I give you this friendly warning: I am not to be trifled with. I would not be in a rush to hasten my own demise if I were you, darling. If the demons have their way, it will come soon enough.
We’re counting down the months, weeks, and days until we get our hands on Dragon Age: Inquisition. October just can’t come fast enough as far as we’re concerned. In the meantime, we’re covering Bioware’s profiles of some of the characters that will be making an appearance in the game. Today we’re looking at Vivienne, the enchanter of the royal court of Thedas.
Vivienne is an adviser to the Empress, a person with an ear to the ground at court who makes it her business to know just what her fellow courtiers are up to. She didn’t come to the position easily, however. “Mages in Thedas can’t hold political power,” explains Bioware writer Mary Kirby, in an interview posted by Bioware. “So the post was almost like a glorified court jester—someone to do magic tricks on command…She claimed her place as a respected, and sometimes feared, member of the court instead of as an oddity, and she got used to telling the most powerful nobles in the world what to think about magic and mages.”
In the game, Vivienne’s pride will lead her to clash with other members of the Inquisition, most notably Dorian. It seems natural that such headstrong characters would be at each other’s throats, but don’t let that fool you—the two will apparently team up on a mutual enemy at the drop of a hat. From all that we’ve heard Vivienne sounds like the perfect counterpart to Dorian— powerful, politically minded, but loyal to her people in a way that Dorian is not. It will be very interesting to see how that loyalty to her homeland affects her character’s journey with the Inquisition.
Not much has been revealed about how the enchanter will eventually join your party, especially given her loyalty to the Empress of Thedas. But from what we’ve heard, she does so in fitting with her character. “Vivienne is not the sort of person who would sit back and watch while the world crashed down around her,” Kirby explains. “The Inquisition is the only group even trying to stand against the chaos. So she resorts to the only logical course of action for a courtier: she throws a party for them.”
That sounds terrifying rather than fun to us. However Vivienne goes about joining up with the Inquisition, one thing is certain—she is a formidable force to be reckoned with. Her powers as a mage—especially combined with her bantering-partner Dorian—sounds like a fury you don’t want to get on the wrong side of. Still, as powerful as her spells and magic are, they may not be her greatest strength.
“Any mage can destroy their enemies with fire and ice, but Vivienne can rip apart her opponents verbally, politically, socially—and make ice seem like the gentlest option.”
Dragon Age: Inquisition comes out on October 7th. Check out Brian’s last profile on Dorian here, and we’ll have more updates and profiles for you as Bioware rolls them out, so stay tuned.
Peter Yankowski
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