General Info

Name: Roman Clerico

Age: 24

Species: Human

Nationality: Orlais

Occupation: Mercenary, former Grey Warden

Weapon: Greatsword

Class: Warrior, Champion

Quick Description: Our sort-of-Warden friend here is 6’4, male, and with a nice muscular build that was, well, ahem, built from years of combat. The man is a damn mountain, and his body is a temple that may well make the actual Templars jealous. Though his blonde hair and glorious beard could probably use a bit more care in the haircut department. Then again, those brimming brown eyes of his look pretty tired. You think he even gets enough sleep? He was a Warden, probably not. Apparently nightmares are pretty common. Brain probably still simulates them too even without the Taint, poor sod.

Oh, did I say “without the taint?” Well there’s a funny story about that, but seeing as this is meant to be “quick” I’ll keep this short and you can discover the rest by interacting with this fine specimen of pure, unadulterated anxiety. Or just read the rest. 

You see, our lad grew up in Orlais with a Templar father, a guardswoman mother, and practically a Templar prodigy in the making for a sister. By all means he should probably be caging up mages right now. But this lad was all about the Grey Wardens. Joining at an early age, he was probably one of the better Grey Wardens to ever Grey Warden despite not fighting in any blights or anything. This greatsword-wielding unstoppably workaholic force of nature found darkspawn where there shouldn’t even have been darkspawn with boundless passion and the world’s most bullheadedly stubborn determination to get shit done. 

After a 7-year deployment in Ferelden that kept our swole Warden lad out of Orlesian Warden troubles, our boy transfers home and within five minutes is off on an investigation where upon his return… Suddenly he’s not a Warden anymore. According to rumor, Senior Warden Clerico lost his connection to the darkspawn, forcing him into early retirement. Question is, what does he do now? He’s only ever known the Wardens after all. Beginning to travel the world as a mercenary, perhaps he can find that answer. 

Companion -- Warden Rex

A golden-furred Mabari that Roman chanced on in the wilds, wounded by Darkspawn. Saving the Mabari pup and nursing them back to health, he would end up taking in the hound as his travelling companion. The two have been practically inseparable since. The Mabari appears to have a distinct sense of smell when it comes to detecting Darkspawn, and was strangely unaffected by the Taint once nursed back to health. This led to Roman giving him the name "Warden Rex", though he generally calls him "Rex" for short. 

The other Wardens went along with the joke. 

Warden Rex now enjoys retirement alongside his master, loyally staying by his side no matter what the next monster is to stroll upon their path of destruction. In his spare time he enjoys treatos, bones, looking for attention and getting into everything possible in a rampage of sheer curiosity.

Backstory

Growing up in Avives with a military father and a guardswoman for a mother, military values were instilled into the Clerico siblings at a fairly young age. Though perhaps those values were imparted on the siblings in different ways. His older sister Adi whom was coddled and always kept close to her father, idolized him and appeared to be destined for life as a Templar from day one. But while Roman took to swordsmanship early and always listened to their father’s stories, the way he talked about caging up mages never did sit right with him. He had grown up being told that people like his parents were responsible for protecting people, and one day it would be his responsibility to do the same. But while mages had more freedom in Avives, they were still clearly limited for no reason other than the way they were born. And then there was the way that many of the mages looked at him in town, the way they side-eyed and avoided him. It bothered him and eventually the young one couldn’t help but sate his curiosity in asking. 

His father had murdered mages. Many of them. All in the name of protection and order. 

It was a hard, bitter pill to swallow. The way they were doing things – was it really protecting people? He just… Didn’t know. Perhaps he would become a guardsman when he got older, he told himself. Though templars and guardsmen were both a bit… Limited, weren’t they? He had spent so much of his spare time learning about the world at large. Sure, it was in case he had to occasionally move between areas, or deal with politics, but what was the point of learning all of this if he would hardly ever see any of it? 

That was when the Grey Wardens came into his life. The Wardens were free to go where they pleased, and protected Thedas from the worst threats to all of mankind. Stories of the Hero of Ferelden began to overpower everything else until all he could think about were his fantasies of being a Grey Warden. An opportunity came when one of the noble families chose to hold a tournament. Hoping to hone his skills, Roman would enter and his passion for swordsmanship would pay off in the form of victory. But one spectator had taken a vested interest for more than just mere entertainment. Having arrived to requisition the Orlesian Wardens for reinforcements, a recruiter from the Grey Wardens of Ferelden would approach him and offer for him to join them. His parents didn’t approve of course, but Roman had made up his mind a long time ago. He would become a Grey Warden, continue to hone his swordsmanship, protect Thedas from Darkspawn and make them all proud! He swore it!

If only it was as glamorous as it sounded. 

Life as a Grey Warden was hard even after the Blight was over. Brought to Ferelden alongside Orlesian reinforcements, he would serve for seven years. While childhood innocence and excitement were shed, his passion for his duties as a Warden and a stubborn determination to succeed no matter the odds paved the way for a renowned career as a Warden. While the reputation of the Wardens would sink after the Orlesian Wardens under Clarel would fall under the thrall of Corypheus and the populace would forget those who had saved them from the Blight once again, Roman would continue to serve dutifully as though it were his first day at work. He picked up a fair few allies, including a mabari he had found in the wild who appeared to be immune to the darkspawn taint, and a traveling rogue named Anora who later became a partner to him. 

But nothing lasts forever. 

After seven years with the Wardens, the Calling had begun to echo. It was faint, but he could still hear it. Especially in his dreams. It would be a few years yet before it would take hold fully, but he had begun to accept that his time was coming and all he could do was fight harder than ever before to ensure that he made the most of the time he had left. 

Having transferred back to Orlais for his final years, it was in an expedition to a ruin rumored to be swarming with darkspawn that the workaholic Grey Warden would find an end that he had never expected in his worst nightmares. As he tracked the darkspawn within the ruin, he would come face to face with what appeared to be a spirit of some kind. Thinking it a demon, he drew his blade. But with a flash, he lost consciousness. 

Upon waking in a panic he would try to seek out the darkspawn in the ruin again, but found nothing. No demons, and no darkspawn. He couldn’t sense them. Thinking they had simply moved on, he returned to base only to find that he could no longer sense his fellow Wardens. They were standing right there, but he could feel nothing. The other Wardens knew it too – the Taint in him was gone. 

He attempted to re-take the Joining despite the risks to his life, but it did nothing. Whatever the spirit may have done had completely erased his connection to the Darkspawn, and kept his body from ever contracting the Taint again. For some, this would be a dream come true. But for Warden Clerico, it was a nightmare. He would live to fight another day – but he had no choice but to retire as a Warden. Without the ability to sense Darkspawn, he was too much of a liability to serve on active duty. 

All he could do was bid farewell to his comrades of many years and leave for home. In his eyes, he would return home as a Warden who had failed to fulfill his duties. What was he going to do now? The Wardens had been his life, and he had thought of nothing else since he was but a child. 

Now that door was closed to him, and the world seemed more vast than ever before in the most terrifying way possible.