Eleanor Cousland

* Action Mom: As quoted above, she is no Orlesian wallflower, and doesn't hesitate to grab a bow and fight back when the castle is invaded.
* Archer Archetype: She's presented as an Archer for the Human Noble's party.
* Bolivian Army Ending: No matter what you say, Eleanor Cousland will not abandon her husband.
* Career Versus Man: Gave up being a "battle maiden" to get married, and wants a female Cousland to do the same.
* Deadpan Snarker: As much as she tries to hide it, she comes off as this when sufficiently exasperated by her children and husband.
* Deceased Parents Are the Best: Along with her husband.
* Doting Parent: She loves her children, her daughter-in-law, and her grandson very dearly.
* Foil: To Adaia, the City Elf's mother, although the latter is never shown. Both are Action Moms to a potential Warden who were adept "battle maidens" in their day, but gladly laid down their weapons to get married and have children. However, while Eleanor became a Proper Lady who firmly believes that No Guy Wants an Amazon, Adaia remained "full of life... and a bit wild" even after marriage, and gladly taught her daughter (or son!) how to fight. Both are murdered despite their fighting prowess, though.
* Guest-Star Party Member: She temporarily joins you during the escape from Castle Cousland in the Human Noble origin.
* Happily Married: To her husband Bryce. How they met and came to fall in love with one another is detailed in The World of Thedas.
* Hold the Line: She tells the Warden she will kill as many Howe soldiers as she can to give them time to escape.
* Housewife: Used to be an adept "battle maiden," by her own admission, but gave it up to run her new husband's castle. (This is also her hope for a female PC.)
* Irony: Proudly declares that she is "no Orlesian wallflower," yet she spent most of her life deliberately downplaying her own battle prowess to live like one.
* I Want Grandkids: She laments how difficult it's been to find an acceptable husband for a female PC, as she wants more grandchildren.
* Mama Bear: As per the above. Her reaction to finding her grandson (the PC's nephew) dead is to get even angrier.
* Never a Self-Made Woman:
** The World of Thedas: Volume 2 reveals that Eleanor had commanded a raiding ship and crew as early as 16, primarily attacking Orlesian vessels during Ferelden's revolution. (This was how she met Bryce, as she sailed him around to help him fight Orlesians.) However, this was because her father had been a sort of privateer (a bann who was also a raider on the side) who had provided her training, ship, and crew. She then gave up the pirate princess persona her father helped her amass to marry and shadow Bryce, and gained her title of Teyrna through marriage to him.
** She also firmly believes this should be the case of her daughter. Elenor wants a female HN to downplay her own abilities to appear as a meek, helpless Proper Lady to land a husband.
* No Guy Wants an Amazon: Is a firm believer in this. While an adept fighter in her day, Eleanor is convinced "it was the gentler arts that helped land me a husband," and so gave up fighting after marriage, and tries to discourage a female PC from even starting for fear of scaring off potential suitors. Iona: You're as pretty as your mother describes. Eleanor: And she says that after seeing you whacking stuffed men in the courtyard, sweating like a mule.
* Parental Hypocrisy: To a female HN. Despite being an "adept battle maiden" in her day, she doesn't want her daughter to start fighting at all because she's afraid it'll ruin her chances of landing a husband.
* Proper Lady: What she gave up fighting to be, and what she wants her daughter to become.
* Quitting to Get Married: Boasts of giving up fighting to get married, and pushes her daughter (if female) to do the same.
* Red Baron: During the war with Orlais, her reputation as a raider earned her the title of the Seawolf among the Orlesians.
* Retired Badass: By her own admission, she used to be quite the warrior herself, and soon proves that she still is.
* Silk Hiding Steel: See the character quote.
* Together in Death: Chooses to die at Bryce's side rather than living to help her surviving children deal with the fallout of Howe's massacre.
* Tomboy and Girly Girl: If the Warden is female, then Eleanor is very much the Girly Girl to the Warden's Tomboy, much to her distress.
Category:Female
Category:Fereldan
Category:Human
Category:Noble