AN : I'm kind of in love with making character backgrounds and making their families filled with interesting information. I think that may stem from the fact that one of my ancestors came to Australia after stealing a chicken, so it always makes for a good story. I hope that you enjoy! (Although keep in mind that I am an only child and I'm only going off of what information my parents, one being the eldest of six and the other the youngest of three, have told me of their childhoods.)
The youngest of the Trevelyan was thought to be too quiet, far too involved with books and had far too much of an obsession with swords. Even more so than his elder brothers, two of which went into the Templar Order. Maolán Trevelyan was destined for service within the Chantry, whether he liked it or not (he was more on the side of not if he was being perfectly honest). The youngest of the family never really had a choice in the matter.
First of the six Trevelyan siblings was Laisrén, eldest and the heir to House Trevelyan and ten years Maolán's senior. Deep set eyes, the green of their mothers and broad shouldered, taking more after their grandfather than their father Bann. Laisrén was the perfect heir, doing no wrong in their parents' eyes. That is until he got another young heir (named Lisbeth) from Starkhaven pregnant and a quick (and very discreet) wedding was planned.
There was a whole lot of fuss over very little in Maolán's seven year old mind, but his eldest brother's wife was kind (and very pretty) and always snuck him sweets when his parents weren't looking so Maolán was definitely okay with her. And his bratty little niece Orla (once she was old enough he repeated the process, and now it was to be considered to be a tradition, of sneaking sweets, much to his sister-in-law's dismay).
Next was the black sheep of the family, Cuana, following more after the first meaning of his name rather than the second (those being young hound and pleasant and distinguished; although it wasn't like he wasn't either of those things, it just depended on who you were talking to). Shorter than the rest of his siblings, even shorter than his younger sister, with the hazel eyes and blond curls that showed combined genetics inherited from both his mother and father; seven years older than Maolán, and yet the closest to him. One of Maolán's fondest (and earliest) memories was of Cuana throwing a teenager out of a window, over three stories high to the ground with his bare hands after he had found Maolán in tears and beaten bellow the youngster. Cuana didn't take too kindly to anyone hurting his family, especially his youngest sibling whom he considered to be in the sole need of his protection.
He was a mage, much to the disgust of his mother. Nothing really serious happened with his magic until he accidentally turned his younger twin siblings into a pair of very agile, very active and very mischievous foxes. He was sent off by his mother in the middle of the night, much to the disapproval of Bann and his other siblings (the ones who were old enough to argue against the decision that their mother had set upon). Cuana sent letters as often as he could, but Maolán hadn't heard from Cuana in many years, although there was rumour that he had died defending a group of young elves against slavers. He hoped, for his own sake, that this wasn't true.
The twins, Damhnaic and Donnchadh, five years older than Maolán and both identical down to their rounded brown eyes and hair like fire, built lithe more about speed and agility rather than the strength that they would need after the both of them went into the Templar Order not long after being turned into foxes. They had followed more after their mother in their distrust of magic, but could see the lighter side of it after the incident (even if it had been at their expense, but they honestly couldn't blame Cuana. After all it had been their fault for startling their sibling out of his meditative state and disrupting his tight control over his magic). Damhnaic was the gentler of the two, although that wasn't really saying much as Damhnaic and Donnchadh were a pair of menaces to the general population of Ostwick. Laisrén had joked often that the rest of the world had to watch out after they left home and they (the Templar Order) wasn't allowed to come running to him once they realised what a pair of menaces they had allowed into their order.
Unlike the tragedy of Cuana, the twins had stayed true to their jobs and protected the mages that they could in the wake of the uprising. From what Laisrén had been able to tell his youngest sibling, they were doing well for themselves and everyone else in the family could only breathe a sigh of relief that not one of the siblings had followed in the path of their uncle to the Grey Wardens.
Neamhain, the only girl and the darling princess of the family, one year older than Maolán. With her lustrous golden hair and bright green eyes (a trait that was the only thing the two siblings shared apart from family and a destiny in the Chantry. Speaking of which, she was proud and almost fanatical in her zeal to serve the Chantry, something that her brothers did not share. They had seen too much, heard too much or read too much to ever consider believing solely in the words or practices. They didn't dispute their only sister's choice, but they didn't much like it either. Especially as she was the only girl born to their parents, she was prime material to be married off to another family. To be able to create an alliance with another powerful, noble, family.
Neamhain never wanted to be married, she had once confided in Maolán that she was a disgrace to the family because of her feelings and thoughts towards another girl in Ostwick whom she had met at one of the blacksmiths that Maolán frequented (always working on and looking at new ways to temper metal to create bigger and better swords, smaller and sharper daggers). Whilst having a female lover if you were female (or a male lover if you were male) wasn't considered to be a taboo or frowned upon, being the only female child from a noble family that was expected to create alliances from marriage and the following pregnancy, it definitely wasn't looked upon with any sort of fondness. Add in her obsessive interest with Andraste; hence Neamhain's decision to go to the Chantry.
(Maolán had also confided in his sister and closest brother, Cuana that he didn't particularly find anyone sexually attractive, nor did he particularly want to, but the male form was romantically attractive towards him. Their parents had never out rightly stated that they didn't like homosexual or homoromantic relationships, but they definitely weren't too fond of them either. Something about the traditions needing to be upheld and all of their children needed to sort of their priorities to the family and to Andraste. Later he found, looking back with surprising fondness, that only Dorian seemed to be sexually and romantically attractive to him; something that Dorian had found both surprising and amusing.)
A father of one, a Mage, two Templars, a Chantry cleric and now the Herald of Andraste, the Inquisitor in one generation of Trevelyan's was a lot to handle for their parents. Especially considering none of the siblings followed the paths that their parents had originally planned for them.
AN: I feel like I'm on a roll at the moment, especially considering I've only ever watched the walkthroughs of this game and the fact that I own the first book I have fallen in love with this world and the characters within. I have an idea as to what my Inquisitor would look and act like, even though I haven't the chance to actually make him into a reality.
Also pronunciations of the names Maolán (MALEawn), Laisrén (LASrain), Cuana (COOuhna), Damhniac (DAVnic), Donnchadh (DUNakha) and Neamhain (NYAVin).