Katla Aeducan

"The shield is a metaphor. It's in all of us"

*In other worldstates:* Katla Aeducan was the only daughter of King Endrin Aeducan. Framed for the death of her older brother, she was exiled and sent to the Deep Roads. Shortly after being sent down there, she was killed by an ogre.

Katla Aeducan is the only daughter of King Endrin Aeducan. After being exiled from Orzammar and forced to become a Grey Warden, she led an army to stop the Blight, becoming the Hero of Ferelden. As a result of her achievements, she was made a Paragon.

Today, she serves as one of her brother, King Bhelen's, top advisors.

## Appearance and Personality

Katla has long, straight blonde hair and green eyes. She usually wears some variety of heavy armor.

Katla was very popular in Orzammar for her amicable nature, intelligence, and clever tongue, all things that she used to her advantage. Despite this, she tends to hold people at arm's length and not to reveal too much about herself, lest someone use it against her. She later learns to be more open and honest with the people she cares about.

While Katla was crushed to be exiled, she chose not to let it get to her and made a vow to survive, no matter what.

Katla is rather pragmatic and believes, above all else, in "doing the right thing over the thing that feels good". She has made decisions that she really didn't want to make and sacrificed her own happiness for what she saw as the good of everyone else. She is also very politically savvy and can play almost any noble like a fiddle; the only reason she was exiled at all was because, for the first time, she was played herself.

Katla has always had a soft spot towards children, and as a result, she refused to kill Connor and changed her mind about annulling the Circle when she found out that there were children trapped inside.

### Talents and Skills

Katla is very skilled at dual-wielding a pair of weapons. Usually she prefers to use an axe in one hand and a dagger in the other. She is also a master poisoner and is proficient in making a variety of different toxins.

Katla is known for her silver tongue and clever political manipulation. She can play the dwarven nobles like fiddles and has always been well-suited to playing Orzammar's political games. She is also a good leader, partially because she can read people and manipulate them, however dishonest it might be.

## Biography

### Early Life

Katla was born in 9:07 Dragon as the second child and only daughter of King Endrin Aeducan and his late wife Karina. Katla very much resembles a younger version of her mother, right down to her green eyes and ever-present snark.

Growing up as the only girl among her two brothers, Katla put in twice the work to get the notice of the people around her. When she found that she lacked the ability to use a sword and shield effectively, she grabbed a pair of daggers and started hitting the target dummy with them. It didn't take her that long to become an incredibly effective fighter using this style.

As Katla grew older, she took to the roguish arts quickly, finding her stride with a pair of daggers and a knack for poison-making. She also developed a silver tongue and became a rather fast talker, armed with plenty of snarky comments and a tendency to take no shit.

It was this last thing that made Katla so impressive to her father, King Endrin. As she rose in the ranks of the dwarven army and became a prominent figure in the political sphere, he saw potential in her to become great.

A Proving was held for her brother Trian's name day which Katla participated in. She easily became the Champion, and as a reward, King Endrin decided to make Katla the commander of Orzammar's army, holding a feast and a Proving in her honor.

### We've Been Played

While Katla was warned by her brother Bhelen that Trian was plotting to kill her, she chose to wait before she tried to strike back, believing that if he did try to kill her, she could use it as evidence against him and possibly even take his place as heir. Unfortunately, Bhelen *knew* that Katla wasn't that gullible, and had Trian killed on Katla's first expedition in the Deep Roads.

He then proceeded to frame her for the crime, resulting in Katla's arrest and exile from Orzammar. Fortunately for her, she ran into some conveniently placed Grey Wardens led by a human named Duncan who was able to get her to the surface and recruit her into the Order.

## Relationships

### King Endrin

Katla loved her father dearly, and she, in turn, was his favorite child. He was horrified when she was convicted of fratricide and he had no choice but to send her to the Deep Roads. He later realized that Katla had been innocent and died of grief shortly after her exile from the guilt of sending his innocent daughter to die.

### Trian

Katla and her older brother never really got along; she thought he was too stodgy and traditional, and thought he was an ass. He was jealous that Katla had their father's favor and a good deal of popularity that he lacked, and was rather resentful that she would probably get the throne. Despite their rather vitriolic relationship, Katla never thought of killing him, and was horrified when Bhelen sank to that level.

### Bhelen

Katla always got along better with her younger brother than she did with her older brother, they were both intelligent, progressive, and skilled at playing Orzammar's political games. While she knew that Bhelen would probably make a grab for the throne, she never would have guessed that he'd murder one sibling and get another exiled to get such power.

Despite the fact that Katla didn't trust him at all, she still put Bhelen on the throne over Harrowmont because she genuinely thought that he would be a better ruler. Over the years, the two repaired their relationship, and Katla became a trusted advisor of Bhelen. It is also worth noting that while Bhelen won the throne, Katla will be the one who will be revered in the future, given that she was made a Paragon and got her full name and honors restored.

### Gorim

Katla was granted Gorim as her second when they were both fifteen, and the two quickly became friends. Over the years, that friendship became something more and the two genuinely fell in love. While they were in a relationship, they couldn't marry or be together openly because Gorim was from a lower caste than Katla was; and she was rather bitter that her brothers could openly have lower-caste mistresses and sleep around with noble hunters but she had to hide her own relationship.

The two maintained their secret relationship for years until Katla's exile, when Gorim was exiled to the surface. He told Katla that he loved her and that he would always remember her, and then left assuming he would never see her again, with Katla assuming the same.

Surprisingly, thanks to Katla's recruitment into the Grey Wardens, the two met in Denerim months later. However, Gorim had married a smith's daughter under the assumption that he'd never see Katla again. Katla was upset, but understanding, and wished him happiness. The two remained friends, with Gorim even becoming Katla's second again after her titles were restored, but they were never involved romantically again and they're okay with that.

### Alistair

Katla saw her fellow Grey Warden as something of a little brother figure, and while she did her best to support him in his grief, she also tried her best to get him to stand up for himself and take on the responsibility of king. Thanks to Katla's encouragement, Alistair became a pretty good ruler. Their relationship was never quite the same after she spared Loghain, but she's on at least amicable terms with Ferelden's king.

### Morrigan

Katla didn't really trust Morrigan - of course, she didn't really trust most people to start with, but she could tell that Morrigan and Flemeth had a hidden agenda from the start (something she was later proven right about). The two had some mutual respect for each other at the very least - Morrigan appreciated Katla's strong leadership and determination while Katla respected Morrigan's magical abilities - but they never really became particularly close. Katla *knows* that she was manipulated into having Loghain perform the ritual and has been waiting with baited breath for it to come back to bite her.

### Leliana

The bard quickly endeared herself to Katla with her willingness to fight, and Katla - ever the reader - could tell that Leliana was hiding something under her Chantry sister facade. Once she found out about her past as a bard and about Marjolaine, Katla ended up bonding with her over being a part of a dangerous political game and being betrayed by someone she thought she could trust. The two became very close friends over the course of their journey, and Katla encouraged Leliana not to feel guilty over doing something that she likes - just as Katla doesn't feel guilty about the games that she's played.

After a long time on the road together, not to mention realizing that she had confided things in Leliana that she hadn't been willing to confide in everyone else - Katla admitted that she was in love with the bard. The two entered a romantic relationship not long before the Blight ended and couldn't be happier for it.

### Anora

Two women who both know politics quite well and who were willing to make power grabs for the throne in whatever way possible - yes, it's safe to say that Katla and Anora got along like a house on fire. Katla convinced her to marry Alistair as a compromise - place a charismatic Theirin heir on the throne and maintain the power and the support of Loghain. In return for her cooperation, Katla spared her father. Katla has regularly kept in touch with Ferelden's queen and the two have forged a very close political alliance between Orzammar and Ferelden that has benefitted both kingdoms.

### Loghain Mac Tir

Katla didn't blame Loghain for what he did at Ostagar - after all, he was just doing what he had to do to protect his country. At the same time, she understood why his approval rating was so low - leaving the Grey Wardens to their fate and causing a succession crisis in the middle of a Blight aren't really things that gain a person popularity points. Still, Katla spared his life, partially out of a promise to Anora and partially because she saw killing him as a waste of military talent. The two would develop a mutually respectful relationship that would last until Loghain's death in the Fade a decade later.

### Sigrun

This casteless member of the Legion of the Dead endeared herself to Katla quickly with her perky attitude and her excitement about dwarven lore. The two became fast friends despite the massive difference in social class between them and Katla eventually made Sigrun her Warden-Constable.

### Anders

Anders did something for Katla that hadn't been done in a while - he made her laugh. She accepted him into the Wardens and didn't care that he *might* have killed a couple of Templars - as long as he could do the same to the darkspawn, that was good enough for her. Their relationship was punctuated by the occasional disagreement, largely because Katla saw the mage-Templar conflict as a human problem and didn't particularly care about mages' rights, but they were still friends.

Katla had a decidedly apathetic reaction to his destruction of the Chantry. While she thinks it was wrong to destroy a religious establishment, she understands that he did it to protect his people and she's okay with that.