Post your warden!

May I present Her Grace Lady Rhonwen Cousland, daughter of the Teyrn of Highever:





Named in honor of the late Queen Rowan Guerrin, in an early, hopeful attempt by Bryce and Eleanor to draw Maric's attention and arrange a future union between her and Cailan. Or even marry her himself down the line if he didn't take a new wife before she came of age, since her only real competition was Anora, a peasant daughter in all but name.

A situation Loghain briskly resolved by moving Anora from Gwaren to Denerim and shoving her down Maric's and Cailan's throats, badgering Maric into agreeing to a betrothal.

Growing up, she was a huge admirer of both the aforementioned Queen Rowan and the Rebel Queen Moira, and begged her parents for combat training. A very serious conversation with Eleanor about the potential fates of warrior women just made her even more eager to be able to defend herself, and so she was tutored by reliable Cousland men-at-arms from adolescence and joined Fergus and Nathaniel Howe for riding and hunting trips around Highever and Amaranthine.

Because of this she has a very good and respectful relationship with the Cousland soldiers and Highever Castle guards, which is why Bryce feels comfortable leaving them under her command in his and Fergus' absence. Which she recognizes as a necessity and a gesture of his trust in her ability and judgement. Imagine cousin Leonas Bryland leaving South Reach in Habren's hands! 

Aside from that she's a consummate Andrestian highborn. Her duty and honor as a high noble are paramount, and when she speaks it behooves her lessers to hold their tongues and listen. She's obviously used to being in control and getting her way, and people questioning and second-guessing her decisions is a big pet peeve. She's very conscious of Ferelden's political layout and takes disruption to trade and public health seriously, since those are the pillars of her own station in society. If someone shows her the respect she is owed then she will grant them hers in return, condescending or not.

She's not so conscious of the plights of other races. Elves are servants, beggars, criminals and poaching savages, and don't seem very relevant to the world she lives in, though she's been taught to treat her maidservants well as a matter of good breeding. And while dwarven retainers can be useful for their expert craftsmanship they're also hideously expensive and loyal only to coin, and it's obviously best to rely on proper Fereldan hands.

And no, she's not interested in Thomas bloody Howe. The only daughter of a Teyrn marrying the second-born son of an Arl! If Rendorn wants one of his own to have a claim to Highever then he can damn well bring Nathaniel back from the Free Marches. Maybe then there might be a conversation to be had. He should have brought Delilah with him for some decent company while the men are away instead of leaving her cooped up at Vigil's Keep.

And no, she absolutely doesn't want to be a Grey Warden. What a stupid and humiliating waste that would be! Duncan is very handsome, and seems suave and honorable, but he shouldn't get his hopes up recruiting the highest in the land who have so much more to live for and recommend themselves than the common riff-raff. "Rite of Conscription", as if he would dare. 

Nice work with the scars. I wish we had that option in vanilla DAO.

And as I always say, never trust a warrior with no scars.

Heh, you better believe my Rhonwen was careful, and that her tutors and sparring partners were even more so. Brice Cousland seems to have been a kind man, but one scratch on his extremely eligible daughter's pretty face and heads would have rolled.

That won't mean that she won't catch a few scars on her body over the course of her adventure, of course, but since she sensibly wears a helmet her face is going to remain intact. Not to mention magical healing. Her looks matter to her. They're one of the few things she has left from her family, and the life she thought she would live before Howe and Duncan took it from her.

You're right that scarred battle mages are awesome. Were they too slow and let an enemy get close? Did they get caught by shrapnel or residual heat from their own explosion? Did they take an arrow from a canny archer who identified them as a priority target? It also adds to their presence. A pristine baby-faced mage used to causing destruction from afar is a bit pathetic compared to one who has felt the effects of battle on their own body.

Yup, the beauty of an RPG with deep worldbuilding and detailed dialogue trees.

Rhonwen has plenty left to live for. Howe owes her a debt of blood, and her family's honor demands that it be repaid before she can even think about kicking the bucket, especially if Fergus is dead. And much as she resents Duncan for invoking it, the Rite of Conscription is legal, valid and binding, and now she has no choice but to become the best and most effective Warden she possibly can. Anything less would be weak and dishonorable, and her pride won't allow it. Couslands always do their duty first.

That she absolutely hates being a Grey Warden and is miserable and humiliated having to live rough, scumming it with bastards, criminals and apostates on the coin she managed to skim from the Highever treasury before Howe got to it, is another matter entirely. Complaining is useless. Alistair already whines enough for the whole party.

He also hasn't impressed her very much yet. She finds him rather too wishy-washy and cowardly, and absolutely unworthy of ordering her around, nameless lowborn that he is. But then, I'm still at Ostagar. A few lonely months on the road getting used to her new status, and maybe his handsome face and general tenderness are going to get to her, since she no longer has anything to lose in the way of marriage prospects. 

Until she breaks his heart before the Landsmeet and forces him to marry another woman for convenience. And then forces him to sleep with yet another one, whom he hates. Duty is the death of love. 

She sure sounds like a straight shooter. 

Sten and Morrigan have the most satisfying relationships with the Warden, since their respect is so hard-won. I always become good friends with them as well. Alas, Rhonwen has no idea either of them exists quite yet.

I've never romanced Alistair. By the time I got into playing female characters in RPGs I already despised him, so all my female Wardens have either remained untied, been seduced by Leliana or used Zevran as their bedwarmer. Which is going to be Alistir's duty this go-around, until I dump him like a wet sock and start studding him out. I'm going to kill Loghain for the first time in ten years entirely so I can coerce Alistair to have sex with Morrigan, who I'm head-cannoning to be his sister for extra squick. 

Oh, in the moment Rhonwen was determined to stay and die with her family. She could have been convinced to leave Bryce behind out of necessity, but Eleanor staying as well to cover her escape was too much. She kind of hates Duncan for extorting her dying father to take her birthright away and press her into service, and forcing her to go along with it. She's resigned to it now, sure, and he was very kind and understanding on their journey to Ostagar, but that's not something she can just forgive. And it's going to be one of the rifts between her and Alistair, since he idolizes the man.

I considered making her Alistair's queen as well, but I think that after being through the Dead Trenches she's going to be too conscious of the threat of the darkspawn to be able to conscience forsaking her Grey Warden duties for the throne. Whereas making him Ferelden's figurehead and Anora's bedwarmer is the best possible use of Alistair' unique talents. Or lack thereof.

I'm aiming to make this the darkest playthrough possible while still leaving Ferelden in a position to recover from the Blight.

My new warden - Lyra Mahariel:

My favorite new Warden of late has been Svea Aeducan, a sword-and-board warrior who is powered by sheer spite as a Berserker. She wasn't lovers with Gorim, though did name her dog after him, and she didn't actually kill Trian. She didn't have any fondness for her older brother, just figured that she'd have more time to give him enough rope to hang himself with. As it stands now, she has pledged her allegiance to Harrowmont. Whether or not she'll crown him is another thing, but she at least wants to make Bhelen squirm.

All in all, she has a big ego and after some character development, a big heart. But the latter is not advertised, as she doesn't want to appear weak.

Other choices, so far:

Romanced Alistair (and this time using a mod to marry him and become queen, because it never made sense to me that a dwarf noble wouldn't have that option).
Banished Avernus after Soldier's Peak was done. (She gained blood powers, though.)
Helped Redcliffe prepare and fought with them, bullying as many people into fighting with her as she could.
Had Isolde sacrificed in a blood magic ritual to save Connor.
Didn't taint Andraste's ashes, more to be nice to Leliana than because she cared about sacrilege.
Gave Cailan a proper funeral pyre, as befitting his royal blood.
Hardened Alistair, wanting him to look out for himself more.
Recruited Zevran and Sten.
It hasn't happened yet, but she won't recruit Oghren, as his behavior disgusts her. (And because I really don't need more warriors.) He'll get his turn in Awakening.

Chariot tarot card for Svea.