The Ferelden Chronicles - Comments

@ Angels and Roses
Anders was much better as a snarky smartass, not so much as a whiny emo. Plus... Awakening Anders was voiced by Greg Ellis, who is also Cullen.

Anyway.... I've gotta get back to posting these chapters. Hope you're continuing to enjoy the story!

@ pariswriter
I despised Anders in DA2 but LOVED him in Awakening. I hated DA2 at first, but it grew on me. The story, writing and characters in Origins were superior though.
I think i need to play more Inquisition. I still haven't been gripped by it yet. There was a very nice companionship element in the first two games that seem to be missing in Inquisition.

@ Angels and Roses
I was disappointed that there was no cameo from Zevran in Inquisition like there was in DA2. He was the only person other than Alistair that I romanced in Origins (with my Dalish ranger, who I've written some stuff about, as well). But... it's understandable since his voice actor was kinda busy voicing the Inquisitor, lol. And when Samson made his appearances I just closed my eyes and pretended it was Fenris.

Origins (and Awakening, since it's technically an expansion) was the superior game in the series, I think. DA2 was... Okay. The mechanics were better and I did like most of the companions, but I hated what they did to Anders - and I'm going to fix that, myself. But the entire game was WAY too linear, with none of the decisions really feeling like they mattered. Hell, the only thing that ended up actually mattering in the end was DLC! As far as Inquisition... I was seriously turned off by the war table. Felt too much like a freakin' Facebook game. If there had been an option to actually go out and and help with some of the missions I would have liked it more.

@ pariswriter
I love Dragon Age, but nothing can replace Origins in my opinion. I loved every single character, and I have completed the game 12+ times I adore it so much. I enjoyed DA2's cast, it had a very friendship/family aspect which I really enjoyed. Inquisition didn't have this as much, which was really disappointing. I hated Cassandra, too religious and too....ugh. Vivienne was really interesting, my elven mage Inquisitor is very pro-mage freedom so they came to blows a lot. She has a very strong personality, and I admired and respected her. She reminds me a lot of a friend I have. Solas was also interesting with the Fade stuff, very intelligent and introverted. Varric was amazing as ever. Bull? Badass, so cool. Sera was funny, but too loud and obnoxious for my liking. I really liked Cullen's character development from a mage-hating, suspicious templar to a much more collected, tempered man. Dorian was my favourite, his story really related to me and they did an excellent job fleshing him out. I also liked how his sexuality didn't take over his character. I adored Cole as well. I too wanted Leliana as I had romanced her with my Human Noble Warden in another playthrough but he sacrificed himself to slay the archdemon, and even though in my first Inquisition playthrough that save hadn't carried over I still wanted to see her.

@ Angels and Roses
Blackwall was just boring, in my opinion. Solas was the suspicious one. Bull was... Freddy Prinze Jr., lol... I couldn't listen to him without thinking about Fred from the Scooby Doo movies. My Inquisitor threw herself at Cullen, though. It took them damn long enough to officially give me him to romance! I personally loved Cole, out of the new party members. And Dorian... OMG, Dorian! He's the sort of snarky gal pal I would love to have for real. Varric was still a major fixture in my party, too. Out of the females... I think Sera was my favorite. Viv was too haughty, Cass a bit uptight... wished I could have taken Leliana back out, but it was not to be.

@ pariswriter
I actually didn't! I usually picked Bull, Varric and Viv when going out, trying to mix all the personalities together!
I was kind of suspicious of Blackwall since the first, since I once had Solas in my party when going out fighting darkspawn. Solas asked him how many darkspawn did he sense and Blackwall said "I'm not sure". Got really suspicious!

@ Angels and Roses
Ditto... I ended up saving Alistair in the end (because he has a family and I'm giving Bioware the finger and going against their King Alistair canon by keeping him alive and a Warden as long as possible), even though I know Fenris will more likely than not show up someday and rip out the Inquisitor's heart for what happened to his beloved Hawke... Or will he? (hint, hint)

Did you notice Bioware goofed on the quest when you first talk to Alistair? If you have Blackwall in your party, Alistair says he sensed another Grey Warden - referring to Blackwall. This is impossible, since... you know. Oops!

I'm not a professional writer, just someone who's been writing for fun for about 25 years, now.

@ pariswriter
That's so cool! Are you a professional writer?
I know! I had kept Alistair a Grey Warden so he could stay with my city elf warden, but it nearly broke my heart because Alistair is my favourite character ever and I had written tonnes of fanfiction about my mage Hawke with the gang of companions, mainly with Isabella, Varric and Merrill, so I got really attached to her character. I chose Alistair in the end though, but I'm still so sad :(

@ Angels and Roses
Regarding whether or not I'll be covering Inquisition: Yes and no...

I had the entire five (yes, FIVE) parts of the series planned out long before Inquisition came out, and after the events of DA2 I end up going off on my own tangent, resolving the whole Mages v. Templars conflict in my own way. The final part actually takes place 25 years after Origins, and puts the OG Baby - who, surprise, turns out evil - up against his own half-brother... and the way it ends wraps up everything rather neatly, I think.

However... at the request of some of my other readers, I'm going to be doing a couple of "alternate universe" stories set in the Inquisition timeline. Specifically, I'll be writing about what the varying results would have been depending upon who was left behind in the Fade. (BTW: That was the WORST part of the entire game for me... total lose-lose situation with my "canon" playthrough save file.)

As for the Warden being in the DA2 story... She'll make an appearance, but since it's Hawke's story, Hawke will be the main protagonist. I will likely write at least a few one-shots about some of the bigger events that take place in the Wardens' lives during that time period, though. The fourth part, aptly titled The Hero and the Champion, finally puts them both together. Here's the teaser image for that part, made by a friend of mine over on deviantART: http://i59.tinypic.com/o8if49.jpg

@ pariswriter
I definitely will! Will you be doing Inquisition also? I'm incredibly interested, since I'm wondering if you'll stick with the Warden come DA2 or if you'll branch into Hawke and The Inquisitor but also telling the Warden's story too. This is going to be epic, I can already tell :)

@ Angels and Roses
Thanks! I'm glad you're already enjoying the story and hope you continue to do so. Fair warning, however: It's going to be quite long. I've written seventeen chapters so far and I'm pushing 100,000 total words... and, since you know the game, I can tell you they haven't even left Lothering yet - which should give you an idea how long the finished story will be. I'm also planning on writing separate stories to cover the events in the Awakening expansion as well as Dragon Age II, in case you're interested in reading those, as well.

Just read the first chapter and I'm hooked already! Dragon Age Origins is my absolute favorite game, and coupled with an excellent writing style and curiosity over what is to come, I;m really looking forward to this!