Like any other twenty-something young adults with terrible muscular and joint pains and a penchant for selecting the hardest difficulty in video games each time (and regretting it later), I have my fair share of original characters. Which I have yet shared in this blog. Oh well.
Mostly Skyrim, with one old Dragon Age character
I rediscovered midway through my Skyrim phase in which I went "screw my other OCs! I'm hyperfixating on this guy and this guy only!". Some are less developed than others, but not less loved.
(
much needed edit: one character per post. I had intended to write about ALL of my OCs in one go but the post got too long to keep up. This first dude alone could be made into three novels by himself just by the sheer amount of unneeded backstory tied to him.)
ORIS Surana
"Being me is not something worth of senseless punishment."
An unusual elf with little recollection of his past, an amateur singer, and an abomination resilient enough to maintain his mortal form, Oris was recruited into the Grey Wardens after a series of misfortune befell him at the Circle Tower of Kinloch Hold. The details of which would fit into a book on its own (hm, possible fanfic idea?), but suffice to say a lot of Templars steer clear of him, and he does the same.
Oris is mostly stern, a little bit grumpy, and only says what he needs to say--although, by default, he wants to help people and he will help, any way he can. It takes a while for him to open up, and Oris can appear rude at times when being approached--don't let that intimidate you, though; he becomes a total softie once befriended. Oris has a special weakness for groan-worthy puns and a plate of freshly-baked muffins.
One thing you can rely Oris on is his honesty, and his strong sense of obligation. In conversations, he may sound charmlessly direct and naive. Oris doesn't quite understand sarcasm, sugar-coating or double-speak, and so he tends not to use them much (either it is a blessing or curse depends on the situation). On missions, he is known as being unfailingly focused and goal-driven. "You want to help us stop the Blight but you'll need me to complete 1243254273515+ tasks beforehand? Fine. I'll do it." The term roadblock does not exist in his vocabulary.
Another thing you can rely him on is his attention to detail. When Oris doesn't talk, he quietly--and respectfully--observes. He tends to notice the shift in someone's voice, the way their eyes squint or move, or the choice of words someone pick and what they could possibly mean. Yet he hardly uses those information to judge the person he's speaking to. A friend said if Oris would lie more (and expand his wardrobe beyond heavy armor and boring grey shirts), he could make a half-decent bard.
Oris' attention to detail isn't just reserved for people either, but also to the outside world. Especially the forests, the swamps, the plants. He has a soft spot for flowers, spiders, and a comfy undershirt.
Combat and physics-wise, Oris is the ultimate defender. While he finds shields frustrating to work with and prefers a reliable greatsword instead, his stubbornness made him always at the forefront of his party--well, unless he's faced with a Templar, whom he's utterly defenseless (and rightfully paranoid) against.
Also did I say he's
technically an abomination?
Other than that, though? If you need a shoulder to cry on, a voice of reason to nitpick all your flaws in the most objective and ruthless manner, or just a grumpy-looking meat shield--Oris is your man.
Purpose
"As long as I keep on fighting, I will never fall."
Oris is not a mage, despite him years believing he was one. Despite the mages at the Circle Tower assuring him that he
was one. Despite all the Templars pointing their fingers at him telling everyone
"he's a demon, I swear it!"He keeps on believing--attributing his ability to withstand blows that would kill lesser men, toughen the skins of himself and his allies with only a battlecry, and hear songs within lyrium that escape the ears of even the most Stone-touched dwarves... to that of a mage. Despite this, he cannot cast a spell. The 'powers' come from his thoughts and will, but never through the manipulation of mana.
The mages believe him to be bound with a spirit of Purpose, the very nature of which made him immune to possession (because he's already possessed, technically). The Templars think he is a demon either way. To appease both parties, Oris was confined inside the cavern storeroom within the Circle Tower, forbidden to interact with other mages without heavy supervision. When the Grey Wardens came for recruitment, First Enchanter Irving saw it as an opportunity to get him out of there.
Oris didn't know... at first. Being a Grey Warden was a means of escape... at first. Fighting to end the Blight gave him something to do, and his ensured death by the taint gave him somewhat of a morbid closure... at first. The shock of the discovery, inelegantly revealed by a blood mage he once thought as a friend and a crush, brought him crashing down--made him reevaluate life and what he was actually fighting for.
However the spirit came to be, whoever he truly is, it doesn't matter. It took the death of the Archdemon, the loss of a leg, and a painful confession by a fellow Grey Warden, to make Oris realize
he is what he wants to be. He's born to fight, to survive, and dedicate his entire being to the Wardens--and one
other Warden in particular.
He's
just Oris.
Out of the Frying Pan...
The Archdemon's demise was hardly the end. Oris stayed in Denerim for some time, tending to his wounds and keeping Alistair company. Sometimes he'd ask the other man
why would he stay behind,
why would he throw away the throne in favor of the Wardens,
why would he care for a man who turned out to be one inch away from being an abomination, to which the fellow Grey Warden only winked and smiled.
Ten months later, an apostate mage appeared on their doorstep. A blast from the past. With a small baby in her arms, she begged the two men to take the daughter away from her--
"away from Flemeth, away from her brother". His blood ran cold the moment he saw her face. Almost an exact mirror of him; his own daughter.
That was the last time they saw the apostate. Months rolled by, and Oris was sent to Amaranthine to manage the arling and become the new Commander of the Grey, while Alistair returned to Weisshaupt, baby Aelin safe in his care. They reunited two years later in Val Royeaux, Orlais.
From then on, nobody could pinpoint exactly where the two wardens are. One person saw Oris in the Korcari Wilds, seemingly looking for something. Some wardens thought he might be researching the cure for the Blight. Another person swore they saw the small family hiding somewhere in Crestwood. Another crazier theory claims they're with the Inquisition right now, gathering a small army of Grey Wardens to help fight off their demon-possessed brothers and sisters in Adamant. Nobody knows for sure.
(oh gosh! that's done! i'm done!)
Useless trivia section (because every original character breakdown needs one, apparently)
Technical stuff:- My earliest memory of creating this guy was me, sitting in front of my PC with Dragon Age: Origins character creation screen open trying to think of a new playthrough idea. "Hey, I've never played a dude. Never played a mage. Never played an elf. Let's combine all of them into one!" And then I spent the next two hours thinking of a name, giving up and just typing random nonsense into the name box. Thus "Oris" was born.
- Hilariously enough, he ended up being my go-to-character for playing the game on Nightmare difficulty. Arcane warrior is so broken, I love it.
- The idea of him being not actually a mage came recently, when I recreated him for Inquisition (he has a whole separate friggin' backstory in that game. Alternate universe stuff). Arcane warrior doesn't exist, and knight enchanter doesn't have the same oomph that AW has, so I made him a two-handed warrior. Modded the Reaver spec too. (Unrelated, but I'm in currently trying to do Nightmare with this exact setup as well. With the same dude. Yeahhh.)
- His voice claim is Johnny Yong Bosch. Ever heard him as Kung Jin from Mortal Kombat X? His voice is perfect, go give it a listen.
- I remade him as a custom follower in Skyrim. Every headparts tweaked to fit him--the unnecessarily numerous scars, freckles, cataracs-looking eyes, uneven brows, normal and diffuse map for face, the tattoo (mousepainted with love ;_;).. Still haven't found a way to make his prosthetic leg though.
Storyline stuff:
- Oris was 23 (nearing his 24th birthday) at the start of Origins. I think that was around the same age as the other romanceable companions? Zevran is (perhaps) 25 and Alistair is younger, 21-ish or something.
- He's (obviously) the Hero of Ferelden, though there's a just-for-fun alternate universe of him as a normal Grey Warden, recruited at the same time as Alistair, who later became kinda sorta a senior warden in Weisshaupt and eventually joined the Inquisition.
- Oris was raised in an orphanage before ending up in the Circle. One of her caretakers, and the one he was closest with as a child, returned to her homeland (Orlais) sometime after he was recruited, so Oris went back to her after the whole business in Amaranthine concluded. Aelin needs to know her grandmother after all, even if not by blood.
- "But Alistair is straight!" you said. Look at me in the eye and say that again.
- Ok, but seriously (ramble about pairings and stuff in three... two...) I had the idea from a random-ass dream I had, thought it was interesting and decided to try writing something about it. I treated it as a crack ship at the start (Oris was technically romancing Zevran at the time), but the more I wrote about it, the more I found parallels and similarities that I just can't pass up. Something something mage
demon/templar dynamic something something. Both stifled by the Chantry, both with a difficult childhood (difficult in other ways, but still difficult), Alistair's indecisiveness paired with Oris' stubbornness. Both are also men who (in my headcanon, anyway) don't quite connect to the mainstream idea of what "men" should be, both are--deep down--afraid of being left alone or dying as a Grey Warden, forgotten... Ok I'll stop now. - (ramble is not done yet) I could write a different essay about how Alistair has every right, and in fact should, reject the throne by his own volition if he's "hardened" (god I hate that term), but... that's a thing for another time. It's the weakest part of the otherwise perfect game for me. Just... him suddenly going "yeah I'll be a king!" when 5 seconds ago he's still all wishy-washy about it.
- Aelin is Kieran's twin sister, yeah. She is a whole other can of worms, but she is also a full-fledged OC of mine so she gets a separate page, lucky girl.
- For full transparency, Oris is technically a half-elf. His mother was a Tevinter magister and his father was an elven servant. And he's technically not bound with a spirit in the sense like Wynne with the spirit of Faith or Anders with the spirit of Justice. Let's just say he's more akin to Justice in Dragon Age: Awakening who got bound to the dead body of Kristoff. Except, in Oris' case, the body is somehow not decomposing...
- In an alternate universe, iinstead of the orphanage, he was taken in by clan Lavellan and eventually became the Inquisitor. The backstory gets more time to shine there, partly because his mother is also still alive and kicking in that universe.
Character stuff (a.k.a MORE random trivias!):- Is it weird to admit that I visually based him off of Heather Mason from Silent Hill 3? Plus some other face claims, like this one Indonesian celebrity I keep forgetting the name of.
- Having weird songs stuck in your head 24/7 for the rest of your life can make you kinda kooky at times. If you hear him humming, whistling, or singing some random gibberish, bear with it--it's his way of coping with the constant noise.
- It's also probably why the Calling affects him less than most Wardens--he's already hearing songs, another shitty weird one on top of it isn't gonna make any difference to him.
- His real name is Mabenaris. He doesn't know this.
- He likes spiders. Would probably open a sanctuary of spiders in his home if Aelin allows it (which she doesn't).
- He developed a fear of heights after being chomped by an Archdemon and thrown around like a ragdoll for a solid five minutes atop Fort Drakon. He hates dragons, doesn't cherish the idea of fighting one (it's not helped that some dragons look like oversized flying chickens--the horror!)
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