THE IRON FUCKING BULL (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
taarsidath) wrote2016-03-11 11:10 pm
taarsidath) wrote2016-03-11 11:10 pm
information
NAME
THE IRON BULL
PRON.
he/him
AGE
40
SPECIES
QUNARI
PLAYER
PROX
CANON
DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION
• Inquisitor Lavellan is an atheist elven mage, supported the mages, supported Celene and Briala corule, left Loghain in the Fade, romanced Solas, completed all area and companion quests, drank from the Well of Sorrows, made Leliana Divine, and killed all the dragons. (I'm flexible on this worldstate if playing off canonmates since it doesn't hugely impact or change Bull.)
• The Inquisitor met the Chargers.
• Demands of the Qun was completed and Bull saved the Chargers and became Tal-Vashoth.
• The Inquisitor took Bull into the Fade in Here Lies The Abyss, and helped him recover after.
• The Inquisitor celebrated defeating a dragon with Bull.
• (Optional) As neither Bull nor Dorian were romanced, they started a relationship with each other.
I am also fully up to date with Tresspasser DLC and Veilguard and down to incorporate elements.
• The Inquisitor met the Chargers.
• Demands of the Qun was completed and Bull saved the Chargers and became Tal-Vashoth.
• The Inquisitor took Bull into the Fade in Here Lies The Abyss, and helped him recover after.
• The Inquisitor celebrated defeating a dragon with Bull.
• (Optional) As neither Bull nor Dorian were romanced, they started a relationship with each other.
I am also fully up to date with Tresspasser DLC and Veilguard and down to incorporate elements.
CHOICES
PERSONALITY
To really understand the contradictions of the qunari who named himself The Iron Bull, you have to consider both his past - the culture he was raised in - and also the future - the possible long term ramifications of the decision made in Bull's personal quest "Demands of the Qun".
"Demands" seems simple enough: Bull's mercenary company and found family, the Chargers, are holding position on cliffs over the beach. A lot of enemies are coming for them. The instruction from Bull's qunari superiors is to hold off on blowing the retreat signal, so that the qunari forces can escape safely. However this will kill the Chargers. You advise Bull whether or not to blow the horn.
But in doing so, you are deciding his entire identity.
Let's go right back. From an early age, Bull was a little outside the box. Qunari society/philosophy functions on the idea of the collective good, of everyone having a place in society and a role to fill, of duty to this philosophy of the qun taking precedence over anything else. It breeds individuals with plans for what role they will fill (either brawn, brain or spirit) and childhood is spent evaluating aptitudes and the success of that breeding in order to place the child in the best possible training for the best possible role. Bull was born to be a warrior, and even by the standards of his race he is a big guy. But as a kid he demonstrates intelligence, cunning, logical thinking and a capacity for deception that meant instead of being sent to be a mindlessly obedient soldier, he was elected to train for the Ben-Hassrath, the qunari secret police, whose divisions include everything from command positions, to seeking out intelligence by spying on other races, to acting as the literal thought police to ensure order within the qun. At this point he called himself Hissrath, or 'liar'.
At this point Bull was still dedicated and loyal. He trained, then spent a couple of years keeping the peace in the qunari capital city, Par Vollen - the equivalent of being a local police officer. After that he was transferred to Seheron. Originally inhabited by Fog Warriors (a native tribe) this island was seen as important strategic territory from which to launch mainland attacks in the ongoing war between the qunari and Tevinter Imperium. It's been disputed territory for years and years. In that time, several qunari have lost themselves to primal berserker rage and gone rogue, leading to small groups of dangerous wild "Tal-Vashoth" roaming the island, creating a fourth faction. Most qunari are only stationed there for maximum two years before the stress gets to them. Bull survived eight, and rose through the ranks as his superiors either broke down or died.
After a group of Tal-Vashoth poisoned some qunari children, Bull single handedly slaughtered them all. He recalls himself as being suicidal afterwards, and he turned himself in to the "Re-Educators", who seem to be a disturbing mix of brainwashing facilities and therapy practices. Bull never talks about what re-education consisted of, but we have inferences that it drove his loyalty to the qunari deep. This, and the other horrors of Seheron, have stayed with him, giving him a deep capacity for darkness, a strong ability to compartmentalize, a fear of the berserker rage in himself, and a hatred of Tal-Vashoth. He also tells Varric that he doesn't enjoy realistic depictions of war in books because he already knows bad crap happens in the world.
Bull erases his capacity for self-hatred and selfishness by choosing to give up his autonomy, as is best practice under the qun. He never prosthelytyzes, but he does abide by his beliefs and reports loyally to his superiors, finding obeying orders preferable to having to face his own moral wounds. He fears his own brutality and is determined to make order out of chaos.
The Re-Educators eventually assign him a deep cover spy position. He is to go South and pretend to be a lone Tal-Vashoth starting a new life, and report back with details of southern culture and society. Thus was The Iron Bull invented. Bull deliberately chose a personality who was at ease with his own potential for slaughter and violence, who wanted a "The" at the front of his name to make him sound more like an object of violence. Playing a Tal-Vashoth, Bull was no longer bound by the strict rules and values of the Qun, and so he let Bull be a hedonist, a little lazy, maybe something of a slob, prone to heavy drinking, ready for a fight, and really into casual sex. He started a company called the Chargers made up of misfits of all races and specialities, and came to love them like a family even though qunari have no family units. Bull comes off as friendly, disarming, honest. He becomes more human and abides by human values to fit in with humans.
By the time Bull is recruited to the Inquisition, the line between which of those selves is an act and which is real has become dangerously blurred. While he still uses a lot of his spy techniques to disarm other people's perception of him, he openly admits to the Inquisitor that he is a qunari spy, and offers a trade: if he can continue sending information back home, he will share any return intelligence with the Inquisition. He rationalizes that if the qunari government does not have the details of what is happening in the South they may think it necessary to invade, so by reporting home he is actually helping prevent war — and also avoids having to make a decision about where his loyalties lie.
Unfortunately, that decision comes in Demands of the Qun, and in true qunari fashion he leaves it in his superiors hands, following whatever decision the Inquisitor makes.
Generally this Bull is one who blows the horn and saves the Chargers, is decried as Tal-Vashoth, and has to live with losing his entire ethnoreligion and philosophical purpose.
However it is making the other choice that really illustrates how compartmentalized and torn between worlds Bull had become. If you choose to let the Chargers die, then three years later (during Trespasser) when the qunari attack the Inquisition, Bull defects. Even if you have been in a romance with him, or he has been in a romance with Dorian for three years, even if he's not in your party: his superiors order him to help them, he reveals he has been 'playing' The Iron Bull this whole time, and he attacks you and you have to fight and kill him. This demonstrates both his capacity for long term deception and the ability he has to compartmentalize, as well as the absolute importance "Demands" played in restoring his individuality, even if it is a difficult road for him to walk.
Despite that individuality, relationships (platonic or otherwise) are very important to Bull. He relies on the Inquisitor and the other members of the Inquisition as well as the Chargers for support after he becomes Tal-Vashoth. While he is confident and mostly has really high, solid self-esteem that does not waver based on outside opinions, Bull really enjoys talking to people and getting to know them and doing things for them.
If you romance him as the Inquisitor, he starts a safe/sane/consensual BDSM relationship with you. If you ask him what he's getting out of it, he is cagey if reassuring, and never answers the question. If you suggest doing something else in the bedroom, he refuses, saying the release of submission and restraint is what the Inquisitor needs to escape the demands of, well, being the Inquisitor. To offer anything else would be disrespecting that need and the relationship. By the endgame he will reciprocate an "I love you" and call you Kadan (my heart) but reacts with startled terror to the idea of marriage, and the relationship is still an unequal one in some ways, where he is seeing to the Inquisitor's needs obediently without ever putting forth any of his own. It's all very qunari of him, even if he's Tal-Vashoth.
If you don't romance him, however, he starts up with Dorian, which from the start has a different vibe. While their relationship exists only in party banter as you travel (and later you can bring it up with both of them individually, and again in Trespasser) it isn't the relationship of a qunari serving his leader, but rather one of two enemies finding common ground. Dorian is a Tevinter Mage, the kind qunari have been at war with for centuries, and their relationship is antagonistic, though that eases into sexual tension and teasing and bickering, which by Trespasser is basically the squabbles of an old married couple. They are obviously equals, they respect each other, they challenge each other, and Dorian pushes against the qunari values of knowing his place leading their relationship to be more dynamic.
When Iron Bull enters the Fade with you in the "Here Lies the Abyss" quest and faces Nightmare, the single-word fear assigned to him is "Madness". In this we can see his fear of being like the Tal-Vashoth of Seheron, mindless in their violent fury, maybe because he is well aware he has the capacity for that in himself. This is also apparent in his dual reaction to dragons: on the one hand, something in his blood feels connected with them (it is believed that the qunari race have some dragon blood in them) but on the other they are mindless beasts who destroy everything in their path. He enjoys killing them for the same reason he enjoys killing in general: the reminder that he is superior, that he is stronger and smarter and more in control. "Order out of chaos" he says to the Inquisitor, of fighting dragons. This same fear means he hates the Fade, which is a magical dream world filled with spirits and demons and is basically chaos incarnate. After getting out of the Fade, he finds it beneficial to have Cassandra and the Inquisitor beat him with sticks, the pain and anger helping him get his confidence back. This is also reflected in some of the abilities in his Reaver skill tree, where power comes from pain (or in game terms, HP loss).
A few last things. Despite playing into the stereotype of a slovenly savage when he first created The Iron Bull, he is in reality ordered, meticulous, deliberate, watchful, and clever. This tends to inform everything from his seating in the bar (in the corner, watching, room to fight, good angle on the stairs) to the neatness of his room. He is also an incredible softie for youth and innocence: the first time he met Krem he took a blow for him that cost him his left eye, he is afraid of Cole but also promises he would kill anyone who hurt his "weird squirrelly kid", and he is possibly the only party member who has a good relationship with every other party member, and he makes a point of standing up for women and children and the underprivileged. He loves to drink and laugh with friends. He is pansexual and will flirt with pretty much anybody unless they ask him to stop. And his favourite color is pink - it's pretty.
"Demands" seems simple enough: Bull's mercenary company and found family, the Chargers, are holding position on cliffs over the beach. A lot of enemies are coming for them. The instruction from Bull's qunari superiors is to hold off on blowing the retreat signal, so that the qunari forces can escape safely. However this will kill the Chargers. You advise Bull whether or not to blow the horn.
But in doing so, you are deciding his entire identity.
Let's go right back. From an early age, Bull was a little outside the box. Qunari society/philosophy functions on the idea of the collective good, of everyone having a place in society and a role to fill, of duty to this philosophy of the qun taking precedence over anything else. It breeds individuals with plans for what role they will fill (either brawn, brain or spirit) and childhood is spent evaluating aptitudes and the success of that breeding in order to place the child in the best possible training for the best possible role. Bull was born to be a warrior, and even by the standards of his race he is a big guy. But as a kid he demonstrates intelligence, cunning, logical thinking and a capacity for deception that meant instead of being sent to be a mindlessly obedient soldier, he was elected to train for the Ben-Hassrath, the qunari secret police, whose divisions include everything from command positions, to seeking out intelligence by spying on other races, to acting as the literal thought police to ensure order within the qun. At this point he called himself Hissrath, or 'liar'.
At this point Bull was still dedicated and loyal. He trained, then spent a couple of years keeping the peace in the qunari capital city, Par Vollen - the equivalent of being a local police officer. After that he was transferred to Seheron. Originally inhabited by Fog Warriors (a native tribe) this island was seen as important strategic territory from which to launch mainland attacks in the ongoing war between the qunari and Tevinter Imperium. It's been disputed territory for years and years. In that time, several qunari have lost themselves to primal berserker rage and gone rogue, leading to small groups of dangerous wild "Tal-Vashoth" roaming the island, creating a fourth faction. Most qunari are only stationed there for maximum two years before the stress gets to them. Bull survived eight, and rose through the ranks as his superiors either broke down or died.
After a group of Tal-Vashoth poisoned some qunari children, Bull single handedly slaughtered them all. He recalls himself as being suicidal afterwards, and he turned himself in to the "Re-Educators", who seem to be a disturbing mix of brainwashing facilities and therapy practices. Bull never talks about what re-education consisted of, but we have inferences that it drove his loyalty to the qunari deep. This, and the other horrors of Seheron, have stayed with him, giving him a deep capacity for darkness, a strong ability to compartmentalize, a fear of the berserker rage in himself, and a hatred of Tal-Vashoth. He also tells Varric that he doesn't enjoy realistic depictions of war in books because he already knows bad crap happens in the world.
Bull erases his capacity for self-hatred and selfishness by choosing to give up his autonomy, as is best practice under the qun. He never prosthelytyzes, but he does abide by his beliefs and reports loyally to his superiors, finding obeying orders preferable to having to face his own moral wounds. He fears his own brutality and is determined to make order out of chaos.
The Re-Educators eventually assign him a deep cover spy position. He is to go South and pretend to be a lone Tal-Vashoth starting a new life, and report back with details of southern culture and society. Thus was The Iron Bull invented. Bull deliberately chose a personality who was at ease with his own potential for slaughter and violence, who wanted a "The" at the front of his name to make him sound more like an object of violence. Playing a Tal-Vashoth, Bull was no longer bound by the strict rules and values of the Qun, and so he let Bull be a hedonist, a little lazy, maybe something of a slob, prone to heavy drinking, ready for a fight, and really into casual sex. He started a company called the Chargers made up of misfits of all races and specialities, and came to love them like a family even though qunari have no family units. Bull comes off as friendly, disarming, honest. He becomes more human and abides by human values to fit in with humans.
By the time Bull is recruited to the Inquisition, the line between which of those selves is an act and which is real has become dangerously blurred. While he still uses a lot of his spy techniques to disarm other people's perception of him, he openly admits to the Inquisitor that he is a qunari spy, and offers a trade: if he can continue sending information back home, he will share any return intelligence with the Inquisition. He rationalizes that if the qunari government does not have the details of what is happening in the South they may think it necessary to invade, so by reporting home he is actually helping prevent war — and also avoids having to make a decision about where his loyalties lie.
Unfortunately, that decision comes in Demands of the Qun, and in true qunari fashion he leaves it in his superiors hands, following whatever decision the Inquisitor makes.
Generally this Bull is one who blows the horn and saves the Chargers, is decried as Tal-Vashoth, and has to live with losing his entire ethnoreligion and philosophical purpose.
However it is making the other choice that really illustrates how compartmentalized and torn between worlds Bull had become. If you choose to let the Chargers die, then three years later (during Trespasser) when the qunari attack the Inquisition, Bull defects. Even if you have been in a romance with him, or he has been in a romance with Dorian for three years, even if he's not in your party: his superiors order him to help them, he reveals he has been 'playing' The Iron Bull this whole time, and he attacks you and you have to fight and kill him. This demonstrates both his capacity for long term deception and the ability he has to compartmentalize, as well as the absolute importance "Demands" played in restoring his individuality, even if it is a difficult road for him to walk.
Despite that individuality, relationships (platonic or otherwise) are very important to Bull. He relies on the Inquisitor and the other members of the Inquisition as well as the Chargers for support after he becomes Tal-Vashoth. While he is confident and mostly has really high, solid self-esteem that does not waver based on outside opinions, Bull really enjoys talking to people and getting to know them and doing things for them.
If you romance him as the Inquisitor, he starts a safe/sane/consensual BDSM relationship with you. If you ask him what he's getting out of it, he is cagey if reassuring, and never answers the question. If you suggest doing something else in the bedroom, he refuses, saying the release of submission and restraint is what the Inquisitor needs to escape the demands of, well, being the Inquisitor. To offer anything else would be disrespecting that need and the relationship. By the endgame he will reciprocate an "I love you" and call you Kadan (my heart) but reacts with startled terror to the idea of marriage, and the relationship is still an unequal one in some ways, where he is seeing to the Inquisitor's needs obediently without ever putting forth any of his own. It's all very qunari of him, even if he's Tal-Vashoth.
If you don't romance him, however, he starts up with Dorian, which from the start has a different vibe. While their relationship exists only in party banter as you travel (and later you can bring it up with both of them individually, and again in Trespasser) it isn't the relationship of a qunari serving his leader, but rather one of two enemies finding common ground. Dorian is a Tevinter Mage, the kind qunari have been at war with for centuries, and their relationship is antagonistic, though that eases into sexual tension and teasing and bickering, which by Trespasser is basically the squabbles of an old married couple. They are obviously equals, they respect each other, they challenge each other, and Dorian pushes against the qunari values of knowing his place leading their relationship to be more dynamic.
When Iron Bull enters the Fade with you in the "Here Lies the Abyss" quest and faces Nightmare, the single-word fear assigned to him is "Madness". In this we can see his fear of being like the Tal-Vashoth of Seheron, mindless in their violent fury, maybe because he is well aware he has the capacity for that in himself. This is also apparent in his dual reaction to dragons: on the one hand, something in his blood feels connected with them (it is believed that the qunari race have some dragon blood in them) but on the other they are mindless beasts who destroy everything in their path. He enjoys killing them for the same reason he enjoys killing in general: the reminder that he is superior, that he is stronger and smarter and more in control. "Order out of chaos" he says to the Inquisitor, of fighting dragons. This same fear means he hates the Fade, which is a magical dream world filled with spirits and demons and is basically chaos incarnate. After getting out of the Fade, he finds it beneficial to have Cassandra and the Inquisitor beat him with sticks, the pain and anger helping him get his confidence back. This is also reflected in some of the abilities in his Reaver skill tree, where power comes from pain (or in game terms, HP loss).
A few last things. Despite playing into the stereotype of a slovenly savage when he first created The Iron Bull, he is in reality ordered, meticulous, deliberate, watchful, and clever. This tends to inform everything from his seating in the bar (in the corner, watching, room to fight, good angle on the stairs) to the neatness of his room. He is also an incredible softie for youth and innocence: the first time he met Krem he took a blow for him that cost him his left eye, he is afraid of Cole but also promises he would kill anyone who hurt his "weird squirrelly kid", and he is possibly the only party member who has a good relationship with every other party member, and he makes a point of standing up for women and children and the underprivileged. He loves to drink and laugh with friends. He is pansexual and will flirt with pretty much anybody unless they ask him to stop. And his favourite color is pink - it's pretty.
ABILITIES
QUNARI-BASED
- Qunari are very large and tall, and are bred to fit their role in society; Bull was initially bred to be a soldier. Therefore Bull has more strength and endurance than your average person. Bull is 7'6 with horns. Weighs about 200kg. He has to drink strong alcohol to get drunk, and he seems capable of lifting others with ease.
SOLDIER-BASED:
- Bull wields two handed weapons, such as maces, axes and broadswords, and is trained in being the damage dealer on a battlefield, wading in and slaughtering enemies. He lasted eight years waging war at Seheron, an island contested by four different factions, and rose through the ranks to command positions. Now he leads his own mercenary company.
SPY-BASED:
- When it was realized he was cunning and intelligent, Bull was transferred into training to be a Qunari spy/secret police. This includes training to control his facial expressions and hide his emotions, to lie effectively, and to notice details about other people. Several dialogues indicate he is near constantly evaluating the best way to kill everyone he meets, he has excellent deductive skills about those around him and is good at understanding people and befriending them, and he can visualize to the degree that he plays an entire chess game with Solas without a board.
SKILL TREES:
- Bull is a L20 Two Handed Reaver Warrior. ICly, I am more likely to incorporate abilities into roleplay as general fighting style descriptions and berserker rage than worry about the number crunching since this isn't a video game.