War of the Laurels is a Fan Fic for Dragon Age: Origins written by spectre4hire. It can be found here
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Edmund Cousland, second son of Teyrn Bryce Cousland, finds himself on the run alongside his nephew, Oren, when Arl Rendon Howe betrays their family and takes over their seat of Highever castle. Thus, a different Fereldan Civil War to that of the game's storyline begins.
The story is portrayed through multiple points of view (Edmund and Oren Cousland, Queen Anora Mac Tir, Rendon Howe himself, to name a few) and covers many events that the original game's campaign covers.
Tropes present in War of the Laurels include:
- Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. Arl Eamon, while still by and large an ally of the Grey Wardens, is still dedicated to putting a Theirin on Ferelden's throne, which makes him receptive towards an offer from Howe to marry the latter's daughter Delilah to Alistair.
- Alternate Universe: The story starts off largely the same as the canon storyline, but diverges from Howe's betrayal onwards. As of the latest chapter, things barely resemble the canon plot line.
- Ambition Is Evil: Rendon Howe is notably both the most ambitious man in the story and the closest thing to a Big Bad thus far.
- Ascended Extra: Several NPCs from Origins such as Sergeant Kylon and Bann Alfstanna serve as point of view characters in this fic.
- Broken Pedestal: Queen Valda Aeducan's view of the Paragons Branka and Caridin takes a nosedive after she encounters the Anvil of the Void and has to defeat both of them to use it.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: A favored tool by Rendon Howe; he notes that pain helps show a person's true character.
- Decomposite Character: The various origin stories in Origins all appear in some way or another, with various roles the Player Character being distributed amongst them:
- Edmund Cousland (the Human Noble) escapes Highever with his nephew Oren, vowing revenge. Is eventually acclaimed king by his allies, and has agreed to a marriage with Anora to help unite Ferelden in the face of the darkspawn threat.
- Solona Amell (the Human Mage) serves as the Warden in this story, though her attempts to unite Ferelden against the darkspawn are left as a side story.
- Kallian Tabris (the City Elf) deals with many of Denerim's plotlines, including the alienage plots under the pseudonym the Dark Wolf. Eventually assassinates Teyrn Loghain herself.
- Valda Aeducan (the Dwarf Noble) becomes Queen of Orzammar, with her foiling her younger brother Bhelen's plot for the throne. Her ascent to the throne notably comes before the Wardens arrive at Orzammar, thus making the Orzammar plotline drastically different than canon.
- Brosca (the Dwarf Commoner, no first name given) is the Warden who accompanies Fergus Cousland while the latter scouted at Ostagar. Both survived Ostagar, but Brosca commits a Heroic Sacrifice to help defeat a pair of ogres who were terrorizing the Chasind tribe that rescued them.
- Theron Mahariel (the Dalish Elf) encountered the tainted eluvian just as in the Dalish Elf origin, yet did so much later in canon. He still becomes a Grey Warden, albeit with Riordan overseeing his Joining instead of Duncan.
- An interesting example is the role of "Dog" (i.e. the Mabari hound that accompanies the Warden in the game) is split between two hounds: Sarim serves as Edmund Cousland's canine companion, while Lady accompanies Warden Solona Amell in her quest.
- For Want Of A Nail: The Alternate Universe nature of the story means that a lot of events are drastically changed from canon:
- Due to Loghain and Howe being distracted with the Civil War, the Grey Warden Riordan is able to sneak into Denerim and retrieve some important materials, including equipment for carrying out the Joining as well as a letter indicating Alistair's parentage.
- Due to the civil war (again), the Sabrae clan of Dalish elves are unable to flee to the Free Marches to escape the darkspawn. What this means for the eventual plot of this universe's counterpart of Dragon Age II is still up in the air.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: The Dark Wolf aka Kallian Tabris has a portion of her ear cut off.
- Hero of Another Story: While the Wardens' quest to unite Ferelden against the darkspawn is still around, it is not the focus of the story, with more focus placed on the Fereldan Civil War and the war against the darkspawn being treated as essentially another front.
- The High Queen: Valda Aeducan of Orzammar, at least from an outsider's perspective. On the other hand, Anora Mac Tir of Ferelden tries to be one, but is frustrated in this due to the civil war ongoing.
- In Spite of a Nail: Some things still happen despite this being an AU:
- Lothering is still destroyed by the darkspawn.
- The Anvil of the Void is still re-discovered by the dwarves.
- Mythology Gag:
- Early in the story Edmund stays at an inn under the assumed name Aedan (which was the default name for a male Human Noble).
- Habren Bryland wanting a fennec for a pet is a reference to the fennec's codex entry in Dragon Age: Inquisition, as confirmed by
Word of God. - Solona Amell recounts a story about a relative who called himself "the last Amell in Kirkwall", a clear allusion to Gamlen Amell from Dragon Age II.
- Among the Orlesian Wardens who appear in Chapter 56 are Blackwall the real one and Clarel de Chanson, both of whom appear in Inquisition.
- Odd Friendship: Between Robert Kylon (sergeant in the Denerim guard) and Slim Couldry (rogue and informant).
- Psycho Supporter: Pyral Harrowmont serves as one to Queen Valda, going as far as to poison a mother and her newborn son to protect the queen's hold on the throne. The two agree to never speak of it again, lest it weigh on the queen's conscience.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Edmund's forces defeat the darkspawn threatening Gwaren, but at the cost of three-fourths of his army, rendering him unable to make any further moves against Loghain and Howe.
- Recap Episode: Chapter 51 recaps the story thus far, and goes through a list of the dramatis personae of the fic.
- Related in the Adaptation: Leonas Bryland is Eleanor Cousland's brother in this fic, making him uncle to Fergus and Edmund and great-uncle to Oren.
- Shout-Out: Given that A Songof Ice And Fire served as Inspiration for the Work, some nods to it come naturally:
- A Senior Enchanter who made untoward advances towards Solona while she was still in the Circle is named Pycelle.
- Solona's mabari companion is named Lady. Bonus points for Solona having auburn hair like Sansa Stark.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Oren Cousland survives the events at Highever, unlike his canon counterpart.
- Take a Third Option: Instead of the Wardens being forced to back either Bhelen Aeducan or Pyral Harrowmont for the throne of Orzammar, they arrive to see Bhelen's sister Valda as Queen, drastically changing the Orzammar storyline from canon. Valda's reign is also a middle ground between Bhelen's reformist (if bloody) reign and Harrowmont's conservative reign.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Sergeant Kylon has to choose between aiding elves being kidnapped by Tevinter slavers, risking his position in the Denerim guard, or looking the other way. He decides to help Slim Couldry and the Dark Wolf with dealing with the slavers.
- Villain Protagonist: Downplayed - Rendon Howe is one of many POV characters in the fic.
