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Name: Christy
Contact Info: swagu
Other Characters Played: Diva (madamemoiselle) + Xerxes Break (madhatted)
Preferred Apartment: None!

Character Name: Alistair
Canon: Dragon Age
Canon Point: During the events of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Background/History: While you can find a general overview here, this summarizes the game choices that make up Alistair's history!
Personality:
Every boy dreams of becoming a hero. Some dream of it more fervently than others, but most boys abandon such a dream as they grow older and realize that the notion is something better confined to stories. However, while most men would abandon the tales they were told as children, Alistair seems to have held onto them. In many ways, he does seem to embody the typical hero. He's strong, witty, and (generally speaking) brave, willing to lay down his life for the sake of saving the world. And yet, these dreams of heroism are a double-edged sword. After all, while Alistair may embody the best of these traits, there are still areas where he fails. He still has that boyish mindset, and it's this that leads to his greatest flaws.

But before we get to those less than flattering aspects, we might as well focus on the positive, because to put it simply, Alistair is a fundamentally good person. Though he's not the best at thinking his actions through, Alistiar goes into nearly every situation with the best intentions. He's always willing to lend a hand and his strength, to the point of laying his life on the line. He's the kind of person that takes great joy in helping others, and does so with at least some measure of humility. Not completely, mind you, since he would still rather have the stereotypical glory and valor of helping someone through battle rather than just picking up their laundry for them or something. But he has a good heart, which is his greatest strength.

In addition, Alistair is also a very friendly, amiable person. His talkative and witty, though his smart mouth gets him into trouble at times, and he seems to have no problem getting along with most people. He has a relatively easy-going nature and prefers to not talk about more serious topics, much preferring to casually laugh with his friends or get into stupid bets. A good example of this is his relationship with another party member, Zevran, who essentially has beliefs and practices very different from his own, and yet they end up becoming friends, if awkwardly so at times (no thanks to Zevran's flirtatious ways). While he can tend to have a certain predisposition towards some people based on stereotypes he has in mind, they're hardly steadfast in his mind—It may take some time, but give proof otherwise, Alistair is willing to open his mind towards other people and cultures.

But of course, Alistair is hardly without faults. His largest, most glaring fault is essentially his naivete. Alistair has lived a very sheltered life growing up in his world's equivalent of a church, and it shows. He's childish at times, getting flustered over issues of romance or responding to more clever insults with the basic equivalent of "yeah, well, your mom." He's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, and it's sometimes painfully obvious with his less than brilliant ideas. He's also very easily taken advantage of for his kindness, since his willingness to give means that less scrupulous people are willing to take from him, especially when Alistair feels particularly guilty about something.

He's very easily led into believing things given someone with a talent for speaking, and he's hardly a leader himself. At the very beginning of the game, we see this in his reluctance to lead the party despite being the senior Warden, and then throughout the game as the subject of his kingship comes up. Through the choices "my" Alistair made, he does not become king, which really is for the best. Alistair is not a leader. He may be charming in his way, but he's really not meant to lead large groups of people, and when faced with conflict, he generally deals with it quite poorly. This can extend from an argument to a death, both of which seem to leave him rather depressed, and for significant periods of time.

After all, despite that seeming idea of being a "hero," Alistair is a very sensitive person, and it's something he's aware of. He gets his feelings hurt rather easily when someone knows where to strike, and he's much more tender than his wit may lead people to believe. After all, that wit acts as something like a front to protect his sensitive nature, since it's not exactly valued both as a templar and as a Grey Warden.

Ultimately, however, Alistair is far from a bad person. He'll stick up for those in need, and is willing to even look past his own biases, given a little diplomatic persuasion to make him see past them. He's funny, friendly, and on some occasions, even charming, though that one comes a bit more rarely. However, though he would like to be that prototypical hero, he's far from it. He has his faults, and crippling ones, at times. He falters in his beliefs and doubts himself and what he's fighting for. He's not a natural leader. He's just plain awkward and stupid sometimes. But for better or worse, Alistair does put forth his best effort for everything he does and wishes to make an impact on the world around him.

Abilities/Powers:
Templar: Alistair was trained as a Templar, which is a class in the game that specializes in neutralizing mages/magic users. He's able to dispel magic and absorb its energy with certain skills, and is able to use some very limited holy magic.

Grey Warden: While it won't have too much bearing here, Alistair is a Grey Warden, which allows him to sense the Orc equivalents of his canon called Darkspawn. He can hear their voices, and very strong Darkspawn can overpower him with how they flood his mind. There are a few more limitations and specific things that Alistair can do as a Grey Warden, but since they pretty much won't come into play, a link should suffice.

Otherwise, since a lot of his chosen skills are either not applicable or covered by "he's very good at using a sword and shield," he's a pretty normal guy! If you're interested in seeing the full list of his skills, they're here, though.

Items/Weapons: Since the item bonuses don't matter much in an RP setting, it's the starter set that Alistair has.

1. Armor: Splintmail Set
2. Shield: Templar Shield
3. Sword: Warden Longsword

Sample Entry: Here! If it's too short don't punch me I'd be happy to write up a mock post!
Sample Entry Two:
The noise that wakes him is completely foreign, so it wakes Alistair with a start. He bolts up, reaching for the sword that was (usually) at his side, ready for a raid or whatever else could have assaulted his party's camp.

—Or, well, that's how it would have ideally gone, if he hadn't promptly smashed his head against the underside of the bunk from sitting up too quickly. He's immediately wincing and holding his head as he collapses back onto the bed, murmuring curses under his breath. And that damned noise isn't stopping!

"Maker's breath what is—" he murmurs, but his sentence is cut short as his blind reaching is met with the source. His vision clears from the impact, though he's still rubbing his head tenderly, and he stares at the strange device in his hand curiously. It's... a clock, clearly. But since when did clocks make such a noise? Or more importantly, how does he stop the stupid thing?

After turning it over in his hands a few times and randomly turning the dials and mashing the buttons, the process of trial and error works in his favor, and the noise is silenced. It's only then that he sighs in some measure of relief, setting it back on the table where he had found it, but looking up at the beds around him, he's hardly any more enlightened about where this little device came from. Actually, all of these beds are unlike anything he's seen, now that he thinks about it.

...He's rather ashamed to think about it, but as he scratches his head, it's the only thing that can come to mind. How much had he drank at that inn last night? Maker, as long as it wasn't a repeat of the Pearl...

Alistair immediately groans, rubbing his face again. Why did he have to remind himself of that?