Dragon Age OC backstory.

[lilladyeva]

My sister and I were seven that day. We had been banished outside with the rest of our cousins, a group of six elves ranging from five to ten years of age. My aunt Lysandra, sat on the bench with her embroidery kept a wary eye on us as we played in the garden. It was a magical place, that garden, filled with trees and pools and places to dig, perfect for children.

My sister was spending the morning digging holes and collecting interesting rocks while I was engaged in a heated debate with my oldest cousin, Benny, a stout ten year old about why playing tag was unfair to me.

“I can’t run as fast as you.” I argued.

“It’s not my fault you’re a stupid shem.” He answered.

“Don’t call me that!” I replied and I gave him a hard shove. He stumbled backwards for a moment and then he charged at me. In moments we were on the ground kicking and hitting and mostly flailing at each other in anger. My other cousins gathered around to watch and to egg us on.

It was cut short by my aunt’s shrill voice. “You boys better not be fighting.” She said, her voice full of threats. We separated then but eyed each other warily neither willing to back down.

“What’s going on?” Feylandrial asked. I looked and she was right beside me, her hands covered in dirt.

“Nothing.” I answered, not taking my eyes off of Benny.

“I want to play.” Feylandrial demanded. I sighed. I had hated playing with my sister, she never played right and would get easily annoyed. She was weird, threw tantrums all the time and my mother was constantly pushing her on me. I hated it, I just wanted her to be normal.

“Hey that’s a great idea, she can be it.” Benny said. I narrowed my eyes, knowing it to be some sort of trick but unsure how. “Hey everyone Fey’s it!” he shouted and everyone darted away. I hesitated for a moment and then darted away too. I did not want to be caught by my dumb sister.

Fey tried to chase after them, but she was slower and clumsier even than me and she quickly became frustrated. They would dart right past her and slip right out of her grip. I could see her face begin to get red with anger and we laughed at it. That was when someone threw a rock. I never knew who it was, although I suspected it to be Benny, he always took things too far.

Fey stood still in shock as the rock bounced off her cheek leaving a brown smudge. We all froze, we knew that had been too much. She was silent for a moment and then she began to scream. She stood there, her hands down at her sides and she just screamed. I ran over to comfort her, mostly to get her to shut up before the rest of us got into trouble, but as I was about to touch her she burst into flames. It was sudden, first nothing and then fire. It roared into life covering her from head to toe, it’s wild heat made me take a step back. I watched as it consumed her clothes and I could see the fear in her eyes as the flames danced around her. She did not stop screaming.

We all stood there dumbfounded when an apprentice came running out wielding a large blanket. She wrapped Fey in the blanket and carried her inside. I did not see her for the rest of the day.

That night I was trying to go to sleep, but for the first time in my short life I was without my sister. I was not used to sleeping alone without her hot and heavy body taking up space. She annoyed me but she was my sister and I loved her. Unable to sleep I wandered out to the common room and found my mother. She was seated at the table with our Master across from her. His hand was on her shoulder and she was crying.

Concerned I rushed over and crawled into her lap. She looked down at me and tried to smile, but tears still ran down her face. “Felurial, what are you doing awake?” she asked gently.

“I can’t sleep.” I answered as I buried my face into her robe.

“Do you miss your sister?” she asked.

I nodded, without looking up. I did not know what was going on but I was scared and I wanted my mother.

“See.” My mother hissed. “He misses his sister. You can’t possibly separate them, you can’t take her away.”

“I know you are upset, but this is the best thing for her. She is a mage and she needs training.” Our Master explained.

“Why can’t she get training here?” My mother demanded.

He sighed. “You know my wife would not approve. She did not approve of you having them in the first place, she let you keep them as long as she felt they weren’t a threat. Now that she is a mage…”

“My daughter is not a threat to anyone, she’s seven years old.” My mother wailed.

“I know that, but my wife fears, well she feels I will favor her and I fear what she will do to your children. She may hurt her, it is safer for her to be away from here. She will get training and you can visit her. It is not as if she will be gone forever.”
“It’s not fair.” My mother wailed. I clung close to her, hoping to comfort her, but I was unable to. My sister was being taken away from us and there was nothing that I could do. I could do nothing but hold her as she cried.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke later in my own bed, alone. I heard small noises in the common room and I crawled out of bed and crept to the door. I could hear the sound of soft crying and saw my mother seated alone at the table. I slowly approached her.

“Mother?” I called out.

She looked up at me, tears staining her cheeks and she extended her arms out to me. I went to her and she held me to her close.

“Oh Felurial, I am going to miss your sister.” She said with a sigh.

“Me too.” I said obediently and truthfully. I had never been without her.

“Don’t you wish there was something you could do about it? Some way you could stop her from leaving?”

I was confused but I nodded. I did wish I could.

She pulled me closer to her and whispered into my ear. “What if I told you that you could do something about it?” It was a hard whisper and it scared me a little. I was about to answer her when something grabbed my arm and yanked me out of her arms.

There was an explosion of light and color and suddenly my mother was not there any more. In her place was a demon, a demon that looked like a voluptuous woman with limbs that were too long and teeth that were too sharp. I looked back and saw that my Master was gripping my arm and was fighting it off. It roared at him and slashed and with a quick flash was reduced to nothing. I was shaking.

My Master looked at me, and spoke to me for the first time in my life. “Come on.” He said gently and then he guided me out of the Fade.

I woke in my Mother’s bed lying next to her. I curled against her and started to cry, I did not know what happened but I knew it was bad. My Master came a few minutes later and knocked on the door. My Mother sleepily got up and answered it. She greeted him angrily.

“Haven’t you done enough tonight?” she demanded.

“I am afraid I have not,” he said, his head hung low as if he was ashamed. “It’s about your son, I found him in the Fade, I am afraid that he is a Mage too.”
My mother cried out in shock and ran to my side cradling my head in her arms.

“You can’t take him too, you already took one of my babies you can’t take both.” She cried.

“I am so sorry Arianna, I really am but this is for the best.” He explained.

They argued and my mother cried but in the end she relented. She did not have a choice after all. The next day I hugged my mother one last time as a tall man in a long cloak led me away. He was not my Master, I would not meet my Master for a few years once my training was completed, this man was a slave as well and he was to be my teacher.

I was reunited with my sister there and we lived in a dormitory with a dozen other young mages of varying ages. The first few weeks were difficult, I cried at night but not as loudly as my sister. She wailed for hours, it really annoyed all the other children in the dormitory. It annoyed me as well I also missed our mother but I did not wail about it.

Some time during my second week there it was in the wee hours of the morning. I was tired but could not sleep. My days were now spent in difficult study, the basics of magic are difficult when you are only seven. I had also spent my days defending my sister from the others who teased her for her crying and keeping them up at night. I looked out of the window to the quiet outside and then to the quiet bodies of all the others sleeping around me. Everyone else was asleep, even the guard who was supposed to be watching us.

I do not know what I was thinking, I was a child all I knew was that I missed my mother. I crawled out of the window and onto the street and made my way to my old Master’s estate. The doors were locked but I had lived there my whole life and I knew how to sneak in. I crept in and made my way to my mother’s room. I knocked on her door softly at first and then I pounded on it. After a few minutes she flung it open.

“What is…Felurial!” she exclaimed and bent down, she put her hands around my face and looked at me sadly. “Felurial what are you doing here?” she asked gently.

I could not answer, I could only cry. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. “I missed you.” I said.

“I know.” She said, “But you shouldn’t be here. There will be trouble.”

I cried and she held me. “I love you Felurial but you can’t stay here. You will have to go back, I’m sorry. You should not have come here.”

She let me stay the night and in the morning she spoke to her Master and my teacher came to collect me again. He held my wrist tightly as he guided me back, far rougher than he had the first time, I could tell that he was angry. He did not speak to me until we were back at the dormitory. He dragged me into a side office and pointed to a chair in front of a desk.

“Sit.” He commanded and I did.

As I sat, the man who was supposed to be guarding the room the night before was brought in. He looked nervous as his eyes darted from me to my teacher.

“You fell asleep last night.” My teacher said without looking at him.

“I did, but it was only for a moment.” The man stammered.

“You fell asleep and one of your charges escaped.” Was the harsh reply.

“I’m sorry.” The man said. “It won’t happen again.”

“No it won’t. Remove your shirt.” My teacher commanded.

The man sighed and turned around and removed his shirt. I could see the faint lines of scars on his back. My teacher came around the desk carrying a switch. “Hands on the desk.” He ordered and the man complied.

My teacher raised the switch above his head and brought it down on the man’s back. The man grunted and I could see a thin line of blood form. I winced and turned away. I did not want to look.

“No Felurial, you will watch.” My teacher commanded. He grabbed me by the face and turned it towards him. He looked me in the eyes and I could see his anger. “This is your doing, and you will watch.” I nodded, it was the only thing I could do.

My teacher went back to beating the man and I was too scared to turn away. Tears ran down my face but I was afraid to make a sound. When it was done, he was struck twenty times. Then it was over. He put on his shirt a little stiffly and left the room. I remained seated. My teacher stood over me.

“Do you understand what you did?” he asked.

I nodded my head.

“Answer me out loud Felurial, do you understand what you did?”

“Yes.” I answered, my voice wavered.

“Are you going to do it again?” he asked.

“No.” I answered.

“Good. But to ensure you won’t we are going to take some precautions. Now give me your hand.” He commanded.

I held out my hand and he took it. He produced a knife and made a small cut on my index finger. I winced as the blood welled up. He gathered a vial and squeezed a few drops of blood into it. He shook the vial.

“A phylactery. If you ever run I will be able to find you.” I nodded and stared at it. He stoppered it and placed it in a drawer.

“You may now return to your lessons.” He said.

I remained seated for a moment unsure of what to do.

“GO!” he shouted, not looking up.

I ran off, back to the others, back to my sister and I never ran again.