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FA - Sullivan

Dante-Aran

Published: Nov 21, 2015

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age character dragon dragonage gray oc original sullivan warden fireage bardwell graywarden fire sullivanbardwell

Description

"All in the name of amgetoll."

Name: Sullivan Bardwell
Nickname: Sullivan, Van or Bardwell. Sully is a nickname reserved for really close individuals.
Race: Human
Age: 43
Level: 1
Height: 6'4
Weight: 225 lbs (less fat, more muscle)
Job: Wandering Gray Warden / Occasional Woodsman
Class: Warrior
Weapon specialty: War Throwing Axes and Shield. He can either have an axe in each hand or have only one equiped with a shield. The former is very momentary however as he needs his Shield for Guard building.

Abilities:
- War Cry [Active] : With this taunt skill, he can attract all near by enemies to attack him and gain an extra guard for each enemy affected.
- Shield Wall [Active] : With this skill active, he can stand firm and block incoming attacks in exchange for stamina. Each block adds to his guard but slows him down in the process.
- Immovable Object [Upgrade] : As an upgrade to Shield Wall, he can now generate even more guard for less stamina, but cannot move while blocking.
- Trust the Steel [Passive] : Sullivan knows how to make the most of out his defensive equipment, so he naturally gains stronger defenses upon having an active guard.

Sullivan acts best as a Guard generating warrior, so when in a party it is important that he tanks to make the most out of his skills. He doesn't mind leaving the fighting and killing to his allies since for him his first priority is to act as the "Indestructible Steel Wall" protecting his comrades.

Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Single

Personality:
Protective | Tender-hearted | Brave | Gentle
Withdrawn | Single-minded | Slow | Ironically Soft-spoken

When acting as a Warden, Sullivan is usually seen to be the stone-faced rigid man in the heart of a battle, facing death almost head on when fighting against the darkspawn. And from deep within he draws out a loud booming voice that challenges all foes who try to get in his or comrades' way as he is confident that nothing can take him down.

However, despite his large frame and burly demeanor, Sullivan when out of the field is actually just a soft-spoken man who takes joy in the simple things like cooking. Considering how huge he is as well, he knows he can actually crush or break things with his grip accidentally, so usually he carries and holds things with the most gentle touch.

It's honestly not in his nature to brutally kill things, but to protect those who matter the most while putting his life on the line is something he makes sure to follow until the end as a devoted Gray Warden.

Likes:
- Dwarves
- Nug (as a food source)
- Cooking
- Liquor (especially Dwarven Ale)
- Chopping wood
- Axes

Dislikes:
- Accidentally breaking things
- Broken armor pieces (it happens rarely to his equipment considering how sturdy his defense is, so it peeves him when it does)
- Rude people
- Crowds (in a social gathering)
- Darkspawn
- A badly set up defense

Background:
A long time ago, there was a man and a woman who fell in love just before the man was recruited by a Gray Warden. The closer he had gotten to his joining however, the more the couple would slowly drift apart, yet unknowing to the both of them, she already had conceived a child with him. Eventually the man would go through the joining and survive, though upon waking up he would also learn that his lover had prematurely given birth to a small frail boy and died in the process. The child on the other hand survived, thus leaving him in his custody. However, being a fully recruited Gray Warden, he knew it was impossible for him to now raise the boy.

Luckily for him, he was close friends to a surface dwelling Dwarven couple in Ferelden who had always wanted to have children but were incapable due to their races' natural infertility. After a visit and much discussions with them, the couple agreed to adopt his child until he was old enough to be taken into his father's wing. And although the child was almost the smallest living thing they had ever seen, to them they also saw what was finally a child to call as their own.

As the child grew in this Dwarven family, the couple would notice how shy and closed off the boy was, not really wanting to go out with his father into the woods or into town. Instead Sullivan would prefer to stay at home with his mother to help her cook. Though as close as he was to his mother, undeniably he was just as close to his father, especially every time he would tell grand stories of the Dwarves, their never ending war with the Darkspawn and how the honorable Gray Wardens fight at their side. He too would eventually teach the boy how to properly use an ax once he was old enough should he ever decide to use it for a livelihood one day.

Years would pass, and regardless if his father made a promise to take the boy under his wing when he was old enough, surprisingly Sullivan never actually got any word from him until deep into his teenage years. By then Sullivan had honestly forgotten about his human father, and even didn't want to do anything with him. To him, his father abandoned him all those years ago, and he really did only perfectly belong with his Dwarven parents. His impression of his father though did change completely the day he finally met him. He was a Gray Warden, just like the stories his Dwarven father would tell him, and he was truly respectable one at that. For a week he would spend time with Sullivan to get to know him and make up for all the lost times, though surprisingly he doesn't take Sullivan with him like he promised to the day it was time for him to go. Instead, he only leaves with him a letter he tells him not to open until a year later and some parting words befitting of a Warden.

When a year had passed, Sullivan keeps his promise and finally reads the letter, only to be surprised by his father immediately writing to him that by the time he would open it, he should already be considered dead. He knew the time to his Calling was drawing closer, yet he wanted to get to know the son he never could live with before committing to his Calling to properly say goodbye to him. He also never wanted to make Sullivan feel abandoned, which was why he freely gave him to the Dwarven couple to not rid him of his own childhood and a good life. Before ending the letter, he places in an indirect invite to become a Warden as the world needs more people like him to help in stopping the Darkspawn from taking more innocent lives, though not without warning him that he should be willing to leave everything behind to take on the role just as he did. Otherwise, he tells him to make the most out of his life while serving others.

Sullivan was still considerably naive and young when he first read the letter, so he did not heed his father's invite into the Gray Wardens. As he grew older however, his words would slowly begin to haunt him. And the more he had become more open to the world and learn that the Darkspawn were really not just stories his parents would tell him to let him know the difference between what was good and bad and were in fact a problem the world was constantly facing and afraid of, the more his own personal calling to become a Gray Warden himself became stronger. As years went on with Sullivan growing quite a lot in size and taking over the woodsman job of his Dwarven father, word got out that a Gray Warden was going around the area recruiting new members to their cause as Darkspawn activity was slowly rising, and the fear of a new Blight was suddenly always abound. Sullivan would hear about this and how everyone was either avoiding or refusing the invite, and he too at first followed the majority in avoiding the recruiter, but fate would suddenly come into his way to turn this all around.

There were bandits intending to steal from his parents' home one day since they were out that week, though they were caught unaware of the fact their human son happened to be within the area watching over it. Using an old ax and what was supposed to be part of a table he was making, Sullivan was able to fight off the bandits for a while on his own, though he did sustain a lot of damage since he had no proper training in fighting. The bandits saw this as a chance to kill him, only for a mage to suddenly intervene and finally ward them off. Since he was badly hurt, Sullivan eventually faints from his wounds. When he finally awakens, he was surprised to see the mage tending his wounds, though he still recognized her as the one who finally got rid of the bandits he was fighting and thanked her. The mage took note of his outstanding bravery despite his obvious lack of training in fighting, and she at some point mentioned that the world needed more people like him to help in stopping the Darkspawn from taking more lives... It was then he remembered the exact same words his father used in his letter, letting him know who he was talking to, and that perhaps it truly was his purpose to finally become a Gray Warden himself.

When his parents finally returned home, he gives them the news that he decided to join the Wardens, and although the old couple were quite sad that they would finally have to fulfill their promise to let him go follow under his father's footsteps when he was ready, they were also immensely proud of their son for the choice he was making, even if he would have to say goodbye to everything he once knew. Following the Gray Warden Mage, Sullivan would begin travelling parts of Thedas until meeting other Wardens who would train him how to properly wield weapons and make the most of his equipment. Though it was obvious that Sullivan was not one who fought to kill, his natural devotion and physical form to defend his allies proved his worth to the Wardens, allowing them to let him know of the joining and what it truly means to be a Warden. Though naturally surprised and scared at first, Sullivan somehow already knew there was truly no going back for him anymore in the first place, and he had always been ready for whatever might happen. And thus he went out with the Mage to finally go through the Joining and become one with the Gray Wardens.

Years have gone by since Sullivan's joining, and he now goes around fighting Darkspawn at random when he can, though acting more like a protector to his allies he meets along the way. Yet if there was something that seemingly never changed about him and his life, he still finds the time to cook meals for his friends or perhaps even chop wood for those who really need it.

Additional info:
- He carries two axes with him since he usually throws one of them to draw attention to himself.
- There are larger armor pieces on his right side since his shield already protects his left.
- He really loves to cook and is good at it, so it's easy to enjoy a meal made by him. Notably his cooking may have a dwarven taste to it.
- He may occasionally use Dwarven terms in his speech out of habit, such as Amgarrak (victory), amgeforn (sacrifice) and amgetoll (duty).

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JEEBUS I DIDN'T THINK I'D JOIN ANOTHER GROUP, BUT THEN A DRAGON AGE THEMED ONE COMES ALONG, AND I CREI.