^{ellis cousland}

Indie hero of ferelden of da:o
Private & Mutually Exclusive & Low Activity
Headcanon-based
As told by xan

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IMPORTANT PORTRAYAL NOTES

BIOGRAPHY

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ellis is the secondborn son of eleanor & bryce cousland. he was raised as a noble, along his older brother fergus & younger sister lily.growing up in highever, he was left to run wild. he & his sister ran the night, constantly plling one another into different schemes & pranks. he was always a backup plan, extra support for fergus' bright future. this did not mean ellis was any less loved or valued, but his value did lay elsewhere. it laid in the shadows & history books, in every thread of trouble he could pull in the tapestry of his life.Growing up, Ellis was branded chaotic, short-tempered, emotional. He could claim it was part of his charm but it was a deterrent to keep him out of many official dealings. Friends & lovers would come & go on a whim, with few he felt determined enough to keep around. Any potential matches his parents suggested were met with blatant rebellion & it would remain a recurring theme. Out of the many noble families who visited Highever, Ellis made a handful of connections. Some were good, some were less so.among these connections was a girl. She was the stubborn sort, it was no surprise when she & Ellis butted heads after a brief introduction. Ellis was sixteen when he met her & would forever remember the name: Astoria. Despite the sour taste she left in his mouth, meeting her would be a day he’d remember for the rest of his life. Her red hair in the sun as she trailed behind her father, Brennan Donnley. They came from Amaranthine, on business between their fathers. Where they had butted heads initially, he quickly changed his mind about his delightfully clever adversary. she was unlike anyone he had ever met before. It was difficult to keep her off his mind. Nearly quickly as they had decided they couldn’t stand one another, they became just as close. Infatuation, familiarity,friendship, whatever the word was, Ellis was thankful for her & would drop nearly everything at the mention of her name. It wasn’t long before their parents whispered about a potential match, never loud enough for them to hear.ellis was fascinated by legends & stories of battlefield. with gore came glory & that was all he saw. he imagined that one day he may end up one of these stories, immortalized in action. his big dreams of heroism lead him to a fascination with the grey wardens of ferelden. they were the only ones who could do what they did & that held a certain appeal for ellis, though his sister did not share his fascination. naturally, news of a potential blight thrilled ellis. he did not think of the implications of what that would mean for he or his people. when the grey warden, duncan, arrived looking for recruits ellis was the first to volunteer. his sister advised otherwise, as did the rest of his family. they needed someone to keep an eye on highever while bryce & fergus were fighting the battles ellis had dreamed of. he was none too pleased about the conclusion & planned to sneak out in the night, to follow the grey warden & beg him to let ellis into his order. unfortunately, his wish was granted.The rumours were confirmed when the king called the Couslands to action, dragging his father & brother into the conflict. It was infuriating at first — Ellis had dreamed of a blight, seeing it as his path to greatness… without thinking of the horrific implications of what the blight could mean. Lily was less thrilled about the impending danger, though Ellis was too stubborn to see things from her perspective. Bryce made plans to join forces with his long standing ally, Rendon Howe, & march to aid the king in his plight. Unfortunately, Howe’s men were behind schedule & the Cousland troops were sent out ahead of them. He pleaded with his father to allow him to fight alongside he & his brother, Fergus, but his request was denied as he was needed to stay behind & defend Highever.He reluctantly agreed to watch over castle Cousland, though he felt thoroughly cheated…rather, he did until a Grey Warden by the name of Duncan came to his home in search of recruits. He & his sister were told that they were his first choice of recruits & Ellis was thankful for it… until he was forbidden to take advantage of the opportunity. Lily again, made it known that she was not interested in the opportunity. Unknown to his parents or sister, Ellis intended to go behind his father’s back & try to pursue the idea when he left to fight the darkspawn but his plan was cut woefully short.Rendon Howe betrayed the Couslands, commanding his men to cut down every man, woman & child that had Cousland blood in their veins. Ellis was able to tear through Howe’s men in a desperate attempt to escape with he, Lily & his mother’s life. They searched the castle for his father, finding him sliced open & clinging to what little life he had left. The Grey Warden, Duncan, was at his side. Their parents beg Duncan to save their children & he agrees: with a cost. In order to save them, he would conscript them. Here, Ellis & Lily promise bryce that he will be avenged & Eleanor promises she will do plenty of avenging in her final stand. Ellis has to tear Lily from Bryce’s bleeding body & then, they run.Ellis’ dream came true in the most harrowing way possible. He was woefully unprepared for the sacrifice of his family & was left hollow by the time he arrived at Ostagar, the ruin of a fortress King Cailan used as a base to fend off the impending darkspawn attack. Lily was the only shred of life he had left & he clung to her for her steadfast support. They were greeted warmly, though he was quick to inform the king of Howe’s treachery. They were promised justice & for a moment, were given hope. Shortly after, they met Alistair – the newest Grey Warden recruit that had been indicted into the order. Where Ellis thought the man a fool, Lily seemed more fond of him.After acquainting himself with his new ally, he & the other Grey Warden recruits were tasked with acquiring darkspawn blood for a ritual called ‘ The Joining’. This was Ellis’ first time coming into contact with real darkspawn & he was not eager to make their acquaintence again. During their travels, they’re also tasked with acquiring old Gry Warden Treaties to call upon the inhabitants of Ferelden to band together in the wake of the Blight. Here, he also meets an apostate mage by the name of Morrigan. He is immediately intruiged by her,as he had never met an apostate before. All his life he had been fed propaganda about mages & the girl from the wilds semed to break any expectations he had for what he may face.Ellis & his companions follow Morrigan through the wilds to Morrigan’s mother, Flemeth’s, hut, where they are given the ancient treaties. The evening they return to Ostagar Ellis & his fellow recruits are put throug the joining, having to drink the darkspawn blood they had gathered & pray for survival or die for their cowardice. He was terrified when he watched them die, fearing for his sister’s life more than his own. Ellis watched the other recruits die before partaking in the joining himself, surprised to wake up the next day.Ostagar falls during a standoff with the Darkspawn. Teryn Loghain, the king’s most trusted advisor, pulls his troops back at the last minute. He leaves the king & the grey wardens to die on the battlefield. They’re consumed quickly by the darkspawn. Ellis, Lily & Alistair, however, had been gifted a separate task & were overwhelmed while trying to signal Loghain’s troops to join the battle. Ellis, Lily & Alistair nearly die that night, being saved by the grace of Morrigan’s mother. Though she would not share how she saved the Grey Wardens, it’s quickly apparent that they are the only ones left. She then chooses to send her daughter with them to face the blight to her dismay.They set upon a small town by the name of Lothering. Here, Ellis is enraged by what he see’s. people are scattered, trying to flee before the wave of darkspawn taking the land takes them as well. the supplies are limited, as is their hope. ellis feels simililarly, wishing he could run with them.Here, they meet two companions. A former bard turned Chantry sister by the name of Leliana was his first companion, having come to his defense when some men recognize him as a Grey Warden. It’s then that he finds out that Loghain had pinned the failure at Ostagar on the Grey Wardens he betrayed. On his way out of town, he stumbled upon a prisoner that had been left to die. Sten was blunt about his crimes & the atrocities he had committed, but it did little to deter Ellis’ interest. He manages to free him & offers him a place in his party. He also catches word that the Arl of Redcliffe is ailing from some sort of sickness, so Ellis sets out to his first destination. From Lothering, he has to make some decisions
First, he travels to Redclidde Castle in search for support. Here, he learns two things. One: dead crawl from the castle each night, killing & recruiting the townspeople into their horde. Two: It is here he reuinites with Astoria, who was in redcliffe to attempt to contact her father, trapped inside of the castle. He discovered her affinity for magic here & feels oddly betrayed that she had kept it from hi, though it was not a secret she owed him. He becomes defensive, not sure if he was more scared of the undead or the magic at his best friend’s fingertips.Before long, they learn of the source of the undead: the arl’s son is possessed. Lily strikes him down to prevent more death & is left harrowed by the experience. Ellis would have preferred to find mages to save the boy, but supports his siter nonetheless. He does not, however, forget. This experience grinds the pieces of his former ideals into dust, now scattered to the wind.Astoria comes with them, but Ellis is relentlessly( & excessively ) mistrustful of her despite the desire to fall back into the way things were. He turns to Morrigan now, as she represents the opposite of everything he thought he knew. He views her as someone who deals in truths, uncomfortable as they may be. It’s Ironic by the end of it all, but his love for her is a rejection of what he thought he wanted. His love for her becomes rooted in survival, adapting despite it all.At the circle tower of the mages Ellis is appalled by the scene he walks in on. At the door he is warned by the templars that the mages are out of control. They they no longer have control over the circle tower & are calling for the right of annulment. Ellis boasts that he can tear through these abominations, thinking they will be like the boy in Redcliffe.He steps into the doors leading to the rest of the tower to a pile of bodies & it only gets worse from there. He tears through rotten flesh & feels the edge of blood magic, feeding into his preexisting notions about what a mage is. He had always been taught that magic was sin & what was more sinful than this? Though his faith had already withered away, it left room for more fear & fear drives him to impulse.Here, he meets Wynne. She’s an older woman, a member of the circle of Magi. She’s a healer & knows the tower. Ellis allows her to travel with them, albeit a bit reluctantly. In their travels through the circle tower, they encounter a sloth demon that lulls his entire party into the fade.Here, he has to sort through dreams & reality in order to keep from succumbing to the creature. His mind is left permanently damaged from this, as it is rare for a non-magic user to walk in the fade. He pushes through, barely coming out victorious. He saves head enchanter Irving & in doing so aves the handful of survivors from the circle’s corruption. He pushes for the rite of annulment, though lily reminds him of his humanity before they make another irreversible mistake.Ellis & his companions still needed to see a very sick, very poisoned Arl. The Arlessa claims that the only cure for his ailment was a pinch of Andraste’s ashes, which becomes Ellis’ next impossible task.He then travels to Haven, to a strange & backwards town. He happens upon some cultists that he has to carve his way through & he follows a trail of information that leads him to a scholar who helps him find the temple the ashes should be in. Unfortunately, he was severely injured & Ellis had to leave him behind as he searched the temple.In this temple he faces his own demons, kills dragons & anything else that got in his way. He is faced with a vision of his father that leaves him feeling sick, reminding him of the sort of person his father wanted him to be. That sort of person would die, just as he had. He pushes forward to take a pinch of Andrastes ashes & leaves the urn otherwise untouched.He returns to Redcliffe & heals the Arl with the ashes he acquired. From here, they decide it would be best to call a landsmeet after Ellis gathered all the allies listed in the Grey Warden’s treaties.-Ellis meets zevran shortly after this & is very steadfast in his mistrust of the assasin
-Ellis kills the werewolves in the brecillian forest more tba.After trying to gain the allegiance of a split dwarven society, Ellis, his sister & their party travel into the deep roads after the Pragon Branka. By now, Ellis feels farther from himself from ever before. Though Branka’s methods aren't appalling, they are regrettably effective.He see’s the sense in her pursuit for power after seeing the horrors of the blight & thus he wants to ally himself with her. After all, what would fight darkspawn better than an army of golems? Lily is apalled by her brother’s sentiment. She takes the betrayal of Branka’s house personally, as it was a dark mirror of what had happened to the couslands.Here, they fight. The builtup tension that had been festering since the beginning of this blight finally hits a breaking point & they face one another in the deep roads, ferociously. Lily knocks Ellis out, effectively making him understand the insanity of how he had been thinking. Fear drives him, but together they are strong enough.Enough sacrifices had been made, enough people had died. They kill Branka & take Cairidin’s blessing home to crowning harrowmont as their chosen king.They prepare for the landsmeet & ellis plays a hand in saving queen annora. more tba.,