"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Mother Giselle
Overview[]
Physical Appearance: []
Gwyn has a rather diminutive stature, (5"6) and is somewhat curvy. Some would say her hips are a little too wide to be considered fashionable and with years of academic studies involving little more than the pouring over ancient texts and manuscripts, her physique is far from athletic. Her most striking features are her large emerald-green eyes, that display her every emotion for all to see in haunting detail, much to her eternal lamentation. She herself secretly considers her not altogether unfortunate bosom to be the more flattering feature. At least it detracts the attention away from the fact that her waist and bottom are perhaps not as svelte as they could be and her nose is a little on the sharp side. Her hair is long and slightly wavy, golden-blonde with hints of copper. Being a woman of practicality, she generally wears it up, so few people realise it actually comes down to below her shoulders. When she wears it down, it has a somewhat fine and wispy quality.
Her favourite adornment is a dark red rouge on her lips and she is rarely seen without it. Worn by one of the heroines from a childhood romance novel, she became obsessed with wearing it in an attempt to emulate her role model and now it has become a comfort blanket of sorts.
Personality[]
Although generally perceived as personable and friendly, she is a very private person at heart, preferring her own company over large groups. Her idea of perfection is stealing away from her responsibilities and snuggling up in a quiet corner with a good romance novel, that she has as much of a weak spot for as Cassandra. She is a big romantic at heart, although she would laugh derisively if such was ever suggested to her. Those who show her kindness will find her fiercely loyal, but although she may forgive a slight with time, it will never be forgotten.
An impactful experience at the Circle has left her with a fatal lack of confidence in herself and it is because of this that she has a very hard time dealing with people making fun of her. Leadership and taking charge are hard for her and away from public view, she will often defer decisions to her inner circle, or turn to them for advice before making a decision. Being made Inquisitor was a rather traumatic experience and only happened because they thrust this decision upon her publiclly and she could not reject it without causing a scene.
Talents and Skills[]
Class: Mage - Lightning - Fade Magic
Major affinity: Illusion(Fade) /Lightning.
Secondary Affinity: Fade Magic - Fade Step - Fade Cloak
Non-Combat/Lifeskills:[]
Calligraphy: Gwen prides herself on her penmanship. Her handwriting is neat and flows with aesthetically pleasing flourishes. She enjoys writing (personal) letters and scribbling down thoughts in her journal. She still likes to leave Cullen little love-notes, to this day, in places he'd be likely to find them. Over the years they have developed a sort of secret code between them.
Riding: Her family breeds Free Marches Ranger horses for the Grand Tourney and Gwen could ride almost as soon as she could walk. She loves horses and used to compete with children of other nobles in events organised for children.
Languages: Courtesy of noble's daughter's upbringing, she got a headstart on her education. She's always had an ear for languages and is fascinated by other cultures. That being said, other than Common, she only speaks Orlesian with any fluency, but she's always wanted to learn Tevene, Antivan and even Qunlat, especially after meeting Dorian, Josephine and Bull, who she promptly asked for lessons.
Weaknesses:[]
Cooking: She picked up just enough to survive during her travels after the Harrowing, but no one will ever wax lyrical over her soup or pies. Her tastes run to simple fare: meat and potatoes will always be her favourite.
Sewing/knitting/needlepoint: Despite the many torturous hours her tutors tried to educate her in the finer skill of these practices, needles and Gwen will never be friends.
Conflict: Gwen does not deal well with confrontation. A careless word said in anger will bother her for a long time, even if she does her best to get over it and move on. It's one of the areas she had to work on the most for her role as Inquisitor. She's highly empathic and because she doesn't need to be hit over the head with a point, she often forgets that other people do need this and can be too subtle in getting her point across.
Biography[]
Born in 9:9 Dragon as the youngest of three to Lord and Lady Trevelyan, Gwenith was shipped off to the mages Circle when it was discovered she had magic at age 11. As the manifestation was calamitous, it was all a very rushed affair, leaving a young Trevelyan bewildered and suddenly bereft of the only family she had known up to that point. As there were few apprentices from a noble background at the Circle at that time, she was shunned by her fellow students. Taking her terminal shyness as aloofness for arrogance, she was mocked and pranked to the point that she made herself invisible as much as possible.
Going back to her earliest memory, she remembers dreams of waking in the Fade, even though she didn't know it was called that at time. She made friends with spirits long before she knew what she was doing and they taught her many secrets. Not realising she was the only one in her family who could see the spirit creatures manifest outside the Fade, she was considered a strange child with lots of "imaginary friends".
At age 18, she successfully passed her Harrowing after which she left the Circle for many years to pursue academic achievements in the field, specialising in Illusionary Magicks.
After the events at the Circle in Kirkwall and the disbanding of the Mages Circle as an organization, she joined the rebel mages and a delegation to the negotiation talks at the Conclave in Haven, mostly to spite her family, who staunchly supported the Templars. She lost her brother Myron during the explosion, something she didn't find out until much later.
Relationships - short[]
Bann Titus Aengus Trevelyan - Father
Lady Dealla Ailleann Trevelyan - Mother
Lord Faolan Trevelyan - Oldest ( brother to Gwynneth)
Lord Myron Peadar Trevelyan - Middle child (died at Conclave)
Love interest: Commander Cullen Stanton Rutherford
(child-hood) friend: Thomas Alvel
Main Story Highlights:[]
Haven
Skyhold
Trespasser
Jaws of Hakkon
Relationships - the extended version[]
Cullen: When they first meet in Haven, neither of them realise that they share a previous connection. Although not a Dreamer/Somniari by any stretch of the imagination, Gwen has always had a strong connection to the Fade. On occasion, resulting in finding herself in other people's dreams, Cullen as a young boy being one of them. Although she doesn't realise he was the boy from her dreams, she is instantly drawn to him when they meet. The feeling is not mutual, to say the least. If anything, Cullen tries very hard to find reasons to keep the mage with the strange Anchor at arm's length, with Gwen trying hard to hide her attraction him. After all, she has just as many reasons to want to stay away from a templar. Luckily, for everyone involved, they do eventually own up to their feelings and decide life's too short, especially in the face of almost certain doom, to pass up a chance of happiness.
Cassandra: On the surface, Cassandra is not the type of person Gwen should be getting along with. She's everything that Gwen is not: resolute, confident and decisive. She doesn't mince her words and hurting people's feelings with harsh truths is just what she does for breakfast. And yet they find themselves bonding over a shared passion for silly romance novels, a guilty pleasure both of them fervently deny being even remotely interested in. Cassandra becomes the person Gwen first admits her feelings for Cullen to as if it wasn't plain to see for anyone who cared to look. They become fast friends over Westhill Brandy and shared tents during the early days of Haven.
Leliana: Gwen greatly admires Leliana, but is also slightly intimidated by the beautiful Spymaster and does her best not to piss her off. Eventually, as they get to know each other better, she finds herself turning to Leliana for advice, finding her a lot more approachable than she feared. Although she will never share the comfortable friendship with Leliana she has with Cassandra, she respects Leliana's keen intelligence and expertise in the things she does.
Josephine: Josephine became her life-buoy from the moment they were introduced. The ambassador just seems to just instinctively know what Gwen needs and a few things she never ever realised she did. She loves spending time in the Antivan's company and she is another woman Gwen greatly admires. Both from a noble's background, they share some experiences when it comes to childhoods spent with tutors and a governess. Josephine is glad Gwen makes her job easier when it comes to dealing with the intricacies of diplomacy. Although she spent a large portion of her life away from her family and that background, she still is still intimately familiar with etiquette and decorum and needs little guidance in handling such matters. As soon as Josephine realises Gwen has feelings for Cullen, she becomes instrumental in engaging Leliana and playing matchmaker between them at every given opportunity, Often without either Gwen or Cullen being any the wiser. Gwen often wonders if Cullen would ever have realised or admitted to his feelings for her if not for their intervention.
Varric: Gwen finds it hard to imagine anyone could dislike Varric. Sure, he wouldn't hesitate to swindle you out of your money if he thought you could afford it, but he does it so charmingly that you end up thanking him for it. She often ends up defending him to Cassandra, who is fairly stubborn in her views on all matters, but especially Varric's character. She will always be grateful to Varric for looking after her in the early days of Haven. Rather than concern himself with issues like guilt and involvement, he was by her side and took the time to ask how she was doing. She considers him a very good friend and there are very few things she wouldn't forgive him.
Solas: Solas is a hard man to really get to know. He always played his cards very close to his vest and Gwen always felt she had to respect his privacy if that's what he wanted. As a result, although they are friendly and respect each other, she wouldn't consider him as close a friend as some of the other companions. She very much values his opinion and has often turned to him for advice, especially where magical subjects are concerned, but the walls he keeps around him have prevented them from ever truly bonding and being completely relaxed in each other's company. It's his dry wit and humour she appreciates in particular. Solas is a lot funnier than people seem to give him credit for.
Dorian - It would be hard for anyone not to be taken in by Dorian's charm and Gwen is no exception. She instantly bonded with him during the mission to recruit the mages; being pulled through time and fighting your way back from an evil future tends to bring people together. Like Josephine and Leliana, Dorian was also immediately onboard and became heavily involved in all the shenanigans that took place in the background to make Gwen and Cullen happen and that was even before his own personal mission. Touched by how unconditionally Gwen supported him in his dealings with his father, he became a loyal and valued friend.
Vivienne: to Gwen, Vivienne embodies everything the Loyalists stand for, even if she never officially declared for them. in Gwen's opinion, Vivienne chooses to see the status quo as a good thing because it best serves her ambitions and is rigid in her convictions. Although she never officially joined a fraternity herself, she most identifies with the isolationists and believes both sides have lost their way. Although she respects Vivienne as a colleague and fellow mage, they will never become bosom friends. Vivienne never fails to make her feel slightly inferior for not embracing her noble's background and refusing to use her family name as well as the fact that she feels like a drab replica next to Vivienne's impeccable elegance and immaculate appearance at all times. Gwen is much more likely to turn up with her hair in slight disarray, a random stain or smudge that escaped scrutiny in the mirror, something that would never do in Madame de Fer's world.
Blackwall: Never mind the fact that Blackwall is an accomplished warrior, who is very capable of taking care of himself and has—in fact—done so for most his life, from the moment she met him, there was something about his quiet sincerity and serious commitment to making things better in the world that made Gwen feel oddly protective of him. As much as she likes to pretend she wants nothing to do with her family after they abandoned her to the Circle for all intents and purposes, through her talks with Blackwall about the Grand Tourney, she realises just how much she misses them and the childhood she left behind. She always sensed he was burdened by something that heavily weighed on his conscience, but by the time his sordid past and what he did are revealed, it never for one second occurs to her to abandon him to his fate. It's one of the few matters she firmly puts her foot down on, to the point of threatening to leave the Inquisition if they turn their back on him.
The Iron Bull: Bull is the first Qunari she's ever met and it took her quite a while to get used to his fierce appearance and size. She kept her distance from him at first, preferring to quietly observe him until she had a better idea of how to take him. It was actually through seeing how he interacted with men and how much they respected him that she came to realise he was someone worth knowing better. She has a lot of time for Krem, who helped her to understand "the big guy" a lot better and after that, he just didn't seem all that scary anymore. She loves his sense of humour and his constant teasing and flirting with Dorian has her snorting with laughter. He definitely knows how to keep her entertained during all those long months on the road, travelling from one place to another to set the world to rights. More than that, she feels safe and protected when he is around and his experience as a commander is very welcome out in the field, seeing as she has virtually none. If Cassandra is not with them, she always leaves the running of the troops to him and yet he has never made her feel small in front of their soldiers for it once. By the end, she considers him a dear friend and is sad that life takes them in different directions.
Sera: Simply put: Sera makes her feel old, most of the time. Sure, she likes the young elf well enough most of the time, but Sera also has a way of making you feel like you have to be the responsible adult in the relationship a lot of the time. Although she understands Sera's motivation a lot better after a while and her pranks make Gwen smile, it's hard to not also feel a little exasperated with her refusal to grow up sometimes. Generally speaking, Gwen decided that the kindest thing she can do for Sera is to let her be and not try and change her in any way. She does avoid having Solas and Sera together in her company when she has to travel somewhere for extended periods of time because she finds their bickering hard to deal with.
Cole: She probably should have been suspicious of Cole a lot more, what mage wouldn't be a little wary when confronted with something that's essentially a spirit? In reality, through her early exposure to the Fade and the wisps that were her childhood friends, she actually felt an instant affinity with Cole. They share in their empathy and drive to want to help people in pain and so it's hard for her to see anything but a gentle, loving being that hasn't got a single bad thought in his head. The way he reveals people's innermost thoughts often makes her smile when it's something innocuous they rather didn't want anyone else to know and she takes it in good humour when he does it to her. Truth be told, she very quickly gets used to his company and he becomes like a younger brother to her. For his personal quest, she doesn't believe it's her right to make that decision for him and so she lets Cole choose. In the end, he chooses to become more Spirit-like, feeling that his purpose in connecting with the real Cole is complete and that he can do more good as a true spirit of Compassion.
Miscellaneous[]
Despite being of noble birth herself, she dislikes her title and anything associated with it. Her family abandoned her to the Circle where she was both shunned and made a target because her background was self-evident, even if her family name was a secret and she would as soon forget all that it stands for.
Has a penchant for dark red lip rouge and whisky as well as 'strapping blond templars'.
Definitely a dog- and not a cat person. She picks up a stray in Haven called "Lotus" (named for the Black Lotus and the colour of her coat), who becomes a constant companion and actually saves her life by finding her after the attack on Haven.
AU Modern Fantasy :[]
There are two very distinct versions of Gwen. The OC/HC version is the one as described in this BIO: a somewhat shy and wonderfully dorky Thedas Mage who is suddenly thrust in the thick of things and takes a very steep climb on a personal and character-building journey. Then there is the AU Gwyn, where a modern 21st-century gamer wakes up inside the body of Gwen one day and takes her on a VERY different journey to explore every single (mostly cliche and utterly self-indulgent) gaming fantasy ever conceived with all the notions and experience expected for someone having a field day with the "what if" concept. What would you do if one of your fondest wishes came true and your everyday life existence was replaced with Thedas? Would it be a "careful what you wish for" scenario or the best thing that ever could have happened?
[]
Links[]
Fic links:
Gwen Chronicles - Collection of extracts and short fics
AU modern Inky : What the heart wants
Misc:
