I have my eyes on the Blight, recruited those who signed the treaties, etc. I have yet to sit down and play DA2 so dealing with Kirkwall may not be so easy for me. As a setting, I'm sure I could read about it but I've spoiled myself enough with DAO that I'd like to avoid too many details/spoilers in regards to DA2 and DAI since I do intend on playing them. 

Now in regards to Orlais, I would love it if our story could take us there but Fereldan is where I am most comfortable in terms of the towns, tone, other locations. Orlais is still a rich vibrant place that I think could add to our adventure but for the most part, I am mostly well versed in the plot and settings in DAO, which may seem limiting but neither of us have played DAI or read the novels so I think we still have tha capability to put our own spin on things.

You mentioned if we did stick with the Blight and issues with DAO, we would need canons, I'm not sure if that's necessarily true. The main ones like Duncan, Arl Eamon, Loghain, Anora, Cailan, possibly Flemeth, Morrigan, and possibly Alistarmay be needed but I do think the others could be tweaked. I also believe our own OCs could take the place of some of the companions, even those like Alistar or Morrigan. I'd feel like it would be more fun to make our own Wardens who find themselves on their own. Alistar's lineage was an important plot point but doesn't mean we need to follow it exactly if we have our own roles. I just want to make sure we're not overloading ourselves because while our characters won't be as big as the game's playable characters, it'll still take time to develop them all and I fear if we mix canons and OCs without intention/deliberation, it could get out of hand.

I'm honestly thinking OCs or Canons. If we mix them up, I'm not sure we can make a functioning group without it getting messy and hard to manage. If we do want both though, we could also swing for the fences and have our OCs be Grey Wardens from elsewhere. The name itself escapes me but it has been mentioned a few times that others have been called (though also assumed that Loghain has intercepted them) and maybe the majority of our plot can be our group gathering people (maybe 1-2 canons at most?) to meet up with Alistar and everyone else? But then again the final battle is still a long ways away and it's up to us to either follow the game's path or do something different.

Now that I've babbled a bit too much, I'm sorry...what do you think?