yourgrandfinale | Info Post: Dragon Age

Extended Backstory: Dragon Age Version

Born in 9:16. (Current age: 27). Grew up poor in Rainesfere

Cris never knew his father, he was some random merchant traveling through

His mother, Jocosa, took on various lovers for times, usually travelers passing through at the tavern. His mother was a tavern wench, she was involved in prostitution on the side to make extra money, but the family still struggled, as his mother wasn't very good at managing money

Jocosa was prone to delusions and weird flights of fancy. She would tell the children grandiose stories, and the impressionable Crispin always believed her.
There were times where Jocosa might take off on her own, leaving the kids to fend for themselves for days. Gunter, his older brother, often ended up having to fetch her back, Cris took over doing this when he was older. She especially got unsettled during storms, and Cris had to chase her down in more than one of those. Sometimes Jocosa might take one or a couple or all the kids with her on these weird wanderings. She was not in an ok mindset at the time. When the boys were older, they took turns watching over her, especially during storms, so her wanderings lessened.
Crispin went along with her stories for years, was always kind to her when she was in a weird state. A lot of the delusions were religious in nature, she had the children often spending long hours at the chapel with her praying, sometimes when they were hungry or tired. She had "visions" of the Maker and Andraste sometimes then.
Cris' brother and sister are both apostate mages, however both of them were taught form a young age by their mother to hide and repress it as much as possible. Cris always knew about his sister, but his brother did a better job of hiding it. His brother often beat their sister whenever she'd use her power.
Cris is very skeptical of religion, mostly because of the unsettling way his mother acted about it. They were often told to pray to the Maker to take away his sister's "curse" of magic. She also prayed for forgiveness because of her interest/indulgence with spirits, and reminded her children to do the same (even if she would turn around and take them to try and communicate with them)
His mother often talked to spirits, both real and imagined, she would blame things on them sometimes, and claimed Elsha's father was one of their kind. She taught Cris how to look for signs of them being around. Although not a mage himself, he is vaguely attuned to their presence in an area (usually more of a vague "huh this place feels creepy" feeling.

Based on one of his mother's stories, Cris believed up until around age 11 that he was the secret bastard of a Bann. His brother Gunter revealed it as false, this was when Crispin truly realized things were not quite ok. Gunter had been told by her that he was a descendant of another famous figure from the general region, but he met his birth father once when he returned to the area (and hated the man, he was a bad person, but their faces were exactly alike, same large nose). This plus Cris looks nothing like the Bann.

The brothers and Elsha all have their mother's blue eyes. But their hair and facial features and builds are all different: Crispin's is dark brown, Gunter's was blonde and Elsha's pure black. Gunter had a large nose, Elsha had darker black skin. Gunter is large and buff, Cris average and slender, Elsha very thin.

Cris confronted his mother angrily and she broke down keeping up the delusion. A few days later she was in a better state of mind and confirmed that he was no duke's son. She never saw his father again, and doesn't know what happened to him: but he was a handsome man with money, a merchant traveling to Redcliffe at the time.

Two siblings: Gunter (brother, 8 years older than him) and Elsha (sister, three years younger)

Jocosa suffered miscarriages and stillbirths, and there were a couple of children who didn't survive past toddlerhood or were adopted out as babies to travelers

Gunter had to take on the role of the man at a young age because of their mother's problems, but he resented this. Instead of a good, fatherly presence, he was a terror to his siblings, even outright abusive at times.

Elsha was always sickly and frail, and Crispin felt deeply protective of her.

The children ended up having to support themselves: Gunter became apprenticed to a smith, and kept trying to urge Cris to do the same, or at least do something else respectable.

Cris wasn't very good at anything "honest", but he had a knack for persuasion and swindling people out of money and playing games/gambling. Around age 9, after he'd perfected his juggling for two years, Cris started to perform on the streets, especially near the tavern where his mother worked, and even some of the higher class taverns around town (to get some sweet noble cash). He used that as his means of making money, to Gunter's horror. Gunter would beat him and take his money often. But Cris became quite popular, made a lot of good friends, also got a lot of favor from the rich people tossing him money.

Cris admired a circus ("Circus Dreamscape… A menagerie of myriad marvels and mystique!") that always came every summer to Rainesfere… something about it helped him to escape his life. Every year they came he’d learn a new trick from a kind circus performer, Farouk Reynard ("Farouk the Fantastic!"), who was a mentor of sorts, teaching him juggling and bagpipes.

So Cris was juggling from age 7, but it was always more of a little bit of whimsy, which his brother always discouraged. He did start using the juggling and performance as a way to make money.

After age 12, Farouk started teaching him sword swallowing and fire-eating.

Although he was invited each year to join, Cris knew his sister and mother couldn't handle the travel, and nor would he leave them alone with Gunter.

He kept on practicing and seeing the circus until age 14 when the circus mysteriously stopped showing up. He was deeply disappointed and saddened that year.

Crispin's brother lost a chance to get a great fortune by being honest, returning money to a noble who'd dropped it in the tavern, so Crispin is wary of taking that direction to do things, as he felt the money was worth keeping, the noble didn't need any extra as much as they did. He and his brother fought about this sort of thing often.

One night, Cris' mother and sister both disappeared during a storm. Cris tried praying as he sought them in that raging storm, but by morning he learned that it turned out they both drowned in Lake Calenhand. Cris was 15.

Ever since that night, he can't sleep when it storms.

At this point, Cris realized he had nothing to stick around for. He left after a terrible fight with his brother, he blamed him for their mother and sister's deaths, since he wasn't watching them closely. During the fight, Gunter also revealed himself to be a mage as well, and that he'd been hiding it all of that time... so Cris wasn't the only one in the family with a talent for deception. He was pretty angry about this, since Gunter treated Elsha so terribly about her magic.

Cris killed his brother that night, but he was so appalled by this whole thing that he repressed it for years. He was mainly appalled not at the killing as such, but the fact that it was someone important to him (even if he was awful), and that he'd let his emotions get the better of him.

Cris ended up in Redcliffe, since to him it represented freedom

He went back to street performing for the next 4 years. He made a lot of coin this way, made a living. He honed his acting skills and sleight of hand at this time.

He met a con man who taught him a lot about getting money out of people.

He robbed bagpipes off a noble.

Farouk and the circus finally returned to Redcliffe when Cris was 19. Farouk remembered Cris, and invited him to join them. He traveled for 1 year to age 20 enjoying life.

Cris picked up many admirers along the way, and he and Farouk had a dual show where they played the part of father and son ("Farouk the Fantastic and Crispy Embers!")

In some town they stopped in, Cris woke up during a storm as usual, restless, and witnessed an assassin carrying out a murder... he realized that the assassin was none other than Quill, their acrobat. He wasn't too surprised as he'd perceived that something was off over that year of traveling together.

They had a meeting in the morning, Farouk revealed the truth of who they were: a band of assassins disguised as a circus. They had disappeared for years because they were lying low from a rival gang, the Crimson Ghosts. They were a gang known as the Blue Wraiths, but they are disguising themselves these days. They still carry out jobs but are a lot harder to find this way.

Some members wanted to kill Cris because he now knew too much, but they finally agreed to take him in since he's talented. Farouk always intended to tell him the truth, but wasn't sure he'd be ready.

Cris now trained under Farouk to learn assassination skills.

They had rules: were supposed to only kill if the whole group agreed on it, and never kill for personal reasons, only the deserving. At first, Crispin was not happy they were so rules-oriented. But he wasn't ready to kill, so he kept quiet.

They had to keep away from the rival gang, the Crimson Ghosts, who they kept trying to avoid and who often caused trouble.
Cris was new-ish still, so didn't have to do any assassin jobs the first few months. When it came time to make his first kill, cris chickened out because memories of killing his brother flooded back. Because of this he nearly got the team killed, suffered injuries, a chest scar. Farouk died in this incident saving Cris and he blamed himself for that. Some members of the troupe forgave him early on, others took time, others never did.

Farouk's daughter, Imogen, comforted him. She is the only person who he told the truth of his brother's death to.

5 years passed, they traveled and killed and generally things improved. Cris came to realize that the circus was his real family now, and he carried on as a solo act, always remembering his father-figure.

Cris continued to assassinate and hone those skills. He got better at it, and didn't have any problems after confronting his issues about his brother's death. He came to accept that it happened and that it had to happen, and even though he's not into talking about it, he got over his fear of killing. (He still views it as something not to take lightly: not for Good reasons, though. It is an art, a performance, and good art takes time to do correctly.).

Cris continued to pick up admirers. The one admirer who mattered most to him was a Dalish elf whose attention he'd caught during their travels, Miris. She loved the sound of the bagpipes, but then was entranced by his tricks. He still carries an ivory halla figurine (a favor she gave him), although he understands that their "love" isn't true in the sense that she'd ever settle down with him. (Nor is he willing to settle, himself, even if he's always quietly seeking romance.)

Cris was biding his time. Throughout those years, he planned and strategized carefully, and started to slowly kill off the Crimson Ghosts in revenge. When the others in the troupe caught on to what he was doing, there was argument: Cris was killing for personal reasons and not telling anyone, so he was breaking their major rules. As the Ghosts were enemies, some members argued that this was ok. Others didn't like him doing this without their consent.

Cris was on the verge of being kicked out, but then caught wind of some intel that the Ghosts were planning their own revenge. He ended up turning the Crimson Ghosts' traps against them and saving his troupes' lives. The Crimson Ghosts were believed to be virtually extinct after this happened. Cris was redeemed among the troupe, and their leader was avenged.

All seemed to be well from that point on, and everything calmed down for the next 2 years.

Present day. Age 27, Cris has caught word that the rival gang is still out there, scattered around. They're going to have to hunt them down, one by one. Alongside that, a random accident occurred during a show where a rift opened and killed one of their troupe members. The rest barely survived the ensuing fight against the demons that emerged, with three members severely injured, and the rest moderately injured.

Motivation

Cris and his troupe are furious about the rift having killed their friend. Up until this point, they've seen their purpose as entertainment (with assassinations always happening quietly in the background), but not having any sort of political affiliation or involvement in wars, etc. Now they have one major target to destroy: Corypheus himself. They still have those scattered members from rival assassins to deal with too, and being in the Inquisition can provide them with better resources to work that out. On the surface, they're coming to lighten things up, to provide some much-needed levity to the Inquisition.

Equipment

Mercenary Coat
Dual Wield Daggers: Coda and Grand Finale (given to him by Farouk)
Bow: Final Act
A pack with an odd assortment of thievery type tools: lock picks, etc, and stuff one might use to forge documents
Bagpipes
A pack full of wigs, makeup, and costumes, clothing for entertaining and/or disguises
An ivory halla figurine (a favor from an admirer of his)

Skills

Rogue with the Assassin Specialization. (Eventual: Bard).

Languages: Common tongue, Dalish

Entertainment: His main acts with the circus troupe include: Sword swallowing, fire eating, and juggling (especially fire and/or knives), and other odd "stupid tricks". Like many members of the troupe, he's got musical skills as well, favoring wind instruments like the bagpipes or flute.

Physical Details

Blue eyes
Dark brown hair, keeps semi-long/shaggy (not past shoulders, but not a close crop)
5'9"
163 lbs
Light skin
Scars: large one across his chest
Tattoos: a flaming sword (acquired in Redcliffe), a halla (by Damaia), musical notes (by Damaia), a mysterious symbol (shared by all members of the troupe, by Damaia)

Character traits

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Positive Personality Traits

Darkly charismatic
- Cris is naturally charming, but in a subtle way. He is dark chocolate, he is devil's food. Not an outward flirt or even all that boisterous, he's more of a smoldering kind of charismatic. He has dark, dry humor and often commands a stage even without saying a word. When he starts a trick, people are captivated.
- Really enjoys being around people, getting to know them and what makes them tick.
- Self aware, uses this to his advantage
Romantic, dreamy
- He's always subtly looking for someone to share a night or two with. While he's not exactly in-your-face flirty, he does do that smoldering charm thing quite well. He isn't convinced he'll settle, ever, so it's more like "special someones" who he seeks. Women, men, any race, he's not picky at all.
- He's prone to daydreaming, being very imaginative and creative
Intelligent, cunning, crafty
- Cris will do anything it takes to survive, and has good street smarts.
- Good talent for deception and weaving stories, although his mother was not ok, the way she truly believed her delusions helped him to tell convincing tales: you have to make yourself "truly believe" when you do tell them.
- Knack for languages. Learned Dalish from seeing Miris so often, and others of her kind while they were on the road/camping in the wilderness. He's great with coded languages as well.
- Naturally inquisitive, wants to learn more about other cultures, people, creatures. Very drawn to the Dalish especially and has had a on again off again thing with a Dalish elf.
Calculated
- Doesn't (normally) lose his cool in a tense situation, uses his wits to get out of things
- Not reckless at all, always likes to think things through. (He gets frustrated with himself if he does fly off the handle).
Natural performer, master of disguise
- His charisma makes him good in front of a crowd, he loves it because he loses himself in the performance, he isn't "himself" but something else entirely
- Loves costumes and has perfected ways to disguise himself, he had to due to that rival gang
- Thinks the world is in need of new ideas and bold action, likes to be creative and entertain a crowd, genuinely wants to help people forget their concerns for a time and enjoy themselves.
- Excellent at crafting fake identities and stories about himself
Sneaky, evasive
- This is obviously handy in fighting situations, and has saved his neck on many other occasions as well
- Will do ANYTHING it takes to win a fight, even getting dirty
- Doesn't like to talk about himself/who he really is/his background
- Can turn "off" the attention-grabbing as easily as he turns it on, so he isn't even noticed in a room: this is also him playing a part. He can be actually very quiet and subdued also when in a more neutral state of mind.
Loyal and protective
- He would do anything for his troupe. Anything. If something happens to one of them, then he will go to extreme lengths to avenge or save them.
- He cared for his mother and sister when they needed it, would do the same for anyone else who seemed in need
- Will only stick around to help someone who he cares about, if things are going too badly
Takes care of his things, and appearance
- He's always impeccably dressed, keeps his tools, weapons, etc in excellent condition, keeps those bagpipes in great condition. He didn't have much growing up so what he owns is valuable to him.
Assassination philosophy
- Sees death as an ultimate prison, life is chaos and freedom, death is the opposite, so killing is something he doesn't do lightly, he didn't even take on just any old job with the crew, they had to be just right to him... not for good/evil reasons, but more for whether they'd cause enough interesting disruption to the natural order. He puts a lot of thought into an assassination job, often making it elaborate or fitting/ironic in some way. Death is an art, not a science.
- Still regrets killing his brother despite what an awful person he was- this is one of this greatest secrets
Cheerfully nihilistic
- Believes that life has no meaning and actually likes it that way, it means he can make of it what he wants
- Dislikes when people try to see the meaning in things, when they say those empty phrases like "all things have a reason"
Swift and dextrous
- Cris' background in performance and assassination have made him into a quick, agile style of fighter.

Negative Personality Traits

Romantic, dreamy
- While this can be pleasant, he sometimes gets a bit too distracted by this sort of thing. Even killing, to him, is an artform.
- Being such a "hopeless romantic", he isn't exactly monogamous. He actively seeks variety and won't be good at a long term relationship.
- He's definitely prone to falling in love very hard, and very often. It never lasts in the long term but in the short term when he's in "love", it consumes his mind.
Exaggeration
- His stories and lies can go overboard sometimes. He finds his "true self" boring (or painful), loves concocting his own tales for people who he is and how he grew up. This can make it hard to get to know the "real" Crispin.
Faithless
- Not sure he believes in the Maker and Andraste, his mother's weird religious mania growing up didn't help, and when he prayed for help he received none
Overthinking
- Sometimes thinks too long before taking action, comes off as indecisive
Fears
- Thunder storms because his mother and sister died during one
Believes in "redistribution" of wealth
- Believes nobles don't deserve their money and has no problems robbing (won't rob from anyone obviously poor though)
- Stole his bagpipes from a noble, and often other random things as he needed them, while living on the streets in Redcliffe, and even got his start with this habit back home as a boy, too.
Not very trusting
- Not quick to open up about his real self, mostly spins stories, lies about who he is
Not too concerned with the greater good or law and order
- While he would never intentionally harm a friend, he isn't very interested in any sort of ideals about "goodness".
- Gets impatient with people too into goodness or law
Skeptical of tradition, values his freedom
- Skepticism toward religion
- Skeptical of honest means of living. They never had much growing up, so he figures it's not worth trying to make a normal honest living
- Ever since he started traveling, doesn't want to stop because that represents stagnation
- Finds the concept of "honor" to be the greatest joke of all
- Groups of people and organizations and governments suck. But individuals have meaning to him.
Bad with money
- Has been known to gamble things away on a whim sometimes
Likes to pretend his painful memories aren't real
- Wishes he could be as mad as his mother, so he could forget the bad things
- Managed to repress those memories once: when he killed his brother. It didn't go so well.
Not wise or physically strong
- Although Cris is quite intelligent and cunning, he's never been a "wise" person. So he doesn't always exactly have the best common sense.
- He's definitely not your go to for anything involving brute strength, given his overall body type and his preference for favoring speed and agility.

Major secrets

Still regrets killing his brother despite what an awful person he was- this is one of this greatest secrets
His true home life, specifically his mother's madness, his brother's anger, and sister's illness.
That his circus troupe are assassins.
His fear of storms and the reason for it.

Quotes he'd totally say

"Honor is the greatest joke of all."
In battle, making a kill: "Now for your grand finale!!"
"The best part of life is that it's meaningless"
"If life actually had a meaning, I'd have given up on it a long time ago."
"Reason… there's no reason, things don't happen for a reason. They just do."
"Few things in life are as hilarious as impersonating the Chantry."
"What do you expect from me? I'm a literal son of a whore!"
"Death is the most mysterious form of art."
"People suck. But persons, they're the best sort of creatures."

Fake Identities and Backgrounds

These are all his own creation, vaguely based on people he's known, places he's been, with minor grains of truth throughout. He obviously needs to take the time/action to assume these disguises, but these are major favorite standards of his. He could do other things if a situation calls for it and he has time to prepare. Random one-off disguises often include a limp, eyepatch, fake prosthetic, or other infirmity to appear less threatening.

Bits and pieces he tends to tell most people, even when he introduces himself by his real name: that he formerly studied to be a chantry brother or that he is currently studying to be one, that he's a lord's youngest son, that he's an only child, that he's from Redcliffe (or any other village the circus spent time in), that his parents are alive, well and together, that he's slain a dragon.

Reynard Rivage: a young Orlesian lord, the sixth son so he doesn't have much inheritance
- Clothing is all finery, silk and velvet, blue with gold trim and a very fancy hat
- Hair is blonde, and he appears to be a good few years younger, acts very naive, plays up the accent to make it really thick
Maxen: a wine merchant
- Clothing is simple and nondescript, mostly reds and browns
- Hair is dark black, wears a long beard, acts very boisterous and friendly
Kester: hunter from the Kocari Wilds
- Clothing is traveler's clothes, hunting cloak etc
- Hair is grey and he appears to be a much older man, has a scar on his face
Wiley: beggar from wherever he happens to be at the time
- Usually tries to pick up clothing from the area, mimic similar accents
Lucilla: a baker or cook from the general region
- An ugly, ugly woman. Homely but kind and always offering food generously. Mysteriously appears to help cater events or otherwise blend into kitchens.
Chantry sister: he had a lot of exposure to them growing up, in a pinch he can theoretically steal robes and impersonate others if a situation calls for it

Guardsman: also from wherever he happens to be at the time
- This takes some work, getting their clothing, etc.