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“I'm inspirational like that.”


Vaea (born 9:24 Dragon[1]) is the first known[2] Fereldan elven squire, accompanying her knight, Ser Aaron Hawthorne, as he travels throughout Thedas.

Background[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Knight Errant.


BioWare canon
The plot follows BioWare's own canon, meaning it may not follow some of the player's choices in the games.

ChildVaea

Vaea as a young girl

Vaea grew up in the alienage of Edgehall with her parents. They survived the darkspawn attack that destroyed the alienage's walls during the Fifth Blight. After her parents were killed in 9:32[3] when the elves rebelled against Arl Gell Lendon, Vaea turned to theft to survive. Despite her uncle Coran's repeated offers to leave the alienage as he did to join Clan Boranehn, Vaea chose to remain in the city.[4] He often returned to the alienage to trade. On one such visit, as Vaea exclaimed that she only ever stole from shems, Coran told her that not all humans are bad, but that they are driven to change their world while elves are more willing to live in it as they find it. He also said that trying to change the world would just lead to killing or getting killed.

In 9:38 Dragon,[1] after the elves once again asked their arl to rebuild the alienage's walls destroyed during the Blight, he ordered his soldiers to cut down the Vhenadahl to put the elves in their place. Coran's clan offered a sapling for a new Vhenadahl, but the arl confiscated it before it could reach the alienage.

Coran Gell Uprising

Vaea mourns Coran after the attack on the Edgehall alienage

Coran and his clan visited the alienage, and proposed a peaceful demonstration of force to compel the arl to return the sapling. Vaea disagreed with the plan and instead encouraged the elves to take up arms against him. They refused, reminding her that many, including her parents, had died the last time the elves took up arms against their arl. Vaea took the initiative to sneak into the arl's keep to steal the sapling back. She found the alienage in flames when she returned. The arl's soldiers fought back after the Dalish tried to storm the keep, leading to heavy elven casualties, including Coran.

A knight errant, Ser Aaron Hawthorne, who'd been sent to Edgehall by King Alistair, intervened to prevent further violence and negotiate the return of the sapling. The king later ordered the newly planted tree to be protected and has forbidden the arl to touch it.

The alienage elves threw a feast in Ser Aaron's honor, but he excused himself when he noticed that Vaea was not participating. Aaron offered that she become his squire, as he traveled from town to town telling stories. She accepted, remarking that going town to town sounded good.


Involvement[]

BioWare canon
The plot follows BioWare's own canon, meaning it may not follow some of the player's choices in the games.

Dragon Age: Knight Errant[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Knight Errant.


In 9:44 Dragon, Vaea is still travelling with Ser Aaron. They travel to Kirkwall for the official coronation of Varric Tethras as Viscount. Varric invites Vaea to the celebration, but she politely refuses, saying that she has things to do first. Later, Vaea goes to The Hanged Man, where she meets a templar, Nevin Faramore. Ser Nevin hires her to steal a box containing bribes received by Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard before the Kirkwall Rebellion. The coffer is hidden in the Gallows. The job is easy, and Vaea steals the box from right under the city guard's nose.

Vaea Sapling

Vaea stealing Nevin's key

Varric, suspicious of her activities, finds her again and insists on his invitation. This time, Vaea cannot refuse. After the celebration, she sneaks into Ser Nevin's house and steals the coffer's key from him. Instead of returning the box to him, she travels to the Kirkwall Alienage and gifts it to a grateful elven family. However, before she leaves the alienage, Vaea is approached by Leliana's second-in-command Charter, who accuses her of theft.

Charter demands that Vaea rescue two Inquisition agents who have been taken prisoner in Starkhaven, warning her that they will be eliminated if they can't be rescued. Wary of becoming a pawn in someone else's fight, Vaea declines, stating that she does not choose where she goes, but instead follows Ser Aaron. Charter answers that he can be pointed towards Starkhaven. She also says she can help Vaea with Ser Nevin.

Upon reaching Ser Aaron's bedroom, she attempts to wake him up so they can leave the city before he learns of the theft. While she struggles to wake the drunken knight, Ser Nevin enters, determined to punish her for the theft. After a brief fight, Nevin ends up hanging from a pole, about to drop to his death. Vaea takes pity on him and pulls him up, but knocks him out as soon as his life is no longer in danger. Shortly after, Ser Aaron wakes up on his own, stating that they need to get ready to travel as he's received a birthday party invitation from Sebastian Vael, prince of Starkhaven. Vaea recognizes that Charter has outplayed her and forced her hand into accepting her offer.

Varric accompanies Vaea and Ser Aaron to Starkhaven. On the way, he reveals that he secured their invitations to Sebastian's birthday party, and that though he's not officially part of the Inquisition anymore, he doesn't turn his back on his friends. He also provides Vaea with a map of Sebastian's keep. Upon arriving in Starkhaven, Vaea is mistaken for a servant by Seneschal Granger, but graciously welcomed by Prince Sebastian himself. While Ser Aaron attends the feast with Varric, Vaea successfully jailbreaks the Inquisition agents, Marius and Tessa Forsythia. They tell her that their mission was to steal a notebook of study on red lyrium from Sebastian, and ask her to complete their mission for them, as the injuries they received upon their capture prevent them from doing so. Vaea initially refuses, but after overhearing Ser Aaron's unwitting defence of her thefts, changes her mind. After safely putting Marius and Tessa on a carriage back to Kirkwall, Vaea prepares to steal the journal.

As she re-enters the Keep, Vaea hears an alarm bell ringing, which she thinks will make her job of evading the guards much harder. However, she soon discovers that some of the palace guards have already been killed by Tevinter agents. She slowly makes her way to Sebastian's bedchambers, where the journal is kept, but although she reaches Sebastian's chambers and successfully steals the journal, she is caught by Seneschal Granger. Before Granger can lead her to the cells, Ser Aaron knocks him out but demands explanations from her at sword point.

However, Ser Aaron does not ask about her thefts, something he confesses he was aware of all along, and also approved of, but about the fact that she is stealing from a good ruler like Sebastian. Aaron is happy to learn of Vaea's involvement with the Inquisition's cause.

Vaea-cedric

Vaea takes out Cedric

Before Vaea can finish explaining herself, Cedric Marquette and a group of Tevinters interrupt their conversation. Ser Aaron orders Vaea to run with the journal and start a new life for herself, while he takes care of the Tevinters on his own. Vaea is chased by Cedric, who wants the journal, but is able to incapacitate him. With him unconscious, Vaea is able to blame him for the heist while pretending the stolen journal was purloined by one of Marquette's soldiers.

While Granger remains suspicious, Sebastian is quite taken by her exploits and believes her story over Granger's objections. Vaea and Ser Aaron quickly leave Sebastian's palace before Marquette can wake up; Ser Aaron vowing to follow the journal's thief wherever they may lead. Ser Aaron remarks to Vaea that they will have to return the journal once they are done with it. Before they leave, Vaea gives Granger's pin to the elven child he had threatened to throw out of the alienage earlier, telling him of a fence in Kirkwall that would gladly buy the pin without asking questions.

While leaving Starkhaven, Vaea reads the journal and discovers that some red lyrium may already be in the possession of the Tevinters. She agrees to go there to help the Inquisition with this matter. Ser Aaron intends to follow her as well, given his earlier promise to follow the journal's thief. As they depart, Vaea takes Ser Aaron's wine and throws it away, saying that his days as a drunk are over. The both of them then agree to help each other in their new adventure in Tevinter.


Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights.


Herold Had the Plan

Vaea and Ser Aaron are in a tavern near Starkhaven when Bharv gives her the amulet he stole from the Grand Tourney. She tells him that Herold contacted her when one of his jobs turned into a charity run. After seeing the devastation left by the invading Qunari in the north, he asked Vaea to bring a healing amulet north with her to Tevinter. Before Vaea and Bharv part ways, they toast to Herold's memory.[5]


Dragon Age: Deception[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Deception.


Vaea and Ser Aaron have tracked the red lyrium to Magister Qintara's estate. Aaron recruits Olivia Pryde and Calix to retrieve the Qintara Estate floor-plans from the Ventus Vaults, using their disguises as "Magister Aramis" and Calix "Qintara."

When Ser Aaron orders a mug of ale from the tavern the four hole up in, Vaea deduces that he and Olivia have a past, saying he hadn't touched a drink until she showed up. Aaron hints that she was a past love, while Vaea takes his ale for herself to keep him from drinking.

Calix and Olivia are able to retrieve the floor plans and return to Ser Aaron and Vaea. Things take a turn for the worse when Ser Aaron notices that Olivia has taken Calix to bed, which prompts him to resume drinking. Vaea escorts him away from the patrons he was harassing and reminds him that he promised he would stop for her, to which Aaron says that maybe she's not a strong enough inspiration.

The next morning, Vaea suggests that all four of them put their interpersonal problems aside to focus on the task at hand, while remaining coldly distant from Ser Aaron.

Vaea-spy

Vaea demands answers from the elven spy

Vaea has no trouble jumping from one building into another to enter the Qintara estate, then lets the rest of the party in. She instructs them to stay out of her way and guard the exit while she retrieves the red lyrium they're after. However, she comes to discover that it is already gone. Returning to find that the rest discovered Magister Qintara has in reality been dead for years, and instead an elven spy has been pretending to be him, Vaea holds her dagger to his throat demanding answers. The elf tells them that the red lyrium they possessed was actually a weapon imbued with it, that he traded it away for information, and that it's now located at Castellum Tenebris, the impenetrable fortress of House Danarius.

When an army of Qunari break into the estate, Calix suggests they flee, and Olivia volunteers to act as a distraction for the rest to escape by pretending to be Magister Qintara. Vaea and the others successfully make it out of the estate and city, where on the outskirts Vaea consoles Aaron over Olivia's sacrifice. Aaron then apologizes to Vaea for what he said earlier, and Vaea tells him that people can change. Ser Aaron tells her that she never ceases to amaze him, to which Vaea remarks that she's "inspirational like that."


Dragon Age: Blue Wraith[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith.


In their mission to find Castellum Tenebris and the red-lyrium weapon, Vaea, Ser Aaron, Marius, and Tessa attack the Qunari pursuing Cedric Marquette, fleeing from Carastes with an artifact he was hired to recover by Magister Danarius. After Francesca Invidus kills the remaining half-dozen Qunari with a single spell, Ser Aaron starts telling one of his stories, but is interrupted by Vaea. When Ser Aaron replies that he thought Vaea liked his stories, she apologises and asks him to go on, but he says that the moment is lost.

When Francesca leaves the group for Fort Viridan, Vaea chooses to follow her, arguing that she shouldn't be left alone, and that they might need her firepower to infiltrate the fortress. Ser Aaron tells her to take Autumn, whose tracking abilities she'll need to rejoin the main group once they've followed Marquette's caravan to Tenebris. While Calix initially protests, saying that Olivia's dying wish was for Autumn to keep Calix safe, he eventually relents.

Vaea and Autumn catch up with Francesca just outside Fort Viridan. Though Francesca initially dismisses their offer of company, the discovery that her father has been abducted by the Blue Wraith makes her reconsider. She asks for help in tracking her father, which Vaea readily provides, saying that she knows what losing family is like. More than Autumn's tracking abilities, Francesca believes that having an elf at her side might help when talking with the Blue Wraith. Vaea concurs, and asks that she be the one to do the talking, as she and the Blue Wraith have a mutual friend. As they notice the corpse of a man with a gaping hole in its chest, the Blue Wraith appears, telling them it was a mistake to come.

FenrisFrancescaFight

Vaea stops the fight between Fenris and Francesca

Vaea physically interrupts the fight between Fenris and Francesca, and convinces him that they only came to talk. He tells them that he’s not the one who took Magister Invidus, but that he’s tracking the man who did. Vaea offers Autumn’s tracking skills in exchange for a guarantee of safety for Francesca’s father, but Fenris refuses, saying that he no longer has teammates, that people only use you for as long as they need your power.

As Autumn tracks Fenris to Magister Nenealeus’ estate, Francesca tells Vaea that Fenris is right and that she suspects Vaea is only helping so that she’ll join their group in return. Vaea denies this, saying that her experience with Ser Aaron has been very different, and that while they've had their problems, it doesn't mean that she'll leave him.

At the estate, Vaea convinces Fenris to investigate before attacking. They find that the Qunari, led by a Viddasala, have taken the estate, and are interrogating Nenealeus' elven slaves as to his motives and whereabouts. When the slave reveals that the magister has gone to retrieve a sarcophagus that infuses elves with lyrium, Fenris angrily attacks the Qunari, saying that the sarcophagus was broken beyond repair. Fenris and Francesca kill most of them; Vaea only disables her opponents. She tries to comfort Fenris after the Viddasala escapes, but he lashes out when she touches his shoulder. He quickly apologizes, explaining that his markings sometimes cause pain. They learn of Nenealeus' whereabouts from one of his surviving slaves, and arrive just in time to help Ser Aaron's group in their fight against more Qunari and unstable test subjects.

FrancescaVaea

Vaea comforts Francesca

Vaea follows Francesca and Fenris as they chase the caravan to rescue her father. She tries to reason with him when he attacks Francesca for interfering, but he calls her a knife-ears and blasts her off her feet. Francesca is eventually forced to kill her father to protect Fenris. Vaea comforts Francesca in her grief. After the battle, Ser Aaron tells her that he had faith she would bring Francesca back and she replies that it's good to know, as they are a team and she'll deal with anything he has to deal with. As Fenris leads them towards Tenebris, Ser Aaron starts telling a tale of a time he spent in the Dales traveling with a group of elves who had dreams of restarting the Emerald Knights. He stops to asks Vaea if he's already told her that story. She replies that he has, but that it's a good one he should share with the others.


Dragon Age: Dark Fortress[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Dark Fortress.


On their way to Castellum Tenebris, just outside Neromenian, Vaea keeps watch while Ser Aaron struggles with nightmares of the Battle of Ostagar. When he wakes up, calling out King Cailan's name, Vaea asks him whether he wants to talk, which stops him from reaching for his flask. He dismisses her offer and goes back to sleep. The next day, Ser Aaron leads the group to a tavern while Tessa scouts around town for information on how to infiltrate Tenebris. Vaea is concerned about him, but says that she can't push him too much. As she's never killed anyone herself, she asks Marius whether killing someone ever gets easier. He replies that it does. However, Fenris notes that this is not what troubles Ser Aaron, that instead he has the look of someone haunted by failure.

AaronVaea

Aaron Hawthorne & Vaea

When Tessa reports that she's found Tractus Danarius getting drunk in a local tavern, Vaea convinces an angry Fenris not to kill Tractus, as they need him alive to tell them of a way into his fortress. Ser Aaron supports her decision, saying that she's right as always. While the rest of the group acts as lookouts, Vaea, Fenris, and Autumn confront Tractus in his room at the tavern. After Fenris tortures the necessary information out of Tractus, Vaea once again stops Fenris from killing the magister, arguing that they don't have the time, as the Qunari have just invaded the city, and that Tractus was only a child when Fenris was last with Danarius. They decide to leave Tractus tied up in his room for the Qunari to find, then head for Castellum Tenebris.

Using her acrobatic skills, Vaea is able to infiltrate the castle and open the secret passageway for the rest of the group. She is surprised by the level of concern that Ser Aaron displays towards her, as she's broken into hundreds of places before without issue. When she asks him whether he is haunted by his failure at Ostagar, he replies that what troubles him is the lack of impact his choices have had, pointing to Olivia's death and Marquette's escape from Starkhaven. Vaea retorts that impact can be measured in different ways. She credits Ser Aaron for helping her become more than a thief and trust humans again as well as helping Francesca and Fenris join their group. Inspired by her words, Ser Aaron drops his wineskin to the ground.

They continue to make their way through the tunnels, eventually reaching the castle's courtyard, where the ritual to empower Shirallas with red lyrium will take place. However, they find heavier resistance than they'd expected: in addition to Nenealeus, Cedric Marquette, Shirallas, and the Venatori, the courtyard is also defended by a high dragon. Vaea decides to free the high dragon while it's still muzzled, a plan that Fenris thinks is foolish. To protect her, he follows Vaea and Autumn as they, undeterred by his warning, head towards the dragon, while the rest of the group mounts a direct assault on the courtyard. However, their efforts are disrupted when the Qunari start subjecting the castle to heavy bombardment. Ultimately, though the group manages to slow Shirallas down, he enters the sarcophagus and emerges from it covered in red lyrium markings.

To face against the combined threat of the Red Wraith, Nenealeus, and the high dragon, Fenris makes a deal with the Qunari, allowing them inside the castle on the condition that Ser Aaron's group be allowed to leave after the fight. In the confrontation, Vaea first faces off against Nenealeus with Marius and Tessa. After Tessa is knocked unconscious, Vaea is forced to deal the final blow against Nenealeus–her first kill. She then convinces Francesca to let the dragon simply flee from the battle and use her powers to bury the sarcophagus deep underground instead. After Marquette tells the group of the way to disrupt Shirallas' healing abilities, Vaea rushes to Ser Aaron's side, engaged in a duel against the Red Wraith. She arrives just in time to see Ser Aaron get stabbed in the chest, cut off Shirallas' hands in return, then push himself off a high ledge to separate him from his red lyrium sword, still embedded in Ser Aaron's torso.

Vaea makes her way down to Ser Aaron just in time to witness his final moments. As he lay dying, he gives her a letter addressed to King Alistair, asking him to make Vaea a knight. After his death, she decides to return to Ferelden to return Ser Aaron's remains to his native Portsmouth. Fenris, Francesca, and Autumn offer to accompany her. As they start their journey south, Vaea tells them the story of how Ser Aaron got his horse from Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons.


Trivia[]

  • Varric's nickname for Vaea is "Fingers".[6]
  • Vaea prefers to use non-violent means to accomplish her goals.[7] While she's participated in several fights, she avoids killing whenever possible.[8][9]
  • Vaea’s horse is a Dalish All-Bred named Da’len.[10] He was a gift from a Dalish clan. She doesn’t know the meaning of “da’len”, but as that is what her uncle called her, she thought it would make a good name for a horse.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Tumblr icon Nunzio DeFilippis. "Maybe a weird question..." . Tumblr.
  2. According to Sebastian Vael in Dragon Age: Knight Errant, issue 3
  3. Wiki talkpage
  4. Dragon Age: Knight Errant, issue 2
  5. Ser Aaron and Vaea's cameo is most likely set between the events of Knight Errant and Deception. Nunzio DeFilippis on the Unofficial BSN
  6. Dragon Age: Knight Errant, issue 1
  7. Dragon Age: Knight Errant, issue 3
  8. Unofficial BSN
  9. Dragon Age: Dark Fortress, issue 1
  10. Unofficial BSN
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