Rose Amell

Rose circa 9:43

> *"In your heart shall burn an unquenchable flame. All-consuming, and never satisfied." Threnodies 5:7*
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Rose Amell was born in 9:11 Dragon in Kirkwall, the eldest daughter of Aaron and Revka Amell. Rose is a Grey Warden and former member of the Fereldan Circle of Magi, having passed her Harrowing in record time for Kinloch Hold. She has served faithfully as Commander of the Grey in Fereldan since 9:31 Dragon as well as Arlessa of Amaranthine.

## Overview

### **Physical Appearance**

Rose stands at 5'9" (appox 1.75m) with a lithe figure that had gotten more muscular the longer she's been with the Wardens. She has dark red hair she's grown out since becoming a Grey Warden to where it currently falls half way down her back. She usually has it braided up in some way to make it easier to fight. She's also acquired a great deal more freckles in her time outside the Circle, peppered across her cheeks and nose. Her eyes are an amber shade, not too unlike her second cousin Garrett Hawke.

### **Personality**

Rose is very kind and caring until you cross her. She has been more of a lawful good alignment most of her younger years and has grown to more Neutral Good from decisions she's had to make for the good of the Wardens and Fereldan at large. She enjoys having a good time when her duties don't call her elsewhere, but does take things seriously when it has to do with the Wardens or dealing with things as Arlessa. She has never been the best at recruitment when it comes to the Grey Wardens however, seeing the organization largely as a punishment rather than an honor. Once someone is a member however they're as good as family with her and she will defend any one of them which has caused problems in the past, particularly with Templars.

She counts herself as a loyal Andrastian, always finding her faith as something that guides her when things feel difficult. It has also led her to believe that people are fallible but have the ability to become better if given the opportunity to do so. She likes to give them that opportunity when possible and it has only occasionally come back to stab her in the back.

### **Talents and Skills**

Rose's favorite area of study has always been elemental magic, sprinkled with Kinloch Hold's specialization of Spirit Healing. She enjoys being a little bit showy though with a good fireball or coating her allies' weapons in frost. She picked up the skills of the arcane warriors during her travels during the blight and has also taken an interest in the nature of the Blight as well as Blight magic, a specific subset of blood magic. It has become more theoretical as she'd gotten older. She's also worked more in the years since the Blight on her sword work so she has to rely less on using her magic to augment her strength so she can maintain herself in a fight even if dealing with someone who can block or drain her mana. It has been suggested she fights more like a rogue than a warrior, preferring light to medium armor to allow her better movement, which is hardly surprising given her friend group she's done most of her training with over the years.

She is also a talented knitter and enjoys practicing her cooking. Rose has also become more skilled with numbers as Arlessa as she wanted to take some of the burden off Mistress Woolsey. She still could not tell you how much of a stipend being Warden-Commander actually gets though as most of her funds have usually gone back into the Keep for things she felt were more quality of life improvements rather than necessities.

## Biography

### Childhood and the Circle of Magi

Aaron had been fully warned when he’d been engaged to Revka Amell that the family had a tendency for magic in their blood. In 9:11 Dragon they had their first daughter: Rose. Second in the new generation of Amells, she was the first in Kirkwall as her mother’s cousin, Leandra, had run off to Fereldan a few years before. Rose was joined in the following years with four younger siblings: Basil (9:14), Lavender and Lynden (9:16), and Willow (9:18). Rose was a rather energetic child with a joy for everything on their small estate, always quick to run to her father after a long day with a full recounting of her adventures for the day with her siblings. She was eight when one of those reports was to show off the new trick she’d learned: lighting a candle with only her mind. Her parents knew exactly what it would mean but were slightly reluctant to send their child off to the Kirkwall Circle.

Her father returned the next day though to find that Revka had not taken the news as well as he’d thought and had attempted to “kill the magic” in her four eldest children before he’d gotten there. Revka was admitted to a sanitarium outside of Kirkwall while Rose was taken to the Circle of Magi in Fereldan for her own safety. Her father soon left the city of chains as well with the four younger ones to go to Markham although over the years all five of the children would end up becoming mages.

Rose took quickly to her studies at Kinloch Hold and was soon caught up into the strange sort of family that came from having other apprentices around who also had been taken away from their families. They would often have fun making small bets with each other on things like how long one of the elder apprentices would manage to escape for this time and try to teach Mr. Wiggums to sneak things into the isolation cells when someone had gotten into trouble.

When she was sixteen she was paired with a junior enchanter named David, continuing to hone her skills as she got closer to her Harrowing. The pair entered into a relationship, things quickly turning physical as she quickly learned some of the more secret places in the Tower where the Templars were less likely to find a young couple. David did not take it well when she started to push away from that side of their relationship to the point that her friend Jowan took to studying nearby whenever the two were together just to give her a buffer. Eventually he moved on, but by then most of the others in the tower had been warned off engaging with him in anything less than a professional manner.

It took a bit for her to get back to her usual cheerful self, although starting up a betting pool with which of her friends could get a kiss out of one of the newer Templars certainly helped. Though the teenager was sure she probably pushed a little too hard at times with Ser Rutherford. It was difficult though not to develop a bit of a crush. Shortly after her nineteenth birthday though, she was finally scheduled to have her Harrowing.

Rose has little more than rumors in the aftermath that she ended up with one of the fastest Harrowings on record for Kinloch Hold, but for a young woman also wanting to be First Enchanter in the hopefully not too distant future she took pride in it. Her pleasure at becoming an official junior enchanter was quickly doused with Jowan’s request to help him destroy his phylactery so he could escape the Circle. She thought it was a little ridiculous. Jowan being accused of blood magic? That they would actually consider making him Tranquil? It sounded like the sort of rumor that had either gotten blown out of proportion or that he was just trying to play to her sympathies to get help. So she went to one person she trusted hoping for some help or advice on how to talk Jowan out of his crazy plan: First Enchanter Irving.

Instead she found herself in the middle of helping Irving allow them to catch both Jowan and Lily red-handed, hoping that they’ll get a little solitary at worst. She felt slightly less guilty about lying to him though when Jowan revealed himself as a blood mage, leaving her and Lily to deal with the aftermath and the Knight-Commander pushing for severe punishment for helping a blood mage get away. So when the offer of recruitment into the Grey Wardens comes from Duncan she was all too quick to grab on to it rather than risk the possibility of becoming a Tranquil less than twenty-four hours after her Harrowing.

### Ostagar and Building An Army

> *“In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice.” -Grey Warden Motto*
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It’s more than a little strange after a decade in the Tower actually getting out and about with other people again. It took some time for her to get used to not having a warm bed to return to each night and not knowing how long they were going to have to ride or walk until they reach Ostagar while he caught her up on things that had been going on in relation to the Blight that was taking hold of Fereldan.

She did find herself rather quickly drawn upon arrival at Ostagar to the most junior member of the Wardens, a former Templar trainee named Alistair. His quick wit and charming sense of humor quickly put her at ease in the new location when she was still a little unsure of what she’d gotten herself into with joining. Though it was liberating to be able to just wander around without someone telling her where she could and couldn't go (within reason) and even found herself being granted a brief audience with Teryn Loghain after joking to his guard that she had important business for him.

Unfortunately she would be the only one of her recruiting class to survive the Joining ritual shortly before the battle King Cailan hoped would be a quick end or at least a decisive blow to the darkspawn that were plaguing the countryside. She was a little surprised at the King’s insistence that the job of lighting a beacon would require two of them when they were already limited on Wardens, but trusted Duncan that there would be plenty of battles in the future and they would be missing out on very little.

It was a move that saved her life as well as Alistair’s when Ostagar was overwhelmed after Teryn Loghain Mac Tir sounded the retreat. Whether it would have changed anything would always be a matter of debate, but she woke up in the cabin of the Witch of the Wilds Flemeth a few days later with only one other Warden and the Blight nowhere near dealt with and only getting worse by the day. Agreeing to take Flemeth’s daughter with them, the two Wardens set out to gather an army for the battles to come.

After gaining a few more companions near Lothering and a detour to Honnleath, Rose insisted on starting with the mages of Kinloch Hold, assuming that it would be easy enough to recruit her old friends. She was not expecting that Senior Enchanter Uldred would have put the tower into a lockdown with the threat of a Right of Annulment pending as soon as it could arrive from Denerim. She agreed to go see what she could do to clear the Tower of all the malificar and demons while hoping to get to Irving before things went badly. Admittedly the whole time she was checking the faces of every Templar they came across, looking for the bright eyed blond she was still admittedly harboring a bit of a crush for.

Relief at finally finding Cullen turned sour when he insisted there was no way of knowing who was or wasn’t affected by the blood mages. Rose refused to kill even one innocent on the “what if”s of a man that had been tortured by demons for Maker knew how long, no matter what her feelings might be for the man. Thankfully Irving was found with his mind still intact despite Uldred’s attempts and they were able to keep the Templars from annulling the Circle while gaining the first of their new allies. Rose left though more unsettled than she had the last time she’d walked away.

She was surprised to find Alistair had a gift for her after they’d made camp on their way to Redcliffe: a single red rose he’d come across along with some of the sweetest words she thought she’d ever heard. The second boost to her ego came in the form of an elven assassin calling her a deadly sex goddess which was perhaps the one thing that kept him from getting turned into a pile of ash. It would be the last of her “potentially going to kill us in our sleep” recruitments for some time, but at the very least Zevran provided entertainment value.

Redcliffe was having plenty of their own issues and despite protests from some of the more practical members of her party, Rose wasn’t going to sit back and just hope for the best while the town was being attacked by the undead. When morning broke they were all still alive and prepared to go find out what was going on in Redcliffe castle. Isolde’s description of an “evil” that had taken hold there was suspicious but with little other details she was resigned to letting Teagan go back on his own while they found another entrance that led through the dungeons and another all too familiar face.

Despite his lies, Rose still held some guilt about going to Irving instead of just trusting Jowan. Even if it had led her right into something she found she was actually pretty good at with fighting darkspawn and other creatures. She let him out of his cell assuming he would make a run for it and whatever happened from there would be off her conscience. She had given him the chance and now it would be up to him what to do with it.

Her frustration with Isolde had already started with her evasiveness (and less than kind treatment of Alistair if Rose was being completely honest) and only grew when it turned out the evil that had killed so much of Redcliffe was Isolde and Eamon’s son, Connor. She was sympathetic to the boy, having little memory at that point of her own family, and saw Connor’s possessed status as something Isolde only had herself to blame for. So when Jowan returned to offer the chance to save the boy before the demon could completely take over and the Arlessa offered herself in order to complete the ritual, Rose took it. She wasn’t going to risk anyone else dying in order to go back to Kinloch Hold and hope they would agree and have enough resources to help. And she knew it was possible that Jowan could just as easily use her to take revenge and kill the rest of the room, but she wanted to trust him. And thankfully was able to defeat the demon that possessed the boy though it still did little to save the Arl from his poisoning. Redcliffe could at least work toward recovery.

The next stop in her plan was to catch up with reports of a Dalish clan in the Wending Woods. Unfortunately once again, nothing was going to be easy about recruiting anyone as the Dalish were having their own problems with a pack of werewolves in the surrounding area. Thankfully they were not an entirely unreasonable sort so she was able to broker a peace that allowed the werewolves to go free and back to their human forms while putting the Dalish in a position to help them. She also came across a rather strange phylactery in the ruins of a spirit that taught her a new sort of magic, becoming an arcane warrior.

As much as she was reluctant to set foot in the city, if they were going to find Andraste’s ashes then the most logical place to go was going to be Denerim. It proved to be a rather fruitful first trip into the Capital city with meeting Alistair’s sister who proved to be less than helpful and a blacksmith that took a great deal of interest in the drake scales she had acquired. The resulting armor was heavier than she was used to, but she hoped with a little more training with her new skills it might eventually prove useful.

With a new plan to find this Haven, they decided to follow through with Duncan’s promise to Levi Dryden and take back Soldier’s Peak. It wouldn’t be the best location while they were still running around, but it gave her hope that one day they’d be able to use it to rebuild the Grey Wardens. Avernus’ research on the uses of the blight were also tempting enough to allow him to continue. In a more ethical fashion than he had been at least. Besides, what harm was a little blood magic when they needed to fight the darkspawn and defeat a Blight? The only one she would be harming was herself.

They were close enough to Orzammar on the way to Haven to warrant at least trying to recruit the dwarves. The politics there were not the sort of thing she wanted to get into the middle of and while her initial instinct was to side with the last Aducan, she didn’t appreciate it when the shaperate disproved the documents she’d been given and decided to throw her lot in with Harrowmont. All in all it ended up reminding her more of what she’d heard of “The Game” in Orlais by the time they’d been requested to go diving into the Deep Roads in search of a Paragon that might very likely be dead. As much as it hurt at that point to be apart, it only seemed logical to leave Alistair behind in case something were to happen to her along the way. Besides she hoped it would give them an opportunity to look into checking Haven and if they couldn’t find Brother Genetivi.

Instead Alistair found cultists he decided against engaging with for the time being while Rose ended up deeper and deeper beneath Thedas. The constant threat of darkspawn gave her plenty of opportunity to work with her new sword and falling back on her magic when that failed. Sten was somewhat reluctant to teach her at first but proved to be a good sparring partner as they ventured after Branka. By the time they’d found her and the Anvil of the Void, Rose had gotten where she was relying less and less on her staff and trading out her mage robes for her new armor.

After destroying the anvil for good and returning to the safety of Orzammar, Rose decided the best path forward might lie with Bhelen and his less traditionalist ways (as well as his guarantee to follow through with the treaties rather than Harrowmont's "we'll see"s). After the work she’d gone through to establish a chantry and the way the caste system was clearly affecting so many in the dwarven city she couldn’t really see allowing the status quo to maintain itself. She was also glad to finally see the sky again and have Alistair’s arms wrapped around her.

As a loyal Andrastian, Rose wanted to believe that Andraste's ashes actually existed and would actually be able to help save Arl Eamon. She was not sure however that they would be found in Haven near the border of Fereldan. The Tevinter empire might have spread across all of Thedas at one point, but it still felt strange that anything to actually do with Andraste would be in their humble country no matter how many towns claimed to be her birthplace. She was even less convinced though that the high dragon there was actually the Maker's bride reincarnated and therefore refused to have anything to do with poisoning the ashes even if they proved to be nothing more than a fancy urn with no magical properties about them. Even the Gauntlet felt a little excessive after all the work they'd already done to get that far but she followed through and faced her guilt to get a pouch of the ashes to take back to Redcliffe.

She was surprised as anyone that it actually worked, but with the Arl recovered there came the decision of what to do with the mage that had poisoned him. Rose found herself making a plea for his release when asked what she thought they should do only to find herself faced with the best they were willing to do being to return him to the Circle to decide what to do with him. She didn't have to guess what that would mean for him though and found her voice. "Then I hearby conscript him into the Grey Wardens." It was not what she would have wanted for Jowan, but like for herself it was better than the threat of tranquility. As the junior of the two though the Guerrins were not going to agree to letting her without it coming from Alistair who was less than pleased already that she'd want to bring on the man who tried to poison Eamon. He gave in, although less than happily. They had no way to actually do the joining, but Jowan joined their little group.

### The Landsmeet and End of the Fifth Blight

With the promises of support gathered and the Arl's troops to bolster their forces, they returned to Denerim to settle the matter of the civil war before it destroyed the country faster than the darkspawn. Rose was almost impressed Loghain remembered her from Ostagar even while threatening them for wanting to put Alistair on the throne. They started on their new quest of finding what dirt they could on the new regent and his second-in-command, the rather loathsome Rendon Howe. Rose even managed to flirt the pants off a pirate captain who was unfortunately less enthusiastic about borrowing Alistair during the summers if it meant lending out her ship.

Meeting with Anora after their somewhat disastrous rescue though, Rose was impressed with the other woman's calm demeanor and offered her a deal: Rose's support in the Landsmeet in exchange for a political union between Anora and Alistair. A compromise where both sides would get what they wanted and finding the Queen was even amiable to Rose being a royal mistress as long as they were discreet about it. Alistair was less enthused both from the idea of her pushing him as king and the marriage when they already had something good. Rose just pointed out a truth she'd accepted long ago. "*People don't marry mages.*"

With enough blackmail gathered and nobles encouraged to their side, Eamon called the Landsmeet to settle things once and for all. Rose found herself only getting more encouraged as she aired what they'd found before the most powerful in Fereldan only to be backed by his own daughter against him as well. Not that she could entirely understand how he could try to get away with it by winning a simple duel, but she accepted and refused to let one of her friends champion her. If the were going to do this then it was going to be by her own efforts that she'd win. And what's more, she'd do it without anything more than a shield spell for magic use. It was very satisfying to have him there beneath her blade and willing to yield even though it was going to mean his immediate execution.

Riordan's suggestion was a little too tempting for her not to take however. They were pushing on to deal with an actual Blight and were going to need every Grey Warden they could get. She didn't know she'd essentially be coming out even as Alistair stormed out and left her with Riordan to see about preparing the Joining for their new recruits. Jowan unfortunately didn't make it any further than that, dying with his hand clasped between Rose's until his body went still. Loghain's survival after the Joining though was a sticking point that Alistair was unwilling to bend on even to continue with dealing with the Blight, leading to a very passionate argument between the two as Alistair couldn't believe she'd let someone that had done so much harm to continue living while she pointed out she'd been doing it for the last year so it shouldn't have come as a surprise now. Almost their entire group was made of people trying to take a second chance to do the right thing and some of which had or could have easily tried to kill them...

It wasn't enough to convince him, Alistair remaining in Denerim as the rest of the group dealt with gathering any information they could on the movements of the darkspawn and anything else. A return trip to Ostagar proved enlightening as well as going to deal with the witch Flemeth. It gave her a little time to see what a little humbling could do to the traitorous teryn who was surprisingly willing to follow her lead. Eventually they returned to Redcliffe to gather their forces only to find they needed to be marching north to Denerim instead. With any hope Alistair would be able to maintain the city's defenses until they were able to get there.

Difficult news seemed to be the theme of the evening as Riordan pulled them aside to deliver the news Duncan had never managed. In order for an archdemon to die, a Grey Warden had to be sacrificed when the beast was slain. It was the reason for their tainted blood and why you never heard about the heroes of the previous four blights going on to live productive lives in the aftermath. Rose had no more gotten back to her quarters to attempt to sleep before the battle only to find Morrigan there waiting with a counter-offer: have Loghain sleep with her and produce a child. The tainted child would then take on the soul of the old god instead of the Grey Warden and no one would have to die.

It was not the easiest thing to sell her new friend on however, but lacking the proper parts to do it herself left him as the only option. Loghain agreed however considering there was nothing saying just how the battle to come was going to end up and who would end up having to take the final blow... They could have the awkward conversation with Riordan later as to why he wasn't dead and the archdemon definitely was if everything turned out that way. Rose wasn't pleased at the idea of her friend fleeing in the aftermath, but held on to the hope that she would see her again one day.

The battle was bloody. Whatever she'd expected things might have been out on the field at Ostagar couldn't have compared to actually be in the middle of a full scale battle to protect the city and the rest of Fereldan in turn. It was perhaps aggravated by Rose's insistence that they clear out every area they could of darkspawn and in particular Loghain's suggestion that they let the alienage serve as a blockade in order to protect other areas. She was not going to let more innocents die if it could be at all avoided. Rose also kept looking over her shoulder as they went, hoping she might get a glimpse of blonde hair running to catch up with them.

It took every bit of her skills and the lyrium potions on her belt to finally wear the beast out enough to make the final blow. Even then she wasn't sure Morrigan's ritual would have worked as much as she hoped as she dug the sword in and hoped it would be enough as a light beamed out bright enough to blind half of Fereldan. But in the immediate aftermath she was still breathing, walking, alive... And barely made it off the roof before collapsing and requiring the assistance of her new friends to get her to the healers.

### **The Hero of Fereldan**

In the aftermath she was lauded as a hero, a role she took rather graciously and only requesting that the sacrifice of the Grey Wardens wouldn't be forgotten. She didn't much think she would be welcome in Denerim for long with the new king and thus decided to put her focus toward rebuilding Soldiers' Peak and just enjoying the welcomes she received everywhere else she went, including a requested audience with Empress Celene and the Grey Wardens of Orlais. It was easy to see where Alistair had felt so welcomed with the camaraderie with a woman they'd never met but had somehow managed to prove Weisshaupt wrong about the sacrifice being needed. Though there were still those suspicious about her continued survival.

Five months after the Battle of Denerim, she was officially granted the title of Warden-Commander of Fereldan and soon after was allowed to take over command of Amaranthine as their new Arlessa. She arrived to find the Orlesian wardens that had been sent to bolster Fereldan's numbers had all been slain or taken in a fight against the darkspawn. And with Loghain on recruitment it left her with only an initial group of new recruits including her conscription of her follow mage to protect him from the Templars. The Arling had clearly not been left in the best shape and soon she'd found herself in the middle of a Darkspawn civil war between the Architect and the Mother.

Slowly though she did gain more people, many of her first just being ones that offered them a place to go and create their own little family. She also found herself at odds with that same family over her decision to let the Architect live, but at least unlike with Alistair none of them actually left. Rose simply thought his ideas were at least worth considering if it would mean keeping the darkspawn from following their compulsion to find and corrupt another Old God even though he'd also been responsible for the start of the Fifth Blight. Both held an interest in learning more about the darkspawn taint and what it was doing to their respective groups.

It was a few months after the attack on Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep that she went to Denerim to report on rebuilding progress and the state of trade in and out of the city. There was an extreme amount of tension in the air when she returned to Anders and several others missing and being pulled by Velanna into the nearby woods to see the carnage that had been left behind. The bits of fabric and armor left behind suggesting some sort of fight between Grey Wardens and Templars. Though most of the Wardens outside of her friend had also been Templars before or had some tie to the Order. It was several months before she'd have any whisper that Anders had actually lived though she could only take guesses at what might have happened, only guessing that someone had taken great offense to him being "allowed" to escape justice by joining the Wardens.

It was one thing she'd always taken for granted up until that point. That being a Grey Warden would be a shield against the Templars who would prefer to see her back in a Circle.

Rose returned to her duties as Commander of the Grey and Arlessa as well as occasionally being invited to various parties and events. One such was a meeting between the Free Marcher cities-states and Fereldan where Alistair pulled her over to an older man to introduce her to Aaron Amell, her father. She had buried the memories of her childhood so thoroughly that she didn't remember him all that well, but Aaron was patient and glad to tell her about her younger siblings or what little he knew since they'd been taken away as well as jogging her memory. It wasn't the easiest thing to hear but she promised after to keep writing whenever possible so there would be at least one more child he could be in contact with.

It was also soon after that she was given a lead on Morrigan. Rose had never entirely given up on the idea of finding her friend again, if only to make sure that the woman was fine as well as a curiosity about the child that had come from the ritual. (Though she still can't believe she ran all over Fereldan only for Morrigan to practically be at her doorstep in her own Arling.) The meeting was rather brief but left her with more closure and the hope that maybe one day they would run into each other again. Though she also wasn't expecting Alistair to be at Vigil's Keep when she arrived back, apologizing and asking for a second chance to see where things would go. She was reluctant but agreed.

The position of mistress to the king was a little easier to hide with her regular trips between Denerim and Amaranthine with the Warden acting as something of an arcane advisor to the crown. She named Nathaniel as Warden-Constable to help deal with things, a move that caused some aggravation for the nobles that thought it was an insult to put a Howe back in any position of power within the Arling. It was an otherwise peaceful time however within Fereldan and mostly focusing on rebuilding what they could in the aftermath of the Blight as farmlands were still poisoned from all the tainted blood that had been spilled over that year and towns destroyed.

Her jurisdiction being Fereldan didn't keep her from heading to Kirkwall again early in 9:37 Dragon. First in hopes of being able to bring Nathaniel back after his work on the request of Weisshaupt to look into an ancient thaig that had been discovered years before. Secondly because reports had come in of a Grey Warden prison being breached in the Vinmark mountains there and she had thought to help with investigating as some of the rumors were rather strange. Instead she found herself just being blocked with the most informative one being a Warden who claimed to have been there: Carver Hawke. It didn't take long for the two to figure out their familial connection as well, but with Carver's assurance that the talking darkspawn had been killed she returned home. Partly to see if she could find a way to contact the Architect.

### Leaving the Wardens

It was about the time that everything started going downhill. The break-up with Alistair was at least more amiable than the first, him feeling like she deserved better than to be a secret and not being in a position to do more than that. Rose will admit it brought up some feelings she was less than proud of considering the people had accepted a mage as Arlessa with little complaint. Wouldn't they have settled in to the idea of a mage as Queen if Alistair would have made it so? It was not the sort of thing she would ever speak of out loud however.

The destruction of Kirkwall's Chantry and the reports back that it had been Anders, a man she had recruited and aided in avoiding Templar justice as well as refusing to bring him back to the Wardens, seemed to reach Weisshaupt in record time. With her rather low records of recruitment and a number of other questionable activities over the years including the outdated reports of her involvement with the Fereldan crown, Rose was stripped of command, maintaining her title but none of the power that came with it as it was passed down over even Howe. With little else to lose, she went back to the book that had been given to her by Morrigan years before and started making a plan. Tension against mages was only growing and she was not content at the idea of dying for the Wardens if there was something that could be done about it.

The following year she took Sigrun and Nathaniel and left to head out west to find a cure. It was not an easy trip by any means and she had been gone for a solid two years before a Seeker and an old friend came looking for her only to find her long gone. She kept up on the occasional reports and was even a little amused at receiving a letter from Inquisitor Lavellan considering how little she knew that might be able to help them. She was less amused for it to contain news of Loghain's death in the Fade. She had done what she could to have him transferred back to Fereldan despite protest from many. There was, unfortunately, little she could do for the Inquisition at that point though and just wished them the best of luck.

It was just a year after the death of Corypheus that Rose Amell showed up at the gates of Skyhold and insisting she was taking command of the remaining Wardens of southern Thedas. She and the Inquisitor form a quick friendship though she is largely unaware in her time there how much Kyrian, Leliana, and Dorian were trying to play matchmaker between her and Cullen. Which at that point she was still a little nervous given his former status as a Templar, but it was also easy to see where he wasn't the same man she'd last seen still insisting on the rite of annulment in Kinloch Hold. He was also less than pleased to find out the cure for The Calling involved the use of blood magic, but was willing to trust that she knew what she was doing when she was insisting he not hesitate to kill her if she ever became a risk to others. It was not, after all, something she took on without considering the consequences.

The cure was something though she offered to all Wardens who wanted it, Alistair being one of the first as she also needed the back-up of him and Anora for the other part of her plan. Once she knew Amaranthine would remain securely under her control, she officially cut all ties between Weisshaupt and the Wardens of Fereldan and Orlais as well as inviting those in the Free Marches to join them. Rose blamed their secrecy for the release of Corypheus and things getting as bad as they did with so many of the Wardens vanishing or dead in the aftermath. With Vigil's Keep she was able to give them a place to headquarter and work out of to work toward aiding others. She also gives her new Inquisition recruit, Thom Rainier a choice: he can join their newly formed Order or be sent to Weisshaupt to have the joining and everything else that would come with it. Despite tensions between the two, he accepts her offer.

She held on as Commander through the Exalted Council, inviting those who would be interested in joining from the disbanded Inquisition and fully allowing Leliana and her people to root out any spies they might find. Though Rose doesn't see where they'd want to as they're purely there as peacekeepers and to be vigilant for the possibility of another Blight rather than getting involved in Lavellan's efforts against the Dreadwolf. Once things are established and settled though she resigns, giving the Commander and position of Arl to Nathaniel Howe who remained one of the few to not take the cure.

Currently Rose has "retired" to working at the rehabilitation clinic for former Templars trying to get off lyrium or just living out their last days in a safe place rather than out on the streets. She and Cullen had a very brief engagement and married in 9:45 before welcoming their son, Aaron, seven months later and a daughter, Helena, another two years later.

## **Relationships**

* **Alistair** - Despite his disapproval of making Loghain a Grey Warden, he and Rose are still very good friends and he would generally trust her to put the protection of Fereldan and Thedas before her own desires. He's also come to understand more that not everyone in the Wardens would consider it the honor that he did and sometimes leadership means making the hard decisions.
* **Cullen -** Rose would be lying if she suggested she hadn't had a crush on the former Templar in her teen years. A decade down the road they're both very different people, but she still found herself drawn to him and now able to come at the relationship with a more equal standing than there would have been before. Besides she has to agree he does have a serious look on his face *far* too often.
* **Anders -** Rose doesn't regret conscripting Anders into the Wardens, but she does regret not trying to bring him back when she was aware he was in Kirkwall. She didn't want to be seen as a replacement to the Circle in "dragging" him away, but the two were good friends. She likes to hope she might have been able to talk him down.
* **Jowan -** She often wonders if it wouldn't have been easier to just sneak poison down into the Redcliffe dungeons rather than have Jowan live those last months with the hopes of being a Warden. He made his own choices but still knowing what they would do if he'd returned has had a significant impact on her feelings about the Circles.
* **Justice -** She blames a great deal on what happened with Anders on Justice for agreeing to possess him rather than find someone else. At first she found it a little fascinating to meet a spirit outside the Fade, but she can't forgive him for encouraging the worst in her friend.
* **Leliana -** The pair both consider the other one of their dearest friends in all of Thedas which is saying quite a bit for one being a regular spymaster and bard. Leliana did get Rose rather interested in shoes although not to the same level. The pair have gone on with their own lives but still find time to meet occasionally.
* **Loghain Mac Tir -** Rose did not expect how much she would come to appreciate her friendship with Loghain after recruiting him. He's a definite contrast to her usual bright personality, but the have a mutual respect for the other. She misses him dearly.
* **Morrigan -** The two were almost like sisters at one time and while Rose doesn't like the distance that Morrigan has put between them, she can respect it. She just hopes that the Witch of the Wilds is doing well enough for herself.
* **Oghren -** Oghren and Rose can occasionally butt heads at times, but she can respect his willingness to become casteless by joining her and that being a Warden makes him feel like he has a purpose again. She doesn't like his comments toward the other females and will step in if she finds it necessary. She's also not going to blame them if they want to stab him a little.
* **Nathaniel Howe -** Nathaniel is another she would consider as one of her closest friends after all the two have been through together. She also finds it amusing how many of the newer recruits have thought there was something more to the pair's relationship over the years, but they just want the best for each other.
* **Shale -** Considering Shale's offer to crush Alistair's head, Rose is pretty sure they're friends. She hasn't really heard anything from her since she headed for Tevinter with Wynne but is hopeful.
* **Sigrun -** One of her other best friends in the Wardens. She definitely appreciates how someone "dead" can be so very perky like herself and has spent many years finding increasingly more ridiculous reasons why Sigrun can't go running off to the Deep Roads to fulfill her duty to the Legion of the Dead.
* **Arishok/Sten -** Rose still affectionately will call him "Kadan" in return even though the two haven't had any reason to have much more than occasional letters passed one direction or another. Besides it's easier to refer to him as such rather than trying to sort out between calling him Sten or Arishok.
* **Velanna -** The two can occasionally get along, particularly once Velanna stops taking everything as a potential insult about to be hurled her way. Rose does have a genuine interest though in helping her recover Dalish lore until Velanna's sudden disappearance one day in the Deep Roads after she mentioned seeing her sister.
* **Wynne -** The two did not have much interaction when the two were in the Circle together, and even with the woman's nosing into her relationship, she still respects Wynne for her faith and willingness to help in what felt like a hopeless situation. She just wonders if she wouldn't have been able to do more to help if she'd not been gone when the Spire fell.
* **Zevran -** There are few things that can get you on Rose's good side faster than calling her a deadly sex goddess. Zev is someone she still considers a good friend and willing to help him out if needed in his quest to avoid the Crows and just live his life.
* **Garrett Hawke** **-** Her second cousin, she occasionally wishes was a few times removed. She and Garrett can get along to the point that they call each other Garre Bear and Rosey Posey, but he does occasionally irritate her with his difficulty taking things seriously and turning everything into a joke. That doesn't mean she wouldn't defend him to the death if someone tried to mess with him.
* **Kyrian Lavellan -** She made quick friends with Kyrian and decided to make him an unofficial Amell since she and Hawke were already two of the more influential people in Thedas. He reminds her a little of Zevran though which she wouldn't count as a bad thing and she is still willing to help him out however he might need it in the future.

## **Miscellaneous**

### **Inquisitor Amell AU**

* Kyrian still becomes the Herald of Andraste, but Leliana is able to get a letter to Rose before she's able to leave. The Temple explosion and the aftermath lead to Rose accepting the position as Inquisitor.

## **Links**

### Reddit Headcanon Threads:

* Nightmare Demon
* Family Dynamics
* Proposals
* Gift Giving
* Money Sense/Special treat
* Headquarters/Moods/In Her Bag

### Reddit Writing prompt Threads:

* Nightmares (co-starring Loghain)
* Creative Threats (co-starring Nathaniel, Sigrun, and Simon)
* Wintersend Gifts (Awakening Crew)
* Lighthouses (Anders PoV)
* Foiled Flirting Attempts (Cullen PoV, co-starring Thom and Kyrian)

## **Gallery**

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