Maisie Hawke

Maisie Hawke
"I can't be a follower anymore...if something is wrong, it's my job to change things"
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Reddit Author	TheCookieAlchemist
Game	Dragon Age II
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Age	24 (as of 9:30 Dragon)
Gender	Female
Race	Human
Class	Mage
Specialization	Force Mage
Love Interest	Fenris

"If things aren't good, I have to make them better. I'm done doing what's supposed to be done."

-Maisie Hawke to Anders shortly before the uprising

Maisie Hawke is a Ferelden apostate from the town of Lothering that would eventually become the Champion of Kirkwall. Initially supporting the Templars out of a sense of duty and respect for the law, Maisie eventually came to fight against the injustices of the Circle after the abuses perpetrated by the Order came to light.

Appearance and Personality

Maisie is a thin, relatively short woman who's blonde hair falls about to her chin. She has warm brown eyes and has been described as beautiful by several people.

Maisie is generally a pretty nice person who wants the best for everyone and always does her best to be kind and considerate to others and listen to their points of view. She also has a surprising sense of humor and can be very charming when she wants to be.

Maisie loves being a mage and has never had a problem with mages or with magic, taking great pride in her abilities and using them to help others. Despite this, she reluctantly supports the Circle as the only way for most mages to learn magic safely, since not everyone is as lucky as she was. Once she actually sees how bad the Circles are, this attitude changes, and Maisie turns against the Circle and ends up fighting for mages to enjoy the same freedoms that she always had.

Talents and Skills

Maisie's fire and frost spells are particularly powerful, and she has an affinity for force magic and a surprising talent for entropy. She has absolutely no talent for healing magic even after some tutoring from Anders, and she won't touch blood magic - she sees it as too dangerous to mess with.

Less seriously, Maisie has a great poker face. It's best not to play cards with her if you value having any coin left by the end of it.

Backstory

Maisie Hawke was born on 25 Harvestmere, 9:06 Dragon to Malcolm and Leandra Hawke on a little farm outside of Honnleath, Ferelden. The first few years of her life were rather quiet and uneventful - the family lived on a small farm and were generally very self-sufficient. Her twin siblings Carver and Bethany were born when she was five and life was generally happy.

A year after the birth of her siblings, however, Maisie came into her magic when she, in the process of refusing to eat her cabbage stew, set it on fire. The Hawkes packed up and left Honnleath for Killarney. During the journey, Malcolm explained to Maisie that she was a mage, and that he was going to teach her how to use her magic. He also explained that she must never use it openly outside their home, for there were people called Templars who would take her away from the family if she did. Maisie took his words to heart as she began her studies, and became even more careful about it when Bethany also turned out to be a mage.

Despite having to hide it, Maisie loved being a mage and ate up anything and everything that Malcolm could teach her. She wanted to study more and considered going to the Circle to do so, but knowing that she'd be never be able to leave if she did stopped her from ever acting on that particular desire. It frustrated Maisie to no end that there was no better ways to study magic outside of keeping it hidden like some dirty secret or being locked away in a tower forever.

The family was forced to leave Killarney after a close call with the local Templars and resettled in Elmridge for a few years. There, Maisie let slip to a boy that she had a crush on that she was a mage, and rather than be impressed, he called the Templars, forcing another move and turning Maisie off of romance for a while. After Elmridge was Lothering, where they were finally able to make a permanent home for themselves.

Malcolm Hawke died a few weeks after Maisie's twentieth birthday, leaving her to take up a role as head of the family, a role she took on with grace. When the Blight started, Carver enlisted in King Cailan's army while Maisie stayed behind to look after Bethany and Leandra, constantly worrying for the safety of her brother all the while. She would have gone with him, but the presence of an apostate would have raised awkward questions and there would be Templars there, so she stayed behind.

Carver soon returned to the family followed by a horde of darkspawn which forced everyone to flee Lothering. They did, running for their lives as the village burned behind them.

In-game

Act One

Quest	Outcome
The Destruction of Lothering	Aveline killed Wesley. Joined Athenril and her smugglers.
The Unbidden Rescue	Rescued Seamus Dumar; Ginnis Winter was killed
Loose Ends	Gave Pryce the goods and lied to Athenril about it.
Enemies Among Us	Killed Idunna. Keran reinstated with the Templars
Act of Mercy	Handed the Starkhaven mages to Ser Thrask. Regretted it later when she found out what happened to them.
Shepherding Wolves	Defended Ketojan from the Qunari.
Wayward Son	Killed Danzig. Sent Feynriel to the Dalish.
The Bone Pit	Killed the mature dragon. Doubled the miners' pay to get them to return.
Friends in Low Places	Accepted Dougal's offer.
The Deep Roads Expedition	Took Carver - he became a Grey Warden with Anders' help.

Act Two

Quest	Outcome
Blackpowder Courtesy	Did not kill Javaris
Offered and Lost	Didn't side with Varnell
Following the Qun	Didn't side with Petrice; told Elthina what she'd been doing
Prime Suspect	Agreed to help Emeric. Did not kill Gascard
Night Terrors	Refused Torpor's offer. Feynriel went to Tevinter.
Demands of the Qun	Earned the Arishok's respect. Isabela returned with the Tome. Refused to turn her over and dueled the Arishok.
Side Quests	Fought the raiders with the guardsmen. Anders did not kill Ella; she was told to flee the Circle. Confronted Cullen with Alrik's plan; his lukewarm reaction turned Maisie against the Templars for good. Helped Aveline woo Donnic. Spared Sabin.

Act Three

Quest	Outcome
Showdown	Sided with Orsino
On the Loose	Helped Emile escape the Circle. Blamed Meredith for everything.
Best Served Cold	Fenris kidnapped by conspirators. Spared Keran. Didn't vouch for Samson. Asked for mercy for Alain and handed the conspirators to Orsino.
The Last Straw	Did not kill Anders. Sided with the mages.
Side Quests	Rescued Nathaniel Howe. Let Zevran go. Reunited Charade and Gamlen. Killed the High Dragon at the Bone Pit. Killed Danarius and got back together with Fenris.

Post-game

WIP

Relationships

Carver (Friend)

Maisie's little brother despite being several inches shorter than he is; she knows that he can take care of himself but still worries for him and tries to protect him. The two argue and butt heads from time to time, but at the end of the day, they love each other and care a great deal about each other. Despite the horrible circumstances that led to it, Maisie was extremely proud to see him become a Grey Warden and carve out his own path in the world.

Varric (Friend)

Maisie was extremely fond of Varric; he was a good guy to hang out with whenever she needed to be cheered up. Despite his tendency to run his mouth, Maisie always felt comfortable talking to him and felt like she could trust him with anything and he'd still have her back. The two formed an extremely close friendship during their time in Kirkwall and keep in touch as often as they can.

Anders (Friend)

Maisie really liked Anders. She liked what he was doing with the clinic and she admired his passion for wanting to make things better for mages. Their early relationship was punctuated by the occasional disagreement, but it was mitigated by the fact that Maisie thought that he was right about how badly mages were treated in the Gallows. The initial friction between the two smoothed out after Anders helped save Carver's life, and they became very close friends as Maisie started to openly oppose the Circle. It was the friendship that formed between them that led Maisie to spare Anders's life and she continued to help him whenever she could.

Merrill (Friend)

Maisie liked Merrill's personality well enough, and while the blood magic made her a bit hesitant, she tried not to be judgmental about it. She was actually really curious about the Eluvian and the two spent quite a long time doing research together on how to fix it. Maisie also just found Merrill pleasant and fun to talk too, and she was one of her best friends by the end of everything.

Isabela (Rival)

Isabela always thought that Maisie was a bit too nice and a bit boring, while Maisie disapproved of Isabela's selfishness and tendency to run away from anything resembling responsibility, as well as her tendency to throw others under the bus for her own benefit. Despite their disagreements, Isabela still came in to save the day during the qunari invasion, which led Maisie to realize that maybe she wasn't as selfish as she thought. She dueled the Arishok one-on-one to save Isabela from the Qunari and years later, Isabela came to realize that she had become a better person with Maisie's influence. The two ended up forming a much more amicable relationship after that.

Aveline (Friend)

Maisie and Aveline got along well, always being kind and supportive with each other. Maisie helped Aveline cope with her husband's death and later helped her court Donnic, and Aveline was always there to provide a shoulder to cry on when Maisie needed it. Overall, Maisie is proud to consider Kirkwall's Captain of the Guard one of her best friends.

Fenris (Friend/Love Interest)

Maisie was fascinated and a little intimidated by Fenris when she met him, and they didn't get off to a great start, thanks to Maisie's pride in her magic combined with Fenris's distaste for any magic. Still, Maisie took the effort to get to know him, and realized that there was some baggage there that had led Fenris to act the way he did. She was kind and patient with him, and little by little, they opened up to each other.

Maisie started to fall for him, but didn't really think he would reciprocate because of his hatred of magic, so she was quite surprised when Fenris not only reciprocated, he spent the night with her. Unfortunately, he left the next day, saying that he had had part of his memories come back and that he couldn't stay with her. Maisie was left confused and heartbroken and things were very awkward and confusing between the two for a while, especially since they were both very obviously still interested in each other. Eventually they resumed their friendship as normal despite their unresolved romantic tension.

Then Danarius came to take Fenris back, using his long-lost sister as bait. Maisie refused to let him, which led to a drawn out and very bloody fight that pushed her to her limits. She refused to let him kill Varania, as she didn't think it would help. Fenris left, disgusted and angry at everything despite Maisie's reassurance that she was there for him. She went to talk to him soon after, during which he reluctantly thanked her for stopping him from killing his sister. Maisie said that it wasn't a problem and that she'd always be there for him. This led Fenris to admit that he still loved her and that if he could go back to that night, he would have stayed. He then asked Maisie to take him back, saying that he wanted to spend his future with her. Maisie happily reciprocated, and the pair resumed their relationship for good this time. Their love is very solid, based on mutual understanding and a willingness to understand each other and accept each other.

Sebastian (Friend)

Maisie was never particularly close to the prince, but she found him pleasant enough to talk to and encouraged him to stay with the Chantry if that's what would bring him peace. Unfortunately, their friendship ended when Maisie refused to kill Anders, who had become like a brother to her.