Character Base

• Character Name: Cole
• Age: Unknown. Likely millenia old, but appears to be somewhere between his late-teens, perhaps not much older than twenty.
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) / Post-”Here Lies The Abyss” but before “What Pride Had Wrought”, also before Cole’s personal quest “Subjected To His Will” is completed.
• Items Coming Along:
— His Assassin’s blades.
— His default armour (Hunter Coat).
• Content Warnings for Character: accidental death; death of family; death of a child; patricide; death by starvation; murder (so much murder); mental manipulation.

Character Background

• History: https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Cole
• Core Relationships:

— Rhys From Cole’s origin story, a novel of additional content set before the events of Inquisition — shortly after Cole embodies the human Cole, and having forgotten what he truly was. The relationship between him and Rhys is… complicated. Rhys befriended Cole, not truly knowing what he was — but was aware of the ‘Ghost of the Spire’, some unknown person killing Mages imprisoned within the White Spire. When Rhys suspected Cole, he confronted him, and when Cole confessed to the murders, he fled, not wanting to alienate his only friend and Rhys gave chase after him, firing spells. Even after this, Cole still comes to Rhys to warn him of another character’s orders that Cole had overheard. When Rhys learns the true nature of Cole, he defends him, but Cole accepts himself as what he is (a spirit, and a killer) and disappears. Cole is both drawn to and fears Rhys, mostly due to complexities of his thoughts of being seen or not. He is anxious at being seen, but craves it due to the fear of being forgotten and becoming untethered. He feels guilty and shameful because of his actions of killing others, and ends up leaving Rhys, never to see him again.

— Solas As a mage who befriends Spirits in the Fade, Solas is perhaps Cole’s biggest ally. He shows an understanding that many others lack, and does not treat him with suspicion or if he is something dangerous, but with respect. He keeps Cole grounded and calm, especially if he is brought into the Fade during Here Lies The Abyss. He is encouraging towards him to be who he is, and the two often speak in cryptic ways together — conversation that the other party members often do not understand. It is arguable that Solas finds a certain kinship in Cole due to their circumstances, they are both (in different ways) dead men walking — wounded and vengeful and filled with tragedy, walking amongst the living. He trusts Solas immensely, even to the point where he begs the apostate to bind himself to Solas following the events at Adamant — to ensure that no one else does it and forces him to become something other than what he is. During Cole’s personal quest, Solas advocates for Cole to remain more Spirit, as in his eyes, this is ultimately Cole’s true nature. For the Human route, Solas is still supportive and wishes him luck for choosing ‘the difficult path’.

— Varric On the opposite end of the scale, Varric treats Cole more like a human. He has little knowledge in the way of Spirits and the Fade, but does not let this hinder him in reacting to Cole — going with more of what he sees that what he knows. He treats Cole kindly in a way which is different to Solas, where he humanises the Spirit — referring to him as ‘kid’ and trying to teach him jokes. Cole likes him for the quietness about him, but remarks there is an old song about him (due to Varric being a dwarf). During Cole’s personal quest, Varric advocates for Cole to become more Human, as he reasons that Cole has become something else due to him embodying the real Cole when he crossed over from the Fade. If Cole becomes more Human, Varric helps guide him through the difficulties of his newfound personhood. While he expresses disappointment if the Human-route isn’t chosen, he is still supportive and kind to Cole.

— The Inquisitor Given that the Inquisitor is a malleable protagonist, player choice dictates the relationship between them and Cole. An Inquisitor with a high-approval with Cole is someone whom the Spirit thinks very well of, and even as a friend. He sees the Inquisitor as someone who wants to help others — one of Cole’s driving forces as a Spirit of Compassion. (A low approval will have Cole leave, making the entirety of the Inquisition forget him.) The Inquisitor doesn’t fully understand Cole, but can be kind to them and accepting of what Cole is and does. In the dialogue offered following the completion of his personal quest (with the Spirit route taken), he appreciates how the Inquisitor doesn’t treat Cole poorly for being a Spirit: “You found out, but you didn’t change. Didn’t make me change. You let me be this, be more.”. Cole is thankful for the Inquistor’s help, and grateful in ways the Inquisitor cannot understand. If he is made more Human, he remarks “Gentle. You watch me walk into darkness again and again, and you always worry. Thank you.” Either way, he recognises how gently and kindly the Inquistor has treated him — and either choice wins great approval from him.

— Cole Undoubtedly a special mention has to go to the actual Cole, an apostate mage who the spirit was drawn to in his final hours as he lay dying from starvation. Cole had been imprisoned by Templars in the White Spire following the deaths of his family. Due to a paperwork error by a newer Templar, Cole was transferred to one of the more remote cells in the dungeons, where he was forgotten about and left to slowly starve to death. The spirit attempted to comfort the dying mage, but found there was nothing it could do to help, other than hold Cole’s hand. With the mage’s death, the Spirit of Compassion became Cole. If it could not save him, then it would become him to ensure the mage would live in some way. In addition, this Cole would become a rogue class over a mage class in-game, as it wanted to embody a version of Cole that the real Cole wanted to be: ”The him he wanted that wouldn't hurt.”. An 'idealised' version of him, essentially.

— The Inquisition Cole has a mixture of relationships with the other members of the Inquisition, (but for sanity’s sake I will only briefly touch upon them.) since the entire team will often function and work together during their campaign. Ultimately, whilst he is often regarded with suspicion and generally unwanted, the other members of the team do come to care for him in their own ways, some more quiet than others — Cole being a Spirit is unsettling for them, but they do recognise the good he does. It is not to say he is entirely welcomed, but there is camaraderie there. Cole is with the Inquisition, he is one of their own. Vivienne, Sera and Ironbull are perhaps the most uncomfortable around him, or disapprove of his presence, not liking how he can root around in their heads. Vivienne and Iron Bull see him as a demon, but the former comes to care and worry for him in her own way (which she will absolutely deny) while the latter acknowledges that while Cole is ‘weird’, he’s on their team. Sera on the other hand remains displeased, but even she stops referring to Cole as an ‘it’ and calls him ‘he’, even if she doesn’t understand Cole and his ways. Dorian, Blackwall and Cassandra could arguably be more middle ground towards him, although with Blackwall and Cassandra initially being more wary. Dorian is more curious about Cole and intrigued by what he is, Blackwall ends up cautiously agreeing to a truce that should either of them become what they are not, they’ll kill one another, and Cassandra does quietly seek friendship with Cole in her own careful way.

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:

— Joining the Inquisition Despite the manner in which Cole can be recruited in game differs on player choice, being allowed to stay in the Inquisition gives Cole more direction with his purpose. He can either warn of the incoming attack or help the party against a demon — having already shown the side he has chosen. He wants to help, that is the core of his very being. He recognises that there is something important going on, and that the Inquisition has chosen the good fight to get rid of Corypheus once and for all. Cole is kept busy throughout his time with the Inquisition, either on the battlefield or just remaining in Skyhold. While it is often loud for him due to the amount of hurts being around, he is able to help those around him. He commits ‘odd things’ around the castle: leaving out cheese and mint; burning turnips; hiding daggers — but each of these things help in their own ways: the cook laughs at the cats affected by the mint after they come after the cheese-lured mice, putting them in a better mood and not scolding the maid; the burnt turnips remind a dying soldier of a soup his mother made him and he dies peacefully; hiding the daggers stops a fight from getting out of control and killing someone. He’s allowed to function as he should, and being able to help brings him a great deal of contentment.

— Forgiving the Templar / Getting Revenge While not quite Cole’s canon-point, his personal quest is a huge positive experience for him — even if it is quite complicated in its ways. Cole finds and confronts the Templar responsible for the real Cole’s death, after having messed up the paperwork. He can either deal with the situation in one of two ways: he can forgive the Templar by recognising their guilt in their hand of it and shame as the real Cole’s death was subsequently covered up, then letting the Templar forget — thus making Cole more like a Spirit as he originally was. Or he can get revenge on the Templar by embracing his anger and hurt and shooting the them with a crossbow, then leaving him to remember his actions — letting Cole embrace his newfound personhood and allowing him to become more Human. While there is still much ambiguity over what Cole is, and his future is uncertain, it does reaffirm what he is: if he remains what he originally was, or if he steps into the unknown and follows the path of what he is becoming, something which arguably began when he first embodied the real Cole. Either way, it is a hugely positive experience for Cole, and he is more sure of himself and thankful for the Inquisitor’s (and either Solas or Varric’s) guidance and friendship.

(2+) Negative Experiences:

— Failing to Save Cole As a Spirit of Compassion, he is driven to heal the hurts of others, to help people. When he came across the dying human Cole, having heard his cries, he tried his best to help him — but realised he could not. To deny a Spirit its purpose is an incredibly traumatic experience, as it goes against its very nature. Failing to help the dying Cole wounded him, and in doing so it changed him — igniting the rare, and possibly unique occurrence of the Spirit embodying the human in appearance and personality. In part, Cole initially forgets who and what he is — and while he does maintain who he is at his core (a spirit who wishes to help), it does push him to more extreme measures, including mercy-killing others as a form of help. This also leaves him a kind of limbo for a long time, neither fully Spirit nor Human, and incredibly vulnerable. Others do not know what to make of him, and some fear him — thinking he is possessing a human much like a demon does.

— Here Lies The Abyss In this quest, the Inquisition goes looking for the Grey Wardens, after it is revealed that Corypheus has been able to create a false Calling to all Wardens alive — something that signifies a new Blight (and their deaths). It is later found out that the Grey Wardens have sided with the Venatori in a hope of using blood magic to make a final stand against the Blight. However, this blood magic is a ritual in which mages would kill their warrior comrades, binding spirits to them and turning said spirits into demons (along with putting mages under the thrall of Corypheus). This horrified Cole, considering he is also a spirit — putting a fear into him for him falling to the same fate, to the point that if his personal quest is not fulfilled before the final quest — Cole will refuse to attend the last battle with the rest of the Inquisiton. It also gave him a great disapproval of the Grey Wardens, and even wanted them exiled for their deeds (even if they had been tricked), thus highlighting how deeply the whole affair affected him. In addition, bring Cole to the Fade in this quest (the Raw Fade, in this case) will greatly distress him. He will subsequently freak out, fearing a loss of control of himself since he thinks the Raw Fade is wrong. It also confronts him with the Nightmare, an immensely powerful demon, which is essentially the flipside of what Cole could become should be turned into a Despair demon — once more driving home the very real possibility of what could happen to him, that it would make him a monster and not himself anymore.

Deer Country Attributes

• Canon Powers:

— Telepathy / Clairvoyance Cole is able to read the minds of others, most specifically the hurts of others. Things that bring pain, trauma, loss or worry. How he voices it is often in a stream of consciousness style, drawing reference to specific images, snippets of conversation, symbols and the like. It is implied he can read thoughts directly at times, but as Cole puts it the other characters are in his head rather than him being in theirs. Cole can also read specific memories or things about others, often uttering them in cryptic ways — uttering some kind of enigmatic insight into character motivations, struggles or backstories. He very nearly realises the spoilers for the end of the game, had not a character magically stopped him from going any further. The boy is literally a walking spoiler.

Cole is also found to offer meta/fourth walling of the real world, shown by his ‘cryptic comments’ in game which often refer to other game franchises or movies. An example of this being a reference to The Sixth Sense: "He was dead the whole time. He didn't know.". This also lends into his Clairvoyance, particularly about areas or places visited, where he gets a sense of the place and its history in vague ways. He might note if a battle has been in this place, or gets a feeling of overwhelming loss. He even remarks how he likes a heavily wooded place because 'The trees don't speak.'.

note: Abilities will be used with communication and discussion with the other player ooc-ly. In terms of navigating the game, I would happily stick to mod-approval with events or from information that is already available to players.

— Supernatural Sense As a being of pure magic, Cole is able to sense magic — whether it be in others, or atmospherical. He is also sensitive to the energies of others, sensing other spirits or supernatural beings. He is going to be absolutely thrilled at being in a world of blood magic (he is not going to be thrilled).

— Mind Manipulation: Cole has the ability to make people forget about him and not be noticed, as well as make themselves forget unsettling thoughts and feelings mortals had about him. As Cole comments, this is a defense mechanism of Spirits meant to protect all parties. Mortals wouldn't remember or see spirits and so would not attack them out of fear or anger, and Spirits would not dwell on the opinions and feelings that mortals would have about them. This routine amnesia keeps the Spirits pure but stifles any learning or growing as a person—and thus prevents any complex problem-solving. He can also make people forget their hurts/pains, unburdening them from them, in extreme cases. He also appears to others ‘in ways their mind makes sense’ so as not to upset those he interacts with when he offers them ‘the right words’ to help — a little whisper over their shoulder, if you will. That being said, Cole being a spirit of Compassion will also play into this mental manipulation as what he can say mixes in with the magic of what he is which offers comfort and happiness to the person he’s speaking with.

note: There isn’t really a straightforward explanation as to how Cole’s abilities work in regards to him being noticed or not. Or the fact of how a Spirit-route Cole remains pure and unburdened despite being friends with the Inquisition, who remember him. It’s possible because he is made more Spirit, he is more sure of himself. For the sake of clarity, Sleepers will notice him (unless Cole purposely makes them forget or is actively keeping himself hidden) whilst natives/Trenchies will not be able to notice him unless he approaches them to aid them. Patron Pthumerians will also be able to notice him. Abilities will be used with communication and discussion with the other player ooc-ly.

— Self Sustenance As a Spirit, Cole has no need for food or rest. While he appears human, he has no human needs. warp: This can absolutely be overridden for the sake of game/event plots where it is needed for Cole to consume things or if he is made to sleep.

— Assassin class Cole’s character class is a Rogue, with a specialization in the Assassin class. With that, he is proficient in the use of duel-wielding, and various stealth tactics. He can make himself invisible, move from areas quicker than the eye, and is capable and strong in combat. Being a Spirit, his stamina is limitless. In the words of Steve Rogers: he “could do this all day.” warp: I am happy enough to cut his stamina down if required, especially if the plot/event asks for this.

• Blood Type: Warmblood.
• Omen: Barn Owl, name currently unknown.
• Blessed Day: 9th January.
• Patron Pthumerian: Madam Generosity
• Blood Power Manifestation: n/a, other than the standard uses of Warmblood in-game.

Writing Samples

One: here
Two: here

The Player

• Player Name: Cheryl
• Player Age: 18+.
• Player Contact:

heolstor / heolstor#5725
• Permissions: Here.

Other Characters

Link to Character 1 overall AC: here.

deer country | application