❝ One of the strongest pieces on the board,
but she tends to think in straight lines. ❞

codex
bio
visuals
etc

(an eternal work in progress. formatted mostly for mobile, pls forgive any wonkiness)

codex entry: early life

Grew up in the Anderfels, in some village nobody’s ever heard of. It was about as wet and miserable as you imagine. Mom and Dad were Wardens. Don’t think they expected me to show up. Mom died in childbirth. Dad never really forgave me for it. Even worse: he had no sense of humor. Every day he’d make me do drills, taught me to fight, not ever cracking a smile. Old man didn’t want to just teach me to fight, he wanted to teach me to fight like a Grey Warden. Like that’s all somebody can be.I was fourteen when he heard his Calling. He hid it at first. Tried to, at least. Only so long you can go before I catch you bleeding from the ears and talking to yourself, y’know?Things were pretty bad after Dad left. I probably could’ve gone to the Wardens for help, but I hate groveling. Sometimes I wonder if that was Dad’s plan all along; to leave me alone, force me into joining. Too bad. I made my way further east, sleeping in barns and stealing food when I could. Just the clothes on my back, and Dad’s old sword and shield.Tevinter was easier. I blended in with everyone else living on the street for the most part, and got pretty good at pickpocketing. Made some friends. Started fighting. Started fighting for gold.The pit fighting’s where I lost my eye. It was supposed to be hand-to-hand, but some Tevinter asshole snuck a dagger in his sleeve. One minute I’m pummeling his face, the next the left side of the world is completely dark. It hurt. I still won.A few years later, I got caught with my hand in a Lord of Fortune’s coiffers at the docks. Thought he’d kill me, or cut it off, at least. Instead, he offered me a job. Said if I could almost rob a Lord, I could totally rob anybody else. We took his ship back to Rivain, and I haven’t looked back since.— an unfinished biography from the remaining files of Varric Tethras

codex entry: about the eye

Neve:Thanks for the offer, but the best healer in the world couldn’t fix this thing. I’ve had it looked at over the years, and everybody’s solution is the same: scoop it out, stick in a glass one. Not my style. First healer I ever saw said the guy sliced clean through— almost tore it in half. Asshole. Sure, balm could help with the scar, but I think it adds to my charm.Ladies love scars, right?Taash:Of course I leave my left flank open— I can’t see it! I’ll try harder to keep the bad guys on my right side. Or, you can keep covering it for me.(Yes, I’ve noticed.)(No, I don’t mind.)

codex entry: fight like a warden

Lords of Fortune don’t use shields. Lords pry the shiny parts off then melt them down to sell the gold or silver. Makes sense that you’d be the first to notice.So, if you must know: yes. I was trained by a Grey Warden. Nothing official. I never drank from a chalice and I don’t know all the secrets— though I do love Assan. Are there any openings for more family members? Because I think I’d make a great aunt.…Do you know what the name Vera means? Faith. Because that’s all my parents had. Dad believed in the Wardens more than anything. I think he did some bad stuff before his Joining. Maybe the Wardens forgave him before he ever forgave himself. So, he taught me just like how he was taught. How to swing a sword, how to hold a shield so blight doesn’t get in your mouth. Never let the other guy scratch you. I know about all the Blights and Archdemons and the names of the Wardens that killed them. (I’m really glad your name isn’t in that list, by the way.)But I could never be a Warden. I like the beach.

codex entry: an enthusiastic fan

I’m not going to lie and say that I’ve read all of your books, because, frankly, I haven’t. But I read the one that counts; the best one. The Tale of the Champion.I’m a cliche, I know. Right now you’re probably pictured a knock-kneed little Vera Laidir with her nose shoved in between the pages.Dad got the book for me. He read all your stuff, even that old romance one. What was it called? Anyway, Dad read it first, and apparently it stuck with him. When he gave it to me, I didn’t understand at first. Then I did. Garrett was funny. Flippant, with an answer for everything. The kind of person that Dad hated. The kind of person I was turning out to be.Sure, my favorite parts will always be Isabela’s— or the fight with the Arishok— but in whatever way, Hawke helped Dad understand who I was. Even if it was just a little.Now, stop making that face and sign my copy.— an unfinished biography from the remaining files of Varric Tethras

codex entry: note to lucanis

Sorry. Spite and I made our own deal that the next time you were asleep I’d steal back Varric’s coat. If Solas hadn’t been playing around in my head, I would’ve called dibs anyway.For the record, it did look great on you.

codex entry: letter to taash

I must’ve rewritten this a hundred times already. How stupid is that?You know how my dad really wanted me to be a Grey Warden? I always knew I couldn’t, because of that last part. In Death, Sacrifice.Sacrifice. That’s the part I never could understand. I don’t think I’ve ever really done anything for someone else, let alone die.What I’m trying to say is… What Shathann said to me? It meant something. She had no reason to like me. She knew me in the Lords, before Varric, before you. I wasn’t great. Still, in that moment, before she… She trusted me. With you. And, Taash, I get it now. I understand that last part. I know that I can sacrifice because I want to do it for you. I’d throw myself in front of a blade, I’d fight a thousand so-called kings.And I will defeat Elgar'nan tomorrow, because saving Thedas means saving you. Even if it means I die in the process.Yours,
Vera

Home

precanon

Vera was born to Titus and Celina Laidir many years into their marriage. Celina would later die in childbirth, leaving Titus to raise their daughter alone. In a letter written soon afterwards, Titus informed the First Warden that both his wife and child had died.Despite his previous loyalty, Titus found himself unable to honor his vow to the Wardens after her birth. He could no longer throw himself into danger, willingly promise to sacrifice his life for others, because doing so would leave Vera alone. So, he fled Weisshaupt in the dead of night with nothing but his newborn, and the sword and shield on his back.Vera never knew that her father fled the Wardens, nor that it was the reason they lived in anonymous isolation. She grew into a tall, gangly child with her mother’s face. Despite his devotion to his daughter, Titus failed to connect with Vera as she grew older. His strict standards were vicelike to her, restraints that she constantly sought to escape from. After so many years as a Warden, he didn’t know how to be anything else. .Titus started to hear his Calling on a day like any other. He was tending to the fields by their humble home, plow in his callused grip when he heard the whispering in his head. Vera was only a teenager. Despite all he’d done, he was still going to leave her alone. His final week was spent preparing for his departure, and trying to conceal his condition. But he’d raised a smart girl.It was the dead of night when the Calling became too strong to resist. Vera spotted her father from her bedroom window and came running out of the house, flinging herself into him and begging him not to leave. To fight this dark, impossible urge that she could barely understand.Vera stood at the edge of their property until dawn, feet sinking into the mud and cheeks stained with tears. She stared after her father all night, but not once did he turn around, and never did he come back for her.Soon after, a group of Grey Wardens were in the village, looking for Titus. After stumbling upon what was once the Laidir’s home, they found it empty.Vera made her way across the Anderfels with her father’s sword, shield, and everything he’d taught her to survive. She grew older and stronger, honing her natural charisma until she could use it as effortlessly as her blade. Vera talked and fought her way eastward, never staying anywhere more than a few nights. She spent her late teens in Tevinter, making connections with others living on its unforgiving streets.After taking up pit fighting for gold, Vera sustained the injury that damaged her left eye, rendering it unusable. In a string of bad luck, she was ultimately caught trying to steal from a Lord of Fortune that had made port on his way back to Rivain. In response to her nearly successful theft, the Lord saw potential in Vera, and offered her a job.Vera spent the next five years earning a reputation within the Lords. She taught herself to fight without her left eye in the walls of the Hall of Valor, and never came back from a job empty handed. The beaches of Rivain were a far cry from the Anderfels or the cramped streets of Tevinter. Her pallid skin became warm and freckled under the constant sun, and the regular meals filled out a once gangly body with muscle.Though she never spent a night alone, Vera would fail to maintain any significant relationships in the Lords or otherwise. She enjoyed the attention and validation of her trysts, but would run at the first sign of trouble or commitment— which were synonymous for her. Vera’s reputation was that of a great Lord but a poor friend or lover, which made her ultimate separation from the organization not all that damaging to morale.

romance

In theory, Vera was exactly the kind of Lord that Taash wanted to be. She was a fearsome warrior, accomplished treasure hunter, and fiercely independent. In reality, she irritated them to no end. Vera was brash and impulsive in all the ways they were taught not to be, and they were not spared her flirtatious remarks.Vera fell first, though she didn’t know it. Trailing behind Taash, breadcrumbs clasped tightly in her fingers, she watched them feed the seabirds. A small, selfless action that she’d been invited to join. It was the companionship that she’d ached for her entire life without ever soothing or even knowing the name of it.Taash fell second, and they immediately noticed. It was during their fight with the Fangscorcher— about halfway through, when the dragon had a subtle limp to her gait and everything smelled like burnt grass. She’d taken to the air before abruptly heading back down, hurtling directly for Vera, who was otherwise insisting that she was at a safe distance. Taash had noted her poor depth perception before, but it had never been this dangerous. The dragon was coming fast and hungry, and Taash acted without thinking. They dashed across the field, narrowly missing a column of fire, tackling Vera to the ground and just out of the way of the Fangscorcher’s path. Davrin shouted from the other side of the field, drawing her attention. Taash blinked down at Vera, dirt on her face from the fall and two protective arms on either side of her. They were furious. She could have died. And there, lightly singed by dragonfire and scalemail pressing bruises into Vera’s belly, they realized that had become their greatest fear.

canon

After forming an unbreakable bond with Varric Tethras, Vera would have followed him anywhere, even if it meant returning to Tevinter. He saw through all her posturing, cut through the gold and muscles to find a girl who missed her father. And she reminded him of an old friend.A much more trusting person than she’d been at the start of their journey, Vera believed in Varric’s ability to talk Solas down from the ritual. She would later choose to save Minrathous over Treviso, remembering her years spent on its streets. Weisshaupt was poison in a wound that had never truly closed, leading her to act impulsively and knock out the First Warden when he refused to listen. Well versed in talking her way into anything, she convinced Mythal to cooperate. Harding was lost in the fight against Ghilan'nain. Solas willingly bound himself to the Veil.