A/N: The following is just a quick overview of the Main Protagonist of Dragon Age 2. While a lot of people didn't like the sequel and placed it under the stairs with their disowned stepchild I played it for more than 100 hours and found that the game has a unique charm to it. While I hated the fact that the areas you could travel to weren't diverse for the most part I liked the characters, Merrill's romance with a male Hawke, Fenris' romance with a Female Mage Hawke, the battle style, and the fact that it's told from the word of mouth of a dwarf that lies, cheats, and steals to get by. I love the destiny trailer and the music as well. What I like most about it as well is the fact that Hawke is a Champion before they even became one. They have abilities and power to defy the odds and overcome challenges most would have died from tackling. I love that Hawke's past is shrouded in mystery with so little to show for it. Since there isn't much of one I made one instead.
Read this or don't read this it won't change anything. You can skip this and it won't effect the story. While this might spoil a lot of the mystery behind his past before the Blight I found myself not caring. Unless you're incapable of resisting that sense of curiosity I suggest you continue to chapter one. If not well... Enjoy this brief overview of the man before he became a legend.
Overview
Hawke.
That's my name. Well, that's my family name and I don't mean the bird either. While that would be sort of nice to turn into a bird and shit on top a Templar or two I still can't do that. If only right. Well anyway. My family name is Hawke and I'm a bit different from the normal man or woman. I'm actually a killer. Killer archer and swordsman. While I prefer to stick to bows and arrows I can take a man down with a sword if I have to. I prefer two or maybe a sword and a dagger.
I learned how to fight when I joined the army alongside my younger brother Carver. Carver is the twin brother of little sister Bethany and has a chip on his shoulder most of the time. He's standing in my shadow and complains about it all the time. I literally can't take him anywhere without hearing about how he's undermined and how mother compares him to me. Of course I have the right to be a bit cocky after all I've fought for longer than him and killed more men than him being the fact that he's killed none so far. Some might call me a warrior and others a rogue. A small percentage call me… apostate.
Yes, I'm a mage but I've kept it hidden for a good long while. The only one that knows about my magic are magic users like my little sister Bethany. We kept this to ourselves seeing that I've hidden it much easier than her but we still study together in very secluded areas outside of Lothering. This is where we live, my family and I. It's me, mother, Bethany, and Carver. Father has passed away before Bethany and Carver were born leaving me to take care of my family.
I worked as a soldier and learned a thing or two from Templars from there ethics and morals to their method of fighting. I don't normally use a shield but the Templar manner of fighting is interesting to me. It's like learning to fight against mages but also a bit more. I feel that Templar training is derived from mages with the way they fight. I actually have friends that are Templars in the Chantry. We even play cards every now and again. My dearest sister has complained to me time and time again against being near the Templars in such a way. She tells me that my antics put us at risk but you can't learn to blend in unless you stalk in the midst of your enemy without them knowing.
Being the charming free spirit that I am I found farming and livestock to be boring and dull. While I wanted to stay home and be there for mother all the time I felt I had to work elsewhere to make more sovereigns else we go hungry and as something that brought in the coin my family needed. So when I came of age I joined the army.
My first assignment, I was sent north along the Waking Sea to Seheron where I was exposed to Qunari for the first time but more specifically the Ben-Hassrath. From what I gathered they're Shadow warriors and spies that either make people disappear or re-educated them. Lucky me that the squad I was assigned to was ambushed by Tal-vashoth instead. I was the only survivor of the ambush on the ground dying in the middle of bodies of my superiors. I didn't cry to see them go. I even snipped a few coins from the Captain's body before facing the coming storm. I was completed surrounded by Tal-vashoth even though only a few remaining. They blended in with the fog of the island and with my skills at the time I wasn't well suited to fight them. A few agents of the Ben-Hassrath saved my ass when they came in swooping from above. I was saved and nursed back to health thanks to them. They watched the entire time apparently and I impressed enough for them to try and take me, a Basra, and convert me to the Qun. I wasn't really for that and they didn't stress the issue. They did teach me some moves though before I left them to get my ass back home.
Then that's when the fog warriors came into play. I was with them for a time living in the nature surviving and working as a bit of a mercenary. I left them on a good note and more money than I knew what to do with.
Taking a ship from Seheron to Rivain I somehow found myself in Orlais after sailing the sea on a Raiders vessel for a time until we made port in Gilmer. I found that Orlais was very… different compared to Fereldan. I got myself attached to the Silver Oaks mercenary band with a former chevalier as lead with elven servants and a few curious individuals from the country of Orlais and Antiva. The way they dress is strange but their food is very good.
I learned more and more and gathered up much more money which I sent home the more I got. My mother almost lost her head when I finally got my letter to her after missing for three months. In her letter to me she gave me a stiff talking to the left me cringing. Why wasn't I back home, what was I doing, what I eating right, was i staying away from those harlots, when was I coming home, and a just wait until i get home for the smack across the face she's going to give me. I sent her letters back and she wrote me once a week at least. Eventually she cooled off forgave me in time but was skeptical about my current line of work. If I worked as anything other than a soldier my mother would worry but she kept me in her thoughts. Being a soldier wasn't my forte anyway after all I would have been paid spit compared to officers. It's not worth it compared to my very much dishonest work as a hired sword. Of course I didn't wish to stay for too long and moved on after defeating my leader in single combat to free myself from his charge.
From there I made my way east with the Frostback Mountains in my way. I got lost like an idiot in a blizzard and avalanche and found my way to a place called Haven. It was strange but had food and warmth so I stayed for a time until the blizzard died down. There I learned they happened to praise a dragon after a bit of sneaking around and ended up making some bad choices when I "decided" to join their covenant. It was so they wouldn't sacrifice me to their dragon god like the isolated mountain Tevinter-esque town they are. They have a Revered Father for Andraste's sake.
They saw that I had magic and not just martial skills so again I was trapped with this group for three months in the cold. They forced me to become a spell word's apprentice after a small competition against three others. They didn't make it, enough said.
I learned more advanced forms of magic that I never thought possible and how to control my dreams of the fade more efficiently. I slept in the creepy ruins in some form of mock harrowing and confronted one of my first demons. She was a nice demon that poured me Orlesian wine and roast of the fog warriors. We talked for a long time until we got to the area of letting her in. We made a deal that if she could best me in combat she could have me. Being a desire demon she didn't like fighting and instead of going to the sparing ring we went to the bed room. I won of course and we are pretty good friends I'd like to say after that. My desire and lust were so great they overcame that of the very same vices personified. That might be a sign I'm not exactly a good person but a win is a win. She speaks to me about the fade and I tell her about the real world and my adventures. Something for something. Though I've never turned to blood magic. She tried but I couldn't. Its... unnatural.
I woke up with an axe above me about to come down any second then but they realized I won and we all drank and were marry for my passing, not really. I learned from the magician there how to fight with a sword wand or strengthen a blade through magical augmentation. Fascinating stuff. Interesting enough we never once dove into blood magic. It was seen as forbidden for good reason and it was pounded into me to never resort to such. Of course like any other good follower I had to drink the ceremonial blood of the high dragon and god was it terrible. I could hear the… music of the dragons. I could almost feel like I was one of them. I learned how to use the power of my altered blood to make myself stronger with every injury or bit of damage done to me. I learned so much to the point I become a trusted spy. The path to become a spy was bloody and sadly most of it wasn't my choice. I wished to live and it was kill or be killed.
One day i was tasked to enter the Temple of Sacred Ashes to pour blood from my savior Andraste into the urn within. I did as I was tasked and left for the temple. I was stopped by a man and moved to engage him but stopped once he began to speak. I listened to him despite the chanting for his voice broke though. He questioned me and I answered. He let me pass and so transverse the temple from start to finish. I was only mildly impressed with what I saw. I only had waking nightmares and suffered revelations I never thought possible. No big deal right. What was a big deal was what happened when I reached the ashes. I was... saved. I was purified. The blood in my body calmed down and my mind was my own once more. I could think clearly once more and the chatting of the cult ceased. The dragon blood within me shifted. The nightmares stopped and the music wasn't as loud as before. Once I felt my mind come back to me and left the temple awakened from my mind control I planned to escape.
I reported my failure out of many but still was tasked with a new mission. I was released with the blessing of the Revered Father to travel to Denerim and research the rumors of a man trying to get to the temple of Sacred Ashes.
I took a pinch of the ashes and held them in a small pouch since then.
I was sent out but I didn't get to Denerim though. I made it there via carriage, but sadly I didn't wake up when I supposed to and slept three days past the city to the point that our carriage pass through the Brecillian Forest. It was ransacked by Dalish of course. I wasn't happy about this fact, close to enraged in fact. When they came I took them on. I shed my robes and picked up my sword and bow for the first time in half a year. I took on the Dalish who attacked and took down most of them. I could smell them in the shadows of the trees and used magic to find each and every one. I didn't kill them but I did make them regret attacking me while in a bad mood. I spent that night wiping my arrow wounds and barely felt any of it. They ran away I think after the tenth arrow I shrugged off and left me alone to heal myself. I was a fool and followed after them and ended up lost in the forest.
I walked north in hope of finding a road and instead found a ruin. I wandered inside out of pure curiosity and was attacked by undead. That means blood magic or demons. It was my queue to leave and I walked out, or rather I tried to. I was in the shadows when I was someone dragging an elf by her leg into the ruin. Mom didn't raise a selfish bastard sadly so I went further in to save her. I had some strange dreams of large battles in the ruins and found some interesting artifacts. Mainly some armor for me to wear that helped me get through the ruins.
I found the Dalish girl moments from being sacrificed to demons by blood mages and, being the hero that I am, I snuck in and slashed a couple throats. Then I jumped into the midst of the ritual and killed most of them with my sword and my draconian techniques until the last one came up to kill me. A man possessed by a demon. I've never seen an abomination before and to see it transform like it did startled me. I fought it along side the Dalish warrior and won if barely. It was more powerful than any demon I've ever faced. It scared to death and said a lot of personal thing to me, but still we killed it. I took their money and burned the bodies before climbing my way out the ruins with the dalish in tow.
Being a shemlen and all, whatever that is, she hated me for a couple days alone in the forest together but in the end she really did warm up to me. She really repaid me for saving her life at a nice hot spring we found. If I had to rate her from a scale of one to ten that was one of the best, so nine. That's mainly because she was very adamant to kill me and spat insults at me almost every step of the way. To get her to warm up and allow me to make love to her was an accomplishment if you asked me. My mother always said that I had my father's charm and temperament at times.
The next day we reached her clan where she introduced me to the keeper. He was a nice guy and didn't seem to hold much bigotry against shemlen like me. After giving him my tale he gave me his thanks for the girl, who happened to be his daughter, and helped me get supplies together to leave. I listened to the stories of the Dales and conversed with many of the people that had questions. I told stories of my own exploits to the kids and got to know Mara for myself. Before I left she looked ready to follow me but stayed with her family. It was for the best and it was nice to really get to know an elf outside the norm being a noble house or brothel. I still send her messages via messenger hawk.
Finally, I reached home after five years of work and sending money home to find much older siblings now adults of age and me a bit shocked to see the difference. Mother showered me with kisses and held me for half an hour. Bethany did the same but Carver didn't seem eager to see me back. Even though they are well off because of all the money I sent home but I suppose that was fine. I had a long story to tell them. Took me a good part of the day to give them a good summery of what I went through. I kept certain things to myself but for the most part I told them of my exploits. Mother was in hysterics, Carver was a bit envious, and Bethany was in awe. I still suffered that smack across the face though and it hurt, a lot.
I came home a bit more weathered and older and much stronger than before from my experiences. I had my adventure and eager to get back into the home life I took for granted. I got to know my sister again and taught her a bit of the magic I learned. I taught Carver how to fight like I learned from the Avaar. I took care of most of the business and what not for the family for at least half year until a man came to the village asking for conscripts for the king's army. They are to ride for Ostagar to fight darkspawn.
Sounds simple enough right? It wasn't.
I was conscripted so rode down to join once more. I had no choice, after all I was part of the army before and discovered by them being why I was conscripted. Carver joined as well despite my wishes and followed behind me. So we went to join and fight darkspawn. Sadly everything went wrong like it always did and the King was killed right before me. The army was routed and we ran. We ran ahead of the horde but it was following right behind us. I had to get a back to mother. I had to get back to my sister. I had to get back home before it was destroyed. That's all that mattered at the time.
