Elliana Lavellan, Elle for short, is a Dalish mage, First to Clan Lavellan, reluctant Herald of Andraste and Inquisitor of the Inquisition.
She is a novice-Dreamer with a deep connection to the Fade that is complicated by drinking the Well.
Overview[]
Physical Appearance[]
Elliana is a Dalish elf, though that would be fairly obvious from a significant distance, thanks to the bold red-brown vallaslin of June tattooed on her pale face. Hidden amongst the lines of said vallaslin are a smattering of freckles thanks to her love of the sun and two scars. The scar over her eye she got thanks to a tether snapping loose on an aravel. Oddly enough, it changed the color of her right eye from ice-blue to having a rather prominent red-orange spot in it (heterochromia). The other scar is on her lip, which was the result of lack of control of her magic at any early age. A splintering stump to the face makes for an amusing, albeit boring story.
Other than the bold vallaslin lines, her eyes are usually rimmed in thick kohl as well. When she is angry, frightened, or in any bad situation, the amber spot in her right eye flares, growing to fill it as she conjures her magic. When casting complex spells, both eyes glow this color.
Elliana is short but lanky, with a small chest and a fairly straight waist. Her hair is always a bit of a mess, shaved short on the sides and back, longer on top and some how always getting in her left eye. Her face is long but she has high cheekbones and a nose and chin that round it out considerably from certain angles.
Personality[]
She is sweet, awkward and always means well but has trouble communicating her intentions sometimes. She does not like to be touched unless she is familiar with a person, and even then, it's on her terms. Doubting herself often, she uses bad jokes as a way to cope with this anxiety.
Elliana is kind to both people, animals and spirits. She refuses to kill fennecs or halla. (Her spirit animal is a white and grey fennec.) Driven by her emotions, she can get flustered easily, but the logical side of her brain keeps her in check. She always assumes the worst will happen and is pleasantly surprised when things turn out right. But she doesn’t glower and let them go bad, she sees what bad could come and works towards a better solution.
Talents and Skills[]
A pyro at heart, Elliana has always been drawn to fire and both its destructive and cleansing powers. When she finds herself in a tough situation, the amber spot in her right eye flares and she's been known to throw a few unintentional sparks, thus leading Varric to call her 'Sparks'. Her preferred spells are Fire Mine and Wall of Fire. When close to her companions, she casts Flaming Array
directly in front of them to protect from incoming enemies. Casting Wall of Fire from a hidden location, at her enemies' feet, allows her party the element of surprise with their panicked foes.
Elliana is a novice-Dreamer, with a deep connection to the Fade that is complicated once she drinks from the Well. During their time together, her and Solas explored this talent and spent a considerable amount of time in the Fade together. Once he breaks up with her, she can no longer find him in the Fade. When he leaves, she begins using her dreams as a way of tracking him down to no avail until they finally meet again in the Crossroads two years after he left. When she begins seeing shadows of a wolf in the corner of her eye, she knows he is watching and with the help of Compassion and Hope, seeks him out.
Biography[]
History[]
- Elliana came into her magic at the age of 15
- Clan Lavellan was like many of the other Dalish clans in its roaming nature until an odd meeting with a peculiar woman in 9:31 Dragon led to them putting down more permanent roots outside of Wycome.
- Keeper Deshanna Istamaethoriel gave her the sylvanwood ring baring Fen'harel's likeness just before she left for the conclave, telling her 'to remember the betrayal of Fen'harel, and [her] duty as First, and future Keeper, to be vigilant around those who might hurt or betray us. To look out for [her] own over others.'[1]
In-game[]
- Anti-Chantry
- Does not believe herself to be the 'chosen one'
- Allies with mages
- Declares for the elves of Thedas
- Allows Solas to kill mages who trapped Wisdom
- Encourages Cullen to stop taking lyrium
- Cole becomes more of a spirit
- Clan Lavellan is murdered
- Encourages Dorian to reconcile relationship with father
- Lets Sera kill noble
- Sacrifices the Chargers (I knowwww)
- Celene and Briala reconcile, Gaspard is executed
- Blackwall atones for his past transgressions, goes on as Thom Rainier
- Leaves Warden in Fade, exiles remaining Wardens
- Leliana is hardened
- Allies with Sentinels
- Drinks from the Well
- Cassandra is made Divine
- Vows to save Solas from himself, but also to help her people
- Disbands Inquisition
Post-game[]
- Once Corypheus is defeated, Elliana goes into a state of depression over the disappearance of Solas. Even though they had parted ways a month prior, having him leave without another word was difficult. This was compounded by the gifts he left behind for her. Upon returning to her quarters after the victory celebration, Elle finds the jawbone necklace and a journal she had seen him scribbling in from time to time sitting on her desk. Within said journal were sketches of her, half-written poems in Elven and other notes about their time together. While there was no proper goodbye message, having some reminder of him eventually helped heal her hurt enough that she was able to continue her duties as Inquisitor.
- The road was lonely, though, as she finished sealing any final rifts, dove into the history of the first Inquisitor and maintained order amongst her organization. Most of her friends slowly drifted away over the course of the two years leading up to the call for the disbanding of the Inquisition.
- In her creator's head canon, Elliana never leaves Solas at the end of Trespasser. She is instead dreaming the final events—the disbanding of the Inquisition, settling in Haven once more, and planning movements in Tevinter. The details of this story will be discussed in the current work in progress, The Dark of You.
- The whispers of the Well continued to get louder, almost like the Calling the Wardens hear before a Blight. What becomes of that is yet to be discovered, but Elliana does her best to ignore them.
- She suffers from strange dreams and is plagued with confusing nightmares.
Relationships[]
Party[]
- Her standard party consists of Solas, Cassandra and Sera. At first, her and Sera were at odds given their vastly different backgrounds as elves, but during their travels together, they have found common ground. Cassandra laments the fact that she ends up 'stuck' with Sera a lot when Elle and Solas meander off. When Solas leaves, Dorian begins accompanying her in the field in his place.
Friendships[]
- She's closest with Solas, Dorian, Cole and Cassandra.
- Her and Cassandra grew close because Cass was the only one who seemed to know what was going on other than Leliana, and Elle was uncomfortable by her harsh methods. Despite their religious differences, Cassandra and Elliana found common ground in helping those stuck in the middle, righting wrongs and reading bad literature.
- An elf and a Tevinter mage, best friends? Yes, in fact! Dorian and her grew close immediately when the events of Redcliffe happened, and that friendship only grew when Elliana helped Dorian with his father, showing she cared about his situation despite their differences. They are often found in the gardens, pouring over ancient tomes and wine they found in the cellars.
- Feeling a strong connection to the Fade and thus to spirits, Elliana and Cole hit it off immediately, much to the chagrin of Vivienne (with whom she speaks to as little as possible). While she doesn't often bring Cole into the field, when she does, they spend their downtime coaxing the nugs into letting them pet them. She is fascinated by his perspective on things.
- By the time Elle was comfortable enough in her role, she had already saved the Dreadnaught (thinking the Qunari connection more important than a few lives in the grand scheme of things), sealing her ill-fate with Bull.
Romance[]
- Elliana was drawn to Solas’s mysterious nature and knowledge of her people’s history, and was completely thrown for a loop when she found out who he is later on. However, she’s also fed up with the treatment of elves, as she still gets treated like garbage, even as Inquisitor. As such, she intends to work with him towards his goal, but in a way that doesn’t hurt the people of this world. A bit of an idealist, this one.
Follow You - Solavellan ft Elliana. Y O U - Solavellan Tribute
- Their relationship developed naturally over a long period of time in the field together, partly due to her being drawn to the only elf in their party who wanted to talk of elven history, and partly due to his fondness for her curiosity of such matters. They shared a few lingering touches when healing or helping the other, definitely made eyes prior to the Fade Kiss™, but both understood the importance of her work and the distraction their potential romance would have. During the events of Redcliffe, Elliana found it difficult to leave him behind, lingering until Dorian yells at her. They share one final, sad look before they part, thinking it's their last look. Even after the Fade Kiss, they took it slow, simply spending a lot of time together. Elle would engage in philosophical and historical conversations with him often in the rotunda, and he would spend evenings in her quarters reading as she dealt with paperwork at her desk. On occasion they would venture out into the mountains outside of Skyhold alone to practice her Rift magic at a safe distance. Some of these ventures may have been overnight and may have caused Josephine and Cullen a few grey hairs.
- Naturally she was hurt by the breakup and the suddenness of it, particularly since they had to continue working together and she’s a creature of habit. Spending nights alone was painful and going into the field made things awkward. She could tell it was difficult for him as well and only served to frustrate her more when he wouldn’t discuss it with her. What really hurt was when he completely disappeared, leaving only his jaw necklace and a notebook, which she found after she returned to her quarters after the Cory-defeat party. She wears the jawbone secretly under her clothing.
- She intends to help him, both to protect him from himself, as well as help their people.
Trivia[]
- Elliana is a derivation of the Elven name Eliana, meaning 'our conclusion'. Project Elvhen[2] posits that it may mean a child that was the end of a journey, a child that the parents had tried too many years to conceive, or a child that was born from sex had to celebrate the end of a great journey. It could also be a sign of her inevitable connection to Solas and bringing the Veil down. From the words: el (our) + diana (to stop, to conclude, to fill, to stuff)
- Post-break up, Elliana begins wearing heavier, metal armors instead of her Dalish Keeper robes or hunter tunic and mail. This is believed to be a way she's trying to harden herself.
- Elliana sometimes has shorter hair, sometimes longer hair. Sometimes she is seen with vallaslin, other times not. This is because her creator has remade her like 5 times. Accepted canon is a longer mohawk with her June vallaslin. She also sometimes lacks her facial scars but this is just her creator's poor graphics card.
- Elliana is guided by a Spirit of Hope, though it does not manifest itself in any tangible way until post-Trespasser. It is vital in her continued dedication to the cause, when despair and the overwhelming task at hand threaten to make her run.
- Her faceclaim is somewhere between Britnelle Fredericks and Cara Delevingne.
Elsewhere[]
- Tumblr dump of all things Elliana
- 'The Dark of You' - what-if story set Post-Trespasser
- Laugan's Elliana artwork
- Aesthetic board
References[]
- ↑ Future dialogue in 'The Dark of You'
- ↑ Project Elvhen
Gallery[]
