Cadence Hawke

Unlike Cade, who his parents came to trust with their concerns about being caught or fed, young Bethany and Carver grew up mostly in ignorant bliss. During his adolescence, Cade began to work harder, so that the twins wouldn't have to realize just how dire their day-to-day life was, and so his parents would have some extra stability and wouldn't have to risk themselves as often. This led to Cade picking up some odd jobs without his parents' knowing, and this exposure to the darker sides of life changed his views on humankind as a whole rather quickly. Despite this, he retained his earnest attitude and continued putting in his best efforts.

Cade had, during one of his family's prolonged stays in a backwater town, made a friend his age by the name of Ulric. The two of them often worked the fields together, and they came to love one another rather quickly. As this was the first time Cade had experienced a joy outside of his self-established duty to his family, he threw himself into this relationship wholeheartedly, and Ulric had done the same. However, Cade made the mistake of trusting him with the knowledge that he was a mage, and Ulric had retaliated by trying to storm out and tell the Templars. Panicking and fearful of his life and his family, Cade tried to stop him, and the two of them ended up getting into a fight in which Ulric tried to murder Cade with his own two hands. Thinking he was going to die, Cade lashed out and killed Ulric, then fled the scene. Cade relayed what happened to his parents immediately, and they left the village that very night.

That experience has haunted Cade ever since, and he has spent a lot of time wondering if what he did was the right thing or not. Murder was a painfully difficult thing for him to stomach, and even harder to justify. More than that, however, he came to realize that people will betray one another over the smallest things, and that putting trust in anyone other than family would only get one hurt. As the years passed, he came to understand that this was normal, as every attempt at trust would be proven to be misplaced. As the dangers grew for the Hawke family, he began to see murder as a necessity; the only defense against a cruel world.

As the years passed, the bright-eyed and curious child had devolved into a sharp-tongued sarcastic with a general distaste for everything around him. Once Malcolm Hawke had passed away, Cade was the only reliable source of income, as Carver was often too focused on his training and Bethany couldn't work for fear of being caught. Leandra did what she could to assist, but aging had begun to be a painful process for her, and despite her bravado, she had been mourning her husband's passing for a long time afterwards.

And then the Blight struck Ferelden. Carver, who had been serving at Ostwick in the military, returned home early in order to usher the Hawkes out of Lothering, and just in time, too. Darkspawn flooded their most recent home, and they had little opportunity to take any belongings with them. During the escape, the Hawkes met Aveline and her husband, Wesley, and began their trek to escape to Kirkwall. Along the way, though, tragedy struck; Bethany got slain by an ogre, and although Cade and Carver managed to kill the thing, it was too late to save their sister. In a fit of grief, Leandra blamed Cade personally for not being able to protect Bethany. This comment chilled Cade to the bone, and while Flemeth appeared to take them away from the horde, that moment would live on in his memories for the rest of his life.

The Hawkes' first year of refuge in the city of Kirkwall was one spent in servitude of the Red Iron, a mercenary band which had established a secure foothold in Kirkwall's crime scene. After paying off the debt Gamlen had paid to smuggle them in, Cade and Carver both began to seek a way out of their new and cruddy living conditions, and they had grown quite the reputation for being able to do odd jobs for a low price. This eventually led them to Varric and Bartrand's expedition, which, in turn, led them to meeting many people who would travel with them for the next several years. In particular, Cade came to enjoy Isabela's presence, as she was always there to make him laugh and provide a strong shoulder for him to lean into when he needed it. He was also drawn to Anders, whose traumas and kindness both touched something in Cade's heart. He refused to acknowledge these feelings, however, convincing himself that he was simply surrounded by attractive company, and nothing more.

The expedition itself, while a monetary success, came at a high cost for most people involved. Bartrand's betrayal had Varric - who had become something of an actual friend to him, the first he's had in years - fuming and shaken up. And when they arrived back to the surface, beaten and bloody, it was to the news that Carver was joining the Templars as a means of securing independence where Cade could not reach him. The two had been butting heads their entire time in Kirkwall and long before that, but when Carver walked out of that front door, Cade could feel part of himself being ripped away.

Taking back the Amell Estate made living in Kirkwall somewhat more bearable, however, and three years later, things had been looking decent. Leandra had brightened up considerably, and would often tell nostalgic, dreamy stories to the residents of the estate, their dog included. Cade found peace in this comfort for a time, and where he had been blunt and aggressive in his dealings before, he had started to lighten up and do work for the sake of being helpful again. This led him to making a series of positive changes in the lives of those around him, although the fear of a mage-Templar war was always on the horizon, and his reliance on blood magic had even his allies on edge.

During this time, where he was starting to feel like he could trust his companions - as they had not betrayed him yet, despite living alongside him for three years - Cade began to realize the depths of his feelings for Isabela and Anders alike. He became frequently flustered at the idea of being with them, and although he tried to play it off with detached flirting at times, it was obvious to anyone who chose to look. One night, Isabela arrived at Cade's door and insisted on sleeping with him, and Cade happily obliged, feeling comfortable slipping into familiar territory rather than the emotional minefield he had no idea how to traverse.

After their night, however, Cade mustered up the courage to ask Isabela about love; and her answer, that she will never love again and that she'll break his heart, quickly makde him regret taking that step. Although rejected, he tried to play it casual and could not bring himself to detach from her entirely, as she had still been a great friend for him and he still cared about her. In the weeks following his rejection, Anders begins to make more moves to be near him, and started opening up about his life and who he is as a person. Cade initially found the company welcome, but as they began to share that bond, Cade's feelings amplifed to the point of no return. Eventually, unable to take it any longer, Cade confronted Anders, which lead to the two of them confessing to one another, despite the terror Cade felt in allowing himself to trust like this once again. Anders moved into the Hawke estate, and before long, the two were inseparable.

All was not meant to last, however. The comfort and joy Cade had found was ripped away from him as his mother was murdered by the mage Quentin, turned into a monster in an attempt at reanimating the dead. Gamlen blamed Cade for this, too, and the ingrained idea that he was directly responsible for his mother's death made a mark in his heart that was too deep to heal. When the Arishok began to conquer Kirkwall, Cade saw to the threat with a bitter rage and resentment in his soul, although he never gave up on Isabela and did everything he could to keep her safe. Upon killing the Arishok in a duel, he was named the "Champion of Kirkwall", a title which would indicate the beginning of the end.

Three years after the Qunari invasion was quelled, Anders had become withdrawn from Cade and hardly spent any time with him. There were moments of sad-hearted clarity in which Anders would profusely apologize to his lover, but ultimately, Cade was left feeling lost and alone, which made the growing pressure on Cade worse. He had grown much colder since his mother's passing, and although some of his friends tried to reach out and keep him sane - Varric and Fenris being the most attentive - Kirkwall had been a wound that Cade could not recover from. Despite everything, however, he was still trying in vain to hold his life together, to not lose everything he had worked so hard to gain.

And then, Anders asked him to help free the mages. When asked what Cade was doing for him, Anders threatened to leave him entirely.

When Anders blew up the Chantry, Cade knew that it had been his own fault for having given in. Although Cade agreed to assist the mage rebellion, and his friends were all at his side, he was in sheer disgust at the conflict as a whole, as well as his part in it. He slayed both Orsino and Meredith, then fled Kirkwall by boat, only a few of his companions remaining by his side. Among them was Anders, allowed to live by the weakness of Cade's heart, but the damaged Hawke knew that both of their lives were over. His companions were eventually forced to leave his side, and Hawke and Anders disappeared.

• Cade grew up with the fear of being caught by Templars, and the knowledge that his family was always barely making by. This caused him to see hard work as the only option for survival, even if it was at the cost of his own health.
• He realized, as he grew up, that people are quick to betray one another, and that to blindly trust in another person is the greatest mistake one can make. This led him to being jaded and shut off from the world around him.
• During his stay in Kirkwall, he takes the deaths of his mother and sister as being his fault, because he was repeatedly blamed for not doing enough. This repeated loss breaks him down, piece by piece, and makes everyday life difficult at times.
• He ends up seeing his companions as family, however, and starts healing ever so slowly. When he and Anders fall in love, life gets better for a while, but Anders's eventual betrayal destroys him, and the pressure of having been Champion of Kirkwall for so long made him disappear after the Chantry exploded.