Erik Hawke

Erik Hawke, born in 9:14 Dragon, was a cousin of the Champion of Kirkwall, Marian Hawke.

## Overview

### **Physical Appearance**

Erik is tall (6'3'') and thin with very bright blue eyes and shoulder length red hair, which he usually wears tied back in a braid. He hates his height, mainly because he thinks it makes him conspicuous.

### **Personality**

Erik is kind and compassionate, with a strong desire to do the right thing. He is very curious about the world and loves learning new things, particularly if those things relate to magic or history.

### **Talents and Skills**

Erik's skills with creation magic and his compassionate nature make him an excellent healer. He is also more than able to use his magic to defend himself if he has to. His frost and fire spells are particularly powerful.

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

Erik Hawke was born in Lothering in 9:14 Dragon, the youngest child of Magnus and Elodie Hawke. His siblings were Leif (born in 9:07 Dragon) and Ingrid (born in 9:10 Dragon). Elodie was killed by bandits a few weeks after Erik was born, and so he was raised by his father and, to some extent, his older brother. His childhood was mostly very happy. His father and brother cared for him as well as they could, and he loved them both dearly. He struggled to form a relationship with Ingrid, though. She always seemed to be angry with him, and he could never figure out why. Much later, he would find out that she held him partially to blame for their mother's death.

In 9:20 Dragon, Magnus Hawke's twin brother Malcolm arrived in Lothering, along with his wife Leandra and their three children Marian, Carver and Bethany. Erik soon became very close to Marian and Bethany. They were always kind to him, and Marian in particular was brilliant at making him laugh or inventing new games. He found Carver more difficult to get along with. He was a little intimidated by him, which wasn't helped by Carver's close friendship with Ingrid.

A year later, Erik was out collecting blackberries with Marian when they came across a bird with a broken wing. Marian promised Erik that her father would know what to do, and so he carefully carried the bird home. But while he was waiting for Malcolm, something strange happened. Suddenly, he realised he could *see* the bones and where they were supposed to be. And then a soft blue light surrounded his fingers and he was able to move the bones back into place. He told Marian what had happened, and she immediately ran to fetch her father. It was then that Erik discovered he was a mage - and so were Malcolm, Marian and Bethany. Malcolm allowed him to join Marian and Bethany's lessons, and Erik loved learning how to use his magic. It made him feel strong, powerful, *alive*.

Erik was thirteen years old when his Uncle Malcolm died, and he was devastated by the death of the man who had become almost a second father to him and who had taught him so much of what he knew. Hoping to make his uncle proud, he vowed to continue studying magic as hard as he could and that he would only ever use his magic for good. Every day for the next few years, he would spend hours locked away in his room, reading Malcolm's magical texts and practising spells.

### **The Fifth Blight**

News of the Blight reached Lothering in early 9:30 Dragon. Ingrid and Carver immediately enlisted in the Ferelden army, and Leif went with them to try to keep them out of trouble. Erik remained at home and worried desperately about his siblings and cousin. He was extremely relieved when they returned to Lothering alive, and horrified by their stories of what had happened at Ostagar and their warning that the darkspawn horde wasn't far behind.

The two branches of the Hawke family left Lothering immediately. They had originally intended to travel to Kirkwall together, but became separated in the chaos. Erik and Leif both wanted to go back to look for their aunt and cousins, but Magnus wouldn't let them. If they survived, then they would make it to Kirkwall on their own, and if they didn't, then there was nothing they could do to help them - and there was no way he was going to lose one, or Maker forbid, both of his sons to the darkspawn. The family travelled to Gwaren, where they were eventually able to secure passage to Kirkwall.

### **Kirkwall**

On the family's arrival in Kirkwall, Magnus sent word to Aram, one of his former army comrades who had moved to Kirkwall several years earlier and who he thought would be willing to help them enter the city. Aram paid the fee to allow them to enter Kirkwall and helped them find a small house to rent in Lowtown. Magnus found a position with the city guard training new recruits, while Leif and Ingrid joined the Red Iron Mercenaries. Leif and Magnus had originally wanted to keep Erik away from the unsavory work the mercenaries were involved in, but were eventually persuaded otherwise. Erik insisted that he wanted to make a contribution to the family, Ingrid insisted that he should be allowed to contribute, and Meeran had implied that he would be willing to part with a good deal of coin in order to obtain the services of a mage. The combination of the three factors led to Leif and his father changing their minds and allowing Erik to join the company after all.

A few weeks after arriving in Kirkwall, Leif ran into Marian and Carver in Lowtown. Erik was very happy to hear that Marian, Carver and Leandra had made it to Kirkwall, but was devastated to learn of Bethany's death. That evening the two branches of the Hawke family met for dinner in Magnus's rented house and swapped stories of their respective journeys to Kirkwall. From then on, the five Hawke cousins saw each other regularly and sometimes helped each other out with various jobs in and around the city.

A year after their arrival in Kirkwall, Marian told her cousins about a potential opportunity. A dwarf named Bartrand was leading an expedition into the Deep Roads, and his brother Varric had invited Marian to join as a business partner if she could raise 50 sovereigns. Marian was sure she could find places for her cousins on the expedition as well and assured them that they would be well paid for their efforts. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, and so Leif, Ingrid and Erik set about helping their cousins raise the necessary coin. Marian was as good as her word, and several months later Erik and his siblings set off into the Deep Roads alongside Marian and Carver.

The expedition was a success. Marian used the bulk of her earnings to buy back the Amell estate for her mother. She invited her uncle and cousins to move in with them, but they declined, feeling that they would be too out of place among the nobility. Marian still insisted on giving them a large amount of coin in addition to their expedition pay, and that combined with Magnus's guard wages and Leif, Ingrid and Erik's Red Iron earnings allowed them to buy a much larger house at the lower end of Hightown (or the higher end of Lowtown as Ingrid preferred to call it).

For the next six years, Erik and his siblings continued to work for the Red Iron and to carry out odd jobs in and around Kirkwall. They frequently crossed paths with Marian and her friends and would often team up with them to try to help solve Kirkwall's problems. They were a great source of support to Marian following her mother's death in 9:34 Dragon, and they also helped her fight back against the Qunari during the invasion. Three years later, they helped her defend the mages during the aftermath of the Chantry explosion.

Following the Chantry explosion, Erik took over Anders's clinic and did what he could to help those who had been injured. When the Mage-Templar War broke out, he and Merrill did their best to provide food, healing, and where they could, shelter to those worst affected, particularly people in Darktown and the alienage. Once the situation was more stable, they set off on a new adventure. By 9.41 Dragon, Merrill had managed to repair her eluvian, and one day she and Erik decided to step through and see what was on the other side. The Crossroads (or the Land In Between as they came to call it) was more than either of them had ever dreamed. They dedicated the next few years to studying it and mapping the eluvians - where they were, whether they worked, and where they went - with frequent trips back to Kirkwall to resupply and visit Magnus and Leif.

## **Relationships**

Erik was introduced to Marian's new friends one evening at the Hanged Man and soon found a place among the ragtag band of misfits she had adopted. With his friendly and compassionate nature, he formed fast friendships with Aveline and Varric. He got on reasonably well with Fenris too, despite being a mage. Unlike Marian, he made an effort to listen to Fenris when he talked about his experiences in Tevinter and came to understand why he felt the way he did about mages. He and Anders bonded over their shared interest in healing and he spent much of his free time helping out in Anders's clinic. He was horrified by the Chantry explosion and couldn't believe the man he had come to think of as a mentor would do such a thing. He never forgave Anders for killing so many innocent people or for betraying Marian. He didn't get on at all well with Isabela during their time in Kirkwall. He thought she was selfish and irresponsible, and thoroughly disapproved of her lifestyle, while Isabela found him dull. Following the Qunari explosion, he was furious with her for putting Marian's life in danger and for hurting Ingrid by leaving, and he never entirely forgave her.

### **Merrill**

Erik became infatuated with Merrill from the moment he saw her. She was beautiful, clever, interesting, and thoroughly unlike anyone he had ever met. They could talk for hours about magic and history, particularly elven history, which he found fascinating and which Merrill seemed to know a lot about. Much to Merrill's surprise, he didn't immediately disapprove when he found out she was a blood mage. Instead, he asked her questions. How did she learn it, what did she use it for, how much blood did she need? He came to agree with her that blood magic itself wasn't inherently evil and that it could be used for good. He was both honoured and intrigued when Merrill showed him the eluvian she was restoring, and offered to help her repair it in any way that he could.

Erik harboured his crush on Merrill for three years without doing anything about it, partly because he had never been in a relationship before and had no idea how to initiate one, and partly because he was worried she would never be interested in a human that way. The truth came out on his twentieth birthday. During his party at the Hawke estate, Ingrid gave him an extremely inappropriate gift - enough gold to go to the Blooming Rose and do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted, because she thought it was about time he saw some action in that particular area. The look on her face and the significant glances that passed between certain of their friends were too much, and he stormed out of his own party. Concerned, Merrill followed him home and asked what the matter was. In his attempt to explain why Ingrid's gift made him so angry, he ended up admitting that he had been in love with her for the last three years. To his surprise, Merrill revealed that she felt the same way and then kissed him. One thing led to another, and before they knew it they were both naked on his bed. It was a rather nervous first time, since neither of them really knew what they were doing, but after a little awkwardness they both enjoyed the experience.

Following their first night together, Erik and Merrill became an "official" couple. Erik dedicated much of his free time to helping Merrill restore the eluvian. One evening, he could see Merrill getting frustrated because she couldn't obtain enough power from her own blood. Erik suggested that she use his blood as well, but she refused to use blood from anyone other than herself. Erik then asked her to teach him blood magic. That way, they could both use their own blood, but perhaps the combined power would be enough to cleanse the eluvian. Merrill was reluctant at first, but Erik was persistent and eventually she agreed. Erik's theory proved to be correct, and they were able to achieve a number of breakthroughs by combining the power from two different blood sources.

Following the Chantry explosion, Erik took over Anders's clinic and did his best to heal those who had been injured, with Merrill helping out wherever she could. When the Mage-Templar War broke out, he and Merrill helped provide healing, food and shelter to help the people who had been worst affected. By 9:41 Dragon, some stability had started to return and Merrill had finally managed to repair the eluvian, so they decided to set off on a new adventure. They stepped through the eluvian and dedicated the next few years to studying and mapping the Crossroads (or the Land In Between as they came to call it).

## **Miscellaneous**

Erik's family gave him the nickname Sparrow because of his habit of tilting his head to the side when he's thinking, just like a little bird. Varric happily adopted the nickname later on.

## **Links**

### **Reddit Headcanon or Writing Prompt Threads:**

The Robin and the Sparrow - Erik has a life changing encounter with an injured bird (Prompt: The first time your OC encounters magic)

A Joining of Hands - Merrill decides it's time to tell Erik about the eluvian (Prompt: Six Sentence Story: The first time your OC held hands with their LI or best friend)

Moments of Joy - Merrill makes a breakthrough with the eluvian (Prompt: 100 Word Drabble: A time your OC couldn't stop smiling)

Turning Points - Erik and Merrill set off on a new adventure (Prompt: Six Sentence Story “Please don’t do this.”)

## **Gallery**

Erik Hawke by jentrevellan (https://jentrevellan.tumblr.com/)Sketch by shitty\_dragonage\_artChibi Erik by Captain-Savvy (https://www.deviantart.com/captain-savvy)