empress Celene's life was planned.
Helped by her diplomatic experience in the Free Marches, Elise was surprisingly good at playing the Great Game, and managed to gain the trust of the court. She then used that trust to publicly expose Florianne as a servant of Corypheus and have her arrested. Celene kept her throne and Gapard was executed for treason.
After the ball, the apostate mage and veteran of the Fifth Blight Morrigan joined the Inquisition as an arcane advisor, moving to Skyhold along with her son Kieran.
The assassin Florianne, at her judgment in Skyhold, was sentenced by Elise to serve as the Inquisition's court jester, which Elise saw as a far worse fate than imprisonment or execution for the once-haughty Orlesian noble.
Showdown in the Arbor Wilds[]
With a secure foothold across Thedas, and Celene's support, the Inquisition was finally powerful enough to face the armies of Corypheus in the Arbor Wilds.
During the battle, Elise and her companions, this time accompanied by Morrigan, retreated into an old elven temple to claim the Well of Sorrows before Corypheus could. They allied with the ancient elves, found Samson, and defeated him.
Elise let Morrigan drink from the Well of Sorrows, mostly because she didn't trust it enough to drink from it herself. After the Well's knowledge had been absorbed, Corypheus caught up with them, and Elise's group barely managed to escape through an Eluvian.
The Final Confrontation[]
With the knowledge that Morrigan had gathered, the Inquisition was finally ready to face Corypheus. He made himself known at the destroyed Temple of Sacred Ashes, where he planned to make one final, desperate attempt to enact his plan. Without time to gather an army, Elise went out with only a few companions to face him alone.
With Morrigan's help, the corrupted dragon was killed, removing Corypheus' mode of escape, and at the top of the temple, Elise defeated the Elder One by opening a Fade rift inside of his body, killing him for good and closing the breach. The mysterious orb he had been using was destroyed.
After the battle, celebrations were had, but Solas, one of the key members of the Inquisition, was not present for them: he had disappeared without a trace after the final battle. Leliana was named as Divine Victoria afterwards.
Two Years Later - The Exalted Council[]
After two years, it was becoming clear that the Inquisition's power was beginning to frighten the nations of Ferelden and Orlais, who both wanted it gone. And while Elise still thought it was necessary to an extent, the stress of leading such a large organization, combined with the Anchor becoming increasingly unstable, was taking a toll on her. To many around her, she always seemed tired and didn't smile or joke as often as she used to.
Shortly before the council began, Elise and Blackwall, who had been in a romantic relationship for the past two years, quietly married in a private ceremony.
During the council proceedings, Leliana brought a Qunari plot to Elise's attention. Investigating the plot, Elise discovered that a Qunari leader, the Viddasala, was planning a mass assassination of Ferelden and Orlesian nobles to set up Thedas for a Qunari invasion. Elise pursued the Viddasala and found out that she had targeted the Inquisition for supposedly working for an agent of Fen'Harel, Solas. Determined to track down and find Solas, Elise pursued the Viddasala through a network of Eluvians despite the Anchor's increasing instability causing her extreme pain.
When Elise caught up with the Viddasala, she had been turned to stone by Solas, who wasn't working for Fen'Harel: he was Fen'Harel. He explained his plan to tear down the Veil, destroying the world in the process, before removing the Anchor from Elise (along with most of her left arm) as a last favor to her. Elise promised that she would stop him, as she hadn't saved the world once only to see it destroyed. Solas seemed to understand this, and disappeared once again.
Returning to the Council, Elise revealed Solas' plans to its leaders, using the threat as a reason to keep the Inquisition around, albeit in a much smaller capacity and as a peacekeeping organization rather than a military one. The Council seemed to agree with this.
After the Council[]
Without her left arm, Elise comes to terms with the fact that her role as the Herald - along with her adventuring days - are pretty much over, although she does get a crossbow-type prosthetic as a replacement with the help of Sera and Dagna. She settles down and opens a bakery, and shortly after, gives birth to her first son with Blackwall, Oliver. With the Inquisition's army drastically decreased and Elise at a desk job rather than an active one, the couple are able to spend more time together.
Elise is content with her lot in life, although she occasionally joins her friend Sera in the mysterious activities of "Red Jenny" in an effort to have fun every once in a while. She keeps in touch with almost all of her old companions, with Varric, Cassandra, Sera, and Dorian being her most frequent correspondents. Still, despite her happiness, she often wonders how long the peace will last, especially with the disappearance of elves across the south, who are presumably going to work with Solas. Elise knows that she will eventually have to save the world again - she just doesn't know when.
Relationships[]
Cassandra[]
The pair are close friends, and share each other's views on faith, the Chantry, and the Circle. Elise trusts Cassandra's input more than anyone else's.
Varric[]
Elise likes Varric; she finds his stories amusing and thinks he's easy to get along with. Varric, in turn, respects Elise and usually approves of what she does with the Inquisition. He also appreciates it when Elise's dry, sarcastic sense of humor comes out.
Blackwall[]
Elise found the Warden surprisingly charming. She thought he was admirable and heroic, and he liked her unfailing optimism and heroism even when everyone else thought she was wrong. They eventually ended up as a couple, and Elise forgave him for his past actions, realizing he was a changed man who really did want to make himself better.
Cole[]
Elise was a little unnerved by Cole, but she was grateful of his help against Envy, and she saw his compassion and kindness come through. She decided to help him become more of a human, and the two became friends.
Dorian[]
As a former Templar and a Tevinter mage, most people wouldn't expect Elise and Dorian to be the best of friends, but they are. Dorian admires her kindness and willingness to change things, and Elise enjoys his sense of humor and eagerness to make the world better.
Elise is fully supportive of Dorian's relationship with Rodrik, and she thinks the pair make an adorable couple.
Sera[]
Elise and Sera got along really well, and Sera often helped Elise loosen up and "stop being the Inquisitor" whenever she thought things were getting too serious. As something of a prankster herself, Elise enjoyed playing pranks around Skyhold with her, something that they bonded over. Elise became a Red Jenny after the Exalted Council, and can occasionally be seen with Sera, sneaking around city streets looking for trouble.
Vivienne[]
Elise and Vivienne never really got along; Elise saw Vivienne as more concerned with keeping her power than actually helping anyone, and Vivienne saw Elise as beneath her because of her status as a minor noble. She also saw Elise as being too soft in her treatment of the mages.
Solas[]
Elise and Solas had an amicable, if not friendly, relationship, and while they didn't spend a huge amount of time with each other, they at least respected each other. Elise was horrified when she found out who he really was and vowed to stop him at all costs.
Iron Bull[]
Elise and Iron Bull ended up becoming really good friends over the course of the Inquisition. They respected each other's strength and conviction, and Elise loved hanging out with the Chargers. When push came to shove, Elise threw away her chance to ally with the Qunari by having Bull save the Chargers, which led to him being declared Tal-Vashoth. Still, he found purpose in his friends and the Inquisition, and he and Elise stayed friends.
Leliana[]
Elise is a little intimidated by the spymaster, but she appreciates the good work she does for the Inquisition. While she finds Leliana's actions to be rather ruthless at times, she understands that she is doing what is necessary, and treats her with respect. She also appreciates the softer side Leliana shows to the oppressed, such as mages and elves, and thinks that she's doing an excellent job as the Divine.
Josephine[]
Elise shared a very friendly relationship with Josephine, and often agreed with her on trying to do things diplomatically. Still, she recruited the House of Repose to regain her family's fortune over Josephine's protests, as she thought it was the best way to end the threats to her advisor's life and help her regain her standing. After Elise lost her arm, she depended on Josephine to help her deal with the bureaucracy that came with her new desk job.
Cullen[]
Elise first met Cullen for a brief moment when charging towards the temple, and didn't take much notice of him initially, but after she realized that he was their military commander, she thought that she should probably talk to him. They were good friends, and while there was some initial tension caused by their shared experiences in the Gallows, they did come to trust each other.
Miscellaneous[]
The name "Elise" is a derivative of "Elizabeth", meaning "my God is an oath".
Elise's greatest fear is Disappointing Others
Elise's nickname is "Flames" owing to both her red hair and her fiery personality.