Exploring Concepts For My Rook. This Is Sithney And They Just Got Out Of Jail

City Elf Appreciation Week... BEGINS!

Please remember to tag @cityelfweek or use the tag #cityelfweek24 so your works can be reblogged! Today's optional prompt is vhenadahl - but anything that's focused on city elves is welcome, new and old!

City Elf Appreciation Week

~ 5th of August - 11th of August ~

Here are some optional prompts for next week! Please feel free to do whatever you like with them. Remember to tag @cityelfweek or use the tag #cityelfweek24!

Day 1 - Vhenadahl - A pillar of many alienage communities. Firewood in others.

Day 2 - Folklore - Show the folklore that city elves have created over time. Superstitions, stories, heroes, villains... anything!

Day 3 - Community - Close-knit family, or claustrophobic little box?

Day 4 - Customs and Tradition - Andrastian? Dalish? Somewhere in between, or something all new?

Day 5 - Alienage - The only home many city elves ever know.

Day 6 - OC - A day to celebrate original city elf characters!

Day 7 - Free Day - All things city elf!

[original post][divider credit]

Alienage slice of life

For day 3 of City Elf Appreciation Week (organized by @cityelfweek thank you so much for organizing this btw I am loving all of the entries) I am posting an old piece of writing I never posted on Tumblr. It's the day before her wedding, and Astala Tabris is enjoying an evening off with her friends and coworkers. Everything is going well for her: she's having fun, she has people she can rely on, she's got everything figured out job-wise... or does she? A slice-of-life story centered around the necessity and frustrations of holding a job, and the friends at your side as you walk through life. Enjoy!

“There he is!” Tehriel called and jumped up.

Astala threw her cards aside and followed suit. It had been a bad hand, nothing worth holding on to. The five of them sprinted over to Ilmanis, who had just stepped through the gates to the Denerim alienage. Blond mane flaring out behind him like a knight from a story book, Doher led the charge and stopped a mere heartbeat before colliding with their long-awaited friend.

“How did it go?”

“Did you get the job?” Astala threw herself over Doher to get a look at Ilmanis, who was short enough to disappear entirely behind any reasonably sized elf. “If you didn’t, they’re fools, because you’re the most competent person they could’ve hoped to hire.”

“Tell us, what does it feel like to walk around in a shem palace?” Tehriel asked. “Was it full of dogs?”

“The dogs stay in the kennels,” Astala said. “I want to know if the chamberlain treated you right. Or was he too good to interview you? Is it still that guy with the weird haircut who hired my father?”

Ilmanis mumbled something unintelligible and Doher aggressively shushed them.

“You’re asking the man too many questions at once.”

“That’s right,” Elnasran nodded. “Come, we saved you some food."

Read on AO3

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The people have spoken...

City Elf Appreciation Week will take place between the 5th of August and the 11th of August 2024!

Optional prompts soon to follow <3

Original post here.

I did consider October, however as we don't know exactly when Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be released outside of "autumn", I thought it would be best to avoid those months just in case they coincide. I know September is an autumn month, but I think it's unlikely to come out then? But maybe not!

Please let me know your thoughts :)

Briala! Illustration I did for Ukrainian Dragon Age zine :)

Friendship, 6:93 Steel

I had intended to write something new for today's @cityelfweek theme, but ran out of time! Here's an old Stories of Thedas entry instead, from my Tabris ancestry project on AO3. 441 words. Adlan is Kallian's great x6 grandmother, and Rishan is Nelaros's great x6 grandfather! [divider credit]

Rishan was from Highever.

It was some silly scheme their hahrens set up, wanting to build connections between the two alienages. They were hoping to expand it, to foster some sort of community between all the city elves of Ferelden and perhaps even further. Adlan wasn't sure the humans would let it slip unnoticed for long enough, but it was a nice thought. There were rumours that Elgarath had even tried writing to a Dalish clan, though no one was sure how that would have worked.

Her first letter came close to All Soul's Day.

Hello stranger,

My name is Rishan Halva, and I am from Highever. 

What is Denerim like? I hear it is nice, and that your vhenadahl looks like a mighty beech tree! Ours is more of a sweet chestnut. I have drawn it for you.

Do you have any plans for the upcoming annum? My family and I will go to the bonfire that is set up just outside of the alienage. The food stalls are very nice. My favourite is the spiced hot chocolate.

I hope to hear from you soon. I apologise for my awkwardness.

Rishan.

Surprisingly, it brought a smile to her face.

She wrote him back to be polite, asking some of her own questions, and telling him about her life. It ended up far longer than she had intended. But Rishan seemed so happy in his next letter, already far less stilted, and there were pages of it in return, so it couldn't have been a bad thing.

They continued swapping letters until inevitably they had to share more and more personal things, to keep the conversation alive if not for anything else. Rishan kept sending her drawings; of himself, his family's forge, the alienage, his friends, and sometimes even things Adlan had mentioned in previous letters. In turn, she wrote him stories often inspired by him and the people he mentioned, or of heroes just subtly elven enough that no prying human eyes could call them up on it. 

They shared their secrets, woes, hopes and dreams… and as the months turned into years, and the years melted into decades, it never seemed too strange to them that their best friend was someone they had never met. 

The pen pal scheme largely failed. Few people cared enough to return even the first letter, let alone the fifth or sixth. Adlan knew that Elgarath would have been overjoyed when their children began to send their own letters – it certainly always warmed her heart.

And so, Adlan and Rishan ensured that their lives were always entwined; one way or another.