23 — 5’6 — 145 Lyvhenari has all the fierce grace of an ancient tangle of thorns. Her earthy coloring and penchant for wearing warm natural hues (greens, browns, deep reds, orange, gold) seems like the very reason for all the Dalish stereotypes. Her face looks younger than it is, probably around 19 or so. Because she wields large weapons like axes and swords, her body is lean and muscular. She was blessed (though not if you ask her) with a thick head of dark hair that tumbles down her back in wild, loose curls. Her complexion is a tanned olive from her northern bloodline. Perhaps the most striking thing about Lyvhenari is her bright green and yellow eyes that are reminiscent of a cat’s. The vallaslin she wears is a dark green that echoes her love of the color and honors Andruil. Her scent is reminiscent of vanilla, myrrh, and pine needles.
Nickname(s): Lyvie (Valus), all those elf names (Solas), Fluffy (Varric) Sexual orientation: Demiromantic/demisexual Race/Ethnic group: Dalish elf
Clothing style/frequently worn clothes: Her armor is thick and heavy; she prefers more “feminine” styles, like with mail skirts and less broad pauldrons. When she isn’t fighting, though, she dresses herself in rich colors, furs, and lots of accessories. Though she takes them out when adventuring, she has several facial piercings that she commonly occupies with gold jewelry. Her manner of dress is modest but alluring, always leaving just enough to the imagination. She likes to push boundaries with long slits, low backs, and outfits that show off her décolletage. Eye color: A bright medium green with gold streaks
Hair color and style: Dark brown, with a red tint in the sun--grown out to below her breasts, with curly waves throughout that become even more pronounced in humidity. Styles--(when fighting) bun or a braided updo, fringe usually left down; (when relaxing) down, sometimes tied back in a half-twist or braids if she's feeling adventurous.
Other distinguishing physical traits: A scar in her hip from an arrow, various self-harm scars on her arms. Her ears are “stubbier” than normal, and are flat at the tops like city elves. It’s a family trait, though, not because of any diluted blood.
Verbal tags: Lyvhenari has a different accent than most Thedosians or even Dalish, somewhere between Tevinter and Ander--I hear it sort of as a gentle/light Dutch accent. (video for reference) She takes her time speaking and isn’t prone to rush; people usually wait until she’s finished and don’t try to overrun her while she’s taking a breath or figuring out what to say next. If they do, her glare shuts them up. She is quick to return the good listening she expects of others, and will make sure everyone in a group is heard and no one feels left out. Due to her home clan’s roots in the High Reaches, Tevene is actually her mother tongue, with (Anders-tinged) trade language being her second. Because of this she often gets jumbled up when she’s angry or flustered and will often rant in Tevene. She knows a bit of Elven from Valus teaching her, as well as the words and phrases she’s heard growing up in the clan. Her cursing is minimal, but she will use expletives if the situation is appropriate (stubbed her toe, someone’s hurt, spiders are dropping down from the ceiling). If she’s really pissed off, she’ll slip into a long string of Tevene expletives. Characteristic tags: Like a river running through the forest, Lyv is gentle and serene with her actions and words. Her movements are graceful without being feral; she would fit in well with Orlesian nobles due to her poise. This is also reflected in battle, with each move calculated and deliberate. She prefers minimal physical contact as she is not a very outwardly affectionate person. If someone hugs her or gets too close in any way she will stiffen, perhaps because she sees it as threatening (likely due to her mother’s violent tendencies, or maybe she just can’t process it after a lifetime of rarely being affectionately touched). She does not tend to touch people on her own--usually the most she’ll give is a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder or arm. When speaking she is very expressive with her body language. She talks with her hands constantly, as well as with dramatic facial expressions, but doesn’t make very much eye contact.
Skills, Abilities, or Talents: Her intuition is...highly accurate. Some that know her say it borders on the uncanny--which, seeing as how there is a history of magic in her bloodline, it would make sense if there was an aspect of her brother’s abilities that was also passed to her. There are many occasions where her precognitive dreams have come to pass, most notably about significant life events (her grandfather dying, her brother leaving, her mother's suicide, the Conclave explosion). She is also an excellent strategist, and will often help Cullen move the troops and enjoys talks with Leliana about different outcomes of chosen actions--it’s like a little game they have.
Admirable personality traits: Clear communicator, good sense of humor, very sweet, patient (to a point), compassionate, creative, loyal, intelligent, good strategist, perceptive to both emotions and surroundings, majestic af Negative personality traits: Spiteful, subtly vicious/passive aggressive, territorial (of her friends, spaces, and food, mostly), withholds affection, hard to change her mind about something she's already decided, doesn't believe in second chances
Things that make angry & how they deal with anger: Being threatened, yelling/voices being raised in a negative way, people not doing their jobs right--Most of the time, Lyv’s anger is of the quiet type. A cold shoulder, a seething glare, but she never acts on what she’s feeling in the moment. It comes out later....in more unhealthy ways. She’d probably fare a lot better if she actually screamed or punched someone or killed something, but instead she bottles it up and it seeps into the depths of her psyche. It really shows in times of stress or in battle: often, she enters into a blind rage while fighting and doesn’t stop until someone either holds her back or (in the case of Solas and her closest team members) utters an emergency word. If there’s no opportunity to fight and she hasn’t dealt with the problem on her own, she will snap and make bitter comments or just like....start yelling a lot.
Things that embarrass & how they deal with embarrassment: Being reminded of her family history, having her shortcomings pointed out, being corrected in any way (even if constructive, though she deals with that much better) or reprimanded--While she is good at dealing with embarrassment, higher levels of chagrin will eat at her and continue to haunt her. She’ll keep reliving the experience and be like “I can’t believe I did/said that, what must they think of me D: “ If it’s regarding her past or her family, however, she’ll get spicy.
Fears & how they deal with fear: Werewolves absolutely terrify her. She has a hard time staying outside because of it, preferring to be behind solid walls or at least in an aravel. Tents freak her out.
Bad habits or vices: She has a bad habit of not eating properly, though this has gotten a little better after she joined the Inquisition. The kettle is almost always kept warm and she drinks tea religiously--all sorts of tea, whatever she can get her hands on.
Sense of Humor: Lyv’s humor is faint and uncommon, but it really does exist. When she pops in a conversation to say something funny, it’s usually darkly cynical or dry. Sometimes (on “good” days), her quips are more gentle--word plays or just friendly teasing. Most of the things she says make people laugh without her even thinking it was that funny. It’s gratifying, though.
Hobbies/Interests: She sketches a lot--always has a little blank-paged notebook and some charcoal around. Because of a lack of supplies in the clans she’s never really painted, but took up watercolors when she started hanging out with Solas. Favorite Foods: She honestly doesn’t eat very much, but she LOVES tea and she has a huge sweet tooth.
Item(s) special to character: Her shield, a gift from her father; three different rings that signify the three werewolf-bitten elves she once had to kill; her brother’s stave wrap, traded for her axe wrap--both had little charms from natural treasures they’d found, and they traded them so they’d always have a piece of each other. Person/friend close to character: Her brother, Solas, Leliana, Cullen, Dorian (eventually haha), Varric, she became pretty close with the Warden when they stayed at Skyhold
Brief family history: Her father was a kind and gentle man, and her role model for a lot of the way she acts when she’s happy. His sense of humor was spot-on and he could make almost anyone laugh; his smile could light up a room. What he saw in her mother, Lyvhenari will never know--the woman was at best troubling to be around. She would, in today’s society, be diagnosed with Bipolar I, and often made decisions on a whim that affected the entire family’s lives (ie, moving from Tevinter to the other side of Thedas). More often than not, though, Lyv would find her in a state of melancholy, staring listlessly at a letter she’d been reading for fifteen minutes or complaining of a “headache” and not leaving her bed. Eventually Lyv began to believe her mother’s claims that it was her fault, that if she was a better daughter or if she helped in the family more or did better in the clan tasks her mother wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed. Over time Lyvhenari voluntarily took on all the blame, even believing it when her mother placed it on her. Her only solace when her father was gone was her brother. He made her feel like she was the best thing in the world, and when she was with him she felt silly for thinking anything bad about herself. Many of her personality quirks are from being immersed in such a turbulent environment for all of her early life. Most painful experiences in character’s past: [1] Being torn from her father and twin brother when her parents separated--her father wanted to stay in Tevinter while her mother wanted to move further south. Her brother was transferred to their home clan Illyria to learn magic while she was basically blackmailed by her crazy mother (against her father’s knowledge), who said she’d kill herself if Lyv didn’t stay. She ended up doing so anyways, and Lyv still blames herself. [2] Being forced to kill a family of three elves from a neighboring clan that were bitten by werewolves. [3] Solas as a whole >__>