Nico and his family are qunari but they are tal-vashoth. The parents had his sister and him some years after they ran away from Seheron. As both Nico and Olivia were born with magical abilities, their parents were relieved to know that their precious kids will grow up far away from the Qun, never having to experience the awful ways mages are treated under it. They never joined any circles so they technically are apostates.
At some point, both Nico and Olivia decided to go adventuring together. Wandering around the lands and keeping each other company was fun, as was getting their asses into trouble and stumbling out of those situations! But the fun couldn't last long. It never does, really.
The qunari siblings did have close calls with templars before but it never came down to full-on threats to the horned apostates' lives. Until one fateful yet grim day, that is. Just like always, Nico and Olivia were traveling through an area - one they've never been to before - when they noticed, albeit too late, a group of templars walking by. The staves the two carried immediately drew suspicion and the templars began approaching the apostates. Confrontation was imminent, both parties knew that, so Olivia quickly grabbed Nico by the sleeve, pulling him as she began to run into the woods. The chase went on for what felt like an eternity. The armored brutes were keeping up surprisingly well so the not-so-pleasant thoughts were creeping up - what if there's another group of templars waiting somewhere deeper in the forest? What then? Sure, both siblings are mages but these are templars and there's too many of them. Is it even possible to escape?
With those thoughts popping up more and more, gathering like clouds on an overcast day, both continued running.
The woods seemed to be clearing up and there was no other group of templars in sight but ill luck struck. The mages found themselves at a dead end - a cave with an open "ceiling". What seemed like a vast green meadow was in reality just lush vegetation basking in the sunrays breaking through the rocky opening above.
The templars arrived shortly, spreading out in a formation to corner the horned apostates, putting forward big rectangular yet slightly curved shields to protect from any magical projectiles thrown their way.
That's it. Nowhere to run. There is no other choice but fight.
Nico swiftly took to arms. As the foot of the staff hit the ground, lightning came raining down from the clear skies above, jumping from one templar to another in a wide arc. Olivia followed suit, casting spells of her own at the other group.
Everything was seemingly going okay, the number of armored brutes throwing themselves at the two mages was whittling down bit by bit as bodies were dropping to the ground.
As another lightning spell crackled and whizzed through the air, a brief moment of silence followed, only to be interrupted by a visceral, punctured noise. Nico's eyes widened, his head turning around towards his sister. For him it felt as if time had slowed down to a painful crawl, like an almost motionless nightmare frozen in place - Olivia wavered, her knees bending as her body lifelessly fumbled to the floor. A man with a spiked mace was standing behind her, both his armor and weapon drenched in crimson.
In that moment, something inside Nico broke and he went on a rampage. He doesn't remember what happened next but when he came to his senses there was nothing but piles of ash instead of all those bastards clad in iron. The horned man rushed towards his sister, falling to his knees and clutching her close. He felt as if he was gonna go insane.
A fresh wound of grief and guilt on his heart, he gave her a proper burial not too far from the cave, assembled a make-shift headstone and put some flowers. He spent the next few nights near the grave, glued to the place like it was his haunting grounds. Eventually, he did leave and continued wandering the lands. However, that previous sense of wonder and adventure was replaced by anguish and apathy that kept gnawing at him, sinking their crooked teeth deeper and deeper. At this point he was merely existing. Sure, he still slept and ate, preferring drinks to that, though - drowning sadness in booze felt better than eating hearty meals - but it was not because he felt positively exhausted or hungry.
Several months go by.
Apathy took over, nothing but white noise buzzing in qunari's head. That night, with nothing better to do, Nico enters the Fade, wading slowly towards a twisted tree-like shape. He sits down, all slumped and empty, and blankly stares forward.
"Be what may. Not like I care anymore..."
With those words, either said out loud or kept to himself, he lowered his head.
After a while, a figure appears, its silhouette unfocused, constantly shifting and wavering. It approaches. Clearly with intent, no less.
Nico catches a glimpse at the corner of his eye - a demon.
"It's about time, huh," the horned man spoke up. "Go ahead, consume my soul. I am a mage, I know your kind likes us."
The figure suddenly stopped.
"No," a simple, short answer shot back at the qunari.
The apostate blinks. The demon's response snaps him back to his sense a little. What? A demon that doesn't want to eat a soul, a mage's soul? Nico's brow furrows and vision narrows. He felt staggered. Wait-. He felt? He actually felt something?
The silhouette dissipates and reappears further away.
"Come with me now."
Something deep inside the mage compels him to get up and start hobbling over towards the specter. As he was about to reach it, it teleported again, waiting patiently further down the path.
And just like that, the spirit led him out of the Fade. This weird experience snapped Nico out enough for him to start living again. The apathy was slowly dissolving and the wound on his bleeding heart healing. It never fully healed, of course, but he got better enough to not feel like a walking and talking husk.
since Veilguard is so soooo close I have the Dragon Age AU on my mind!
so I wanted to share a lil bit of Nico's backstory for this AU (all the text is also provided in alt-text for each screenshot)
[ #writing #story #DragonAgeAU #NicoLallas #OliviaLallas #cardiart #cardiwrites ]
