Ella Mahariel

Ella during her Joining

> "*I am not here to impress you.*"
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## Overview

### **Physical Appearance**

Having the same height as your average elf, Ella also has a very muscular build thanks to her warrior training.

She has very pale skin, shaved head, hazel eyes. Her face bares a dark-blue vallaslin of Elgar'nan, reflecting her warrior-like nature. She also prefers to wear dark makeup.

### **Personality**

Raised in her clan to follow rules, when thrust into becoming a Grey Warden her attitude becomes more ruthless and aggressive, yet as the ages pass she softens like a fine wine. She also has a very tactical way of thinking.

### **Talents and Skills**

Having received training as a warrior, Ella is muscly and strong but also pretty agile. Her preferred method of fighting is with a one-handed weapon and shield, although she also knows how to fight without weapons, dodge and use the opponent's strength in her favor.

Being a warrior and a Grey Warden make her an excellent tactician both in the battlefield and when making tough calls.

She prefers to be on the front lines, guarding her allies from any harm.

Over the course of rebuilding Vigil's Keep, she also learned the way of the Spirit Warrior.

## Biography

### **History**

Raised by Ashalle in the Sabrae clan, Ella lived a pretty content life as a Dalish. She was picking lots of fights when she was a child but grew to respect and follow her elders. Her hot-headed nature proved useful however, since it earned her a place and a reputation among the warriors and hunters in her clan.

She spent most of her time with Tamlen, with them eventually falling in love.

### **In-game**

Her whole life changed when Ella and Tamlen discovered strange ruins with a corrupted mirror inside it. Not being able to stop Tamlen interacting with the mirror, she lost him, her clan and her normal life to the darkspawn taint. She was to become a Grey Warden. This event damaged her emotionally for a long time. She would occasionally have nightmares about Tamlen that have never really went away.

To be continued.

## Relationships

### **Tamlen**

Always being near eachother growing up, Ella and Tamlen developed feelings for one another and were probably going to be Bonded if not for Tamlen's tragic fate. She later met two versions of him. First time as a ghoul, when a darkspawn attack awoke the camp and the second time as a "ghost", while faring the Gauntlet. He always loved her.

### **Alistair**

Alistair is the second Grey Warden Ella met after Duncan. They were good friends, yet later became estranged when Ella decided to spare Loghain's life and recruit him into the Grey Wardens. Their friendship rekindled when Alistair assumed a position as king of Ferelden alongside Anora and Ella became Commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. They would sometimes cooperate on matters in the Ferelden court.

### **Morrigan**

Ella was fascinated by Morrigan and their open-mindedness about magic was a thing they had in common. She cared for Morrigan dearly and was filled with sorrow when she left after the fight with the Archdemon and the second time when she passed through an Eluvian, starting Ella on her search for a cure for the Calling.

### **Leliana**

Ella had a small fling with Leliana, but knew she had to break off that relationship early. She couldn't be 100% in it, mostly because Tamlen's disappearance was still fresh in her mind. Leliana later became one of her best friends and they kept in touch long after the events of the Fifth Blight.

### **Sten**

Sten was recruited because he was deemed useful in the coming days of the Blight. Ella's warrior nature responded well to Sten's warrior nature and they became close.

### **Shale**

A weird relationship between golem and elf, but strong nonetheless. They respected eachother both as women and as warriors.

### **Zevran**

Even though their weird relationship started with Zevran being hired to kill her, when he offered to serve her, Ella couldn't refuse. First because she was glad to have another of her kin on her team after so long and second, because, similar to Sten's situation, she needed all the help she could get and an assassin elf was the perfect fit.

Zevran started to fancy Ella early on and he was not exactly being subtle about it. She fancied him as well, though like Leliana, she knew she couldn't commit to anyone fully. Not yet. It came as a relief when he offered casual, no-strings attached sex which worked for both of them. At the time. Their story develops as both of them need to leave their tragic pasts behind.

#### ***Letting go of Tamlen***

As events progressed, Ella met her former love, Tamlen, as a ghoul attacking the camp. She could not slay him, but her companions made sure he had a clean, quick, merciful death. She could finally completely say goodbye to him once she saw his ghost in the Gauntlet.

#### ***Letting go of Rinna***

Although Zevran didn't meet Rinna in the Gauntlet, he was reminded of her by the Gauntlet's guardian. Later, when attending the Landsmeet in Denerim, he was ambushed by his former lover Taliesen, who gave him a choice: to join him and the Crows again and finish what he failed to accomplish: killing the Wardens; or kill him and forever be hunted by the Crows. He chose the latter, after which he finally told Ella about killing his former lover Rinna.

#### ***The earring***

Zevran offered Ella an earring, as a token for always being there for him. He finally realized that he had developed feelings for her, which frightened him. It frightened Ella too, with Zevran being the only other man she loved and the looming deadly threat of fighting the Archdemon.

Their relationship bloomed after the defeat of the Blight, even though it had to continue at a distance with Ella rebuilding the Wardens in Ferelden and Zevran dealing with the Crows in Antiva. They reunited eventually with Zevran following Ella on her search to cure the Calling and have been together ever since.

## Trivia

* TBA

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## **Gallery**

* Ella and Tamlen interrogating some shems.
* Ella leaving her clan with Duncan.
* Ella looking at her clan in sadness.
* Ella listening to Leliana sing *In Uthenera*
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## Links

### Weekly Writing Prompts

* The Shriek Ambush. During, before, after. (2018-08-11)