A tree grows around itself; it holds inside it everything that it has ever been.
Lanaya, and the tree rings of her life.
Written as part of the DAFF Moodboard Exchange, inspired by images chosen by pickledfig.
Read on AO3 here.
The Fifth Blight leaves the Dalish in an interesting position. When tensions brew at the following Arlathvhen, Mahariel is faced with the fallout - and the inescapable fact that, for her, there is no going home.
Written for Dalish Appreciation Week, following the prompt 'Arlathvhen'.
Read on AO3 here.
Hawke and his lover, Anders, die in the Battle of Kirkwall. Meredith wins. A brutal martial rule follows, with the city in complete lockdown until she can be certain no mage is left alive. Red lyrium festers, spreading its brittle roots throughout the city. Kirkwall is dying; Kirkwall is death itself.
Written for the 2024 Dragon Age Big Bang, with art by Willemina.
Read on AO3 here.
Merrill fends off possession, severe blood loss, and the persistent ache of loneliness. Hawke and Isabela help - more than they really know.
A character study of Merrill, with pre-relationship f!Hawke/Isabela/Merrill on the side. Written for CapriciouslyDoomed as part of the 2022 Arlathan Exchange.
Read on AO3 here.
Mahariel's long exposure to the Taint leaves her forever changed, the Darkspawn whispering in her mind night and day. Alistair attempts to reconcile the more troublesome parts of his identity with his desire to fade into the background. Morrigan finds herself in the mortifying predicament of caring about them both.
An account of the Fifth Blight, featuring three queer disasters with intimacy issues and an uncomfortable awareness of their own mortality. Will likely be high on body horror.
Read on AO3 here.
Adara Surana and her husband, Carver Hawke, chase reports of a talking Darkspawn into the Deep Roads. Adara expected this confrontation to be hard - she didn’t expect to be so reminded of herself.
A story about bad situations and the marks they leave. Written for LeggyWillow as part of the DAFF Discord server’s Annual OC Swap.
Read on AO3 here.
When Templar suspicion falls on Jowan, Surana takes the fall. His newfound Tranquility prompts a change in perspective.
A reflection on selfhood, oppression, and love.
Read on AO3 here.
Old Wardens told tales of long-gone companions and how they knew it was time to go. When hair thinned and nails grew sharp; when bone spurs sprouted or muscles began to hunch; when the eyes grew milky and the veins grew dark, and the light of the sun burned like the Maker’s wrath… that was when a Warden was a Warden no longer.
Mahariel had never known old Wardens.
Mahariel traveled at night.
Read on AO3 here.
Morrigan had thought that bearing this child would be no different from transforming into another creature by choice. But she had no control over the changes, no command over the stretch of her skin or the shortening of her breath or the sway of her posture. She ached, but it wasn’t an ache she could hasten or change. As her very knuckles swelled and grew sore, she wondered if it was more akin to the change the Warden struggled against than anything else Morrigan could have known.
Read on AO3 here.