Sethorvan Riah

Warden

Recruit (formerly)

Knight-Corporal (formerly)

Loghain's Army (unwillingly, formerly)

Recruit (formerly)

Knight-Corporal (formerly)

*"Blessed are the peacekeepers, champions of the just."*

 *- Seth recited a line from the Chant of Light moments before undergoing his Joining.*

Sethorvan was a Warden and former member of the Templar Order, conscripted by Ser Beckham in 9:45 Dragon and remaining with the Ferelden Grey Wardens since, serving under Warden-Commander Roderick Vimes and operating out of Vigil's Keep. He is described as devout and religious man, gaining power from his faith and utilising his Templar abilities against the Darkspawn. Despite not being a Mage, he seems to possess an understanding of the Arcane and to a further extent, Demonology, Spirits and even the Fade. In terms of combat, Sethorvan is known to utilise a bastard sword and medium shield, bolstering their defence even further by wearing full Templar Plate Armour into battle. He is also the owner of Bailey, a Mabari War Hound whom he inherited from his brother. He was promoted to Warden-Constable in 9:45 after requesting the position from Warden-Commander Vimes.

## History

Sethorvan was born and raised in Redcliffe, growing up to become headstrong and ruthless, always convinced that there was nothing that could possibly stop him once given a task, it was this attitude and his skill with a blade that could only bring him so far. Despite being nothing more than a commoner, he eventually gained somewhat of a reputation after attending a grand tourney, coming nowhere near winning but putting up enough of a fight and displaying a level of skill that would catch the attention of a Knight in Arl Eamon’s service. He was offered a position as the Knight's Apprentice, learning the ways of the Warrior and refining his skills further, accompanying his mentor in several battles as the Arl commanded, but he would not take part in the Battle of Ostagar.

After the battle he was informed of his mentors death and Loghain’s fortunate retreat, being conscripted into the Regent’s army and serving for several months before encountering a group of Orlesian Grey Wardens, engaging in battle with them as ordered by his superior officer and only narrowly defeating the significantly outnumbered force. Despite claiming a victory, he would refuse to execute them, believing that the Wardens would never turn against the king and instead turning them back to Orlais. It was this act of defiance that would get him arrested for treason, remaining incarcerated until the Warden and his band of misfits defeated the Archdemon and returned the realm to peace.

After being released, Seth struggled to cope with the actions he’d undertaken while under the Regents command and sought forgiveness in the eyes of the Maker, attending a Chantry and eventually become convinced by the Revered Mother to go through Templar training and put his skills to use, the senior members of set order believing that it would be a waste to not utilise him in a role actively hunting apostates rather than guarding a Circle Tower, he also came to utilise Lyrium, which kept him under the control of the Chantry as they did all other Templars. After completing the training regime and becoming a fully-fledged Templar, taking the oath and donning the armour, he continued to serve the Chantry and work to maintain order throughout Ferelden, wearing the sigil with pride in his efforts in redeeming himself.

Although he’d go on to serve for many years, he’d be approached by a Senior Grey Warden who went by the name of Ser Beckham. Wanting to rebuild their order they’d offer the Templar a chance to join them, which he declined in favour of remaining with the Templars, despite his reluctance he was recruited into the Wardens via the Right of Conscription.

## Quests

### Their Joining

Shortly after arriving at Vigil's Keep for the first time, Sethorvan, accompanied by other Warden Recruits, Arrats, Balgair, and Rayna, they were also joined by Senior Warden Conner and recently-made Warden Javier. The group ventured into the Deep Roads with the intention of killing a few Darkspawn and procuring enough blood for the Joining Ritual, however things quickly got out of hand when after the group dispersed of the first group they'd encountered, having ventured further into the caverns than expected, they were eventually attacked an Ogre.

The Wardens were quick to adapt to their attackers, Sethorvan acting as the groups defence and moving to counter the Ogre while the others attacked the remaining Hurlocks and Emissaries. Once a sufficient amount of weaker enemies were defeated, they focused on eliminating the Ogre, initially struggling to do much to the beast at first. After sustaining some injuries, the Wardens were able to make some ground, Sethorvan eventually landing a critical blow and slaying the beast at the cost of becoming infected by the taint.

Once the group had returned to the Keep, they were quickly brought through the Joining in order to avoid anyone potentially succumbing to the taint, joined by another Recruit named Gary who had been awaiting his ritual but having apparently already retrieved their own vial of Darkspawn blood. Although most of the recruits survived and became Wardens, Gary did not survive the process.

### Goat Hunt

Sethorvan joined Senior Warden Conner's quest to locate and return one of the local Bann's missing prized goats, having apparently wandered from their private estate. The two Wardens spent the majority of the journey horseback, eventually arriving at the last reported sighting of the creature and investigating scene only to discover an initially uninhabited cave. After venturing further into the cave, they discovered what seemed to be the goat and a child, Conner attempted to give the child some bread only to be stopped by the goat. Having recognised that not everything was as it seemed, Sethorvan used his ability to cleanse the area of magic, forcing both the child and goat to reveal their true forms, the former turning out to be a Rage Demon and the latter being a Spirit that'd actually been possessing the goat.

The Wardens drew the Rage Demon outside of the cave with the intention of doing battle in an open space, receiving assistance from the Spirit when they temporarily froze the Demon their attacker in place, allowing Conner to easily overpower and destroy the creature. They then returned to the cave, Seth having not only revealed the Spirit and Demon, but also a cache of weapons inscribed with the insignia of the Seekers of Truth, some of which were enchanted with magical properties. While Conner collected the weapons, Sethorvan discovered an amulet bearing the insignia of the Chantry, of which seemed to attract the attention of the possessed goat. The Templar placed the amulet onto the ground, allowing the spirit to destroy it and properly return to the fade, leaving the goat behind. The two Wardens returned to Vigil's Keep, weapons and goat in hand.

## Relationships

### Roderick Vimes

Being the Warden Commander of the Ferelden Grey Wardens, Roderick has the respect of the former Templar despite also possessing some expected caution, although Seth does not distrust Rod, he is as cautious around them as they are all Mages, more-so out of subconscious habit than anything else.

### Balgair

One of the recruits that accompanied Sethorvan during their Joining and a fellow Warrior, he respects Balgair and considers him a friend, partly due to seeing his younger self in the inexperienced Warden. Rumours of Balgair's recent succession during his duels has also reached Seth, leading him to consider training them in the ways of the Templar should they ask.

### Conner

A Senior Warden even before Sethorvan was recruited, he has respect Seth's respect not only due their rank but also due to their combat ability. Despite this, he is curious of their past, more specifically how they were able to identify the Seekers of Truth's Sigil.

### Valerie Winter

A lesser experienced and more recently recruited Warden, Sethorvan was initially cautious and distrusting of them, despite that he remained calm, composed and decent towards them, exchanging words and eventually giving them a tour of the Keep. Although cautious as he is with all Mages, if not more due to them being a Blood Mage, he has found himself doubting his prior expectations and even coming to like Valerie.

### Bailey

Bailey is Sethorvan's Mabari War Hound and unquestionably loyal companion, having inherited and cared for the dog since the death of his brother, he is considered by Bailey to be the last of his family. Despite his best efforts to train the hound, progress has been slow due to their playful nature.

## Trivia

* When serving as a Templar, Sethorvan spent more time hunting Apostates than he did guarding any Circle Tower, his superiors feeling that his combat experience would be wasted in Ferelden's Circle. Despite this he remained at the Circle after the events of the Fifth Blight, only for a brief period while it was rebuilt and peace restored.
* While going through Templar training, he saved a black cat from some other trainees and kept the creatures, of which he named Loki, despite living a nice life the animal passed peacefully after his training was complete.
* Although they are no longer a member of the Templar Order, Sethorvan maintains his oaths and holds himself to the same standards he did back then.
* Bailey has actually destroyed the shield used by Seth during his training, having chewed the wooden shield beyond recognition, he doesn't seem bothered by this however. It's a common occurrence to find Bailey chewing on his current shield, making no progress in destroying it due to it being made out of steel.
* Though rarely afforded much time to indulge such a hobby, Sethorvan is an avid reader, possessing a number of books stationed on a shelf in his office, including an almost complete collection of Varric Tethras' work, though "Swords & Shields" is notably the only item missing from the collection, it's rumoured that the Warden-Constable has the romance novel hidden away.