Dalisay Kato Bagaoisan

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**Dalisay Kato Bagaoisan** is an elven apostate turned Dalish mage. During the events of ***Dragon Age: Inquisition***, she is found in the rubble of the Conclave alongside **Mahalina Kato Bagaoisan** but unlike the First of the Keeper, she bears the Anchor and was dubbed the Herald of Andraste. She marries **Commander Cullen Stanton Rutherford** in two different ceremonies after defeating Corypheus.

## Overview

### Physical Appearance

Dalisay was born with straight dark brown hair with equally dark brown eyes. Due to templar abuse in the Circle she had been put in, she had gotten facial scars that she tries to hide by keeping her hair loose and keeping her head bowed so no one would catch sight of said scars. She has brown skin that has the possibility of getting darker under prolonged exposure to the sun and stands at around 5'6" which is considered quite tall among elves. She bears the vallaslin of Sylaise in the style of the Clan Bagaoisan and it glows gold like all tattoos of the members of the Dalish clan.

After her magic manifested at nine, her hair turned ash pink and her eyes became blue and yellow. Due to the beliefs of Clan Bagaoisan, she was taught by her sire, Alab, that she must never cut her hair for varying reasons. Dalisay's hair had reached her lower back when she was captured by the templars. During her time in the Circle, the templars had forcibly cut her hair short and had kept her hair short until the time of her escape when her brother came to rescue her.

After the events at the Conclave, her hair had grown long enough to style it and when she had managed to seal the Breach, her eyes became white and green with her hair returning to its dark brown colour.

## Biography

### History

Born in a forest in the far north where things were more tropical, Dalisay was the youngest child of **Senros Oronavra** and the only child of **Alab Kato Bagaoisan**. **Vararos** is her elder half-brother, though she just prefers to keep it simple and call him her elder brother. Her magic manifested when she was nine which led to the end of her wandering out of the forest with her family and was instead told to stay behind in the borders of the forest due to the very clear change in her appearance. Though she understood that both her fathers' orders were for her protection, she was visibly disappointed that she would lose what freedom she had in exploring which led to Vararos designating days where he would not leave their small cottage so he could keep her company. This gesture did not go unnoticed by Dalisay and she often expressed her gratitude to her elder brother by trying to cook his favourite dishes which he would accept as repayment.

Due to having grown up rather sheltered, Dalisay never fully understood why people would hunt her down or look down on her. All she knew was that she was being protected by her family due to her magic. This decision to keep her from finding out the whole truth about why she had to stay hidden became a grave mistake when Dalisay came upon an injured child who she decided to try and heal at the age of twelve. Having been wandering the forest without Vararos' company who was out handling business for the family that day, she managed to lessen the extent of the injury but the child panicked and began screaming for help, the screams were heard and this led to humans finding where Dalisay was and taking her, ready to bring her to the templars. Around that time, Senros was returning from tending to some injured members of Clan Bagaoisan when he heard the child's screams and he realised it was because Dalisay was not at home. Rushing to save her, Senros summoned a firestorm to drive the humans away but the rash act brought further attention to the forest. Picking up Dalisay after scaring away the humans, Senros made a run for their cottage and began hurriedly packing their things to escape. This attempt was foiled when the father and child were caught by the templars as they were fleeing towards where Senros' boat was tied to near the river. In a final desperate attempt to keep Dalisay safe, Senros surrounded himself and a majority of the templars in a wall of ice only for Dalisay to still be taken with the last sight she had of her father was him lying in a pool of his own blood.

She was taken to a Circle of Magi that was not kind to the mages residing there. There, her hair was cut after she had begged them to avoid touching her hair. Her time in the Circle was unpleasant and she learned the truth behind why her father seemed to be so wary of humans and of templars. There, she learned to fear and be wary, to never trust when a promise was made and to keep her head bowed and to please those in power lest they decide to sear the lyrium brand on her forehead. This period of her life lasted eight years.

It was nearing Feastday when Dalisay awoke to frantic shouting outside of the mage quarters. Growing frightened at what might have caused the templars' outburst, Dalisay proceeded to try and keep sleeping in the hopes that they would not enter the quarters. The shouting only continued to grow louder until the door to the mages' quarters opened to reveal a figure that looked familiar to her albeit a great deal harsher in expression. It wasn't until Vararos called her by her name that she realised that he was her brother. At twenty, she escaped the Circle of Magi with her elder brother's help. At that same age, she was taken to the First of the Keeper, **Mahalina Kato Bagaoisan**, with Vararos falling to his knees to beg for help. Instead of simply being accepted, Mahalina welcomed her, her brother, and her bearer who had survived the templars' attacks despite bearing injuries that will never leave him for the remainder of his life.

For two years Dalisay learned to live among the people of Clan Bagaoisan. There, she accepted the mental healing offered to her by the Keeper, **Keeper Luwalhati Kato Bagaoisan**, and had taken to helping around the clan by helping with taking care of the children of the clan whenever their parents were away on hunts or scouting missions. In the span of those years, she had grown to trust the people of the clan and had found safety among them, even earning her own vallaslin with the design being Sylaise's. Despite it all, she still bears trauma and scars from the time she had been in the Circle of Magi from her past that she would occasionally have to be woken from her nightmares due to her whimpering or crying out in fear. When news of the Conclave was told to them by one of Clan Bagaoisan's scouts, Dalisay had wanted to go but was too scared to think of leaving the safety of being in a group. Noticing this, Senros approached Alab and asked about spying over the Conclave which Alab brought forward to both Mahalina and Luwalhati who had agreed to journey to the Conclave to keep up with the news and to help Dalisay who was struggling to find closure from everything that had happened to her.

## Relationships

### Family

#### Senros Oronavra

Senros and Dalisay are close to each other with her father teaching her all he can about the basics of magic along with introducing to her his own creations.

#### Vararos

Dalisay and her brother have a very close bond with one another despite their large age gap of ten years and the fact that Vararos was elf-blooded. It was Vararos who was in charge of watching over a young Dalisay whenever Senros had to go to town and buy supplies or was called by a desperate villager for healing. Vararos often tries and protects and hides Dalisay when she was little whenever their father, Senros, would tell them about patrolling templars entering the forest. It was also Vararos who would readily volunteer to tend to Dalisay whenever her lungs would close up due to abrupt cold weathers she has not adjusted to due to him having grown used to being her caretaker whenever Senros had to sell poultices and other healing supplies. Dalisay looks up to her elder brother a great deal and admires his strength and bravery despite Vararos denying having such traits when his sister told him. When Dalisay was captured by templars, Vararos blamed himself for not watching over her better and had refused to let go of his younger sister's fate of being in a Circle of Magi for the rest of her life. Because of this, when she was twenty, he finally managed to find the Circle she was taken to and he stormed in, casting sleeping spells or when things proved too difficult, killing the templars that tried to stop him as he went further and further inside the Circle. After setting fire to the Circle's phylactery chamber, he went and began seeking Dalisay out until he found her. Horrified by the drastic changes that took place in his younger sibling, Vararos bade all the other mages to run and go into hiding before he took Dalisay away. It was Vararos that had decided to bring Dalisay to Clan Bagaoisan's First, Mahalina, going so far as to fall on his knees and beg for sanctuary for Dalisay before Mahalina could even give his answer. Not only was Dalisay's protection assured, but Vararos was also told to bring Senros with him. They became unofficial members of Clan Bagaoisan with Vararos even becoming a mage member of the hunters following the Vir Banal'ras. During Dalisay's recovery from the templar abuse, Vararos had decided to take the lead among those who would care for her and had proceeded to be the one to try and find any spells to quicken the growth of hair to begin erasing traces of the past along with being the one to use sleeping magic to put her to sleep if she was too plagued with nightmares. When she was given the vallaslin of the clan, Vararos had insisted on waiting outside of the Keeper's hut in case she calls out for him.

After the events at the Conclave, it was Vararos who tracked down where Dalisay had been taken and was about to attack Haven to free his younger sibling and the First of the Keeper captured with her only for him to be stopped by Alab and Senros. It was after the failed attempt at sealing the Breach that he managed to get through the masses of people. Upon entering the hut where Dalisay slept in, Vararos took over the duties of an elven servant to tend to Dalisay so she woke to a sight he knew would spell safety to her. Upon waking, he proceeds to serve more as a bodyguard to keep her from breaking down or being overwhelmed by the people. This role will continue onwards until the end due to his desire to keep Dalisay safe and away from harm. Despite his deep love for Dalisay, he does tend to question his younger sibling's affection for Cullen due to the Commander's past as a templar and he had spent a fair amount of time worried that he might do something to hurt Dalisay in the process. It wasn't until he heard of the outing between Dalisay and Cullen to Honnleath that he decided to give the ex-templar a chance.

When Dalisay and Cullen announced their engagement, Vararos asked Dalisay what wedding she would have preferred and after hearing her desire for a traditional wedding in the fashion of Clan Bagaoisan's weddings, Vararos was the one who suggested two weddings to the couple. Despite his misgivings towards Cullen, all that mattered to him was seeing Dalisay happy and safe.

#### Alab Kato Bagaoisan

Dalisay is close to her sire who had helped raise her whenever he could afford to visit her and her family during her childhood. From her formative years, Alab had taught Dalisay the ways of Clan Bagaoisan along with the language they spoke due to the clan being rather different from other Dalish clans. Every time he visits Dalisay and Vararos, Alab would bring trinkets and hair accessories for her to adorn her hair with. He is a doting father

### Advisors

#### Commander Cullen Stanton Rutherford

Cullen and Dalisay's first meeting was filled with Dalisay trying to keep Cullen from noticing any tells that would indicate her fear or discomfort.

#### First of the Keeper, Mahalina Kato Bagaoisan

They first met when Dalisay had just escaped the Circle with the help of her brother. Mahalina had been summoned to the border after Vararos asked and when told Dalisay's story followed by Vararos falling to his knees to beg for Dalisay's safety, Mahalina made an immediate choice without consulting the Keeper and promised them his aid along with telling the siblings to bring the rest of their family into the clan.

### Inner Circle

#### Solas

Dalisay sees Solas as a sort of mentor after their first meeting. She would often seek him out for advise

#### Blackwall/Thom Rainier

Blackwall serves as another father figure to Dalisay

## Miscellaneous

* Dalisay is a Tagalog word that means "pure", it is also used as a term in measuring the purity of gold with "dalisay" being its purest form.
* Bagaoisan means "to grow wings".

## Links

### Reddit Writing Prompt Threads

* Breakfast, tangled legs, feeding each other - Cullen Rutherford/Dalisay Kato Bagaoisan