Kitai Lavellan

## Kitai Lavellan (Jester)

She'll come for you

**Kitai Lavellan** was a hunter and messenger in her clan prior to the Conclave. After a shipwreck made her miss the Conclave entirely—and probably saved her life—she joined the Inquisition to provide support to her best friend, Inquisitor Danevhen Lavellan, and make sure he survived the ordeal.

She works directly under Leliana as agent of the Inquisition, where she is better known as Jester.

## Overview

### **Physical Appearance**

Tall and athletic, Kitai appears as a capable woman who doesn’t give much thought to her appearance.

She inherited her mother’s pointy chin and her father’s slanted eyes, but the apparent fragility her features imply is belied by a deep scar on her lip—courtesy of a giant spider—and a crooked nose that has been broken twice in the past.

She wears her long, thick hair in a mohawk ￼thst she usually braids in some form or other.

As agent of the Inquisition, she usually wears the armor of a scout when she’s out on official business, but in Skyhold she’s most often found in traditional Dalish garb. Around her neck, she invariably wears an engraved boar tusk on a leather cord, gifted to her when her mate asked her to bond with him.

### **Personality**

Kitai’s spirit animal is the weasel, and that is all there is to know about her. Clever, sly and manipulative, she prefers to use guile rather than a direct approach whenever possible, be it in combat or in her interactions with people. Few can see what truly lies behind her mask, as she will adapt her demeanor to the person she’s facing to get the most out of the encounter—not unlike Bull, who she tends to avoid.

While she can be absolutely ruthless, she also shares the more positive traits of the weasel, and possesses a decidedly playful side and a dry sense of humor, that shines the most in the company of her friends. She’s also fiercely protective of her loved ones, and will not hesitate to face an enemy much bigger and stronger than herself if it means the safety of someone she cares about.

Kitai needs to be in control of everything that happens around her, and as a result she sometimes displays a “Mother knows best” attitude, particularly towards her twin brother, whom she sees as fragile and in constant need of protection (he’s really not).

### **Talents and Skills**

Trained as hunter in her clan, Kitai is an able tracker and an expert at slinking unseen into the shadows—useful for delivering a swift death with her daggers or a well-placed arrow.

Uncannily observant, Kitai is adept at reading people and just as good at lying, which proves extremely useful in her work as a spy for the Inquisition.

Combat and spywork are not the only skills she possesses, thankfully. In a more mundane fashion, she’s a dextrous weaver, and enjoys experimenting with patterns and colors. Wicker mats and baskets are a hobby of hers, and if she ever has to give someone she loves a present, her go-to is a carefully crafted basket filled with something the receiver would enjoy—usually food.

## **Biography**

**Three generations before Kitai was born**, Clan Lavellan grew too much and was at risk of attracting the attention of the Templars, so the Keeper decided to split it in two.

Kitai’s clan is led by Keeper Shalelan, an old, stubborn man averse to change, while the other clan (Danevhen’s) is led by Keeper Deshanna. The two clans, both bearing the Lavellan name, usually travel parallel to each other and stay in the same areas. They are frequently in contact with each other.

### **Clan Lavellan**

Prior to the Fifth Blight, Kitai was a happy child, playing pranks and getting into trouble with her twin brother Terren and their two best friends, Ellana and Daranil.

When Kitai was eleven, the Blight ended and her clan was attacked by a band of roving shrieks that had fled Ferelden to the Free Marches. Kitai was safe in camp, but her brother was in the woods at the time of the attack and was grievously wounded by a shriek—and so was their father, participating in the defense of the camp.

A few days later, unbeknownst to her mother, Kitai witnessed her plunge a knife through her father’s heart, to prevent him from turning into a ghoul—while Terren was left miraculously untainted. Kitai never told her mother what she had seen, but their relationship significantly deteriorated after that—in large part due to her mother’s neglect in favor of Terren.

At the age of sixteen, as soon as she finished her apprenticeship and obtained her vallaslin, Kitai bonded with her childhood friend Daranil. She, and everybody else, fully expected them to grow old together with a plethora of children and grandchildren, but it was not to be. Kitai turned out to be infertile, and after only four years (officially) together, Daranil was killed by humans in a skirmish near the Tevinter border.

During her late teens and early twenties, in addition to her role as a hunter, Kitai worked as a liaison of sorts between her clan and its sister clan, and was sometimes sent to human settlements to *acquire* goods or useful information.

In 9:41 Dragon, Kitai was sent to the Conclave to gather information and get a better idea of what was likely to happen in Thedas in the near future, but she never made it there—her ship sank while crossing the Waking Sea. She managed to reach the shore, and from there, made her way to the nearest port town with every intention to go back home. She had missed the Conclave, and there was nothing for her outside of her clan. As she was about to book passage on a ship, however, she heard about the explosion at the Temple of Sacred Ashes—and more importantly, about a Dalish “Herald of Andraste.”

Knowing that Danevhen was as likely as her to have been sent to the Conclave—and in the hopes that he would be the “Herald” in question—she decided to go to Haven instead.

### **The** **Inquisition**

Upon arriving in Haven, Kitai discovered that the Herald everyone was talking about was indeed Danevhen. She joined the Inquisition, not for the Chantry, not even for the people of Thedas, but for her friend, who would need the help and support of someone who knew him and wasn’t placing all their hopes on his shoulders.

While she accompanied Danevhen in some of his adventures, she mostly worked under Charter, taking the name Jester for her written communications with the Inquisition. At first, she worked in tandem with Lace Harding, scouting new areas and making contact with people there, but her particular skillset quickly got noticed and her missions took a more shadowy turn.

In Redcliffe, she was one of the agents infiltrating the castle to assassinate Alexius’ guards.

During the attack on Haven, she was investigating Therinfal Redoubt in the company of Bull’s Chargers—which is a good thing, as she would *never* have let Danevhen face Corypheus and the dragon alone, and likely would have been killed trying to get to him.

Several months later, the Inquisition was preparing to march on Adamant, and Kitai assumed she would go as well, as part of the Inquisitor's team. The endeavor was the most dangerous he had undertaken yet, and she assumed that he’d want her there to fight alongside him.

Instead, Danevhen asked her to go Wycome: he had received a plea for help from Keeper Deshanna. He pointed out that, while there were a good number of people he trusted to have his back in battle, there was only one he trusted to act in the best interests of his clan in Wycome. Kitai reluctantly agreed to go, but not before making him promise that he’d be careful.

In Wycome, she and a few agents under her command helped Clan Lavellan defend itself against the bandits that had been harassing them for weeks. They took a few prisoners who, upon interrogation, revealed that they had been outfitted by Duke Antoine himself.

Over the next few months, Kitai—with Lieutenant Rozellene Chambreterre and Lady Guinevere Volant working under her—uncovered a plot by Corypheus’s people to contaminate the city wells with red lyrium. They intended to place the blame on the alienage elves and the Dalish clan camped nearby—*the Inquisitor’s clan*—in an attempt to discredit the Inquisitor and weaken the Inquisition.

Kitai, Lieutenant Chambreterre and Lady Guinevere worked closely with Clan Lavellan’s First, Samahla, and the city underground—by way of Joaquin Calderon, one of its most influential members—to try to ease tensions in the city and solve the red lyrium problem.

In the end, a battle was inevitable, but thanks to Joaquin’s influence, a surprisingly large number of humans jumped to arms to help defend the alienage alongside the elves—who were joined by Kitai’s own clan in addition to Danevhen’s—and the Inquisition.

A short period of tensions ensued, during which nobles who had fled during the battle tried to rally other cities to march on Wycome to “quell the elven rebellion.” Luckily, they weren’t willing to attack a city flying the Inquisition banner, and were stopped without bloodshed.

While Lieutenant Chambreterre helped maintain order and kept fortifying the city in case the army came back, and Lady Guinevere helped establish a new City Council—comprising the remaining nobles, influential merchants, and both Lavellan Keepers—Kitai made her way back to Skyhold to give a full report to the Inquisitor and his advisors. They commended her for the way she handled the situation—*especially* Danevhen, who added cuddles to the praise.

She spent the next few months hunting down, interrogating and disposing of the people who had smuggled red lyrium into Wycome.

### **The Temple of Mythal**

When the Inquisition marched into the Arbor Wilds, Kitai was there, accompanying Danevhen in his expedition into the Temple of Mythal.

Despite the dire situation they were in, Kitai had a grand time helping Danevhen solve the Temple’s puzzles, running around with the enthusiasm of a five year old on caffeine—though more efficiently.

As they traversed the Temple, the various comments Solas made about the Dalish gods confirmed Kitai long-standing suspicions that there was much more to him than he let on, and she became increasingly certain that the man had been around at the time of Arlathan, when the gods were still around—and that he had beef with them. During the conversation with Abelas, any doubt she might have still nurtured were promptly snuffed.

When the time came to decide who would take the power of the Well and Solas vehemently refused, she had good reason to believe he knew what he was talking about, even though she didn’t trust him one whit. She took his warnings seriously and encouraged Danevhen not to drink, but Solas seemed to believe someone needed to take the power and that would only leave Morrigan to do it, as the others adamantly refused to touch the Well. In order to protect her friend and keep the greedy shemlen from appropriating something she had no right to, Kitai pushed Morrigan out of the way just as she was beginning to walk into the pool and took the power of the Well herself, despite knowing full well that she would submit to the service of Mythal in a way she couldn’t fully understand.

For once, someone other than the Inquisitor could bear the responsibility of making a hard choice.

The aftermath was extremely hard on Kitai. She began having strange, melancholic dreams about times long gone, mourning everything the elves had lost as if she had lost it herself, and she had no one to talk to. No one she knew would be able to understand without the knowledge she had.

Between her access to the Well’s ancient knowledge and her own intellect, and thanks to the timely performance of a tavern song about the Inquisitor’s heroic deeds while her mind was wandering, Kitai pieced together Solas’ identity, as well as his involvement in Corypheus’ rise to power—at least in part—only a few months after Corypheus’ defeat. She didn't speak of it to anyone, but she tried to track Solas down to offer her help—to no avail. The man proved impossible to find.

### **Elven Rights Movement**

After the Inquisition is disbanded, Kitai settles down in Wycome with her elf-blooded human lover, Ten. There, she works with as part of the Elven Rights Movement, founded by her close friend Samahla Lavellan to reach out to elven populations—Dalish clans, alienages, even large staffs of private households—to offer aid in the form of training and support for self-advocacy and templates for elven involvement in government.

On rare occasions, the Elven Rights Movement also supplies covert operations to ease or inflame tensions as needed, or provides arms and tactical support for rebellions when more peaceful means failed to achieve the desired results. While Samahla is in charge of the Movement as a whole, she mainly focuses on the legal aspects of the services it provides, and Kitai is in charge of the covert missions, and often goes out on missions herself.

## **Relationships**

### **In-Game**

Although Kitai was on fairly good terms with all of the Inquisitor’s companions—particularly Dorian, Blackwall and Solas—she was never really close to them. She did, however, develop a few relationships of her own:

#### Lace Harding

In the early days of the Inquisition, Kitai and Lace often worked in tandem, and a deep and solid friendship grew between the two women. When Haven was destroyed and Kitai had no way of knowing if her brother had survived until she made it back to Skyhold several weeks later, Lace offered her unfailing support, but even then she didn’t put up with Kitai’s tendency to try to control everything—which proved beneficial in the long run. Kitai matured a lot during her time in the Inquisition, and Lace played a large part in that. In return, Kitai helped a slightly socially awkward Lace to feel less overwhelmed by the earth-shaking events going on around her, and helped her grow more confident with time. Once the Inquisition is disbanded, they regularly write to each other—something that does not come naturally to Kitai—and even meet up on occasion.

#### Josephine Montilyet

Kitai and Josephine do not get along at all. Or, rather, Josephine doesn't like Kitai. She tries very hard to present Danevhen in a respectable light, and to make people forget that their Herald of Andraste, their Inquisitor, is a Dalish heathen. Kitai won't let her. When in Skyhold, Kitai presents herself in the most Dalish way possible, with Dalish clothing, traditional Dalish braids in her hair and an overall predatory behavior, more befitting a hunter in the forest than a member of the Inquisition. Then, she makes a point of cozying up to the Inquisitor, to remind everyone that he is as Dalish as her, thus ruining Josephine’s efforts.

#### The Bull’s Chargers

Before her eventual rise in the ranks of the Inquisition, Kitai was sometimes sent on missions with the Chargers—most notably in Therinfal Redoubt after the Templars had gone silent. There, she developed an easy camaraderie with a few members of the mercenary band, most notably Krem and Skinner. While Krem could often be found participating in loud, more or less sober conversations with Kitai and the Inquisitor at the Herald’s rest, Skinner and Kitai got closer by sparring together, and then sharing drinks in a companionable silence on the battlements.

#### Lieutenant Chambreterre and Lady Volant

While they were working together to protect Clan Lavellan and the people of Wycome, the three women developed a profound respect for each other’s skills. Between Rozallene’s keen military mind and practicality, Guinevere’s political flair and smooth demeanor and Kitai’s cunning and ability to come up with creative solutions, they found that they worked really well together, each of them complementing the other two almost perfectly. The three of them also share a fondness for gossip and sweet-tasting beverages, and whenever two of them are in Skyhold at the same time, they make a point of spending at least one evening together, preferably in a parlour, with a bottle of sweet white wine. When the three of them are together, they regress to giggling fifteen year-old rumormongers without a hint of dignity—especially Guinevere, who for once can drop the “proper lady” mask.

### **With other OCs**

#### Terren Lavellan

When they were children, Kitai and her twin brother Terren were close. They used to spend most of their time together, along with their two best friends, Daranil and Ellana. The four of them formed the core of a band of unruly children, prone to get in trouble at every turn.

After the shriek attack on their clan, things changed. Kitai became overprotective of her brother, but  at the same time, due to her father’s death and her mother’s neglect, extremely needy.  She relied on him to fulfill every one of her emotional needs, and proved to be possessive and resentful every time he tried to spend time with his friends without her.

Over time, their relationship grew a bit healthier, with Kitai relying a bit less on him as she developed other relationships, notably with her bondmate, Daranil. Kitai and Terren almost managed to reach a balance between relying on the other and letting them live their own life, when Daranil was killed and Kitai latched onto Terren again.

That said, she matures a lot once she joins the Inquisition, and being physically separated from her brother for long periods of time play a huge part in her  learning to deal with things herself instead of demanding he does it for her. By the end of Trespasser, she has finally become something of a functioning adult. The fact that she and Terren are both involved with someone helps immensely in keeping the balance. She still misses him terribly when he takes to travelling Thedas alone with his bondmate, while she settles down in Wycome—although he tries to visit at least twice a year.

#### Danevhen Lavellan

By contrast, Kitai's relationship with Danevhen has always been simple. When Kitai was eighteen, Danevhen visited her clan as a messenger for the first time. From the moment they met, they immediately understood each other—which was something entirely new for Kitai, who often had trouble relating to her clan mates. Danevhen’s train of thoughts was similar to hers, and she found that she rarely had to explain any of her reasonings to him, or he to her.

They have always been extremely tactile with each other, often sitting shoulder to shoulder at dinner, or even with Kitai sitting in Danevhen’s lap when her bondmate was not there, or sharing a hammock while traveling together—to the point that several members of her clan voiced their concerns to her bondmate. Fortunately, the two men got along fairly well and knew exactly where Kitai stood between them. When it became common knowledge that Danevhen was not sleeping with Kitai, but with her brother, the rumors finally stopped.

Throughout Danevhen’s time as Inquisitor, Kitai kept a close eye on him, always trying to give him exactly what he needed to keep him grounded. Mostly, all she needed to do was act just like she had always done, cuddling with him and treating him like an equal and not some sort of divine figure, or even her superior—which he technically was—but she also kept a close eye on his alcohol consumption, and took great pains to prevent him from drinking too much whenever she could, with him being none the wiser.

She never told him what she had guessed about Solas and his intent—or her attempt to join him, but after the Exalted Council, when Danevhen revealed that Solas is Fen’harel to Kitai and Terren, Kitai admitted that she already knew. Danevhen was not happy that she hadn't told him and had planned to join him, and it was the first time they couldn't see eye to eye on a any subject. They talked about it, however, and their relationship thankfully recovered.

#### Decimus / Ten

The first time Kitai went to Wycome to help Clan Lavellan, she had also been tasked by Danevhen to deliver a letter to a pair of old friends of his, Emmaline and Elliot. When she arrived at Elliot’s place, she met the man who would become her partner, an elf blooded escaped Tevinter slave nicknamed Ten. The two of them were drawn to each other at first sight, and they got along instantly. When they left together that night, Ten was the first man Kitai slept with since Daranil had died. The next morning, she was overcome by feelings of panic and guilt and grief, got up and tried to flee. As she was fumbling with the lock on his door, her trembling fingers unable to open it, Ten came behind her and, without any question or demand, opened the door for her. She still ran away, but his behavior at this very moment played a huge part in her coming back eventually.

They met again three months later, completely by chance, as they were breaking and entering the same noble house in Wycome. Nothing else happened between them then, but from that point on they saw each other regularly and became friends.

It took Kitai a long time to admit that she had feelings for the man that went beyond simple friendship, and to accept that being with him didn't necessarily mean that she was betraying her late bondmate.

Before they were even together, he helped her deal with the fact that she was now essentially a slave to Mythal, as he understood perfectly what she was going through. His willingness to accept her as she was, voices in her head and all, helped a great deal in her accepting herself and admitting that she, too, wanted him in her life.

They regularly have “date nights” where they go on burglar trips together, then go home, drink coffee and make love.

Kitai can't have children, but they end up adopting a bunch of orphans from all over Thedas, elves and humans alike.

## **Miscellaneous**

Kitai’s name is not a Dalish name, it’s Qunlat.

 Near the end of her pregnancy, her mother was ambushed far from the cam by a group of human bandits. Taralani was a skilled fighter, but she was no match against five bandits while growing a pair of twins in her belly. Thankfully, a Tal-Vashoth woman was camping nearby, and alerted by sounds of battle, came to help. The two women managed to dispatch the ruffians, but the fight had triggered Taralani’s labor, and she was too far away from the camp to be able to get back. The Tal-Vashoth woman, whose name was Kitai, took her back to her own fire and took care of her, helping in the delivery. Taralani named her daughter after her, as a way to honor her. Kitai the Tal-Vashoth then stayed with Clan Lavellan for about two years before going her own way.

## **Gallery**

* Siblings LoveGo to http://kurosmind.tumblr.com/
* Troll!Kitai
* Not a trusting woman.
* Yes, dear, you are.
* She can look so sweet sometimes, though.
* *I sense a puzzle in need of a good solving.*
1/9