Name: Cullen Rutherford
Door: Door Pass

Canon: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Canon Point: During Trespasser, after finding the mabari but before Solas’ involvement in the rifts and the Inquisitor’s mark is revealed.

Age: 34
Appearance:

History: History A few clarifications since his history can be conditional based upon player choices: the Warden for Cullen was Neria Surana who sided with the mages at the Circle Tower. Cullen spent time in Greenfell recovering from his trauma. Garrett Hawke and his brother Carver were the Hawkes in Kirkwall. They, too, sided with the mages in the last battle with Meredith. The Inquisitor was the dwarf Edric Cadash. Cullen quit lyrium, although it is a struggle to this day. He recently rescued a mabari from a bored Orlesian noble and named him Blade.

Personality: Self-Sacrificing: Cullen’s decision to become a templar was in order to be in service to others. During his time in Kirkwall and afterward, he set aside his own personal needs in service of duty, first to his Knight-Commander and the people of Kirkwall, and then to the Inquisition. He stated many times in Kirkwall that he felt conflicted about Meredith’s actions, yet at the time his loyalty was still to the Templar Order and its principles. When it became clear Meredith was unhinged, he felt that he had to step up, remove her from command, and then fight her to the death when she refused to yield. It was incredibly difficult for him to do so, violating his core tenet of loyalty within the ranks, ye he knew it was to serve the greater good.

After that conflict, he remained in Kirkwall trying to pick up the pieces of a broken city and clean up the remaining demons that plagued the streets. During all of these years, he battled his personal demons of PTSD from his ordeal in the Circle Tower of Ferelden without shirking or making his problem that of others.

When Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast recruited him for the Inquisition, he saw the opportunity to serve more of Thedas than just Kirkwall and accepted the position. The responsibility weighed heavily upon him, especially since he determined to quit using lyrium, the addictive substance the Chantry inflicted upon all of its templars to ensure their loyalty and its absolute control. He fought through the worst of the symptoms, wavering only once, and maintained his head for strategy, not because he craved power, but because he was needed. He said it was the first time in a long time that he felt his desires truly aligned with his work. His plans for after the Inquisition are also selfless. He wants to develop a healing center where other templars can work through their lyrium addictions with support, or receive palliative care if they are too far gone for recovery.

Addiction: Lyrium addiction is a demon for any templar, with the potential and opportunity for abuse readily available, if clandestine. Even the most conscientious of users, however, develop symptoms as the lyrium slowly poisons their bodies, sickens them, and causes a sort of early onset dementia. Quitting lyrium leads to protracted, agonizing withdrawals that some don’t survive. Cullen battles with his lyrium addiction every day, going so far as to keep his box and vials close at hand as a reminder of why he is trying to stay clean.

The craving is always there beneath the surface, waiting for a moment of weakness, of stress, of despair to drive him back to the sense of power, control, and a pleasant sort of numbness that allows him escape from the worst of his continuing nightmares. The fact that he chose it for himself haunts him, and it is clear he regrets that decision and all that came of it. It will shadow him for the rest of his life.

Wrath: Cullen’s response to his imprisonment and torture by the blood mage Uldred was intense anger, to the point that when Surana arrived and rescued him from his plight, he advocated for the destruction of every mage remaining in the tower, his former charges, whether they had participated in the overthrow or not. He tried to argue his Knight-Commander, Greagoir, over to his point of view even after First Enchanter Irving was delivered safely from the Harrowing Chamber and very clearly not under demonic influence. Greagoir overrode his objections.

It was his wrath and zeal to stamp out mage corruption that made him an attractive recruit for Knight-Commander Meredith. In her young subordinate, she found a willing weapon and promoted him through the ranks quickly because of it. He openly said to Hawke that mages couldn’t be treated like people, that they were dangerous weapons that had to be controlled. He argued for the sense in the Right of Annulment, whereby a Knight-Commander of a circle could make the decision to murder every single mage in the circle if they believed corruption had spread far enough, innocent and guilty alike. It took him many years for this view to even begin to temper slightly, despite seeing how those within his own ranks often abused their power. Even once he joined the Inquisition, he still felt mages needed some degree of control over them. It was such a 180 from his early feelings in Kinloch Hold at the beginning of his career, driven solely by anger and fear.

To this day he is prickly and irascible when contradicted regarding areas he views as his expertise.

Guilt: He carries a heavy burden of guilt for not acting sooner when Meredith began to spiral out of control. He believes that had he not been so blinded by his own anger, he would have seen what was happening to her and possibly been able to prevent the tragedy of the destruction of the Chantry that led to the disastrous Mage-Templar war. He also carries guilt for how he viewed mages and othered them so thoroughly that he could feel little more than hatred and revulsion at one time. He speaks of this more than once. He states that no matter how much good he might do for the Inquisition, he is not certain it will ever atone for his inaction or what he allowed to fester in his heart.

He also seems to feel some guilt for joining the templar order in the first place because of what he became as a result. He believes that what the chantry does to templars is deeply wrong and wonders why he ever allowed it to happen to him, especially once he began to see the truth of lyrium addiction. He feels that in some ways he failed Samson, a decent man who became a destructive Red Templar ally of the mad ancient darkspawn Corypheus.

His introspection has led him to be a more thoughtful man on the whole, if he allows someone beneath his guard. However, he is still stubborn and fractious, prone to snapping at people when provoked, and very set in his ways. He never seems to relax fully or let others all the way in, is still plagued by nightmares, and privately believes that he will never be close to the good person he was when he took his vows. It grieves him but also has him determined to try to do better now.

Powers and Abilities: Templar Powers:
- He can rally allies to attack with greater strength, especially when facing demons, and while using this power recovers his power to dispel hostile magic and smite them with destructive white light more quickly.
- His ability to dispel hostile magic within his range also causes massive damage in a 15 foot radius when used against a magical barrier or other enemy spell protection. This damage has the potential of friendly fire of allies within the range.
- All of his magic annulment powers are as effective on demons as they are magic users.
- When fighting with him, his allies’ strikes weaken enemies.
- Those fighting with him will fight harder when fighting demons.
- In combat, he and his allies near him are more resistant to damage from fire, ice, electricity, and spiritual effects.
- If he falls in battle, his allies have the power to fight harder for a time, imbued with some of his energy.
- He can summon a blinding pillar of white light that is incredibly destructive to demons and stuns enemies for some time.
- For each enemy that he strikes with this attack, his is healed of some damage.
- Once per combat, he can rally his allies, providing them more stamina, more energy, better defense, and damage resistance against all incoming attacks.

Fighter Abilities:
- Cullen is an expert swordsman in both sword and shield and two handed weapon attacks.
- He is a battle strategist with the ability not only to make cunning decisions on his own behalf, but to direct others on the field to be their most effective and defensive in a melee.
- He has experience in the use of siege weapons and fortress defense.
- He led a massive, successful military campaign against myriad enemies across the entire southern half of a continent, part of a multi-pronged force whose influence and power grew in a very short time.

Inventory: His sword, a lyrium vial, his mabari dog, Blade

Samples: Communication

Thought