fabulistic | systemwide app

UNPLUGGED

OOC

Name: Joey
Age: /flashes fake ID (no, I'm 23)
Contact details:

technobabbled
Characters already in Systemwide: N/A

BASIC PROFILE

Name: Varric Tethras
Age: 40
Canon: Dragon Age
Appearance:

Varric looks like this aaaaaaand for height comparison have this. He retains this appearance for the Matrix.

Unplugged he looks pretty much the same, minus the piercings and his hair still growing back. RIP, chest hair. :< Also he's kind of giant at 6'2" so that's going to take some getting used to.

Extraction point: Post-Inquisition

OVERVIEW

Personality:

For a dwarf Varric is not particularly dwarven. Not even by surface standards. This is obvious from the moment you lay eyes on him thanks to the lack of beard. It's not just a stereotype of the dwarves. It's actually a relative rarity for a male dwarf to shave off his beard. Being born on the surface he lacks the stone sense that allows his underground kin to navigate the Deep Roads and actively dislikes being underground. It's something he'll avoid unless he believes there's good reason and even then he'll complain.

Not that his heritage can't be seen at all in his behaviour. Like many surface dwarves he's a member of the Merchants' Guild, albeit reluctantly since he avoids whatever meetings he can. He's not exactly a willing head of family, but he maintains their house and business all the same even if he does seem to assign a lot of work to imaginary family members. His speech contains dwarven turns of phrase too, likely picked up off his family and other surface dwarves he grew up around. He takes the surface's Maker's name in vain more often than not, but he's been known to use the dwarven ancestors too. He says things like nug humper or nug shit, things you'd be unlikely to hear from any elf or human. He also shows knowledge of rock wraith legends and other parts of dwarven tales and history. This isn't entirely surprising when you learn of his brother's reverence for Orzammar. Bartrand was known to hoard the things the Tethras family had brought up to the surface with them and Varric once tells the story of how upset Bartrand had been with him when he broke a plate from the dwarven kingdom they'd come from.

At first glance Varric may seem to be an entirely open individual. He loves to talk and seems to have the ability to converse with near anyone with great ease. He's a storyteller by trade as well as for enjoyment. He's a successful novelist and passes much of his free time spinning tales for patrons in the tavern he resides in. His tales range from exaggerated to outright lies. He's actually very private about himself and it's possible to know him for a long time not know much about his past or views on a subject. He loves telling stories about the people he knows, but even when he was present he rarely puts himself in the starring role. He tends towards evasive when asked directly about his personal opinions, and if pushed will generally resort to obvious lies rather than the truth. Cassandra discovers this when asking about his brother and Varric goes on to tell her how he single handedly took down all of his bodyguards and gets so far as telling her about Bartrand breaking down and going on a spiel about how great Varric is before she interrupts and demands the honest version of the story.

It's in part because of this avoidance of controversy and opinions he's able to form as many friendships and alliances as he does. He expresses little of his views on politics or anything else going on and if asked will deflect the question or state his lack of desire to take sides. As a result he has friends of all kinds, even some who would never get along if he happened to introduce them. With all his connections he's been able to build up a successful spy network. With all the information Varric has he could easily sway the politics in Kirkwall whichever way he wants, but he doesn't. Instead he uses his influence and money to take care of his friends and pass on bits of information they may find useful. And for the benefit of the family business. Maybe. Sometimes. That was always far more his brother's forte than his own and even though he's in charge now he doesn't do much more than he has to in order to keep it successful.

The thing is Varric cares deeply for his friends. He cares far more about keeping them safe and happy than he does taking sides. He's the only one of Hawke's companions who will side with him for certain in the final battle regardless of which side he takes and how high or low his friendship/rivalry level is. He also admits to becoming attached to his spies and looking out for them and their families. He's more sentimental than he'd like and once he becomes fond of someone it's pretty much inevitable he'll become some combination of bodyguard and mother hen, taking care of them the best he can from behind the scenes. He does try to hide this side of himself to some extent, but he's not that great at it. Basically Varric is loyal to the death to those who are important to him, though for obvious reasons he would prefer things didn't go that far.

His loyalties can change over time, but that's brought on by the person, not money or threats. He becomes intent on killing his brother after he left him and his friends to die in the Deep Roads as one example, though he will regret this if he's allowed to go through with it and if he isn't he puts a lot of effort into trying to restore his brother's sanity. He also kills an old friend without much hesitation when he threatens Hawke's life, but that was an extreme case. He is undeniably less fond of Anders by Inquisition and deeply hurt by his actions, but even so should he live Varric does nothing to give away his whereabouts despite having had plenty of opportunity to and there being no end of people who would love to get their hands on him.

Keeping things so close isn't without its downsides. Whilst Varric knows all there is to know about Kirkwall and his friends it takes a persistent individual to truly learn Varric's mind. He prefers it that way generally speaking. It's easier to maintain his reputation as a shallow businessman and storyteller than be seen as soft and being as invested in people as he truly is. It does mean Varric has a hard time talking about his feelings though even though most can tell quite easily he's far from lacking them.

The only time Varric really talks about his insecurities is when he's pushed to by circumstance or force. He's quick to warn Fenris off killing his sister after facing a similar situation after his brother's betrayal, and he will voice his concern if Hawke pursues a romance. He talks of his own feelings of inadequacy within his family at one stage, but it takes the sway of a demon he's battling to pry that out of him. Even under threat he may not crack enough to reveal more personal things, particularly if it may be to the detriment of his friends.

He's a convincing liar, so he's often able to get away with it, though there are occasions he doesn't even bother to pretend he isn't being honest. He lies for a multitude of reasons. There is power in stories and Varric recognises this. He knows there are times to be honest and times exaggeration is better to captivate an audience. Sometimes things need to be sugar coated to make them seem less awful. Other times a twist in the truth is needed to protect.

He does this often. He lies about not knowing Hawke's location to keep him uninvolved. His narration of Isabela's dream states she was never even tempted to give in to the false life shown within her nightmare whilst reality shows the opposite story. He lies about the origin of his crossbow too, pretending the only person involved in her design is dead of he even gives that much away when in reality her designer is alive and well.

Bianca is her designer as well as her namesake, though as Varric is fond of saying she's the one story he can never tell. He hums a song he wrote about the tale to help him focus in battle, but the words are a closely guarded secret.

Matrix:

Thedas Matrix overview. Linked with permission from

dissent. Thanks, Amber!

General Varric info.

As Dragon Age has various decisions and outcomes, here are the main ones that are important to Varric's own particular experiences.

Origins:

- Dwarven commoner rogue female warden in Origins.
- Warden romanced Alistair.
- Bhelen crowned king.
- Anora became queen/Alistair stayed with wardens.

Dragon Age 2

- Humorous male rogue Hawke.
- Max friendship with Hawke.
- Bethany became a Grey Warden.
- Hawke romanced Anders.
- Bartrand lives. Anders able to temporarily heal him.
- Hawke doesn't let Varric keep lyrium shard.
- Accompanied Hawke with Bethany and Anders in Legacy DLC Act 2.
- Accompanied Hawke with Anders for Mark of the Assassin DLC Act 3.
- Hawke didn't help Anders gather his materials.
- Hawke sided with the mages and spared Anders.
- All companions remained with Hawke sans Sebastian.

Inquisition

- Dwarven rogue male inquisitor.
- Inquisitor denies being chosen by Andraste.
- Inquisitor romanced the Iron Bull.
- Completed both Varric's Inner Circle quests.
- Inquisitor allied with the templars and did not go to Redcliffe.
- Celene lives and rules alone.
- Hawke sacrificed himself in the Fade.
- The Wardens were rebuilt.
- Cassandra became devine.

Real World:

It's only been about a month since Varric was first unplugged. As a result he's still pretty out of shape and tires far more easily than he's used to though he is starting to improve. His coordination is still very poor though due to low muscle tone and suddenly having far longer limbs than he's used to.

He still doesn't know much beyond the basics, but he is keen to learn them and more about the real world. Once he gains a bit more strength he'd also like to learn to use weapons since the real world ones are... decidedly different from what he's used to.

ABILITIES AND SKILLS

Anomalies:

As a dwarf Varric has a natural resistance to magic. He's not immune to it, but it's certainly less effective on him than it would be any other race of being in his universe. This also extends to demons, lyrium, and the dwarven inability to dream due to having no connection to the Fade.

Skillset:

Varric is the roguest of rogues. He's good with a crossbow, skilled at picking locks, and can detect/disarm traps.

Upload Capabilities:

Anomalous Skills: 2 (on the grounds he has the innate ability to resist magical powers to an extent although he cannot learn them)
Martial Arts: 0
Projectile Weaponry: 5
Technical Skills: 3
Wild Card: 0