Hawke

AKA:
The Champion of Kirkwall
Not Dalish or Even an Elf but has a Face Tattoo
The Best Kind of Trouble
Arishok-Slayer
Accidental and Tangential War Starter
Nearly got Varric Killed for Being a Good Friend

One history-shaking adventure wasn’t enough for the Champion of Kirkwall, so Marian Hawke got herself involved in my inquisiting, as well. A Fereldan soldier who survived the debacle at Ostagar, Hawke rushed home, gathered her family, and, just ahead of the advancing darkspawn, fled to her mother’s ancestral home, Kirkwall. Over the next seven or so years, Hawke would go on to accomplish incredible things and earn her title. There’s too much to go into here, but you can get full details in Varric Tethras’ The Tale of the Champion, available now at any quality book seller. Varric introduced me to Hawke shortly after we arrived at Skyhold. Since we had just made Corypheus’ acquaintance, he thought the Champion’s firsthand knowledge of the ancient darkspawn magister that the two had supposedly already slain would be useful. It was, as was Hawke’s contact within the Grey Wardens, who were having their own troubles at that point. So, the Champion and I met that contact, Stroud, in Crestwood to figure out what was going on. Hawke also helped the Inquisition forces at Adamant, and was in the group that fell into the Fade afterwards. She made it out, unlike Stroud, and left for the Warden headquarters in Weisshaupt to update the leaders of the order on everything that had happened. That was the last I saw of her, though she and Varric have kept in contact. Hawke reminds me of myself in a lot of ways, and we got along very well during our time together. She never sought out adventure, falling victim to bad timing and circumstance, but was extremely capable of handling all of the difficulties fate threw her way. She also kept a group of companions around her that aided in her adventuring, one of whom was Varric, and eventually found love with one of them. And, like me, she made it through everything with a sense of humor about all of the utter lunacy happening all around her. We had multiple discussions where we compared the more ridiculous or outlandish parts of our journeys, and how laughing our way through them kept us both sane. Our time together was relatively short, but I’m sure that we’ll cross paths again sometime and swap more stories about battles, life, love, Varric, and just generally being big damn heroes.