Dragon Age: The Crown of Thorns: Difference between revisions

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And the [[Hidden Depths]] of the characters have yet to be explored fully.

Alternatively, this story is what happens when you take a [[Hot Chick With a Sword|human noble lady]], a [[Lovable Rogue|female city elf]], a male [[Phantom Thief|dwarven]] [[Lovable Rogue|commoner]], a [[The Stoic|Dalish]] [[The Archer|young man]] and a [[Badass Longcoat|male elven mage]] and, along with the resident [[Heroic Bastard]] Alistair and the rest of the canon companions, place them under the command of a dwarven prince who, depending on how one looks at him, can qualify as a [[Wise Prince]] ([[Guile Hero]]) and/or [[Magnificent Bastard]] -though it's pretty obvious at this point that he's is the former. His first act was fundamentally changing the events of the Dwarven Noble origin story, although [[Wham Episode|not in a way that anyone would expect]].

Alternatively, this story is what happens when you take a [[Hot Chick With a Sword|human noble lady]], a [[Lovable Rogue|female city elf]], a male [[Phantom Thief|dwarven]] [[Lovable Rogue|commoner]], a [[The Stoic|Dalish]] [[The Archer|young man]] and a [[Badass Longcoat|male elven mage]] and, along with the resident [[Heroic Bastard]] Alistair and the rest of the canon companions, place them under the command of a dwarven prince who, depending on how one looks at him, can qualify as a [[Wise Prince]] ([[Guile Hero]]) and/or [[Magnificent Bastard]] -though it's pretty obvious at this point that he's is the former. His first act was fundamentally changing the events of the Dwarven Noble origin story, although [[Wham! Episode|not in a way that anyone would expect]].

The story is already longer than 60 chapters and passed the 700,000 words mark a while ago...and it's only about half-done.

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* [[Dudley Do-Right Stops to Help]]: Played perfectly straight by Raonar. You'd think that a politician that spawns one gambit after another and who has the whole world on his shoulders would be a bit less eager to go into potentially deadly situations with just his dog as help. Turns out that {{spoiler|he doesn't think too hard on whether or not to totally go out of his way in the ''opposite direction'' (about a day's journey too) and check on Honnleath and if anyone was still alive there,}} even though {{spoiler|he'd finally seen the first human after roaming the Korcari Wilds for weeks, during which time he almost got killed several times, nearly dyed of starvation and refused a [[Deal With the Devil|deal with Flemeth]] that she would not outline until agreed upon. And his armor was so rusted and worn that it didn't even survive the trip to the golem village, although, true enough, the demon shattered most of it.}} Raonar does reason that it's important to assess whether the horde really reached so far west in such a short time or if it's just a group of stragglers. One would think this is just him looking for justification, but that wouldn't fit with his [[Brutal Honesty]] [[Honesty Is the Best Policy|policy]] that he uses on everyone, including himself, meaning that he manages to play this trope AND avert [[Honor Before Reason]] altogether (after all, he ''had'' {{spoiler|gained some nifty magical abilities to tip the scales).}}

* [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]: Duncan, when he and the DN {{spoiler|get cornered in Ostagar. Not only does he haul the protagonist off the fortress's ledge and shield him with his body from the fall, smashing his back (and ending up paralyzed and with bad internal injuries) in the process but, later, after said dwarven noble carries him away from the battle (and Duncan had been telling him to leave him behind), Duncan pushes him out of the way of a blight wolf's sneak attack and takes it himself. And he ''still'' survives enough to tell him that ''only'' Grey Wardens ca kill Archdemons, although he doesn't manage to explain why and how it's done.}}

* [[Dynamic Entry]]: Faren {{spoiler|interrupts the [[No Holds Barred Beatdown]] that the final form of the Sloth demon was administering to ''everyone else at once'', including the protagonist and resident [[One-Man Army]] blood mage Alim Surana, with a [[Flash Step]] and a roundhouse kick to the face, followed immediately by another [[Flash Step]] and a descending axe kick that drove the demon into the 'ground' so hard that it left behind a huge crater and blew a huge dust cloud into the air. And it all happened in little over an instant.}}

* [[Dynamic Entry]]: Faren {{spoiler|interrupts the [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] that the final form of the Sloth demon was administering to ''everyone else at once'', including the protagonist and resident [[One-Man Army]] blood mage Alim Surana, with a [[Flash Step]] and a roundhouse kick to the face, followed immediately by another [[Flash Step]] and a descending axe kick that drove the demon into the 'ground' so hard that it left behind a huge crater and blew a huge dust cloud into the air. And it all happened in little over an instant.}}

* [[Easily Forgiven]]: {{spoiler|Trian.}} And he feels really bad about it because he thinks he doesn't deserve it.

* [[Eccentric Mentor]]: Maybe not old enough to qualify, but the DN makes a point of acting like this. He even {{spoiler|deliberately lets/encourages the other members of the party to think he's a kinslayer just so the shock of the later revelation can be strong enough to make them grow past the point where they assume so many erroneous things so easily.}} And he is perfectly honest the entire time.

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* [[Good Is Not Dumb]]: The DN is a morally upright strategist in a [[Deadly Decadent Court]]. Stuff happens.

* [[Guile Hero]]: Raonar and Alim

* [[From a Certain Point of View]]: Raonar makes sure he can say this about ''every single statement he makes''.Ever. Anything he doesn't want to lie about is phrased as a question or hypothesys. It's what allows him to actually remain the arguably most honest and upfront of all characters in the story, even though he still manages to mislead and make people believe whatever he wants them to. Of course, it helps that the things he is willing to do {{spoiler|for the sake of others and his ideals,}} like his {{spoiler|[[Zero Approval Gambit]],}} are generally outside the realm of what people consider possible.

* [[From a Certain Point of View]]: Raonar makes sure he can say this about ''every single statement he makes''.Ever. Anything he doesn't want to lie about is phrased as a question or hypothesys. It's what allows him to actually remain the arguably most honest and upfront of all characters in the story, even though he still manages to mislead and make people believe whatever he wants them to. Of course, it helps that the things he is willing to do {{spoiler|for the sake of others and his ideals,}} like his {{spoiler|[[Zero-Approval Gambit]],}} are generally outside the realm of what people consider possible.

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Raonar is a master of this. It's probably good for the world that he doesn't do it often and mostly with the goal of helping the one on the receiving end. Unfortunately, he sometimes goes too far.

* [[Heel Realization]]: {{spoiler|Trian}} has a very serious one. It takes weeks / months to sink in and pushes him into a depression that lasts nearly as long, to the point where he's unable to sleep unless he collapses from exhaustion, this being the reason why he begins to abuse his own body through frantic workout. And this is ''while'' {{spoiler|Gorim}} was trying to offer some emotional support. Eventually, he manages to get better when he {{spoiler|discovers his talent for sculpting}} but [[It Got Worse|crap hit the vents]] again soon after. Ironically enough, the {{spoiler|nearly fatal accident}} he sustained during this period ended up improving his mood, though {{spoiler|it really was mostly Gorim's doing (the mood lifting, not the accident).}} Quite the mother hen that one.

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* [[Hilarity Ensues]]: This happens when you {{spoiler|tell Zevran to write a codex about poisons and their antidotes.}}

* [[Honesty Is the Best Policy]]: While he may phrase his words as questions and hypotheses when manipulating people, none of Raonar's actual statements were ever lies. This is why {{spoiler|he's so good at getting his way, since he doesn't have to worry about revealing anything because so-called enemies, particularly Orzammar nobles, always assume he's lying so they'll not realize the truth until it is too late for them.}}

* [[Hot Blooded]]: Gwen is afflicted with this, though it {{spoiler|tones down after her dream.}}

* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Gwen is afflicted with this, though it {{spoiler|tones down after her dream.}}

* [[Hot Chick With a Sword]]: Gwen and Kallian.

* [[Hurting Hero]]: In some measure, everyone in the main cast.

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{{quote| {{spoiler|"Well excuse me for not being overly coherent. After all, I only just bled from my eyes and am aching all over, not to mention feeling as though my head is being carved open from the inside and am generally in a sorry enough state that I am actually indulging in a rare episode of self-pity, which, though it feels strangely justified and appropriate right about now, I will most likely look back upon with shame once this is all over, unless I die tonight of course, which is really looking like the second most likely outcome, immediately after irreparable insanity!"}}}}

* [[Razor Wind]]: The DN's ranged sword attacks could qualify as this, more or less.

* [[Recurring Dreams]]: Raonar's near death experiences involving his [[Shout Out|Fortress Of Solitude]], essentially his mindscape, collapsing could be this, or visions, or some sort of retreat into one's self...

* [[Recurring Dreams]]: Raonar's near death experiences involving his [[Shout-Out|Fortress Of Solitude]], essentially his mindscape, collapsing could be this, or visions, or some sort of retreat into one's self...

* [[Sensitive Guy and Manly Man]]: Both played straight and averted by Faren and Raonar ''at the same time,'' whenever only the two of them are present, with the castless thug/criminal/rogue, oddly enough, being the sensitive one. Faren turns out to be ''very'' emotionally vulnerable after his Fade nightmare, so Raonar deliberately begins to exhibit more strength of character and equal doses of care and bluntness, even snarky humor, for the younger dwarf to draw upon. [[Big Brother Mentor]] indeed.

* [[Serial Escalation]]: The sheer length of the fanfic is one thing, but there never seems to be any shortage of new plot twists and ways to slam readers with another development involving {{spoiler|yet another scheme, possibly in regards to the Archdemon and the Fade.}}

* [[Shipper On Deck]]: The DN sometimes subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) nudges the romances between some members of the party forward. Being Faren's [[Big Brother Mentor]] allows him to quite easily help him out, while his approach to the relationship between Gwen and Alistair takes the form of a [[Batman Gambit]] inserted into a [[Xanatos Gambit]]. So far, his efforts have been successful and, though he was called out on his Matchmaker's complex, it wasn't in bad spirit, since {{spoiler|his machinations didn't step on anyone's toes, probably because he never actually invaded their privacy (read:steered Faren and Alistair in such ways that ''they'' ended up asking him for advice).}}

* [[Shout Out]]: A few, although some could be considered aversions.

* [[Shout-Out]]: A few, although some could be considered aversions.

** At one point, {{spoiler|Raonar is having a [[Battle in The Center of The Mind]] and considers summoning lightsabers, but decides against it.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Eight swords of transparent, shimmering crystal appeared around him, all of them floating according to his intent. Double-edged and long they were, reflecting the entirety of that 'place' as they flew into position, as a wall of death in front of him. He considered making them look like energy weapons, long, scorching cylinders of blue, green, yellow, violet and red plasma, but between the idea itself and the humming noise they would make when swung, he felt like that would be too much of a cliche for some reason.}}}}

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* [[The White Prince]]: {{spoiler|Trian is this, at first.}}

* [[The Wise Prince]]: Raonar, obviously. Alistair also seems to be turning into this, as is {{spoiler|Trian.}}

* [[Wham Line]]: Oh yeah, the protagonist did it.

* [[Wham! Line]]: Oh yeah, the protagonist did it.

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Raonar:''' Ladies and gentlemen… I have just made the Archdemon smarter, and if it was not self-aware before, it definitely is now.}}}}

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: Faren actually ''subverts'' this when he {{spoiler|curbstomps the sloth demon that had been, in turn, curbstomping everyone else ''at once'' up to that point, including the protagonist and [[One-Man Army]] mage Alim Surana}}. He actually says that he ''doesn't'' need any motivation. Badassery stems from the fact that he gives the speech ''while'' [[Flash Step|flash-kicking/punching]] the demon's face/back/whatever. Repeatedly.

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{{quote| "And that so-called plot of yours, Stone's mercy, it was so incredibly outlandish that a five year-old could have poked holes through all of it. "You're my elder, I'll respect whatever decision you make" you said when you tried to {{spoiler|goad me into killing Trian}}. If that's the driving force behind your actions, isn't {{spoiler|Trian}} your elder too? Makes your words a huge red flag, doesn't it? The only reason I so quickly made you think I agreed to the whole {{spoiler|kinslaying}} was because I didn't want to risk bursting into laughter if I accidentally made you say something like 'Of course I'll {{spoiler|help you kill our brother,}} you've always been there for me'. And just what the hell were you thinking when you sent that stupid scout spy? What was he supposed to do, start a violent confrontation when I finally ran into {{spoiler|Trian}}? Just how stupid do you think soldiers are to listen to the ravings of a lunatic? And speaking of armies, how in hell were {{spoiler|Frandlin}} and that idiot supposed to have any credibility when it came to {{spoiler|framing me}} if my soldiers were right there, especially since Dugan, that idiot, and his ambush were so obviously not part of your initial plan? Do you even realize how many sodding coincidences your so-called plan actually relied on, even not counting how big the possibility was of any of your 'moles' getting killed in that expedition? Or how the chance of you actually timing your arrival properly was so absurdly infinitesimal! You speak of politics and planning, but don't you even know that any plan which relies on more than 2 or three things going right is doomed to fail! I put more effort into making that scheme work than you did!"}}

* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: It was {{spoiler|started years prior the actual start of the story, between two certain people and is still in effect, although only one of them knows it.}}

* [[Zero Approval Gambit]]: {{spoiler|What Raonar does before leaving Orzammar, unsure if he'll ever get to return, what with the danger of imminent death and all.}}

* [[Zero-Approval Gambit]]: {{spoiler|What Raonar does before leaving Orzammar, unsure if he'll ever get to return, what with the danger of imminent death and all.}}