Sera

## Background

> *Sera is impulsive and revels in the moment. For her, it's not about what's right, it's about what's right now. In the Friends of Red Jenny, she humbled authority and had fun doing it. But now the nobility are being not just selfish but blind. War, demons, a torn sky: these are more than troubling—they're terrifying. Fortunately, Sera and her "friends" can be frightening, too, and if she needs to put an arrow through some baddies so regular people can sleep at night, so be it. Sera fights for those caught in the middle, but she also needs order restored. The world has to be normal so she can play.*
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Sera was orphaned as a child and was caught stealing at a young age. She remembers being from the Elven Alienage in Denerim, though Sera denies this and rejects the "arsehole" residents of the alienage as well as its "stupid" vhenadahl, that so-called "real" elves always have and pray to. Lady Taraline Emmald, a sick and barren human woman, took her in and became Sera's patron and foster mother.

When Lady Emmald died of sickness, well before the Blight, Sera inherited her estate, but rejected it and the fortune that came with it. After her death, she eventually fell in with the Friends of Red Jenny. Somewhere along the way, she also picked up skills as a rogue and archer. Completely self-taught, Sera proved to be exceptionally skilled with a bow, and it became her weapon of choice when dispatching with the rich and arrogant. Sera was in Denerim during the Fifth Blight. Though she heard talk of a big fight involving a Warden, she did not pay close attention to the exact details. Instead, Sera was "playing with small painted boxes" and burying things she had stolen. To her recollection, more people worried about magic than Blight. Nonetheless, the arrival of the darkspawn hordes ultimately forced Sera to flee Denerim, which she was able to do safely thanks to her marksmanship skills. By 9:41 Dragon, she had ended up in the Orlesian capital of Val Royeaux, a city filled with the kind of rich and pompous people that Sera and the Friends of Red Jenny hated.

## Involvement

### *Dragon Age: Inquisition*

After the Inquisitor meets with the Chantry and templars in Val Royeaux, an arrow with a message attached lands nearby, pointing to the location of three further messages and starting the quest A Friend of Red Jenny. Should the Inquisitor choose to follow these clues, they eventually confront an Orlesian nobleman who assumes that the Inquisition was targeting him. Then suddenly, Sera reveals herself and executes the noble with an arrow. She then introduces herself to the Inquisitor and offers to join the Inquisition to fight for those stuck in the middle of the chaos.

While in Haven, a Herald who is not a rogue may ask Sera to open the locked doors in the lower level of the Chantry. To do this, interact with one of the locked doors and the message "Requires a rogue" will appear, unlocking the necessary dialogue option with Sera ("I need a lock picked.").
After the move to Skyhold, Sera receives a tip that people are getting hurt in a land squabble in Verchiel and asks that the Inquisitor intervene. If they agree to divert troops to march through the city and spook the offending nobles, Sera later reports that the mission bore fruit and takes the Inquisitor to retrieve the reward. However, they are ambushed upon arrival, while Sera's friend, the one who gave her the tip on Verchiel, is killed. Lord Pel Harmond is revealed as the culprit. He claims that he had no idea about the Inquisitor's involvement, only wanting to draw out Red Jenny, and proposes a partnership instead. The Inquisitor can accept, tell him to leave, or have Sera kill him. If the Inquisitor asks too many questions, Sera will take the initiative to kill Harmond and beat him to death. Back in Skyhold, Sera's reaction will vary greatly depending on how the quest played out. The Inquisitor can ask her to leave permanently.

Once approval is high enough, Sera will surprise the Inquisitor by planning a picnic on the roof (only if your approval is high enough). Sera tells the tale of how her foster mother, Lady Emmald, lied to her about being unable to make cookies and kept the truth about buying cookies from the baker by telling her he [the baker] hated elves. When she discovered the truth, she resented Lady Emmald and developed an aversion to cookies. She calls them "pride cookies" because they remind her that her foster mother elicited an unwarranted hatred between her and the baker and made her insecure about herself just to protect her own pride.

Lady Emmald's deceit deeply affected Sera, who now realized she had not taken her in out of pure kindness, but to make herself feel better—using Sera, instead of truly caring about her, though she is unable to bring herself to say that she hated Lady Emmald for the deception. This shaped her outlook on life and her view that big people use and manipulate little people, thinking only of themselves and hurting anyone weaker. Sera tells the Inquisitor she wants to make better cookies so she can overcome all the issues she associates with them and like them again.
At any time, the Inquisitor can ask Sera to leave by telling her that she doesn't fit in with the Inquisition. If Sera's approval is too low, she confronts the Inquisitor and calls them an expletive. She expresses her disapproval of their abuse of power and is concerned life won't be "normal" again. If in a romance with the Inquisitor, she breaks up with her. The Inquisitor can threaten her or tell her to leave which causes her to leave the Inquisition. Alternatively, the Inquisitor can convince her to stay for the sake of the "little people" she wishes to protect. If her approval continues to drop, she will eventually leave the Inquisition on her own.

#### *Trespasser*

Two years after Corypheus' defeat, the Inquisitor can meet Sera before the Exalted Council. She invites the Inquisitor to play some pranks on people by throwing pies at random passersby's faces. Afterwards, they discuss possible changes to the Inquisition once the Exalted Council is over and invites the Inquisitor to be a Red Jenny. When Maryden Halewell starts singing "Sera Was Never", Sera breaks her lute calling the song creepy.
In the end Sera went back to her life as a Red Jenny. If Cassandra or Leliana is Divine, she offers the services of the Friends of Red Jenny to the Divine should the nobles get out of line.

## Approval

Sera was raised by humans and doesn't see herself as being particularly elven. Asking her about or supporting anything "elfy", such as elven heritage and the history of elves, will cause her to disapprove. She likes the world to be simple and believes most problems can be solved by fighting things out, but she is also frightened of magic and will disapprove of any actions supporting magic or mage freedom.
Sera is not used to acceptance from others, which means that she is slow to trust and does not respond well to people questioning her motives or actions. Agreeing with her will give approval and disagreeing with/questioning her will give disapproval.
Sera is unique amongst Inquisition's companions in that the amount of approval she gives may vary depending on the Inquisitor's race. Qunari will gain the most approval with her and elves will gain the least. Elves may also gain additional disapproval under certain circumstances.

## Trivia

* Although Sera is an elf, she is not elf-trained and thus cannot equip any equipment which requires that trait.
* While a male Inquisitor can't romance Sera, they can flirt with her and do some pranks with her around Skyhold.
* She is described as "The Wildcard" in the promotional materials.
* Mary Kirby describes her as Tequila and Skittles.
* Sera cut her hair with a knife because it got in her eyes, which is why it looks uneven.
* Sera is described as being kind of nuts and probably best defined by her contempt of bigwigs.
* Sera's greatest fear is nothingness.
* Sera can tell the Inquisitor that she has played with a small painted box when she lived in Denerim during the Blight. It's possible that it's the same box the Warden steals for the Friends of Red Jenny from First Enchanter Irving's office.
* Sera is a head taller than all other female elves in-game.
* According to banter with Solas, Sera appears to have occasional flashes of the uncanny sensitivity to magical or supernatural effects that is part of being elven, in spite of her disdain for acting "elfy."
* If not romanced, she starts a romantic relationship with Dagna, whom she affectionately nicknames her "Widdle".
* During Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, Sera is introduced as "Her Ladyship Mai Bhalsych of Korse."
* Sera is the only companion to have a tavern song about her. According to banter with the Inquisitor, Sera Was Never was Maryden's unsuccessful attempt at wooing Sera.
* Although Lady Emmald treated her well, her associates treated the girl with the typical disdain they gave "knife-ears." While being raised by a noblewoman afforded Sera with more care than other elves in her position could have hoped her, the upbringing was Andrastian and human-centric, leaving her with no connection to other elves and a great fear of magic.