About Finel

[malavhenan]

Some stats

Name: Finel Lavellan
Race: Elven (Dalish)
Class: Mage / Rift Mage specialization
Age: late 20s / early 30s ish
Height: 5'8"ish
Hair: Red, long, usually worn in a bun or braids.
Eyes: Gray/green
Sexuality: gay gay gay


Key decisions and outcomes during gameplay

Note: Lots of spoilers for Dragon Age: Inquisition

- Sided with the mages & recruited as allies
- Recruited Alexius
- Hawke survives the Fade (Stroud left behind)
- Wardens joined Inquisition
- Celene as Empress of Orlais, reconciled with Briala
- Saved the Chargers
- Drank from the Well of Sorrows
- Leliana as Divine (softened)
- Disbanded the Inquisition
- Attempted to redeem Solas
- Completed all companion quests
- Did not execute anyone during judgment


Abilities/other:

Finel is a healer in addition to using offense-based magics, and generally prefers to use his magic for practical applications rather than force. As Inquisitor, he goes out of his way additionally to learn mundane field medicine techniques as well as learning other types of healing from former Circle mages.


Personality

Finel's most defining qualities are his gentleness and compassion. He prefers to be a mediator and a peacemaker, and in the face of difficult decisions and judgments, prefers mercy to violence and vengeance. He endeavors to understand everyone and offer them love and acceptance, companions and enemies alike, regardless of whether or not he agrees with them. Although some may interpret mercy as weakness or accuse him of being soft, Finel is decisive and firm. He seeks advice from others, but ultimately makes his own decision and stands by it.

Being an elven mage, he is especially sensitive to issues that affect both groups. Throughout the events of the story, he is increasingly shaken by the widespread horrors inflicted on elves particularly, and increasingly questions what he thinks he believes and knows about his own culture and history. Although he had been raised and trained to be his clan's next keeper, Finel never felt as strongly beholden to the fragmented past as most other Dalish. Pragmatically, he recognized that there were often too many unanswered questions that prevented him from accepting it as unalienable truth. Yet, he would not let these doubts prevent him from his duty to uphold the traditions of his clan without proof that they were entirely wrong. While he feels solidarity with other Dalish, it has never been an especially strong point upon which he bases his identity. When it becomes clear that the true history of his people is very different from what he had been taught, he is dismayed and saddened rather than angry.

In truth, Finel often questions what he believes at all, when the entire history of the world seems to be some blend of myth and truth. If the elven gods truly weren't gods at all, maybe the Maker is real. But because of his own shifting beliefs and pragmatism, being called Herald of Andraste and subsequently turned into a near-religious symbol of a faith not his own never stops making him feel uneasy. Whereas Inquisitor feels more practical and real, it is precisely because many people unwittingly see him more as symbol rather than a real person that he strives to be as normal of a person as possible. He strives to stay true to the type of person he wants to be. Even if he doesn't entirely know what to make of gods and religion and the history of his people, Finel finds it grounding to focus more on the people and problems in front of him.

In many ways, he lacks conviction and faith in most things. If someone were to question him about what he most strongly believes in, Finel would have a difficult time coming up with a convincing answer. He has confidence in the capable people around him, but rarely puts so much thought into his own abilities. In short, either he can do something, or he can't, and if he doesn't know if he can do something, he'll try it to find out. If it's a skill that would be useful, he dedicates himself to mastering it. To this end, because he is averse to excessive violence and death, he has particularly dedicated himself to becoming a healer, learning both magical and mundane forms of healing.

Although taught to be wary of those outside his clan, Finel has always shown a curiosity in things and people different from what he knows. In his youth it could lead to trouble, as an adult it is tempered by caution, but still sometimes lends itself to being a little too trusting at times, or giving someone more benefit of the doubt than they deserve. In the past, this has manifested in a rather dangerous attraction to human men. As Inquisitor, it means he spares people who might otherwise ought to be executed for their crimes and the potential to be a continued threat should they be allowed to live. Outside of the clan, he has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, spending hours with books or asking people many questions trying to learn about people and things he had been sheltered from during his nomadic life. As a result, he adapts to new situations and places more easily than others.

Underneath it all, however, Finel quietly suffers from depression and some anxiety due in large part to losing key important people in his life at various stages in various ways - his parents, his foster sister, and his lover. The latter triggered an especially difficult and self-destructive period just before becoming Inquisitor. Being thrown into the middle of the conflict had the benefit of keeping him distracted, but throughout that time he still often struggled with coping, especially during and after particularly stressful events. Often this manifests as passive self-harm (such as putting himself in especially dangerous situations, seeking out rough sex, forgetting or deliberately avoiding most forms of self care, being careless with his magic during a fight), and occasionally suicidal ideation, although he is unlikely to voice it voluntarily.

As mentioned earlier, Finel finds it easier and grounding to ignore his own problems in favor of helping others. For better or worse, being Inquisitor often left him with little time to deal with himself. Focusing on others is a way to mask and ignore his own pain, and he will often go out of his way to help people in need even (or especially) at his own expense. As a result, the stress of the things that he sees, experiences, and influences is often left unaccounted for. Yet despite all of his fears and worries, he is not afraid of showing vulnerability to most people, and actually finds it challenging to hide his true emotions much of the time. He smiles easily and often, but there are a million different meanings in his smiles: happiness, sadness, pain, guilt, disagreement, regret, love, longing, humor, despair.

In general, he is very gentle and warm, and often playful - particularly with those he cares about and knows well. It is not uncommon for him to joke with and tease those close to him as a sign of affection. Despite having already lost several important people in his life, he thrives on and desires meaningful personal connections with others. Finel forms friendships easily, but since becoming Inquisitor essentially cut himself off from forming romantic attachments, even though he strongly yearns for love and affection. Building close relationships with companions was an essential lifeline, but due to the dangerous nature of what they needed to do and to his own personal pattern of loss, he does not let any of those relationships go beyond platonic. Losing Talen will always be a scar upon his heart, but as someone who loves so readily, to the point of nearly being incapable of hate, self-inflicted loneliness is just another way of continually wounding himself.

He strives to be good and attentive, but there are times when he becomes too wrapped up in his own pain that he forgets to see the struggles of others, including (and especially) those closest to him. He can be unnecessarily stubborn, and sometimes too agreeable - both in an effort to please someone and also at times to cover up a thought or opinion he does not wish to openly convey. Although, as mentioned earlier, he tries to be open and understanding to everyone he meets, people who delight in cruelty for cruelty's sake or display no remorse for misdeeds that lead to harming others are those he struggles with the most.

After the events of Trespasser, he is especially weary of conflict and his status as leader responsible for world-altering power and influence, and had happily disbanded the Inquisition to let the nations of Thedas sort themselves out again. Since they had essentially accomplished what they had set out to do, he had followed the advice of Mother Giselle and the example of Inquisitor Ameridan, and laid down the Inquisition's sword. It hadn't been entirely without bitterness, however, since the events of the council had made it clear that few leaders in Thedas had full appreciation for the sacrifices made on their behalf.

He is also exhausted from the loss of his arm and the revelation of the true identity of his once-companion, Solas. The essential betrayal of someone he had once, and still very much admires is still fresh and aching in his heart. While he can appreciate the pain of loss, Finel also cannot just allow Fen Ha'rel to accomplish his goal of tearing down the veil and the destruction of the current world to give birth to the new. To that end, he is determined to stop him, even if he cares for and respects him deeply.


Some Backstory

THE SHORT VERSION: Finel was adopted into Clan Lavellan at a young age after his magic manifested and his birth clan already had too many mages. He was Second until their current First left to lead a sister clan after a raid killed their Keeper. Clan Lavellan took in a small group of Ferelden Dalish refugees that had escaped the Blight, among them a hunter named Talen and his father. Finel and Talen fell in love and were eventually secretly married, to avoid trouble from Talen's father, who disapproved of their relationship, believing Finel to not be devout enough to be Keeper one day, and desiring Talen to take a wife and sire more children, afraid of their people dying out. Talen and Finel were together for six years, until one day his hunting party disappeared without a trace and never returned. Lost in depression and grief, Finel began to neglect his duties and clan, and eventually was given one final chance to prove himself, or face exile.

THE LONG VERSION: Here.



NON INQUISITION TIMELINE options:
- Runs away from the clan / self-exiles, wanders around on his own
- May eventually join the Inquisition on his own as a Dalish liaison and/or healer
- OR sent to Inquisition, just doesn't become Inquisitor



~Romancing~

Finel is sexually attracted to men, and also open to polyamorous relationships with multiple men (which he may or may not be aware of ICly, but he is).

Finel easily forms emotional attachments to people, but in his 'canon' timeline, he is an unromanced Inquisitor, deciding to avoid gossip and speculation about his personal relationships to be (mostly) celibate.

THAT SAID: For threading purposes, he's romantically/sexually available to just about any male DA castmate, AU'd cross-canon characters, other DA OCs or other OCs. I prefer not to AU him into other canons at this point, sorry!

For sex, see his permissions post, and/or DM with any questions.

Generally, Finel can be very taken in by even small, thoughtful acts of kindness towards him. He is overall very open and accepting, but people who are generally cruel for the sake of it or show no remorse for suffering caused by their actions are less likely to find him amenable. That said, he often goes out of his way to forgive people he cares about even if they've done terrible things, especially if they demonstrate that they want forgiveness. But he does have his limits.

As a lover, he is very tactile and easily prompted into intercourse (read: pretty much always DTF, almost anywhere). Touches to his ears and hair are particularly intimate to him, both sexually and for comfort. While Finel tends to prefer more dominant partners, he is truthfully happy to fulfill whatever role his partner wants, and frequently will be the one to initiate.

He has been known to want/use rough sex for unhealthy coping reasons, let me know if you're interested in those kinds of scenarios.