Oh, Leliana...<3

As you know, almost all of my free time has been dedicated to playing Dragon Age. It's a great game, easily my favourite made by Bioware. The amount of work that the makers put into creating the world and its characters is simply astounding- more effort than I've seen in most novels I've read. But of all the characters, one stands out as a clear favourite: Leliana.





Leliana is a bard from Orlais that becomes a member of the church to atone for her past. However, she has a vision from the Maker that tells her that she needs to go with the Playable Character and help him stop the Blight. So she leaves the chantry and follows along.
She's one of the more complex characters, and quickly become one of my favourite characters not only in the game, but out of all the fictional characters I like.
As she's also one of the romance options in the game, I decided to pursue her as my male Mage, named Polaris.

Romancing characters in a video game isn't anything new, really. Lots of games have done it before, and certainly every Bioware game I've played has had the option. But it is interesting, though, how the developers make the "romance." Most games, it's a pretty mindless thing, with the end result being a kiss or a short scene; nothing special. This game stands out, though. At the end of the game, I decided to sacrifice my character to save Ferelden. As my character dealt the killing blow the Archdemon, Leliana and my other companions just watched as I died.
In the epilogue, there is a funeral for my character, and Leliana is crying. And then, after the clip scene, it explains what becomes of Ferelden and all of my followers. What happens to Leliana?

"Leliana remained in the royal court for a time, mourning. She poured her heart into a ballad that would eventually become known throughout Thedas. But after one performance, Leliana quietly vanished. Some say that the Maker came to her in a vision again that night. Smiling, tears in her eyes, she told a maid that she would see her love again at last."

;__;

It was sad! D:
I dunno what the point of this post is, other than to say that this game did a spectacular job with making me empathise with the characters, and that Leliana is pretty much the best fictional woman ever.

<3



(I was planning on making this post about four or five times longer, really fleshing out her character and comparing aspects of this to other games and various novels I've read that have had the same effect. But.... It's early, and I'm tired. Maybe if I can remember later. For now, you get this.)


-David