Hroki Brosca: History
Background
She had a troubled childhood, with her mother becoming an alcoholic after Hroki’s father left for the surface, leaving her to provide for two children on her own. She didn’t receive much, if any, support from her mother and was constantly berated by her mother for not showing enough appreciation. This emotional abuse led her to act out as a child. She had a relatively close bond with her older sister, Rica, that continued into adulthood. At the age of 15, she began working for Behrat, a Carta boss.
During her time with the Carta, she was often paired with a young man named Leske whom she quickly befriended. She briefly had a romantic relationship with a dwarven girl one year her senior. It ended when she stopped seeing the girl around the commons. She suspects that the girl was from the noble caste, but she was never able to find out. She would eventually develop romantic feelings for Leske, but never acted on them.
Dragon Age Origins
In 9:30 Dragon, Behrat asks Hroki and Leske to “deal” with a lyrium smuggler working with Behrat. The situation was resolved in their typical fashion, before they were given the important task of fixing the Provings. While planning their strategy, Hroki and Leske bump into a Grey Warden named Duncan. They have a surprisingly pleasant conversation, a shock to Hroki who had never met a human before and was under the impression that humans were quite barbaric.
Hroki and Leske drugged on of the fighters and find Everd, Behrat’s fighter, passed out drunk. Hroki dons his armor and fights in the Provings on his behalf. Everd stumbles out at the last moment and she reveals herself to the crowd, boasting about how Orzammar’s best fighters lost to a casteless woman from Dust Town. She is promptly arrested. She escapes prison and is recruited by Duncan, sparing her from execution. She readily accepts his offer, eager to leave Orzammar.
She struggled to get used to the surface, as she frequently felt as if she may fall into the sky.
The events of Dragon Age Origins take place after this, and I'd rather not detail the plot of an entire game. I'll give the key points and elaborate on things that I feel left an impression on her.
Important Events
- She immediately liked Morrigan upon meeting her and developed a crush on her as the game progressed. She, of course, never acted on it.
- She helped Redcliffe fight and helped with the preparations.
- Isolde sacrificed herself to save Connor from being possessed.
- She supported the Templars at the Circle of Magi and followed through on Cullen's request to kill all of the mages in the Harrowing Chamber, including First Enchanter Irving.(1)
- She chose to broker peace between the Dalish and the werewolves.
- She returned to Orzammar and supported Bhelen as king.(2)
- The search for Paragon Branka and the anvil of the void ended with Branka killing herself and the anvil destroyed.(3)
- She did not poison the urn of sacred ashes.
- The landsmeet ended with Alistair and Anora ruling together.
- Hroki was the one who slew the archdemon. Luckily, she was able to survive since Alistair and Morrigan carried out the dark ritual the night before.
(1) This decision ultimately came down to Hroki not understanding magic and, therefore, being deeply afraid of it. She would never admit to fear, but it was a key part of her decision. She never came into contact with magic until meeting Morrigan and seeing Redcliffe, so magic seemed quite horrific and dangerous to her. Morrigan was fine, but clearly a majority of mages can't control themselves. Of course, no magic in the rest of the game did much to help with her understanding.
(2) She would not have supported Bhelen if her sister hadn't had a child with him. She is uninterested in politics, she simply dislikes Bhelen on a personal level. Her decision to support him was entirely because she wanted to support her family and supporting Bhelen, the father of her nephew, felt like the best decision. She was glad to see her sister and mother doing well.
Finding out that Leske betrayed her after she left hurt her deeply, especially since she had romantic feelings for him.
(3) The deep roads haunted her for years. The broodmother and the things Branka did were almost too much for Hroki to deal with psychologically.
During the events of Origins, Hroki carried out shady jobs in Denerim (including a crime wave) and had a threeway with Zevran and Isabela. She fell in love with Zevran during the events of the fifth Blight.
After the fifth Blight was over, Hroki stayed in Denerim for a short period before leaving Ferelden all together to travel Thedas, with Zevran by her side. Sometime during the events of Dragon Age II, she begins following up on leads to remove the taint and/or prevent the Calling. Contact with the warden is lost entirely, until she eventually met a contact of the Inquisition and sent a letter to the Inquisitor. She expressed regret at being unable to help them in their fight against Corypheus, but promised to contact them immediately if she found anything.
At present, she is starting to feel the affects of the Calling. Whether or not Rook's actions halted this or not is yet to be seen. Zevran has remained by her side this entire time and, for a while, they adventured together around Thedas, before eventually settling down for a while in Antiva.
For reference, her age throughout the series: 20 [DAO], 21 [Act I], 24 [Act II], 27 [Act III], 28 [DAI], 30 [Trespasser], 40 [DATV].