Gavin Lavellan

Name: Britt
Age: 28
Contact: sh_consulting @ plurk
Other Characters: N/A
Interests: I basically love anything that offers interesting character interaction, so I'm pretty easy!


Name: Gavin Ashara
Canon/OC: OC
Journal: slipshot
Race: Elf
Nationality: Dalish
Occupation: Hunter / Resident Village Idiot
Age: 32

History

Ashara Clan History

Gavin Specific History:

Born to the elven clan Ashara, Gavin had a mostly unremarkable history until the plague hit while he was in his late teens. He and his immediate family managed to survive, though he lost his parents a little later to a rather enterprising bear. He was in training for a variety of jobs in his clan, but never seemed to manage to 'click' with any of them - being tossed around between them with varying degrees of frustration. He did his best to keep it together, mostly for the sake of Pel, to whom he was to become betrothed. However, he had a tendency to 'wander' - to slip away from the clan unannounced for a few days or weeks at a time, to explore things he wasn't exactly allowed to, much to the frustration of his keeper. When he and Pel announced their intention to be Bonded, the Keeper told him that she would only allow it if he managed to actually settle down and take a place in the clan, permanently.

He tried. He failed. He fled.

He didn't return to the clan for two months. His relationship with Pel fell apart - he'd broken her heart, and couldn't fix it. His keeper was furious - his clan was furious - and he disappeared again a mere two weeks after he'd returned. After that, the journeys fell into a habit.

Technically, he was made a hunter in the clan - not because he was particularly good at it (he had a tendency to get distracted, on a hunt) but because at least then he wasn't letting the clan down when he disappeared. He took to wandering Thedas for months at a time - happier on the road than he could be at home, where he was a perpetual disappointment. Outside his clan he took many jobs - mercenary, farm hand (for about three weeks, before he got bored), a scout, a miner (three days), a bard, a tavern hand, and that guy that the dwarven theatre troupe picked up for a month and a half, mostly to make them laugh and to hand them their props. He survived mostly by trading Dalish goods, and by a little light-fingered theft - though never from people he liked.

His clan basically gave up on trying to reign him in, though never went as far as to kick him out. He settled into a pattern of wandering away, then coming back with elaborate stories and little gifts to soothe feelings. He still gets yelled at fairly regularly by both the Keeper and Pel herself, but he probably deserves it. When the breach opened in the sky, however, he left for a very different purpose - there was no way something like that could exist, and threaten his clan by existing, without him knowing what it was.

[ Note: He's met many people in his wanderings, and I am always happy to brainstorm ways he and your character have ran into each other. Known previous character interactions: Clan Ashara, Maxwell Trevean ]

Personality

Gavin is, well, a derp face. He is beset by a wanderlust so potent that it overcomes everything else - despite his need to please people and keep them happy. He is generally good humoured, tends to react to things with laughter first and everything else second, and it's hard to make sure he's taking something seriously. He's prone more towards self-deprecation and depression than he is anger, though he covers both up in humour when possible, and completely fleeing the situation when it isn't. He has a surprising innocence and naivety to him - he likes to believe the best in people regardless of the situation he finds them in, but believes the worst about himself. When people call him an idiot, or a race-traitor, or a coward, he is prone to believe it rather than get angry. And rather than solve it, he runs - which has kept him running for a long time.

Unlike most of the Dalish, Gavin is openly interested in and friendly towards other races. He is fascinated by non-Dalish histories and stories, and will actively pursue widening his knowledge base about them. It means most of his clan think he is a complete idiot - because he would rather ramble on about dwarves than pay attention to things like which plant will or will not get you killed. But at least he can generally be trusted to know which animals are edible.

He loves easily and deeply - both platonically and romantically - and works hard to please those that he does love. Ultimately, however, he tends to convince himself that the best thing he can do for their happiness is to remove himself from it.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Gavin is an archer, and - while he would never call himself it - a thief. He prefers the term 'urban scavenger'. He likes to make use of what he can find, and isn't extremely bothered by who it belongs to, as long as it doesn't belong to someone he likes. He can be strangely charming, and disarming, and would probably work best as a scout - or one of Leliana's information gatherers. (But he should never be given assassin work. He'd be more likely to try to recruit his targets than he would be to kill them.) He has no magical ability what-so-ever, and very little ability mixing potions. He can make a decent trap when he wants to, but tends to prefer straight up arrows - particularly exploding ones. He is absolutely not a melee fighter, and should be kept far from the front line, as he would die very quickly.

He has spent years meeting many, many people in all corners of Thedas - so he has many friends, ex lovers, rivals, and enemies lying around. This should make it easy to tie in any necessary back history for him, but by no means to I expect him to already know anyone, save his clan and Maxwell, with whom I've already arranged history with. That said, I'm always open to more. :)

Inventory

- 1 Dalish Bow and a quiver of arrows
- a set of lockpicks
- a rather ragged exercise book on reading and writing common that he's half completed, gotten frustrated by, and now just brings around with him telling himself he'll finish it eventually

Motivation

Gavin is already prone to wandering from the clan in search of knowledge, and so he left as soon as the breach appeared in the sky. It wasn't difficult to find out where it had occurred, and his investigation led him to find his way to Haven and the Inquisition. He joined up almost immediately. He survived Haven, and went with the Inquisition to Skyhold.


Gavin and Beleth
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