First character of three:
Name: Elissa Cousland The Hero of Ferelden
Titles: Lady of Highever (formerly), Champion of Redcliffe, The Hero of Ferelden, Queen of Ferelden, Warden-Commander of Ferelden
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Appearance:
DA:OCanon, AU, or OC?: Canon
Universe of Origin: Dragon Age
Personality: Elissa will go to great lengths to ensure the survival of someone, like with those cursed to be werewolves she sought out a way to break the curse over killing them. Connor she could have easily killed him for all the harm he caused or allowed his mother to sacrifice herself to save him, but she sought help to ensure the survival of both. She also seeks out power, she prefers Leliana or the pirate Isabella over Alistair but when it became known that Alistair could become the next king she sought to become his Queen, she did eventually fall in love with after seeing the lengths he was willing to go for his subjects. When Amaranthine was given to the Grey Wardens Elissa made sure to upgrade their base Vigil's Keep to its fullest potential, when the City of Amaranthine came under attack she raced to defend it while defending the city word reached that Vigil's Keep was under attack as well, it pained her greatly to not rush back and help her friends but many innocents would have killed or severely wounded not to mention they would have lost everything. She put her faith in her friends and the dwarf who upgraded the Keep, and prayed to Andraste that they would be spared, her faith was rewarded. After Fiona was able to remove the Taint from herself by unknown means thus curing her of the Calling, she began a mission to ensure she and no Warden would ever have to give up their life because of it, even if it was the last thing she did.
Abilities: Dual Weapon expert, Archery expert, master lockpicker
Weapon: Dual Volcanic Aurum swords, Ancestral Heartwood Crossbow, & Murder Knife (not used in combat)
Equipment: Aurum Volcanic armor, boots, gloves, & helmet
Backstory: While her brother Fergus & father was preparing to aid King Cailan just waiting for Howe and his men. They were also entertaining Grey Warden Duncan who was looking for a recruit in the fight against the Blight. During the night Howe's men attacked. Elissa and her Mabari war hound fought her way to her mother's side, eventually they find Fergus' wife and son murdered and they then make their way to the pantry where they find her father who is mortally wounded. Duncan eventually fights his way into the pantry as well. To ensure the survival of Elissa her father allows Duncan to recruit his daughter. Elissa's mother refused to leave her dying husband; she did not survive the night. Elissa and Duncan travelled to Ostagar where she and other recruits go through the Joining ritual. Elissa was the sole survivor of the ritual; she is joined by Alistair a fellow Grey Warden. They were tasked with fighting their way to the top of Tower of Ishal to light a signal fire to call in the cavalry. Almost as soon as the signal fire was lit they were overrun by Darkspawn, they only survived thanks to Flemmeth. Elissa is joined by Flemmeth's daughter Morrigan. On their way out of the wilderness they stop in Lothering for supplies and news, they also are joined by Leliana & Sten. Elissa and her companions have many tasks they must do to stop the Blight. Their first stop was Brecilian Forest, to use the Grey Warden treaties to recruit the Dalish Elves, before they could do that they had to resolve the werewolf curse. Elissa cured the werewolves of their blight allowing them to return back to human form. With the Dalish Elves successfully recruited Elissa turned her attention towards the Circle of Magi Tower to recruit the mages as per the Grey Warden treaties. The Tower was overrun by demons and abominations, Elissa is given a choice, to enact Rite of Annulment and recruit the Templars to defeat the Blight or to resolve the issues with the mages without killing them all which will result in the mages being recruited. Elissa could not stand by and just authorize the murder of those who were innocent because of a few bad ones. She was joined on her quest by Circle mage Wynne. Elissa travels to Orzammar to recruit the Dwarves, to get the Dwarves assistance she must first settle their civil war. Elissa chose to side with Bhelen over Harrowmont. To get Bhelen in power Elissa had to deal with the criminal gang and find a missing Paragon.
Once all the members of the treaties had pledged their support Elissa turned her attention towards uniting the humans against the Blight by dealing with Loghain, the first step was to obtain the aid of The Arl of Redcliffe, but he was in a magically induced coma. Before Elissa could enter the Arl's castle she had to save the village of Redcliffe from the hordes of the Undead that stormed the village every night coming from the castle. Once inside the castle Elissa and her companions were forced to deal with Connor who had become possessed by a Desire Demon. Elissa enlisted the help of Circle mages so that no one would be sacrificed. After saving Connor the only way to save the Arl was to obtain a pinch of ash from the Urn of Sacred Ashes. Once the Arl recovers he calls for the Landsmeet.
Before the Landsmeet can happen, Elissa was forced to deal with Howe who had kidnapped the Queen. After successfully rescuing the Queen, Elissa & Alistair are captured, they escaped on their own. Once free it is revealed there is unrest in the Elven Alienage in Denerim. The Elves are being sold into slavery by sold into slavery. At the Landsmeet Loghain lost, Alistair dueled Loghain and won, Alistair was named the next King and Elissa was to be his wife.
With everything lined up to take down the Archdemon, Elissa returns to Redcliffe to find it overrun by Darkspawn. To permanently stop the Archdemon a Grey Warden must sacrifice their life, Riordan a previously imprisoned Warden will volunteer to do it but he ultimately fails. Morrigan gives Elissa the opportunity to save Alistair & her, by allowing Alistair to impregnate Morrigan it would then result in the Archdemon's soul entering the fetus instead of a Grey Warden. Elissa left Alistair behind to defend the city just in case Elissa failed to kill the Archdemon. Elissa didn't fail and the Blight was ended.
Elissa was then promoted to Warden-Commander of Ferelden, as commander she was responsible for killing the sentient Darkspawn known as the Architect and all of his disciples, she also was recruited by Jerrick Dace to find his brother and ultimately destroying a Dwarven Thaig to end the threat of The Harvester, she would also go on a Witch Hunt looking for Morrigan, ultimately allowing Morrigan to step through the Eluvian without stabbing her.
Dog, Elissa's Mabari war hound eventually dies of old age. His legacy would live on through all the pups he fathered in the Denerim kennels in an effort to replenish their numbers.
At some point after Morrigan left Elissa went on a quest to find a cure for the Calling faced by all Grey Wardens.
Faction: Factionless