Cyralen Surana

Cyralen Surana is a Dalish elf who was once a Circle Mage before getting conscripted by the Grey Wardens.

## Overview

### **Physical Appearance**

Cyralen Surana is a small elf with pale skin and auburn hair that falls just past his shoulders. He usually wears it in a braid that starts at the crown of his head, pulling his hair back from his face. His eyes are green, and on his cheekbones he has the simplest of Mythal’s vallaslin in faded black ink. He generally looks skeptical or annoyed, even when he isn’t necessarily. He has a long face with a pointed chin and a straight nose. Despite being a petite elven mage, he has the body language of a large human warrior; and often crosses his arms over his chest in conversation.

As soon as he gets the opportunity, Cyralen stops wearing robes and wears light elven armor instead. He also carries a sword in addition to a staff - he wants to do whatever he can to not present himself as a Circle Mage in any way.

### **Personality**

On a good day, one could describe Cyralen as rude. Most of the time, ‘downright mean’ would be more accurate. He isn’t necessarily cynical so much as extremely blunt, and a dry sense of humour when he can actually be bothered with it. He speaks in a flat monotone and has minimal facial expression.

Despite his demeanour, Cyralen doesn’t hate everything and everyone. He is fiercely loyal to his friends, even though he’s usually not very kind to them. He doesn’t have a great ability to tell between poking fun at someone and being genuinely nasty, often leaving him confused when his friends get upset or angry with him. This doesn’t make him insecure - he’s more likely to roll his eyes and think they’ll get over it than apologize. When they don’t, he wordlessly goes up to them, hands them a gift, and walks away.

It’s to Cyralen’s benefit that he’s fairly unshakable, which makes it much easier to handle the horrifying things he sees as Warden. He is just not as emotionally affected by things as others are. This includes difficult moral decisions. He has no trouble figuring out the most logical answer, unbothered by things such as that people will die either way. In fact, he’s not really bothered by killing, and sees it as something that is sometimes necessary.

He is not necessarily a leader, and doesn’t think of himself as one, but he’s certainly not a follower.

One could easily accuse Cyralen of oversimplifying things and getting tunnel vision. The way he sees something is how it is, and it will never occur to him to re evaluate it without outside intervention.

### **Talents and Skills**

Cyralen is fairly intelligent, and was always ahead of classmates at the Circle. He has a small amount of skill in most schools of magic, though entropy/necromancy is his speciality.

Due to having few friends in the Circle, no desire to make more and not much to do, he is a speed reader. He can easily read a book in an evening, and considers this to be a decent way to fill time. He also has beautiful penmanship.

## Biography

### **History**

Born into a Dalish clan as a female, Cyralen lived as male from a young age. When he was barely a teenager, the Keeper decided that due to the number of mages, and no surrounding clans needing more, he should be sent to the Circle to learn. This was hotly debated within the clan, but the Keeper said he had great mental fortitude and would be able to live among the Shem despite their cruelty to The People. Cyralen insisted that if he was strong enough to leave the clan, he should be given his vallaslin, and the Keeper acquiesced. Due to his young age, he was given the simplest possible design. He was also warned not to let the Shem find out he was born female, because they did not understand such things as the Dalish did.

As he got older, Cyralen came to realize that he was most likely sent away not because he was strong enough, but because his personality was not well suited for life in the clan. It was hard for him to be angry about this, because he agreed.

Cyralen was a precocious but not particularly obedient student, though his tendency to do as he wanted seemed to earn him favouritism with First Enchanter Irving. Some were prejudiced against him from the start, being an elf; and those who weren’t got driven away quite quickly by his meanness. The only one who wasn’t was Jowan, who always seemed able to laugh off his nasty comments. Though Jowan was a bit of an idiot, Cyralen grew quite fond of him.

### **In-game**

Cyralen knew Jowan’s plan to escape the Circle was thoroughly stupid and wouldn’t end well for any of them - but not only was Jowan his only friend, he didn’t see a future for himself at the Circle either. He did not agree with what they had decided to do to his friend and that was that. Besides, Jowan was the only one who’d found out about his physical sex, and his keeping that secret made Cyralen put trust in him even after this initial betrayal.

He was more than happy to take Duncan’s offer, seeing the wardens as a good way out of the Circle. It is likely he would’ve done so regardless of Jowan’s escape plan. In fact, he saw soon after the offer was made that this was Irving’s intent for him, the First Enchanter clearly knowing he wouldn’t last as a Circle mage.

Shortly after arriving at Ostragar, Cyralen ran into the kennel master who asked for his help with an ailing Mabari. Cyr had very much missed animals during his time at the Circle, and immediately became more interested in this than his Joining. Regardless, he was the only one to survive. He would later say this was because he wasn’t going to die when he had to bring the herbs to the dog (later named Roland), and no one could ever tell if he was joking about this or not.

At the battle of Ostragar, he had a bad feeling as soon as he and Alastair arrived at the signal tower (a supposedly easy job) and found it overrun. There was little else to do but what they came there for, but when he woke up in Morrigan’s company he was more surprised he’d woken up at all. He plows tirelessly ahead from the moment Alastair declares him in charge, fixated on ending the Blight.

At Redcliffe, Cyralen immediately agreed to allow Jowan to do the blood magic ritual to send him into the Fade. He did still trust Jowan, and knew he would do as he said he would. More importantly, this seemed like the only possible option. He didn’t want to kill a child, especially a young mage who didn’t  understand his powers; and Connor’s mother was begging to lay down her life for this chance. Though Cyralen successfully saved Connor, the ordeal led to his first of many fights with Alastair. Cyralen was stunned and actually a little hurt by Alastair’s reaction, incapable of understanding what other choice he could possibly be expected to make.

With Arl Eamon still not awake, Cyralen was unhappy to discover he apparently had no choice but to look for Andraste’s sacred ashes. He thought this was ridiculous and also wasn’t sure this was so essential to stopping the Blight. He pressed Alastair on it, but by then he’d already developed quite a soft spot for this particular stupid human, so he eventually acquiesced even though he still felt it was more something Alastair wanted to do than something strictly necessary. They carved a path through the cult they found at Haven to retrieve the ashes. The ruins were so overrun it led to Cyralen interrogating Brother Genetivi, convinced he must be in league with the cultists to not have been killed by them. Though Cyralen thought it was asking for trouble to tell the Chantry about the ashes, he told Genetivi it was his funeral.

Cyralen was surprised that the ashes actually worked to wake up Arl Eamon, but more than ready to finally go off and collect the army to combat the Blight. First, he asked the Arl for whatever mercy Jowan could be given, feeling it was his duty to his friend.

Assuming it was by far the easiest and expecting to just walk into the tower and talk to Irving, Cyralen made for the Circle first. When he learned the tower was overrun, he was furious that Gregoire wanted to cleanse the entire thing and threatened to kill the Templar himself before he’d allow that to happen. Certainly not afraid of abominations and demons now if he ever was, Cyralen cleared out the tower and rescued the few remaining mages, including Irving.

Next he ventured to Orzammar, where he became immediately frustrated by almost everything. He didn’t really care who became king, he just wanted the whole thing over with - though when Zevran started arguing with Harrowmont’s advisor, saying a man so weak and afraid wouldn’t be a good king, he agreed.  Therefore he sided with Bhelen, something he was leaning towards anyways because Bhelen wanted to open Orzammar to the surface more. This appealed to Cyralen, because the way the dwarves seemed to be trapped in the city reminded him of the Circle, and he thought they should be free to leave. He encouraged a casteless woman to take her son to the surface, confused that they were still afraid to leave even when living in squalor with no more to lose. Likewise, he got Dagna her invite to the Circle. Though Cyralen did not like the Circle, he knew Irving was a good man - and Dagna not being a mage meant she would not be trapped there.

Cyralen advanced into the Deep Roads, happy they were at least doing something now. When they finally reached Branka, he knew immediately she would not be fit to come back with them. At the Anvil, he easily made the decision to listen to the golem and destroy it. He did not really trust the dwarves to have the artifact, and saw their numbers as already depleted, like those of the Dalish. He absolutely did not trust the humans whose hands he was sure it would eventually fall into. After returning to Orzammar with the crown, he was pleased to leave the dwarven city, which he rated as an overall depressing place.

Before even arriving at the Brecilian forest, Cyralen commented that he doubted they’d just be able to walk up, present the treaty, and leave. Of course he was right, though the werewolves were a surprise. He was inclined to believe the Dalish for obvious reasons, though he did make attempts to speak to the werewolves and figure out exactly what was going on. Seeing as he was also Dalish, they would not listen to him. When he reached the ruins, he agreed to speak with the Lady of the Forest. It was clear to him that Zathrian had been the Keeper for too long, and Cyralen strongly disliked that he’d been lying to his clan. He told Zathrian he’d happily kill him himself if he didn’t break the curse on the werewolves, and eventually did get him to do it.

On the way through the forest, Cyralen retrieved the acorn for the ancient Sylvan, and was granted the staff The Heart of the Forest, which he carried with him for the rest of his journey.

As the time approached for Landsmeet, Cyralen rescued Anora from Arl Howe. Along with killing Howe, he released everyone in the dungeons aside from Vaughan Kendells, who was shortsighted enough to make a negative comment about elves directly to him. Well aware that he would soon be in the court of public opinion, Cyralen shocked his companions by going quietly into custody when they were confronted. Of course he wasted absolutely no time fighting his way out once he was brought to Fort Drakon.

Once free, Cyralen headed to the alienage. He helped everyone that he could there, unsettled but not surprised at the conditions his city brethren lived in. When he confronted the slavers, he slaughtered them without mercy, regardless of the bargains they tried to make.

Cyralen had already decided - as soon as the question arose, in fact - that he would not force Alastair to be king. This was due entirely to his softness towards the man, though he told no one this. He found Anora pragmatic and capable, and though on a personal level he didn’t particularly like her; he did respect her. Supporting her for rule didn’t seem like a poor choice, and it was the one he brought to Landsmeet. After publicly disgracing Loghain, he relished giving Alastair the chance to kill him.

The only thing left to do was defeat the Archdemon. When Morrigan offered Cyralen the dark ritual, he could only laugh. Though she was momentarily offended, Cyr was quick to say he wanted to do Alastair a favour - seeing as he was a virgin and all.

Accompanying Cyralen and Alastair to the top of the tower were Leliana and Zevran. This was one of the only times Cyralen made a decision based completely on his emotions, as these were the three people he’d want with him if none of them survived this. He told Sten to handle the gate, and left Roland with him.

Though Alastair was the one who struck the killing blow on the Archdemon, Cyralen could not escape being named Hero of Ferelden.

### **Awakening**

Extremely tired of hearing he’s the only warden, Cyralen recruited everyone he could regardless of how many raised eyebrows it caused. He was not exactly pleased to be the Arl of anything, and spent as much time as he could fighting darkspawn instead. He did make sure the Keep was rebuilt as well as possible, which wound up being a good thing as he stayed in Amaranthine when the darkspawn attacked. Seeing as he’d been given responsibility for this city, burning it to the ground seemed like an insane choice. Those familiar with his (at times) cold logic were a little surprised.

Not interested in allying with darkspawn, and even less interested in co-existence with them, Cyralen killed The Architect before also doing away with the Mother.

### **Post-Game**

Cyralen alternates between trying to get Zevran to stay put and chasing around after him. Though he complained about the latter, he was also made restless by sitting around and even more so when dealing with bureaucracy. Truthfully he wouldn’t love Zevran quite the same if he wasn’t such a free spirit. Cyr is very aware that Zevran won’t handle it well when he dies, so he fully intends to resist the calling as long as he possibly can.

Cyralen does keep a mabari - often descended from Roland himself - for the rest of his days. He cares deeply for them, but the bond he had with Roland was one of a kind.

## **Relationships**

#### **Zevran Aranai**

Cyralen and Zevran make a good match for a number of reasons, despite their opposing personalities. Zev is not offended by Cyralen’s harshness - in fact, at times he seems more comfortable with it than he would with a doting and affectionate partner - and maintains he’s more than charming enough for the both of them. Obviously understanding things such as the sacrifice of life, he has nothing but admiration for Cyralen’s practical attitude. Likewise, Cyr has never taken any issue with Zevran’s history or the general disregard for life that comes with his profession. Though most would find some of Zevran’s statements at least unsettling, Cyralen gives them no pause.

In addition to their very similarly aligned moral compasses, they’re both very blunt and speak their minds. This is how they started sleeping together, of course - Zevran propositions Cyralen blatantly, which he immediately really likes. Despite Cyr not mentioning his birth sex beforehand, Zevran doesn’t even react. Cyralen doesn’t find out until later that it wasn’t that he guessed somehow, it actually matters that little to him. In fact, Zevran is genuinely confused by the idea that most people would react strongly or poorly. He insists that all he expected was to sleep with a beautiful man, and that’s what he got. For obvious reasons this endears Cyr to him a lot.

Due to how Cyralen gets set in his perceptions, it’s more than likely that he wouldn’t have moved the relationship beyond casual sex; entirely due to not having it occur to him. Over time Zevran becomes more and more obviously completely besotted with him. Morrigan has been known to say that Zevran looks at Cyr the same way Roland does, even calling him ‘your other puppy’.

Despite not being good at handling the emotions of others, or particularly perceptive of them, Cyralen can see that Zevran has some pretty clearly-cut emotional trauma. He has absolutely no idea how he can help with that, but he does put his bluntness to good use when necessary, and when it comes down to it he admits that he does have genuine feelings for Zev. Generally speaking, he just lets Zevran set the pace emotionally, more than happy to not take the lead on that front. They do argue about ‘the earring thing’, mostly because Cyralen is confused, thinking they already worked through this a little more than it seems they have.

Though they seem to have an unspoken agreement that they can both continue sleeping with whoever they like, they are rarely  far from each other during the Blight. They have almost definitely had sex everywhere of note in Ferelden, Deep Roads included. Cyralen is also fiercely protective of Zev - if confronted about it he claims it’s because the assassin has no ‘sense of self preservation’.

Zevran isn’t accustomed to dogs, seeing as they are not pets in Antiva; and has a hard time being comfortable around Roland. Of course it doesn’t help that a mabari is double the size of an elf. Cyralen does tease him, especially when he complains about being covered in blood, and says Roland would be happy to lick it off. This is mostly to watch Zevran make excuses, for the most part Roland understands that he is nervous and leaves him alone. Zevran refers to Roland (and all of Cyralen’s subsequent mabari) not-so-affectionately as ‘Dog’.

#### **Roland**

Cyralen adores Roland, who loves his insults just as the same as his praise because he is a dog. Cyr is quick to make comments about Roland being the most wonderful and valuable of his companions. Of course, the mabari’s head is almost at his shoulder, which makes them look a little comical together, but helps to add a little weight to the warden’s attempts to intimidate people. Cyralen has been known to doze off on Roland around the campfire, and has trained the Mabari to lick off the copious amounts of blood he tends to have on him after a battle. Everyone finds this absolutely repulsive.

Roland is impressively obedient to Cyr’s commands, and only somewhat to everyone else’s.

A notable moment of Roland’s journey during the Blight was when he ended up coming along to retrieve Andraste’s ashes - the bridge puzzle was an interesting challenge that required many minutes of coaxing from Cyr, Alastair and a reluctant and frustrated Zevran.

#### **Alastair**

Initially he was a stupid Shem who was fun to pick on, but after their shared trauma at Ostragar, Cyralen develops a bit of a crush on Alastair. Of course, he knows Alastair is not interested in men that way. It doesn’t stop Cyr from being noticeably soft when it comes to listening to him or making him do things.

Unfortunately, there are other reasons they don’t get along. Alastair’s black and white morality is often directly opposed to Cyralen’s very grey and logical approach. They often fight about Cyr’s decisions; with the usual ending being Cyralen pointing out that Alastair put him in charge and if he has the balls to lead everyone, he’s welcome to it. When they’re not arguing, Cyr tries to engage in friendly banter with Alastair. At least half of the time, he is unintentionally very nasty and feelings are hurt. Not seeing the hurtfulness of his comments, Cyralen thinks he’s being an over-sensitive baby. All of this never stops him from trying desperately to be close friends with Alastair. They are by no means bitter rivals, but they will never be close or get along particularly well.

#### **Leliana**

Cyralen considers her his best friend. Since she is so gentle and sweet he doesn’t expect her to put up with him for long, but she surprises him. By his standards he is extremely nice to her. Of course he is still very blunt, but she doesn’t seem to mind and has never been offended by him. She is also the only one who isn’t judgemental of his relationship with Zevran (in fact, she seems delighted by it) and he appreciates that greatly.

#### **Morrigan**

Morrigan and Cyralen get along quite well together due to ‘asshole solidarity’. Though their ideals are different, Cyr has no problem at all telling Morrigan to shut up. She respects this, and in time they are quite good friends. For them, this means they can really get enthused about tearing into each other, and will be pretty venomous - but for them it is all in fun. Cyralen considers her quite a good friend, and tells her he will miss her when she tells him she’s leaving and they won’t meet again.

#### **Ohgren**

‘Like’ is maybe a strong word, but Cyralen actually sort of enjoys the dwarf’s company. He finds Ohgren’s crudeness entertaining, and he always appreciates it when someone doesn’t expect him to be kind. He greatly prefers it to Wynne being patronizing, anyways.

#### **Wynne**

Though he doesn’t hate her, Cyralen does think she’s full of shit. He has always disliked being told how he should do things, and that seems to be her main goal. Her attitude reeks of the circle to him, which he also does not enjoy; and her comments about Zevran especially irritate him. She does, however, earn some respect when she eventually apologizes and tells him he’s done a good job. He does not need her approval, but appreciates that she is a big enough person to admit she was wrong.

#### **Sten**

A relationship built almost entirely on mutual respect. They are perfectly fine with speaking little, and Cyr does hold it as an accomplishment that Sten considers him worthy of following into battle. It pleases him very much that Sten likes Roland.

#### **Velanna**

Cyralen has a lot in common with her; seeing as she left her clan because she had different ideas, and is pleased to have another elf warden around. He begins to consider her an even better replacement for Morrigan in some ways, as they have a similar dynamic but can also complain about Shem. Unfortunately, as he refuses to budge on killing The Architect, she blames him for the disappearance of her sister and they become completely estranged. Cyralen firmly believes she’s delusional for thinking she’d get her sister back either way.

## **Miscellaneous**

* Cyralen is pronounced see-RAH-len, and Shem tend to say SEER-ah-len. At the Circle, Cyralen was constantly correcting people on this. When he first met Alastair, he didn’t bother correcting his pronunciation, so now he’s stuck with it.
* His two favourite spells are life drain and walking bomb, so it’s safe to say that he and everyone in his vicinity end up covered in blood any time he is fighting.
* Though Cyralen is somewhat sympathetic to blood mages, and made several decisions that would allow suspected blood mages to evade capture (as well as letting Jowan use blood magic to help Connor) he never used blood magic himself.
* Cyralen wears light elven armour instead of robes as soon as he is able, and takes to carrying a long sword as well as his staff (though he doesn’t often use it). He says this is so people will take him seriously. It’s hard to say if he’s joking, but presumably he’s keen to distance himself from looking like a Circle mage.

## **Links**

### Reddit Writing prompt Threads:

A lot of blood (drabble)

You make me feel safe//You make me happy

## **Gallery**

* Sample Photo
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