The Fabric Alchemist

No one expects….the Dragon Age Inquisition!

Last week Bioware announced that Leliana would return in the newest Dragon Age game. At 7:20pm on July 2 my PAX Prime cosplay plans went from mildly ambivalent to absolutely certain.

As characters go, Leliana is what I was waiting for. I had been watching the roll-out of the Dragon Age Inquisition characters and was intrigued by Cassandra, Vivienne, and Sera. Each of these characters would have been fun to cosplay, both from the costume design and posing perspectives. If Greg decided he wanted to cosplay the male lead Inquisitor, I felt I could bring myself to cosplay one of those women. However, I just didn’t feel the passion I felt when I KNEW I wanted to cosplay Korra, and I didn’t feel the certainty I felt when Greg and I first met Elizabeth & Booker.

I think I choose my cosplay in a similar way I choose my D&D characters. I gravitate toward someone who has a mix of characteristics I admire (and aspire to) and traits that I share. Something new and something familiar. It would have been fun to carry myself with the authority and morality of Cassandra (and maybe, in the name of building leadership skills, I should take on a powerful character like this to cosplay). But those who play D&D with me know that I have a distinct type: a female rouge that plays outside the rules of civilized society but still is annoying moral. I once refused to torture a prisoner and helped convince him to change sides. 🙂 But I like sneaking through the shadows, undercutting [corrupt] authority, and using bows and arrows.

Bards in Dragon Age are assassins. I can do assassins. I’m familiar with assassins…

And though she is a skilled Bard playing The Game in Orlais, Leliana has demonstrated that she has her own moral code and a good heart.

Just look at this quote from an interview with Sheryl Chee on the Dragon Age website:

As we know, Cassandra is Right Hand of the Divine: the warrior who puts herself front and center, she’s bold and direct and driven. Leliana is the Left Hand—the “sinister” hand, as it were. She hangs back in the shadows. She watches the Divine’s back, watches for enemies, waits for them to reveal their weaknesses, and comes at them from the shadows.

I can get behind this character and I don’t have any qualms about portraying her.

From a costume creation standpoint, Leliana presents a mixture of new challenges (leather and chain mail armor) and familiar shapes to sew (hoods, long tunics). In my next Leliana post I will break down the costume, as I see it, based on the few images released on the Dragon Age website.

There are so many characters in this game. I am looking forward to meeting up with other Dragon Age Inquisition cosplayers. I have one friend who is cosplaying as Sera. Greg will be cosplaying the (yet unnamed) male lead character. I hope we can try to recreate this image.

On an unrelated note:
I am seriously considering running around PAX shrilly shouting, “NO ONE EXPECTS THE DRAGON AGE INQUISITION!!”