Doma Played Dragon Age: Origins Blind. (Non-Players Welcome.)

[DomaDoma]

So, about a month ago, the announcement that game six of Elder Scrolls isn't coming for years drove me into the arms of Evil Arts. The Dragon Age series, I knew, had a lot of fandom overlap with Elder Scrolls. I knew nothing else about Dragon Age, really, but I figured I'd go all in and play as my dominant Elder Scrolls persona, which I like to call Walker.

A word of warning: I'm one of those people who played Oblivion first. In comparison with the rest of the fandom, we're... a little bit . Bottom line, expect a lot of HONOR and FEALTY and LEGACY and MUST SAVE EVERYONE.

In this, Skyrim did not exactly allow Walker a full rein.

http://i.imgur.com/dqQuatR.jpg

No, Tamriel is definitely not going where he might like. But another world? Why, that's a different story. Or could be.

This is a replay. From scratch: it turns out my print-screen key was nonfunctional this whole time, so resorting to savestates to make up the difference is not really an option. The general lay of the path will be the same - any decision I agonized over, which is to say all the major decisions, will be set in stone in my brain - but I can't guarantee an exact replica. A lot hinges on dialogue trees in this game.

This is intended to be written so non-players can follow along. Therefore, two rules are in order:

1) If it involves a part of the game I haven't covered, it goes in spoiler tags. (Even my own minor deviations will be noted in spoilers.)
2) If non-players aren't following what I have covered, they should probably ask.



TABLE OF CONTENTS





Character Creation (Below)

1: At Least I'm Not The Heir (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21040895&postcount=7)

2: At Least I'm Not A Murderer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21061756&postcount=25)


3: At Least Prison Is Still A Good Sign (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21085082&postcount=26)


4: At Least I Made The Cut (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21121642&postcount=66)


5: At Least We Weren't Too Late (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21129360&postcount=88)



6: At Least We Qualify as a Ragtag Band




So, we begin with a infodump by this gruff-voiced grimface:

http://i.imgur.com/O3QDpez.png

(Hmm. Okay. Update after next, I guess I'm going premium to ditch that watermark.)

The Chantry teaches us that it is the hubris of men that brought the darkspawn into our world.

The mages had sought to usurp Heaven, but instead they destroyed it. They were cast out, twisted and cursed by their own corruption. They returned as monsters, the first of the darkspawn.

They became a Blight upon the lands, unstoppable and relentless.

[Here the illustrations stop being a stylized montage of a roughly illuminated manuscript and start showing fairly regular FMV of the mortal races getting their asses kicked by darkspawn. Think orcs and goblins with hideous, permanent grins.]

The dwarven kingdoms were the first to fall, and from the Deep Roads the darkspawn drove at us again and again, until finally we neared annihilation.

Until the Grey Wardens came.

Men and women from every race, warriors and mages,

Ah, so mages aren't a completely lost cause. Good to know.

barbarians and kings... the Grey Wardens sacrificed everything to stem the tide of darkness... and prevailed.

[The music gets unspeakably kickass at this point, as the tide of battle turns. This theme goes in about the same scenes Howard Shore's main Lord of the Rings theme goes, and justly so.]

It has been four hundred years since that victory and we have kept our vigil. We have watched and waited for the darkspawn to return. But those who once called us heroes... have forgotten.

Isn't that an oddly specific recurring trope, though. After four hundred years - no more, no less - the ancient order is still around, they're still clear on their original mission statement, but the neighbors resent the heck out of them.

That seems a rather long time for most organizations, but rather short for your sane religious institutions. Maybe a ceremonially revered institution based on a very apparent threat to life and limb strikes the middle ground there? I don't know.

[Grimface finds several of his men dead, is attacked from behind by a couple darkspawn, hands their asses to them.]

We are few now, and our warnings have been ignored for so long. It may even be too late, for I have seen with my own eyes what lies on the horizon.

Maker help us all.

And now, the character creation screen. Very basic fantasy types to choose from here: Human/Elf/Dwarf, and Warrior/Mage/Rogue. Warrior is pretty much a gimme for Walker here, but let's go over the races:

-Humans are noted to be variable. As humans are. Also, they're defined by their worship of the Chantry. Which is apparently monotheistic. Walker's not sure he's ready for such an abrupt transition there.
-Elves' big schtick appears to be being oppressed. I guess this gives Walker a bye from giving all elves the detriment of the doubt, but it's not really his style all the same.
-Dwarves are hidebound and live in what little fastness remains of their lost former glory. Now we're talkin'! (Also, should note, they're incapable of magic.)

Dwarfdom gives you the choice of two backstories: Dwarf Commoner and Dwarf Noble. Commoner requires you to start as a crime lord's hired thug, which Walker would under no circumstances be. Noble gets you entangled in intrigue, which Walker knows full well he'd fail at, but he is prepared to manfully fail at it, to the hilt!

Dozens of Sims-style sliding bars later...

http://i.imgur.com/hB8fhKd.png

Notes on the design:

This doofy mustache is the closest I can come to the mutton chops previously illustrated. Mostly it's intricate dwarf beards all down the scale.

I was a bit thrown by the fact that your last name is set in stone. I was expecting to be Raemond Walker. Ah well, Walker Aeducan it is. The name "Walker" isn't too out of place in any setting, after all.

Except in this. It turns out that not a single character you encounter has a name that can be mistaken for anything but a proper noun. Ah well. Walker it remains. I can't imagine him as anything else at this point.

And then there's gameplay stuff to consider. Big warning here: I won't concentrate too much on gameplay, partly because I'm story-centric and partly because I am awful at gameplay. I'm playing on Normal difficulty, because I've actually got a handle on how this thing works, but the first time through I played almost entirely on Easy and still got my butt handed to me times beyond counting.

But, anyway, he's going to be largely a two-handed fighter. And I give him skill in Herbalism, to help with his incurable saving-people-thing.

Now to plunge our dispirited hero into this brave new world...

(Updates every Monday. This game consumed my life when I was playing it, to such an extent that I think I need to go easy for the replay.)

[Amaril]

Oh, yes :smallbiggrin: I'm always in the mood for more Dragon Age. You've got yourself a sub.

[DomaDoma]

...So, I think there must be some sort of hubris effect afflicting those who make major projects of a forum thread. Because I just dropped my laptop monitor-side-down on a hard tile floor, and it evidently lacks a traditional monitor hookup, so I can't even make a sad excuse for a desktop computer out of it.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me, and it sure as heck isn't the first time it's happened to other people with cool if time-wasting threads. Do you vote hubris? I vote hubris.

EDIT: False alarm, actually. I've got a monitor with an HDMI cable, and we're good to go.

[JadedDM]

That seems a rather long time for most organizations, but rather short for your sane religious institutions. Maybe a ceremonially revered institution based on a very apparent threat to life and limb strikes the middle ground there? I don't know.
The opening doesn't go into detail, but the war he mentions that happened 400 years ago was actually the Fourth Blight. There were three more before it. That's why the Grey Wardens are still around, because they know that someday there will be a Fifth Blight (and a Sixth and Seventh). Enough time has passed that most people figure that the Fourth Blight was the last one and we're good now, but the Grey Wardens know better.

The Grey Wardens were formed during the First Blight, which means the organization is actually well over 1,000 years old.

[Yana]

In war, victory.
In peace, vigilance.
In death, sacrifice.

[Psyren]

You're in for a treat :smallsmile: Welcome to Thedas!

[DomaDoma]

Sorry to delay this right out the gate: the family vacation went on twelve hours longer than anticipated. Not a sign of flakiness, but alas, it is a sign I'm pretty disorganized. Like you haven't had twenty already.

So, shall we?

PART ONE: AT LEAST I'M NOT THE HEIR

NARRATOR [not Grimface]: Deep beneath the Frostback Mountains sits Orzammar, the larger of two known remaining dwarf cities in the world.

http://i.imgur.com/xlraITL.png

Orzammar was once the seat of a major empire connected by tunnels, called Deep Roads, which stretched for thousands of miles. The city now stands alone, cut off from the rest of the dwarven ancestral lands by the darkspawn incursion.

Secure in Orzammar’s impregnable construction, the dwarven noble houses continue their centuries-old power struggles. Assassination and blackmail are commonplace, but the appearance of honor is paramount.

If the appearance of a virtue is paramount, that is due to a thirst for the genuine article. Why dispense a counterfeit?

You are the second child of King Endrin of House Aeducan——the ninth Aeducan ruler elected by the Noble Assembly. You grew up in a world rife with political intrigue and have struggled against brothers and cousins for honor and prestige.

At any rate, I have struggled for honor and prestige. But against my own standards, thank you very much. I am very relieved that I don't actually stand to inherit the throne, or that would likely not cut it.

(...So, this is a LOT of stone-engraved backstory with which to saddle a poor hapless persona accustomed to starting games as Anonymous Prisoner. But we'll roll with it.)

This is the day Walker is granted his first official command, and is greeted by Gorim, his second (which here means something like "squire"):

http://i.imgur.com/pRQaFpU.png

GORIM: Do you wish to wear your shield to the nobles' feast?

A simple matter if ever there was one, and yet my finger is bated on the mouse button. Here's a sample dialogue tree for your edification:

1. Yes. Let them see me as a warrior.
2. Better safe than sorry. Shield me.
3. Leave it. I don't want to look fearful.
4. I wouldn't even wear the armor if not for tradition.

There's a lot of blending and saturation going on, but there seem to be three basic primary colors of response for this segment:

1. Klingon warlord.
2. Cowardly milksop.
3. Ned Stark.

Well... let no one claim that Walker doesn't go under the banner of the Wolf.

GORIM: Of course, if every other noble has a shield and three swords, you'll look awfully underdressed.

[There is an option here to tell Gorim that he should know his place as your lackey. This miiiight retroactively define your relationship as a whole. Naturally, I instead choose:]

WALKER: You, my friend, are ridiculous.

So, there are three basic things to do today:

1. Go straight to the feast.

(Where, apparently, there is a great queue of nobles seeking official backing for their revenge against one another. No thank you.)

2. Fight in a blood sport called the Proving.

(We are about to go on a raid against the darkspawn - the darkspawn that destroyed our empire, lest we forget - and we're spending it battling some of our best warriors to the death? No. I refuse. I absolutely refuse.)

(Gorim mentions, when I say words to that effect, that my brother Trian is also fond of discussing military resources.)

It turns out that the Proving is not, actually, a fight to the death. But this is in no way made clear here.

3. Check out the merchants.

Merchants it is, then.

But first, to navigate the console.

http://i.imgur.com/oYdcDJ8.png

I won't lie: it seems a lot clunkier than TES at first. The right-click button is key, as is jerking around the camera. Menus are far from intuitive. The portraits on the left side of the screen are giving me a Pavlovian urge to pause with tilde and resume with 1. I have no idea where I am and need to fill in the map as I go, which is kind of bizarre seeing as it's my palace.

But not to worry: Gorim is remarkably forgiving. Not only does he forgive that I'm stumbling around like a drunk amnesiac in my own home, but he also helpfully fills me in on who he is - read: my Warrior Caste boon companion for my entire life.

Along the way, a woman pops out of Bhelen's room and back in, looking rather abashed. It seems she is involved with my brother Bhelen, and whatever has transpired, it doesn't seem to be making her happy. I direct her to the feast. Poor girl. I hope my brother sees sense, if only to prevent a public spectacle on her part.

Out, after much fumbling, to the Diamond Quarter, where they have evidently allowed the shopkeepers for the festival. Barely out of the palace gates, this scene awaits:

http://i.imgur.com/twyPrhl.png

See, the fellow to the left is a Vollney descended from Paragon Vollney. Every noble in the city follows that pattern. The term "Paragon" signifies sort of a vote-by-assembly for low-key deification. Now, the Paragon in question squeaked in by one vote, and there was a smell of foul play all around it. It's a matter of public record, no one contests the truth of it, and the scholar, pictured to the right, is about to print it in a book. And Vollney here is quite anxious to kill him for it.

I manage to convince him to put a rosy spin on it and Vollney not to kill the poor sod. I think my concern for the scholar's health goes right over Vollney's head, though he is disappointed even so.

Last time, I weighed in unabashedly for the scholar. Not entirely sure what changed.

It should be noted that everyone in this city, barring something on their mind like the above, is a tremendous, ritualized boot-licker. You can't speak two sentences without someone telling you what an honor it is to be in the presence of an Aeducan. And the kitchen staff are plainly terrified of me.

While I'm browsing wares (which I am programmed to be unable to afford), I overhear some ambient dialogue about some expedition that claims to be doing something else but is really looking for a bronto. Or something. It totally slides off my brain the first time through, but that's replay value for you.

Now, it isn't long before I'm confronted by these two:

http://i.imgur.com/73GuD7P.png

These would be my brothers. The one on the left is Trian, and the one on the right is Bhelen. They both come off as a bit snotty, but Trian is definitely taking the lead. He demands to know why I'm not at the feast. I figure I'd probably better go there at once to appease him. He remarks to Bhelen that maybe (as Bhelen apparently suggested) I'm not a total lost cause.

TRIAN: I'll be along later to toast your command.

This line is delivered with such sheer and utter contempt that I had to note it specifically.

After he leaves, Bhelen in tow, Gorim takes issue with the future king's attitude.

Rejected dialogue option: He means well.

We run into a couple of commoners - "noble-hunters" - who hope to have my baby, thereby making them concubines and raising them to de facto nobles. I politely decline.

Still bumbling my way around the city as though I don't know where everything is, I come to the door of the Proving Grounds, where a guard absolutely insists on escorting me for reasons having to do with the cranky merchants who didn't get into the Diamond Quarter. Agh, no, I don't want to go to the Proving, we've been over this! Well, he gets me in the gate, but fortunately the game will let me go back.

So, back to the palace and the feast.

Gorim notes that the feast is attended by Grey Wardens. In fact, they stand out a good deal. Literally: they're the only humans in the room.

GORIM: The raid tomorrow must be more than a standard mission. The Wardens only go where the darkspawn is the greatest threat.

Fascinating! But first, a noble by the name of Dace wants a word with me. He is going to propose a measure to welcome surface dwarves back to their home caste (currently, they are regarded as "lost to the Stone", which is a Very Bad Thing. Think of how the Jews treated marrying a non-Jew in Fiddler on the Roof, and you've got the general idea.)

I say yes, because that's the right thing to do. There is apparently another dwarven noble in possession of a name, but I don't even take the first step toward her before she drawls, "You're a fool." Okay, then, never mind.

The Grey Wardens, labeled as such, all seem very well-versed in How To Lick The Boots Of An Aeducan. On the one hand I was hoping for some fresh air out of the surface, but on the other it's rather impressive that they're so studied in dwarven ways.

Now, there is a Grey Warden here with a name: Duncan. On closer inspection...

http://i.imgur.com/TURtYRT.png

...Duncan turns out to be the badass formerly known as Grimface! This is fantastic.

He is apparently very interested in meeting me, specifically, because my father dropped a rather complimentary mention.

WALKER: My father does me great honor.

DUNCAN: I have no doubt it is deserved.

(I get the feeling that he knew my own doubts were pretty high there.)

DUNCAN: We need more Grey Wardens like you, and quickly. Even as the darkspawn weaken here in Orzammar, they are stirring on the surface. A Blight has begun. Soon the fight must go beyond the Deep Roads, lest the darkspawn threaten all the world.

Ultimately, the answer to his offer I settle on:

WALKER: I am an Aeducan. Orzammar needs me here.

Duncan seems to reluctantly accept this. I am fighting the darkspawn, after all.

As I approach the throne...

http://i.imgur.com/42MEruq.png

...it seems that my father, King Endrin, is embroiled in discussion about how to deal with the other dwarven city, Kal Sharok. He seems to want to strong-arm them into accepting Orzammar's supremacy, or cut them off entirely. He specifically mentions the possibility that they might just throw themselves to the darkspawn instead.

I am really not a fan of prevailing dwarven priorities.

Anyway, I come off as the dutiful son. As agreed, I announce in public that I'm in favor of de-excommunicating the surface dwarves (which the quest log suggests was a good way to anger every noble other than Dace), and then I am sent to go fetch Trian at the Proving Grounds.

ENDRIN: Walk well, Commander.

http://i.imgur.com/pTUt401.png

And there he is at the entrance, Bhelen still in tow. There is a minor snit-fit in which I note the two of them never came to the feast after all that, Trian counters that the world doesn't revolve around me, and then he leaves - evidently to plan the strategy for tomorrow's raid. Which, he stresses, makes him far more important than me.

And then I'm left with Bhelen.

BHELEN: I honestly don't know how you put up with him.

WALKER: Smile, nod, do my duty.

BHELEN: I wish that sense of duty and family loyalty was shared by our elder brother.

OHSNAP

WALKER: You sound serious, Bhelen.

BHELEN: Big brother... Trian is going to try to kill you.

WALKER: How do you know?

(I can't speak with total surprise here.)

BHELEN: Trian's decided you're a threat to his taking the throne. Maybe he's right.

This, on the other hand, comes fairly out of left field.

I mean, I'm not the heir. I never wanted to be the heir. Not being the heir is the only thing enabling me to get away with being such a soft touch.

http://i.imgur.com/fDxV7KS.png

Bhelen thinks that my "personable" qualities, as he puts it, will endear me to the Noble Assembly, which has a habit of voting in younger brothers when the Crown Prince puts them off. I desperately hope he's wrong on that. Ruling over Orzammar? Is there anything more thankless? And can't they see I'm not cut out for it?

But I can easily enough believe that Trian might believe I'm uncomfortably kingly material.

Rejected: I can't fight my own brother. Chances are I'll have to.
Rejected: Then... Trian dies. No matter what the danger is, I cannot afford to be the first actor in this.
Let's just wait and see what Trian does.

...I would guess what he does involves that darkspawn raid he's planning for tomorrow morning.

BHELEN: You should get some sleep.

"Should" and "will" are two very different things, Bhelen.

[Phoenixguard09]

I've not played a dwarf character, and I'm enjoying your quirky take on it. Subbed.

[Psyren]

*resists urge to list several Chuck Norris-themed Duncan facts*

[Grif]

Dwarf noble was definitely one of the better origin stories. Good choice. :smallsmile:

[lord_khaine]

Im really interested in how this turns out, i must confess my own personal preference for mages has lead me to play them mostly.

[GloatingSwine]

Im really interested in how this turns out, i must confess my own personal preference for mages has lead me to play them mostly.

The problem with playing a mage is that it has more Fade than everyone else's origin story and the Fade is brown and dull and terrible.

I played the City Elf more than the other origins, it's one of the more dramatic openings in terms of stakes, means you get to shock Cailan into silence when you first meet him, has a decent thematic synergy with stabby rogue (which I liked playing) and has more weight in its homecoming because the alienage is an area you can regularly visit and get to quite early.

[Psyren]

I like Dalish because it ties you more to the setting. But it is easily the most boring origin.

Mage's Fade opener is hardly worth grousing about, it lasts all of five minutes. Running around in the Tower basement takes longer and is more annoying.

I agree that City Elf has the biggest WHAM moments, followed closely by Human Noble.

[Amaril]

See, I think the Mage opening is by far the best. Yeah, it's visually ugly, but so is the rest of the game. And it's the only one that presents the kind of difficult moral dilemma that makes Bioware RPGs interesting.

[lord_khaine]

Well.. i cant comment on how exiting the other classes openings were, mainly because i though the Mage class is a lot more interesting, and has far more diverse options than the other classes. Sadly for them a lot of their skills are mainly "hit someone a little harder" Or substained skills that drains so much stamina that they cant really do much with their active skills.

[Psyren]

Rogues have plenty of options too. Melee combat, ranged combat, traps, grenades, plus having one early on means less backtracking for locked chests. And their PrCs/specializations are solid too - you can buff the party as a Bard, summon disposable backup as a Ranger, even be a semi-respectable tank with Duelist + Legionnaire.

Warriors are pretty bland in comparison to the other two though.

[lord_khaine]

Well.. im not saying there were not options in what you could branch out to do with your rogue, mainly that a lot of the skills did not really seem like they did much, and that it felt like specialising in fx ranged combat felt like it limited you from doing much in melee. Ranger were an absurdly useful specialisation though, having an additional body on the team worked wonders for some of the harder battles.

[Aeson]

Personally, I tend to feel that there are two things wrong with the mundane classes in Origins. Firstly, I get the feeling that they have too few useful abilities to choose from relative to the number of abilities they'll eventually have; the abilities in the groupings for each fighting style generally do not work unless you're using that fighting style, and with only 12 abilities in each fighting style you're likely going to have all of them eventually, and you'll probably get them in more or less the same order, too, because of how the trees are structured (well, if you can call three unbranching non-interdependent lines of four skills each a 'tree'). Archery has the additional issue that many of its abilities don't really feel like they do enough to be worth using, at least not in my experience. Secondly, Rogues and Warriors feel like they're basically the same class, except that Rogues get to pick locks and disarm traps for some reason. This causes Warriors to feel a little redundant, at least to me, because Rogues and certain Mage builds can do most of the things that Warriors can about as well while offering utility that the Warriors cannot match. While I don't particularly care for DAII, I will say that I think it did a much better job of making Rogues and Warriors into distinct classes, even if I don't necessarily care for how it did so.

[Dienekes]

Dwarf noble was definitely one of the better origin stories. Good choice. :smallsmile:

My personal favorite of the bunch. Though City Elf, Human, and Low Class Dwarf are also good. I found Mage and Dalish Elf just boring as hell.

Enjoy the game, Doma, this one has some of my favorite companions and moments in the series. The best strategic gameplay (but also the worst action gameplay, and most terribly balanced of the bunch).

[GloatingSwine]

I tried starting as a dorf first, but then found that I didn't care about stupid surface people with their stupid surface problems.


Well.. im not saying there were not options in what you could branch out to do with your rogue, mainly that a lot of the skills did not really seem like they did much, and that it felt like specialising in fx ranged combat felt like it limited you from doing much in melee. Ranger were an absurdly useful specialisation though, having an additional body on the team worked wonders for some of the harder battles.


Dual wield rogue is the horrible DPS monster class. Lethality, Exploit Weakness, Mark of Death, only just enough strength for your chosen swords, then drop all your points into Cunning. Your normal attacks will be doing damage in the hundreds easy, backstabs will probably hit 250-300. Assassin/Bard (for Song of Courage for more crit chance) is the way to be a murder machine. Coup de Grace will get you free backstabs on any target hit by Dirty Fighting, and you can use a controller mage for mass paralysis to get even more backstabs.

You can melt enemies with a rogue.

[Amaril]

Dual wield rogue is the horrible DPS monster class. Lethality, Exploit Weakness, Mark of Death, only just enough strength for your chosen swords, then drop all your points into Cunning. Your normal attacks will be doing damage in the hundreds easy, backstabs will probably hit 250-300. Assassin/Bard (for Song of Courage for more crit chance) is the way to be a murder machine. Coup de Grace will get you free backstabs on any target hit by Dirty Fighting, and you can use a controller mage for mass paralysis to get even more backstabs.

You can melt enemies with a rogue.

Or you can be an arcane warrior with the heal spell, a.k.a. "party? I don't need no stinkin' party!" :smalltongue:

[GloatingSwine]

Or you can be an arcane warrior with the heal spell, a.k.a. "party? I don't need no stinkin' party!" :smalltongue:

Yeah, but you sacrifice sufficient DPS that "wait for enemy to die of old age" is a viable strategy now. (Admittedly, that is the best way to deal with the Harvester)

[Amaril]

Yeah, but you sacrifice sufficient DPS that "wait for enemy to die of old age" is a viable strategy now. (Admittedly, that is the best way to deal with the Harvester)

Funny, I never noticed my warriors and rogues adding all that much to my DPS--probably because I had basically zero party optimization (I discovered the arcane warrior's broken-ness on my own character purely by accident).

[Dienekes]

Funny, I never noticed my warriors and rogues adding all that much to my DPS--probably because I had basically zero party optimization (I discovered the arcane warrior's broken-ness on my own character purely by accident).

Mathematically ridiculously high dex dual dagger rogues have the highest single target DPS in the game, and become pretty much immortal because of how defense is calculated (high dex means no one hits you). Though they do have a tendency to suffer from area attacks, but it's not like they can't deal with them. I've seen people do the high dex double dagger build solo through Nightmare mode.

Mages, on the other hand, do everything. They have the best burst damage, they have good single target damage, arcane warriors are about as durable as warriors, they can heal, they can do spell combos that just get ridiculous. They can also solo the game on nightmare, but their real benefit comes from taking 2-3 mages with your group and have them work together. 2-3 mages in a group is basically playing the game on easy mode. If you lose an encounter with 3 mages, you either are horrible under-leveled, or you're just very, very bad at the game.

Warriors, well, shield warriors can tank for awhile with taunts, and can survive for a bit. Two-handers suck, you can make them suck less by realizing Sunder Armor strikes twice so you just spam that. Archer and dual weapon exist, but I think rogue does them better.

[DomaDoma]

In light of the way I divided in- and out-of-character knowledge, I find we need to add one more thing to the rubric before it's too late. Blue will henceforth stand for Walker's IC perspective.

...Such as it is.

PART TWO: AT LEAST I'M NOT A MURDERER

Next morning, the raiding party meets in the Deep Roads. A soft-voiced, big-shot dwarven authority, whose name is apparently Harrowmont (a reassuring name if ever there was one), agrees with the Grey Wardens that the Wardens ought to clear out the tunnels leading to the surface themselves, because those would be the most infested at the moment.

Bhelen thinks this comes off as cowardly, and isn't afraid to border on insolence saying so. He's probably right, all told. But at least this part of the battle plan has kept Trian from an obvious means of legitimizing my assassination, and I think I can trust the Grey Wardens when they say they can handle themselves.

HARROWMONT: Your father has a special mission for you.

ENDRIN: Trian and his men will clear the way for the Grey Wardens to descend into the easternmost caverns. In the eastern Deep Roads, there is a secret door carved into the stone.

HARROWMONT: The door leads to a thaig [underground city] abandoned long ago by your ancestors. The darkspawn have made it impossible to reach.

I rescind everything I thought about the battle plans half a minute ago.

Purported purpose of the mission: find the shield of the Paragon Aeducan. I can't very well refuse that - and Trian no doubt knows it, too.


Off we go, then.


(I slow Walker and Gorim to a walk for drama's sake, and set our battle tactics to "defensive". This is not the proper way to avoid getting led into an ambush, but let's take it as a given for the next few updates that I am incapable of finding my ass with both hands where the gameplay mechanics are concerned.)

http://i.imgur.com/C5MDXze.png
(Maddeningly, it turns out there IS no premium version of my printscreen app.)

"Deep Roads" is, properly, the term for the sort of grand hallway you're seeing here. But that tunnel off to the left, which you will gather is an artifact of the darkspawn corruption, is a much more representative sample. Grey, twisty caverns. Darkspawn live in them. Not worth a screen, really.

The fights that ensue are definitely warmups. One giant spider; two haphazard genlocks (these are the goblin-analogous darkspawn); a swarm of high-health but rather ineffectual miniature longneck dinosaur things, which are called deepstalkers.

There are two dwarven corpses along the way. Which I do not loot, frankly on account of the beguiling golden sparks surrounding all lootable objects. Oh, and the way that corpses, once looted, instantly decay to skeletons in puddles of blood. And the fact that you can't put anything on a corpse. And the fact that if a corpse is not lootable, it doesn't even come with a label telling you who's dead.

TES is far superior in respect for the dead, is what I'm saying here.

Anyway, amid a lot of bumbling about - dwarven maps of the Deep Roads and associated caverns, as portrayed on my minimap, seem to miss a good many recent obstructions - we come to a nicely preserved circular crossroads, where we meet up with one of the two scouts meant to join us on the way. His name is Frandlin Ivo:

http://i.imgur.com/BHmKUir.png

We must assume that Trian, by his input to the battle plan, arranged for the presence of these scouts.

And yet this Ivo raises a fair point: we really haven't met any significant fight from the darkspawn yet. And he's warning me that there is much stiffer resistance ahead. If there is a game here that ends in my death, I cannot fathom its reasoning.


The second scout is simply named "Scout." ...Okay.

http://i.imgur.com/v6wEOBn.png

SCOUT: You're here! I thought the darkspawn had got you for sure!

WALKER [no longer misliking Frandlin but still operating under the assumption that this scout is a traitor for sure]: I'm not that easy to kill.

SCOUT [faux-affably]: Then I'll make sure I'm behind you if we're swarmed.


He will stay close with the rest of us. I don't care that he is an archer: he will not be far from my blade, should he turn on us.

His skillsets include poison-making and "Dirty Fighting." I deeply mislike this character.

Around the corner is some definite sign of former dwarven habitation, and our first serious fight: a band of genlocks with a leader, denoted in threatening yellow text as a "Genlock Alpha".

Given the fact that I've just shown I'm so clueless I don't even know what the rogue class entails at this point in the game, you'll probably be unsurprised to hear that I assumed the GIANT LEERING PINK-MIST-COVERED SKULL that replaces your party members' portraits when they fall in battle means that they're permanently dead. First time through, Gorim "died". UNACCEPTABLE. I reload the game at once. Next time around, "death" came to Scout the scout. Moderately acceptable. And, lo and behold, at battle's end he sprang back up again.

Worth a commemorative snapshot, I think (if only because I haven't actually shown you any darkspawn yet):

http://i.imgur.com/iYktFkI.png

At last we get to the door.

It is severely open.

http://i.imgur.com/asdjr7j.png

SCOUT: Looks like someone beat us to the door.

WALKER: They had to have an Aeducan signet ring to get in.

FRANDLIN: It could have been stolen, recently or generations back.

SCOUT [sounding like he's reached Maximum Cynical for possible scenarios]: Or it could be an ambitious cousin out for his own glory.

WALKER [significantly, furtively signaling Gorim to stay close]: We'll see soon enough.

And soon enough, what we see is this extravagantly sneering schnozz and his band of mercenaries:

http://i.imgur.com/XLgobjp.png

Needless to say, these men were sent to kill me. Also, though admittedly the point is made rather moot by that consideration, I don't in fact know where the shield is. Battle is joined: we prevail, though our victory was hard-pressed.

My scouts do not turn on me in the battle, and the knavish, barely-bearded one makes himself quite useful in pointing out traps. I feel I have sorely misread them.

And yes. If there were any remaining doubt, when we get to the mercenary's body...

GORIM: Is that really Trian's signet ring?

WALKER: Yes. My brother has been sloppy this time.


A profound relief. Presuming that this was Trian's sole game, then not only have I kept my life, but I may win by the peacable means of Orzammar's justice, and it need not come to blood after all.

Presuming.

GORIM: It must have been a major victory for Trian to get that shield. But he showed his hand, and failed.

(Dangit, Gorim, you were right there when Bhelen told me what Trian was up to. Don't play ignorant on me now!)

As for the shield itself: it is hidden in a sarcophagus activated by an Aeducan ring and a highly straightforward switch puzzle. Walker and (by extension) Gorim are much taken with it, but Scout, unimpressed, points out that it's an ancient shield, which, compared to modern dwarven work, is frankly shoddy.

On the way back to the crossroads, Gorim expresses his concern that we may be ambushed. This is a very good point. At the very least, Trian will want to check on his mercenaries' success.

The archer butts in, demanding to know what we're talking about. Well, he has after all proven himself to be on our side. And even if there's some crucial reason I'm missing for why he saved our lives back there, what action can he take? Alert and abet the ambush party more? I tell him the whole truth.

[There is, after this exchange, a sound effect I am quite certain is a glitch of some kind. It is not. More momentarily.]

There is no ambush in the narrow cavern. But when we get to the crossroads:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/WdxPbhM.png

We heard these dwarves' dying screams, all in unison. We... simply didn't know what to make of it.

GORIM [approaching one of the bodies]: By the Stone, it's Trian!

(The scouts hasten to inform us that it wasn't the doing of darkspawn, either.)


[There is a dialogue option here where the penny drops as to what, exactly, has transpired. I would be lying if I said it registered.]

http://i.imgur.com/B62usYF.png

I have spent the last sleepless night steeling myself for this. Or imagining I was. But now that it comes to seeing my brother slain - and he might not have meant my death by his actions today, either - now that I look back, there were so many opportunities he had and didn't take...

He may simply have wanted the shield, to show me up. That would be like him. And he could have had the shield. He is an Aeducan as much as I - was - and the heir If he'd come in person, I would probably have given it to him. Only no, I wouldn't have, not today. I only mean, if he'd not been here, if he'd come in person and I hadn't been turned paranoiac by some off word Bhelen sorely misinter--

http://i.imgur.com/xo9K3Yd.png
http://i.imgur.com/ZfMMbkq.png



ENDRIN: My son. Tell me this isn't what it looks like.

WALKER: It's not. I assure you.

GORIM: My lord is innocent!

ENDRIN: Sir Gorim, your loyalty makes you a useless witness. It falls to others to tell the story.


And so my scouts betray me to a brother, after all. I cannot fight the accusation. All I can do is accuse Bhelen in turn, before I am borne to the dungeons of Orzammar.

Let the truth be heard.




[The intended segment was going to contain my weekly art practice, but you know what, this is a much better dramatic pause than the one I decided on when I made the sketch. We'll leave it here for now.]

[DomaDoma]

PART THREE: AT LEAST PRISON IS STILL A GOOD SIGN

And so there is nothing left but to await judgment. The bones in my cell do little to make me confident of the wait, but the fact of imprisonment itself...

There are voices from the hall.

Gorim!

http://i.imgur.com/FxgnDwu.png

"Trian is dead. How do you think I am?" [This being the closest available option to "Bhelen betrayed us."]

GORIM: I understand. It's going to get worse, though. Bhelen has taken Trian's place in the Assembly. He introduced a motion to condemn you immediately, and it easily passed. He... had fully half the Assembly ready to vote on something completely against tradition and justice!

He must have been making deals and alliances for months, if not years.

Whatever these treacherous nobles may think of me, however they may laugh, shame at being outmaneuvered is the furthest thing from my head. I have never been a diplomat, and am quite at peace with the fact. Occasionally, I wallop the proper things to please the right people, and people mistake this for diplomacy - but the reality is that I couldn't negotiate vital intelligence into the hands of my own commanding officer.

(No, that incident is still cause for shame.)

No. My mind is staggered with one thought only:

We are betrayed, we are usurped, and no good can come of a rule like that.


Gorim says that the succession is somewhat contested, highlighting the name of Harrowmont, but firmly considers it too little, too late.

GORIM: The Assembly has already sentenced both of us.

No. No, is it not enough...

WALKER: What's going to happen to you?

It's exile to the surface for him. For me, Bhelen insisted on exile to the Deep Roads - meaning, of course, a fairly inevitable death by darkspawn.

WALKER: It's a warrior's death, at least.

And here Gorim pulls out the ace. He's passing on the word from Harrowmont: the Grey Wardens are still on the Deep Roads, in tunnels connected to the one I am banished to. If I manage to get to them, there's a way out for me after all.

GORIM: I'm going to try to go to Denerim, the human capital. If you make it out, find me.

WALKER: Goodbye, Gorim.

GORIM: I will always be your man, my lord Aeducan.

And here is a path to redeeming my past failures that I had never considered. For I can think of no task less enviable, yet more necessary, than the one before me.

http://i.imgur.com/vKcXbOa.jpg

With that, they take me to Harrowmont. Which would go some way toward explaining why I'm being thrown into this particular cave network.

http://i.imgur.com/98HYaeA.png

HARROWMONT: Having been found guilty of fratricide by the Assembly of Orzammar, you are hereby sentenced to exile and death.

(Death by exile!)

Your name is, from this point forward, stripped from the records. You are no longer a person, nor a memory. You are to be cast into the Deep Roads with only sword and shield, there to redeem your life by fighting the enemies of Orzammar until your death.

Do you have anything to say before the sentence is carried out?

WALKER: Bhelen will destroy you, as he did me.

(You had better believe that this verbatim dialogue option warrants the blue text.)

Harrowmont, just to be sure, tells me to look him in the eye and declare my innocence. I fancy Walker isn't quite up to the steady eye contact at the moment, which may, frankly, be why he believes me. Have you guys ever met a hard-core liar? All about the clear, sincere eye contact, even when the accusation is serious enough it should be seriously upsetting them that anyone would even suggest it.

HARROWMONT: Believe me, I will spend the rest of my days making sure Bhelen does not profit by his deeds.

I expect his days to be short-lived. I expect no one to be surprised, or suspect foul play. Harrowmont is an old man.

[Rejected dialogue option: Tell my father
I went to a warrior's death. Already I know I must return, and soon.]

Upshot: for a guy with the word "Harrow" in his name, Harrowmont is really not bad. At all.

http://i.imgur.com/LR6sZap.png
http://i.imgur.com/4mfKyfH.png
http://i.imgur.com/wDpQCNY.png
http://i.imgur.com/6iU9GwK.png
http://i.imgur.com/LuNYKAE.png



The Deep Roads are as quiet as I've ever seen them. Quieter even than yesterday, thanks to the Blight in the surface. Truly, Bhelen cannot have picked a better time for this coup. But then, when it comes to captivity, when it comes to chances that save my own skin, fortune does seem to smile on me. This is less a comfort than a quiet affirmation of the status quo.

Did I believe I was too good to loot the bodies of my dwarven brethren? Desperation gives me the lie. I must survive, get to Duncan, return to Orzammar as soon as I can be made credible. And so I take what measure of protection I can.

(Note: when you loot these bodies, you'll observe that the bodies do not dissolve into skeletons, but on the other hand, when you take off the helmet, you'll see they didn't actually bother to program in hair. Oy.)

Eventually:

http://i.imgur.com/bTogC0P.png

DUNCAN: Lord Aeducan! What are you doing alone? Where are your troops?

WALKER: I am Lord Aeducan no longer.

DUNCAN: Ah. You have been made to walk the Deep Roads, then.

(Seriously knowledgeable about Orzammar's culture.)

NAMELESS GREY WARDEN: You mean you were exiled? What happened?

DUNCAN: I do not think matters of dwarven honor are any business of ours, friend.

You think wrong. You think deeply wrong.

WALKER: My brother betrayed me.

DUNCAN: Lord Trian?

(Duncan leaps to that conclusion too? I don't feel quite so much like a sucker now.)

Walker, of course, gets the story as straight as he can.

DUNCAN: You have already proven yourself both resourceful and skilled, and I would expect nothing less from an Aeducan. I have been searching for those with your level of ability. Your exploits in the Deep Roads set you apart. As leader of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden, I would like to formally invite you to join our order.

WALKER [bowled over by this extravagant welcome at this juncture]: I would be honored.

And if I spend the days from now to my return fighting darkspawn on the surface, I can't count that time wasted.

DUNCAN: We leave immediately for Ostagar to join with the human forces facing the darkspawn hordes, led by King Cailan. Stay close. There are still darkspawn around every corner...

...So, to be honest, this is, again, a pretty good place to leave off. Which is good. My drawings for yesterday's replay session were wretched. My drawing of Balgruuf in particular makes the first sketch on this thread look like a freaking masterpiece, and there are flagrant traces of the erasure of stupid things everywhere.

But here, take this as a good-faith token that I've actually done the work (there exists a chance that this panel, I'll actually keep as drawn:)

http://i.imgur.com/gmPvRlM.png

By the way, can I just note the way Duncan trills his R's? Majestic. In fact, you can just take it as a general assumption that, where voice acting is concerned, DA knocks TES clean out of the park.

[GloatingSwine]

By the way, can I just note the way Duncan trills his R's? Majestic. In fact, you can just take it as a general assumption that, where voice acting is concerned, DA knocks TES clean out of the park.

It helps they hire more than a dozen people to do all the voices in the game.

[lord_khaine]

And just wait until you meet your different companions, their voice does a lot to add distinction and personality as well.

[Cozzer]

As a fan of the series, I'm really enjoying this take on its first game. I hope you will like it enough to do something similar for the sequels. :P

[Dienekes]

I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say you do eventually return to Orzammar, and I cannot wait to see how Walker deals with it.

But yeah, when it comes to voice acting and general characterization, Bioware is close to the best in the business.

[Psyren]

As a fan of the series, I'm really enjoying this take on its first game. I hope you will like it enough to do something similar for the sequels. :P

Awakening at least, though of course that may depend on...

[JadedDM]

Oh, yeah, Duncan's voice actor is great. He's Peter Renaday (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Renaday) and he's done a ton of voice work in film, television and video games. I mostly recognized him as Master Splinter from the old 80's TMNT cartoon.

[Phobia]

I'm enjoying this. I always go super schemey in the Dwarf Noble opening because it's the closest thing I can get to King's Landing.

[Forum Explorer]

I do really like the story of DA but I couldn't stand the combat. Though in retrospect, maybe that's because I went 2-handed fighter. Maybe I should give it another try as a mage.

[Giggling Ghast]

I do really like the story of DA but I couldn't stand the combat. Though in retrospect, maybe that's because I went 2-handed fighter. Maybe I should give it another try as a mage.

Sure, if you want to be a skirt-wearing FREAK. Dual-weapon rogue all the way!

[GloatingSwine]

Fightomans is definitely the boring choice in DAO, you only really need one to be the team punching bag and that's Alistair's job.

[Aeson]

Sure, if you want to be a skirt-wearing FREAK. Dual-weapon rogue all the way!
Assuming you don't have something like the Vestments of the Seer, light armor isn't really that bad of an option for a mage in the early portion of the game. Missing out on the +1 magic or willpower or whatever it is that the basic robes offer isn't that much of a loss, and having an actual armor rating can sometimes be useful. Later on it becomes harder to justify because the bonuses from the robes get better and the armor starts requiring points in Strength that a mage probably doesn't have, though I suppose you could take the Arcane Warrior specialization to get around that even if you're not going to try replacing the party tank with your mage.

[lord_khaine]

Assuming you don't have something like the Vestments of the Seer, light armor isn't really that bad of an option for a mage in the early portion of the game. Missing out on the +1 magic or willpower or whatever it is that the basic robes offer isn't that much of a loss, and having an actual armor rating can sometimes be useful. Later on it becomes harder to justify because the bonuses from the robes get better and the armor starts requiring points in Strength that a mage probably doesn't have, though I suppose you could take the Arcane Warrior specialization to get around that even if you're not going to try replacing the party tank with your mage.

I honestly gave Arcane warrior to every single mage on my last team. Just for the pleasure of not having them croak to every random archer they accidentially draws agro from.

[Grif]

I do really like the story of DA but I couldn't stand the combat. Though in retrospect, maybe that's because I went 2-handed fighter. Maybe I should give it another try as a mage.

I remember 2H fighters being pretty bad on Origins. (Trying to shape Sten in a 2H build still resulting in him doing less damage than Zevran. Which annoyed me.)

[Dienekes]

I remember 2H fighters being pretty bad on Origins. (Trying to shape Sten in a 2H build still resulting in him doing less damage than Zevran. Which annoyed me.)

Sten does get the short end of the stick in DAO, the only 'standard class' companion to not get a specialization and starting with arguably the worst build in the game.

I took him everywhere anyway of course cuz damn that sarcastic ass is funny.

[DomaDoma]

I would call for a moratorium on party members' names at this juncture, but if anyone is reading this thread who hasn't already played the game they're keeping awfully quiet. Keep the major spoilers under wraps, even so. (A category which includes the next major cutscene, if we're not clear on that.)

[GloatingSwine]

I remember 2H fighters being pretty bad on Origins. (Trying to shape him in a 2H build still resulting in him doing less damage than him. Which annoyed me.)

NPCs be damned, the big super damage smash move of 2H does about as much damage as a backstab rogue will do with every backstab, which you can get super consistently, especially once you get a controller mage with Mass Paralysis.

[lord_khaine]

I would call for a moratorium on party members' names at this juncture, but if anyone is reading this thread who hasn't already played the game they're keeping awfully quiet. Keep the major spoilers under wraps, even so. (A category which includes the next major cutscene, if we're not clear on that.)

Well.. its thankfully not like we cant also get along with discrete hints here. Think most people already know who is talked about when we comes to 2H fighter, or backstab rogue :smalltongue:
Or old/young mage, meatshield, unarmed fighter, pigion hater, archer. :smallamused:

[Phobia]

Don't forget the mighty Barkspawn.

[Aeson]

unarmed fighter
Oghren? I don't really think of him as an unarmed fighter. I'd have called him the drunk.

If there was any companion I'd call 'unarmed fighter,' it'd be Shale, but you already named her pigeon-hater.

[lord_khaine]

unarmed fighter


Dog , who are the only one besides Shale who dont use weapons.
I actually forgot about Oghden, since i newer use him myself. But yeah, would have called him Drunk as well

[Aeson]

Dog , who are the only one besides Shale who dont use weapons.
I actually forgot about Oghden, since i newer use him myself. But yeah, would have called him Drunk as well

Ah, okay; I vaguely recall there being something about him being forbidden to bear arms inside Orzammar and thought that that might have something to do with being called an unarmed fighter.

[Giggling Ghast]

XXX was forbidden from carrying a weapon in Orzammar ....

... because he killed a young noble in a Proving. Not technically illegal, but it was supposed to be to first blood.

[Lethologica]

I feel like all of that is a spoiler, but I haven't played Dwarf Noble origin so I don't know what's covered.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it was good fun watching Walker dutifully suspect Trian while Bhelen lined up the backstab.

[lord_khaine]

Jack, this is a blind playthough, the Author has directly asked us to avoid spoilering things by revealing names.
Thats directly the reason for the whole bit about finding nicknames that dont reveal anything.

[DomaDoma]

ARGH! I just made the vast majority of a post and then fumbled onto the back button. Is there any way to get to that draft that I kept seeing being auto-saved, or are we just going to have to wait until tomorrow?

[Psyren]

I feel like all of that is a spoiler, but I haven't played Dwarf Noble origin so I don't know what's covered.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it was good fun watching Walker dutifully suspect Trian while Bhelen lined up the backstab.

It's funny really:

My first playthrough, I was a human mage, and so I thought "Hey, this Bhelen guy is a bit rough around the edges and has an attitude problem, but he seems progressive wants to do right by his people."

Then I played the Dwarf Noble Origin. Now I just screw Bhelen over on every subsequent playthrough out of general principle regardless of race.

[SuperPanda]

Re: Psyren

My first play through was as a female city elf, as a result I was a very progressive and anti-tradition warden. I helped Bhelen rise to power in that run without ever thinking twice about it. Meanwhile the friend who had convinved me to get the game had played Dwarf Nobel and fumed at me over the phone about how upset he was about Bhelen - he never sided with Harrowmont in any playthrough because that stuck with him for a while.

I think that even if my elf warden had known the whole story she still would have sided with Bhelen. Killing other nobles and taking care of the people would make him sound like a hero to her, meanwhile my human noble character sided with Harrowmont because traditions are important (and would done so faster knowing the truth).


Doma:

take your time. I'm absolutely loving this thread. I feel like playing the game again because of it.

[GloatingSwine]

The irony, of course, is that Harrowmont is a terrible king for Orzammar. Bhelen opens up trade, accepts help from the surface and pushes back the Darkspawn in the deep roads, and is generally a forward thinking ruler. Harrowmont closes Orzammar off from the surface, reinforces the caste system, persecutes the casteless, and dooms the dwarves to further isolation and slow destruction and further chaos following his succession which comes relatively soon.

The game might initially turn you against Bhelen's methods, he's ruthless and dedicated to obtaining power in order to effect change, but he's actually the better choice for the Dwarves in basically every permutation of events.

[Psyren]

Re: Psyren

My first play through was as a female city elf, as a result I was a very progressive and anti-tradition warden. I helped Bhelen rise to power in that run without ever thinking twice about it. Meanwhile the friend who had convinved me to get the game had played Dwarf Nobel and fumed at me over the phone about how upset he was about Bhelen - he never sided with Harrowmont in any playthrough because that stuck with him for a while.

I think that even if my elf warden had known the whole story she still would have sided with Bhelen. Killing other nobles and taking care of the people would make him sound like a hero to her, meanwhile my human noble character sided with Harrowmont because traditions are important (and would done so faster knowing the truth).


Doma:

take your time. I'm absolutely loving this thread. I feel like playing the game again because of it.


The irony, of course, is that Harrowmont is a terrible king for Orzammar. Bhelen opens up trade, accepts help from the surface and pushes back the Darkspawn in the deep roads, and is generally a forward thinking ruler. Harrowmont closes Orzammar off from the surface, reinforces the caste system, persecutes the casteless, and dooms the dwarves to further isolation and slow destruction and further chaos following his succession which comes relatively soon.

The game might initially turn you against Bhelen's methods, he's ruthless and dedicated to obtaining power in order to effect change, but he's actually the better choice for the Dwarves in basically every permutation of events.

He absolutely is. I fully acknowledge it to be metagaming. I just can't help it.

Not that it ultimately matters anyway, at least as of DAI and very likely beyond.

[lord_khaine]

Dwarfs


Going by the d&d axis Bhelen is Chaotic EVIL, going to any lenght to increase his power. And it is quite annoying that Orzamar were in a position where they so badly need someone ready to break or change the rules, that he would be a better reagent than the Lawful Neutral Harrowmount.

Though what really, REALLY, annoyes me is the setup with the Anvil of the Void. On one hand the dwarfs is in constant fight for their continued survival against the forces of destruction. On the other the Anvil is the singel item with the biggest chance of saving their civilisation, able to create soldiers that can ignore fatique, hunger, sleep and the darkspawn taint.

And yet destroying it is very clearly made out to be the right thing to do :smallmad:
Despite the legion of dead litterally holding their own wake upon joining, and most likely are ready to willingly give up their squishy bodies to a dwarf.

And despite Shale clearly demonstrating that you dont need to make the stupid control rods, you can settle for just making semi-immortal super soldiers.

Gahh.. the stupitidy and railroading of that quest makes me want to smash my head against the keyboard :smallmad:

[Lethologica]

ARGH! I just made the vast majority of a post and then fumbled onto the back button. Is there any way to get to that draft that I kept seeing being auto-saved, or are we just going to have to wait until tomorrow?
Sometimes if you go back to the reply you were making, the auto-save thing will pop up. Sometimes it won't. I just lost a poem that way recently, so I feel ya.

[Psyren]

Dwarfs


Going by the d&d axis Bhelen is Chaotic EVIL, going to any lenght to increase his power. And it is quite annoying that Orzamar were in a position where they so badly need someone ready to break or change the rules, that he would be a better reagent than the Lawful Neutral Harrowmount.

Though what really, REALLY, annoyes me is the setup with the Anvil of the Void. On one hand the dwarfs is in constant fight for their continued survival against the forces of destruction. On the other the Anvil is the singel item with the biggest chance of saving their civilisation, able to create soldiers that can ignore fatique, hunger, sleep and the darkspawn taint.

And yet destroying it is very clearly made out to be the right thing to do :smallmad:
Despite the legion of dead litterally holding their own wake upon joining, and most likely are ready to willingly give up their squishy bodies to a dwarf.

And despite Shale clearly demonstrating that you dont need to make the stupid control rods, you can settle for just making semi-immortal super soldiers.

Gahh.. the stupitidy and railroading of that quest makes me want to smash my head against the keyboard :smallmad:



I think the issue there is that

It's too much power to trust to a corrupt government like that of the Dwarves. Yes, with a benevolent ruler the anvil can be a great tool for good. Problem is, absolutely nobody makes it to the throne or Assembly by being benevolent, and within a generation or two you pretty much inevitably end up with dwarf commoner babies getting their souls stuffed inside killing machines, willing or not.

[GloatingSwine]

Dwarfs


Going by the d&d axis Bhelen is Chaotic EVIL, going to any lenght to increase his power. And it is quite annoying that Orzamar were in a position where they so badly need someone ready to break or change the rules, that he would be a better reagent than the Lawful Neutral Harrowmount.


On the other hand, Bhelen isn't doing this with the end goal of increasing his power. Power is a tool to overhaul dwarven society for the benefit of the vast majority of the dwarves.

You can just as easily argue that Harrowmont is Lawful Evil, he doesn't care at all about the suffering of the casteless, he bans them from the commons, demolishes the slums and leaves them even worse off, if left with the Anvil he kidnaps humans and elves from the surface to fuel it and by so doing starts a war in which the dwarves suffer more, but he doesn't care because suffering of others for the sake of upholding order is not a bad thing to him.

Whereas Bhelen wants to overthrow the iniquitous order because he wants to do good but is in a situation which requires him to use extreme measures to do it.

Before calling characters good or evil for their pursuit of power, consider what they do when they have it.

[Aeson]

On the other hand, Bhelen isn't doing this with the end goal of increasing his power. Power is a tool to overhaul dwarven society for the benefit of the vast majority of the dwarves.

You can just as easily argue that Harrowmont is Lawful Evil, he doesn't care at all about the suffering of the casteless, he bans them from the commons, demolishes the slums and leaves them even worse off, if left with the Anvil he kidnaps humans and elves from the surface to fuel it and by so doing starts a war in which the dwarves suffer more, but he doesn't care because suffering of others for the sake of upholding order is not a bad thing to him.

Whereas Bhelen wants to overthrow the iniquitous order because he wants to do good but is in a situation which requires him to use extreme measures to do it.

Before calling characters good or evil for their pursuit of power, consider what they do when they have it.
That Bhelen, once in power, increases the justness of the dwarven system does not make him non-evil. The means by which he moved to take power in the first place are pretty dark, and if I recall correctly he's also rather vindictive towards the Harrowmont family, ordering Lord Harrowmont executed despite Harrowmont's acceptance of the Assembly's decision and acting to kill off the rest of Harrowmont's family through even less legal means. He also dissolves the Assembly, which, despite the body's constant bickering and ineffectiveness, is a somewhat suspect move. There's also the fact that if you sway the Assembly to decide against Bhelen, Bhelen refuses to acknowledge its authority to deny him the crown.

Also, the kidnappings of humans and elves to create more golems if the Anvil was preserved and Harrowmont rules are said to be Branka's doing, not Harrowmont's, though the fact that the raids do not happen (at least not to an extent worth reporting in the epilogue or worth fighting a war over) when Bhelen refuses Branka's demand for more "volunteers" makes the idea that Branka is solely responsible for the raids rather suspect.

Personally, I'd be willing to call Bhelen evil based on his methods and Harrowmont evil based on his strict adherence to tradition despite the injustices.

[lord_khaine]

Dwarf internal politics.



It's too much power to trust to a corrupt government like that of the Dwarves. Yes, with a benevolent ruler the anvil can be a great tool for good. Problem is, absolutely nobody makes it to the throne or Assembly by being benevolent, and within a generation or two you pretty much inevitably end up with dwarf commoner babies getting their souls stuffed inside killing machines, willing or not.

That was certainly the broken aesop that i felt the developers where trying their best to show down my throat, no matter what sort of solutions that could be imagined.
Despite that absolutely noone is going to shove a baby soul into a 3 meter tall war machine. You dont want your new tool for killing darkspawn to have the motoric control of a baby. And despite you already having an entire legion throwing their life away for the good of the dwarf race. Might as well throw it into an iron body first.

Honestly with sentient and self-aware golems it seems clear that the only reason for control rods at all were so that The Anvil would be easier to abuse. And the stupidity of this really pisses me off, when you got the creator of the anvil right in front of you, and the control rods are the only thing that really makes it possible for a evil person to use non-willing subjects.


Personally, I'd be willing to call Bhelen evil based on his methods and Harrowmont evil based on his strict adherence to tradition despite the injustices.

Yeah, Bhelen does just about every vile deed imaginable to gather power, and we see no evidence about for what purpose.
Harrowmont initially shows himself to be a much better person, not sinking to Bhelen's level in the election fight. Even if he afterwards by writer fiat becomes a horrible ruler.

[Dienekes]

On the other hand, Bhelen isn't doing this with the end goal of increasing his power. Power is a tool to overhaul dwarven society for the benefit of the vast majority of the dwarves.

You can just as easily argue that Harrowmont is Lawful Evil, he doesn't care at all about the suffering of the casteless, he bans them from the commons, demolishes the slums and leaves them even worse off, if left with the Anvil he kidnaps humans and elves from the surface to fuel it and by so doing starts a war in which the dwarves suffer more, but he doesn't care because suffering of others for the sake of upholding order is not a bad thing to him.

Whereas Bhelen wants to overthrow the iniquitous order because he wants to do good but is in a situation which requires him to use extreme measures to do it.

Before calling characters good or evil for their pursuit of power, consider what they do when they have it.


Oh I definitely disagree on your interpretation of Bhelen. Your dwarf noble can be the most pro reform friendly dude imaginable and Bhelen will still betray him. Bhelen wants power first and foremost. Yeah he has a vision for the dwarves but he is self serving in the extreme.

I think of him as basically Julius Caesar. When he took over he made a lot of reforms that really helped the people. He was a populist after all. And Rome was in a bit of a mess when it comes to class disparity. But never underestimate the lengths he was willing to go for his own personal power.

Though ahh the Orzammar missions. I am so torn on them. On the one hand it had one of the few moral choices that as presented is an actual interesting moral choice. Do you aid the bloodthirsty Julius Caesar or the honorable Cato the Younger? Both have pretty good points actually. Both have gaping giant flaws.

The political intrigue is also very interesting, right up until you get shoved into the Deep Roads for far too long.

But Bioware ruins it when they give the details of what happens after. Instead of showing something interesting like Bhelen getting some reforms in but his underhanded backstabbing ending up biting his attempts at progress in the ass. While Harrowmont makes less change but maybe strengthens border defense or something. You know something that could see the pros and cons of both characters play out in history. Instead Bhelen somehow turns into an amazing king, and Harrowmont suddenly turns into Hitler. And I'm not making that comparison lightly. He just goes full insane villain mode at the end.

It's just disappointing that the last bit of execution was so much less interesting than the complicated build up to get there.

[Giggling Ghast]

Perhaps general Dragon Age debate can be taken to the other Dragon Age thread? *whistles*

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?403486-Dragon-Age-Inquisition-V-Hard-in-Hightown

[Psyren]

Agreed, replying there.

[Phobia]

Bring on more of the play through!

[DomaDoma]

I'm enjoying this. I always go super schemey in the Dwarf Noble opening because it's the closest thing I can get to King's Landing.

http://i.imgur.com/Ugk8xbG.png

Talking of bad art, we are, alas, sticking with the crappy art I drew two Mondays ago. I have spent the week since last Saturday sicker than that dog that gets the short end of all the proverbs, and I'd planned the redraw for Sunday afternoon. So, nothing outside my comfort zone can get done right now, and drawing from imagination is assuredly that. The sketches at least convey the general idea, so I must resign myself.

The illness doubles as an excuse for why you're only getting this now. That, the sheer length of this segment by dramatic-pause rules, and, at this point, sheer unmitigated stage fright at not having this done.

PART FOUR: AT LEAST I MADE THE CUT

DUNCAN : We will be traveling south through the hinterlands to the ruin of Ostagar, on the edges of the Korcari Wilds. The Tevinter Imperium built Ostagar long ago to prevent the Wilders from invading the northern lowlands. It's fitting we make our stand here, even if we face a different foe within that forest.

[It seems that at some point between two of the above sentences, we spliced monologues, because by the beginning of next paragraph, I'm walking with Duncan through Ostagar. Alone, but I'm guessing the nameless Grey Wardens are fine unless otherwise stated. The place looks absolutely breathtaking and I wouldn't count a single screenshot of the architecture wasted, but here, have the most representative sample I could find:]

http://i.imgur.com/sAMjFVc.png

DUNCAN: The king's forces have clashed with the darkspawn several times, but here is where the bulk of the horde will show itself. There are only a few Grey Wardens within Ferelden at the moment, but all of us are here. This Blight must be stopped here and now. If it spreads to the north, Feleden will fall.

BLOND GUY IN FANCY PLATE ARMOR: Ho there, Duncan!

http://i.imgur.com/PqYA17x.png

DUNCAN [shaking his hand with a manful vigor]: King Cailan? I didn't expect--
CAILAN: A royal welcome? I was beginning to worry you'd miss all the fun!

[There is not a hint of irony here regarding Cailan's idea of "fun." I'm leaning toward Blitz mentality, though.]

DUNCAN [considerably graver]: Not if I could help it, your Majesty.
CAILAN: Then I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side in battle after all! Glorious! The other Wardens told you you've found a promising recruit. I take it this is he?
DUNCAN: Allow me to introduce you, your Majesty.
CAILAN: No need to be so formal, Duncan. We'll be shedding blood together, after all. Ho there, friend! Might I know your name?

Human politics seem light enough on formality already. This is by and large welcome, but all the same - I dearly hope this is not how the human king typically makes introductions. Ferelden's politics are clearly more forgiving of transgressions than Orzammar's ever were, but there are limits.

Once we're introduced, he does go on to emphasize his support for the Grey Wardens in particular, so chances are excellent that, indeed, most of his subjects [I]aren't treated on a friendship-first, names-later basis.

(There's a new consideration: am I a Fereldan subject now? I guess the subject of a close ally, in any event.)

CAILAN: It's good to see some of the honorable stout folk outside Orzammar.
WALKER: You must not have met many members of the noble caste.
CAILAN: Sounds like there's a story behind that. You must regale me with it some time. I meant after we defeat the Blight, of course. I doubt Loghain will give me a moment's peace until then.

Duncan advises Cailan that reinforcements are arriving from Redcliffe within the week, but Cailan laughs that off and says they've already won three battles, tomorrow's should be a victory as well, and his uncle in Redcliffe may as well not horn in on the glory. These timetables don't seem to gel, so I guess Cailan is picking the battle.

Cailan is also disappointed that he has not yet seen an archdemon, which means that it might not be a true Blight after all, just a battle against a random-if-substantial collection of darkspawn.

It is clear at this point that he is basically a twelve-year-old boy hopped up on... okay, not Arthurian legend, the Grey Wardens are absolutely a historical thing. But, say, the glamorous image British children used to absorb about the First or Third Crusade before the texts started distorting the picture in the completely opposite direction. I'll never be one to knock the value of wonder-at-the-old-tales, but Cailan is a reigning monarch in his late twenties currently leading a freaking army, so this is not the place for it.

None of Duncan's (or my) gentle but firm efforts to bring the conversation back to earth are making the slightest dent in his enthusiasm. We can safely put "Blitz mentality" off the table. Cailan is simply on a grand adventure, and that's that.

CAILAN: I'm sorry to cut this short, but I should return to my tent. Loghain waits eagerly to bore me with his strategies. I must go before Loghain sends out a search party. Farewell, Grey Wardens!

Duncan is quite sure that, with the increase in darkspawn numbers at every encounter, tomorrow's battle won't be an easy victory, and equally sure an archdemon is invloved, but as he's got nothing but feeling guiding him on that score, he can't rightly tell the king that.

I daresay this would be telling him exactly what he wanted to hear, but I don't know how much it would help.

Duncan's main concern, however, is that Cailan isn't standing by for reinforcements from the Grey Wardens of Orlais. Loghain (whose first name is apparently Teyrn) has, at least, got reinforcements his own, but Duncan and Cailan are firmly united in the belief that Grey Wardens Are Just Better. Duncan wants me and a couple others to undergo the Joining with a capital J as soon as possible, because he needs all the help he can get; Cailan figures that even token representation by the Grey Wardens is the magic feather; but it's two degrees of the same thing.

Anyway, he leaves me to myself for a bit; I can look for another Warden named Alistair when I'm ready to Join. Oddly, the game is clearly nudging me to explore the east side of camp first, and there is virtually nothing there. The clear highlight, though, is a guard at a gate informing me that Teyrn Loghain ("teyrn" is actually a title, it seems) has sealed off the Tower of Ishal - evidently the chief watchtower in the Wilder days - because his men have discovered lower levels and need to secure the area.

Walker, having less-than-positive associations with unexplored underground areas, expresses concern. He is not, however, sufficiently concerned to consider that the high-profile NPC might not have the situation under control. The seems like an odd mindset for a TES protagonist, I know - allied NPCs in Tamriel often seem incapable of running to the general store without adventurer assistance - but trust me when I say it's very good for his inner peace to assume otherwise. Rikke and Balgruuf have to tamp down on situations like this all the time, he'll bet, and they need to do it on the downlow.

But, real talk. There is no way this Tower of Ishal thing isn't scheduled to blow up in everyone's face in short order.

More on our local celebrity Loghain, as we draw back toward civilization:

-Ostagar is getting a steady and indeed mounting stream of reinforcements, but Loghain is worried they might not suffice.
-Cailan likes to run around without bodyguards to make personal visits to his shoulder, which has Loghain tearing out his hair.
-Cailan and Loghain have been arguing. I can imagine.

http://i.imgur.com/03wI2Vh.png
http://i.imgur.com/SS4JzEJ.png
http://i.imgur.com/5guPbTl.png

As I draw into camp, the first thing that catches my attention is a woman on a plinth, presumably a representative of the Chantry. She is giving a sermon on the nobility of a death that holds evil at bay. This is the eve of battle, so it's a topic to be expected, but I find it oddly comforting.

I then blunder my way into the area king's tents. I gather, from previous conversation, he's visiting with the teyrn, but I hastily bow out when Loghain's guard feels I've gotten uncomfortably close. I am no one of importance here, and I had better remember that as soon as possible.

Again, though, I find it oddly comforting.

The tour guide at the bridge who mentioned Cailan's social predilections also drew my attention to the Circle mages, who are "bunched up with a herd of templars glaring at them. Can't miss it." Indeed, you can't miss it, but the templars appear more to be glaring at us, really, because we might interrupt the mages while they're "in the Fade." Blame my dwarvishness, but I have very little idea as to the significance of this. They seem to be dancing entranced surrounded by glowing white leaves, though, and I guess that must be important.

I'm not sure when exactly this comes to mind, so I'll put it here smack in the middle of nothing in particular: Ostagar's soundtrack is gorgeous, but very uneven. It goes from majestic-castle-theme to peaceful-and-ambient to the chillingly ominous bells of Light Yagami having a good day, with no apparent relation to where I am or whom I'm speaking to about what.

Next, I catch sight of a man trying and failing to chat up a female guard with the old we-could-die-tomorrow line. He is also one of my fellow recruits, evidently:

http://i.imgur.com/SvDoxMG.png

The name's Daveth. It's about bloody time you came along. I was beginning to think they cooked up this ritual just for our benefit.

I happened to be sneaking around camp last night, see, and I heard some Grey Wardens talking. So I listen in for a bit. [With the air of passing a valuable confidence]: I'm thinking they plan to send us into the Wilds.

WALKER [unsure of the significance but resigned to pretty much anything the Wardens want]: Maybe they will. We'll see.
DAVETH: I guess we'll have to wait and see. Like we have a choice.
WALKER: They're forcing you to be here?
DAVETH: I got nowhere else to go, after what Duncan saved me from.

Given his voice, which I'd describe as "grown guttersnipe, add self-assurance", I'm guessing that whatever he was saved from is basically his own fault, but that'll have to wait for a later conversation - he's taken this as his cue to get back to Duncan.

Next I find the quartermaster, who is apparently a particular menace to elves. Given that the elves are, to a man, terrified of being discovered in casual conversation (on account of preparing for the battle tomorrow, but still, none of the humans have this problem), this does not bode well. Alas, I do still need supplies.

[GAMEPLAY NOTE: "Supplies" here means "all the flasks you can afford, plus elfroot for luck, but nothing else." Cannot stress how essential healing potions are on the first main leg of the game. You could go stumbling back to this jerk in the middle of next mission, as I did, but it's gauche.]

And then there are the infirmary cots. Hooboy.

NURSE: You may not want to remain here long, Warden. Most of these men have been tainted by the darkspawn blood.

http://i.imgur.com/iyCgZNr.png

I saw them! We're gonna die!
NURSE: I apologize, Warden. He's been like this ever since they found him in the Wilds.
WALKER: Is it possible he has important information?
NURSE: The commanding officer who found him didn't seem to think so.

(So, this guy saw the main force. The officer, who arrived later to the site of his ambush, did not. I will presume this is because the main force is now totally gathering under the Tower of Ishal as we speak.)

PATIENT [raving more desperately with every breath]: You... you can feel it, can't you? They taint the land, turn it black and sick. You can feel it inside! They'll come out of that forest and spread! Like caterpillars covering a tree, they'll swallow us whole!
NURSE: That's quite enough out of you. You need to calm yourself, my good man.

I feel this woman's duty would be better suited to a cleric. The man's dying in despair, for pity's sake.

There's a small gate to the Wilds. Whatever the Joining may entail, the guard's not letting me through. He goes on a bit about the Witches of the Wilds - the original, named Flemeth, made the Wilders (properly, Chasind) into that horde Ostagar was built to guard against, but then died in an epic battle against a guy called Cormac. Now, it's apparently Flemeth's daughters in charge of all the witching, which here means curdling milk and making changelings and so forth. Everyone's always going on about their influence, so it's a sure bet we're either going to find some surprisingly benevolent witches or a fear-mongering rabble-rouser at the root.

Finally, after an eon of bumbling about, I find my way to Alistair, that Grey Warden I was supposed to meet up with before all this. You can tell it's him because of the giant white arrow over his head.

http://i.imgur.com/9ODyEpv.png

That mage to the left is acting outraged because the revered mother wanted to see him. Alistair is breezily taking the mickey out of him for the duration of the conversation. Parting words:

MAGE: Your glibness does you no credit.
ALISTAIR: And here I thought we were getting along so well. I was even going to name one of my children after you... the grumpy one.

[He turns to me.] You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together.

[Alistair has a cheerfully sardonic working-stiff air to most of what he says. Weight it toward the "cheerful" or the "sardonic" as suits the context - that last line, FYI, would be more toward the cheerful side.]

WALKER: I know exactly what you mean.
ALISTAIR: It's like a party: we could all stand in a circle and hold hands. That would give the darkspawn something to think about. ...Wait, we haven't met, have we? I don't suppose you would be another mage?
WALKER: How can a dwarf be a mage?
ALISTAIR: You never know. These mages sneak up on you-- Wait. I do know who you are. You're Duncan's new recruit, from Orzammar. I should have recognized you right away. I apologize.
WALKER: And you must be Alistair.
ALISTAIR: Did Duncan mention anything about me? Nothing bad, I hope. As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the Joining.

...Hmm. There haven't been any dwarven Grey Wardens in some time. You must know a lot about darkspawn.
WALKER: We've been fighting them for centuries.
ALISTAIR: Hard to believe most folks here think the darkspawn disappeared after the last Blight when your people still suffer every day.
WALKER: I look forward to traveling with you.
ALISTAIR: You do? Huh. That's a switch.

Duncan is standing badassedly by a huge bonfire, accompanied by-- oh no wait, quest-giver! Quest-giver to the northwest!

http://i.imgur.com/5Gr3wmW.png

KENNEL MASTER: This is a mabari. Smart breed, and strong. His owner died in the last battle, and the poor hound swallowed darkspawn blood. I have medicine that might help, but I need him muzzled first.

I question this plan, but it seems Grey Wardenship offers protection from the whole dying-raving-in-agony syndrome, even if that part comes later. So, sure.

http://i.imgur.com/bEAdFTh.png

[There is an option here to kill the dog. I swear, some of these options are just for people who want to play arbitrary *****.]

But, obviously, I muzzle the poor guy instead; he doesn't even put up much of a fight. The kennel master advises me that he'll probably want a certain flower out of the Wilds, and I let him know I might just be going. Hero checklist item: save random dog.

Okay, NOW for Duncan standing like a badass by the fire.

http://i.imgur.com/TQYZpgb.png

He berates Alistair for his treatment of the Circle mage earlier. Sure, the revered mother might have swooped in on him, but she didn't ask him to tweak his nose, did she? Duncan is very clear: Grey Wardens need all the allies they can get.

And Alistair goes and fetches my other fellow recruit, one Sir Jory of Redcliffe. Guess I probably could have run into him if I was paying attention. Ah well.

http://i.imgur.com/2eNCcA9.png

So, our mission: bring back darkspawn blood from the Wilds. This is a material component for the Joining. Yes, of course the Grey Wardens already have darkspawn blood; that's what Grey Wardens are for. But all the same, without showing battle prowess and unit cohesion, we're probably not getting too far in our chosen career.

Also our mission: go to a ruin and bring back old treaties that longstanding allies may otherwise have "forgotten" about. This is not strictly part of the Joining, but Duncan makes it gently but firmly clear that it's not really an optional thing. Honor those the dragons heed, dangit. (I'm assuming there'll be dragons at some point, right?)

So, that's settled, then. Alistair, lead the way.

http://i.imgur.com/5Q9cFqB.png

At this point, I get to have decent conversations with Jory and Daveth.

JORY: I hail from Redcliffe, but Duncan recruited me in Highever, a city off the northern coast. I was in Arl Eamon's retinue when he attended King Maric's funeral.

(Arl Eamon is the fellow who was sending reinforcements from Redcliffe, so I guess the funeral was in Highever.)

JORY: It was there that I met my Helena. She has the most beautiful eyes, my Helena. For years, I found any excuse to return there. We married a year ago. Arl Eamon gave me leave to serve in Highever, but I was attempting to persuade Helena to come to Redcliffe with me. At least, until I was recruited.

It was hard to leave my wife. We married only a year ago, and she is heavy with child now. But... Ferelden needs my blade, and I will not falter.

...Well I certainly don't anticipate anything horrible happening to her.

Duncan recruited Jory upon his victory in a joust held in Duncan's honor. Jory has the utmost respect for Duncan, what with his unflinching doggedness in the face of limited resources and that.

In short, he's basically a human, married version of Walker. Two-handed blade and everything. I'm feeling self-conscious and getting an urge to build up Walker's shield techniques just to differentiate.

As for Daveth...

WALKER: How did the Grey Wardens find you?
DAVETH: I found them. I cut Duncan's purse while he was standing in a crowd. He grabs my wrist, but I squirm out and bolt. The old bugger can run, but the garrison caught me first.

I'm a wanted man in Denerim, you see, so they were going to string me up right there. Duncan stopped them. Invoked the Right of Conscription. I gave the garrison the finger while I was walking away.

Don't know why Duncan wants someone like me. But he says finesse is important, and that I'm fast with a blade. You bet your boots I am.

He seems to be having distinct culture shock about his recruitment - throughout the conversation, he momentarily forget that he's no longer a cutpurse living in Denerim.

I must say, the resentful way he says "Hey, I'm following you, aren't I?" when I say we should get on with things really gets on my nerves. Particularly as I keep accidentally clicking on him.

As for Alistair, he doesn't even get a dialogue tree - he just gets an ambient line telling us to get on with the mission. In keeping with what we've learned about him so far, I wonder if he'll shortly be sacrificed to some Blight-denying twit to show the importance of not ticking off potential allies.

Since this sojourn in the Wilds is little more than a series of random encounters with booty, let's dive into:

POINTS ON THE GAMEPLAY (FAR TOO MANY OF WHICH I'M ONLY LEARNING NOW)
-There are two ways to fight:
- Manually by selecting from the menus (meaning the quickbar, unless you're getting fairly outlandish or really need to update your quickbar).
- On autopilot, with a preplanned system of if/then commands resembling a slightly crippled Final Fantasy XII. Fortunately, there is not one action you need a freaking licens for. Basic fighting modes - particularly Ranged - are the most immediately useful this side of the learning curve.
-Unlike in Final Fantasy, you cannot - I repeat, cannot - toss healing potions to your party members. Since it isn't turn-based combat and we all have access to the same inventory on our quickbars, I have no idea why I expected this. But boy, did I run through a lot of healing potions before wising up.
-Also unlike in Final Fantasy, you probably don't want to go for the biggest baddy first. As a general rule, being overwhelmed by sheer numbers is the main thing to contend with.
-Sometimes, two sets of enemies will fight each other. (Darkspawn and wolves, in this case.) Don't get comfortable, but do feel free not to leap into the fray immediately.
-You pretty much can't run from a battle, ever.
-Tree bridges are perfectly capable of supporting human weight (as evidenced by the three hanged men on this one), but don't expect to actually use them as, like, bridges.
-The traversibility of hills is alarmingly arbitrary.
-On the other hand, there is zero chance of falling to your death. Which has its points when you're controlling a party of four.
-The codex is a terrible chimera of an exposition vehicle. I had been avoiding it where it doesn't detail things Walker would reasonably have the skinny on, under the classic assumption that it's what's revealed in the actual game that counts, but now that we're turning up dead bodies with notes on them, it turns out the codex is where you read your in-universe infodumps, too. I don't think I ever quite strike a comfortable balance with the codex.
-If you choose not to play a rogue, treasure chests will everywhere taunt you.

THINGS DISCOVERED ABOUT THE WORLD:
- A survivor of an ambushed team, who claims that the darkspawn just straight-up came out of the ground around them. Alistair bandages him up and he staggers into camp.
-The above incident leads Jory to fret about whether we'll run into the entire army. Alistair is certain, to the point of being patronizing, that this will not happen, and anyway if it did, he'd be able to sense the darkspawn. Daveth, I think just to be a twerp to Jory, points out that Alistair's ability to sense the main army close at hand isn't liable to, you know, actually prevent our deaths.
-There is a dead missionary and his dead son, and a treasure cache to be delivered to his presumably-living wife, but don't even ask me how to get to the treasure cache. I have wasted SO much time looking.
-Yes, we found the flower to save the dog.
-The darkspawn seem really fond of crafting big flimsy wooden crescent moons for some reason. It would be excellent as a forewarning when approaching their gathering-places, if they didn't also have a predilection for stringing people up. Corpses make for a pretty good alarm, all told.
-You'll remember the genlocks, the goblin-equivalents, are relatively dwarf-sized. Now we meet the hurlocks, who are half a head taller than the average human. They have a distinctly skeletal aspect to their faces and a truly unnerving low chuckle, and I feel like they pack more of a wallop, too.
-Tevinter architecture is so gorgeous, you guys.
-Chain-letter mentality plus fantasy worlds are a lethal combination. We found a fellow who died en route to sprinkling cremation ashes on a pile of rocks in hopes of summoning a wish spirit. A rumor he got from a friend who scribbled him a note. Whelp, if he'd got that far, turns out he would have summoned a boss monster instead.

Eventually, we make it to the right ruin, and prepare to open the cache of treaties...

http://i.imgur.com/El0GrHI.png
http://i.imgur.com/bJFslUT.png

WOMAN: Well, well, what have we here?

[She steadily approaches our position, clearly enjoying our discomfort, speaking in poisoned-honey tones.] Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones were long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn-filled Wilds of mine in search of easy prey?

http://i.imgur.com/KakSJhc.png

WOMAN: What say you, hmm? Scavenger or intruder?
WALKER: I am neither. The Grey Wardens once owned this tower.
WOMAN: 'Tis a tower no longer. The Wilds have obviously long since claimed this dessicated corpse.

I have watched your progress for some time. "Where do they go?" I wondered. "Why are they here?" And now you disturb ashes none have touched for so long. Why is that?

ALISTAIR: Don't answer her. She looks Chasind, and that means others may be nearby.
WOMAN [thinking this hilarious in a way that does not credit us]: Oh, you fear barbarians will swoop down upon you?
ALISTAIR: Yes... swooping is... bad.
DAVETH: She's a Witch of the Wilds, she is! She'll turn us into toads!
WOMAN: Witch of the Wilds? Such idle fancies, these legends. Have you no minds of your own? You there, dwarf. You have nothing to fear from any witch. Tell me your name, and I shall tell you mine. Let us be civilized.
WALKER [knowing this is almost certainly a futile gesture]: Promise you won't harm us.

She accepts, and introduces herself as Morrigan. Oh, by the way, the treaties are no longer here. ("You're... some kind of... sneaky... witch-thief!" sputters Alistair.) No, she didn't take them. Her mother did. No, she will provide no useful information with regards to herself, her mother, or why either of them might have taken the treaties. All we need to do is follow her. She's pretending to be surprised that we mistrust her after she's gone out of her way to impress us as the least trustworthy human being in existence.



We, naturally, decline to follow her, but it quickly becomes apparent that we won't be finding those treaties on our own. Buck up, we're going into the obvious ambush.

http://i.imgur.com/goZKNMH.png

ALISTAIR [scoffing]: Are we supposed to believe you were expecting us?
MORRIGAN'S MOTHER [whose voice is gruff but disconcertingly down-to-earth after Morrigan's display]: You are required to do nothing, least of all believe. Shut one's eyes tight or open one's arms wide... either way, one's a fool!
DAVETH: She's a witch, I tell you! We shouldn't be talking to her!
JORY: Quiet, Daveth! If she's really a witch, do you want to make her mad?
MORRIGAN'S MOTHER: There is a smart lad. Sadly irrelevant to the grand scheme of things, but it is not I who decides. Believe what you will. [Turning to Walker]: And what of you? Does your dwarven mind give you a different viewpoint? What do you believe?
WALKER: I'm not sure what to believe.
MORRIGAN'S MOTHER: A statement that possesses more wisdom than it implies. Be always aware... or is it oblivious? I can never remember. So much about you is uncertain... and yet it seems I believe. Do I? Why it seems I do!
[She goes in for a round of Uncanny Valley whooping it up at herself.]
ALISTAIR: So [I]this is a dreaded Witch of the Wilds?

Anyway, she's got the treaties, and the magical seal on our chest hasn't been working anyway, so let's not have any of our carping about witch-thieves.

She mentions the threat of the Blight is greater than the Grey Wardens realize, but at further questioning on this point, she lapses into another tangent of sheer nonsense. Since the Blight is already keyed to apocalyptic-level threat, I can't see what would be "greater". But I guess Duncan might have, in the prologue when he said "Maker help us all." Unless he was just worried about being woefully mistrusted and understaffed by the time the Blight hit? Certainly seems his top priority, and I'm guessing that if Duncan knows it, it's Grey Warden policy already, so she must be speaking of something else.

Morrigan would clearly prefer we got lost and died on the way back. But, at her mother's behest, she shows us back to camp, treaties and vials of blood in tow.

We get the flower to the dog. The kennel-master is quite sure he can get that dog to imprint on me, what with me muzzling and healing him and all. Well, that would pretty much rock. He says to check back with him after the battle to see about it.

(That might be the only good sign I've had about this battle yet.)

DUNCAN [camp bonfire even more picturesque against the night]: So you return from the Wilds. Have you been successful?
WALKER: We have.
DUNCAN: Good. I've had the Circle mages preparing. With the blood you've retrieved, we can begin the Joining immediately.
WALKER: Maybe we should tell you about Morrigan and her mother.

But somehow this topic veers very quickly into Alistair's former career as a templar and his residual grudges against apostate [non-Circle] mages, none of which is the Wardens' business, Alistair. The matter of the taking of the treaties and the greater-than-usual threat of the Blight never gets addressed, especially not in further dialogue options. Always reassuring.

DUNCAN: I will not lie; we Grey Wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are. Fate may decree that you pay your price now rather than later.
WALKER [alarmed out of meek duty for the first time since coming to the surface]: You're saying this ritual can kill us?
DUNCAN: As could any darkspawn you might face in battle. You would not be chosen, however, if I did not think you had a chance to survive.
DAVETH: Let's go, then. I'm anxious to see this Joining now.
JORY: I agree. Let's have it done.
DUNCAN: Then let us begin. Alistair, take them to the old temple.

http://i.imgur.com/FFYNJ3L.png

By the time we get to the Temple, Jory is wigging out about his poor unsuspecting wife, eyes visibly bulging, and it's actually Daveth who's coming over all Mr. Noble Duty about the possiblity if dying vs. the possibility of the Blight killing everyone anyway.

DUNCAN [walking with eerie grace past us, toward the ritual table]: At last we come to the Joining.

The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation. So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of darkspawn blood and mastered their taint.

JORY: We're... going to drink the blood of those... those creatures?
DUNCAN: As the first Grey Wardens did before us, as we did before you. This is the source of our power and our victory. Those who survive the Joining become immune to the taint. We can sense it in the darkspawn and use it to slay the archdemon.
DAVETH: Maybe you'll die. Maybe we'll all die. If nobody stops the darkspawn, we'll die for sure.

DUNCAN: We speak only a few words prior to the Joining, but these words have been said from the first. Alistair, if you would?
ALISTAIR [absolutely stone-solemn]: Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand, vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten, and that one day we shall join you.

[Throughout this speech, Jory is desperately casting his eyes everywhere in the apparent desperate hope of casting a glance at something that isn't a reminder of his possible demise.]

DUNCAN: Daveth, step forward.


http://i.imgur.com/pLPDh9Q.png
http://i.imgur.com/v9DA2Al.png
http://i.imgur.com/ZWCIA6e.png
http://i.imgur.com/5mLEY4P.png
DUNCAN: I am sorry, Daveth.
(He clearly means it, at least.)

DUNCAN: Step forward, Jory.

JORY [drawing his sword]: But... I have a wife! A child! Had I known...
DUNCAN: There is no turning back.
JORY: No! You ask too much! There is no glory in this!
http://i.imgur.com/SZ4FLj5.png
http://i.imgur.com/E9vkS8U.png
http://i.imgur.com/NVPnPRE.png
http://i.imgur.com/W4AYfsm.png

DUNCAN: But the Joining is not yet complete.

...I'll be honest, if this weren't a cutscene and Walker was given full rein, he'd attack Duncan for killing Jory, no doubt to similar result, and all Duncan's recruitment efforts would have been wasted just like that.

As it is, he dutifully drinks the blood, his eyes go white as Daveth's did - after Duncan declares him a Grey Warden, fortunately - and suddenly there's this hazy vision:

http://i.imgur.com/mLLEIJq.png

Okay, that's a zombie dragon. I guess the Pern joke went to waste even with the game title being indicative of the story. Zombies aren't very good at any kind of heeding.

DUNCAN [drifting back into Walker's consciousness]: It is finished. Welcome.
ALISTAIR: Two more deaths. In my Joining, only one of us dies, but it was... horrible. I'm glad at least one of you made it through.
DUNCAN: How do you feel?
WALKER: I still can't believe you killed Sir Jory.
DUNCAN: Jory was warned that there was no turning back, as were we all. When he went for his blade, however, he left me no choice. It brought me no pleasure to end his life. The Blight demands sacrifices from us all. Thankfully, you stand here as proof that they are not all made in vain.

I suppose... I suppose that makes sense.

(Though I, the player, am filing the scary orange text of Duncan's name as a possible clue that we might have to fight him down the line.)

DUNCAN: Before I forget, there is one last part to your Joining.
ALISTAIR: We take some of that blood and put it in a pendant. Something to remind us... of those who didn't make it this far.

(This game is actually encouraging me to hang on to sentimental keepsakes. I've been doing that as long as I've been playing video games - starting with Cyan and his Star Pendant in Final Fantasy VI - but I've never actually got the go-ahead from a major character before. This is invigorating.)

DUNCAN: Take some time. When you are ready, I'd like you to accompany me to a meeting with the king.

Honor your comrades if you wish, but know that we must press forward. Always, we must press forward.

[GloatingSwine]

Teyrn Loghain ("teyrn" is actually a title, it seems)

Titles in Ferelden are weird. In basically every actual system of (western) nobility on which they're based it's Title + Surname (or regnal name for a king) because calling people by their given name is informal, but Ferelden uses Title + Given Name. Loghain is actually Loghain Mac Tir.

He will also definitely not betray anyone ever, he has a very trustworthy voice.

[Kish]

There are four noble ranks in Ferelden. Bann is the lowest noble rank. Arl is higher (read: rules more land). Teryn is higher still; there are only two teryns at the moment, Loghain Mac Tir, Teryn of Gwaeron, and Bryce Cousland, Teryn of Highever. Finally, there's the king, who you've met.

Denerim is the capital city, where the king lives, but it also has an arl of its own, Vaughn Kendall; his arldom consists solely of the capital city. Other arldoms are bigger, but less capital city.

The queen, Anora, is Loghain's daughter (and only child, which means the title of Teryn of Gwaeron will be up for grabs, and presumably be reassigned by the king, when Loghain dies, unless he has another child first). Cailan and Anora have no children.

Bryce Cousland has two children (one elder son, one younger child who you would have been playing had you chosen to play a human noble). The elder son is married and has a young son, as well.

People usually call Loghain Teryn Loghain rather than Teryn Mac Tir, while they call Bryce Cousland Teryn Cousland. This is because Loghain was born a commoner and granted his title by Cailan's father, King Maric, while Bryce's family has been nobility for centuries. It would be more formally correct to address Loghain as Teryn Mac Tir, but no one ever does anyway; the terynage is widely viewed as synonymous with the man Loghain, while the terynage of Highever is viewed as synonymous with the ancient Cousland family, not the individual man Bryce.

[JadedDM]

There's a new consideration: am I a Fereldan subject now?
Nope. Grey Wardens are not beholden to any nation. As far as Orzamaar is concerned, you're a surface dwarf now (read: dead to them). So you have no home, and no nation. Just the Wardens.


Sure, the revered mother might have swooped in on him...
Well, swooping is bad.

[DomaDoma]

Okay, the full thing's up now.

[Lethologica]

http://i.imgur.com/5Q9cFqB.png
I like this image with the watermark in particular because it implies that King Cailan is only getting the freeware version of the Grey Wardens, which is pretty much true considering he isn't waiting for reinforcements from Orlais.


-There is a dead missionary and his dead son, and a treasure cache to be delivered to his presumably-living wife, but don't even ask me how to get to the treasure cache. I have wasted SO much time looking.
The trail signs quest is a pain without using the wiki, it's true. It's a little easier if you remember to hold tab to see the floating text above clickable things. I didn't pick up on that until my last replay.


[I don't ask if she's truly a Witch of the Wilds. She's clearly a mage, she clearly means us no good, so I'm not sure just what the designation of "witch" would add here.]
Honestly, I'm not sure if Morrigan means much of anything here. It's like she's a kid and some funny-looking toys have showed up in her bedroom.

[Kish]

[...]
Just so you're clear, posting this here means people are going to spoiler you, whether in the wink-wink nudge-nudge fashion of Gloating Swine or the blatant fashion of some other people here. If you actually want to be unspoilered for your first playthrough you might want to rethink posting this. (Not that I'm not enjoying reading it, but if I was in your position I wouldn't consider the price worth it.)

[Lethologica]

Just so you're clear, posting this here means people are going to spoiler you, whether in the wink-wink nudge-nudge fashion of Gloating Swine or the blatant fashion of some other people here. If you actually want to be unspoilered for your first playthrough you might want to rethink posting this. (Not that I'm not enjoying reading it, but if I was in your position I wouldn't consider the price worth it.)
It's a replay. I'm still all in favor of rigorous spoilering, though. (As opposed to rigorous spoiling. :smallwink:)

[lord_khaine]

That dragon does not look to much like a zombie.

[DomaDoma]

I like this image with the watermark in particular because it implies that King Cailan is only getting the freeware version of the Grey Wardens, which is pretty much true considering he isn't waiting for reinforcements from Orlais.


For what it's worth, I have got a new printscreen program lined up.

[Gray Mage]

I don't think this counts as a spoiler as it's mechanics based, but you can controll the other party memberd as you'd your character and if that person is a rogue he can open locked chests. Daveth in this case could have been be used like that.

[DomaDoma]

I don't think this counts as a spoiler as it's mechanics based, but you can controll the other party memberd as you'd your character and if that person is a rogue he can open locked chests. Daveth in this case could have been be used like that.

Having wised up to this mechanic this time around, I tried it. Alas, Daveth may be a rogue, and a thieving rogue at that, but he doesn't have the lockpick skill.

[Gray Mage]

Having wised up to this mechanic this time around, I tried it. Alas, Daveth may be a rogue, and a thieving rogue at that, but he doesn't have the lockpick skill.

Oh wow, sorry, forgot about that (I mostly played rogues anyway). :smallredface:

[Aeson]

Having wised up to this mechanic this time around, I tried it. Alas, Daveth may be a rogue, and a thieving rogue at that, but he doesn't have the lockpick skill.
All rogues have the lockpicking skill; the abilities you can select at level up just improve it, and are unnecessary if you have a high enough Cunning score.

If I recall correctly, a rogue with 40 cunning or so can pick every lock and disarm every trap in the game, though for such early locks and traps as you encounter in the Korcari Wilds, you probably only need 20 Cunning. Each Deft Hands talent is worth 10 Cunning for picking locks or disarming traps.

As far as Daveth goes: It does kind of make you wonder how honest Daveth is being about his past. He doesn't have the Cunning score or the talents to pick most locks and he doesn't have the Pickpocket skill. Given the game mechanics, this seems a bit odd for someone who was supposedly a cutpurse. I think Daveth can pick a couple locks in the camp at Ostagar, though.

And yes, the early portion of the game does taunt you a bit with locked things that you have no chance to open unless the player character is a rogue.


Arl Eamon is the fellow who was sending reinforcements from Redcliffe
I think you may have misinterpreted the dialogue between Duncan and Cailan upon arrival at Ostagar. Eamon isn't sending reinforcements, he's offering to do so (by way of Duncan).


It's a replay.
Given that the thread title is "Doma Played Dragon Age: Origins Blind," I suspect that this is not in fact a replay and is instead a first-time playthrough.


The trail signs quest is a pain without using the wiki, it's true.
I might be misremembering this, but don't the trailsign spots show up on the minimap before you find them?

But yes, the trailsigns are a pain, and more irritating is that the trailsigns essentially just lead you around the area in a big circle rather than being any sort of direct path to the prize.

[Lethologica]

Given that the thread title is "Doma Played Dragon Age: Origins Blind," I suspect that this is not in fact a replay and is instead a first-time playthrough.
*cough*

This is a replay.
Hence the past tense in the thread title.


I might be misremembering this, but don't the trailsign spots show up on the minimap before you find them?

But yes, the trailsigns are a pain, and more irritating is that the trailsigns essentially just lead you around the area in a big circle rather than being any sort of direct path to the prize.
The trailsigns do show up, but not all of them. Activating one reveals two others, and I think only the two that were most recently revealed show up on the minimap.

[Kish]

Ah, I see, the "avoid spoilers" request is for the benefit of non-players, not for Doma.

[Sian]

Been meaning to play it through a number of times, but I've never actually managed to do so ... Finished the Redcliffe and the Dalish missions, but never the Orgrimmar or further on.

[DomaDoma]

Ugh. As far as I can tell, Gadwin is the only program in existence that actually allows you to make screenshots while playing a game. Hope you like watermarks.

[Lethologica]

I'm fine with watermarks, personally, I just thought that one was amusing.

Been meaning to play it through a number of times, but I've never actually managed to do so ... Finished the Redcliffe and the Dalish missions, but never the Orgrimmar or further on.
Yeah, I got bored in the Deep Roads on both playthroughs. It's a slog.

[Aeson]

Ugh. As far as I can tell, Gadwin is the only program in existence that actually allows you to make screenshots while playing a game. Hope you like watermarks.
For what it's worth, the game does have a screenshot button and will store the screenshots as JPGs in a folder for you (Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Screenshots\User, by default, at least on Win7), without you having to do something like alt-tab out of the game and paste the screenshot into Paint and save the image. Default screenshot key is printscreen, and you can turn the HUD off by pressing the v key. Could take a look and see if the screenshots the game produces are acceptable to you.

That said, I don't mind the watermarks, either.


Been meaning to play it through a number of times, but I've never actually managed to do so ... Finished the Redcliffe and the Dalish missions, but never the Orgrimmar or further on.
For whatever it's worth, the only sections you're required to complete in order to finish the game are your origin, Ostagar, Lothering, Redcliffe, and Denerim, if I recall correctly. The Circle Tower, Orzammar and the Deep Roads, and the Brecilian Forest are optional, though completing them can make things easier.

[Kish]

I'm pretty sure that's wrong and they're all required.

[Lethologica]

Heh, we just finished talking about what spoilers are for, and now we're talking a lot about things that, uh, aren't close to happening yet. Me too, my bad.

Obvious spoilers, but only at the link: the quests required to complete the game are shown here (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Main_quests_(Origins)). That should resolve any confusion.

[DomaDoma]

So, you should know: Walker's point of view excludes anything he doesn't actually witness firsthand.

In the following segment, I make a lot of arbitrary decisions to try and uphold that principle.

PART FIVE: AT LEAST WE WEREN'T TOO LATE

The king requests my presence, as a new Grey Warden, to his council of war.

http://i.imgur.com/QJFc3lP.png

CAILAN: Loghain, my decision is final. I will stand by the Grey Wardens in this assault.
LOGHAIN: You risk too much, Cailan! The darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero on the front lines.

http://i.imgur.com/R9gQJyp.png

This sentiment makes perfectly good pragmatic sense, but it's hardly in line with the expectations of kingship. Or the ability of the Grey Wardens.

Cailan wonders, in that case, whether he oughtn't send for the Orlesian Grey Wardens after all. Loghain thinks that would make the whole king-on-the-front-lines thing look downright wise. That seems... odd. I mean, Loghain is worried about being undermanned.

CAILAN: It's not a 'fool notion.' Our arguments with the Orlesians are past... and you will remember who is king.

I will admit, that does make it sound substantially more foolish.

LOGHAIN: How fortunate that Maric did not live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who enslaved us for a century!

Okay, yes, Orlais is a terrible idea. Cailan, giving in to the better half of the advice, decides he's going with what he's got.

CAILAN: And this is the recruit I met earlier on the road? I understand congratulations are in order.
WALKER: I don't feel all that special.
CAILAN: Oh, but you are. Every Grey Warden is needed now more than ever.
LOGHAIN: Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan. We must attend to reality.

Loghain is quickly emerging as the top contender in the Four-Hundred-Year Forget-A-Thon.

CAILAN: Fine. Speak your strategy.

http://i.imgur.com/vA505nN.png

CAILAN: The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawn into charging our lines, and then...?
LOGHAIN: You will alert the tower to light the beacon, signaling my men to charge from cover.
CAILAN: To flank the darkspawn, I remember. This is the Tower of Ishal in the ruins, yes?

MMMFFF

Loghain has some men stationed at the tower. Or did when last he checked. Chances are he still does - Loghain, all told, seems on top of things - but it probably won't be the case by the time the darkspawn are upon us tomorrow, I'm just guessing. Cailan, however, wants to send along a couple of junior-grade Grey Wardens (that'll be us) just to make sure.

LOGHAIN: You rely on these Grey Wardens too much. Is that truly wise?
CAILAN: Enough of your conspiracy theories, Loghain. Grey Wardens battle the Blight, no matter where they're from.

Loghain has got a distinct point. If we were Orlesian assassins, Cailan's pretty much walking into an ambush without our even needing to go to the trouble to lure him.

On the other hand, we're Fereldans (plus one dwarven exile). And I don't think even the Orlesian Grey Wardens, in the fairly-likely event that they're nostalgic for the old conquest days, would go so far as to not battle the Blight.

At this point, the representative of the Circle and the representative of the Chantry start fighting it out for the beacon post. Which leaves Loghain no choice but to rub his aching head and grant the mission to us. Evidently you do not want to get in between the Circle and the Chantry.

CAILAN: Thank you, Loghain. I cannot wait for that glorious moment! The Grey Wardens battle beside the king of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil!
LOGHAIN : Yes, Cailan. A glorious moment for us all.

So. On the one hand, Loghain is eminently practical, highly patriotic, and clearly zealous of the king's safety. Even if he's pretty sure we're one of the dangers he's charged to ward against.

On the other hand, the scene we just finished faded out on his face a bit more slowly than is reassuring, and king's advisors are inherently suspect.

...Yeah, I'm going to say the pros substantially outweigh the cons here.

http://i.imgur.com/nEW4W2G.png

Back at Duncan's bonfire, Alistair is cranky that he's not going into the battle.

There is no dialogue option explaining that Cailan needs all the saving he can get and this is the most effective means available for doing so. So I settle for an option that makes Walker look a bit douchey:

WALKER: Stop your whining. We have an important job.
DUNCAN: We must do whatever it takes to destroy the darkspawn... exciting or no.
ALISTAIR: I get it. I get it. Just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no.
WALKER [whose sense of humor is not his strongest suit]: You have some very odd ideas about the king.
ALISTAIR: I happen to be quite fetching in a dress.
[Duncan emits the most long-suffering sigh he can while retaining his dignity.]
DUNCAN: Then I must join the others. From here, you two are on your own. Remember, you are both Grey Wardens. I expect you to be worthy of that title.
ALISTAIR: Duncan... may the Maker watch over you.
DUNCAN: May He watch over us all.

As we make our way east to the Tower, we hear, below us, the distant sounds of the battle joined.

Cailan's force gathers under the high bridge.
http://i.imgur.com/CEh2BxG.png

Trepidation is visible in the soldiers' faces as a Chantry priest walks amid them giving the battle-rite.
http://i.imgur.com/UqTISMZ.png
DUNCAN: The plan will work, Your Majesty.
CAILAN: Of course it will. The Blight ends here.
[This is, of course, not [I]quite what Duncan meant.]

The army strains to see into the misty wood...
http://i.imgur.com/YMdY8C2.png

...from which the darkspawn emerge. (The music here is a beautifully ominous hissing chorus.)
http://i.imgur.com/FiYWmIj.png
The darkspawn are plainly eager for this battle. At their war cries, a man at the very front of the lines steps visibly back in sick horror, mercifully halted by the next rank before he does any more damage to morale. Even Cailan seems visibly worried now.

The darkspawn break into a charge.

CAILAN: Archers!
http://i.imgur.com/TUBUYv0.png
http://i.imgur.com/bdC33aa.png
http://i.imgur.com/IjII1p2.png

CAILAN: Hounds!
http://i.imgur.com/OugaVIz.png
http://i.imgur.com/ZDs8KrA.png
http://i.imgur.com/0bv2FtR.png

The opening volleys have put a substantial dent in the darkspawn forces, but have in no way slowed their charge. Cailan seems not to have expected such a poor showing...
http://i.imgur.com/HpPT7Fc.png

But quickly recovers:
CAILAN: For Ferelden!
[Cue heroic theme.]
http://i.imgur.com/T2ZQJ2Q.png

As we reach the eastern bridge, a flaming stone from a trebuchet hits the top of a spire, damaging it beyond repair. Not the Tower of Ishal, mercifully. But the battle is in earnest. We dash behind the ranks of the archers on the bridge, feeling the searing edges of fire spells as we run.

As we come to the Tower, two figures come dashing towards us.

I sincerely hope this doesn't bode what I think it does...

GUARD: Maker help us! They're everywhere! You're.. you're Grey Wardens, aren't you? The Tower has been taken!
ALISTAIR: What are you talking about, man? Taken how?
GUARD: The darkspawn came up through the lower chambers! They're everywhere! Most of our men are dead!
ALISTAIR: Then we have to get to the beacon and light it ourselves.

No. No. No. I recognized it. I recognized it right away.

http://i.imgur.com/ArB1aWo.png
http://i.imgur.com/xUjSgwu.png

The mage and guard are kind enough to accompany us back in for this endeavor.

After fighting our way across the courtyard (only able to save one of the guards still fighting here - allies not in your party are marked in blue to our yellow and the enemy red, and only rescuable by killing everyone attacking them), we come to the tower proper.

http://i.imgur.com/WtFSguL.png

Ugh, the battle beyond these doors. For me, it was the second-most-TPK-inducing battle in the whole game first time around, and the point where I downshifted permanently to Easy mode. Blame the fire traps, the genlock archers in every corner, the powerful enemy spellcaster...

However, this time around, I've made sure to give everyone ranged weapons for backup and know how to get the party to hold its position, and we get through with just one injury.

Here, we see our "lower levels." It was always a poor euphemism:

http://i.imgur.com/laoUbtY.png

By the time we reach level two and the darkspawn show no sign of thinning, Alistair begins to join Walker in freaking out.

But he knows as well as I: there is no alternative. Better to be a puppet of... whatever force does this... than to turn away outright.

Cool battles worth noting:
-The one where we slip into a thinly-guarded side passage, come out the other side, and hit the bulk of the squadron with ballistae mounted in the tower.
-The one where we pull a lever that opens cages full of what must be Ostagar's reserve mabari onto the darkspawn's ass.

At the top, we pause, reeling. There's a massive ogre up there, evidently engaged in crunching the bones of one of Loghain's garrison.

http://i.imgur.com/xJS5vP5.jpg

It's one heck of a fight. Only Walker and the nameless mage get through it fully conscious; Alistair went down when the ogre picked him up, held him fast, and shook him.

But we revive Alistair.

He is quite sure we have come too late, in the end. We are, however, to light the beacons anyway - better late than never.

And I can't gainsay that.

Cheers erupt from Cailan's embattled army at the sight. At the window least dimmed by the fire, I see Loghain's forces emerge from their cover, moving to swing like a gate upon--

Only they're not swinging around at all. Loghain's men are headed in entirely the wrong direction, straight and sure.

The melee under the bridge looks thick and brutal. I'm fairly certain I see an ogre down there, too. I can only hope Duncan will recognize in time that the reinforcements are not coming, and have the ability to pull--

http://i.imgur.com/BnUXDy1.png
http://i.imgur.com/SGcdaqh.png
http://i.imgur.com/O757Nht.png

http://i.imgur.com/CHrHB2q.png

WALKER: What happened to the darkspawn?
MORRIGAN: You were injured, and then Mother rescued you. Do you not remember?
WALKER: I remember being overwhelmed by darkspawn...
MORRIGAN: Mother managed to save both you and your friend, though 'twas a close call. What is important is that you both live.

The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The darkspawn won your battle. Those he abandoned were massacred. Your friend... he is not taking it well.
WALKER: What happened to the Grey Wardens? And the king?
MORRIGAN: All dead. Your friend has veered between denial and grief since Mother told him. He is outside by the fire.


I mumble my thanks and fumble for some semblance of clothing.

So Cailan is dead.

I take this harder than I might have expected. He was a foolhardy boy, but there was not a bone of malice in him, and he is dead because a man who pledged his life to saving his thought it better...

If Loghain had come, I think he would have found the king sobered by this last battle. No one can face such a mass of darkspawn unchastened.

http://i.imgur.com/xsPKRZb.png
http://i.imgur.com/3vbuHYb.png
http://i.imgur.com/PMGYll3.png

But that is a worthless fancy now. Cailan died with only his true liegeman beside him.

Duncan. Duncan.

Whatever he may have been, whatever cruel necessities may have molded him, I know he would have given his last breath to protect the king, or to avenge him should that fail.

http://i.imgur.com/TNUngAq.png
http://i.imgur.com/bcAGrze.png
http://i.imgur.com/GaBq8Bs.png
http://i.imgur.com/eiYQCmG.png

Duncan saved my life. He would have saved all our lives, I know, if the choice were given him.

As he would have saved his king.

http://i.imgur.com/drTLeF0.png
http://i.imgur.com/mLl8Fk7.png
http://i.imgur.com/jKOYDUJ.png

I can only hope both of them - all the Wardens - died not knowing the cause. It would only have been a cruelty.

http://i.imgur.com/iJkeWuM.png
http://i.imgur.com/VFV29cD.png
http://i.imgur.com/Y42Kw1u.png

There is one comfort in this - cold indeed at the moment, but in my intellect, I know it to be a powerful one:

I did not, after all, come too late.

Time - whatever it is for which I use the expedient word "time" - is not toying with me. I am not doomed to fall inches short of the mark, however I strive and whatever I do.

Mortal treachery... that can be handled. Must be handled.

http://i.imgur.com/bbqmSf0.png

And, under the circumstances, I fear Orzammar must wait.

[Lethologica]

The Ogre was my first TPK threat, personally. The first-floor fight wasn't so bad after dealing with the traps.

[Aeson]

Here, we see our "lower levels." It was always a poor euphemism:
I do kind of wonder about how they found these lower levels. Did the floor collapse, or did they dig into them? Gaping holes in the floor, especially when they're right out in the open, aren't exactly something you overlook. Or have they known about this pit since they entered the tower and only recently started troubling themselves about what's at the bottom?


GUARD:
They do a great job giving this guy and Circle Mage names that conceal the fact that these guys aren't going to be sticking around all that long, don't they? I mean, who expects characters with names like "Tower Guard" and "Circle Mage" to be mere temporary party members?

Also kind of wish that "Tower Guard" had been a rogue rather than a warrior, even though BioWare probably wouldn't have made him competent enough to pick any of the locks or disarm any of the traps in the tower.

[Gray Mage]

In my first playthrough I had 2 tpks with that blasted Ogre. :smallsigh:

@Doma: Are you already set on what part of the main quest to go for first?

[DomaDoma]

Technically, Gray Mage, I don't even know what my options are yet. :smalltongue:




They do a great job giving this guy and Circle Mage names that conceal the fact that these guys aren't going to be sticking around all that long, don't they? I mean, who expects characters with names like "Tower Guard" and "Circle Mage" to be mere temporary party members?

"My friend" had better not be freaking "Tower Guard" was a very strong thought I had during that conversation with Morrigan. Just didn't mention it because, way to shoot the prevailing mood.

Similarly: I've played this segment three times by now and so I know that the bumper is randomized. Still, here's the transition between being half-killed on top of the tower and waking up in Morrigan's cabin this time around:

http://i.imgur.com/XKVAxHD.png

Rude.

[Lethologica]

I do kind of wonder about how they found these lower levels. Did the floor collapse, or did they dig into them? Gaping holes in the floor, especially when they're right out in the open, aren't exactly something you overlook. Or have they known about this pit since they entered the tower and only recently started troubling themselves about what's at the bottom?
Without having checked carefully, I would guess that the gaping holes in the floor are probably supposed to be collateral damage of the Ogre's violent journey topside. That or they were designated ambush points where the darkspawn collapsed the ceiling of the floor below and laddered up.

[Kesnit]

DUNCAN: Step forward, Jory.

JORY [drawing his sword]: But... I have a wife! A child! Had I known...
DUNCAN: There is no turning back.
JORY: No! You ask too much! There is no glory in this!
http://i.imgur.com/SZ4FLj5.png
http://i.imgur.com/E9vkS8U.png
http://i.imgur.com/NVPnPRE.png
http://i.imgur.com/W4AYfsm.png

On my second playthrough,I realized you can strip Daveth and Jory of all their gear prior to the Joining. It always amuses me to see Jory standing there in his underwear, then have him pull a greatsword from somewhere...

[Psyren]

I find it interesting how you called out Cailan's flippant attitude to the battle and juvenile nature in general. It gave me a bit more appreciation for Loghain's perspective. Not enough to agree with his actions, but still, a fresh look at how things must have seemed from his eyes.

Of course, you also touched on his irrational and practically frothing xenophobia towards Orlesians, even Orlesian Wardens, which I feel was the more pertinent factor in his decision than any pragmatic concern towards his King's ability to command. So he's left without a leg to stand on in any case.



There are four noble ranks in Ferelden. Bann is the lowest noble rank. Arl is higher (read: rules more land). Teryn is higher still; there are only two teryns at the moment, Loghain Mac Tir, Teryn of Gwaeron, and Bryce Cousland, Teryn of Highever. Finally, there's the king, who you've met.

Denerim is the capital city, where the king lives, but it also has an arl of its own, Vaughn Kendall; his arldom consists solely of the capital city. Other arldoms are bigger, but less capital city.

The queen, Anora, is Loghain's daughter (and only child, which means the title of Teryn of Gwaeron will be up for grabs, and presumably be reassigned by the king, when Loghain dies, unless he has another child first). Cailan and Anora have no children.

Bryce Cousland has two children (one elder son, one younger child who you would have been playing had you chosen to play a human noble). The elder son is married and has a young son, as well.

People usually call Loghain Teryn Loghain rather than Teryn Mac Tir, while they call Bryce Cousland Teryn Cousland. This is because Loghain was born a commoner and granted his title by Cailan's father, King Maric, while Bryce's family has been nobility for centuries. It would be more formally correct to address Loghain as Teryn Mac Tir, but no one ever does anyway; the terynage is widely viewed as synonymous with the man Loghain, while the terynage of Highever is viewed as synonymous with the ancient Cousland family, not the individual man Bryce.

My take on this contains no plot/character info so I'll leave it open.

The quick way I summarize Ferelden nobility is by translating it to English peerage. In ascending order of power:

Ser = Knight (Sir)
Bann = Baron
Arl = Earl
Teyrn = Duke

The two missing intermediary ranks (Viscount and Marquis) are actually found outside of Ferelden.


On my second playthrough,I realized you can strip Daveth and Jory of all their gear prior to the Joining. It always amuses me to see Jory standing there in his underwear, then have him pull a greatsword from somewhere...

I do this simply because it's logically what the Wardens would ask of Joiners. It makes everything feel more "ceremonial," while simultaneously making it easy for the presiding Warden Commander to shank anybody who gets cold feet :smallbiggrin:

I mean, not that it would matter either way to a badass like Duncan, but not everybody the Wardens recruit is fresh out of training, and they are usually highly-skilled or they wouldn't be there in the first place. Could you imagine if somebody like Oghren changed their mind mid-Joining? The resulting carnage could be unthinkable.

[SuperPanda]

I find it interesting how you called out Cailan's flippant attitude to the battle and juvenile nature in general. It gave me a bit more appreciation for Loghain's perspective. Not enough to agree with his actions, but still, a fresh look at how things must have seemed from his eyes.

Of course, you also touched on his irrational and practically frothing xenophobia towards Orlesians, even Orlesian Wardens, which I feel was the more pertinent factor in his decision than any pragmatic concern towards his King's ability to command. So he's left without a leg to stand on in any case.


Yeah, I'm loving this too. This entire thread is reminding me of how epic my first playthrough felt and how I was thinking more or less in character about these people.

My first play-through I made myself a red-haired city-elf Rogue that I decided to theme off of ST:DS9's Kira. I'm going to be very busy the next few weeks but I might playthrough the game again with her because of this thread and make a record for myself like what Doma has made here.



Duncan: Saved me from Denerim and was aparently a friend of my agitator mother. In many ways I saw him as the Sisco to my Kira, the one friend I thought I could truly trust. His death was not easy to cope with at first, nor was the world-changing realization that I was in charge and a player on the world stage after fighting for the right to be considered equal to a mabari by Federeldan society up until then.

Cailan: Human royalty, my initial disdain seemed to sting him and his child-like innocence (as Doma noted) was infectious. His surprise and ignorance of the situation in the Alienage caught my attention and I briefly held hope that I might be able to use his adoration of the grey wardens to help my people... Even if that meant risking my life for a human noble. The more interaction I had with him the more I got the feeling that he was a well meaning figure head being directed by ruthless statesmen and might actually have no idea what the reality was for the less fortunate. Needless to say his death made me want revenge against Loghain- not because the death of a human noble was worth crying about but because through him real good could have been done and Loghain had taken hope from me yet again - like all the humans before him.

Daveth: Felt somewhat crestfallen to hear that he got recruited for unsuccessfully pick-pocketing Duncan compared to what I did to get into the Wardens, but didn't think about it too much. He could have been a good ally.

Jory: If I'd had any other origin I think I'd have found him a lovable bloke but as it was I trusted him less than Daveth. A bright-eyed honor seeker without the pull or influence to change anything and traditional warrior training.

Alister: Early on he was just another armored human. His inability to take things seriously was worrying and his desire to ruffle feathers more so with his religious ties. I worried he'd impeed my attempts to reach the King's ear on the plight of the city-elfs. In time that changed of course.

Loghain: Gruff and business like but professional. I'd expect him to beat his elves, even to death, but never would I believe him to be like the nobles I had the displeasure to deal with in Denerim. There was a cruelty and a lack of caring there, but no sadism. I could see in his face that we (elves, commoners, foreigners) weren't important enough to be worth more than an unceremonious execution once we became inconvenient or inefficient. I could see that he'd never help the elves when they were being harassed but he'd come down like the blight on them if they caused trouble - he'd be worse than things were now... I marked him as my antagonist early on because of that.

After Ostagar bringing down Loghain was a goal, but one that needed to be planned carefully. He was smart, cautious, and in his own mind Just. He'd not make things worse for the elves of Denerim until I connected the dots from them to me, so by the time I was ready to confront him I needed to be ready to finish him.

[GrayDeath]

Please continue.

I am eager to see the differences (and afraid of the similarities) between my most recent (now necroed^^) Replay with a Dwarven Noble Rogue (in both senses of the word) and your variant. ^^

[DomaDoma]

Without going into the litany of my various crises and limitations, I should be able to update Monday after next, should be able to update VERY thickly during the second half of November, and am posting this so the thing doesn't fall off the face of the forum first.

[SuperPanda]

Awesome. I'd been missing this thread. Please take your time and proceed at the rate where it is still fun for you.

My theory on these things is always, "I get to enjoy reading it as long as the author enjoy's writing it'

[DomaDoma]

PART SIX: AT LEAST WE QUALIFY AS A RAGTAG BAND

When I go out to meet Alistair, he is in an understandably fey mood.

http://i.imgur.com/TbJpLKh.jpg

MORRIGAN'S MOTHER: See? Here is your fellow Grey Warden. You worry too much, young man.

http://i.imgur.com/zRpCakA.png

ALISTAIR: You're... you're alive! I thought you were dead for sure.

WALKER: I'm not, thanks to Morrigan's mother.

ALISTAIR: This doesn't seem real. If it weren't for Morrigan's mother, we'd be dead on top of that tower.

MORRIGAN'S MOTHER: Do not talk about me as if I am not present, lad.

It's not as though we were saying anything bad, though. Or short of downright laudatory. But then we've established that this woman is not what you'd call fully socialized.

ALISTAIR: I didn't mean... but what do we call you? You never told us your name.

MORRIGAN'S MOTHER: Names are pretty, but useless.

Yep. Spoken like a member of a very narrow social circle.

MORRIGAN'S MOTHER: The Chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose it will do.

ALISTAIR: The Flemeth from the legends? Daveth was right-- you're the Witch of the Wilds, aren't you?

FLEMETH [taking the words right out of Walker's mouth]: And what does that mean? I know a bit of magic, and it has served you both well, has it not?

Seriously. Legendary bogeyman witches are never both as bad and as witchy as they're played to be. Since Flemeth is plenty witch – in last installment, Morrigan informed me that she saved us by turning into a giant bird and flying us away (us, rather than oh let's think Duncan and Cailan, because we were conveniently on the high ground) – then that means she's benign. QED, with or without the whole owing-her-our-lives part.

Anyway. Back to the big fat traitor in the room.

ALISTAIR: We need to bring Loghain to judgment! Why would he do this?

FLEMETH: Now that is a good question. Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature. Perhaps he believes the Blight is an army he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat.

ALISTAIR [offering a needed clarification]: The archdemon.

WALKER: What can the teyrn hope to gain by betraying the king?

ALISTAIR: The throne? He's the queen's father. Still, I can't see how he'll get away with murder.

FLEMETH: You speak as though he would be the first king to gain his throne that way. Grow up, boy!


I, of all people, can hardly argue. But had she decided to voice this sentiment in the eerie singsong I've already seen from her... well. She didn't. I'll be thankful for that.

ALISTAIR: Arl Eamon would never stand for it! The Landsmeet would never stand for it! There would be civil war!

That is, I'll admit, a fairly concrete reason to have difficulty seeing how Loghain would get away with this.

I wonder at myself, wonder how distorted my priorities have become, but I am actually leaning toward this civil war. Yes, even as the Blight descends upon them – one must consider the aftermath. If we can only make the struggle a brief one...

WALKER: You think the arl would believe us over the teyrn?

ALISTAIR: I suppose... Arl Eamon wasn't at Ostagar; he still has all his men. And he was Cailan's uncle.

[The way he says that last sentence, it really means something.]

ALISTAIR: I know him. He's a good man, respected in the Landsmeet. Of course! We could go to Redcliffe and apply to him for help!

WALKER [uncharacteristically embittered by the week's events]: Keep in mind that Loghain was also an honorable man.

ALISTAIR: The arl would never do what Teyrn Loghain did. I know him too well.

And I knew Bhelen. No matter. We have to try. More often than not, things really are what they appear. Else, appearance would have no meaning.

ALISTAIR: I still don't know if Arl Eamon's help would be enough. He can't defeat the darkspawn horde by himself!

WALKER: We need the rest of the Grey Wardens.

ALISTAIR: I don't know how to contact them, or if they're even on their way. We need to do something now!



http://i.imgur.com/OvZZ297.png
(I accidentally scanned this one in with data loss. Be grateful, especially where panel five is concerned.)

FLEMETH: You have more at your disposal than you think.

ALISTAIR: Of course! The treaties!

Duncan, you magnificent bastard.

(I'm quite certain I didn't quite catch the bit about whom the treaties are with at this point, so on the cutting room floor it goes.)

ALISTAIR: So can we do this? Can we go to Redcliffe and these other places, and... build an army?

FLEMETH: So you are set, then? Ready to be Grey Wardens?

WALKER: As ready as we'll ever be.

FLEMETH: Now... before you go, there is one more thing I can offer you.

MORRIGAN [popping out of the cabin]: The stew is boiling, Mother dear. Shall we have two guests for the eve, or none?

[One of these alternatives is clearly making her irritable.]

FLEMETH: The Grey Wardens are leaving shortly, dear. And you will be joining them.

MORRIGAN: Such a shame-- What?!

FLEMETH: You heard me, girl. The last time I looked, you had ears! [Another disconcertingly hearty laugh.] Her magic will be useful. Even better, she knows the Wilds and how to get past the horde.

WALKER: Thank you, but if she doesn't wish to come with us...

MORRIGAN: Have I no say in this?

FLEMETH: You have been itching to get out of the Wilds for years. Here is your chance. As for you, Wardens, consider this repayment for your lives.


That, uh... that doesn't exactly make it sound like she's doing us a favor.

WALKER [very mindful of that darkspawn horde]: Very well, we'll take her with us.

ALISTAIR: Not to... look a gift horse in the mouth, but won't this add to our problems? Out of the Wilds, she's an apostate.

FLEMETH: If you do not wish help from us illegal mages, young man, perhaps I should have left you on that tower.

ALISTAIR: Point. Taken.

MORRIGAN: Mother... this is not how I wanted this. I am not even ready--

FLEMETH: You must be ready. Alone, these two must unite Ferelden against the darkspawn. They need you. Without you, they will surely fail, and all will perish under the Blight. Even I.

http://i.imgur.com/ZJB4Ia7.png

FLEMETH: And you, Wardens? Do you understand? I give you that which I value above all in this world. I do this because you must succeed.

WALKER: She won't come to harm with us.

Morrigan says it's best that we go to a village in the north to get a feel for the latest gossip (this village has a chantry, which is naturally not keen on apostates, but she's confident she can deal with that eaily enough), and she inquires whether I want her to shut up along the way. I say it's best that she speak her mind, which Flemeth finds tremendously funny. Alistair still isn't so sure about taking her, but I respond that we need all the help we can get. He reluctantly accepts this.

MORRIGAN [witheringly]: I am so pleased to have your approval.

MORRIGAN: Farewell, Mother. Do not forget the stew on the fire. I would hate to return to a burned-down hut.

FLEMETH: Bah. 'Tis more likely you will return to see this entire area, along with my hut, swallowed up by the Blight.

(Flemeth, folks: Queen of the People Skills.)

About ten feet down the slope from Flemeth's cabin, I am met with the rather alarming dialogue box: GATHER YOUR PARTY AND VENTURE FORTH?

Followed by a map:

http://i.imgur.com/pf5ZAz7.png

That trail of congealing blood is supposed to mark our progress. Pretty ominous connotations about the nature of this quest; please tell me we don't end up being the real bad guys? And then it cuts off halfway to the village, blocked by an icon bearing crossed swords.



THE LANDSMEET, DENERIM

http://i.imgur.com/A9OWtsZ.png

LOGHAIN: ...and I expect each of you to supply these men. We must rebuild what was lost at Ostagar, and quickly. There are those who would take adavantage of our weakened state, if we let them. We must defeat this darkspawn incursion, but we must do so sensibly and without hesitation.


http://i.imgur.com/VDhmVJx.png

He sounds absolutely sincere. And I know Walker isn't strictly available to comment, but Loghain's general dead-eyed Altmer look is not helping here.


MAN IN THE CROWD: Your lordship, if I may speak?

http://i.imgur.com/lm0KqnU.png

[Loghain actually lets him.]

MAN: You have declared yourself Anora's regent, and claim we must unite under your banner for our own good. But what of the army lost at Ostagar? Your withdrawal was most... fortuitous.

[A shocked, disapproving general murmur from the crowd.]

LOGHAIN [looking as though he has a bit of a hangover]: Everything I have done has been to secure Ferelden's independence. I have not shirked my duty to the throne, and neither will any of you!

MAN: The Bannorn will not bow to you simply because you demand it!

(For “Bannorn,” read “barons”, more or less.)

http://i.imgur.com/dx5l3LT.png

LOGHAIN: Understand this: I will brook no threat to this nation... from you or anyone!

That said, he probably can't kill the guy now. It'd only exacerbate the damage. It'll need to be something covert, preferably incriminating.

Before leaving the hall, he addresses Loghain's daughter some way down the platform.

http://i.imgur.com/5WXdQ7T.png
http://i.imgur.com/FrktFtL.png

MAN: Your Majesty. Your father risks civil war. If Eamon were here...

So... Eamon's dead, then?

http://i.imgur.com/mKAxSer.png

(...I guess she must get her looks from her mother. She might have her father's eyes, but it's hard to tell the size of Loghain's eyes under about three or four decades of perpetual scowl.)

QUEEN: Bann Teagan, my father is doing what is best.

TEAGAN: Did he also do what was best for your husband, your Majesty?

http://i.imgur.com/5LCAe7i.png


As for us, we're walking along a valley, seeing some light-brown thing running along the other side of a fence. It's...


http://i.imgur.com/S3oZj85.png

Only we're attacked by darkspawn just then. I guess it's futile asking a dog how he survived the battle anyway.

It transpires that Morrigan's skillset is absolutely fantastic, and has not a thing in common with either of ours. Granted it has a very unhealthy focus on maiming targets in creative ways – the best two tools in her arsenal appear to be Mind Blast and Drain Life – but shoot, she's such an asset to the team that I cannot comprehend how we got up the Tower of Ishal without her.

Anyway, we beat the darkspawn and save the dog, who performed this battle as a blue-marked “ally.” (We learned with the mabari in the tower that those guys absolutely do die, and stay dead at the end of a battle.)

[He wags his tail happily and pants.]

WALKER: I think this is the mabari I helped cure at Ostagar.

ALISTAIR: I think he was out there looking for you. He's... chosen you. Mabari are like that. They call it imprinting.

PLEASE ENTER A NAME FOR THE DOG:

Hmmm. Well, I guess it'd have to be something meaningful to Walker, applicable to the dog, yet somehow not completely depressing.

http://i.imgur.com/wesIY2l.png

That turned out to be much easier than you'd think.

MORRIGAN: Does this mean we're going to have this mangy beast following us around now? Wonderful.

ALISTAIR [sounding exactly like a little boy in can-I-keep-him mode]: He's not mangy!

Okay, now before we head out, there is no further excuse not to bone up on the greater politics of Ferelden. To the codex!

I'm pretty sure I didn't learn much about the queen until later, so we'll ignore her for now. But for clarity's sake, her name is Anora.

Arl Eamon holds a choke point in Fereldan geography. Everyone esteems him, but no one thinks of him as any sort of leader. No word in the codex as to why Bann Teagan was talking about him in such worrying terms; we presumably get the pleasure of discovering that for ourselves.

Teyrn Loghain (disregarding current details that weren't even strictly delineated in the last off-screen cutscene – seriously, the codex is maddening) is essentially regarded as the consummate Colovian – hardscrabble, unshakably principled, and oh yes, the man who, rising from obscurity as a farmer by sheer pluck and talent, came to lead the rebellion that freed Ferelden from Orlesian tyranny as the right-hand man to Cailan's father.

Okay, then. So what on earth can have happened since?

I see three possibilities:

-He's possessed by an entity friendly to the darkspawn.
-He really has a bug up his ass about Orlais.
-He's just plumb power-mad.

We'll find out eventually, I'm sure. Probably not in the next village, but we'll take one thing at a time.

[lord_khaine]

It transpires that Morrigan's skillset is absolutely fantastic, and has not a thing in common with either of ours. Granted it has a very unhealthy focus on maiming targets in creative ways – the best two tools in her arsenal appear to be Mind Blast and Drain Life – but shoot, she's such an asset to the team that I cannot comprehend how we got up the Tower of Ishal without her.

Morgana is a gem of snark and shredding magic, do notice her ice spell has a chance to freeze the target on a low cooldown as well.

[DomaDoma]

Morgana is a gem of snark and shredding magic, do notice her ice spell has a chance to freeze the target on a low cooldown as well.

Quickly became my staple elite-mook spell, yes.

[Lethologica]

Dog is and forever shall be Dog.

Mages are and forever shall be the best class.

The codex is and forever shall be blithely unconcerned with spoilers.

[Aeson]

(us, rather than oh let's think Duncan and Cailan, because we were conveniently on the high ground)
I don't know that I'd call your location "convenient;" the upper chamber of the Tower of Ishal where you fought the ogre, last I checked, was an interior space and so she presumably had to at least break a window or something.


ALISTAIR: Of course! The treaties!

Duncan, you magnificent bastard.

(I'm quite certain I didn't quite catch the bit about whom the treaties are with at this point, so on the cutting room floor it goes.)
I'm honestly not sure why the treaties are supposed to be of any real value. Assuming that the tower in the Wilds was abandoned when the Wardens pulled out of Ferelden, the treaties are at least two centuries old, and I'd expect that the treaties would more likely date back closer to one of the Blights; if the treaties dated back even to just the Fourth Blight, that'd put them at roughly four centuries old. Even a very honor-bound society such as Orzammar (well, superficially, at any rate) could probably rationalize ignoring the treaties, especially if they could avoid admitting to the existence of any copies or records of the treaties within their own archives, if they decided that they didn't want to help.

Of course, given how things play out, I'm also not sure that the treaties are actually regarded within the game as having any real value, except maybe as a way to get your foot in the door. "We'd love to help, but first you should go run off and do this task which is completely unrelated to fighting the Blight except inasmuch as we promise to send you some troops if you do it" is pretty much the standard response (slightly paraphrased) to showing up with the treaties.


please tell me we don't end up being the real bad guys?
Okay. You don't end up being the real bad guys.

So. Am I telling you this because you asked me to, or because it's true?


It transpires that Morrigan's skillset is absolutely fantastic, and has not a thing in common with either of ours. Granted it has a very unhealthy focus on maiming targets in creative ways – the best two tools in her arsenal appear to be Mind Blast and Drain Life – but shoot, she's such an asset to the team that I cannot comprehend how we got up the Tower of Ishal without her.
Personally, I don't much care for Drain Life. It's nice if the caster's already taken some damage, but some of the other spells Morrigan starts with are better at killing things, and Mind Blast is pretty good for getting mages out of trouble if melee enemies decide to come after them instead of the party tank(s).

Morrigan does unfortunately have the Shapeshifter specialization, which is mostly useless, but even just the four standard schools of magic have so many useful spells that no mage character ever really needs to get their specializations to avoid putting points into useless talents.


Teyrn Loghain (disregarding current details that weren't even strictly delineated in the last off-screen cutscene – seriously, the codex is maddening) is essentially regarded as the consummate Colovian – hardscrabble, unshakably principled, and oh yes, the man who, rising from obscurity as a farmer by sheer pluck and talent, came to lead the rebellion that freed Ferelden from Orlesian tyranny as the right-hand man to Cailan's father.
For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure you can find most of that out by talking to people in the camp at Ostagar, though it's been a while since I bothered. You might have to call Loghain out of his tent in order to get the information, though.

Regardless, I'm not sure that I'd really regard that as being too much of a spoiler, primarily because it's the kind of thing that the player character probably would know even if the player does not. Loghain's an important nobleman in Ferelden; human noble wardens almost certainly know everything mentioned in the codex and more, city elf and dwarf noble1 wardens probably know at least everything mentioned in the codex. Dwarf commoner and Dalish wardens are probably the ones who would most easily be justified as not knowing much of anything about Loghain, but the dwarf commoner warden is involved with a smuggling ring and the Dalish warden's clan has presumably spent a reasonable amount of time in Ferelden, so they'd probably at least know the name and that he had something to do with the rebellion against Orlais. Even if the player character had had their head buried in the ground or up in a cloud up until the start of the game, though, I'd tend to expect that Duncan would have told the player character a bit about the main players in the army at Ostagar, and maybe also Ferelden as a whole, and I'm absolutely certain that any player character who turned up in Ostagar and said something like "So who's this Loghain guy, anyways?" would have gotten an earful about Loghain's history and the rebellion against Orlais, even if exaggerated or otherwise inaccurate. If the player character was an airhead prior to the start of the game and Duncan didn't provide even basic background information on the way and the player character somehow missed out on getting an earful from the first Ferelden to realize that the player character doesn't know the first thing about Loghain, there's still that the player character is traveling with Alistair, who absolutely does know this information even though you can't really ask him about it.

1Loghain is an important nobleman in Ferelden, and Ferelden is perhaps Orzammar's closest neighbor. Ferelden may also be a significant trading partner and be well-placed to cut Orzammar's overland trade routes. It'd be wise for any responsible member of government to know something about the important people in neighboring states, and that Loghain rose for fighting against the Orlesians is both something which is probably very easy to find out from anyone from Ferelden and potentially important for guessing how he'll act.


do notice her ice spell has a chance to freeze the target on a low cooldown as well.
Problem is, Winter's Grasp becomes very unreliable as a single-target disable spell very quickly, at least in my experience. The damage is fine, but if you want to temporarily take an elite enemy out of the fight you're better off going with one of the single-target stun spells (Horror, Paralyze, Petrify, Force Field, Crushing Prison, maybe something else I've forgotten; be very careful using Crushing Prison on elite enemies). Morrigan comes with Horror, if I recall correctly.


One warning about a specific spell: Enemy spellcasters are, or at least can be, a major threat, especially later in the game when they start getting some of the nastier spells like Curse of Mortality or Crushing Prison. Mana Clash, given its description, sounds like an appealing spell to get to counter enemy mages, particularly since the line it's in is mostly dedicated to countering enemy spellcasters. In fact, Mana Clash would be exceptionally good as a battle-opener when there are enemy spellcasters present - it has a large area of effect, it can do a hell of a lot of damage to anything that currently has a decent amount of mana (as in, it can one-shot or nearly one-shot most enemy spellcasters, including what is otherwise one of the most dangerous bosses in the game), it drains the mana of any enemy spellcasters it hits so even if they survive they aren't casting any spells for a while, it's more or less instant-cast like Winter's Grasp or Fireball rather than having a channeling time like Chain Lightning or Mass Paralyze, it has a decent range. It also has one little problem - casting it, at least in my experience, has a very high likelihood of causing the game to crash. High enough, in fact, that it's more or less unusable. Oops.

[Douglas]

Dog is and forever shall be Dog.
In the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC, where the PC doesn't survive the Joining and you play as a darkspawn leader, Alistair dubs the dog Barkspawn.

[Psyren]

In the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC, where the PC doesn't survive the Joining and you play as a darkspawn leader, Alistair dubs the dog Barkspawn.

And Wynne names him "Rabbit" in Return to Ostagar. This is why I'm in charge of the naming in my party :smalltongue:

[Ronnoc]

It also has one little problem - casting it, at least in my experience, has a very high likelihood of causing the game to crash. High enough, in fact, that it's more or less unusable. Oops.

I've run through about six playthroughs on three comps and never had this happen with mana clash.

[Kish]

Yeah, I've never seen that or heard of it before.

[Lethologica]

The issue, whatever it is, made the wiki (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Mana_Clash), so it's happened to...well, at least one other person. Try before you buy, so to speak.

[GloatingSwine]

In the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC, where the PC doesn't survive the Joining and you play as a darkspawn leader, Alistair dubs the dog Barkspawn.

I'm p. sure that was originally a Penny Arcade joke that got adopted for the DLC.

Dog is basically a portable anti-wizard missile, since unlike everyone else his combat move speed is faster than his normal move speed he can run them down and eat them, especially with Overwhelm when he gets it.

[DomaDoma]

I only wish that "battle-opener" were an option on the tactics menu. As soon as you start dealing out damage at a distance en masse, it would have been severely handy.

[GrayDeath]

Well, I always named my Dwarfs Dog Trian. :smallbiggrin:

Also: go on, cant wait to see your ghuys actions with Sten and the Tower. ^^

[Inarius]

The issue, whatever it is, made the wiki (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Mana_Clash), so it's happened to...well, at least one other person. Try before you buy, so to speak.

From what I remember of that bug it only happened when I cast Mana clash at the exact same time an opponent cast a spell as well. Same for Affliction hex and a few other area effect spells with that specific animation. Doesn't happen on this current computer build, but it happened all the time with my older one.

[GrayDeath]

Soooo.....anything in the Pipeline?