Originally, he was my very first Inquisitor and I still remember those days when I was still trying to figure out how the game worked. As a result of this, Ondras ended up as a lovable but confused rogue who rarely knew what he was doing.
For this new playthrough, he is a young scout of clan Lavellan, who has received his vallaslin not even a year ago. He ended up spying at the Conclave, mostly wanting to figure out what its results would mean for the mages of his clan. As Inquisitor, he is surprisingly content with being called Herald but even more surprises those he encounters when he points out that he does indeed consider himself Andrastean. As a character, he isn't known for really plotting his actions and acts rather spontaneous and based on his gut instinct. This is also seen as the reason why he immediately trusts a certain Tevinter altus and a Qunari merc, who eventually become his closest friends.
Many people get distracted by this young Dalish mage's doll-like appearance. But those who realise her vallaslin represents Elgar'nan, the god of vengeance, soon understand her face is the only innocent thing about Oroilora. As a young girl, she was assaulted by a group of shems, and cut her once long and flowing hair short after that event to prevent it to endanger her again. She never forgot what the hunters did to her and tracked them down to Haven, where these men turned out to be (not so) noble participants of the Conclave. After ending up with the Anchor, she continues to fight for what she thinks is right for her people, only gradually taking the greater good for the rest of Thedas into her perspective. Her fellow elven mage Solas becomes some kind of mentor and father figure, and eventually lover for her, but they might be too much alike to find happiness together.
Meretari "Meret" Lavellan
Meretari, who usually gets called "Meret" for short by her friends, is a light-hearted rogue and hunter who loves spending her days alone in the wilderness, studying the local flora and fauna and learning everything there is to know about herbs and their beneficial effects in potions, poultices and the like. Her curiosity and willingness to take risks often causes trouble not only for her but also for those who accompany her and not everyone likes putting up with her inevitable sarcasm. But underneath that kinda rugged shell, she is as kind and caring as everyone and acts as a very interested and passionate partner for long conversations about beasts, astronomy and everything the like, even poetry.
Originally, she was born into another clan but during the last Blight, most of her clansmen were slain by Darkspawn and the few survivors, only a hand full of people, were taken in by clan Lavellan that held friendly relations with clan Ibaiguren.
Ilargian Lavellan
The hero of a completely different story, Ilargian is a warrior of the same clan as Meretari and also one of those few survivors who were taken in by clan Lavellan. Before the Blight, he was a respected and proud young hunter and had bonded with a woman of his clan. She was killed by Darkspawn and he remained heart-broken and with a bitterness that resulted in him not even believing in Elven Gods anymore.
With his new clan's hunters, he stumbled upon a Tevinter slave hunter company and got captured in the fight that allowed his brethren to escape. Against all of his expectations, one of the slaves, a human woman named Maeve treated him (and everyone else) with the respect any living creature of the Maker deserves.
After a few misunderstandings, he realised Maeve was indeed a mage, but very secretive about that, and together they escaped their slavers. During their escape the unlikely companions grew closer to each other and even though his bitterness had become a major character trait, he slowly realised he had feelings for the hedge-mage and eventually, they became lovers who didn't need a Chantry mother's rite to be married. Because of the events that followed the beginning of the Mage Rebellion and the things that happened at Kirkwall, the couple fled to Ferelden, trying to find a safe place to live and raise their child. Ilargian agreed to sneak in to the Conclave to get first-hand information on the outcome of it and how this would affect his young family's fate. He didn't know that it would take almost two years until he saw his beloved Maeve again.
Maeve Ameslari
AN: Maeve is no actual Inquisitor in my playthroughs, I just add her for the sake of continuity and because she's Ilargian's significant other.
Being the only daughter of Master Endric Ameslari, apothecary in Starkhaven, Maeve was raised by a loving and devout Andrastean family. Nonetheless, her life held many secrets from the start, one of them being the identity of her mother - Mistress Ameslari has never been blessed with the birth of a child and generously accepted her husband's relationship with their elven servant Mayati and raised Maeve as if she was her own daughter. The girl grew up in her parent's apothecary and showed a keen interest in the creation of potions and other medicine, technically everything that could be used for means of healing illnesses and easing pain. She often accompanied her father to the city's alienage, where he treated the sick and poor for free and it didn't take her too long to find out about her family's relations to their leaf-eared with citizens. Having her parents - and especially her social mother - as role models, Maeve grew up to be a very kind and caring girl and when her magic manifested, her parents decided to do nothing and keep this a secret as well. They knew a few things about life at the Circles, for sometimes Tranquil or Mages with Templar guides, came to their apothecary to restock their supplies.
Due to an ugly incident when she was sixteen, Maeve had to leave Starkhaven in a hurry and in her desperation, she signed up with a group of Tevinter who needed a healer for their company and offered her protection from any prosecution, not knowing about the true reasons of her hasty escape from the Free Marches.
In that time, Maeve collected the many scars on her face and hands but never lost her faith in the Maker or her good heart. She treated every person around her with respect and thus finally met a grumpy Dalish warrior whom she patched up after he had been captured by her slavers.
Meret Cadash
Having lived on the streets of an unknown surface city as a child, there was not much of a future for young Meret, even though the boy always stood out for his interest and understanding of the natural sciences (and for his outstanding optimism). As a teenager, he saw his chance for a living and for supporting his casteless mother in the Carta and he became sort of a professional thief, even though he was far more interested in some of the artefacts's purpose and function than their prize on the black market.
One of his jobs lead him to a Tevinter scholar living in exile in the Free Marches and he was caught red-headed by the older man. In order to avoid being handed over to the guards, he spun a story about some of the artefacts in the room and what he has learned about them. In the end, instead of handing the young dwarf over to the local authorities, Lydus Maro, the scholar was very impressed by his quick wits and offered him a job as his assistant. Meret was smart enough to accept that offer but also warned the scholar about the Carta's possible interest in his fortune, for his studies were funded by some local nobles as well.
Over the years, Meret and Lydus used their common interest in sciences to developed a bond that went deeper than mere friendship and when Meret slowly recovered from the amnesia that was caused by the explosion at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, the loss of his friend and mentor plagued him for quite some time, influencing his view on the world to a degree that made his optimism some kind of coping mechanism.
Eguzkia Cadash
As the illegitimate offspring of a noble from Orzammar and a castless mother, Eguzkia's life had a very rough start. Even though her father recognised her existence and even granted financial support, her mother had not many other chances than leaving for the Surface and taking her child with her. Due to some political tremors following the events during the Fifth Blight, Eguzkia's father left for the surface as well and the family was reunited. They left Ferelden at the same time, the girl was about twelve years old, and settled in the Free Marches, where they tried their luck with a small business, a bakery, where she gladly helped decorating cakes and cookies. Everything could have been fine, if not the Mage Templar War had begun.
Eguzkia and her mother were hired for providing the Conclave with their fine goods and cookies by some nobles who attended as spectators and it was nothing more than an accident, that the young dwarf ended up wielding the Anchor and being Andraste's chosen, as she believes.
As the Herald, Eguzkia always has an ear for those who want to talk to her and takes her time to consider all ifs and whens before making a decision, for she knows how much is at stake.
Varric nicknames her Sunny after a while and a certain Warden even calls her his Lady Sunshine, for she never fails to wear a friendly smile and spare a kind word for those around her.
Maxim "Max" Trevelyan
Being the youngest child of three, Maxim always looked up to his oldest brother Evan and wanted to be like him as a child and after hearing the tales about the Grey Wardens and seeing them in action during the battle of Denerim, he wanted to become one of them. To achieve this goal, and much to his mother's disregard, he started taking fighting lessons just like his brothers and insisted on being treated like the older boys, even though most of them couldn't help but seeing him as the pet of the family and only daughter of Lord and Lady Trevelyan. One of the few boys who accepted and respected Max for who he truly was, was his friend Yevan, who almost got kicked out of the family's estate when he accidentally tore open the young noble's cheek during a sparring session. Even though he could barely speak, Max defended his friend and they were even closer after that incident.
Being sent to the Conclave on their father's behalf, Max and his other brother, Lewis, hoped this would be a short trip. They never knew that only one of them would return home.
Roxana Trevelyan
After her magic manifested at a very young age, Roxana learned to love her life at the Circle and considered it her home and her fellow mages her friends and brethren. The shy and quiet mage didn't spread her abilities around and enjoyed studying in the library and meditation at the small chantry most. She sometimes risked an eye on the Templars that guarded her, for some of them just looked incredibly dashing in their armours, but she rarely dared speaking with them, even though most who heard her voice agreed that she was a damn kind woman, even as a mage. After her Harrowing, all she was looking forward to was getting her first apprentice for she loved sharing her knowledge and always found it easier to work with people younger than her. When the Mage Templar War started, she was shocked and felt like she's lost something in her life and she volunteered to accompany her First Enchanter as a scribe and servant when Divine Justinia called for her Conclave.
After the explosion, Roxana finds herself in the strange and uncomfortable position of being the one giving orders, instead of receiving them, and especially in her first weeks as Andraste's Herald, she heavily relies on Cassandra's natural authority and Solas's wisdom in her decisions. After a while, she gets accustomed to this new responsibility and accepts it as quietly and eager as every task back in the Circle. Of course she has eyes for dashing men in armours as well, but after being rejected by Dorian and slightly afraid of The Iron Bull, she finds herself in the utterly confusing situation of being crushing on a Templar and a Warden at the same time.
Artemia Adaar
For almost a decade, Artemia Adaar has been the second-in-command to the Valo-kas mercenary company. Then their job at the Conclave changed her life in a direction she didn't ask for but gets used to pretty quickly.
Being raised by Vashoth parents living as "normal" citizens of some small settlement near the Antivan border, her parents thought it was best for their daughter to give her a more human name. Friends nicknamed her Temi very soon and her fierce temper and proficiency with blades settled her future as a merc when she was a young adult.
Even though she is fear- and reckless in combat and strikes her opponents down without second thought, she has a really soft spot for the weak and especially, for children and sees it as her responsibility to lead the Inquisition to success in means of restoring order and defeating Corypheus. Regarding her more political decisions, she's pragmatic, as long as no innocents are suffering as casualties. She easily loses patience if negotiators try to flatter her too much. She really doesn't like the term ox-men too. In other words - it would be wise to not mess with her. Especially if you're Corypheus or a Venatori. She's absolutely done with their world-domination shit because it's tiring and she doesn't have much time to find a hobby anyway.
This list will be updated with a hand full of Qunari (as mentioned above) and the re-made versions of Craeg Cadash and Jean-Luc Trevelyan as soon as I've got ridden of the grammar mistakes here. I really wish I would finally understand those weird tenses of the English language.