Seventeen days and nights had passed since the colossal hole in the sky had appeared. Seventeen days had passed since the tall Elvhen woman had managed to stem it from expanding further outwards. The actions of a confused, solitary woman had saved the world, or at the very least bought them some time to find a more permanent solution.

The citizens of Haven had given the Herald a wide berth, some out of reverence, some out of fear. The occasional dissident made their views clear, of how a knife ear could never have been chosen by Andraste herself.

Ashalle's actions over the weeks had silenced most of the local critics. Every rift that opened nearby was sealed with the efforts of her, Solas, Cassandra and Varric. Each time a rift was sealed, Ashalle found herself growing more comfortable with her task and newfound skills.

The elf had found herself sealing yet another rift moments ago, her bandaged arm pulsing with pain as it had been since the mark had found itself on her hand. There had been a handful of demons who the group had to subdue and eliminate. Solas had explained days prior of how spirits in the Fade could latch onto emotions and manifest as demons. The combined magical force of Ashalle and Solas, paired with the Seeker's magic suppressing power and Varric's dextrous, deadly aim made short work of the demons, and the rift was sealed.

Cassandra and Varric had been coordinating to look for any resources they could scavenge from the nearby ruins in the snow, littered with debris from the explosion at the Conclave.

Solas had set off to examine the Fade nearby, leaving Ashalle to meander about, looking for objects of interest till the group rallied and set back down the slopes, past the trees, towards Haven.

Ashalle had continued along the slopes of one of the dozens of mountains near Haven, a turn of her head revealing the old stone settlement down the slopes, a good half hour away from where she was.

Her search and meandering had borne no fruit thus far, but the elf kept walking on. These lands were far colder than the lands near the Marches, and Ashalle was savouring the moments of silence and cold air against her face. It was pleasant, a much needed reprieve from the rigours of interacting with people who either despised her or fanatically worshipped her. Both were undesirable.

She had to fight the urge to run every day. She did not want to be here. It was cold, crowded, and she was surrounded by people she did not wish to be around. Ashalle was always a solitary woman, mostly from circumstance. Most of Clan Lavellan only tolerated her because Keeper Deshanna warned them of hurting her adoptive daughter. And so, the younger Ashalle had spent most of her time tending to the Halla she loved dearly. A deep, powerful bond had formed between the ostracized orphan and the gentle souls that the Dalish revered.

With every passing day Ashalle hoped to return home, back to her Halla. But with every passing day, that hope found itself dwindling. There was too much work to be done. Too many lives that relied on the accursed mark on her hand.

Her Halla would need to be patient, and she would need to be strong.

---xxxxx---

Andaran atish'an! (Enter this place in peace)

Thank you for taking the time to read the prompt this far! Dragon Age happens to be one of my favourite game trilogies of all time, and I find myself eager and cautiously optimistic now that the fourth game is on the horizon.

I'm hoping to explore a long term romance story set in the Inquisition era. My character, Ashalle Lavellan, is a Dalish mage, abandoned as a child for her identity by her clan and adopted by Keeper Deshanna of Clan Lavellan and raised as her own daughter.

I envisioned the Dalish clans being somewhat hostile or antagonistic to people the Qunari call "Aqun Athlok". Ashalle, being a trans woman, was not cared for by her original clan. She was abandoned as a child in the forests around the Free Marches under the pretense of the clan having too many mages. Hunters from Clan Lavellan found the young orphan and brought her back to Deshanna to ask what should be done with the aberrant creature. The members of the Clan were not keen on housing an orphan undeserving of love, but Deshanna made it explicitly clear that cruelty towards her would be dealt with harshly.

As it may be understandable, Ashalle grew up to be a pretty solitary woman, only really close to her mother and her Halla, whose silence and companionship were anchors to her. Deshanna saw the opportunity to let her daughter explore the world at large as word of the Conclave spread to the Free Marches. As such, she sent her adoptive daughter here to help negotiate a better lease on life for the clan.

I'd very much like the story to be a big part of this writing experience and would like it to not just be a pure smut fest. It also goes without saying that you'll need to be comfortable with Ashalle being a trans woman. I do not wish for myself or my character to be the recipient of slurs of any kind.

I am tentatively opening this prompt to partner characters of all gender identities and presentations. All I ask is that your character not be a super macho douchebag archetype or a Mary/Gary/Enby Sue. Please make them believable and grounded. Feel free to write as established characters or OCs, though with regards to established characters, I am not keen on writing Ashalle with The Iron Bull, Blackwall or Solas. Sorry about that!

When messaging me, please refrain from one liners or one word messages. Give me some thoughts on the character you may want to write as, any suggestions or questions regarding the story, anything for me to work with really. It becomes very difficult for me to have an engaging conversation when things are so short and lacking in substance. I will be slow to get messages out owing to being disabled and working a job that leaves my hands in quite a bit of pain.

Do note that I write in third person past tense or first person past tense, though I highly prefer the former. My messages and replies can be delayed on account of my health issues. I ask that partners be patient. If a long absence is expected, I will inform you as soon as I am able to.

I do not wish to write via chat, however I am aware of Reddit having instated a feature that prohibits low karma or age accounts from messaging people. If such a circumstance happens to you, please feel free to only then send me a chat message and explain that you are unable to PM me. I can send a PM to you and we can continue our conversation that way.

Thanks for reading all of this, and I hope to hear from people!

Ma serannas. Dareth shiral! (My thanks. Farewell!)