A/N:
Hello, and welcome to my story! Well, stories, I guess. This is a collection of short stories based on the world of Dragon Age II, mostly revolving around Rathina Hawke and her adventures. While these stories are written in the third-person point of view, Hawke and her friends have graced us by giving us their versions of the stories. They're written in no particular order, and the chapter titles make it pretty obvious what the stories are about, so you can pick and choose which ones to read. Anyhow, thanks for stopping by, and reviews are highly appreciated!
Dear Reader,
Well, hello. I guess I'm not exactly sure what to say. I'm not famous for writing books, you know, so I suppose I'll just be blunt.
My name is Rathina Hawke. I'm sure you know who I am- thanks to Varric, everybody does. Well, him and that damn Arishok. Not to mention the mages and... well, you get the picture. If you don't know who I am, then you must have been living under a rock. Go to your local inn and ask anybody about the Champion of Kirkwall; hell, talk to Varric, if you want the tale grossly exaggerated. I'm not going into the long-winded explanation of my entire life.
Anyone who's reading this to find out my whereabouts might as well stop reading now. I'm writing this while in hiding, since someone or other is definitely looking for me, namely the Divine. Few people actually know where I am, and most of them are here with me. Nobody will see me until I want to be seen- don't forget, I am a rogue and thus, really good at hiding.
Well, I didn't start writing in this thing just to threaten my readers, so let's get on with the real introduction, shall we?
I recently received this lovely journal that you are currently holding in your hands as a gift from Fenris (if you don't know who he is, you'll figure it out eventually). In fact, he gave it to me just before we were forced to leave Kirkwall. I was unsure what I would do with this journal- diaries are for whimps- but then I got an idea from Varric, when I was sitting in the Hanged Man listening to him spread rumors. It made me think; I realized that half the things you hear about me are probably wrong. I'm not flattering myself by saying that I am leaving behind a powerful legacy. Words and stories are powerful things; I want the ones about me to be honest.
Together with a couple of my friends, I am compiling memories in the form of stories based on my life as Champion. Few of these stories have ever been heard in full by anyone else before, for varying reasons. I hope this journal falls into the right hands, so somebody can learn the whole story and spread the truth. You won't, however, learn about our adventures that took place after the Mage-Templar War. I'm not an idiot, after all.
Maybe I'll leave that for a different story, if this all blows over.
Anyway, Fenris and Bethany and a few of my other friends have been helping me with this project- they've been amazingly agreeable with all of it, so I'll have to remember to thank them later. We've taken turns writing these stories, because even Varric could never capture all our different perspectives (we don't pretend to tell stories as well as he does, but hopefully we'll give him a run for his money). And, of course, he barely knew anything about my life before Kirkwall, so Bethany and I have written in a few childhood stories in here as well. Several- in fact, most- of these stories have been very painful to relive, but with the help of my friends I think I'll be able to finish them all. I or someone else will give you a short introduction before each story, so you know what's going on. At least this story-writing thing gives me something to do, as hiding out is rather boring...
Maker's ass, this introduction stuff is hard, but I can blame it on Bethany; she insisted I write one. So, to give this short letter a sappy conclusion: I hope you enjoy these stories and share in our memories, good and bad.
~Rathina Hawke, 9:38 Dragon