"Feisty fledgeling, fleeting the family, free but faithful, forceful but forgiving. Trying to find where to fit."
- Cole on Noeth
Overview
Physical Appearance
Noeth's appearance tends to attract attention, to say the least. Her most prominent feature might be the scarring on her face, but even without it, her brightly red eyes and snowy white hair are hard to miss. Keeper Deshanna assumed these were caused by some rare form of albinism, which however, does not affect Noeth's skin.
She is quite tall for an elf, and of a slim, muscular built. Her vallaslin, dedicated to Mythal, is very subtle, done in a currant red color.
Personality
Noeth is confident, caring and fairly stubborn. Though she might seem like a natural leader, she is uncomfortable having any kind of power or responsibility over others.
Talents and Skills
During her time with the clan, Noeth spent most of her time perfecting any skill she deemed important or useful. Every day she spent hours practicing magic spells, thanks to which she is not only a powerful mage, but she is also deeply aware of her and her body's limits. This allows her to make quick and precise judgements in the midst of a battle.
She can also cook a hearty meal practically out of nothing, is an excellent swimmer and rider and can climb pretty much anything - mountains, trees, buildings, you pick.
Biography
History
It was Guardian 9:27 Dragon, when a group of Lavellan hunters stumbled upon a curious find; abandoned elven baby with carmine red eyes, lying beneath the trees. Wondering how could she survive in the wilderness, they took her back to camp, where keeper Deshanna decided she would bring the baby up as her own.
When Noeth was 9 years old, her magic powers manifested and Deshanna soon began planning on making Noeth the clan's First. She tried to educate the small girl in elven history and pass on everything she could, but Noeth's lack of interest in dalish lore couldn't be more obvious. Still, the keeper's efforts were unyielding.
Trying to ecape the lectures and constant scolding, Noeth started to run away whenever she could. Alone in the woods, she was happy. The outer world was calling out to her and there was nothing she desired more than exploring everything that Thedas had to offer. As she fantasized of her own life, free of the dalish lifestyle, she developed a strong sense of independence and did her best to be as self-reliant as possible. She practiced magic, gathered food, figured out how to find a shelter for the night and how to keep wild animals away. As she got older, she made friends (and sometimes more than that) amongst humans in nearby settlements.
Though at first the clan did their best to keep her 'on the right path', when Noeth stuck with these habits even after acquiring her vallaslin, most of the dalish gave up on her. However it took several more years for keeper Deshanna to admit that her daughter (as that is what she always saw in Noeth) would never be the one to relieve her of the clan's leadership. This was never directly said, but when Deshanna appointed Noeth to spy on the conclave's proceedings, they all knew it was her way of letting her set foot in the wide world that she craved so badly.
In-game
After the explosion and later on stabilising of the Breach, Noeth finds herself in a world formerly unknown to her. Unacquainted with matters of Chantry, politics or human culture, she doesn't know what to make of her knew title, 'Herald of Andraste.' What she knows is that though some worship her, to others she is still a dangerous mage and the templar presence keeps her on her toes. Thus, when offered the option of allying the Inquisition with mage rebellion instead of the templars, she rushes to Redcliffe to make the necessary arrengements.
After the assault on Haven and meeting Corypheus, she is for the first time faced with the power of the raw belief that their people have in her. On their way to Skyhold, this gives Noeth lots of things to ruminate about. Still, the title of the Inquisitor catches her by surprise and it takes her a long time to get used to it.
Noeth strongly believes she has no right to take anybody's life, unless in defense. After the events in The Winter palace, where she saved Celene in spite of her own belief that Gaspard would make a better leader, Bull tells her she 'cares too much.' That is something that Noeth knows, since in her mind an Inquisitor should be able to be ruthless when need be, however that doesn't change a bit about her - if there is something she will not give to the Inquisition, it is her integrity.
Long after Corypheus is dead, the Inquisition is called into the Exalted Council by Divine Victoria - The Inquisition's former spymaster. During this time Noeth already feels like the Inquisition's job is done and prolonging it wouldn't do anybody any good - she also realizes there is something horribly wrong with her mark and believes to have only a short time left, despite not sharing this with anybody.
After learning of all the corruption and meeting with Solas (who saves her life in the last minute), she decides to disband the Inquisition.
Post-game
Noeth is trying to live at least a somewhat normal life together with Cullen. They spend some time with the Rutherford family in the South Reach, until Cullen finds a perfect place for them by Lake Calenhad. She helps Cullen in his efforts to relieve templars fighting lyrium addiction while trying to cooperate with her friends in effort to learn of Solas's plan.
Relationships
Noeth has kept to herself for most of her life. Though she had some friends and even romantic relationships before, she never found anybody (nor did she feel any need) to truly open herself up to and confide in. However with all that she goes through with her inner circle, this habit of hers is soon destroyed.
The first person to really come through to her and gain her complete trust is Blackwall. Though she is friendly with all of her allies, Blackwall with his strong sense of righteousness seems to understand her better than anyone she's met before. With his unshakeable belief in her, she starts to feel at least somewhat comfortable in this new position of power. Add the natural chemistry between the two of them and it is no surprise everybody thought they would soon become an item.
Come Dorian. Upon the first meeting, there was an immediate connection. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Noeth met somebody who treated her as the person she was, instead of 'the Herald of Andraste.' Their similar sense of humour and Dorian's lively friendliness made a great foundation for the friendship they built during the time traveling in Redcliffe. Nobody else could understand what they went through in there and they spent long nights venting about it to one another. They were both mages, outsiders by default - Dorian being Tevinter and Noeth a dalish 'knife-ear' - but none of them knew much about the other's culture and therefore couldn't hold any prejudices. That was also an unexpected comfort.
Noeth had no idea that there was someone else interested in her. Seeing her efforts and genuine concern for their cause and the people combined with her chirpy nature, Commander Cullen could feel himself slowly falling for the Herald. Being the professional he is, however, he tried to keep his distance - and did so succesfully, as Noeth mistook his curtness for distrust and certain arrogance. It wasn't until she confronted him about his opinion on the mage alliance that she realized he is just fully devoted to their cause.
Who knows how her love life would have developed had Haven never been attacked. After the assault, travelling through the Frostback mountains, Noeth spent most of her time separated from her friends, pensive, observing people around her. She couldn't miss Cullen tending to the wounded, just as she couldn't miss how wrong she was about him. Those several days of travels made her see through the 'mighty Commander' visage and recognize in him the good, humble man he was. They started to exchange looks, greetings and brief conversations, when the circumstances allowed, and Noeth soon realized that those brief encounters became the highlights or her days.
With all that has happened, Noeth also realized that her interest in Blackwall was partly for selfish reasons. She was unconsciously using the warden as a comfort blanket, and while her trust in him was sincere, she felt ashamed. By this point, Blackwall already knew her well enough to recognize her change of heart and no longer pursued her. While they still cared for each other, this ending of their unrealized romance built a wall between them that only strengthened after Revelations.
As for other relationships, Noeth is genuinely surprised when Cassandra becomes a close friend.
Miscellaneous
- Being found, Noeth doesn't know her birthday date. She knows the year and that's it - something Josephine was horrified to learn. The ambassador then 'established' a birthday date for the Herald on 7 Wintermarch so that she can hold a celebration for her.
- After the Inquisition is over, Noeth tries to learn basics of sword fighting and archery.
- Though the scars on Noeth's face she keeps deliberately, she doesn't keep every scar she gets. She is in fact particularly picky about them; every scar she kept has a unique story behind her, a lesson or a reminder of humbleness. She doesn't keep any scars on her body.
