Languish.org

Ok I have made no secret here of my mad love for Darkest Dungeon and Pillars of Eternity. I have gotten back in the RPG saddle since not really playing at all since 2010 when I really got into school and started having kids and stuff.

So I thought I would go back and catch up to Mass Effect and Dragon Age while I wait for the new Torment game to come out next year.

It seems Mass Effect is going to do this: http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/80841/20150407/mass-effect-trilogy-ps4-xbox-one.htm

Even for the PC maybe. So I will wait for that.

Dragon Age Origins is one of my favorite games but I thought the expansion, Awakenings, was total shit. I do not remember why and it seems Bioware has basically turned it into melodramatic cheese. But I can forgive them for it, I just have to tune my expectations accordingly :P

So anyway I am going to play the whole thing in chronological order. I played DA:O a whole bunch in 2009 and early 2010 and I kind of remember it but they released a bunch of new content since then.

So first the prequel Liliana's Song which looks corny but it should get me in the mood for more Dragon Age cheese.

Basically I am going to do:
Leliana's Song
Dragon Age:Origins
Awakenings
Golem DLC thing
Morrigan DLC thing

I don't plan on doing that Darkspawn Win thing unless you guys say I should for some reason.

This is why EA sucks. It was not going to do this because it looked like I was going to have to pay 20 dollars for the stupid DLC I didn't have but then they had DA:O, Awakenings, and ALL the DLC for 13 dollars. Yeah that makes sense EA, it costs less to just rebuy everything.

and then go on to whatever DA2 was.

Impressions to be maybe be posted here when I feel like it. I know very little so don't spoil me too much. And it will be slow, I have kids and work and stuff.

Do like Ed: have kids work.

Quote from: Valmy on April 10, 2015, 09:51:59 AM
Ok I have made no secret here of my mad love for Darkest Dungeon and Pillars of Eternity. I have gotten back in the RPG saddle since not really playing at all since 2010 when I really got into school and started having kids and stuff.

So I thought I would go back and catch up to Mass Effect and Dragon Age while I wait for the new Torment game to come out next year.

It seems Mass Effect is going to do this: http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/80841/20150407/mass-effect-trilogy-ps4-xbox-one.htm

Even for the PC maybe. So I will wait for that.

Dragon Age Origins is one of my favorite games but I thought the expansion, Awakenings, was total shit. I do not remember why and it seems Bioware has basically turned it into melodramatic cheese. But I can forgive them for it, I just have to tune my expectations accordingly :P

So anyway I am going to play the whole thing in chronological order. I played DA:O a whole bunch in 2009 and early 2010 and I kind of remember it but they released a bunch of new content since then.

So first the prequel Liliana's Song which looks corny but it should get me in the mood for more Dragon Age cheese.

Basically I am going to do:
Leliana's Song
Dragon Age:Origins
Awakenings
Golem DLC thing
Morrigan DLC thing

I don't plan on doing that Darkspawn Win thing unless you guys say I should for some reason.

This is why EA sucks. It was not going to do this because it looked like I was going to have to pay 20 dollars for the stupid DLC I didn't have but then they had DA:O, Awakenings, and ALL the DLC for 13 dollars. Yeah that makes sense EA, it costs less to just rebuy everything.

and then go on to whatever DA2 was.

Impressions to be maybe be posted here when I feel like it. I know very little so don't spoil me too much. And it will be slow, I have kids and work and stuff.

Only Awakening was a good DLC.  The others are shit.  If you didn't like Awakening, you're not to going to like the others.
The only reason to do them was to get the items for your next playthrough of Origin.

Eh I know. Doing it for the lolz mostly

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Ok so I loaded Leliana's Song up last night.

I took a bunch of screenshots but when I went to the screenshot tab in my profile it said I had 100 uploaded out of 50 max (I know I took a few but 100? :unsure:) but it only had the shot from my achievement listed so....huh.

Anyway I didn't quite finish it but I should next session. I actually have been enjoying it. The blood splattered intros while my group is inexplicably murdering some guard was awesome cheese. 'We are so very hardcore!' We are supposed to be bringing our sophisticated intrigue of Orlais to les barbares Fereldenais but it seems a bit unsubtle there.

The first part was pretty cool. Sure I was murdering people but I got to sneak around Denerim avoiding the guards and doing dirty deeds. I even got future Maker-freak Leliana to steal from the Chantry. But the next part was a straight up murder fest. It has been five years so I had to reteach myself how to play. And sure this DLC is meant for people who have beaten the main game but no hand-holding for me damn it.

Let me just say I really hate Mabari Warhounds now.

Anyway despite having murdered many people Leliana, that saucy Orlais tart, has a patriotic crisis of conscience and her remarkably creepy bisexual lover sells her out. Then a woman speaking down from glowing light in the heavens tosses her a sword and a key to escape prison.

Who could it be...I don't know...nobody comes to mind...could it be...

(https://higheredanxiety.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/tumblr_luerg10zyc1qfengno1_500.jpg)

Ok probably Andraste or something.

I got to see the future Bann Rape-an-elf from the City Elf Origin as an abusive little Joffrey-wannabe and see one of my party members tortured to death by his psychotic father. Good family fun all around.

Last thought: you know you kind of got the impression that mages outside of the circles and surface dwarves were rare or something but they seem to be all over the place. Either that or your party members are always special snowflakes, even in DLCs. But what about the bad guy mages? Do they have bloodthirsty mercenary work details in the circles? Ah well.

Church Lady reference.  :thumbsup:

Quote from: Valmy on April 13, 2015, 07:40:25 AM
Ok so I loaded Leliana's Song up last night.

I took a bunch of screenshots but when I went to the screenshot tab in my profile it said I had 100 uploaded out of 50 max (I know I took a few but 100? :unsure:) but it only had the shot from my achievement listed so....huh.

the game will automatically take screenshot of just about any event.  Entering a new area, defeating a big monster, etc,

Quote from: viper37 on April 13, 2015, 12:23:46 PM

the game will automatically take screenshot of just about any event.  Entering a new area, defeating a big monster, etc,

Only when it earns an achievement. And since I already have most of those there will not be many. Ah well everybody knows what Dragon Age Origins looks like by now. I remember before my screenshots appeared in this directory so I am not sure what is going on.

Quote from: Valmy on April 13, 2015, 12:29:26 PM
Only when it earns an achievement.

hmm, I'm pretty sure it's more than that.  I used to have tons of screenshot uploaded to my profile.

It takes screenshots at various points, regardless of achievements. I believe there are some options where you can specify it (might be in your profile).

I finished Leliana's song. The disembodied voice turned out to be Dorothea, an Orlesian cleric who originally owned the top secret papers Leliana's evil ex was going to hand over to the psycho Ferelden noble. They tortured the dwarf companion to death so he gets replaced with random Ferelden warrior. Dorothea sent Leliana after evil ex and her evil new beau and a bizarre battle royale occurred involving several mages and a dragon. Damn does every Ferelden noble have a bodyguard like that? Anyway cheese all around but it was fun and pretty hard, I had to generously use my health kit things. the first part of the DLC was great, but then it became just a run-in-a-straight-line-kill-bad-guys-and-take-their-stuff fest. Most of the plot elements were contrived. Ah well. You get to see Leliana back in the Chantry getting ready to find religion.

Oh one more funny thing: multiple priestesses said Leliana reminded them of themselves before they saw the Maker's love. So are all the priestesses in the Chantry former bard assassins? Cool.

On to the main show! And Viper and Solmyr you guys were absolutely right so no reason for me to be concerned over screenshots.

It was brought to my attention that you cannot transfer your games into Dragon Age Inquisition but they have a program where you enter every choice you made that Inquisition cares about. Ok then sounds like after each playing session I have to go fill in what I just did. At least it looks pretty.

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Huh. Nothing from the Leliana DLC but then I didn't have any decisions to make really.

Way back when I was a wee lad of 32 I played through the City Elf, Human Noble, and Dwarf Commoner plotlines. So this time I will be doing something different. I decided to do the Mage one. Since I am going to be doing the Witch Hunt DLC might as well romance the witch and make her demon baby. My theme here will be: everybody lives. I am going to be keeping as many people alive in this play through as possible so Loghains everywhere can rejoice. I am going to let him live for once. Alistair, my bromance, will be King even if he is going to hate me. He will thank me later I am sure.

Anyway the Circle of the Magi, along with the demons and the fade and the Templars and all that, is one of the cooler concepts in Dragon Age so it was cool to go through that origin. It also reminded me how easy it is to wreck shit with a mage. I started with hard difficulty but switched it soon to Nightmare and even then things are going down pretty fast. The biggest challenge will be the same one all DA:O players face: to make your Warden not look like an inbred freak. Meet Lorcan Amell!

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Yeah I don't know if I succeeded but I tried damn it! Hi Mr. Templars please don't kill me.

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You are wanting freedom from the Circle of Magi and the Chantry eh? Chances of Blood Mage/Abomination? 99.999%.

It was rather amazing how much I remembered even after all this time. DA:O well straddled the line between awesome and cheese very well, and I got pretty pumped during the intro when the Grey Wardens are running through the villages hammering down the Darkspawn. I got to the Kolkari Wilds and stopped. Pretty great stroll down memory lane.

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Hey buddy!  I missed you.

Anyway I went back to the Dragon Age Keep thing to enter any choices I made. It seems the only thing I did up until now that Inquisition cares about is feeding that prisoner at Ostagar.

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The fate of all of Thedas might have been decided by that lunch!

Ok so I went through the Wilds, Ostagar, and Lothering. The Kolkari Wilds and Lothering are always weirdly stressful for me, since I am a completionist and I know I can never come back to them later. So I have to comb them all carefully just to make sure. Couple thoughts:

They really rub your nose in the face you are not a rogue so cannot open chests before you get Leliana. They taunt me so much they even give me that wannabe Grey Warden Rogue with no skill in opening locks. Bastards!

A lot of great tension building cut scenes and stuff here. But I really think the scene where Loghain abandons the King and the army doesn't work. First Loghain should at least announce they have been betrayed by the Grey Wardens and must retreat to save themselves. That should at least explain why his men go along with it. His real reasons for doing it cannot be said, of course, and I guess it still works to leave that out since you can figure it out. I guess it is ok though but you are left with a WTF? sense. But the death scene of Duncan and the King Cailan is not only incredibly cheesy, but I feel like they needed some dialog about realizing Loghain and his men have left them. Ah well.

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'The King is going to sell us out to Orlais. If only there was somebody in power who could do something about that.'

Man I continue to be scared at the specifics I remember. Like how to fight each fight. And I can hardly remember what I was doing 20 minutes ago at work. Damn my brain stores useless shit.

Morrigan's romance apparently starts about five minutes after she goes with you. Oh you horny kids.

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'Hey baby'

Going with my 'everybody lives' ethos I made sure to not kill anybody with the bridge bandits and Loghain's Men in Lothering and drove them off by beating up their leaders first. But that does not seem to matter much, going back over the Dragon Age Keep thing.

These are the decisions that mattered (to Inquisition anyway) this session:

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It seems exactly how you spring Sten is a matter of great import. And frankly if you let that dog die or leave him in the wilderness the bad guy should just automatically win in Inquisition since the player is obviously the real monster.

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Ok you promise to only commit mass murder on bad guys from now on yes? Good Qunari.

Anyway on to the Circle of Magi. Then get Zev and Shale and then go to Orzammar.

Hey it looks like DA2 is on a current humble bundle. EA will still screw me over with the DLC but I can get this game that grognard RPGers consider worse than Satan (or even Revered Mother Dorothea) and ease my conscience by helping to improve female literacy. And I will also get a third copy of DA:O! Maybe it is EA's plan to ensure I get a copy of DA:O everytime I buy a Dragon Age product.

https://www.humblebundle.com/

Praise the (watch)maker! :deist:

Quote from: Valmy on April 16, 2015, 09:16:32 PM
They really rub your nose in the face you are not a rogue so cannot open chests before you get Leliana. They taunt me so much they even give me that wannabe Grey Warden Rogue with no skill in opening locks. Bastards!

You can, of course, get the mod that lets you bash locks with a weapon or zap them with a spell. :P

Hax!

So...the Circle Tower. This was David Gaider's most interesting creation IMO. What if the witches they burned in the 17th century were actually conspiring with Satan? Would it still be bad to burn them? Maybe not the best example but you know what I mean. Just to continue the Christian imagery the deadly sins are personified by evil demons trying to...um...do evil things to the world. Good virtues are personified by spirits who want to get into the world to do nice things. And in addition to that Mages are the Adam and Eve of this world and doomed us all by trying to break into the Golden City. Thus creating the Darkspawn, and the reason why the Maker no longer interacts with the world. So lots of different spiritual elements at play there. And then they are basically walking WMDs so that to.

The game makes it very clear that mages are freaking dangerous. Virtually every apostate mage is an abomination or a blood mage. Heck even lots of the circle mages are. I think Wynne turns out to be an abomination but possessed by a spirit. It is something like that, I think you discover this during her personal quest. So obviously mages are incredibly dangerous and do need to be carefully watched and monitored. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. The mages are powerful but they are stuck in a shit situation. And then there are the Templars, the poor bastards given the unpleasant job of doing the Chantry's dirty work in keeping these incredibly scary people in line. Nobody wants this job so they are selected as youngsters, trained, and then forced to remain at their posts through lyrium addiction. You get this job forever and they never let you leave. And given their profession and pressures, they tend to be a paranoid and insular group.

So it brings up all sorts of questions about how much of the Circle system is a necessary evil and which parts are just evil. Should the Chantry have so much power here? Should the mages and the secular lords have more of a say in how Mages are managed? What about the Templars? Is the way they are run conducive to doing their job well? And, if mages are so dangerous, why are the Templar secrets so heavily guarded? Wouldn't it benefit everybody if their skills were common knowledge? The Chantry does not run Temples so why is their private army called Templars?

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'Abominations and Blood Mages running amok? It must be Tuesday'

Things basically work out in this game (presuming the player is not some psycho) because the leader of the mages, Irving, and the leader of the Templars, Greagoir, are basically good and reasonable people who respect each other and try to do good jobs in shit circumstances. And it begs the question of what would happen if one or both were not reasonable people? I wonder how this obviously unstable system has carried on for centuries without blowing up. Anyway they only kind of touch on this in this game. I understand this plot is a big deal in the other Dragon Ages. I doubt they pay it off well but we shall see.

Anyway the Circle Tower as a dungeon is a little different. It is linear (well..circular) there are interesting encounters where basically you can let people go or slaughter them (being the 'everybody lives' playthrough well I had my duty, even that demon got to keep her pet Templar) and lots of cool puzzles. I also like the kind of confining area. It was cool to see the first two levels again so soon after the origin story. Not sure what to make of the weird...um...blobs or whatever that is. I guess demons make that? Then of course there is the bizarre fade portion, exploring yet another really interesting concept in this universe.

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'Time for the part of this game so popular there is a mod made to bypass it entirely. Muahahaha'

It is...different. First this is a party based game and this is a solo adventure for the most part and man did that suck for my two rogue playthroughs. Not a big deal for my mage though. Secondly no loot and no decisions or interesting conversations to be had (the nightmares are kind of fun I guess but short). Just puzzles and fights and puzzles and fights and puzzles...and then some fights. I enjoy it well enough. But there is a huge mystery in the fade that I can never figure out.

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'Before we fight demon Duncan, why are there so many more Cunning stat increases in the Fade?'

Seriously. I guess the Fade just makes you more cunning. Or maybe cunning is the most useless stat so the game doesn't mind giving you lots of it.

After that we find Cullen, the dude who was going to kill me if I had failed the harrowing in my origin story, he seemed like a good person then but being starved and tortured by blood mages has unhinged him. And you can see how these kinds of experiences fucks up the Templars. Afterwards he remains a Templar and I cannot imagine he can still continue to do his job after that. It would be interesting to see what happens to him, and how bad things get for him and the mages he is responsible for, but you never really see him again after this. That I know of. Maybe he shows up again in the expansion.

Anyway the favorite son returns and sets things right. Greagoir and Irving have a moment. The Templars and Mages kiss and make up. What is left of the mages will blow Darkspawn up.

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'You done good kid'

My guy is a circle loyalist so he was happy to help.

I found a book of Flemeth's and Morrigan responded by fucking my brains out. Awkward scene quickly skipped since my four year old was right behind me. Man that Romance was fast. Though I still need to kill Flemeth.

That reminds me the addendum to 'everybody lives' is that it does not apply to demons, dragons, and darkspawn. Nor Demonic Darkspawn Dragons like the Archdemon. Nor to Flemeth but killing her is just a tiny inconvenience to...whatever she is. Because the dragon fights are just too fun. There I said it. I am weak.

Here is what happened this play session.

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I am afraid I came to terms with the fact it was just not going to work out between me and Alistair. Irvin sure looks happy to have survived there.

Ok so on with my everybody-who-is-not-Flemeth-Darkspawn-Demon-Dragon-Or-A-Combination-of-the-above lives play through.

Shale's DLC has just a stupid hook, meeting that random merchant tossing out free control rods. But to be fair the DLCs seem suffer from this 'tacked on' feeling. The guy from Warden's keep just randomly showing up in your camp right after Ostagar. I don't remember Return to Ostagar so maybe it is better.

I liked the rest of the DLC though, it helps add to the threat of the Darkspawn seeing a village taken over by them. They could have used more of that in the game, add a little urgency.  And of course we get another wizard-demon story. They recycle that one a lot. It is a great theme but it was a concern of mine playing this game that for the start of a franchise they have a limited number of villains. This from the company that made an impressive effort at using every single monster ever made from 2nd Ed AD&D in BG2. Well ok slightly exaggerating but not much. I enjoyed the puzzle as well, I forgot how many puzzles there were in this game. I killed the demon and left the people alive because rules...and because my character is not a monster (at least not conventionally)

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Wilhelm was kind of a jerk to leave her looking upwards to catch all the bird crap.

And then Zevran ambushed us, along with those assassins trying to kill Leliana, and the guy who swindled the mages with his phony book. We just get ambushed a lot. And of course all three groups had mages. For being incredibly rare you cannot go anywhere without being assaulted by apostate mages. Either that or the Chantry just rents out mages to every evil assassin guild.

Zevran doesn't get his own screenshot, I guess anti-elf bias extends to important story screenshots. So I googled him and damn the ladies have a thing for bisexual elves. Images that will never be purged from my mind.

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You just better be glad this is the everybody-who-is-not-Flemeth-Darkspawn-Demon-Dragon-Or-A-Combination-of-the-above lives play through or you would be toast.

Then Orzammar. The Dwarves are the hardcore game of thrones group in this world and I find it hard to believe that they have this cut throat society where their favorite sport is bashing each other's heads in each time they lose face, they have a rigid caste system where a significant percentage of their population are non-persons, and they are in a never ending war against an infinite foe. Yet somehow they are still around. The dwarves are fun though, I like that usually the Dwarves are the ones with the British accents and in this world they are one of the rare groups without one. It makes my accent feel all exotic.

Anyway my guy is fairly conservative in his outlook so I figured he would support the son of the king. Sure he killed his father and is responsible for the deaths of his brothers but what prince worth his salt wouldn't do those things?

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What is thy bidding my master?

Almost to the Deep Roads. The second favorite part of the game for most people!

I remember the fights being pretty challenging though so it should be fun.

Anyway things did during this session:

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Mardy is a dwarf girl you can impregnate in the Dwarf Noble Origin if you are a male. You can recognize the son when you get back and continue your proud bloodline in Orzammar despite being a warden. Anyway not relevant to me. Of course I helped the chanter dwarf being a Maker-fearing surfacer. Zerlinda was a woman who had the misfortune of having a son with a casteless (because the child takes the caste of the same sex parent) so was cast out of her family. Fortunately my mighty speech skill saved the day.

And damn I am just zipping through this. I thought I was really going to take my time but I forgot just how much damn fun the main game is. Oh last thought: what Leliana says in the game and what happens in her prequel DLC does not match up well at all. Come on Bioware!

Ok so lots of dungeoneering went down. I personally love dungeon delving and even in this game where everything is basically just a hallway with fights (and usually the same creatures) I always look forward to Jarvia's plus Deep Roads. Though I do understand why people dislike it. And boy is it long. I mean my party went up at least four levels and collected roughly 250 pieces of loot. But each area at least has a story and lots of quests and some great set piece battles and lots of bosses make it interesting. Jarvia is one of the tougher fights. I love the giant spiders with all their ways of screwing you around. The giant battle at the dead trenches with the Legion of the Dead is fun. I remember freaking the fuck out the first time I did the Broodmother sequence. Even that trap forge before Caridan is pretty entertaining.

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'and many reloads later our heroes were victorious'

I fall for those damn bombs every damn time I come back to this fight.

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'Oghren gets paid in beer...ah damn is that ANOTHER apostate mage'

I mean seriously. Harrowmont sends an apostate mage after me. The Carta has apostate mages. The freaking Proving teams each have their own. I really need to start a tally of apostate mages.

Let's see...three from the assassin groups we faced last time, at least three in the carta hideout, three from the provings (including a freaking arcane warrior which has supposedly been lost for centuries), now one in Harrowmont's gang of mercs. So 10 so far. Say what you want to about the oppression of the Circle of Magi but it seems pretty easy to escape.

It is a long slog. I usually reach my limit right after the Broodmother fight.

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'Alright! I found Branka! Mission is over...wait what? Damn'

There is this room right after you find Branka where you fight off wimpy Darkspawn when I start to get a little sick of it all. Fortunately I entered the first trap room and felt better.

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'Hey an ancient legend who is incredibly still alive!'

Bioware really loves these. These ancient legends who have inexplicably been sitting around for centuries. Granted it is not nearly as ridiculous as the guys from KOTOR. I was going to side with Branka because I know Caridan kills himself and I am trying to keep as many people alive as I can but I was using Shale as my tank and it seems she turns on you if you do. So it was suicide golem in the end.  I think that fit better with my character anyway, Branka had clearly dashed past many evil red lines.  Evil prince is king and our hero conquers once again! Next up: Warden's Keep/Denerim sidequests/Flemeth/Ostagar.

Stuff I did:

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Yeah so despite me killing his insane cheating wife Oghren joins up to booze his way across Ferelden. He actually was a pretty good melee damager along with Shale the tank during the Deep Roads (Sten did this in the Carta hideout). Shale survived the one chance she had to die in the game. Branka was killed, the anvil of the Void destroyed, and Caridan committed suicide. Evil Prince Bhelen is now evil King Bhelen though I heartily approved of his Marius-esque policy of recruiting Casteless for his army. I always feel a bit of buyers remorse no matter which one I back. We found an amulet proving the Legion of the Dead should be a noble house, though the quest seems to have automatically finished without us actually turning it in the shaperate. Probably a bug there. We recovered that stolen tome from the Casteless thugs and returned it. We found the genealogies proving the descendents of house Orta were still alive in Orzammar in Ortan Thaig. And we found Ruck, a dwarf who had gone crazy eating darkspawn bodies, in the Deep Roads. In accord with his request, we told his mother we discovered he had died.

So onwards!

Sidequestin!

In a lot of Bioware games this would be one of the best parts but in this game the sidequests are kind of generic and not particularly interesting, with a few exceptions. Anyway so first we stop by that Bann somethings land to witness the brutal beating of Cailan's former royal guardsman. After beating up the thugs he tells us to RETURN TO OSTAGAR and get the King's secret papers from a chest and tells us where he has hidden the key. Eh kind of contrived, why would we even go to this dude's lands anyway? All three of these DLCs could have really profited from not being DLCs and better integrated into the main game. Next Warden's Keep. To uncover the mystery of Sophia Dryden and yes you do meet her...sort of.

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'Oh great-great-grandma how rotty your flesh is'

I swear if Bioware made a game where we explored Mount Vernon we would meet George Washington. Anyway this is just a nice little dungeon with way too good of loot for the effort, as I think they do to incentivize us to buy the DLC. The superman reference was cute though. A nice little story of corruption and pride before a fall involving blood magic and demons of course (and political intrigue). Avernus does not count as an apostate/bloodmage btw because he is a Grey Warden. I decided to let him continue his research but no way am I drinking some blood magic thing. Anyway now I have a keep with a storage chest and dudes selling overleveled gear.

Next was Denerim. I love RPG cities but Denerim kind of blows. I mean it looks like Athkatla if only look at the map but actually it is just the marketplace, and a few extra buildings and some places to fight bizarrely well organized thug teams. The fights here are fun and challenging but plotwise they are just dumb. Am I really supposed to believe the thugs of Denerim are so fearless and so well organized? I swear we should be organizing these dudes to fight the Blight instead. And of course that heavily armed blood mage compound, which again makes no sense since surely if the Templars knew where they were military might was not going to save them. It was pretty fun though. Five more blood mages apostates for the count. So 15 now.

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'Search for Brother Genitivi but don't. But do. But seriously don't. Yes I am not suspicious at all.'

You can actually enter Genitivi's house before you do Redcliffe. Wait can I do the whole Ashes of Andraste quest before I have a good reason to do so? Yes. It does seem like I can. I got ambushed by the Andraste cultists back at the Spoiled Princess and then went back to Denerim and killed the cultist pretending to be Genitivi's servant and learned about Haven. Eh I still think I will do Redcliffe first. It just makes more sense.

The marketplace is pretty great (even if it felt kind of empty) so if they had a few more zones like that it could have been a decent RPG city.

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'In a modern American movie this would have been an unarmed catfight in Lingerie'

W had our confrontation with Marjolaine which again sure made it sound like her betrayal of Leliana happened in Orlais and this was Marjolaine's first time in Ferelden. They brought the voice actresses back to do Leliana's Song they couldn't also have changed the dialog in Origins to reflect the new plot? Annoying. Anyway Marjolaine lives and I keep Leliana nice and soft and fluffy.

After my first foray into Denerim on to Flemeth. She must die since my character is a young heterosexual man and a pretty girl asked him to do it. Got her the first time but the old girl got her pound of flesh, only Lorcan and Leliana were left standing when the battle ended.

Then RETURN TO OSTAGAR. The main badguy is a Grenlock Necromancer so I guess he is putting demons in dead bodies to fight us. Thought once you kill him all his undead fall over, which does not really make sense but whatever. Also Ostagar is snowy now.

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'Look I know I am a Texan and you guys live in Edmonton so you probably know more about snow than me...but shouldn't there also be snow on the trees and walls and not just the ground?'

Lots of melodramatic feels here. I think if you are playing this game for the first time this part would be pretty powerful since maybe you are still upset about it. Cailan looked to be about to dump his wife and marry Empress Celene and unite Ferelden and Orlais. So no wonder Loghain lost his shit.

You can see what he thinks about it here: https://youtu.be/1n8kt6Ps-tc?t=4m29s. Naturally he is not with us at this point.

Anyway after that back to Ozammar and we go to Cadash Thaig to finish the Shale DLC. Both this and Return to Ostagar have a lot of improvements on the normal Darkspawn fights with good use of the Shrieks and Ogres and spell casting Hurlocks and Grenlocks. At the end we find another monument with Shale's name on it. Not sure why this is more significant than the last one but Shale seemed happy about it.

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'Shale Approves +5'

Next on to Redcliffe!

Things we have done:

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Flemeth dead, Morrigan gets grimoire and falls in love and so will not longer have sex with me.

I smuggled the lyrium into the tower figuring it could be of good use to the mages. My character is a believer but a bit anti-clerical due to his circle upbringing. But it turns out it was just being used by some psycho to control the Templars and probably Cullen specifically. Fuck. I tried to tell Greagoir about it but the game wouldn't let me. Too late.

Ser Landry is one of Loghain's personal friends who wants to duel you for betraying King Cailan. I convinced him he had the wrong guy, he wanted the other mage walking around Denerim with a golem.

I didn't kill Zevran awhile ago but I forgot to enter that in Keep.

I didn't do the crime wave since I am not a rogue.

The Dwarf Dagna will be going to the Circle to study magic. I expect she will be the all powerful evil Dwarves archmage trying to take over the world in Inquisition. Yes I know Dwarves cannot be mages but she will find a way.

I peacefully got the Mercs to leave the whorehouse but they later ambush you anyway. Some people just do not want to live.

I got the Crimson Oars to leave the bar in the Denerim Market peacefully but the image in Keep makes it look like I murdered them all. Of course given how dangerous the streets of Denerim are maybe they all got slaughtered on the way to docks.

I did not do the Crow Master's quests and I did not kill him because of that keeping as many people alive thing. Besides it just seemed kind of pointless.

Marjolaine lives, probably destined to be Dagna's evil second in command. And lesbian lover since 90%+ of all women in this world are at least bisexual.

I generally do not drink stuff that promises to give me 'fantastical blood magic powers!' and I killed Sophia but she was a demon so it was ok.

Redcliffe man. So I took Sten, Alistair, and Leliana along and damn did they have a lot to say. But maybe all the companions have a lot to say. I like this part despite the fact the fights are all pretty straightforward. I only had to reload once the whole time (and that was because of the AI). But it is thick in plot and interaction which is what we all love most in a Bioware game. Some people may dislike Redcliffe but I rarely hear the hate the Fade and the Deep Roads get.

I always thought it was weird Alistair just coughs up he is Maric's son here and feels bad it has taken him so long to spill the beans. Um dude this was the last possible second you could have kept it a secret. Alistair is such a dude.

The Qun is a philosophy that says whatever Sten needs it to say to be stern and disapproving of everybody. Pretty handy.

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'Heroes here to save the day. Damn my guy looks like he has an underbite with this angle. Habsburg Amell'

I always enjoyed the preparation for the fight, finding all the various slackers you can rough into shape. Somehow by forcing the tavern keeper to fight with the militia I gave his tavern to his barmaid. Even after he survived the ordeal. Ah well at least she is hot.

I made it a point to win without losing anybody. At the first wave the demon corpses charge the burning lantern oil and I figured the smart thing to do was to fight right next to the oil, to try to keep them in it as long as possible. Unfortunately this means my dudes just charged right into it and fought while heroically burning to death. So that was my one reload hehe.

I get the feeling this was easy because I think I over leveled it somehow. The earlier plot missions you do in the game seem much harder. I think this would have been hard if I had done it first.

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'Cheer up Bann Teagan! We won with no casualties!'

People act like we just defeated the possessed corpse army for good, but I thought they attacked every night? The next part in the castle was short but fun, I remembered that battle with the spell casting revenant in the court yard particularly.

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'So um...that one time I sold you out to the First Enchanter? Let's call it even.'

And we find my old buddy Jowan from the Circle of Magi, though seriously the game would not let me tell him I was primarily responsible for him being caught and exposed as a blood mage. Loghain grabbed him from the Templars and used him to poison the Arl. That is...interesting since you find Arl Eamon's knights searching for the Urn in Lothering. Did Loghain have time to execute this convoluted plan in the time it took for me to recover at Flemeth's hut? And for Isolde to send out the knights? And for them to already be failing at their quest? Maybe I was out longer than I thought. Or did Loghain do this plan before Ostagar even happen? Huh. Either way damn Loghain, even as regent, that is slightly exceeding your authority to undermine the Chantry like that. But then Howe does betray the Couslands before Ostagar, was this some sort of preconceived coup? That makes his attempts to try to reason with Cailan nonsensical. Eh ok so there might be a few plot holes, or maybe I am missing something. But, to be fair, when a game is as awesome as Dragon Age Origins you can get away with that. If you are going to be a mediocre DLC like Leliana's Song well...

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'Fear the demon child of evil FOOLS!'

Creepy demon possessed kid is even creepier than demon possessed cat from the Shale DLC. Love creepy demon kids, like that little girl in Icewind Dale who was actually the Tanarii snake woman. Not sure what was going on with Bann Teagan here. I presume the demon was controlling him somehow not that he was an abomination himself. For some reason killing him cured him.

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'Anybody else feel awkward by this reunion?'

I went and fetched First Enchanter Irving to get in the Fade. Everybody lives. Jowan went in to redeem himself.

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'My redemption is at hand...damn though those are nice abs demon'

He went back to prison but I hope Arl Eamon pardons him when he recovers. But what happens to Jowan is not in Dragon Age Keep so I guess live or die his part in this saga is over. Here is hoping he is forgiven and sent back to the Circle.

From creepy demon child we go to creepy cult village: Haven. For some reason the only thing Dragon Age Keep cares about in Haven is what you do with the ashes of Andraste. While every other major locale has lots of choices and there are a few important choices in Haven. But then I guess there is no reason this little creepy town would be important in future games.

From Redcliffe:

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We helped Redcliffe prepare and win.
Connor lives on, unpossessed, and soon to be sent to the Circle of Magi for proper instruction. Not sure who the heir to Arldom is now. Ah well not my problem.

Bella took over the tavern for some reason. Future beer baron of Thedas.

I rescued that little orphan boy and returned his sword after the battle, though the sword remained in my inventory. Little bug there. Someday he will be the marshall for the Dagna Empire of Evil.

I found and rescued the town blacksmith's daughter in the castle. I guess she will grow to make the weapons for the Dagna Empire of Evil.

Isolde lives on, even though the Codex said she was sacrificed...despite her still being alive in game. Bugs like this are probably why Dragon Age Keep exists.

Sten got back his sword so he will not be brutally executed for the crime of being robbed while unconscious. The Qun is as hardcore as it is incoherent. But seriously Sten is awesome.

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Future Archmage of the Dagnarian Evil Empire. Am I getting sort of close to Inquisition's plot here?

Is there anything more classic than the noble quest for a holy relic? A thing of legend, unlikely to exist, and our heroes driven forward by simple faith? No sir there is not.

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'Our entire cause depends on you finding an object of legend that our greatest scholars have spent lifetimes unsuccessfully trying to find.'

'Alright but you gotta give me a couple days'

Of course the hopelessness of the quest is slightly changed by the fact we already know to go to Haven. I like the fact they kept up the creepy factor for a little bit there before the general mayhem broke out. Actually the village may have profited a bit from making you question it even a little bit. Also maybe even a bit tempted beyond just basic sociopathic tendencies to side with them. I mean does anybody side with them except for the lolz?

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'Ah hell it is that sort of cult'

Well I guess if you just really hate the Chantry. Though come to think of it this is a pretty crazy temple. I mean the ashes of Andraste really exist and they perform honest to God miracles. You meet the spirit of a dude who knew her personally and interact with various things from her contemporaries than confirm all the legends. I mean damn if they found some holy relic than honest to God did cure the sick and I got to talk to Pontius Pilate's spirit and he was like 'yep it's all true. Even the stuff that seems contradictory' I would find that pretty convincing. But damn the non-believers in your party are hardcore they are not even slightly fazed by this stuff. I mean yeah Oghren says there is a lot of Lyrium down here but damn. We basically had everything but Andraste herself (in non-dragon form) come down and say 'yep, bride of the maker here.' But I guess that is part of coolness factor of the setting, they never quite confirm or deny if the Chantry has it right or not.

I think the problem with feeling overleveled comes largely from Alistair now that I maxed out his sword and shield skills. He just hardly gets scratched now. It made most of the fights rather trivial unless I really screwed something up. There was the fight with the overseer and all the drakes I totally screwed up position management and lost control of the battle but we still powered through without to much of a problem. The only thing that could beat him up good was the High Dragon and damn did she ever. That move where she tosses him in the air did him in, Morrigan was tanking for the last 10% of the things health. Great fight though, always look forward to that one. The screenshot problem seems like it is not uncommon for DA:O so hopefully by the time I get to DA2 I can take them again, but no screenshots of that fight here.

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'Madness? This is...well you know'

I have no idea how that spirit guardian was able to read the minds of the characters and summon the spirit of your biggest regret (I got betraying Jowan to Irving). The tests are kind of cool right before the urn, and I had forgotten the tricks to doing them so it was fun to learn them again. All those riddles and that bridge puzzle.

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'The Maker has turned his eyes from man, which is good because otherwise this would be embarrassing.'

Seriously? Could Andraste at least let me keep my pants on?

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'Our quest is at an end'

It is nice once Eamon gets revived and somebody who knows something is around again. Shit is going to get real soon. Oh and we are going to make Alistair become King.

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He is surprised. One would think me dressing him entirely in his brother Cailan's gear and giving him his father's sword would have tipped him off. Good boy but a little slow. Eamon allowed me to decide what to do with Jowan and damn if I did not think the logical thing would be to conscript him into the Wardens and have him join the fight against the Darkspawn. But since I inexplicably couldn't do that he was sent back to the Circle Tower. Probably to be made Tranquil...damn. But Jowan is not in Dragon Age Keep so I guess this marks the end of him in this series. Sorry pal.

Here is what we did:

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Yeah so playing it again it does look like the main choice is side with cult and destroy Urn or don't. There is also how you handle Genitivi and whether or not you let him tell the world about the discovery which has major implications in the epilogue, but I guess not in any of the future Dragon Age games. Since the cult was not sided with Leliana and Wynne will not be killed.

Next: Sidequestin' again!

Ok so there actually were not many sidequests to do. The main one was seeing Alistair's sister and turning in various things in Denerim. So first we went and turned in the ancient Andraste Scroll to Sister Justine in Denerim since she wants actual relics and not fake ones. Pfft some clergy member. I feel like we should have told her we found it in a whole library of massive numbers of similar stuff...but whatever.

Then we went and saw Goldanna that little shrew. Since I was totally obsessed with this game before it came out I actually read David Gaider's not entirely shit novels and know she is not Alistair's real sister anyway. His actual mother was that elf mage Maric actually loved. And Loghain and Cailan's mother were in love with each other. But anyway yes I am sad for my 2009 self for having done that. Not that I have gotten much better I got that setting book thing for Pillars of Eternity. So sad.

I used my super speech skill of power to at least get her to be civil but the resolution was still the same. Alistair is sad and I hardened him so he will do the right thing later.

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'I want you hard Alistair! Hard as a rock! Wait what do you mean I am making you uncomfortable?'

Then I turned in a few of the thief quests and got the quest I absolutely hated the first time I played this game. The quest to get 10 garnets. Fuck this quest. I mean it is easy enough if you knew it was coming and had saved them up but I forgot and so had to go see if any were left on the merchants I had sold to. I visited them all except Ruck but another Thief quest is sending me back to Orzammar so I guess I will pay him a visit later. I have seven garnets right now.

But it is Elf time! Now during my City Elf playthrough my character really thought the Dalish were clowns. They knew very little about the actual Elven Empire, they were posers living in the past and not cool and sophisticated like the forward thinking City Elves. They are going to make their own modern Elf Kingdom screw you prancy little Dalish losers. And they treated her with barely concealed contempt calling her a 'flat ear'. The Dalish seem like those Europeans trying to recreate European Paganism centuries after it vanished into the ether but there are lots of other RL parallels. But to a human they seem like they are nobly trying to recreate the history the evil Tevinter Empire stole from them. But gamewise I think most of what the Dalish think they know about Arlathan and the ancient elves is wrong. And eventually we will meet an ancient elf because...this is Bioware and of course we will. But surprisingly not in this game. Also the ruins in the forest look like Tevinter ruins because they resemble the Circle Tower in style but maybe Tevinter just took over the old Arlathan buildings...not sure. Probably if I read all the in-game codex things I might know.

I do like when you first meet the Dalish Alistair bemoans that of course they cannot help us because of an awful curse. I mean what are the chances Arl Eamon gets ill, the King of Orzammar dies, Abominations take over the Circle Tower, and a terrible curse has effected the Dalish right when we need them all? Well pretty high since Abominations are in the Circle Tower about twice a week, Nobles in Orzammar have a notoriously short life span, Arl Eamon was poisoned by the guy we are trying to stop, and the Dalish curse has been going on for centuries. But still.

Only a few quests in the elf place but they all matter in the Dragon Age Keep. Weird I can sell the City Elves into slavery but that doesn't matter but it is of vast importance that I help that wimpy elf get the girl? Ah well.

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'Go forth and kill the beast Witherfang! Bwhahahaha. That was a good guy laugh.'

The forest is way too easy and not particularly interesting. The only saving grace were all those revenant fights. And I guess the insane malificar. And the Treebeard guy. But again once you reach a certain level I guess you outlevel the 'get four allies' parts.

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'All sentient trees must talk funny. So I shall rhyme....bunny'

The ruins are a little better. I enjoy the big trap room on the second level. Some interesting puzzles. An ancient elf ghost and an actual ancient elf trapped in a vial are there because tradition. I hate the Arcane Warrior class (though the game makes it seem like if you become one you will be the last one in the world...except for the one in Orzammar) though, as if mages were not overpowered enough as it is. The tension for the dragon fight was nice but after the High Dragon nobody is going to be impressed.

I thought it was interesting the werewolves were literally man-wolves and not Lycanthropes in the classic sense. But despite seeming to be a nice departure from the normal Dragon Age stuff with werewolves but this is the normal 'person gets angry and summons fade spirit/demon hilarity ensues' thing. Again. Three out of four of the army plots involve this. It is cool, I mean I enjoyed them all but that will get old if Gaider doesn't (or rather didn't I am not really familiar with anything since this game and now) find other things in this world to explore.

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'Oh Witherfang what big hair you have'

So I did the thing I set out to do and kept as many people alive as possible. Though I think hardly anybody actually massacres the werewolves or the elves except just to see if you can.

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'All in a days work folks!'

During the ruins part I found the last Unbound scroll so I went to Denerim for the Gaxkang fight. There are some easy ways to cheese your way through it but I forgot them all so had to take him down the hardway. Shale, Oghren, and Leliana did the heavy lifting while I just stood back and healed and paralyzed/froze/petrified him when I could. It took five mana potions but we got him down. Got the armor from Wade made (hey that rhymes!) and then went down to Redcliffe to get this Landsmeet party started!

Things we did this session:

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Ok so I met Goldanna and gave Sister Justine the scroll from the Temple of Andraste's Ashes.

I got Zathrien and Witherfang to go away and make peace. Because I am awesome.

The most chaste syrupy love story ever was made possible because of me and it made Morrigan feel physically ill.

Wynne helped save the Halla from being unnecessarily slaughtered.

I brought the scarf from the lady elf who became a werewolf to her husband.

I brought the Ironbark to the Dalish. Not sure why that matters. Got a nice magic staff from it.

I helped the injured Dalish scout back to camp because I am not a psycho.

So time to go crown our king in Denerim.

Alistair's VA on being Alistair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFDDUxUMSic

Claudia Black warming up to play Morrigan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPpC3roW6ZM

QuoteI really supposed to believe the thugs of Denerim are so fearless and so well organized? I swear we should be organizing these dudes to fight the Blight instead. And of course that heavily armed blood mage compound, which again makes no sense since surely if the Templars knew where they were military might was not going to save them.

Yes. There is chaos.  The King is dead, Loghain took his place as regent, not as King.  There is a rebellion brewing, there are Darkspawn, the Circle of Ferelden is in turmoil.  Everyone is busy with something.  And the Regent is a lot more concerned about Orlais and the plots against him than anything else, even the Darkspawn.  Why would he concern himself with a few riff-rafs from lower town? :)

About Loghain trying to convince the King: yes, it makes sense.  Of course Arl Howe had to do his move before he betrayed the King, as well as taking care of Bann Teagan.  If he wants to live more than 5 minutes after betraying the King, his staunchest supporters need to be concerned with something else.  Not all dead, since that would look suspicious.  But not in a position to do any damage immediatly.  Betraying the Cousland could have been explained with forged documents implicating the father in some rebellious plot with Orlais as a way to exonarate Arl Howe.  Or if push comes to shoves, Howe is sacrificed and sadly never makes it to trial.  It's a dangerous world.
So, yes, that makes sense.  He is the son of his best friend, he offers him one last chance.

Ah, re: Dagna.  You made the right choice, she will be helpful in Inquisition, but no, she won't be the Queen of Evil.  It would have been nice though, facing a regular human, I mean, Dwarf, for once :P

At some point I want to go back and play this as a cowardly, whiny mage.

Quote from: viper37 on May 04, 2015, 12:25:07 AM
Yes. There is chaos.  The King is dead, Loghain took his place as regent, not as King.  There is a rebellion brewing, there are Darkspawn, the Circle of Ferelden is in turmoil.  Everyone is busy with something.  And the Regent is a lot more concerned about Orlais and the plots against him than anything else, even the Darkspawn.  Why would he concern himself with a few riff-rafs from lower town? :)

Well I am certainly not surprised the streets are dominated by criminal gangs but damn those guys were practically a military force :P

I am glad they did not give them apostate mages though.

QuoteAbout Loghain trying to convince the King: yes, it makes sense.  Of course Arl Howe had to do his move before he betrayed the King, as well as taking care of Bann Teagan.  If he wants to live more than 5 minutes after betraying the King, his staunchest supporters need to be concerned with something else.  Not all dead, since that would look suspicious.  But not in a position to do any damage immediatly.  Betraying the Cousland could have been explained with forged documents implicating the father in some rebellious plot with Orlais as a way to exonarate Arl Howe.  Or if push comes to shoves, Howe is sacrificed and sadly never makes it to trial.  It's a dangerous world.

Or maybe Howe manipulated Loghain by forging the documents. Loghain is pretty paranoid and easy to manipulate. Seems he will do just about anything so long as you say the Orlesians are involved. He is basically if Malthus was a Ferelden Noble.

QuoteSo, yes, that makes sense.  He is the son of his best friend, he offers him one last chance.

Yeah I guess that's true, and also the son of his One True Love. Still he moved a bit fast in poisoning Eamon. Ah well.

QuoteAh, re: Dagna.  You made the right choice, she will be helpful in Inquisition, but no, she won't be the Queen of Evil.  It would have been nice though, facing a regular human, I mean, Dwarf, for once :P

Sweeeet! Still curious how feeding that prisoner in Ostagar was something worth recording :P

Quote from: Syt on May 04, 2015, 12:34:50 AM
At some point I want to go back and play this as a cowardly, whiny mage.

Not sure you have much chance to be a coward in this game. You basically are a person who has tons of leadership qualities and courage no matter what you do. The main choice is how big of an asshole you are/aren't. Sort of like how you cannot play delegating Commander Shepherd 'Ok the three of you go handle the Reapers and um...let me know how it goes.'

Well, you can still be reluctant/trying to take the path of least resistance. But yeah, freedom of choice in games only every goes so far.

Quote from: Syt on May 04, 2015, 08:43:42 AM
Well, you can still be reluctant/trying to take the path of least resistance. But yeah, freedom of choice in games only every goes so far.

Yeah I guess there are a few things, like you could leave Redcliffe to burn.

I liked how Mass Effect 1 & 2 handled it, though (haven't played 3 beyond the opening). Yes, the main plot was the same, but you could change the tone of the narrative a fair bit and basically either be Captain Picard who tries to be by the book and solve things with as little violence as possible, or you could go Dirty Harry and release metric tons of whoop-ass. And you could nuance the whole thing. You could be pretty racist by being nice to humans and being an asshole to aliens.

Ah yeah Landsmeet time. On to revisit the castle of the Arl of Denerim last seen in Leliana's Song. Given what was said in Origins it seems Marjolaine actually was just teaming up with the Arl's Captain of the Guard and not the Arl himself...which only makes his entourage of mages and dragons all the more strange. Anora's elf maid shows up speaking with an Orlesian accent...which I find confusing since I thought City Elves had American accents like the Dalish and Dwarves did. But then one of Arl Eamon's servants is a Ferelden accented Elf so maybe there are City Elves and super integrated elves. But then there is Zevran so I guess I should have known that. Anyway on Arl Howe's house of torture, which seems like it usually is anyway given Leliana's Song.

Speaking of Zevran:

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'The Antivan Crows send their regards...again'

After he was liberated from the Crows Zevran decided to stay on for the treasure. Sure I seem to spend all our loot as soon as I get it but that works for him. He later admitted he really stayed because saving the world from the Blight sounded like a noble cause. I can see why that would be a hard thing for Zev to admit. Ah I will miss you Zevran after this campaign is finished.

I did a pretty good job sneaking into Arl Howe's without alerting anybody until after I had already found the queen. For a scheming noble with a whole castle of skeletons his security is pretty loose. Anyway so we rescued a whole boat load of nobles, including Mr. Elven Rapist from the City Elf Origin. Weirdly the game gives you all these options to kill him for his crimes even though you do not even know of them. Also that Templar they captured when they got Jowan to poison Eamon. And some random noble's son. Rescuing these guys basically gives you the Landsmeet. I got the Templar's Ring to give his sister since that sadist Howe, who I can only assume feasts on the blood of infants and virgins at every meal, has sent him into Lyrium withdrawal. Also the other Warden in Ferelden who makes a suitably badass entrance. I mean geez between he and Duncan...

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'Grey Wardens are basically ninjas'

Arl Howe also was employing a handful of mages. Again do lords get to just rent these guys out? Anyway farewell Tim Curry's character. We hardly knew ye. As a super villain he was not developed terribly well, especially for one with a big name VA. It works better if you are a human noble a bit.

I surrendered to Loghain's loyal Ser (I guess a genderless term in this world?) Cauthrien, even though it seems keeping her alive doesn't factor in later games. I think she shows up in the Battle of Denerim though. Fortunately Fort Drakon also has fairly porous security. I do like these disguise infiltration scenarios. Hope we get more of these in the later DA games. The Warden being located due to Morrigan's ring was a nice reference to. Leliana and Morrigan to the rescue of Alistair and Lorcan! Hey wait Loghain had, at one time, all three Warden's in prison and he let them all escape? Really he just deserves to lose.

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'We're selling these fine leather jackets' (points if you get that reference)

Once we all escape I arrange the deal with Alistair and Anora. They will marry and rule. It is best for the stability of the realm and Lorcan is a patriot. Plus Alistair does not want to be King and I have always been fond of the concept of Nolo Episcopari.

I like how in the Alienage you have three random sidequests that all get completed within 30 seconds of stepping inside. Always happy to help my City Elf peeps. Two short but cool adventures in the haunted house and the Slaver compound. Annoying that Loghain had to sell Elves to the Imperium (and I mean seriously Loghain? Maybe he should grow a mustache to twirl it) when those bastards should be sending the money themselves, they started this whole Blight business after all. The haunted house is suitably creepy along with the Amulet you receive that you give to the beggar.  Huh was the amulet responsible for the whole thing? The beggar regains her sense when she gets it back. Is there a spirit within that is possessing her or something? Maybe I will find out someday.

The Tevinter Slavers have one of my favorite fights in the game. There is a room with a bunch of melee slavers and a leader with a special bow and in a side dining room there are a bunch of archers. They can take you down in a few seconds if you do not have your strategy down. Love that fight. I used a super storm to take out the Tevinter boss (blizzard, inferno, tempest combo) and let him live because...that is what I do. The Elves are freed and I have proof of Loghain's treachery. Time for the big confrontation!

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'Ah Teyrn Loghain we meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I met you I was but the learner. Now, I am the master'

I expose his use of blood magic to poison Eamon and get him condemned by the Chantry. A duel is fought which is damn hard as a mage actually. Damn I wish I had gotten crushing prison instead of leaving it to Morrigan, Anyway Loghain is spared and Alistair is outraged...even though I have spared everybody from assassins to slavers to demons. He sounds kind of like a badass though at this point. Telling me to shove it and I have work to do to stop the Blight and he has work to do as well, to check the influence of Anora. Now that is a fine character arc right there.

A few loose ends to tie up then THE FINAL BATTLE.

Man I have loved this playthrough. Total nostalgia kick. I forgot how much I enjoyed this game and hanging out with these characters. It was a five year labor of love for Bioware and it shows.

Things I did this session:

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Alistair becomes King along with Anora. He is no longer part of the party so his part is done.

I told Bann Sighard about the capture and torture of his son to gain his support against Loghain.

I gave Bann Alistanna her brother's ring to gain her support.

Creepy fade amulet thing was returned to creepy beggar. Wonder if that is the last we will see of that. If the Alienage is being ruled by a super powerful abomination in the future I was responsible.

And here is what Alistair's culture advisor is telling him upon his ascension: https://youtu.be/DVz_eDUTjAI?t=2m7s.

Quote from: Syt on May 04, 2015, 12:34:50 AM
At some point I want to go back and play this as a cowardly, whiny mage.

I tried to play back, with some mods, but I got a bug where some DLC areas are missing and I couldn't solve it, so I just let it go.

I enjoy the read btw :)

Quote from: viper37 on May 04, 2015, 11:23:39 PM
I enjoy the read btw :)

:hug: Thanks I hope a few of you are entertained!

BTW do they do the same story screenshots for Awakenings? I probably need to find someway to solve this screenshot bug.

We are the chosen ones, we sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor
We are the holy ones our armour's stained with blood
We killed the dragon
In glory we return, our destination's end
We slayed the dragon!
No more living in fear it's time to raise our king.
We made it happen we're the chosen ones!

So it turns out Ruck had just enough Garnets I needed so I quickly wrapped up the Thieves and Blackstone Irregulars quests. Equipped Loghain, made lots of potions, and sold everything we didn't need. Then back to Redcliffe.

I forgot Redcliffe gets attacked AGAIN by the Darkspawn. It is amazing anything in that village is still standing. Here is the first appearance of the one shot kill Darkspawn and I really don't like it, it makes me lazy for some reason. Here is the first of many really challenging Ogre-Emissary battles. I never get really good at these. You go to the castle and the gates are open and the Darkspawn are inside. Oh for...

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'I suggest a bold new strategy: we close the gates next time the Darkspawn attack a fortress.'

A quick counsel of war and we leave in the morning. Riordan tells us one of us is going to die to kill the Archdemon. Loghain volunteers should it come to that. Not this time my friend.

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'It is not you, it is the archdemon child I want you to put inside me.'

'Ah man this happens every time I really get to like a girl'

Then comes the moment we have all been waiting for. Awkward dark ritual sex! Wait no...I mean the emotional moment where Morrigan tells you she was just using you all along for the Archdemon soul. She admits she has feelings for Lorcan but she is going to leave him and he needs to be good with that but they can celebrate their love in one passionate dark ritual sex night. Well you don't have to ask him twice. But man when it is not a romance that scene is really creepy. Especially when it is with Alistair or Loghain.

The final battle!

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'FOR FERELDEN! FOR THE WARDEN!'

Man if I am so damn important can't anybody ever say my name? Even my last name the game gave me?

No screenshots after this but it is pretty straightforward from here. On insanity those fights can be pretty dicey though, especially the Alienage gate and climbing the stairs in the Palace district. I still don't know how Sandal got in there and what was up with the huge maze on the second floor of Fort Drakon? Took down that Archdemon! I love Bann Teagan in the end movie being all 'holy shit I somehow survived this game!'

Loghain, Leliana, and Morrigan were my group. Sten led the gate defense.

Some bugs cause problems at the ending to this game and I had forgotten about them. First you can bug the Morrigan romance if you ever ask her about the dark ritual during the Battle for Denerim. Secondly the coronation scene acts like Alistair died and Anora became queen but correctly takes the romance to Morrigan into consideration. After that Alistair and Anora are both present but the Morrigan romance ceases to be. I am told this is corrected so long as you use the auto-save after the coronation for your transfer but poor Alistair may be bugged for being King until Inquisition. Hopefully not. Also Lorcan killed the Archdemon so deserves the credit damn it.

So hail Lorcan Amell! Hero of Ferelden! And Warden-Commander as well. Loghain is going to handle recruiting efforts so he better send me some good people. Leliana is going to Orlais to hunt down Marjolaine, Shale is going to try to become a real boy...er...dwarf woman again, Wynne is going with Shale, Sten is returning to the Qunari, Oghren is going to go after Felsi, and Zevran is going...somewhere. He says he is going to hang out with me but we know he doesn't.

The epilogue bugged out the Morrigan Romance meh. But the epilogue was clearly designed with a standalone game in mind. They can basically be ignored now, for the most part, now that it is a franchise.

I now remember why I did not like Awakenings at the time. The buggy item transfer (and other bugs Bioware publicly refused to patch), the change in how the dialog works, and general burnout with the series since I had just majorly binged on it were basically it. Also the community was wearing on me after the brutal flame wars over the Return to Ostagar DLC. I am more tolerant of foibles now so I think I can enjoy it this time. I enjoyed Leliana's Song well enough. Also I wouldn't be caught dead on the Bioware Social Network these days.

I think I have gushed over Origins enough. I can certainly see myself going back and playing it a fifth time a few years down the road.

Stuff I did:

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Pretty self explanatory there :P

Is it the end for our hero and his wacky band of fools? Why yes, yes it is. But there are three more adventures for the Hero of Ferelden Lorcan Amell. Come hear the rest of his legend! Glory in his battles! Giggle or groan at my lame jokes!

I am kind of looking forward to playing content I have never seen before.

Quote from: Valmy on May 06, 2015, 05:59:00 PM
I still don't know how Sandal got in there

Enchantment!

Quote from: Solmyr on May 06, 2015, 06:08:28 PM

Quote from: Valmy on May 06, 2015, 05:59:00 PM
I still don't know how Sandal got in there

Enchantment!

:lol:

Yeah, but him showing up there and obviously having slaughtered many people made Sandal a lot creepier.

Nice read. :)

Quote from: Syt on May 06, 2015, 11:55:21 PM
:lol:

Yeah, but him showing up there and obviously having slaughtered many people made Sandal a lot creepier.

I know right?  :ph34r: Maybe he is the one who will be the Archmage of evil.

Quote from: The Brain on May 07, 2015, 01:12:01 AM
Nice read. :)

Thanks! :hug:

Quote from: Valmy on May 05, 2015, 07:26:59 AM
BTW do they do the same story screenshots for Awakenings? I probably need to find someway to solve this screenshot bug.

I honestly can't remember... I think there are less screenshots, if anything.

Quote from: Valmy on May 06, 2015, 05:59:00 PM
Here is the first of many really challenging Ogre-Emissary battles. I never get really good at these. You go to the castle and the gates are open and the Darkspawn are inside. Oh for...

Actually, it's pretty easy.
For the Emissary, you need that force-cage spell.  It freezes him in place, unable to cast spell.  A few strong arrows from Leliana will then kill him, or any other rogue, basically.

For the Ogre, have you mage cast paralysis spells on him, it will slow it down.  Have your warriors hold it in place.  Once the emissary is done, slaughter it. With arrows.  If you're in the final fight with allies, just sound the horn when he appears.

Quote
Man if I am so damn important can't anybody ever say my name? Even my last name the game gave me?

They only pretend you are important.  First chance they get to be rid of you, they take it. ;)
After all, heroes are dangerous.  They can get silly ideas in their head like politics and such.  Being popular with the plebs is a threat to most nobles.  Better if they simply ignore the common man :P

QuoteI still don't know how Sandal got in there

Me neither.  But there are a couple of surprises in #2 :D

That is sort of what I did. Petrify, paralyze, cone of cold were my primary weapons. Oh and good old crushing prison. But they have a couple abilities if they can get them off first (boulder tossing and the same spells I want to use on them) they can change the nature of the fight quickly. Crushing Prison on Lorcan was almost a one shot kill on my group.

I figured out the screenshot bug. The game will only allow players to take them at one resolution setting. So I found the one for me and damn everything looks really small now hehe. But I can at least take screenshots.

Yeah they do kind of get rid of me don't they? :angry:

QuoteMe neither.  But there are a couple of surprises in #2 :D

Oooooh nice :w00t:. I am ready to play #2 but I am not entirely non-bitter about it. I got the game for practically nothing but EA really got me with the fullprice DLC. Damn. Could have bought a brand new game for that. Also it all looks like it takes place during the main game (no expansion or post-game DLC for DA2? Weird) so has that danger of feeling tacked on like the DA:O in campaign DLC.

Apropos this thread: I just watched the first episode of the animates series Star Wars Rebels. And I thought, "Hang on, I know that character's voice ... oh hi, Oghren." :lol:

Steve Blum's pretty much recycled the Oghren voice, with more of a generic Brit accent. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQzdWHyCnAQ

Wow, whoever did the score for that totally lifted one of the best motifs from Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

Quote from: Queequeg on May 07, 2015, 02:24:14 PM
Wow, whoever did the score for that totally lifted one of the best motifs from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I'm sure it's a coincidence. There's never any references between Lucasfilm properties.

So some time has passed. Not sure how much...maybe a year? Orlesian Wardens have set themselves up in the Arldom of Amaranthine. The Darkspawn have mysteriously not returned underground but retreated to...well this area...and have broken up into warring tribes. A new recruit named Ser Mhairi is leading our heroic Warden-Commander to Vigil Keep to take control when we discover the Darkspawn have broken inside from underground. Lorcan expresses surprise the Darkspawn could have done such a thing since they only did this exact same thing at Ostagar. But I guess this is weird behavior for Darkspawn when it is not a Blight.

Sweet the first companion is a tank! We smite many Darkspawn.

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'The pain of this ugly hat is too much to bear!'

We rescue a few Vigil soldiers who then flee out of the keep. Huh. Hard to find good soldiers these days. The first bug makes its appearance. One of them was supposed to give me a quest to help the injured soldiers but it bugged out. So instead I just found the injured guys and was puzzled I couldn't interact with them. A little less polish on this one.

Then we meet Anders. This guy really annoyed me back when I first played this expansion. He takes the nuanced problem of the mages and the Circle and just turns into an emo tantrum. Yeah Anders the Circle needs to be reformed, Lorcan agrees, but um...well I don't need to point out the obvious. Plus the dude is just too cool for school. He has a certain sneering smugness about him.

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'Only one red haired dwarf I know who would be insane enough to take on that many Darkspawn single-handedly'

Hell yeah Oghren again! Um...still rather you didn't abandon your family and crap. That also annoyed me a bit back in the day because it seemed to contradict the epilogue. Glad to have him back now though. But damn it is not really my Oghren, he has the same armor but his stats and skills are all different. Ah well. Maybe he atrophied being happily married for a bit there. Wait he tracked down Felsi, married her and had child and ran off all in a year? Maybe it has been longer than that.

Now I read 'The Calling' way back in the day so I kind of remember the Architect, an intelligent Darkspawn who had a new vision for his kind. A Grey Warden Dwarf woman, one of the silent sisters, betrayed the Wardens to help him I think. When I heard the attack was being led by a talking Darkspawn I thought maybe it was him.

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'Intelligence has not made us any more pleasant'

The Captain of the Guard was killed but I manage to rescue the seneschal and a bunch of civilians. Killed the talking Darkspawn but it was not the Architect. I guess these guys are the outcome of his plan. Anyway I like the keep and the fights were not hard but it was an enjoyable way to start the module. Then I was delighted to get a visit from King Alistair.

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'Ok seriously you cannot even bow to the King? What is with this guy?'

Alistair and Lorcan were a bit cold but decent, showing the rift was still there after letting Loghain live. Continuity bonus! He brought a woman with him that I at first thought was Ser Cauthrein but it turned out to be a Templar come to get Anders. I was pleased to see I could conscript him and Alistair said he would allow it. Weird I didn't think secular lords had any authority over the Grey Wardens or the Chantry. I am sure Anders will be complaining about being chained to the oppressive Wardens any minute now.

Next we do the Joining for my new recruits. I am totally lapping Loghain here in Warden recruitment.

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'Noooooo! NOT THE TANK! Damn it take Anders instead!'

So that was it for Mhairi :(. At least she went out more bravely than Ser Jory.

Holy cow there are a lot of sidequests in this thing. I have only just started and already my journal is packed. Plus, in the tradition of Bioware games like DA:O and KOTOR, I have three main quests to be completed in the order I choose. Herren and Wade were back, I think Wade is David Gaider being pressured by EA and Bioware suits like Herren. I dropped 80 gold to fix our gates but I think upgrading the keep should be a top priority with hordes of talking Darkspawn about.

Oh and it seems the Darkspawn took all the Orlesian Wardens prisoner. Interesting. Maybe they are being recruited by the Architect like that Dwarf was in the book.

The Wardens had captured Tim Curry's son Nathaniel Howe. I naturally conscripted him into the Wardens because that is what I do. He took being conscripted by the man who ruined his father's evil plans surprisingly well....except for the part where he promised to try to kill Lorcan at some point. Now I was sure Rendon Howe's son was named Thomas Howe in Origins so I thought for a bit that was a continuity error. But no we soon met the Howe's old groundskeeper, still working on the property, and discover Thomas Howe died in the Battle of Denerim. Nathaniel's sister is in Amaranthine so we will look her up soon.

All Howe's old vassals come to pay homage and one of them says there is a conspiracy to overthrow me already. Damn these nobles work fast. Also I decide to send out soldiers to help the peasants with my thinking be if the Darkspawn attack the city or the keep the walls will give us time to counter-attack. Eh probably doesn't work that way but I had little else to go on.

Finally one of the guards told me to venture into the cellars of Vigil Keep to find out where the Darkspawn broke in and plug the hole. That seems like a really sensible thing to do so I will do that first.

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'The heroic grey wardens of Ferelden sans Loghain. The emo guy, the drunk, the guy who has promised to betray them, and their fearless leader. Oh yeah things are looking up'

Anyway a shitload of stuff happens really fast in this expansion. The plot thickens and so forth. The bugs make me nervous though.

Glad to see the save seems to have transferred over alright.

Stuff I did this session:

NOTHING! Indeed only four decisions from Awakenings and to avoid be spoilerfied I am not going to select any of them until I am finished.

So we delved deep into the cellars of Vigil Keep. Ok not really that deep. The dwarf trap maker planted a huge bomb which blew up a bunch of darkspawn during the battle earlier and he caused a bunch of cave ins in the cellars...but nowhere else fortunately. The first pile of rubble was cleared but inside were a bunch of prisoners who had turned into ghouls in a remarkably short period of time. I wonder if the Darkspawn did this themselves when they captured them. That is kind of scary. We also found an ancient Avvar crypt (the barbarians ancestors of Ferelden who supported Andraste against the Tevinter Imperium) and of course their corpses attacked us. Did they do this everytime the Howes walked into the basement? I guess maybe the Darkspawn did this as well. We found a few nice heirlooms for Nathaniel which helped with his dark brooding personality. I bet the ladies love him. I think Oghren even asked him if it was an act to get chicks. One of those Heirlooms was a pretty awesome bow. It seems his Grandfather tried to join the Grey Wardens and this was his bow.

We eventually come to another cave in and it will take sometime to go deeper into the cellars so I guess it is off to Amaranthine. First we detoured to deliver some ransom money to some thugs...we got the hostage but delivered DEATH to them instead. Yes I know Lorcan tries to keep everybody alive but he didn't any money after upgrading the keep.

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'Damn straight we are not executing function "working"! We are executing function "killing"!'

We arrive at Amaranthine and things are kind of shit there. There are refugees outside the city the guards are not letting in. Damn the Arl should do something about that! Oh wait that's me. Huh.

A smuggler asks me to help him smuggle stuff past the guards. He even knows who I am. Does he really think the acting Arl is going to break his own laws? Well actually these are the former lands of Rendon Howe.

First I meet 'The Black Wolf' who is going to help me get ahead of the conspiracy to overthrow my rule. He wants 50 Gold first so that will have to wait a bit.

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'Beware The Black Wolf Mr. Knight. Hey that almost kind of works here.'

Everything costs so much more here up north. We meet the contacts for the main quest. A couple hunters who found a rift entrance to the Deep Roads, a Merchant who tells us of problems in the Wending Woods blocking the trade routes from Denerim, and a Grey Warden named Kristoff disappeared into the Blackmarsh in pursuit of something. All those sound pretty urgent. I think I am going to go to Blackmarsh first to find that warden. I hope he is a tank.

Meanwhile lots of sidequests here. I am not sure if the really bad spelling of the Blight Orphans is cute or kind of sad. Just like Vigil Keep the content is really dense here. Anders meets a friend of his who tells him the Templars moved the phylacteries here from Denerim during the Blight. He asks for help and against Lorcan's better judgement, chances of Anders eventually becoming an abomination or blood mage are significantly high, he decides to go along. Anders is a Grey Warden now after all and not under Chantry or Circe jurisdiction.

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'So...did I ever tell you about what happened to the last guy I helped destroy his phylactery?'

Well it does not go much better this time. Some nutty Templars, including the lady who was with Alistair before, laid a trap for him. Um what part of conscripted into the Grey Wardens do you not understand? Way over the line. I know the Templars have a stressful shit job, are insular drug addicts recruited as children, and have to put up with unsympathetic mages like Anders but damn. So I killed my first Templars. Bleh. Then Anders said mean things about First Enchanter Irving which probably pissed Lorcan off since that was his mentor. That is gratitude for you. Actually the Chantry here just seems a bit more nefarious than it did in Dragon Age: Origins. The Reverend Mother in Amaranthine was all about dogma and guilting you about donations. Heck I might have given one if she even had the decency to give us a blessing. Speaking of the Chantry outside I met:

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'Wynne! So how did it go in Tevinter with Shale? Wait I can't ask you that? Because it really seems like I would want to know that.'

Wynne is back with the Circle. She is going to a meeting of mages where it seems the Libertarian faction is calling for full revolt against the Chantry and a civil war. Anders is appalled and says that goes way too far. Wait Anders thinks that? Maybe he is not so unreasonable as I thought. She wants me to find a key mage for this meeting who is somewhere in the Wending Woods...well we are going there anyway. Happy to help a friend.

We also meet up with Nathaniel's sister. It seems he missed his father's reign of terror and tells him how off the reservation he was. Nathaniel takes it fairly well. Maybe Lorcan will not wake up one morning and see Nathaniel there all 'you killed my father, prepare to die'.

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'Sorry brother but now we are cursed with daddy issues'

I help the Templar's track down some apostate mages and damn if this little burg is not bursting with them. I hunt down three as part of the quest but that was only the start.

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'It is almost like there was something those Templars could have been doing instead of trying to illegally capture Grey Wardens'

I am basically enjoying the expansion so far but the pace feels a bit jam packed so far. Maybe it will get a bit less harried once I get into the main quests.

I manage to shut down the smuggling bastards who tried to recruit me earlier. With all that loot plus a few other quests Lorcan manages to get enough money to pay The Black Wolf for his assistance.

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'The Grey Wardens in action'

Ok so I have a couple side locations. One to protect the farmers from Darkspawn and another to crush the Noble Conspiracy thanks to the intelligence I just paid dearly for. I think I will swing by the Black Marsh and then hit those two locations. Then the Wending Woods and finally the Deep Roads Rift.

I got a kitty for Anders and he almost seemed charming until he said his old cat in the tower got possessed by a rage demon and killed three Templars. And he was proud if it. Damn I hope that was a joke. Oghren got visited by Felsi and things could have gone better. It seems she told him it would be hot if he became a Grey Warden but she tells him she was only roleplaying. Ah hot dwarf sex. I hope I can find someway to help him do the right thing here.

Next: Finding Kristoff in Blackmarsh.

Well Blackmarsh was really something. Out of all the 'blood mage does evil things and hilarity ensues' plots this one had the most hilarity yet. Two thumbs up!

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'It's not that bad. I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely'

Nathaniel informs me his father used to tell him stories about Blackmarsh. Back during the Orlesian occupation, about 40 years before, the town of Blackmarsh just up and vanished. That sounded wild but I guess I should have figured it all got sucked into the fade. We arrive at the town and is in pretty bad shape being abandoned for four decades. And hey look werewolves!

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'Huh did Zathrien curse these people to?'

Reading the codex it seems now Werewolves are for when a demon possesses a wolf...I think. Then the Darkspawn corrupt said demon possessed wolf making them blighted. And damn these ones are rough. There is a rogue variety and ambushes and immediately uses overwhelm. They can take out a full health Warden in a few seconds. I had to be careful with my paralyzing spells to keep them in check. I guess nobody said Werewolves had to be the result of that one curse. Still feels like a retcon and there was nothing particularly key to the plot about them being here. But whatever it was fun.

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'Veil tears? Well that cannot be good.'

It seems an Orlesian Baroness ruled this village during the occupation (which is why she is a Baroness and not a Bann) and the village was attacked by a High Dragon. She somehow managed to stop the beast but then started feasting on the blood of children. Then well...the village just disappeared. And these holes in the fade appeared. Fascinating.

After many groups of those werewolves we find Krystoff's body and immediately are attacked by a new kind of darkspawn: really freaky looking grub monsters that can chew shit up if they get too close to you.

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'Wait that is the vulnerable stage?'

Let's just say I am not looking forward to facing the non-vulnerable stages...well ok that is a lie I actually am. The fights are really getting turned up in this expansion this is classic Bioware. I should have given this expansion a shot back in the day.

Plotwise is this the new vision for the Darkspawn the Architect had in mind? Hideous monsters even more horrible than before? Somehow I thought it was a more constructive vision than that.

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'Damn I don't think he will be coming with us boys.'

Krystoff is dead and a talking Darkspawn called 'The First' (the first what?) ambushes us with more Darkspawn. He speaks of a 'mother' who is a rival of 'him'.

Valmy's Dragon Age theories:

1. I think 'him' is the Architect. I think the 'mother' is Maric's Grey Warden companion who teamed up with him. I think she got turned into a broodmother and is now the Architect's rival. The tribes the Darkspawn have split up in are his and her supporters.

2. I think Flemeth is an Old God and the dragon form you fight her in is actually her real form. And she uses her daughters to hop from body to body like the corrupted Old Gods, The Archdemons, do with the Darkspawn. And she sent Morrigan to save her erm...brother Old God from the Darkspawn. And that is why she knew the spell that enabled the soul to be collected in the Dark Ritual.

Unlike the Dagna Archmage thing I am actually serious about these. Nobody tell me if I am right I will find out eventually.

Anyway he uses some sort of magic and we are all drawn into the fade. We fight off the Darkspawn that got sucked in with us and he runs off claiming 'the Mother' betrayed him. Man a fade section? And we got a woods section and a Deep Roads section. All we need to make this a mini DA:O is to defend Amaranthine from hordes of demon possessed corpses. Actually it kind of seems like the Circle of the Magi tower is pretty much every Dragon Age plot. I guess they just get more and more crazy. I suppose I am ok with that.

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'Oh hell yeah! Love the fade'

Eventually we seal the rifts between the fade and the real world and fight our way into the fade version of Blackmarsh. It seems the people got mad at the Baroness for using the blood of their children and sustain herself and got mad and burned down her castle. She then cast a spell which sucked everybody into the fade. The fade spirits have noticed and a spirit of Justice has rallied the people together to storm the castle and bring justice to the people from the tyranny of the corrupt nobility. 'Aux barricades citoyens! Haut les coeurs et vive la revolution!'

Anders, of course, wants us to support the Baroness because even though she literally drinks the blood of children she is a mage and stuff. Man for somebody who gets to much angst over having an inconvenient life for being a mage he sure doesn't give much of a fuck about all these poor bastards held captive in the fade. Anders man. What a piece of work that dude is. Anyway I appeal to his selfish sociopathic nature and he agrees to go along with me. Ironically this raises his approval to 100. He loves me.

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'A bas les pauvres!'

So we smash down the gates and the glorious revolution is afoot. The talking darkspawn was on her side so we fight him and the Baronesses demonic servants. When we win she uses blood magic to throw everybody back into the real world using 'the First's' blood. All the poor peasants die since their bodies rotted ages ago. The spirit of justice gets sucked into Krystoff's dead body.

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'Ok so um...try to act natural. Nobody will notice you are a walking corpse'

He decides to avenge Krystoff's murder by the Darkspawn and joins the Grey Wardens. Wahoo! And he is a tank! Gosh now I need to send somebody back to Vigil Keep to make room for him...huh....whoever will I pick?

But seriously I would probably pick Anders here anyway even if I loved him. I need a rogue and I need to keep Oghren around to build his approval. Well and Lorcan a mage so I don't need him.

Justice enchants our weapons to harm fade monsters in the real world and we go close the fade rifts from real world side. Then we battle with the Baroness who somehow moved over with her fade form intact...and then transforms into a massive fade beast and we have a huge fight to the finish. Man I am so glad I have a tank now, this made the battle a lot easier. Hail to the Grey Wardens! Damn all I came here to do was find Krystoff but it got weird really fast. I enjoyed this part. Anyway another community destroying blood mage/abomination slain.

Ok so the skull of the High Dragon the Baroness...did whatever she did to...is still there I have been finding a bunch of dragon bones. They fit on the skull and I found the last one right after slaying her. So I went back and put the bones on the skull. And this opened the door behind me and I got a glimpse of a dragon fade monster being sucked into the real world...or at least I think that is what I saw. So Lorcan and company go after it. Then we get the baddest ass battle I have had in Dragon Age yet.

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'This is going to hurt isn't it?'

Flemeth had nothing on this girl. 'The Queen of Blackmarsh'. She delt out shitloads of damage and was flinging us all over the place. It kind of played out like an old WoW boss fight with different stages, or like the Archdemon fight I guess. Lorcan won and let me just say the potion stash is a bit lighter now. Damn I am still giddy over how much fun it was. I never could have done this without Justice.

Sure my Grey Warden unit may contain a sociopathic apostate, a brooding ex-noble, a child abandoning dwarf, and a corpse abomination possessed by a fade spirit but I am feeling good about this. These freaks are growing on me. We head back to Vigil Keep.

On the way we get a scene of 'The Mother' hearing about the death of 'the First' and the Grey Warden victory in Blackmarsh. It sounds like she wants to get the Darkspawn back to looking for another Archdemon and I know the Architect wants to get them to stop doing that. Or maybe she means something else by restoring the 'sweet music'.

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She looks sort of like a dwarf. She does talk but maybe getting turned into a Darkspawn gives you your tongue back. Or maybe I just dead wrong with my theory :P

I pulled my copy of 'The Calling' to remind myself what the Architect's plan was. He wanted to make peace between the Darkspawn and everybody else by introducing the taint to everybody. The dwarf who supported him was Utha. So that might explain why they made so many people Ghouls in the Vigil Keep cellars. I have to admit turning everybody into ghouls (or Grey Wardens) seems like a pretty evil plan to me. If Utha is this 'Mother' and her plan is even worse it must really be something.

Wow a lot happened in this session. Oghren had a dream where Hespith turns into the Broodmother along with lots of other random things. If Hespith really is the 'the Mother' well I bet we all feel stupid for just letting her go back in Dragon Age: Origins' main game.

I get back to the throne room and Nathaniel says he was wrong about me and is glad he followed in his Grandfather's footsteps and joined the Wardens.

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'You Nate are my best friend, until the end, we'll always be together! Best friends. Best friends are we! Sorry about that whole killing your dad thing.'

Well until the end of this expansion anyway. Always good to have the party poison expert on your side.

Seneschal Varel tells Lorcan he has to sit in judgment as acting Arl. Lorcan protests, insisting he is no more qualified than the average elected judge in Texas.

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'Gentlemen, I find the law very explicit on murdering your fellow man, but there's nothing here about killing a Chinaman. Case dismissed.'

First case was for killing one of the Arl's sheep. The punishment for a poacher is death. But serving under Lorcan in the military is basically a death sentence so conscript him I do.

The second case involves a bridge owned by one of my supporters that Arl Rendon Howe legally gave away to one of his supporters. Not wanting to contradict the law Lorcan promised to compensate the loyal noble for his loss. With what I am not sure. Pretty sure even in Texas courts you have to be more specific than that.

Finally a thuggish noble was caught covered with blood after allegedly murdering the noble who spilled the beans on the conspiracy against me earlier. There is no hard evidence linking him to the crime but we will, erm, lock him up pending our investigation. Little busy with the Darkspawn so he will have to wait until we get to it. So sorry. But nobody will say Lorcan is not fair.

Once this is done Lorcan is informed the rubble in the cellars is clear. Hopefully we can secure it now. It goes down into the deep roads. Two deep roads adventures!

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'The realtor wasn't kidding about ample storage space'

The heroic Wardens delved down into the deep roads cutting down Darkspawn and finding numerous bits of evidence about the alliance between the dwarves and the local barbarians. To the point they find yet another ancient imprisoned evil. Man how many is this yet? And how did the Darkspawn get by without waking it up? Anyway Lorcan does not know the trick so a great battle ensues. One the ancient wraith is slain he takes off to plot his revenge...which came in the next room. The Wardens faced a massive Ogre leading the Darkspawn and once he went down, the wraith possessed the corpse and made him stand back up.

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'Um guys I need to back up a bit for um...a more tactical view...yep you just keep it there.'

Once that is done our dwarf engineer meets up with us and shows us we just found a dwarven lock like the one that protected Orzammar. It gets locked which should give us a decade or more. Surely even I can finish Dragon Age: Origins by then.

Flushed with success we head out into the countryside. First we stop by the farm where the conspiracy against me is meeting up. And damn if we don't show up right when they are meeting, in broad daylight no less. And amongst them is the woman we just gave a bridge to. I see the compensation will go to the other noble in much more equal terms than we thought.

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'The Antivan Crows send their regards once again. We will get it right one of these days.'

The Crows really are the worst assassins ever. They never try to poison Lorcan or anything, they just run up and try to stab him in the face. Though I guess in this case we attacked them. In any case that is one crushed conspiracy. I pity the fool who attempts to overthrow the Hero of Ferelden.

Next we rush to aid that farm where Darkspawn have been sighted and...

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'Those Darkspawn been giving you any trouble ma'am?'

Let's just say their timing was less ideal this time. Next down to the Wending Woods to open communications and trade back to Denerim. I decided to go here first instead of delving into the open Deep Roads entrance because I had sent all my soldiers to help the farmers and not one buck private to aid the caravans.

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'Just call me Lorcan the late'

Yeah the Grey Wardens are showing up just in time to not save the day. The road is littered with corpses and destroyed caravans. Hordes of scavengers and bandits are going through the remains being fought by one vengeful Dalish elf and her angry tree friends. A letter we find indicates the Dalish were thought to be responsible for raiding the caravans and the local militia went out to drive them off. Well mission accomplished guys.

We reach the looted Dalish camp and are immediately struck that the militia left all their weapons at the camp for some reason...almost like somebody wanted the Dalish to think it was Ferelden men who did it.

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'You were too late commander. My entire unit was massacred.'

'Yeah that is kind of my thing today.'

So we find the last survivor of the militia who explains his unit arrived to protect the caravans, thinking the Dalish had been attacking them, only to be killed by the Darkspawn. We find a mass grave nearby where the corpses are noticeably without their weapons. So it seems obvious what happened. The Darkspawn were raiding the caravans and framing the Elves. The human soldiers showed up and the Darkspawn massacred them. Then they went to the Dalish camp and massacred THEM and tossed all the human weapons there. And this one Dalish survivor totally buys it. One thing we have gathered from two Dalish quests in Dragon Age is the Dalish might be a bit slow.

This is a magical forest though, as Oghren humorously points out a few times, so there are magical things here. For one we find granite for Vigil Keep's walls, ok that is not so magical. We were finding a few things from the Avvar Barbarians so we once again find actual Avvars. Gotta love Bioware. These are frozen statues.

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'You may not believe this but I have been frozen in this place for ONE THOUSAND YEARS'

'Actually not as unusual as you might think'

Lorcan convinces the statue he is never getting better and best to relax and embrace eternity.

Then we find an old Tevinter...something...treasure hiding thing.

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'Nobody has solved this infernal puzzle in ONE THOUSAND YEARS....give me a minute.'

Actually it took me quite a bit to puzzle this one out. I knew you were supposed to somehow connect each little node. Eventually I figured it out that you do that in such a way as you end where you started. Fun little puzzle. I hope Bioware keeps doing these. Finally we find the botanist mage Wynne sent us to find and we send her off to help sanity prevail and prevent a mage revolt. She had a noticeable Scottish accent which confused me. What Thedas Kingdom has a Scottish accent? The Free Marches?

The Wardens made their way to the Dalish camp and got ambushed by the angry Dalish Elf who runs off sending hordes of trees after us. After we win we track her down at the Dalish camp. Lorcan points out that no actual human army would leave all their weapons laying around. She sees his logic but Lorcan really wins her over by producing an elf charm he found on the Darkspawn, and it just happens to belong to her sister. So she joins up for great justice! Speaking of justice, Justice is not at all amused we are recruiting a murderer into our ranks but he was not around when Lorcan recruited Loghain so I guess he can be forgiven for being surprised.

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'I am a Dalish Elf blinded by a desire to gain vengeance against the evil Shem who I blame for all my people's miseries for centuries. Yet somehow I am still more reasonable than Anders.'

Actually she seems kind of like Elfy Morrigan. Lorcan probably finds her hot. Her name is Velanna and she says there is a nearby old Silverite Mine where the Darkspawn are probably coming from. Sorry Oghren time to hit the showers, and right when we are about to leave the pansy forest to. Not that Oghren ever showers.

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'Hey it is the Architect and Utha! Sorry for thinking you were 'The Mother' Utha!'

The Architect is waiting and captures Lorcan and company. They wake up without any of their gear but at least have clothes on. The Architect treats us better than Loghain did in Fort Drakon. Velanna's sister, looking noticeably ghoulish (so does Utha actually), frees us and gives us a key to a chest in the Architects chambers. She runs off just as soon as a group of Darkspawn run in. Amazingly we crush them barehanded. Grey Wardens actually are ninjas. Then we find the Architects laboratory.

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'What exactly was he testing? Humanicide?'

Not sure how seeing how many dead bodies one can put in one room helps end the Blight but I am sure you meant well Architect. The Wardens fight their way through the Architects lair. It seems he gave our gear to ghouls, I mean Ghouls that correspond almost exactly to each of us. Like Velanna got an elf mage ghoul. Finally we find the last surviving of the Grey Wardens captured in Vigil Keep.

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'You were too late commander.'

'Oh by the Maker...'

He has no idea what the Architect captured him for. It seems the Architect is very interested in Lorcan for some reason. He asks Lorcan to gain vengeance for him and gives him his wedding ring and tells Lorcan to deliver it for his wife in Amaranthine. Lorcan swears it will be done. Velanna thinks that is sentimental tripe. Damn she really is Elfy Morrigan.

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'Welcome Mr. Amell to my underground lair'

The Architect greets us with Utha and Velanna's sister Selanni. Wait was Lorcan let out on purpose? I just do not get bad guys. Anyway instead of mutated Sea Bass he sics two dragons on us. While he watches and does not intervene. Probably could have won otherwise. What exactly is his plan again? After the Dragons are dead the three of them retreat.

Velanna wants to find her sister so wants to join the Grey Wardens and use their Darkspawn tracking powers. Lorcan is eager for any more Wardens, even unstable elf mages. Justice is not amused.

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'-10 approval? Pfft Alistair laughs at that.'

Another incredibly dense adventure in the style of gathering the armies in Dragon Age: Origins. The ambiguity on the plot was nice, for awhile there you almost buy the humans actually did kill the Dalish and that the maybe the bandits were responsible for the caravan raids. The fights were pretty crazy, or maybe just the damage dished out in level 30+ adventures. Bad guys and good guys (especially Lorcan) would have lots of health and then suddenly peel over. For some reason this stopped once we got underground. Rogues now have this crazy AoE archery talent they just shoot into friend and foe alike. It is nuts.

One more main mission. There are some bugs in this expansion and I have been trying to look them up as discretely as I can without getting spoiled. It seems there is one more warden to recruit, there is one for every side mission, and once I get her I need to head back to Vigil's Keep and do all the remaining side missions I can because things get buggy between the end of the third mission and the endgame stuff. So the next update will be until I head back to Vigil Keep after recruiting the sixth Warden.

There is a little epilogue to the Wending Wood stuff. Utha is very disappointed the Architect let me go, I was key to their plans, but the Architect assures her their shared vision will come to pass. Really she should be mad at Selanni.

On the way back Lorcan and company found a merchant being assaulted by Darkspawn and saved her. She is coming to Vigil Keep to trade, along with a Quinari trader we found in the Architect's lair.

Lorcan got back to Vigil's Keep to find the peasants have risen up in revolt demanding we give them access to our grain stores. Huh. I had to think a bit about this one.

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'Hero of Ferelden? Pfft whatever. What has he done for us lately?'

If they had just asked for the grain Lorcan would have given it to them but you cannot let them get away with intimidating you into giving it to them. Oh and for some reason we let them all into the court yard. Security at Vigil Keep is somewhat questionable. Anyway Lorcan threatens them all with death and hellfire unless they disperse and they do. If you are going to come after the tyrannical noble you better bring your portable guillotine folks. Hopefully with the trade routes secured now we can get some food from the south.

Lorcan enters Vigil Keep to find Loghain waiting for him. How embarrassing he had to be there during this whole revolt thing.

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'An angry mob eh? I see you have taken lessons in governance from me'

Loghian and Lorcan get along great now. Loghain is hilariously being sent to Orlais, of all places, to get him out of Ferelden where he is considered too politically dangerous. Could have used you old man, good luck. Is this the last we see of Loghain in Dragon Age? Probably. Though I guess Inquisition at least knows he is still alive.

Then Velanna does the Joining.

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'Tastes like human oppression'

Fortunately she lives. With that Oghren, Nathaniel, and Justice join Lorcan on his trip to the Knotwood Hills in search of this ravine. Indeed the whole freaking roof of the Deep Roads collapsed...or I guess the not-so-deep roads. Really just the roads. Climbing down we find some Darkspawn dragging away a lady dwarf and we quickly dispatch them. Her name is Sigrun and she is the last survivor of the a Legion of the Dead unit that went to investigate Darkspawn activity in the ancient Dwarven city of Kal'Hirol.

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'Welcome to the team! Wait Oghren hit on you already?'

Seriously Oghren was harassing her literally 2 seconds after she joined up. Nathaniel went back to Vigil Keep but Sigrun has an absurdly low cunning score so she could not get all her mechanical skill :(. Hate leaving those locked chests behind. It will take two levels to fix that. Otherwise she is a pretty badass melee fighter. Kind of reminds me of my Dwarf Commoner character actually. We enter in and find a dying dwarf. It seems 'the Mother' has a whole ton of Broodmothers down there making lots of those Childer things. Should be cool. However we are not the only ones trying to shut her down.

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'Darkspawn gain intelligence and the first thing they do is try to murder each other. Really makes you think.'

The Architects boys are there as well. A surprisingly large amount of dwarf stuff is still intact so I guess the Darkspawn have only recently come into this place. Dwarf ghosts are also haunting the place..which is weird on a few levels. I thought they did not go into the fade? Sigrun explains it is the stone memory. In any case it seems the Casteless armed themselves and performed a heroic last stand so they were all posthumously adopted into the Warrior Caste. How noble. We get the stone to take the Orzammar Dwarves back at Vigil Keep so this gets recorded in the Shaperate later.

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'The next stage of Darkspawn Childer. Charming'

Eventually the party comes to another puzzle. This one was done about 100 times in Skyrim so I crack it immediately.

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'The old match the symbol with the plate one eh?'

Shortly after this we come to an exit to the surface, which we take to go do all the sidequests and so forth to avoid the bugs after the three main quest parts are done. I really hate this, I try to keep in character when I play and there is no way Lorcan would ever do this but what can you do? We get back to Vigil Keep to induct Sigrun into the Wardens.

First we drop off some Iron Ore to Wade and Herren. Vigil Keep fully upgraded!!

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'Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational Vigil Keep'

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That probably does it for recruiting Grey Wardens. Huh Loghain didn't even get me one did he?

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'Behold your Grey Warden class of 9:31 Dragon!'

Next I spend an annoyingly long period of time making runes. Man it is horrible when your main guy does not have the skill since some sadist put the merchant inside the throne room. You have to buy the stuff, exit the throne room and make it, and then zone back in. You cannot even look at the Runecrafting screen inside so hope you remember what you need.

Anyway next: sidequesting then back to Kal'Hirol to find those Broodmothers.

So we went off to Amaranthine to do side quests and on the way we were waylaid by elves. Velanna's elves to be specific. There we discover Velanna and a small core of her followers were kicked out of her Dalish Clan for hating humans too much. This is roughly equivalent to being kicked out of a nationalist Ukrainian group for hating Russians too much. Being kicked out of the Black Panthers for wanting to stick it to the man too much.

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'But some of the my best friends are humans'

Man my Wardens are really pieces of work. Anyway her clan makes it clear that Selanni only followed her out of family loyalty so Velanna feels obligated to go after her. Lorcan swears it will be done.

It just gets weirder since as the party enters Amaranthine Lorcan's other new Warden also runs into an old friend:

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'So she framed you for a crime on the behalf of the Carta after you put trust in her and got you exiled from Orzammar? See this is why the Grey Wardens need background checks.'

Yes Sigrun used to work for the Carta. Later Sigrun confesses she feels guilt for having ruined the dwarf's life and makes amends. She also feels guilt for being the only member of the Legion who assaulted Kal'Hirol still alive and says once we stop the Darkspawn she is going down to the Deep Roads to die. I guess Lorcan knows who will be going on that suicide mission. Just kidding when he is in charge every mission is a suicide mission.

Finally Justice confronts Kristoff's widow in the Chantry. She tells him to avenge his death, conveniently what Justice was already doing. A very disturbing way to say goodbye to your dead spouse'

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'Lorcan is thinking 'damn my life is weird''

We tie up all the loose ends in Amaranthine. When Lorcan actually does the Blight Orfans quests it is obviously a scam. Man some sick bastards out there man. But we go ahead and do them anyway just out of curiousity. They get pretty silly like scaring local women and playing pranks on the Revered Mother. But nothing much happens. Ah well. Last we go to salvage the wreckage of a ship that was headed to Amaranthine. With his amazing timing Lorcan shows up just as it is getting looted. And of course they have a blood mage. Because every criminal gang with over three people does.

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'I think only a tiny minority of mages actually get stuck in the Circle'

Once that is done the party goes back to Kal'Hirol. I was all ready to delve deep into the depths of Kal'Hirol, fighting through hordes of Darkspawn and slaying many Broodmothers. Instead there were just too long hallways and one big fight. Pretty lame. The Lower Reaches of Kal'Hirol might be the worst dungeon ever made by Bioware.

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'Inferno Golem SMASH!'

When Lorcan, Sigrun, Oghren, and Justice arrive The Inferno Golem is holding the leader of the Architect's invading forces and the leader of the Mother's is about to have the Inferno Golem rip him in half. The Mother's talking Darkspawn, the Lost (does the Inferno Golem: fight for the Lost?), then turns on us. Our melees are now complete forces of unstoppable destruction now all buffed up on Paragon Runes. I swear this craft stinks, not only is it really absurd to make the runs they kind of unbalance things. Anyway the Inferno Golem pounds on Justice and barely scratches him while Sigrun and Oghren make short work of the The Lost. The battle is over and Lorcan barely had to do anything. Down another hallway we find a pit containing all the Broodmothers with a giant stone boulder above them being held up by a couple chains. Darkspawn strategy at its finest. Cutting the chains killed all the Broodmothers. Kind of disappointing and lame compared to what I had expected. Anyway the last of the suspected Darkspawn bases has been taken out and the 'choose the order of events' part of the plot we have come to expect after DA:O and KOTOR is at an end.

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'Huzzah!'

So we head back to Vigil Keep. On the way back we get a scene from The Mother cackling hysterically following the loss of Kal'Hirol.

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'If all monsters were designed by Caliga'

Once we get back the Nobles are in the throne room fretting about four armies of Darkspawn marching over the countryside. The Army has fallen back to Vigil Keep from their countryside patrols. In the middle of the Council of War an Elf bursts into the throne room.

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'I have actually been here for 40 minutes, I was just waiting for a dramatic moment'

The Darkspawn are attacking Amaranthine in force! I wonder if it is the Architect or the Mother? It will take too long for the army to march there, indicating the failure of Lorcan's military strategy. Only a small group can make it in time. Lorcan volunteers. Hearing that it is a suicide mission, Sigrun also volunteers. I had to think about this one. Lorcan will take Nathaniel, Velanna, and Justice.

Velanna since I want her with me when we confront the Architect, so we can use her to turn her sister if we can. Nathaniel because despite Sigrun being a force of awesome destruction Nathaniel is much better at rogue skills. Justice because we need a tank.

That leaves Oghren, Sigrun, and Anders (who is delighted to be left out of this foolishness and wishes Lorcan luck) behind to stay with the Army in Vigil Keep.

Lorcan and company rush to Amaranthine. Unless Dragon Age continues to do that foolishness of always letting enemies into the court yard before fighting them it looks like the Darkspawn are still outside the walls.

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'Please tell me you remembered to close the gates. Don't be like Arl Eamon'

Darkspawn Childer are there so this is the Mother's Army.

Next: Lorcan's latest suicide mission

Very entertaining. :)

Thanks Valmy, for posting this. Very good read. :)

I liked Awakening not so much for its plot, but the NPCs were ok, though I hated Oghren in it - he had his arc in DA:O where he went from drunk jerk to honorable warrior. Now he's even worse than when you first met him.

Quote from: The Brain on May 15, 2015, 02:24:36 AM
Very entertaining. :)

Thanks!

Quote from: Syt on May 15, 2015, 02:36:15 AM
Thanks Valmy, for posting this. Very good read. :)

Hopefully I am just getting started. Two DLCs and two more Dragon Ages to go.

QuoteI liked Awakening not so much for its plot, but the NPCs were ok, though I hated Oghren in it - he had his arc in DA:O where he went from drunk jerk to honorable warrior. Now he's even worse than when you first met him.

That pissed me off something fierce when I bought it originally. It is one of the reasons I gave up on it. Well that and I got crazy busy with school. I have made my peace with it. He just sorta marries those two parts of himself in this game. He rebels against the honorable warrior and is working out his stuff. Funny for the character who refused to be whiny.

As suicide missions go this one was kind of weak sauce. Lorcan and company charge valiantly and butcher the Darkspawn valiantly. Once this is done the Captain of the City Guard comes out of the city.

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'I see Marshall Petain was hired as Captain of the City Guard'

Lorcan vows to go into the city anyway. At this point a talking Darkspawn, they are called Discples so I guess I should call them that, name 'The Messenger' runs up to inform them the majority of the Mother's armies are marching on Vigil Keep. The Architect wants the Wardens saved so wants Lorcan to go back to Vigil Keep to defeat the Mother. Lorcan refuses. Then the Vigil Keep Captain of the Guard, who followed Lorcan there, informs him that they could just burn Amaranthine to the ground, killing the Darkspawn inside, and then march back to Vigil Keep. Remembering the fate of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army in 1914 Lorcan refuses. We didn't come all this way just to let Amaranthine burn.

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'Do you not know how this hero thing is supposed to work?'

Oh and it seems the Darkspawn attacked from underneath the city so the gates were not a factor. Actually they just have a palisade built at the gates to the city even so. I mean WTH? They have all these big impressive fortresses in Ferelden but none of them have doors.

So the wardens are joined by the darkspawn disciple and the guards and charge through Amaranthine hacking down all the evil darkspawn we find. Man there are not that many. I don't get it Bioware knew how to do this right with the Battle of Denerim but there is nothing particularly difficult or epic about the Battle of Amaranthine. Once the Darkspawn are defeated scouts inform Lorcan that another army is on its way to Amaranthine. The party goes and rests in Chantry. When the Darkspawn arrive they don't rush the entrance but instead attack from underneath again. They are coming from the Inn. Oh hell they are using that smugglers entrance aren't they? You would have thought Lorcan and company would have plugged that up once they cleared out the Smugglers. Lorcan military strategy strikes again. We have to defeat the three Darkspawn Generals to drive off the army.

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'Grey Wardenicons unite to form DEVASTATOR!'

We find the first one inside the inn. And they rush back to the entrance to the smugglers entrance and sure enough, that is how the Darkspawn are getting through.

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'Did somebody just toss a grenade?'

Seriously inexplicably Nathaniel and three darkspawn near him just pitch over dead. They all had high health and I have no idea what did it. Weird.

Anyway that was the second general. After clearing out the Darkspawn in the smuggler's cave they burst out of the exit on the other side of the walls. Waiting for them was a giant armored Ogre and the third Darkspawn General.

They were made short work of.

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'How you like me now?'

The darkspawn disciple that has been helping us tells us where the Mother's lair is. Then I order him released.

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'Go get them Warden!'

Man that was pretty easy for a suicide mission. I mean I am playing on 'Nightmare'. Bioware should feel free to make me work for it. Ah well. The survivors of Amaranthine cheer Lorcan as he runs off to face the Mother. It is like he is the Hero of Ferelden or something. I hope the walls can hold at Vigil Keep.

The Mother has buried herself under a dragon grave yard. Lorcan and company fight through waves of darkspawn and a freaking High Dragon (not a huge challenge anymore but at least I got that High Dragon + Darkspawn battle the Sacred Ashes trailer promised way back in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZMkDiPIAnA ). Morrigan was not there to walking bomb any Darkspawn but Lorcan did it in her honor.

The entrance is in an ancient Tevinter structure. After entering we meet Selanni but she is clearly loyal to the Architect now. Damn what does this guy have going? First Utha now her.

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'My sister meets a handsome darkspawn and she just forgets I exist!'

Velanna is pretty upset. We move onwards facing more darkspawn and Childer. By the way the adult form of the Childer was not as horrific or giant as I thought. I guess I had pictured eldritch horrors of nightmarish proportions. Instead they are just a slightly tougher versions of the others. Meh. There are Tevinter Crystals to collect here to empower the towers that will provide magical effects to help me in the fight against the Mother. In the second tower we get the final showdown with Utha and the Architect. Instead the Architect wants to talk. He explains that he is creating the Disciples by reverse 'The Joining' them using Grey Warden blood he has been getting freely from Utha. This gives them intelligence and frees them from their compulsion to seek out the Archdemons. But it also creates evil Darkspawn like the Mother. Well I have loads of questions about this like will the Darkspawn stop capturing our women and turning them into horrific Broodmothers and if so won't that lead to the extinction of his race? But I can only ask so many questions. Lorcan is also in the business of ending the Blight and how much worse can this Architect actually make the Darkspawn? They only exist to destroy the world as it is. So he agrees to go along with it, against Justice's objections. I mean the Architect did some bizarre and inexplicable shit in his lab so he is probably full of shit but...eh...who knows maybe he is sincere. His explanation that only wanted to talk to the Wardens in the Wending Wood makes no freaking sense at all given what happened there. I mean why did that require locking us up and give all of our stuff to ghoul experimental subjects? Why were two dragons sent to kill us? Just WTF? Ah well.

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'Peace in our time!'

He will help us against the Mother. The party descends to meet her and she is alone. She reveals that she is trying to convert the Darkspawn back to how they were before and I think is trying to destroy all the Grey Wardens so the Architect can no longer use their blood to create disciples. Furthermore she probably wants the Blight to succeed. She also reveals that the Architect was the one who found the last Old God, Urthemiel (the Old God of beauty so I guess Morrigan and Lorcan's demon child is going to be gorgeous...the best kind of demon child), and tried to reverse join it trying to end the Blight. Instead he caused one. 'That was unfortunate' says the Architect. You think? Anyway I think I knew that already from the book.

The final battle is on! Lorcan mostly runs for his life while the tentacles and childer swarm over him. This allows Velanna to stand untouched and help Justice with the Mother.

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'FOR THE WARDENS!'

I used the magic from the Tevinter towers to good effect. Soon the Mother is in desperate straights.

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'DIE FOUL CREATURE!'

Hey Lorcan actually uses magic for the final blow instead of a sword like in DA:O. I thought that was weird since I was not aware he even knew how to use a sword.

The Mother is slain! The Blight is defeated for good and Lorcan is the Hero^2 of Ferelden! But wait? What happened to the Architect? What happened to Vigil Keep? Glad you asked.

Epilogue:
The Darkspawn

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Meh it is not like the Darkspawn are not always compelled to try to start a new Blight anyway. Not sure what those other Grey Wardens are basing their concerns on. The Darkspawn clear the upper Deeproads taking some pressure off the dwarves. I call that a win.

City of Amaranthine:

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Hey check it out! Sorry the Messenger spread the taint around but it looks like he meant well. Also nice to see Lorcan's failed military strategy had positive political results.

Vigil Keep:

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The walls held baby! Victory for the Wardens! Funny this is how the game tells you this.

The Arldom of Amaranthine:

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Bann Esmerrelle was the Bann of Amaranthine. I guess she was the leader of the conspiracy and killed herself. Weird. Anyway hell yeah I cowed those traitorous nobles. Alec is that sheep stealer I conscripted into the army. Damn everything is coming up Lorcan in this epilogue, everything he touched turned to gold.

The blade is the one made out of the super dragon 'The Queen of Blackmarsh' and was used by Justice actually. I guess the Antivan Crows finally did something right.  The armor was also made by Master Wade, that was the upgraded gear he forged for the troops from the ore Lorcan found. How many military orders came from this adventure?

The Wending Wood:

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Well ok not even a great hero like Lorcan can help the lot of the Dalish not suck.

Kal'Hirol:

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Huge win for King Bhelen and Orzammar there. The only thing I remember about house Helmi is that they were supporters of Lord Harrowmont. But good for them I guess.

Blackmarsh:

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Haunted castle in a werewolf filled marsh! Motivated seller!

Anders:

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Now Anders is one of the more spectacularly selfish characters I have seen in these games. Morrigan grew up outside of society so was only aware of how the Templars and the Circle impacted her and her mother. And Flemeth is, in my opinion, one of the Old Gods and Morrigan is a special snowflake seemingly immune to fade spirits and demons. But Anders grew up in the society so he knows the purpose and is aware of the dangers. He just doesn't give two shits, he only cares that it creates problems for him personally. Despite supposedly being all about freedom, he was eager to leave all those people imprisoned in the fade if it meant getting a little more goodies for himself by kissing up the Baroness. So I like this ending, Anders turned out to be a hero and stayed committed to the Grey Wardens despite a desire to bail on them. He found his purpose. I feel much better about this character and always backing him despite his flaws. Well done Bioware.

Velanna (printed over her boobs):

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Velanna was passionate and hot blooded who was especially sensitive about her clownish ears. One of her redeeming characteristics was her love for her sister and in the end she could never reconcile the decision of Selanni to join the Architect. That ended up killing her. Probably something to chew on in there someplace. Not a bad arc there.

Nathaniel:

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Everybody's favorite brooding disgraced noble. He redeemed his house and himself and restored the Howes to power. Well done sir. Wait he saved Fergus? Come on.

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Wait what did Justice occupy next? Maybe somewhere a little girl's dolly telling her to take revenge on bullies. Anyway Justice was a Planescape Torment-esque weird companion. They had some interesting parts about him adapting to the real world. Also one hell of a tank.

Sigrun and Oghren:

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Sigrun I barely knew ye. But you overcame your criminal past and died with honor. Oghren survived the siege, becoming a hero like Anders, and combined all the aspects of who he was in these games. He stayed a lewd and obnoxious drunk, and honorable warrior in the Grey Wardens, but also became a decent husband to Felsi and father to their child.

Lorcan:

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It seems he got upgraded to the Savior of Ferelden. Ding! Lorcan has moved on to the Frostback Mountains to seek out Morrigan. And it seems he is not to return...intriguing.

What was entered into Dragon Age Keep (remember that?):

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So while I was not the biggest fan of some aspects of the expansion I really enjoyed it. Even though I read the Calling I missed the part about how you can reverse 'The Joining' on Darkspawn so nice twist there. Also the Mother turned out to be just some Broodmother and nobody we knew. The number of quests was just ridiculous. I am not sure how many I did but it was over 60, that is enough for a full game not an expansion.

I was not a huge fan of the reduced interaction with the companions and the Rune Carving system. Also the ending was a bit underwhelming outside of the fight with the mother. It did have the most awesome fight in all of the Dragon Age I have found so far in the 'Queen of Blackmarsh'. I get kind of a high from a really great fight like that I cheered when I won. That fight Sigrun, Oghren, and Anders got to have at Vigil Keep sounds awesome. Wish I could have been there.

I think it is better than 'Tales of the Sword Coast' because it had its own plot and story and not just a few side adventures. I am not sure it can really be compared to Bioware's other expansion, the Throne of Bhaal, just because of the vastly different scope of that one.

Is this it for our hero? Not even close!!111

Well ok pretty close. Two more adventures remain for the Savior of Ferelden Lorcan Amell. It is time to return to the Deep Roads with The Golems of Amgarrak.

By the way whatever happened to Lorcan's Mabari Warhound? I guess I figured Barkspawn was his trusty companion forever. He was missing in the expansion and they never say why. Does this never get explained? Did he die of Darkspawn Taint or something? I guess I have to hope he gets mentioned in one of the next DLCs.

Come on baby
Don't fear the reaper
Baby take my hand
Don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly
Don't fear the reaper
Baby I'm your man

Ok maybe one should not fear the Reaper, but one should fear the Harvester.

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'What will get Lorcan back adventuring? Some damn fool thing in the Deep Roads'

So the Golems of Amgarrak. It was sort of like a horror film. I really liked the start of KOTOR 2 where you show up at that empty station where a disaster had occurred and you had to piece together the clues. I also like the concept of the film 'Event Horizon' which had a similar thing going. Going into Amgarrak Thaig and seeing everything was very very wrong but not knowing quite why had that thing going. So that was great. However it turned out it was yet another 'hey lets invite the demons of hell in and solve all of our problems' thing. Does this ever go well in the Dragon Age universe? 'We decided to break into the Fade and recruit demons and man everything has been awesome since'. Losing track of how many times this happens in Origins.

Oh and remember when I wished the Darkspawn Childer had more of an Eldritch Horror thing going on? Well let's just say I got what I wanted.

This DLC definitely worked being its own separate story, it only had the loosest ties to anything. I am glad they didn't try to tie it in to Origins like they did with Warden's Keep which probably also would have worked better this way.

Anyway Lorcan is in Orzammar at the ceremony to honor the defenders of Kal'Hirol and gets a letter from a member of House Dace. House Dace had a part to play in Origins, though I did not mention it here. If you side with evil Prince Bhelen he wants you to show House Dace documents (forged documents) indicating that Harrowmont was double-crossing them (which he would never actually do). To deliver the letter Lorcan and company had to track down the head of House Dace in Aeducan Thaig. Thus being deceived by Bhelen they joined his team.

So when House Dace had a problem evil King Bhelen recommended they ask Lorcan for help. In a decision he will probably regret for the rest of his life and deep into the afterlife Lorcan agrees. A platoon of Orzammar soldiers, led my Brogan Dace, disappeared exploring Amgarrak Thaig. In this place the Dwarves tried to recreate the research of Caridan once the Anvil of the Void was lost. Why they did this way out in the Deep Roads and not in Orzammar I don't know. Brogan's brother, Jerrik Dace, and his Bronto named Snug (because he sleeps in Jerrik's bed and it gets snug...not kidding) accompany Lorcan on this crazy suicide mission. In addition to finding his brother Jerrik also hopes to recover the research in the Thaig.

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'Thirty veteran warriors have all disappeared? I am sure a Bronto and two dudes can easily take care of it'

Now I honestly had no idea what this DLC was all about or what kind of enemies I would be facing. Probably Golems. But I was worried it would just be more smashing of Darkspawn. And at first that is what it looked iike.

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'Here we go again'

Fortunately these are the only Darkspawn that Lorcan sees. A bit of the way in they found both a control rod and a golem. So now they have a dwarf, a human, a Bronto, and a Golem. Liking our odds better now. There is definitely something not right though. There is a weird mist in the cave and fade monsters like Revenants and Arcane Horrors are about. Oh and the map looks exactly like Ortan Thaig...eerie. Soon they find the entrance to the Golem research erm...lab I guess. Inside we see a little freaky creature scrambling around. It is called 'The Harvester'.

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'What a cute little hideous monster!'

The place is weird, there are all these chests and doors we cannot open and things we cannot interact with shaded blue and purple. It was kind of like how some things you could not interact with in the Fade section in DA:O without turning into your Arcane Horror form. Eventually they find a room with four freaking Golems that they very much can interact with. This was a fun fight, four huge boulders flying right at them the second the fight started was fun. Damn that was the kind of situation Bioware did not put us in much before. It was an omen.

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'Oh well now you tell me'

We find Brogan Dace but he is also blue shaded and we cannot talk to him. Eventually the monster leads them to the pile of arms and legs that are the remains of the platoon of dwarves. Later it leads them to a room with a switch that changes the Lyrium flows, the dwarves just flooded this place with the stuff to make their golems. So there are five different versions of this place, four of them probably in the Fade. We do the switch and they enter the blue shaded version where they find Brogan Dace. His mind is pretty much gone, horrified by what his unit endured.

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'Do Orzammar veteran benefits cover PTSD counseling?'

He tells us to find the scholar Darion who was with his unit and has been researching the place. He joins the crew and is a tank. Thank the Maker. Basically now they explore the whole area fighting lots of hard fights with ridiculous amounts of elite and boss level Golems and Fade ghosts. The notes and research they find indicate the dwarves created some horrifying new Golem by implanting demons into dead corpses. WTF were they thinking? Anyway things go horribly. I have to make sure they explore every single area in each version of the dungeon. We enter one room with a hilariously hard fight.

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'Four bosses at the same time man!'

Now in this room you have to be in the purple world to enter, but you have to be in the normal world to see the Golems and the switch to take you to green world to loot the chests. But you cannot leave the room in the green world. The Golems will all attack you if you approach the switch. And the fight is just impossible, the boss level golems are tough but easily doable on their own but four at the same time plus two elites? Well ok it probably is possible from some invincible Arcane Warrior character but you know I hate that class. So I figured the switches had to be the key since the Golems only exist in the real world. So I sent our golem in to agro the golems and then we all ran like hell for the blue switch. Once we flipped it the Golems were all spread apart and we could take them down. Damn Bioware that was cool, a fight you really had to think about.

Darion eventually concluded the forge that made the horrors had to be destroyed along with the whole fucked up place.

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'He's dead Jim. At least he had the decency to leave his journal beside him.'

Finally they find the switch to turn on the last version of the place, the red version. Darion had already told them how to solve the puzzle to do it. Well obviously he didn't tell them his journals and notes did. So they pass through the red door to the forge and they finally find that creepy little monster...which then jumps on a massive eldritch creature constructed from the bodies of many dwarves and forged from pure evil.

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'PREPARE FOR PAIN'

And then HOLY SHIT IS THIS A HARD FIGHT. Seriously the 'Queen of the Blackmarsh' had nothing on 'The Harvester'. This was an eldritch evil of legend. I really had to resist the urge to look up the fight on the internet. I spent hours trying to crack this thing. It is just ridiculous how many different non-explained unintuitive elements in this fight you have to figure out. Like during the fight the room flashes back and forth from the real world and the red shifted fade version. You cannot hurt The Harvestor with physical weapons in the red fade version. So you have to run to a Lyrium switch in the corner to get it back to the real world. And it freaking summons Skeletons all the time and these guys hit like freight trains and can be elite or boss level. I think at one point there were three boss level ones of them plus the Harvester running around. Four Bosses at the same time baby! Hiting the switch inexplicably kills the Skeletons sometimes...maybe. But basically you have to hit this switch every freaking chance you have.

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'Sir Lorcan ran away, bravely ran away away!'

The strategy eventually came down to having everybody drink health potions like crazy and the Golem using its healing power every time it could. Brogan was using carapace every chance he got. Lorcan activated his Elemental Chaos spell and went running in circles trying to hurt stuff, hitting the switch, drinking potions, and healing while trying not to get hit too hard by the hordes of Skeletons typically in tow. Again a lucky Riposte by those Skeletons typically meant a dead Lorcan. That usually ended the fight and this is fight can easily last a half hour. So I had to restrain myself so not to damage the tender ears of my children. Two hour DLC my ass. I easily spent twice that on this fight alone.

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'Taste my Elemental Chaos. Sweet sweet death'

Oh yeah and once you defeat it and start cheering...well there is a second phase. The horrible little monster jumps off the golem of evil it and you have to kill it to. It is kind of like the second phase of the Saren fight from Mass Effect only much more difficult. And if you fail you have to repeat the fifteen to twenty minute first phase again.

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'I am still alive! Because fuck you!'

Fortunately this is a much easier section...well except for some reason your melee guys cannot hit the skeletons. They are like invincible to weapon attacks. Which is fucked up. Once I killed The Harvester but those damn unhittable skeletons killed us. Unkind thoughts were thought.

But the final time I did the fight I had it down. Nobody died or really was in danger of dying, even the Bronto, and we took him down in both phases with everything going according to plan. That was pretty freaking sweet let me tell you. However this fight had so many damn un-intuitive elements and bizarre bullshit in it I am not sure I would really call it fun. But I was damn glad to win.

What happened next did not really make sense. So I thought we were destroying the forge but I guess killing The Harvester somehow did that? Anyway Jerrik Dace, like a freaking psycho, wants to find all the rest of the research and preserve this house of horrors. Brogan, now lucid, tells him he is nutty and we need to leave. Well that and the place is caving in. Why I have no idea. Maybe stones just cannot tolerate this much evil in such a concentrated area.

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'Um Jerrik this is the most fucked up place I have ever been and I cannot even begin to tell you how many fucked up places I have been to.'

So we run out while the place collapses hopefully never to be seen again.

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'Ok we made it. Next time you need help please contact one of the other Saviors of Ferelden.'

Then, in true horror movie tradition, as our heroes flee we get a view of tons more Harvesters escaping out of Amgarrak Thaig to terrorize the world. The dwarves really need to just get over this Golem obsession. DA2 should probably be about stopping these things.

So that was one crazily awesome DLC. I had very low expectations after Viper pronounced it shit but that was really good.

So next time Lorcan Amell, the now PTSD suffering Savior of Ferelden, will be seeking out his lost love Morrigan and their Old God progeny. Morrigan told him not to follow but love will find a way. Or not. Find out soon!

Nice. :)

I don't have the patience for difficult fights. :(

Witch Hunt was kind of a love letter to the rest of Origins. It was a nice revisit to previous maps and themes. It was nothing crazy out there like Golems of Amgarrak. The fights were all straight forward and all the tricks I learned in Golems were used rather mercilessly. However I did notice the save that transferred in was before I killed The Harvester as no final save is made (and there is no way to make a save on your own). This was good for me I guess because I got to get back all those potions I burned but it still rubbed me the wrong way. Oh well.

Now for the last adventure of Lorcan Amell.

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'I choose love baby!'

After Lorcan's ordeal in Orzammar he started hearing of Morrigan sightings around Ferelden and went in search of her. Scouts tell him a woman was sighted by she and Flemeth's old hut in the Korcari Wilds. So he goes down and

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'My dog is back!'

Hurrah! It seems he was taken to Denerim to stud to help repopulate the decimated Mabari Hound population and now he has been returned to Lorcan. Which is good when we are hunting for Morrigan. How are Mabari at tracking? Anyway Lorcan goes to check on the carcass of Flemeth and yep...she gone.

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'The death of Flemeth? Going to go ahead and say no there.'

Yeah her body is not here. Surprise, surprise. Though, granted, it has been at least a year or more since that fight.

Lorcan goes in and finds the woman his scouts spotted. A Dalish Elf woman named Ariane. She is looking for Morrigan because she stole a book on 'Eluvians' from her clan. Morrigan pretended to be a friend and promised to help the Elves read the book but then ran off with it. Ariane wondered why Lorcan was looking for her and Lorcan admits he loves her. She wonders why the hell anybody would love somebody like Morrigan and he says its complicated. She suggests they go to the Circle of Magi to find more books on the Eluvians and the Elves since, natch, the Dalish don't know shit. The Tevinter Imperium took most of everything and what they knew is spread throughout the Circles of Thedas, what is not back in the Imperium itself.

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'Yeah they know a bit of me at the Circle. I am kind of a big deal.'

I was expecting Greagoir and Irvine to celebrate his return but Greagoire is in Denerim and Irvine was just not present. Maybe he retired. Greagoir's second in command, Hadley (I hope to God that is his last name), doesn't seem to realize that Lorcan is awesome. Ah well. He lets him look at the books though. Lorcan gets recognized by some apprentices who simply talk about his role in the Jowan incident. Really? It has been years and people are still talking about that? Call me crazy but slightly more significant things have happened since then. Ah well. Cool to be back in the circle tower again in the familiar confines of the first floor. Third time I have been through here. Back to the library.

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'Anders doodles.'

Eventually they find a book on the Eluvian and a book to help translate it from Elvish. A young mage, named Florian Phineas Horatio Aldebrant Esquire (Esquire is a thing in this world? Ah well) but 'Finn' to his friends and 'Flora' to his enemies, notices what we are doing and shows that he is very interested in the subject.

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'What the Dalish actually know about ancient Arlathan could be written on a postage stamp...well actually a picture of a postage stamp taken from space.'

Now in the Mage Origin waaaay back Lorcan, Jowan and Lily found a petrified advisor to an Archon of the Tevinter Imperium who has just kind of sat around for a thousand years. Now she is useful because she knows things about ancient lore like Eluvians. So Lorcan, Finn, and Adriane head down to the very same map. Now the guardians have all gone nuts because of tears in the fade created by the Uldred affair I assume. Lorcan has closed these things before so no problem. Then we talk to the Tevinter statue and she says we can scry for the location of an Eluvian using shards of another one. Well anybody who played the Dalish Origin remembers the Eluvian that shattered in the Tevinter ruins. Ariane tells Lorcan about the incident since he obviously didn't. However that Eluvian was corrupted by the Darkspawn. So the statue tells them about some elves who stole pure shards and ran to hide with Dwarves in an ancient dwarf stronghold that sounds like Cadash Thaig. I could not help but notice she pronounced Arlathan by putting the stress on the ultimate syllable instead of the penult. Do the Danish not even know how to say Arlathan?

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'Ok let's do this...wait why is Finn's staff so much cooler than Lorcan's?

So they make the trip to Orzammar and then into the Deep Roads and all the way to Cadash Thaig. Finn whines and frankly I don't blame him. That trip probably took two weeks at least. It is the same map as before except we are doing it in reverse. We walk by that engraving Shale found back in Origins and Barkspawn pees on it. Damn I guess somebody didn't like Shale.

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'YOU SHALL NOT PASS!'

So we find mentions of the elves of Cadash Thaig, well actually a settlement far older than Cadash Thaig, and how the Dwarves found out about their presence and destroyed the settlement to prevent the Imperium from finding out and making them pay. Ariane is disgusted but to be fair the Imperium was pretty ferocious. They did enslave her people for one thousand years after all. The shards Lorcan and company need to find are lanterns. I guess the shards light the lanterns? They are protected by ghostly elf guardians. Besides that the place contains a few Darkspawn and the usual Deepstalkers.

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'Ok everybody group shot with the Light of Arlathan.'

Now they have to go back to the Brecilian Forest. Damn they are hitting all the places from Origins aren't they? The Circle, the Deep Roads, and now the forest. Why they need both the shards from the broken Eluvian and the shards from Cadash Thaig I guess I missed. But it seems they need both. They go to those ruins from the Dalish Origin, same map. I know some people don't like recycled maps but so long as they are literally the same place, and not recycled for a different place like using Ortan Thaig for the exterior of Amgarrak Thaig in the Golems of Amgarrak, then I don't mind. Again I only played this map once back in 2009 and somehow I remembered it. I am sick.

On the way in Ariane notices that Lorcan is fingering his ring.

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'Yep sentimental mage here'

Lorcan has been wearing this thing ever since for roleplaying reasons so I was glad to see it make a difference in the game. Ariane is kind of moved by his devotion. The party battles through the ruins taking down many Darkspawn and Darkspawn corrupted Dalish Elves. Finally they reach the broken Eluvian and Finn does the scying while Fade monsters attempt to kill him. Once he is done he tells them the Eluvian is in the Dragonbone Wastes, where the Mother had her base in Awakenings.

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'Yeah ok Lorcan but the Dragonbone Wastes is huge and what are the chances the mirror is located right where you happened to be?'

Well actually pretty high since it is located literally right behind where the Mother was. It is indeed weird Lorcan did not see it sitting back there. Finn explains that you can only see it if you are looking for it or some kind of Harry Potter-esque mumbo jumbo. Oh you wacky Elves.

So they go to the Dragonbone Wastes and Barkspawn shows his contempt for reptilian kind by peeing on a dragon skull. Mammal power! But clearly there is a lack of Mammalia Class solidarity since the main monsters here are dragon cultists. Hey dragon cultists again! I wonder if any of them have ever been to Haven? When they reach the Tevinter ruins the Mother inhabited an ancient Elven guardian is waiting for them. It is called the Varterral and Ariane actually has heard of it so I guess the Dalish do know a few things. They were ancient monsters the Elven Gods created to guard the Elven people. But, as Finn points out, it clearly does not recognize Ariane as one of the Elven people. Interesting. Anyway this will be Lorcan's last battle. I used all my tricks and it went pretty easily on the first time.

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'I will get you my pretty and my little dog will to'

Love Elemental Chaos. The party descends to the room where the Mother was. I notice her carcass is gone as well. Huh. Maybe the Grey Wardens took it as a trophy. And there is the Eluvian and Morrigan is waiting for Lorcan.

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'Morrigan sweet baby! So how did you get past the ancient Elf guardian thing?'

Ariane and Finn hold back allowing Lorcan to go on ahead alone. Ariane asks Lorcan to ask her about her book. Um I think an actual Eluvian is better than a silly book.

Barkspawn bounds up to her excited to see her. Morrigan is a little amused by this. Lorcan and Morrigan have their heart to heart. She was about to take it to leave this world but waited because the ring let he know Lorcan was almost there. She went to find the Eluvian to escape Flemeth because she discovered Flemeth is more than a powerful mage, she is not human at all. Indeed it is almost like she is an Old God or something. Oh and it seems the Old God child she and Lorcan had is just a normal baby and has no idea what he is. And he is a son. He is supposed to be the herald of a new age and the world is about to change. I find that hard to believe since there is a chance this child may not even exist if you did not do the ritual. But anyway.

Well that sounds like something Lorcan would like to be a part of on so many levels. Morrigan says it is time for her to go.

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She asks him not to come with her, but he says he will never be apart from her ever again. So she relents and they will face the future together with their son.

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And so it ends. With Lorcan Amell going through the Eluvian with Morrigan to who knows what. And his part, as a playable character anyway, in the Dragon Age series has come to an end. Most likely.

No idea what happened to the dog, Finn, and Ariane but I hope they made it back ok and maybe the Eluvian helped Ariane's people understand a bit about their heritage. Maybe I will see them again sometime.

Here is what was entered into Dragon Age Keep:

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So soon I will be starting Dragon Age II. The name of the hero will be Urien Hawke and he will not be a mage. My last three Origins characters were 'Rogue, Rogue, Mage' so I will probably be going warrior. Next I will do a closing to Dragon Age: Origins and introduce the Dragon Age II section.

I really enjoyed the dialogue of Finn and Ariane. Good DLC this was. Agreed on Amgarrak - it's B-movie schlock (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Quote from: Syt on May 17, 2015, 11:50:35 PM
I really enjoyed the dialogue of Finn and Ariane.

Yeah Finn filled in admirably as funny British guy from Anders and Alistair. Their banter was top notch.

QuoteGood DLC this was. Agreed on Amgarrak - it's B-movie schlock (not that there's anything wrong with that).

It was short and sweet. If you liked DA:O then you will love that DLC. Just a nice little re-visit to the locations we know and love.

Love the B-movie schlock on Amgarrak. It hit every cliche out there. Not at all what I was expecting. It was also harder than anything else in Origins by leaps and bounds. So it will always be fondly remembered for that by me. Though I had no idea what I was getting into so maybe if I ever do this again I will be better prepared and maybe it is not so hard then.

I like how once again Hadley and the Templars are all 'ok good luck old boy, come back and visit' when Finn decides he wants to leave with Lorcan. I swear besides that one psycho in Amaranthine they are the easiest going army of oppression I have ever seen. No wonder Anders escaped seven times, he just said he had to go piss in the bushes and took off while they discretely hid their eyes. The game keeps wanting me to feel outrage at the plight of the poor mages but having the mages continually wrecking shit and the Templars being such a soft touch is not helping.

Ok so this is the final state of things for Dragon Age:Origins

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Here we see all the major important decisions which will be imported into Inquisition. Note this still includes serving the prisoner the guard's lunch. I better see some payoff in Inquisition.

That was a long and very fun ride, I love DA:O and I enjoyed all the DLC despite their issues. The worst one was certainly Leliana's song which loses points for bizarreness and lack of continuity but even it had its good points. I met a whole new cast of characters in the other DLCs.

People Leliana grouped with:
Sketch
Tug
Silas Corthwaite

People Lorcan grouped with:
Lily
Jowan
Mouse
Daveth
Ser Jory
Soldier
Tower Guard
Alistair
Barkspawn the Dog
Leliana
Morrigan
Oghren
Shale
Sten
Wynne
Zevran
Loghain
Anders
Mhairi
Justice
Nathaniel
Sigrun
Velanna
Jerrik
Snug the Bronto
Golem
Brogan
Ariane
Finn

So 32 joinable companions. That has to be a record. I know a lot of them are temporary companions but damn. Even the soldier has a voice actor and banter.

Final unmotified stats:
Lorcan Amell level 35 Mage
Battlemage
Spirit Healer
Shapeshifter

Str 18
Dex 19
Will 47
Mag 87
Cun 28
Con 22

Gear:
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Staff_of_the_Lost (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Staff_of_the_Lost)
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Elementalist's_Grasp_(Awakening) (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Elementalist's_Grasp_(Awakening))
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Spellminder (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Spellminder)
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Fadewalker (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Fadewalker)
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Cinch_of_Skillful_Maneuvering_(Awakening) (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Cinch_of_Skillful_Maneuvering_(Awakening))
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Nature's_Blessing (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Nature's_Blessing)
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Morrigan's_Ring (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Morrigan's_Ring)
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Soulbound (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Soulbound)

Kills: 3,814 including 1,455 Darkspawn or 38% of all kills. Damn. Probably not totally accurate though given the wonkiness of save transfers.

Which goes to my main criticism of David Gaider's world: too few bad guys and not enough variation in plots. I have mentioned this before but this is something they have to address in the sequels. Only so many Demons and Darkspawn I can face.

Time played:178 hours :bleeding: but I have to stop and go spend time with my kids a lot and I have left it on all night at least twice  :blush:

But still that is one damn long game.

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So now Dragon Age II.

I know about as much about Dragon Age II as the Dalish do about ancient Arlathan.

What I do know:
It involves a guy or girl named Hawke

It takes place in one city and over a long period of time. I really like this, I have always wanted to play a game like this. I love RPG cities and one they can really develop and time can pass and you can see the outcomes of your choices sounds amazing.

It reuses lots of maps, but that is not a problem if they are all the same location. If they reuse the same maps for different places then BOOOO.

It has a different engine more geared to consoles much to the gnashing of teeth and rending of cloth fury of the PC RPG community.

It was released in early 2011. Ok this blows my mind. When was this game developed? Origins was released in late 2009 and Awakenings came out just one year before Dragon Age 2. And it is not like this is just a plug in type thing, they made a whole new engine. It took them five years to make Origins how did they make a whole sequel in such a short time?

That is about it and I have done my darndest to remain as ignorant as possible. Well I also got screwed over big-time by the overpriced DLC. So I guess I know Marks of Assassins, Exiled Princes, Legacies, and Dark Emporiums are involved somehow. I do know that they all take place inside the main game, and I hope they are better integrated than the in campaign DLC of Origins.

Oh and here is the canvas from Dragon Age Keep:

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Three acts eh?

The first act will involve mages and Templars. There will be lots of exposition and sometime during it there will be an inciting incident. The hero's attempt to deal with it will lead to a dramatic situation that will be a turning point.

The second act will involve a dead horned thing...possibly an Ogre of some sort. One who can use swords. This will be a period of rising action when the hero attempts to resolve the problems created by the turning point. To do this the hero will have to become greater than he was and undergo a character arc.

In the third act the Elf who stole Christmas's heart will grow three sizes. This act will feature a resolution to the story and its subplots and will involve a climax where the hero's challenges are overcome.

Ok I probably took that joke too far. But Aristotle would be proud.

Anyway so it begins.

Just wanted to pop in quickly and say I'm thoroughly enjoying this.  I played DA:O and a few of the DLCs back when they first hit.  I haven't played 2 or 3 yet though.  It's brought back a lot of good memories. :)

Quote from: Benedict Arnold on May 19, 2015, 05:07:28 PM
Just wanted to pop in quickly and say I'm thoroughly enjoying this.  I played DA:O and a few of the DLCs back when they first hit.  I haven't played 2 or 3 yet though.  It's brought back a lot of good memories. :)

Thanks I am glad you are enjoying it :)

If you have not played 2 or 3 yet you might want to bail on this now though. This is going to be extremely spoilerific. Unless you don't care about that kind of thing.

Ok so our story starts with a dwarf prisoner being carried by two men with a mysterious eye on their chests:

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'A dwarf with no beard? GUILTY!'

The eye symbol was mentioned in a book in the Circle Tower in Witch Hunt. There was a picture of men with an eye symbol defeating the Imperium.

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Ok I may be projecting a bit. But that is clearly the same symbol.

The dwarf gets tossed in a chair and his inquisitor comes out of the shadows like a cop drama.

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'And WOW :wub: Cassandra of the Seekers can take me in for questioning anytime. So pretty. So dominant. What a hot accent :wub:'

Wait what? Oh right the game. Anyway Cassandra belongs to a Chantry organization called the Seekers which also were mentioned in the Circle Tower Library. They are the secret agents of the Chantry. I guess if the Templars are the...erm...Templars the Seekers are kind of like the Jesuits. Or rather what paranoid people think the Jesuits are. I think.

She is interested in the 'Champion' and his role in some crisis currently engulfing the Chantry and is asking the beardless dwarf about it. So he starts to talk about it.

Then we see Urien Hawke and a lady mage in a field getting assaulted by shittons of Hurlocks. At least really bad looking Hurlocks.

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'Why do you look so much worse? And not in a good way.'

I blame consolitis  :P

Anyway Urien starts hilariously annihilating these things by the bushel. It was crazy. I was like 'what the hell is this?'

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'I AM A GOD OF WAR!!11'

Then the Archdemon swooped down and shit got real.

Then we cut to Cassandra teling the dwarf he is full of shit and he admits it and starts the story over again. So wait am I actually playing what really happened or whatever this dwarf is telling Cassandra? Mind blown.

Now we import Lorcan:

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'Yes that looks good...but where is the lunch I fed the prisoner at Ostagar?'

Speaking of Ostagar Urien Hawke and his younger brother were members of King Cailan's Army and somehow escaped the battle. Bloody deserters. They rushed back to Lothering, where they are from, to get their sister and mother. Dad died a few years before. Dad was and sister Bethany is an apostate mage. Naturally the easy going Templars never got around to taking them to the circle.

Anyway here is Urien Hawke:

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'Why does he have that weird red tattoo thing across his face? Got drunk one night in Denerim?'

The Hawke family is fleeing for their lives as Urien and little brother get there just as the horde does. I swear I do not get the timing around Lothering. How did Lorcan recover from his wounds and walk all the way up the road, do all that stuff in Lothering, and somehow leave before two guys who fled directly from the battle even get there? I have mentioned the weird things around Lothering and the timeline before that came up in DA:O. Eh probably best not to think about it.

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'Family Photo time!'

Pictured is mother dear, Urien, Bethany, and her twin Carver. Urien is going to be built to hit things really hard with really big swords. And Carver is as well so far. Going to have to fix that. Not pictured is Urien's mabari hound who works like a ranger pet (I cannot control grrrrr) and not like Barkspawn did in DA:O. At least I don't have to leave him behind.

The group fights through tons of Hurlocks. Huh. Darkspawn used to have more variety. They come across a very injured Templar named Ser Wesley and his wife the very buff Aveline. He immediately notices Bethany is an apostate and...is cool with it. Granted the circumstances are pretty desperate and we did just save his life.

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'A dread APOSTATE!! So...how are you doing?'

The Templars are basically the gestapo if the gestapo was a bunch of tender hearted blind guys.

Aveline is a tank! Hurrah! Wait we have three warriors, a mage, and no rogues? GODDAMN IT! Bioware is doing this to me again. I bet if I am a rogue for Inquisition the first companions will be two other rogues. And of course there is a locked chest to MOCK me with.

With determination and zeal the group battles south to reach the point where super Urien was slaughtering darkspawn by the bushel in the dwarf's joke version earlier. An Ogre runs directly towards mom and Carver heroically blocks its path.

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'Oh shit'

Carver gets his head bashed in and a giant battle starts. Seriously this game has some crazy hard fights in the prologue. I guess that solves the problem of he and Urien being built similarly as warriors.

Holy cow we had Hurlocks charging in from every direction plus an Ogre. Remember an Ogre was the final boss of Ostagar and that a great deal of ways into Origins.

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'So...many...Darkspawn'

I feel like I killed another 1,455 of them already.

Once the fight is over the family mourns the heroic little brother Carver. Wesley has a prayer for the son of the apostate.

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'Amen Ser Wesley'

The Darkspawn have little regard for the dead and take the opportunity to swarm us. Then the archdemon shows up just like the dwarf described. But this was no archdemon.  It was that other Old God: Flemeth! She fries those Darkspawn up good.

At least I think it is her she got a major make-over. Same voice though. What kind of divine power does she need to get her hair to stand up like that?

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'Yes...yes you are'

Flemeth tells Aveline that her hubby, Ser Wesley, has darkspawn disease and will turn into a ghoul soon. So Aveline does the mercy killing.

Man what a hardcore start. In so many ways.

Mother had told them that she was originally from the City of Kirkwall in the Free Marches. So they want to go there as refugees. It seems the Templars are very powerful there and since we have an apostate mage that might seem like a bad idea...but we know that won't be too much trouble. Flemeth helps them to Gwaren where they catch a ship. Flemeth seems very interested that all heroes survive the Blight. In exchange she gives them an amulet to give a local Dalish Clan. Probably totally harmless and nothing ominous about that at all.

If anybody does not remember Gwaren that was Loghain's fief before he became a Grey Warden.

Our heroes take two weeks to reach Kirkwall.

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'Welcome to steerage! Shouldn't we all be dancing and singing?'

We reach the city and mother tells us to seek out her brother Gamlen.

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'Wait Amell? As in...Lorcan Amell?'

Mother is an Amell?

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'Leandra Amell? So...my heroes are like Cousins or something?'

Weird nobody ever said anything about Lorcan having any connection to Kirkwall and he never mentioned anything about having family in Lothering. Maybe they are distant relations or maybe being a circle mage Lorcan just didn't know anything about his family of apostates. Man I am now even more bummed about Cousin/Brother Carver dying so heroically. You will be avenged Carver. Oh wait you already were. And it seems the Amells are a famous noble family in Kirkwall and have an estate and everything. So that is nice.

Anyway just like Amaranthine, and everywhere else people flee the darkspawn, the authorities at Kirkwall are being real jerks to the refugees. It does seem there is a nobleman, a count I think, who supposedly rules the city but the Templar commander Meredith is the real power. Talk about abusing boundaries there. After another pretty hard fight Urien helps protect the corrupt guardsmen from some pretty pissed off mercenaries. Instead of just letting the Amell-Hawkes in he goes and fetches Uncle Gamlen for us. Pfft some thanks for saving your life.

Uncle Gamlen is a bit of a loser.

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'To settle gambling debts amiright? So much for the rich uncle.'

But there is one positive to him being a lowlife deadbeat. He knows lots of criminal types who promise to help them get into the city. Urien and company can choose between a bunch of bloodthirsty mercenaries or a criminal gang of smugglers. Let's just say our skill set tends more to the bloodthirsty side so we decided on the mercs.

For our first mission he wants us to murder somebody, a guy who double-crossed them and is trying to escape Kirkwall with his ill-gotten booty. Great. What the Mercs didn't tell us is the guy had his own private army because this was one bitch of a fight.

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'We have a very particular set of skills.'

With that the Mercs bribe who needs bribing and in exchange we have to engage in a year of doing their dirty work. It is mostly because they want Bethany since it seems every other group of mercenaries or brigands in Thedas has their own apostate mage.

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'Our new home.'

Kirkwall was a major slave center in the old Tevinter Imperium so it looks all ominous and has huge bronze statues of oppression and despair everywhere. It is quite charming in the Spring.

Oh right forgot.

Stuff I did:

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Urien is going to be the required funny British guy now that we don't have Alistair, Finn, or Anders around anymore. We sided with the mercenaries.

To avoid spoilers I am not going to enter anything into Act 1 into Dragon Age Keep until I am actually done with Act 1. I am not going to enter anything in about the companions until I actually finish the game.

I am still kind of blown away that I am still basically playing the Amell family. Wild. Now I get to learn all about Lorcan's relatives.

The ongoing tale of the Amell family continues.

So a year of servitude to blood thirsty and ferocious mercenaries goes by. In that time a ship of Qunari are stranded in Kirkwall randomly and the Templars secure their grip on power under Meredith.

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'Hero of Ferelden? Damn it I thought he leveled up to savior of Ferelden. I told you these save transfers were wonky.'

Anyway at the end of their indenture Urien and his beloved sister Bethany are trying to join an expedition to the deep roads in a bid to return the family to prominence. But the dwarf running it tells them to shove off. Then a pick pocket grabs Urien's coin purse and runs off with it. Then a very silly thing occurs.

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'The penalty for pickpockets is DEATH!!11'

Only it isn't. The beardless dwarf the lovely Cassie was questioning...

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'Oh don't call you that?'

I mean Cassandra the Seeker...ahem. (:wub:) Anyway he somehow whipped out his fancy repeating crossbow and pinned the running pickpocket to a stone wall by his shirt. Not kidding. I mean...please. His name is Varric and he retrieves Urien's coinpurse. Then says he was so impressed with all the great work Bethany and Urien did that he wants to bring them in as partners in he and his brothers expedition. Despite being dwarves they seem to lack both funds and a good plan for this expedition. I hope they know what they are doing.

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'Bilbo Baggins at yours'

It seems the dwarves have their own section of Kirkwall complete with giant dwarven statues.

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'Enchantment!'

Huh. I guess before going to the Tower of Magi in Ferelden Sandal stopped off in Kirkwall. Actually it makes no sense for them to come here but it is nice to see a familiar face...not that Urien would find them familiar.

So with their new rogue beardless dwarf business partner they set out to raise the 50 gold necessary to fund the expedition. Urien, Bethany, Varric, and Aveline would be a great party actually. Tank, rogue, mage, and heavy hitter all covered. Aveline is now a guard in the Viscount's palace. Yes the ruler is a viscount which is a weird title for a sovereign lord but hey this is the weird Free Marches Confederation.

The first place they stop is in the fancy whore house. For reasons. And of course Uncle Gamlen is here blowing all of their money.

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Next the Chantry where they see a commotion outside. One of the Holy Brothers is trying to hire assassins to avenge his family. His name is Sebastian Vael and he is a Prince of Starkhaven. Or was. His entire dynasty was massacred in a coup and he is last of the Vaels. A Prince eh? Sounds like a job for toughs in need of money.

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'I will kill them all with my piercing blue eyes'

The clerics are appalled he is going back on his vows to forsake all worldly concerns. I hope he has enough worldly goods to reward Urien and company with. Besides is it really that big a crime to kill the murderers of the King(?) of Starkhaven?

Then a quick stop by the Viscount's palace to pick up our old friend.

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'MY TANK!'

Aveline should be the hero of this game. She is buff and tough and has a tragic story of having to mercy kill her own beloved. She has a job for Urien and company to do to help build up their reputation. And she says she pretty much spends all her off hours helping Urien and company out. She is just so badass that being a hero is her hobby.

After that they move on to lowtown. There are two places to go here. First to visit the Gamlen's house where the Amells are now living in squalor. And next to go to the tavern where Varric wants to fill Urien in on his plans.

We first go to Chez Amell and Gamlen is laying into Leandra for abandoning the family.

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'Don't worry mom it build character to work for a living.'

This promotes a discussion of the sad state of the Amell family. This includes a mention of its most illustrious member.

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'Seriously? Not even Lorcan's own family can call him by his name?'

Wait Revka is his father? That kind of sounds like a woman's name. So are both his father and mother Amells? I guess I don't feel too embarrassed about failing to make him look entirely non-inbred. But then this is a noble dynasty after all. And Lorcan's....erm...parent is the first cousin to Leandra so that means he is Urien's second cousin and they share common great-grandparents. All glory to House Amell!

Leandra is upset that her parents died hating her for refusing the rich Orlesian Comte she was supposed to marry and instead bringing shame upon the family by running off with an apostate mage. She wants to see the will and be confirmed she and her children were disowned. Gamlen mysteriously and conveniently left it at the estate...and it seems he sold it to freaking slave traders. At least the estate is being put to its original use, this being the former slave capital of the Tevinter Imperium.

Bethany and Urien scheme to break into the basement of the old estate and get the will.

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'Slavers? Well at least they will be less sketchy to rob and possibly murder than if he sold it to the Jones family.'

By the way Bioware went a little too crazy with the promotional items...either that or Uncle Gamlen has actually been spending the family fortune equipping an army.

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'Sweet sweet promotional gear'

Ok you see that statue 'Momento of the Mark of the Assassin'? There is another one for Legacy and that is actually how you play the DLCs. By selecting those statues. Lame. Super lame. Even worse than how they did this in Origins. I guess I will do Mark of the Assassin in Act 2 and Legacy in Act 3 since it seems more important. I will try to find some logical place in the story to do so.

So next they go to the bar and Varric explains a little hole in the expedition scheme. It seems they have no way into the Deep Roads. Man this thing sounds like a clusterfuck.

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'It's Oghren again isn't it?'

'Hey I abandoned my family again! Time to get drunk!'

Ok not really besides it has only been about 13 months since Ostagar. Oghren is either with Felsi or in Vigil Keep. I am a little creeped out by Varric's open shirt, hairy chest, and gold chain. Is he a New Jersey dwarf?

They explore the rest of the lower city getting into various hijinks (like the Ashes of Andraste are pretty famous now so they bust a bunch of people selling phony ashes). Then they move on to the docks where they see the Qunari looking all 'the Qun judges you inferior' at them.

They also run into a dwarf noble being attacked by Carta thugs. After helping him...well guess who it is?

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'Yeah funny story, my family is possibly partially responsible for King Bhelen being on the throne. Small world eh? Wait...stop....AAAAUGH'

Yes this is Lord Renvil Harrowmont, the last of House Harrowmont, and evil King Bhelen is out to kill him. Well one cannot say Bhelen is not a diligent king. Urien and company drive off the Carta and enable Renvil to escape.

Ok so there is a shop that doubles as a charity for Ferelden refugees. The Fereldens are stuck in limbo. The Blight has been defeated but they cannot return home since they have no money and make up a detested underclass in Kirkwall. Ship captains are rumored to toss any Ferelden stowaways into the sea. Ferelden needs these people so maybe King Alistair and Queen Anora should get on that at some point. The Fereldens clearly know who their savior is.

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'If only the Tsar knew!'

Well hope you do the right thing Alistair. So Urien goes to this store and inquires about the Grey Warden. After a bit of cajoling, and assurances we would not turn him into the Templars, the proprietor tells Urien who he is and where he could be found.

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'Anders? FUUUUCK'

Anders? How? What? But....wait....

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This was written a mere year before DA2 was released, how could they write this when they clearly must have know about this plot in DA2?  Did they intentionally write a misleading epilogue to maximize the surprise? Yes he does leave the Wardens for a few weeks but that is supposed to be years after he is hailed as hero of Vigil Keep. At one year after Ostagar we should barely be started with Awakenings. Time is clearly run by magic or something. And furthermore there cannot be two British funny guys in one party. What is this? 'Dragon Age' or 'A bit of Hawke and Anders'? Thanks a lot David Gaider.

Anyway Urien is happily unaware the nerd rage consuming the person controlling him so heads over to the slums to meet this Anders. I will talk a bit more about the aesthetics of Kirkwall in a second but the slums are in the old mines are I think are pretty excellent. Very gritty. So we find Anders' place and he is healing the children all Jesus like. So I guess that is interesting, glad to see him doing something selfless. Maybe this will not be so bad.

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'Anders is an abomination? How...totally expected'

So he is possessed by a fade spirit. Huh. It couldn't be...THAT fade spirit could it? That would contradict the Awakenings epilogue but I think those are just meant to annoy the players and not actually tell them anything about the story  :P

Next I will find out Vigil Keep fell after all and all Lorcan's preparations were in vain.

At first he even talks just like an abomination, with two voices. But nobody seems to notice. Anders fully take over his body and talks to Urien. Urien asks him if he is a Grey Warden and Anders wonders if Urien is there to make him go back and do his duty. Then he says:

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'GAAAAAH! FUCK YOU ANDERS'

Seriously. The Wardens gifted him that stupid cat. And calling them bastards? They saved your ass twice and gave you a chance you fucking asshole. I knew Anders would do this crap he is such a whiny bitch. Eventually he would see the Grey Wardens as oppressors and bail on them to. Further that does not even make sense. The Grey Wardens would force the great hero of Vigil Keep give up his cat? Sure. That makes alot of sense. Though granted I guess that might not have happened.

So I guess kind of like Oghren in Awakenings. Only at least he didn't refer to the Warden from DA:O as a bastard.

Anyway with the caveat that Anders is incredibly nauseatingly loathsome, he does seem a bit more mature this time. Of course that could just be the fade spirit possessing him. He is in Kirkwall to help a Circle Mage from Feredlen who got transferred to Kirkwall and Meredith is running the Circle here like Alcatraz. But my bullshit meter kind of went off when Anders insisted she is making mages become tranquil for minor offenses. Um mages who have passed the Harrowing cannot become tranquil according to Chantry law. Tranquility is not a sentence for crimes. Is Meredith just ignoring Chantry laws? Is she that out of control or is Anders a liar? Guess we will find out. We are to meet him in the Chantry at night to help him break this mage out of Kirkwall. If we do that he will give us access to Grey Warden knowledge about local Deep Roads entrances that he happens to have...for some reason.

Oh and Anders insists that the Chantry is worried about mages ruling over people but says he has never met a mage who wanted to do that. The Baroness? The woman who drank the blood of peasant children and destroyed an entire community? The one Anders wanted to side with? The one who was going to rule the world once she escaped the fade? Man this guy...

With that done Urien and company break into the Amell estate to retake the ancestral home of he and Lorcan. I was kind of hoping just to slip in and slip out but instead it becomes the Great Kirkwall Slaver Massacre of 9:31 Dragon. Nobody will ever suspect the heavily armed people with an obvious motive of it.

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'Actually Slave master you are absolutely right. If you had just slit Gamlen's throat we would not be here. Not killing our uncle is something many people regret.'

Urien and Bethany reach the Amell Vault and retrieve the will. Shockingly Gamlen was a dirty lying bastard.

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'I hope all those whores he bought enjoyed our birthright'

Mother says she is going to take this will to the Viscount and hope he restores the Amell estates to them. Bethany and Urien have a moment and realize this misadventure has connected them to their ancestral home and declare their mission to restore the family fortune. Bethany friendship goes to full. Urien and his sister forever! She is sad she and daddy Hawke's being apostates are the primary reason for all these calamities that have befallen the family (though Uncle Gamlen being a horrible human being was a far more significant factor).

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'Damn straight. The Ferelden Circle is a factory for heroes.'

So strengthened with purpose and mission our heroes journey onwards.

You know they never did bother to take that amulet to the Dalish like Flemeth asked. Maybe they should do that? I don't want Flemeth after both my heroes.

Ok now Kirkwall is fantastic. It reminds me of that city in Skyrim that was built in Dwemer Ruins, Markarth. It is built on a giant stone Imperium city. It is monumental and glorious with gritty poor areas and a fantastic high town. Just great. And it has plenty of areas to explore:

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'The city of Chains. The suffering slave décor is all the rage'

And in addition to this you can explore the same zones at night AND there are areas in the surrounding countryside. And I get three different time periods to do this in. Really RPG city heaven. I am giddy. Enjoying this game so far, just have to survive the contrivances and the plot holes.

Every time I see this thread on top from the main page, I keep thinking Valmy needs to get his pet dragon some Ritalin.  :P

Quote from: Tonitrus on May 20, 2015, 10:31:26 PM
Every time I see this thread on top from the main page, I keep thinking Valmy needs to get his pet dragon some Ritalin.  :P

I was just riffing on Ed's short attention span theatre :P

Quote from: Valmy on May 07, 2015, 11:06:43 AM
Also it all looks like it takes place during the main game (no expansion or post-game DLC for DA2? Weird) so has that danger of feeling tacked on like the DA:O in campaign DLC.

the post game DLC was cancelled due to negative reactions to the base game.  I figure the DLCs did not sell as expected either, despite how good they were.

Quote from: Syt on May 07, 2015, 02:34:14 PM

Quote from: Queequeg on May 07, 2015, 02:24:14 PM
Wow, whoever did the score for that totally lifted one of the best motifs from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I'm sure it's a coincidence. There's never any references between Lucasfilm properties.

oh, irony!  I like!  :P

Quote from: Valmy on May 07, 2015, 08:22:22 PM
Also I decide to send out soldiers to help the peasants with my thinking be if the Darkspawn attack the city or the keep the walls will give us time to counter-attack. Eh probably doesn't work that way but I had little else to go on.

[spoiler]
If you protect trade routes, you get more&better items in the store
If you protect the countryside, you will make less chance encounters with Darkspawn
If you protect Amaranthine, it won't be destroyed in the end[/spoiler]

Quote from: Valmy on May 09, 2015, 09:31:01 PM
Valmy's Dragon Age theories:

I think the 'mother' is Maric's Grey Warden companion who teamed up with him. I think she got turned into a broodmother and is now the Architect's rival.

Answeres, if you change your mind:
[spoiler]
No.
[/Spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Quote[spoiler]The tribes the Darkspawn have split up in are his and her supporters. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]

Yes.
[/Spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Quote[spoiler]2. I think Flemeth is an Old God and the dragon form you fight her in is actually her real form. And she uses her daughters to hop from body to body like the corrupted Old Gods, The Archdemons, do with the Darkspawn. And she sent Morrigan to save her erm...brother Old God from the Darkspawn. And that is why she knew the spell that enabled the soul to be collected in the Dark Ritual.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]

Close, very, very, very close.  More explanations in #2, more questions in #3 ;)
[/Spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Quote[spoiler]All we need to make this a mini DA:O is to defend Amaranthine from hordes of demon possessed corpses. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]
:)

[/spoiler]

Quote[spoiler]
She looks sort of like a dwarf. She does talk but maybe getting turned into a Darkspawn gives you your tongue back. Or maybe I just dead wrong with my theory :P
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]
Darkspawn retain a portion of the hosts DNA, I think, sort of like the Reapers of Mass Effect.  That's why there are different looking groups.

[/spoiler]

Well I know those NOW. Well except the Flemeth one. Like hell I am clicking on that spoiler  :lol:

Quote from: Valmy on May 21, 2015, 05:58:13 PM
Well I know those NOW. Well except the Flemeth one. Like hell I am clicking on that spoiler  :lol:

it's tempting you, click it! click it! :P

About this:
I find that hard to believe since there is a chance this child may not even exist if you did not do the ritual.
IIRC, if you don't do it, another Grey Warden may do it, or if not, she leaves and you never see her again and I think she managed to get pregnant somehow, somewhere, anyway.  Not too sure, I'd have to replay DA:I with variations in the keep.

Quote from: viper37 on May 21, 2015, 05:04:22 PM
the post game DLC was cancelled due to negative reactions to the base game.  I figure the DLCs did not sell as expected either, despite how good they were.

The irrational nerd rage was intense with that title as I recall. Oh well. I should just be glad they made a third one.

Ok wow so a lot happened. Yet not a lot happened. Dragon Age 2, at least so far, does not have a big over-arching narrative that makes for easy AARs but it does have tons and tons of fairly interesting minor quests. So I will do my best to not let this be a monstrously long entry.

Ok so Kirkwall, despite being known as the 'City of Chains' and featuring charming suffering slave art, is a fairly unpleasant place. The Viscount seems like a decent guy but seemingly every single institution in this place is rotten. Well except maybe the whore house, that seems legit. Anyway.

So just to demonstrate this Urien gets approached by a city Magistrate to capture a notorious criminal hiding out in some old ruins outside of town.

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'It is standard procedure to hire notorious mercenaries in this case. Here we do things by the book. Which book I have no idea'

So we go and find the guy to discover he is a murderer who kidnaps elven children and murders them, because he thinks they are pretty and then kills them for the dark feelings that come up inside of him. He claims he is possessed by demons, but he is no mage just a fucked up person. He has fled to a demon infested ruin and begs Urien to kill him. But the fucked up part is his father is the Magistrate and he keeps letting him go and allowing him to continue his crimes. So Urien complies with his request and kills him. Then the Magistrate is furious and vows revenge.

Urien has learned a lesson: in similar situations best to just kill the guy and lie that he escaped. I guess he is now a hero to the City Elves, for all the good that does him.

But then things get really weird.

So Urien got a job through the Red Iron Mercenaries, his former...erm...indenture holders I guess, to help a dwarf merchant recover a cargo of Lyrium. But the whole thing was a hoax. The group finds the "cargo" in the alienage and then gets ambushed by a bunch of Tevinter slave traders?! It turns out they are after an escaped elf slave, a bizarre magical warrior named Fenris who is kind of the anti-Anders. Having been a slave to mages in a magical society he has little of the bizarre Rousseauian idealism that Anders has towards the mages. Rather he is more Hobbesian and fears allowing mages to be freed from Leviathan.

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'So...what anime did you steal your hair from?'

So he says he is going to break into his masters estate in Hightown and murder him before he can skip town. Well that sounds legit so Urien goes along. They hack through tons of fade monsters the Tevinter Magister summoned to meet us there. Only to find that his master had already slipped out. Well he is a mage so maybe he used the flu network. And it seems because the laws of the wild west run Kirkwall if you break into somebody's house and kill them you just get to keep their house, so Fenris moves in and promises to help Urien from now on. We go from assassin to vengeful human murderer to psychotic mage-hater. I think there is a rule that as we go through each game the elves just keep getting more dangerous. Oh and Fenris has Lyrium tattoos etched into his skin that give him magical powers. This means he will be a slightly different warrior than Urien even though they are both two handed scrappers.

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'Don't feel bad. Bethany has been casting spells in front of people for over a year and you are the first one to notice.'

Seriously though. It is not like we have to keep Bethany in a secret compartment in our hovel like some secret English Catholics hiding illicit priests. She literally will cast spells right in front of fanatical Templars and they will not bat an eye. Then this guy comments on it. Ok if you are going to have story/gameplay segregation at least be clear on the rules. I bet this is even more bizarre if Hawke is a mage.

In any case we have probably not seen the end of the Tevinter Magister and his attempt to recapture Fenris. Watch this space and so forth.

Next Urien meets up with Anders outside of the Chantry. This being one of his plans I think we know what to expect.

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'LOLZ'

So we go in meet Karl and his has indeed, against all tradition and Chantry law, been made tranquil. And he has led the Templars here. Way to go Anders. Then the fade spirit takes control.

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'Wait....this is a spirit right? Because it is not acting like a spirit'

So we, like the when Lorcan helped Anders, ended up hacking through nutty Templars. Once we win the presence of the fade spirit somehow restores the tranquil for a bit and he asks Anders to kill him and Anders complies. We get back to Anders' underground lair and he explains that he is possessed by Justice from Awakenings. And that is only the beginning. Anders insists that Justice needed a body to possess once Kristof's body decayed.

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'Um no you didn't'

It was Nathaniel who offered to help Justice like this not Anders. Awakenings Anders wouldn't have helped anybody. Then Anders says he and Justice were going to team up to save children from being torn from their parents and being sent to the Circle. Arl Eamon will tell you that is a great plan. Only that didn't happen at all. Justice offered to help Anders free the mages and Anders told him to fuck off. Anders had no problem with babies being harvested by blood mages in Awakenings so where did this 'OMG thing of the children!' stuff come from? Anders and Justice were never friends or really friendly. This just makes no sense, again Awakenings came out only a year before DA2 so surely all the writing and plot for DA2 was already done. They couldn't have set this up like...at all? Anders went right from charming funny selfish jerk guy to selfless angry freedom fighter guy? Just...headdesk. At least this development insures Urien will be the only British funny guy in the party.

Which brings me to the worst part. Ok so Justice went into Anders and got corrupted by his firey rage and is now a demon on vengeance who can possess him at moments when he gets angry. Essentially I have a mage Incredible Hulk on my team now. He is likely to go crazy and blow up the city at any moment. And given how unhinged and off the reservation the Templars that is almost certain. I am almost fascinated to see the trainwreck unfold.

There is a rule in Dragon Age where Isabela must be introduced beating up people in seedy establishments.

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'I may seem like an invincible force for destruction now but once I am actually in your party I will just be a normal rogue'

Isabela wants Urien's help as her second dueling some guy named Hayder outside the Chantry. I am sure we are just going to be standing there marking off their ten paces.

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'Yes and it seems you got a new tailor since then. I approve.'

So we go to the Chantry at night for this gentlemanly duel and instead a large group of mercenaries swoops down to kill Isabela instead. Quel scandal! So after winning that fight they find Hayder inside the Chantry (man not even a priestess keeping a vigil or something? You can just walk into the Chantry and do whatever at night? Ah well) and he reveals Isabela released a bunch of slaves so got her ship destroyed in retribution. Also a valuable relic is lost. So her former employer is trying to kill her. I really know how to pick excellent party members. So after taking care of Hayder Isabela joins my merry crew. She needs to find a 'relic' she lost to get to him so he will stop trying to kill her. Well ok then that sounds like a lot to go on, Urien will keep his eyes open for a 'relic' of some sort. She then hires Urien to help out a friend of hers.

We do help Isabela's friend and after great danger find his missing cargo at the docks and it turns out the cargo was explosives. He insists it is all legit. Who is his employer? The Orlesian military? On the positive side it seems he sells and makes poisons which would be something nice for Isabela to use being a dual-wielding backstabbing type.

Ok then there was a case of an Orlesians missing wife. Let me just say they were not on good terms but he wants me to find her to clear his name of murder. The Templar Emeric, the guy who had captured Jowan and Arl Howe had locked up in Origins, is also looking for her and gives me a tip to talk to her elf boytoy in the brothel. This eventually leads Urien to finding a lair of abominations and demons and her remains along with her wedding ring. Obviously used for blood magic. Charming. So they take her body to Emeric for proper burial and the ring back to her husband. When he finds out she was dead he refuses the ring not wanting to be under suspicion. It was nice to see Emeric has recovered from his ordeal and is out and about again. There is also another Origins related quests. They uncovered an anti-Amaranthine conspiracy related to Amaranthine's growing power after being saved by Lorcan. Man they rebuilt faster than I thought.

Sorry I am probably not telling this very well. This part is really heavy on sub-plots. I keep being pulled in so many different directions.

So let's talk about going outside the city. Ok one of the many things Urien is into is searching for missing Templar recruits. So they do that on the way to the Dalish Elves (to return Flemeth's amulet...remember that?). They track the Templar to a road outside the city but it seems the Knight-Captain of the Templars has found him already. And it is Cullen, that young knight tortured and made unstable by Udred's attempted coup in the Circle Tower in Origins. I guess becoming mentally unfit to do your job means transfer to Kirkwall and rapid promotion. Then something impossible happens...

The Templar fugitive is an abomination and summons demons. They put them down then Cullen says what I was thinking.

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'Indeed...how is that possible?'

So was this Templar recruit a mage? More on this quest later. But I guess between Emeric and Cullen Ferelden has a policy of sending all their Lyrium addicted traumatized Templars to Kirkwall. That explains so much.

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'So glad this guy is in charge'

For being a militant paranoid guy Cullen didn't seem to notice Bethany casting all those spells a second ago.

So anyway on to the Dalish elves. They have gotten more...celtic than before. They now sport Welsh accents. I guess that makes some sense, it was weird they and the dwarves had the same accent. It is the exact same Dalish clan as the one from the Dalish Elf Origin in DA:O. Probably not a coincidence. The Keeper tells them to join up with Merrill, also from the Dalish Elf Origin, and take the amulet to the top of the mountain.

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'She paints with all the colors of the winds'

The Elves call Flemeth Asha'bellanar. Ok so there are demons all the way up this mountain. Why is not really explained. Merrill is going to go with us after we perform the ritual. We find out why from the disdain her fellow Dalish hold for her. Though to be fair the Dalish can be a little touchy. During another quest later on they find one of the human werewolves Lorcan saved back in Origins. It seems the Dalish are tracking them all down and murdering them for the terrible crime of being cursed by their own keeper. Even questioning this rather unreasonably bloodthirsty policy was a death sentence.

But the reason the elves want to banish Merrill is probably because she is a blood mage. My group is going to have a blood mage and an abomination? It is like mage bingo. Or maybe that is not the reason. Merrill mentions that she is going to save her clan from something. So probably more backstory there.

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'LOL she'll be fine. The only person who notices mages casting spells is Fenris.'

So they get to the altar on the mountain and Merrill does a ritual and BOOM Flemeth appears. She notice 'Merrill' is one of the 'people' and asks if she knows who Flemeth is. Um...so...is Flemeth connected to the elves in some way? Are the Old Gods also Elf Gods? Merrill does not know since she is Dalish and doesn't know anything. Anyway hilariously enough Urien revives Flemeth after Lorcan kills her. Funny.

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'Well played Witch, well played.'

She kind of says what Morrigan said at the end of Witch Hunt. Huge changes are about to hit the world. But she says Urien is going to be the one who gets it started and he has her sympathy. Huh I guess things are going to go well for our hero. Then she turns back into her normal dragon Old God shape and flies away. They journey up to the top of the mountain and fight a bunch more demons, including a revenant. The fact that Merrill is immortal, not having officially joined the party yet, really helped. All they found was a barrier force field covering a cave. Meh.

So Merrill moves to the Alienage. She is quite the bookish nerd who is awkward among people. Just a sweet little mousey kind of Blood Mage.

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'She just moved here and her house is already nicer than mine.'

In addition to this we help Aveline with the bandits and take out the assassins who murdered Sebastian's family. He is grateful and goes off to get Viscount help gaining back the throne of Starkhaven. Yeah that is not going to go anywhere. The Guard Captain is furious at Aveline for...doing her job or something. Urien and Aveline find out that it is because the Guard Captain is corrupt and is sending solitary guards laden with valuables to get ambushed by these guys. So they will have to deal with that.

Cullen told them that the missing Templar recruits were seen visiting the brothel but he was getting no where being the militant bore that he is. So Urien went and found the prostitute in question who used blood magic to control his mind and she nearly made him slit his own throat before Bethany saved him. The prostitute was turned in to the Templars and she informed him there is a cabal of Blood Mages trying to restore mage rule over the entire world hiding in the city. Which is weird because Anders said no mage would ever want to rule over anybody. So we need to track them down.

And then there are tons of other things going on. There are so many subplots and subplots to subplots it hurts my head trying to keep track of all of them. I have not even really talked about the Qunari yet, that is a thing. Eventually Urien is going to have to choose between mages and Templars it seems. Both sides are incredibly dangerous and out of control. I sure would prefer to remain neutral. These Templars just flaunt Chantry rules and are clearly driving the mages to insanity with their illegal ways. The Chantry is just sitting by and letting this happen. Abominations and blood mages are committing horrendous crime after horrendous crime.

The government of Kirkwall is thoroughly corrupt and intrigue and backstabbing are everywhere.

Basically this is a lot of fun.

They take the information provided by Abominanders and 50 Sovereigns to Varric's brother and he is delighted. He tells Urien to handle everything he needs to handle in the city before they go since they are going to be gone for weeks if not months. You might be waiting a bit dwarf, Urien has a long to-do list.

I am guessing I have recruited everybody by now:

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From left to right:

Broody guy (Varric to Fenris: Friend, if your brooding were anymore impressive, women would swoon as you passed. They'd have brooding babies in your honor.). He is almost too broody to even be Elfy Nathaniel.

Absurdly sexy sexually liberated pirate woman. A force for stability on my team, which says something about the team.

Funny Dwarf.

Badass warrior who should be the hero instead of Urien

Urien, funny British guy with huge maul. Trying to survive and do the right thing in messy world. And have fun.

Bethany, sweet apostate sister.

Awkward geeky Blood Mage

Horrifying Abomination who will probably murder us all.

Hilarity is sure to ensue. For the glory of House Amell!

One of the leaders of the Qunari, the Arishok to whom Sten was serving in Origins, has been shipwrecked in Kirkwall and isn't going anywhere. He and hundreds of his people have set up shop in a section of Kirkwall and nobody knows what exactly he is doing. Keep in mind this is one of three people who rule the entire Qunari nation so it must be important. Many unscrupulous people see opportunity here. The Qunari are the world leaders in explosives so one enterprising dwarf thinks that if we kill off outlaw Qunari who have abandoned the Qun, called Tal-Vashoth, maybe the Arishok will hand over valuable explosives knowledge.

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'Yes the Qunari are the sort of easy going people to casually sell military technology. Oh and since when did they have horns on their heads?'

Yeah some sort of nuclear fallout in the Qunari homelands has led to some kind of mutation resulting in a dramatic change in their appearance. Of course something similar happened to elfy ears which now look even more clownish having been WOW-ified. No wonder Velanna elected to disappear into the Deep Roads.

The Tal-Vashoth are on the Wounded Coast.

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'*rim-shot*'

While hunting for them they find a dead Grey Warden with some interesting documents.

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'Avernus ethically blood-magics away'

They place the documents in a Grey Warden dead drop later on. Urien gets a letter from the Wardens thanking him for his efforts after that. I guess he sent a return address along with the documents.

While on the wounded coast they have that confrontation with the Dalish Elves trying to kill that former Werewolf I mentioned earlier. It is also here that they find the Viscount's son. Oh wait I never did mention that did I? Well the Viscount's son has run off with one of the Qunari and the Viscount hired a murderous group of mercenaries to rescue him. Urien decides his more subtle approach may get the job done better.

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'Yes I am sure we will have a nice reasonable chat over tea'

Indeed the Winters kill the Qunari, so the Viscount's son refuses to go with them. They are about to take him by force when Urien shows up and tries to cool down everybody. Then the leader of the group recognizes him as a rival and a massive battle ensues. Man that did not go well. However the Viscount's son is grateful and they return him to the palace. The hunt for the Tal-Vashoth will have to take place another day.

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'You don't understand me dad! YOU NEVER WILL!'

I bet the Viscount's son will be grounded for awhile. At least this helps gets Urien known to the powers that be. So now Urien goes after the blood mages trying to take over the world. These blood mages are capturing Templars and forcing demons into them to destroy the Templar Order. They have to use recruits because they lack the usual Templar immunities.

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'These blood mages are so powerful they keep the Veil in a box'

They find the last living Templar recruit, Keran, and the blood mage leaders.

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'You see Anders? You see! Oh wait didn't bring you did I...'

So we rescue Keran and bring him back to Cullen and the Templars. Urien lets him know he may be possessed. Cullen freaks out and wants to boot Keran out of the order but Urien convinces him that would be a terrible idea. Cullen can be reasoned with. To a surprising degree actually considering what he has been through.

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'Almost like the mages should be partners with the Templars...damn Cullen there is some Greagoir in you yet.'

Maybe the Templars are not entirely lost to insanity. Urien files with revelation away for latter use, in his file that reads 'get Meredith removed and Cullen put in her place'. Huh maybe he should get a more ambiguous name for that file.

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'Thanks I live to help my friends the Templars. Pay no attention to the apostate mage over my right shoulder.'

That is their father's staff. When you decide to put a naked woman on top of your magical staff remember your daughter may use it someday.

With the Templars and Viscount becoming aware of their good friend Urien and House Amell it is time to deal with the City Guard. Urien and Aveline save the patrolling guard from the corrupt Guard Captain's bandit friends. The guard, Donnic, is appreciative....very appreciative.

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'Hey I helped to! Am I not also beautiful? Is my beard not impressively fuzzy?'

They find evidence of the Guard Captain's betrayal and bring it to the Viscount. The Guard Captain stoically marches off the prison in disgrace, a tragic figure. Hehe just kidding.

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'At least you are already friends with all the criminals in Kirkwall. Should prevent that awkward 'getting to know everybody' stage when you get to prison.'

Aveline, the greatest hero in Kirkwall, is named to be his replacement. Urien finally gets a flirt line with her and takes it.

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'Thanks I just admire you so much....wait 'friend'? This isn't going to happen is it?'

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'No...no it is not. Donnic you smoothy.'

At least now there is one public official in Kirkwall we can count on.

Have I mentioned the runaway elf-blood yet? No? Ok so in the Alienage a former Dalish woman's human son is a mage and she was protecting him. But he was showing signs of having demons tempting him so she recommended he go the Circle. He ran off. So Ser Trask and Urien are looking for him. Ser Trask is a good man and is very worried he has been captured by slavers or killed and encourages Urien to track him down since as a Templar he will attract too much attention. Urien first goes to the mages' father, an Antivan merchant in Lowtown. He is hesitant to trust them.

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'Bethany is Urien's delegate for sympathy providing'

I mean how could you not trust her? He tells Urien he referred his son to an ex-Templar named Samson. Well Samson turned him over to a guy that sold the boy into slavery. This is all very confusing since I swore only elves could be slaves, even in the Tevinter Imperium. David Gaider really needs to keep his lore straight.

Anyway rescuing mage slaves sounds like a rare something Fenris and Abominanders might both like so Urien brings them along.

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'Humans, elves, Kirkwall government officials...it seems everybody is fair game to the Tevinters.'

The slaver there is named 'Danzig'. Weird. Maybe his parents never got over Danzig becoming a Free City in the Treaty of Versailles. Fenris, Urien's torture delegate, makes him tell them where the Elf-blood boy has been taken using his Lyrium powers. Then they kill all the slavers. Man how many armies of men do the Tevinters have scouring Thedas for slaves? They must be seriously short on labor these days. The slave base is also on the Wounded Coast. It is just the place to be.

Urien and company charge in and take care of the slavers. The mage, Feynriel, was trying to escape to the Dalish instead of be taken to the Circle. The Dalish do something similar with mages, they remove them from their families and put them in the care of the Keeper and the rest of the clan keeps an eye on them and makes sure they do not become abominations. But it is generally much freer and certainly much better than the illegal mismanagement going on in the Kirkwall Circle. Merrill assures him being a mage will not be his problem with the Dalish, his insufficient elfyness will. He seems to do alright though when they visit him later. Besides...

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'One less potential abomination in Kirkwall? I call it a win.'

Now they finally can take care of those Tal-Vashoth.

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'Once you leave the Qun you also leave your clothes behind'

Ok now I think I mentioned they were working for a mine owner whose workers were being attacked in a mine called the Bone Pit outside of town. I didn't? Well ok they are. So after the extermination of the Tal-Vashoth raiders they journey into the Bone Pit and try to find out what was happening to the workers. Well it seems the workers mined into a Dragon lair and are getting slaughtered. Obviously some OSHA regulation irregularities are occurring. Eventually they fight through the baby dragons to find Momma. Here you will see the heroic badassness of Aveline in action.

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'That all you got?'

Once that is done they return to Kirkwall. The mine owner is so impressed he makes Urien part owner and Urien immediately offers the few surviving workers a generous raise to return to work. The owner tells Urien to let him handle the business stuff and Urien can handle the dragon exterminating stuff from now on. Probably wise.

The noble Ser Trask has another job for Urien. A group of Stakhaven mages have escaped and are held up...where else...but the Wounded Coast.

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'The Templar with a heart of gold'

By the way the reason Ser Trask is like that is because his daughter was a mage. She was held by some of the slave traders Urien and company found during the Feynriel quest. She blew herself up as an abomination. Again it seems humans are now slaves in Tevinter. I forgot to mention that earlier there is a lot of stuff going on.

He wants Urien to go in and try to reason with the mages before the more militant Templars show up. Urien goes in and, of course, there are abominations and walking corpses everywhere. Abominanders notes that he hates it when mages do this kind of thing to escape Templars, it just further justifies how mages are treated. Too true. I hope he remembers that before he goes full abomination on Urien and kills them all. One mage has had enough and runs to Ser Trask on his own to return to the circle. They find the blood mage rebel leader inside and he and his likeminded apostates and abominations attack them. After the battle the few remaining mages thank Urien and company and ask us to help them escape. They promise to go another nation where the Templars are not as out of control. That sounds like a good plan.

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'Life is just too boring for Urien'

So with the mages following at a discrete distance Urien heads out to meet the militant Templars. They are all ready to charge in and slaughter the mages, not being satisfied with the one Ser Trask has managed to capture.

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'Fortunately all bullshitting has been delegated to Varric'

The Templars buy it. Urien tells them the leader of the Apostates escaped out the back of the caves and the Templars run off to investigate. The Starkhaven mages escape, hopefully to a more law abiding Circle. Urien is carefully playing on both sides still. The center must hold. Cullen and Trask seem like Templars who can be reasoned with.

With that done It is time for Urien to meet up with the dwarf merchant who wanted him to slaughter the Tal-Vashoth.  They are to meet the Arishok to tell him the Tal-Vashoth are taken care of and ask would he please turn over vital military secrets in their place. Oddly Isabela chickens out and runs off before they enter the compound. Huh. Does Isabela have an irrational fear of Qunari or...maybe a rational one? Maybe she stole somebody's sword. So instead Urien takes Fenris. This turned out to be a good move since Fenris knows Qun.

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'A growing lack of disgust? Fenris is basically the Talleyrand of Qunari diplomacy'

I guess I know who will be coming along in future dealings with the Arishok. I guess it makes sense, the Tevinters and the Qunari have been at war a long time. Anyway the Arishok tells the dwarf to go fuck himself as one would expect. Still no clue what the Arishok wants in Kirkwall except he disapproves of Kirkwall a lot and the Qun is why.

The last mission Urien does also involves the Qunari and it is a bit convoluted. Urien gets hired by a Sister of the Chantry to smuggle a Qunari mage to freedom.

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'See Anders and Merrill? It could be worse.'

So basically Qunari mages have their mouths sewn shut and they have to wear this giant collar that keeps then compliant and controlled. Urien and company smuggle him out and he automatically does whatever Urien tells him...freaky. Once they escape a large unit of Qunari are waiting for them. They demand Urien turn the Qunari mage, the Priestess named him Ketojan 'The Bridge between worlds', over to them and Urien refuses and they have to defeat the Qunari unit. Once they are defeated Urien uses their slave rod to free Ketojan from mind control. He thanks Urien and names him an honorable man but it seems the Qun demands he die. So he immolates himself 'Buddhist Monk in Vietnam' style. Ah the Qun.

The whole quest was a setup. The Chantry Priestess hoped Urien would be killed by the Qunari and the massacre used as anti-Qunari propaganda. Kind of a convoluted plan there Sister.

So that is it. 52 quests later and innumerable characters and plots and intrigue later they are ready to leave for the Deep Roads. This has been a tough one to recount I hope it has not been too confusing and you guys are still entertained. It certainly has been confusing for me, I actually had to take notes.

This game is actually kind of courageous the way they have the plot be a combination of greater and personal elements. There is no over-arcing world destroying threat there, just some of the elements of the game world being explored. They are really turning up the heat on the whole Mages-Templar thing in a way that is a bit over the top. But I guess what is there to prevent this kind of thing happening? I think I discussed in the DA:O part of the playthrough that the Circle system was unstable and only required unreasonable people in charge for it to fail. Well that seems to be happening, Knight-Commander Meredith is way over the line. Granted I have not talked to her yet so who knows? Whomever the First Enchanter of the this Circle is has not even been mentioned. I also look forward to seeing what Kirkwall looks like in the next time period.

Now I have made some fun of the Dalish ignorance of things Arlathan before but Merrill really takes ignorance to a whole new level. I get that she has never been to a human city before but she is acting like some Polynesian native just meeting British explorers rather than some local culture that has been in contact with humans for over 2000 years. I keep waiting for her to ask us about our boom sticks.  For example she said 'I do not understand why humans lock away their mages. It is a gift from the creators'. Ok Pocahontas, I get that you are a noble savage and everything but surely you have heard of the Tevinter Imperium? We are in a city covered with statues of elves enslaved to their magister masters. The guys who destroyed the culture you are trying to recreate? Ring any bells? Andraste, the human prophet who emancipated the elves? Never heard of her? I mean I thought this was some kind of geek elf who spent her time studying and is socially awkward. I don't know what she studied but not only does she seem not to know anything about Arlathan or human cities but she also is entirely ignorant of what we were told was common Dalish knowledge in DA:O.

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'Sweetie you could carry around a sign that says 'I AM A BLOOD MAGE' and the Templars wouldn't notice.'

Now the expedition: I had planned for Urien to bring Bethany, Aveline, and Varric on the expedition if we couldn't bring everybody (I thought maybe there might be a basecamp a la Origins we could store everybody). But mother dear showed up and asked him not to take Bethany since if something happens all her children would be dead. Well that is a good point. Sweet sister will remain behind and Urien will take Abominanders instead. His Grey Warden talents might be useful. Besides no Templars to trigger his Vengeance Demon down there. Still feel bad what he has done to poor Justice :(

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'If I do not come back please finish our work.'

Then we go back to Varric being interrogated by Cassandra (:wub: so pretty when she is righteous)

She seems to think Urien and Bethany were anti-Chantry types dealing with Qunari, Abominanders, Merrill, Isabela, and other subversive scum. She refutes Varric's claim he was just in it for the money to restore his family fortune. She claims he had to have known what they would find down there. Woah. What are we going to find down there?

Varric says it was not so simple. She reminds him of the terrible things Urien did. Oh dear, I assure you Cassandra we meant well.

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'Yes but they were all bad.'

The expedition starts on its way when a collapse of a tunnel stops them in their tracks. Dangerous side tunnels will have to be scouted to find an alternate route. Urien and company will be doing this of course. But then a real disaster occurs. Sandal is missing! Who will do our enchantments in the future?

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'More likely we will find him with three dozen dead darkspawn laying around him'

Will our heroes prevail? What horrible deed is Urien going to do in the future? Find out...well you probably already played Dragon Age 2 and know but find out what I think when I find out.

What Urien Amell-Hawke did in Act 1:

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They bluffed the Templars to allow the Starkhaven mages to escape.

They recovered the explosives for Isabela's friend Martin.

They killed the Magistrate's deranged son Kelder, at Kelder's request I might add.

They delivered the Viscount's son to his father and killed the mercenary captain of the Winters, Ginnis.

They killed Danzig the German Nationalist Tevinter Slave Trader.

They told the Orlesian Ghyslain about the death of his wife.

They defeated the Dragons in the Bone Pit mine.

They did not blackmail Ser Thrask about his daughter being a mage.

They did not kill the Blood Mage Idunna after Bethany broke her mind control over Urien.

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They allowed Feynriel to go to the Dalish.

They rescued Keran from the Blood Mages and convinced Cullen to let him stay on.

They defended Ketojan, the Qunari mage, from the Qunari. He then burned himself to death to maximize the Qunari body count.

Karras, and the other radical Templars, were not killed. Rather they were bluffed by Varric and Urien.

Quote from: Valmy on May 19, 2015, 07:03:07 PM
'A dwarf with no beard? GUILTY!'

He has one.  He just wears it on his chest ;)

QuoteThe Hawke family is fleeing for their lives as Urien and little brother get there just as the horde does. I swear I do not get the timing around Lothering. How did Lorcan recover from his wounds and walk all the way up the road, do all that stuff in Lothering, and somehow leave before two guys who fled directly from the battle even get there? I have mentioned the weird things around Lothering and the timeline before that came up in DA:O. Eh probably best not to think about it.

They were in Lothering while Lorcan was there.  They fled from the battlefield to Lothering, waited and rested, then fled before the invading darkspawns.

QuoteI guess that solves the problem of he and Urien being built similarly as warriors.

Yep.  If you play a mage, Bethany gets crushed by the ogre.

Btw, about Hawke Sr being an apostate mage, there's a story in one of the DLC that will explain you why he wasn't too bothered by the Chantry ;)

Quote
'Wait Amell? As in...Lorcan Amell?'
Mother is an Amell?
'Leandra Amell? So...my heroes are like Cousins or something?'

yes :)

Quote
Weird nobody ever said anything about Lorcan having any connection to Kirkwall and he never mentioned anything about having family in Lothering. Maybe they are distant relations or maybe being a circle mage Lorcan just didn't know anything about his family of apostates. Man I am now even more bummed about Cousin/Brother Carver dying so heroically. You will be avenged Carver. Oh wait you already were. And it seems the Amells are a famous noble family in Kirkwall and have an estate and everything. So that is nice.

Mages are usually taken very young into the circle and family contacts are frowned upon.  Much like the Jedi.  Since enrollment is mandatory or the alternative is to be made tranquil, the few that are found as older child/adults may retain some family contact.

Also, for a noble family, it is usually not very well seen to have a mage in the family.  And I think being a mage discredits you from being any kind of land/title owning noble.

QuoteIt does seem there is a nobleman, a count I think, who supposedly rules the city but the Templar commander Meredith is the real power.

Viscount.  But he's not a nobleman, he's an elected official. 
Minor spoiler:
[spoiler]And you can only rule with support from the Templars.[/spoiler]

Quote from: Valmy on May 20, 2015, 10:16:38 PM
'Enchantment!'
Huh. I guess before going to the Tower of Magi in Ferelden Sandal stopped off in Kirkwall. Actually it makes no sense for them to come here but it is nice to see a familiar face...not that Urien would find them familiar.

Well, it's been a year and the Archdemon has been defeated since a while now...

Quote
By the way Bioware went a little too crazy with the promotional items...either that or Uncle Gamlen has actually been spending the family fortune equipping an army.

Originally, the items you got depended on which store you pre-ordered the game.  When Bioware stopped supporting the game they gave all bonus items for free to anyone that bought the game at any time.

Quote
I guess I will do Mark of the Assassin in Act 2 and Legacy in Act 3 since it seems more important. I will try to find some logical place in the story to do so.

I recommend doing Legacy very late in Act 3.  The reason: in this DLC, you will get a super weapon that is upgraded (and actually, there's an exploit to buff it even higher than it should, if you want it...) with you as you raise level.  However, it won't upgrade anymore once you leave the DLC, so if you do it early on, you reach the end with an underleveled weapon (in your case, a sword).

Mark of the Assassin is also very, very though, so I'd say don't do it until Act 3.  And in there, there are different items/side story/quests depending on wich companion you take.  And also, there's a nasty bug in one of those dungeons, so save often in multiple places.

Quote
Ok so there is a shop that doubles as a charity for Ferelden refugees. The Fereldens are stuck in limbo. The Blight has been defeated but they cannot return home since they have no money and make up a detested underclass in Kirkwall. Ship captains are rumored to toss any Ferelden stowaways into the sea. Ferelden needs these people so maybe King Alistair and Queen Anora should get on that at some point. The Fereldens clearly know who their savior is.

Along the way, you will notice items being sold in stores that upgrade your companion's stats. You need to buy them in the Act you see them, they don't stay there indefinately.

Quote
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This was written a mere year before DA2 was released, how could they write this when they clearly must have know about this plot in DA2?  Did they intentionally write a misleading epilogue to maximize the surprise? Yes he does leave the Wardens for a few weeks but that is supposed to be years after he is hailed as hero of Vigil Keep. At one year after Ostagar we should barely be started with Awakenings. Time is clearly run by magic or something. And furthermore there cannot be two British funny guys in one party. What is this? 'Dragon Age' or 'A bit of Hawke and Anders'? Thanks a lot David Gaider.

The game assumes the other final for Anders, no matter your choices: Anders was presumed dead at the Keep but he kinda faked his death:

From the wiki:

Quote
Despite the various potential outcomes of Awakening, Anders becomes a Grey Warden (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Grey_Wardens), meets Justice (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Justice) and survives. If Anders is left to defend Vigil's Keep (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Vigil%27s_Keep) and it was not fully upgraded, he doesn't die but rather escapes using a badly burned body in robes as a decoy. Anders tells this to Nathaniel Howe (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Nathaniel_Howe) if they meet (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Finding_Nathaniel) in the Deep Roads (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Deep_Roads) seven years later.
The Wardens force Anders to give Ser Pounce-a-lot (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Ser_Pounce-a-lot) to a friend in Amaranthine (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Amaranthine), claiming that he made Anders too soft. Anders misses the cat and keeps mentioning it.
A former templar (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Templar_Order), Rolan, infiltrates the Grey Warden ranks to keep a close watch on Anders. After Anders allows Justice to use his body as a host, Rolan accuses him of becoming an abomination (http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Abomination) and brings the templars down on him, stating that the Wardens agreed with the decision. Anders kills Rolan, the templars, and the Wardens and flees./

Quote from: Valmy on May 24, 2015, 06:03:08 PM
Oh and since when did they have horns on their heads?'

Qunari is more of a philosophical movement than a racial subtrait.  But yeah, they sorta of retconned it.

Quote
'You see Anders? You see! Oh wait didn't bring you did I...'

They're pushed to extremes by Templar's brutality ;)

Quote
'Thanks I live to help my friends the Templars. Pay no attention to the apostate mage over my right shoulder.'

Ah, Fenris is the only one mentionning it, if you bring him with you and Bethany the first time. :)

Quote
Now the expedition: I had planned for Urien to bring Bethany, Aveline, and Varric on the expedition if we couldn't bring everybody (I thought maybe there might be a basecamp a la Origins we could store everybody). But mother dear showed up and asked him not to take Bethany since if something happens all her children would be dead. Well that is a good point. Sweet sister will remain behind and Urien will take Abominanders instead. His Grey Warden talents might be useful. Besides no Templars to trigger his Vengeance Demon down there. Still feel bad what he has done to poor Justice :(

Minor spoiler about the family for your next playthrough:
[spoiler]
if you ever decide to replay it and do it differently, the sibling you bring with you in the Deep Roads will die, unless you bring Anders with you.[/spoiler]

Quote from: viper37 on May 24, 2015, 09:27:20 PM
He has one.  He just wears it on his chest ;)

Boy, you aren't kidding. Maybe he will braid it at some point.

QuoteThey were in Lothering while Lorcan was there.  They fled from the battlefield to Lothering, waited and rested, then fled before the invading darkspawns.

Well then I have to question their decision making :P anyway the timeline for DA:O and DA2 is more confusing than the Gospels.

QuoteYep.  If you play a mage, Bethany gets crushed by the ogre.

Well I think I got the best of that deal. Carver seemed like kind of a tool. A heroic tool whose memory we shall forever hold dear.

QuoteBtw, about Hawke Sr being an apostate mage, there's a story in one of the DLC that will explain you why he wasn't too bothered by the Chantry ;)

How...intriguing. I guess there has to be some reason he was not a blood mage or abomination. Or maybe he was. Guess I will find out.

Quote

Quote
'Wait Amell? As in...Lorcan Amell?'
Mother is an Amell?
'Leandra Amell? So...my heroes are like Cousins or something?'

yes :)

Yes indeed. How fortuitous I just happened to pick the human mage origin for this playthrough. Any relatives I can play in DA:I? :P

QuoteMages are usually taken very young into the circle and family contacts are frowned upon.  Much like the Jedi.  Since enrollment is mandatory or the alternative is to be made tranquil, the few that are found as older child/adults may retain some family contact.

Also, for a noble family, it is usually not very well seen to have a mage in the family.  And I think being a mage discredits you from being any kind of land/title owning noble.

Yes I am aware with the basic dynamics. Also fortunate for Lorcan he was transferred to Ferelden with that circle being so comparatively well run. And I am sure the title will pass smoothly on to Lorcan's Old God son. Either that or one of Gamlen's many children he probably had with the prostitutes in the Blooming Rose.

QuoteViscount.  But he's not a nobleman, he's an elected official.

Elected for life. And he obviously must be a nobleman. Sort of like a Doge or the King of Ferelden.

QuoteMinor spoiler:
[spoiler]And you can only rule with support from the Templars.[/spoiler]

Nope not clicking that!

Quote from: viper37 on May 24, 2015, 09:50:33 PM

Quote from: Valmy on May 20, 2015, 10:16:38 PM
'Enchantment!'
Huh. I guess before going to the Tower of Magi in Ferelden Sandal stopped off in Kirkwall. Actually it makes no sense for them to come here but it is nice to see a familiar face...not that Urien would find them familiar.

Well, it's been a year and the Archdemon has been defeated since a while now...

At one point Wynne comments it has been almost a year since Lorcan left the Circle during DA:O. I guess I just figured the adventure in DA:O took a year or so. Then there has to be enough time for Oghren and Felsi to get married and have a kid and for Oghren to bugger off. Then Awakenings happens. Then some time passes and Witch Hunt happens. During Witch Hunt is when Sandal is at the Tower of the Magi.

Eh it is alright. Once we get to Act 2 everything works out again.

QuoteOriginally, the items you got depended on which store you pre-ordered the game.  When Bioware stopped supporting the game they gave all bonus items for free to anyone that bought the game at any time.

Not sure what 'no longer supporting the game' means. They sure still made money off me from it :grr:

QuoteI recommend doing Legacy very late in Act 3.  The reason: in this DLC, you will get a super weapon that is upgraded (and actually, there's an exploit to buff it even higher than it should, if you want it...) with you as you raise level.  However, it won't upgrade anymore once you leave the DLC, so if you do it early on, you reach the end with an underleveled weapon (in your case, a sword).

Sounds like a plan. I do not use exploits or mods besides bug fixes though.

QuoteMark of the Assassin is also very, very though, so I'd say don't do it until Act 3.  And in there, there are different items/side story/quests depending on wich companion you take.  And also, there's a nasty bug in one of those dungeons, so save often in multiple places.

I always have tons of saves. DA2 keeps track for some reason and it is kind of amazing. I was well over 500 in Act 1.

QuoteAlong the way, you will notice items being sold in stores that upgrade your companion's stats. You need to buy them in the Act you see them, they don't stay there indefinately.

The armor upgrades. Yes I found the few in Act 1 and then went crazy looking through every other merchant. Fun times.

QuoteThe game assumes the other final for Anders, no matter your choices: Anders was presumed dead at the Keep but he kinda faked his death:

Well that is a load of crap. But I already expounded on that enough. Abominanders is at least less of a creep than regular Anders, even though he is now a total bore.

Quote from: viper37 on May 24, 2015, 10:26:42 PM
Qunari is more of a philosophical movement than a racial subtrait.  But yeah, they sorta of retconned it.

Yeah they are very clear any Qunari who stops following the Qun is not a Qunari at all.

QuoteThey're pushed to extremes by Templar's brutality ;)

Bastard has an explanation for everything!

QuoteAh, Fenris is the only one mentionning it, if you bring him with you and Bethany the first time. :)

Yes I mentioned that ;)

Fenris has an eye for mages...or at least a grasp for the obvious. Yes I understand story/gameplay segregation just something I find funny.

QuoteMinor spoiler about the family for your next playthrough:

[spoiler]if you ever decide to replay it and do it differently, the sibling you bring with you in the Deep Roads will die, unless you bring Anders with you.[/spoiler]

Thanks for continuing to blank these out :P

Ok before I tell the harrowing tale of the Deep Roads expedition (quite literally as it turned out) I have one bit of errata to clear up.

Irminric, the lyrium withdrawn guy from Arl Howe's dungeon, is NOT the same Templar as Emeric in Kirkwall. Two different guys with no connection. I know you all were terribly confused so I am glad I could sort that out for you.

Before our heroes heroically hero there are a few thoughts shared in basecamp.

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'The nugs Varric, they are delicious.'

'Now don't be too hard on yourself Abominanders. You have only forced us to massacre Templars once and haven't turned into an abomination and murdered us all yet.'

'Hurrah! Jokes only :nerd: my age will get.'

They venture into the Deep Roads and fight lots of Hurlocks. I guess Shrieks and Genlocks suffered disproportionately high casualties during the Blight. Then they get attacked by that other Deep Roads classic: the giant spiders.

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'BY ANDRASTE'S SHAPELY THIGHS THAT IS ONE HUGE SPIDER'

So big in fact I have no idea how it even moves around. You can easily trap it and kill it from a distance because of its huge size. So then they find Sandal...surrounded by piles of Darkspawn again...and he seems to have done something unholy to an ogre.

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'Not enchantment...but whatever it was we hope to never find out'

If Sandal was just left in the Deep Roads for a few years the Darkspawn problem would be permanently solved. A bit further in they find the way around the blockage guarded by a Dragon. Damn do they live down here in the Deep Roads as well? What a charming place.

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'Aveline, Hammer of the Wyrms, in action'

With that the way is clear. Bertrand is informed and the expedition journeys onwards. And there was much rejoicing.

Then came the time of the bitter cold...oh wait no...then they came across an ancient Thaig. One so ancient it contained no Paragon statues and all the usual Dwarven things. Bertrand insisted it was from before the time of the first Blight.

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'I guess they had red glowy stuff before the first Blight.'

Seriously what is that red stuff? They never explain it. It made it look like the place had blood vessels.

Urien and company begin exploring the old Thaig and eventually find a strange altar with a valuable idol made of pure lyrium. Like something that would probably kill you if your skin came in contact with it. Bartrand is delighted to find such a valuable item in this exotic Thaig he decides to lock them in the room where they found the idol and keep all the money for himself.

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'You broke my heart Fredo'

I just do not get this plan by Bartrand. He does not know the Thaig at all. For all he knows there could be a side door out of that room five feet away and Varric could be giving him noogies and tying his beard in knots in seconds. But as it turned out this almost was a death sentence so...a good try Bertrand. Trapped in a corner of the deep roads no living being has tread in millennia, they are quickly set upon by fade monsters and...something new! A new monster in Dragon Age? Amazing. They are rock monsters called the 'profane'. Eventually they meet one possessed by a demon and he explains the profane are dwarves who have been feeding on Lyrium for millennia and have eventually become these monsters. Then it offers us some sort of deal. Will they take this deal?

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'What he said'

So they fight the demon and its friends. And press onwards. Then they reach the vault where the goods of the dwarves are stored and....

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'OMG it is the final boss from Mass Effect 2! Varric get me the Cain!'

Ok it is a profane of incredible ancientness and size. And this was one fuck of a hard fight. After a few hours of cussing and hear pulling I figured it out. It had some strange elements but nothing totally insane like the Harvester in DA:O. Basically once you hit this thing a bit it collapses into a ball and lets out rays of death. Your party has to run behind the pillars in the room to avoid them. Then it opens up allowing you to beat the hell out of it...but while it does so it summons lots of little profanes in. It is also very immune to fire which is too bad since a lot of our stuff is fire based. Really tough fight but I made it work and Urien got to look all badass.

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'BOOM!'

Varric reveals these things are supposed to be legendary.

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'Hey my cousin once met an elven one of those!'

Speaking of the Varterral...well it gets mentioned again soon. More on that later. The party opens the vault and...

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'We're in the money
Come on, my honey
Let's spend it, lend it,
Send it rolling around!'

Wait until mother hears about this! It takes a week for Aveline, Varric, Anders, and Urien to make it back to Kirkwall (not sure what they ate on the way...nugs I suppose). Once they get there Urien rushes back to Uncle Gamlen's to find Cullen there taking Bethany to the Circle of Magi. NOOOOOOOOO my sweet sister :weep:

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'This may be a bad time but love the new dress. Blue is really your color. Or is it white and gold? Sorry'

Cullen says that he will not be arrested for harboring an apostate because Bethany is such a good girl. Don't I know it Cullen.

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'Um...we are rich now...that's good right?'

And so ends the Deep Roads expedition.

And back to the interrogation. Cassandra is sure Bethany going to the Circle is the catalyst for all that happened. Varris tells her she is wrong. I couldn't help but notice she is referring to Urien as the 'Champion'. Champion of what exactly? Did he win the Kirkwall Open? Has he been called this before? First I have noticed.

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'I guess Varric regrets ever meeting Anders. I know the feeling'

Anders doing something horrible will be the most unsurprising thing ever. Anyway the Seekers thought Urien and the rest had all come to Kirkwall from Ferelden together to do whatever dirty deed had been done. Varric tells her it is not what she thinks and continues his story.

So the expedition made Varric and Urien rich. Urien spent the time buying back the old estate and working his way up the social order. Everybody knew who he was now. But puzzlingly the Qunari and the freaking Arishok (don't the Qunari need their supreme warlord lording over wars someplace?) were still there after three years doing whatever. They keep claiming they are waiting for the slowest ship in history to pick them up.

Three years later Urien is summoned by the Viscount. The Viscount is under some stress.

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'You said it buddy...wait who is Orsino again?'

But I am sure whomever he is Urien knows, being the ambitious social climber he is. It seems the Arishok has asked to speak to Urien personally. The Viscount has no idea why.

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'It is the beard. Get's them everytime.'

Isabela spends the period looking for her relic. The relic which is a relic of some kind which looks like a relic.  It is shocking she has not found it yet. In the interim she starts a massive bar brawl and get thrown in prison only for Aveline to pull some strings and get her released after a couple of weeks. Isabel had to promise to be a good girl from then on. We shall see.

Aveline is working like crazy trying to clean up the corrupt city guard. She is a total control freak, micromanaging everything. She spends her very rare off time making sure Urien and company are ok. The burden is wearing on her.

Varric's brother Bartrand has gone missing. He now is the leader of the Tethras merchant family. He is running it from his suite in the Hanged Man in Lowtown and keeping a low profile. The game notes he is not answering his letters from Orzammar, not sure what that is about. What happened to Bartrand? Sandal and the rest of the expedition made it back ok.

Fenris is still squatting in his mansion in Hightown and the neighbors have noticed. Avenline and company have done their best allowing him to stay there. His paranoia is starting to lessen, the slavers have not come after him, but he is still very insular and rarely sees anybody outside of his mercenary work.

Anders is becoming even more paranoid. The incident with Karl has convinced him the whole Chantry needs to be overthrown and he has been forming a revolutionary force to do that. Also the Vengeance Demon inside of him is taking over more and more. Joy.

Bethany passes the Harrowing (see? Told you there would be harrowing involved) and attains a high position in the Circle. She enjoys mentoring the apprentices and finds some Templars who are not so bad. She basically likes the Circle (She obviously resembles her cousin) but is concerned as the insane Templar Commander Meredith continues to tighten the screws.

Merrill is not adjusting at all to city life. People ignore her and she constantly gets in trouble or lost. At one time she ended up on a dog track in Darktown during a race by mistake.

And so it begins once more.

Quote from: Valmy on May 25, 2015, 08:28:17 PM
Well then I have to question their decision making :P anyway the timeline for DA:O and DA2 is more confusing than the Gospels.

Well, both share some similarities.  DA2 is Varric telling a story of how it happenned.  Some details are left or transformed for the sake of story telling ;)

Quote
Yes indeed. How fortuitous I just happened to pick the human mage origin for this playthrough. Any relatives I can play in DA:I? :P

No, not really.  No matter the Inquisitor, he is not supposed to have any ties to previous characters.

Quote from: Valmy on May 25, 2015, 09:00:22 PM
Then some time passes and Witch Hunt happens. During Witch Hunt is when Sandal is at the Tower of the Magi.

ah, forgot about that one.

Quote
Not sure what 'no longer supporting the game' means. They sure still made money off me from it :grr:

fixing bugs, releasing new content.  That kind of minor stuff smaller studios sometimes manage to do while EA can't.

Quote
Sounds like a plan. I do not use exploits or mods besides bug fixes though.

It's ok, the same applies.

Quote from: Valmy on May 25, 2015, 11:36:16 PM
'Aveline, Hammer of the Wyrms, in action'
With that the way is clear. Bertrand is informed and the expedition journeys onwards. And there was much rejoicing.

Supposedly, the dragons are all but extinct.  Some luck we got there! :D

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'I guess they had red glowy stuff before the first Blight.'

Seriously what is that red stuff? They never explain it. It made it look like the place had blood vessels.

Red lyrium.  More on this in DA:I.  Stay tuned for the next game :P
oh, they'll talk a bit about it in Chapter 2 & 3 too :)

Quote from: viper37 on May 26, 2015, 01:25:04 PM
Well, both share some similarities.  DA2 is Varric telling a story of how it happenned.  Some details are left or transformed for the sake of story telling ;)

He sure makes alot of assumptions about things he wasn't there for :grr:

Sort of like the Gospel writers and private conversations between Jesus and Pilat.

QuoteNo, not really.  No matter the Inquisitor, he is not supposed to have any ties to previous characters.

:(

So I just happened to get the only connection in the series so far. Awesome.

Quoteah, forgot about that one.

I have no idea why they thought it was necessary to put Sandal there, they could have easily used the Tranquil for enchantment. I just think as a popular character they wanted to insert him in that little tribute to DA:O. Anyway it was cool to have his time there mentioned in DA2 even if the timeline is weird.

Quotefixing bugs, releasing new content.  That kind of minor stuff smaller studios sometimes manage to do while EA can't.

Yeah they did that crap for DA:O as well. So many bugs in Awakenings they never fixed and in fact announced they would never fixed. Being used to old Bioware that really made me mad.

QuoteSupposedly, the dragons are all but extinct.  Some luck we got there

They were thought to be extinct and mysteriously have returned...either in force or Lorcan and Urien do indeed have terrible luck. Their return is why this is the Dragon Age though they do not make a big deal about this at all or what its significance is. I wonder if all those Dragon Cults somehow brought them back and are mass producing them somehow, that was kind of hinted at with the Haven plotline in DA:O.

QuoteRed lyrium.  More on this in DA:I.  Stay tuned for the next game :P
oh, they'll talk a bit about it in Chapter 2 & 3 too :)

Weird that the Tethras brothers didn't mention it. One would think that much Lyrium would be worth far more than that treasure hoard. But maybe Red Lyrium is unusable for some reason. Guess I will be finding out soon.

This part of the replay will be about :wub:

Well actually not because my heroes only fall for women who do not believe in love. They know how to pick them.

Two references to Leliana's Song in this session (not to Leliana though) and one, mentioned previously, of Witch Hunt.

Urien is now a fat cat in his fancy estate he shares with his mother and his dog...oh and two dwarves. It is less kinky than it sounds. Bodahn and Sandal have moved in.

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'Finally some refined culture and conversation'

Urien has his mission. Time to go around and gather his friends. First he visits Aveline back in the Viscount's palace. She is finding her calling as guard captain and wants him to help her unofficially investigate the continued research of Ser Emeric (who is absolutely NOT from Ferelden and was NOT in DA:O) into the missing women from Act 1. Sounds great.

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'Urien Hawke always does the right thing! Unless doing the wrong thing would be funny or more fun.'

Pretty high praise from Aveline. Full Friendship with her now. On the way to visit Fenris Urien decides to stop by the Chantry and finds a notice on the board to help hunt down assassins trying to kill a mage named Sketch. Hey wasn't that the apostate mage's name from Leliana's song? I checked this time. Yes it is. How many mages could be named Sketch? Sounds sketchy.

Inside we find the Prince of Starkhaven from Act 1 and he has discovered who was behind the murder of his family. It turns out it is the Harimann family, the noble that Urien refused to murder in Act 1. Damn refusing to murder people constantly comes back to bite them. Only it seemingly was his daughter, the new head of House Harimann. Only didn't the Starkhaven Royals get murdered while Lord Hairmann was still alive? Oh well. Details. Note that Lady Harimann takes over despite having full grown sons. This world can never decide if it has amazing gender equality, even by modern standards, or women are treated like objects. Sometimes it does both in the same sentence. It is complicated.

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'Welcome to the team blue eyes.'

Sebastian Vael is a rogue archer, so sort of like Varric only without the charming personality and advanced technology. Ah well. Guess I will be cycling through Varric, Isabela, and Sebastian as the party rogue. NOW I am sure I have recruited all the companions. They will be heading over to the Harimann estate once the team is assembled. Next: chez squatter.

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'Flirting with Fenris?! NOOOOOOO'

They get there and Isabela is already there telling Fenris how she is keeping the tax collectors off his back. Then she flirts with him. Urien is overcome with jealousy. What about all the sexual tension they have surely been having over the past three years? Time to make his move. I mean they are perfect for each other. He has a fabulous beard; she has other fabulous assets. He likes to have a good time; she has all the restraint of a college student on spring break. He is a man of the world; she has sacked and raided most of it. He is loyal to his family and tries to do the right thing; she is um....well that's a grey area. Actually we have no idea what makes Isabela tick.

But Urien meets with Fenris and Fenris relates his concern about not being tracked down by slavers. Urien promises to help him all he can as they are good friends. Magical warriors are best to keep happy.

Next to the Hanged Man in Lowtown and Urien assures Varric he is staying in Kirkwall. Varric has kind of a mancrush on him so is happy to hear it.

Isabela is still looking for her relic and Urien promises to help her with absolutely no ulterior motives at all. Then she makes an admission.

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'What man has not dreamed of a beautiful woman telling him he is 'all right'?'

So they meet back at Urien's place and make out in front of Sandal.

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'Enchantment!'

Then a sex scene happens where Isabela keeps pulling out secret knives while they passionately claw at each other. It is not a new joke but I LOL'd. Well done. Better than the choir of angels we had in DA:O. Afterwards she talks about how her mother sold her to her husband and how being the possession of a man made her unable to commit ever again, even after Zevran killed the guy. She insists she and Urien were just using each other to get off. Even though they have been friends for three years. I guess now friends with benefits. She walks off upset Hawke brought feelings into this. Typical.

Next Anders, who is forming his revolutionary committee. He is a humorless, virtuous, skinny version of Georges Danton. Well ok I guess he is Maximillian Robespierre and Danton combined together...as if Danton was possessed by a Robespierre demon. Woah. Mind melting.

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'The Insurrectionary Kirkwall Commune will storm the Tuileries Palace any day now'

Somehow the crazier he gets the more I kind of like him. Just a quick swing by Merrill, she is doing alright and asks about Bethany. Awww the only one who mentioned her. She hangs out a lot with Isabela which is an odd couple to say the least. Anyway the team is assembled. First they visit Ser Emeric to follow up on Aveline's business. When they get to the Gallows, Cullen greets Urien and congratulates him for returning the Amells to prominence.

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'Yeah didn't that guy achieve some Amell prominence?'

Flattered by Cullen, Urien offers to put himself at the service of the Knight-Captain and the moderate Templars. Cullen tells him that unfortunately Meredith has closed ranks and now refuses outside help. Well then. Guess those mages might want some help.

Emeric is getting pretty obsessed with the murders. Emeric thinks an Orlesian Nobleman named Gascard DuPuis is behind it but all he has managed to do is get Aveline in trouble chasing down his leads. So now Urien will investigate him unofficially. Man law enforcement in Kirkwall sure loves hiring civilians.

While there he visits the Herbalist to find some rare ingredients and...damn.

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'A flower, some ink, and the heart of a legendary and rare creature that my cousin likely destroyed the only example of? Get right on it.'

The Varterral went right from ancient legend the Dalish don't believe to something that hangs out with the Dalish and its heart is a common reagent. Obviously something changed in the last couple years :P. The Varterral was the final boss of Witch Hunt if you do not remember.

So now on to Hightown. Before investigating Gascard DuPuis, Urien decides to help Sebastian, throw the new guy a bone. So they go into the Harimann Estate and man things are messed up there. The three Harimann children have been lost to depravity. The daughter is a drunk, the elder brother wants to melt all the gold down and turn his servants into statues, and the youngest son is lost to sexual depravity.

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'We are all just...horrified...by these sexually deviant acts...so very...wrong'

Well it turns out when expanding the house a few years back they broke into some kind of ancient catacombs and now demons have run amok. Same old, same old.

They make it to the end where we learn a Desire Demon is feeding Lady Harimann's lust for power.

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'We are not so different, you and I'

And of course she is a mage. Once the demon is destroyed along with the matron, the Harimann kids apologize for their mother murdering Sebastian's family and offer their support in regaining his throne. Sebastian is conflicted, not sure he wants to plunge Starkhaven into war. So until he decides to return to the Chantry or lead a devastating dynastic war he will hang out with Urien and company.

While in the Harimann Estate they find a book on the Chantry Pope Justinia V.

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'Hey I recognize that name!'

It is none other than Mother Dorothea from Leliana's Song. I knew it was a good idea to play that DLC.

While Sebastian decides, Urien gets a letter from Feynriel's mother that things are not going well with him and the Dalish. He has some kind of magical super fade power and is stuck in an endless dream. Urien has been recruited to the fade to go after him, always eager to risk his soul to demons to help. The Dalish have to perform the ancient ritual, that they actually recall, and the Keeper shows up in the Alienage to do the ritual. She is treated like a rock star which is bizarre since I thought the City Elves thought the Dalish were a bunch of weirdos stuck in the past and the Dalish thought the City Elves were a bunch of 'Flat Ears', Elves who had turned traitor on their heritage. But the thing goes down without comment so who knows? Anyway the Keeper, Marethari again from the Dalish Origin in DA:O, warns Urien that if the demons capture Feynriel he will become an abomination of unbelievable power and evil, and that they need to kill him in the Fade making him Tranquil if there is any danger of that. Huh since when did killing somebody in the Fade make them Tranquil? Urien says he just cannot bring himself to do that. She sighs and hopes he will not fuck it up too bad.

She then gives a final warning that the demons will try to tempt them. That should not be a problem for Anders, already being possessed and last I checked Demons do not cohabitate. Isabela assures us that she has a will of iron.

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'Isabela's restraint is an inspiration to us all'

LOL good one Bioware. Anyway so back to the Fade, I look forward to collecting all my stat upgrades! But this time they make me solve puzzles to get them. The first one I have to chase a book around the first room. The second one is a strange barrel puzzle with no clue what I was supposed to be doing.

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'So...um...the little barrels and big barrels erm...do things and I get a prize'

It took me awhile but basically I had to switch the locations of the big barrels and little barrels.

Justice takes over while Anders is in The Fade, it was good to hang out with him again even in Demonic Vengeance form. Eventually Urien finds Feynriel and gets him to see through the demon's temptations. Thus thwarted, the pride demon turns to Fenris and promises him power to take down his Tevinter Oppressors. Pfft whatever my loyal friend Fenris would never...

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'DAMN IT'

Man his super magical warrior powers were pretty awesome to behold. Isabela and Urien were beating him down when he suddenly did a super move that killed them both instantly. Fortunately Anders revived them just as fast to finish him off. Damn Fenris. I will be taking you with me more often.

So one man down they repeat the whole process in another of the Demons traps for Feynriel. Once again Urien gets Feynriel to see through its ruse and this time the demon turns to the incorruptible Isabella, offering her a massive ship and crew of strapping virile men under her command.

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'She gets sprung'

Isabela is on a roll this session. Well I guess we all saw that coming.

Anyway with the demons defeated Feynriel realizes the Dalish do not know crap about ancient magic and decides to go to the Tevinter Imperium for training. His mother is sad to see him go but understands. For some reason Isabela and Fenris being killed in the fade did not make them Tranquil. Which is good because that is stupid, I hope that plot point does not get brought up again. This quest was pretty weak on the lore.

Fenris and Isabela both apologize to Urien for betraying him and he assures them that under him they each get one free demonic possession. I mean Anders got one so it is only fair. They are both appreciative. Isabela's friendship is now also maxed. LEVEL UP!

I guess eventually Urien should get around to doing that thing with the Qunari the Viscount asked him to do.

Quote from: Valmy on May 26, 2015, 04:01:23 PM
Weird that the Tethras brothers didn't mention it. One would think that much Lyrium would be worth far more than that treasure hoard. But maybe Red Lyrium is unusable for some reason. Guess I will be finding out soon.

yes, you will be finding more about it soon, and in DA:I too.  :)

just keep playing and writing for now :P

Quote
For some reason Isabela and Fenris being killed in the fade did not make them Tranquil. Which is good because that is stupid, I hope that plot point does not get brought up again. This quest was pretty weak on the lore.

I think it applies only to mages, or only for Feynriel since he is a "dreamer".   It was a weird plot point anyway.

Quote from: viper37 on May 27, 2015, 08:37:24 AM
yes, you will be finding more about it soon, and in DA:I too.  :)

just keep playing and writing for now :P

I just got a note to talk to Varric in his room at the Hanged Man so maybe that is when he mentions this. Looking forward to playing tonight :)

QuoteI think it applies only to mages, or only for Feynriel since he is a "dreamer".   It was a weird plot point anyway.

Yes it was. It made sense in the quest, for the purposes of creating choices of outcome and all that, but that was the first time that element was introduced.

I am having a much harder time with the combat in DA2 than I did in DA:O. DA2 on Hard is much much harder than Nightmare on DA:O. Alot of it has to do with the fact DA2 sends waves of foes at you for even simple battles. In DA:O I could easily control the battlefield so long as I was paying attention. In DA2 it is never really managed. Keeping my mage and rogues up gets very tricky, every time you think every monster is accounted for a new wave rushes in.  This makes it quite a grind. Very fun though. You can see how they responded to lessons they learned in DA:O and are doing more creative things with the combat system. The bestiary is still lacking though.

Couple of things I might consider.

1. More aggressive use of healing potions to make sure people are not going down as much. That might get expensive but fights are so long and now only Abominanders can heal.

2. I am thinking about how to better use Isabela. She should be hiding in the shadows more and backstabbing. I will try making that her default combat state instead of waiting until she is surrounded by enemies. I just don't feel like the AI uses stealth rogues very well. I need to take a closer look at her scripts. Varric and Sebastian do decently when Urien can keep them reasonably left alone.

3. Maybe more focus firing on enemies. I generally do not like this unless a boss is concerned but the number of elites can get really out of control when you have a few waves including revenants and golems and the like.

Also might look at my specs a bit. Any recommendations?

Ok so I think that made things work a lot better, I am doing much better. Might be able to get the difficulty back up to Nightmare soon. I have been playing on Hard almost exclusively.

Well so Urien heads down to meet the Arishok but it seems the Qunari have a patrol missing on the Wounded Coast.

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'Yes I killed them all. Oh wait you mean recently?'

So he decides to go find the patrol before confronting the Arishok. Build a little good will. But before he leaves he goes to meet with some kind of mage underground movement he got a letter from earlier. They are a secretive bunch.

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'In Denerim, Nubulis is a spring month.'

Well since the Templars are too cool for school might as well do a bit for the mages. The first quest is framing a radical Templar. At least it was funny. Besides that just a bit of saving an Apostate from Bounty Hunters. Nothing too controversial. I had not realized I was on the mages side but to be fair with Meredith illegally making harrowed mages Tranquil I have not been super eager to send mages to the Circle here.

One quick thing before they set off for the Wounded Coast, in Lowtown Urien had bought a House Tethras Signet Ring he had seen for sale. So he brought it to Varric and it turns out Bartrand had sold it to finance the expedition.

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'I had no idea Dwarves were so formal'

So really that is the answer to the mystery as to why Varric was not answering the mail from King Bhelen and Orzammar, Bartrand had sold off the signet ring. It seems Urien just struck a major blow for international commerce.

So now on the way to find those Qunari...but the group gets ambushed by Tevinter Slavers looking for Fenris. Damn took them long enough.

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'Yes I am going to betray an incredibly dangerous magical warrior who rips people's hearts out...literally.'

After the battle Fenris tortures a slaver to discover his former master's toady Hadriana has set up shop in some old slavers caves near the city. Urien decides to keep Fenris happy and go after them immediately.

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'What happens when Blood Mages run the world'

Fenris shows the sacrifice to Merrill and insists she is in favor of this sort of thing. She says she is not and that she is a good person. Well...she is the one saying we should do all the blood magic and do deals with demons and not be afraid of the very obvious downsides of doing so. Ah Merrill what is up with you?

As they murder their way through waves of Tevinters (I mean I know this dude is a magical warrior but surely it would be cheaper just to make another one) they find an elf woman slave still alive. It seems Hadriana has killed all the other slaves to do her blood magic. Charming. Urien tells the slave to go to his house in Kirkwall. Fenris, for some bizarre reason, thinks Urien is taking on a slave. Urien tells him he is going to hire her as a servant.

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'Urge to kill... fading... fading... fading - rising! Fading... fading... gone'

Just to underline how scary a guy Fenris is they finally find Hadriana and defeat her and her compatriots. She tries to bargain information of Fenris' sister if they swear to spare her life. Urien defers to Fenris' judgment.

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'Seems legit'

So she informs him his sister's name is Varania and she is a servant to somebody named Ahriman in a Tevinter city named Qarinus. Hearing that she is not a slave Fenris is relieved and then rips Hadriana's heart out because...of course he did. Fenris is upset and says he thinks Danarius planted this information to sucker Fenris into going after his sister. He is upset and leaves. While they are there in the slave caves they find a Tevinter Chantry Amulet. Disturbingly this is a nice gift for Abominanders. So there IS a Chantry that lets mages roam free...in a country where mages rule with absolute power and commit horrible atrocities. Not sure why he would find that inspiring but...

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'You could always ask Fenris about it. Can I watch when you do?'

Urien then goes to visit Fenris after he has cooled down a bit. Fenris is upset that hatred for Hadriana and Danarius still dominates him so completely. Slavery leaves quite the psychological mark. He then gets drunk and tells Urien about how he became free. He was separated from Danarius on the Island of Seheron in a battle against the Qunari. He fell in with a group called the Fog Warriors who are fighting for independence for Seheron from the Imperium and the Qunari. Fenris befriends them but when Danarius finds him he orders Fenris to slaughter them all...which he does. Then horrified by what he has done he flees. Danarius is weakened by the battle with the Fog Warriors and cannot immediately pursue him. Holy shit no wonder Fenris is so messed up.

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'It does my heart good to hear you say that Fenris. And I mean physically.'

Ok so this left Urien and company in Hightown and hey they were investigating that murder earlier for Emeric so let's go visit Gascard DuPius. Naturally he is a blood mage and his house is full of fade monsters. How did the City Guard miss this? Aveline herself is puzzled by it. Eventually Urien and company burst in to the see blood mage with a terrified woman.

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'I have to admit you are doing a great job appearing guilty...so congrats on that one.'

He is actually trying to track down the killer. He has been driven to blood magic and extremes in his desire for revenge against this same serial killer for murdering his sister. Sounds like a good guy to leave on the loose while we are still tracking this psycho down. So Urien lets him go.

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'The more insane and dangerous people are the more Urien wants to use them as assets.'

Back outside Urien and company start heading over to the Gallows to talk to Emeric and let him know Gascard is not the killer. But they are ambushed by an all-female criminal band where everybody seems to sort of look like Leliana. That is just fabulous.

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'It is ladies night in the criminal underworld!'

So lots of psycho women later the streets of Hightown are safe again. Urien moves on to the Gallows. Man it is hard to get anywhere in Act 2 without getting sidetracked. Wait weren't they supposed to be hunting for a Qunari patrol? Anyway.

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'Damn it is almost like this whole conflict is stupid and counter-productive and cooler heads could easily prevail. At least it is obvious to Ser Thrask.'

Damn Meredith needs to be overthrown and this guy put in charge. It really is just one person driving this whole thing. And Urien still has not even met her yet.

While there they find Sketch, this time being hunted by Qunari for deeds he did not actually do in the Qunari Homeland.

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'Sketch! Talked to Leliana recently? Sketch? Oh well'

Also it seems our caper to frame a fanatical Templar for Lyrium smuggling and goat fucking came to fruition.

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'Ah yeah that was hilarious...er...I mean shocking. I am scandalized.'

However, they do not see Emeric there. Instead another Templar comes up to Urien.

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'What I am not meeting Emeric tonight it must be...oh wait that's not good'

The killer has gotten to Emeric first. They rush to the meeting place and the deed has already been done.  A bunch of fade monsters struck him down. The Templars are now going after this killer hardcore and Urien informs them Gascard is not the guy. I think this is a pretty serious thing to follow up on but nothing to do now.

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'Maker watch over you Ser Emeric, even if you were not the guy I thought you were in DA:O'

Urien did go down to Darktown to tell Gascard about this but he couldn't find him.

Ok NOW it is time to go hunt for those Qunari. But first they decide to stop on by the Dalish and see what they have for sale and pick up some Dalish tattoo ink. They are super happy to see Merrill.

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'WHAT?! What has she done? Is anybody ever going to tell me anything?'

Again it kind of looks like Merrill loves demons and blood magic and the Dalish are too intelligent, or cowardly according to Merrill, to go along with it. But whatever else is going on Urien has no idea. While there he asked Master Ilen about the tattoo ink.

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'I guess Master Ilen leaves his children in chests a few feet away from him and just lets anybody who walks by grab them'

Because that is, hilariously, how Urien got the Ink. He dropped it off later at the herbalist who expressed amazement the Dalish parted with it...um yeah they just kind of let him take it. What followed was a super long grind of really difficult battles. They explored the local area and Sundermount, where the Dalish live, is ridiculously dangerous. There are demons and fade monsters everywhere. A freaking Dragon lives on top of the mountain. The force field keeping Urien out of the cave at the top has been replaced by a wagon by the way. I feel for whomever pulled that wagon up there through all the demons and dragons. They really did not want Urien going in that cave.

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'It's a beautiful day in the Dalish neighborhood'

There is an old dwarven Thaig entrance near the Dalish camp that was full of Revenants and Stone Golems and that was just too much. I had to go back and get Abominanders to do healing. After fighting through many really grinding fights they found a golem merchant and an evil tome. Ok remember that blood Mage Idunna Urien spared waaay back in Act 1 who tried to do mind control on him before Bethany intervened? Yeah well after she got arrested by the Templars she became a born again Andrastian and wrote Urien telling him about these evil tomes her blood mage mistress left behind. So he has found a few of these things around, there was one in the Viscount throne room and one in the Chantry...probably some kind of commentary on the state of Kirkwall institutions there. And there is one here. Urien has been destroying them and killing the demons that come after him when he does. Later they find a fourth one in a cave in the wounded coast. So they destroy this book and that is all the quest stuff they were able to do in that whole ordeal. So thanks for wasting my time Dalish :P

Now on to the Wounded Coast where they finally find the Qunari Patrol and find they had all been slaughtered by Fade Monsters. Man the mages have been busy with their constant acts of violence and atrocities in this game. They make it very clear that even though Meredith and these Templars need to be stopped, the Templars are definitely a needed thing. I still think the reforms I mentioned when talking about this way back in DA:O are still necessary though. As I observed back then they current system is too unstable and relies way too much on the Templars and mages not being horrible people. As can be seen here that breaks down when that is true, as I speculated back then. If you want to see what happens when the mages are let loose well the Tevinter Imperium is over there to observe.

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'It is ok.They died for the Qun. Whatever that means.'

So with that they head back to Kirkwall.

When they get back to Kirkwall Urien just has a couple quick things to do before going to the Arishok. Just a few quick things that shouldn't take minute. Varric lets him know he wants to talk to Urien at the Hanged Man. It seems Bartrand is back in Kirkwall for some reason and has bought a home in Hightown.

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'What would make a nice housewarming gift? Pot holders?'

So they head over there and it looks run down and abandoned. Well Fenris lives close by so maybe it is a neighborhood aesthetic. Varric bursts in and starts shooting everybody down like a big damn hero.

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'You wanna fuck with me? Okay. You wanna play rough? Okay. Say hello to my little friend!'

With one mighty blow he kills three mercenary guards. Bartrand begs for forgiveness and reveals how jealousy made him do it all.

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'I'm your older brother, Michael, and I was stepped over!'

Why does Varric keep making me think of Al Pacino movies? Anyway it turned out to all be bullshit and Cassandra is not amused.

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'Oh please make her madder Varric she is so pretty when angry :wub:'

So in actuality (or not  :ph34r:) Urien, Sebastian, Abominanders, and Varric storm Bartrand's house. Things are clearly a little bit off.

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'Crazed? I mean yes anybody who would attack us is probably suicidal but it rarely actually says 'crazed''

Eventually they find a sane member of Bartrand's household, a dwarf named Hugin, who tells the sad story of Bartrand's descent into deranged madness.

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'A singing idol? Nice what did it sing? Oh you mean...'

I have to admit it sounds kind of similar to what the Darkspawn say about the Archdemons. Bartrand was driven insane by this thing and so were the people around him. On his more lucid days he was desperate to get rid of it so he sold it to some woman in Kirkwall. He now has a desperate need of it so he moved here to get it back. He has summoned all the non-guard staff into his office, besides Hugin I guess, and has been doing something unspeakable in there for a few days. We go in and see Bartrand but no sign of the staff that I could see. A big battle occurs and Bartrand is defeated. He begs Varric for help finding the idol. Varric is outraged and appalled. Urien has a buddy who knows a bit about obsessive insanity and asks Anders for help.

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'I know. A plot that might not involve demons is surprising to me as well.'

Still not counting out the demons. They do everything else. Bartrand is temporarily sane and begs Varric for help. Varric stops being angry at him and agrees to send for some healers and to take care of him. So we have Qunari, a crazy killer on the loose, a scary mind bending idol, and the whole Templar-mage thing going on. Good times.

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'Oh yeah that to'

I bet the Templars bought it, they love Lyrium and maybe only being mostly insane is not sufficient yet. They need an idol of evil to really complete the Meredith executive vision.

Ok so that took awhile. Next Urien visits chez Merrill to give her a carved wooden halla he bought from Master Ilen at the Dalish Camp. Merrill is totally flustered and embarrassed she forgot it was Kirkwall Christmas.

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'Now we know your weakness Merrill. Mwahahaha.'

When she inevitably gets taken over by a demon we shall give her a gift to take her down. Also glad to increase the blood mage demon lovers friendship with Urien. His friends are pretty scary people. If I were Leandra I would talk to him about that. Actually she does mention that his elf friends are both psychos. Considering Lorcan's elf companions I think a pattern is emerging.

So remember the Bone Pit Mine? Urien is part owner after the events of Act 1. His partner, Hubert, sent him a note that some bandits keep raiding their ore caravans despite all the protection money they pay the Coterie. Man what a rip off. He says he caught a worker giving shipment information to the bandits and Urien tells Hubert to bring him to Urien's house in Hightown.

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'So...guess that means I am the good cop'

Urien convinces the man, a Ferelden from Lothering just like him, to tell us what shipment is going to be raided and Urien convinces him to pay off Hubert in exchange for his life. He agrees.

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'Once you get tired of the protection racket game there is always a lucrative retirement doing part time consulting work'

The raid is going to happen on the Wounded Coast the next day so Urien and the consultant head out that way. They get there just in time to see the shipment destroyed but the bandits still there. More of that crazy Amell timing. 

The Consultant, named Lilley, recognizes one of the Bandits from Brekker's gang. Brekker is some kind of badboy Coterie Boss who plays by his own rules. I bet he is popular with the ladies. So Urien will meet Lilley later in Darktown to take care of that problem. They explore the rest of the Wounded Coast and discover a guard patrol led by one of Aveline's lieutenants named Harley under siege from another criminal gang named Evet's Maruaders. I swear the criminals in this world outnumber the citizens. Well with Aveline around they are not going to say no. Urien and the guards attack. There is a nice path around the bandit's flank so they smash an isolated group and then swing in to the marauder's rear.

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'Just call me pincushion Amell'

That should make Aveline happy. They go back to Kirkwall. Surely Urien will see the Arishok this time. A quick visit to Darktown to take of...oh wait Lilley was killed by Brekker's gang. Ok slaughtering innocent wagon drivers is one thing but once you go after the consultation community you have gone too far. Urien breaks into his hideout and of course he has a blood mage employed.

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'To be fair you haven't really put me in much danger of dying so far'

So that takes care of that. Hubert is happy Urien lived up to his end of the business and recommends he visit the mine and see how the workers are going. Sure...but seriously Urien really needs to meet the Arishok. But FIRST Urien stops by the palace and lets the guards know Evets' Marauders were defeated but Evets was not present. Weird he had to do this when Aveline was there but at least he got a reward. The guards tell him now Evets will try to kill him.

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'I am sure eventually the entire city will want to kill Urien. No big deal.'

Sebastian wants to chat so Urien goes to the Chantry. He wants to rejoin the Chantry but the Reverend Mother is having none of it. Urien and he talk about reclaiming his throne again and it really sounds like he would prefer to remain true to his oath and rejoin the Chantry. He does not think Starkhaven really cares who the ruler is. Probably fair point but...

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'Wait isn't that the conclusion you reached last time?'

Yeah so nothing was decided. Nice conversation there blue eyes. Ok so now to the Docks to visit the Arishok...but wait one more thing to do. Visit Sketch and let him know all the people trying to kill him have been taking care of. At several points during this Act they have found groups from various places around Thedas, from Denerim to Rivain, trying to kill him for various things he says he is innocent of.

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'Why do you look so much bluer than before?'

So I guess the implication is Leliana has been telling stories about his adventures that are a bit exaggerated and are getting him into trouble.

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'Good thing Urien doesn't have any friends who do that'

Funny all those random groups can find him but not the Templars....well actually totally expected.

Ok so NOW lets go see the Arishok. Urien informs the Qunari that fade monsters killed their patrol.

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'That is Qunari for 'hey thanks a lot pal!''

Isabella skips out on seeing the Arishok again....hmmmm

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'Oh ok let us know how that something goes!'

Fenris doesn't have anything to say to the Arishok this time. I thought this was supposed to be your thing Fenris? The Arishok has a message for Urien: the formula for that secret Qunari explosive was stolen. But it was a fake formula...that instead creates a toxic gas.

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'Oh you Qunari and your practical jokes'

He thinks the dwarf from last time, Javaris, stole it and might make a huge amount and poison the city. Oh joy. What were they thinking? Urien asks Varric where Javaris might be found.

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'Selling off territory, you know, what any legitimate business man might do'

So on to Darktown. The Coterie business rep informs us he has taken off through the tunnels out of the city. They kill his legion of guards, seriously man these dwarves each have their own private human army, and catch up to him outside of the city. He insists it is a crazy elf.

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'Am I really supposed to be believe an elf would do something that psychotic?'

So they race back to the city and the elf was only planning on blowing up a part of the city. But it seems her plan of terrorism was thwarted and became another plan of terrorism and instead people are dying and being driven insane from poison gas. Urien and company descend into the gas cloud and fight through ANOTHER army of mercenaries to seal all the barrels. Not sure why the gas did not drive them insane. Ah well.

Then the crazy elf shows up. She wants the Qunari dead because of all the elves being converted to the Qun.

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'A whole terror network has a conspiracy in the city to stir up chaos and war? I mean...another one?'

Man Kirkwall cannot catch a break. So once the crazy elf is slain they head back to the Qunari to report on what happened.

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'Well kitties need pampering. That sounds reasonable Isabela see you later!'

The Arishok does not give two shits about what happened. He reveals why he is staying in Kirkwall.

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'Somebody stole something from you eh? I wonder who that somebody might be.'

Ok lets think a second here. Isabela refuses to meet the Arishok. She is looking for a relic rather obsessively for unknown reasons. The Arishok is desperately seeking something that was stolen from the Qunari. Eh...probably not connected in any way.

So Urien goes back to report to the Viscount and the plot thickens even more. Man how many plots do we have going on at once? Some Qunari came to treat with him and things went well but...

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'So the Qunari just vanished? Huh it is like there is a terrorist organization trying to start a war or something.'

Oh great. So they to get a clue from the Seneschal. He speculates corruption in the city guard would have to be involved for it to happen in the palace.

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'It is a pretty wretched hive of scum and villainy. I mean Varric and Isabela live there.'

So it seems Aveline wants to talk to me. What follows is the most adorable quest ever. Only in Dragon Age man. Well maybe in Bioware games. So Donnic, the guardsman they saved in Act 1, has a thing for Aveline...or had a thing for Aveline. Aveline wants him to but cannot deal with being in love with somebody under her command and just does not have the guts to be direct. Under the circumstances I cannot blame her. The humiliation if it did not work out would be pretty severe. But anyway she has Urien go give him a gift and tell her how he reacts. Well he hates it. So then she gives him a cushy patrol to show him she loves him. But instead he just finds the patrol humiliating.  Urien and company are rather taken aback by Aveline's clumsy attempts to reach out to him.

Now Isabela and Aveline are both kickass chicks who take no shit and they tend to clash. Aveline is a warrior of honor, a force for law and order. Isabela is a libertine and a notorious pirate. So they go back and forth from time to time. Isabela is really enjoying this.

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'Oh my. Rather disproportionate retaliation by Aveline there...and besides Isabela just has needs she never sells.'

And it just sort of goes downhill from there...or just gets better depending on your position.

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'Splitting hairs? Is that really a thing?'

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'A few more seconds and they will be dueling at dawn'

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'Got to love Urien's expression there'

Ok so after everybody calms down they agree to have Urien invite Donnic to drink that night at the Hanged Man and have Aveline just show up. Wasn't there something else they were supposed to do at the Hanged Man? Huh.

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'Oh right the corrupt city guard guy. Urien also has a gift for Isabella and there is another quest a bit off-screen. Urien really needs to visit the Hanged Man more often.'

So Urien meets Donnic for drinks and things are awkward. I would have thought Urien could at least have kept up a conversation.

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'I heard somebody liiiiiikes you!!!11'

Aveline chickens out and cannot do it. Donnic decides Urien is interested in Aveline and trying to use him to get to her and is not impressed. Damn it Donnic he DID want Aveline but gave up because she wants you. And further he hangs out with Aveline all the time. Anyway Aveline says she cannot risk admitting her feelings. Isabela throws down the gauntlet.

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'Awwww she is Aveline's friend after all :wub:'

So Aveline says she feels most comfortable on patrol so they decide to send she and Donnic on a patrol on the Wounded Coast. Urien will rush ahead and make sure they are not attacked on it so Aveline can make her move. Wahoo! Their quest is moving forward. Wait that wasn't the quest? Oh right the possible war with the Qunari thing. Well fortunately that corrupt guardsman, Orwald the Braggart, cannot shut up about capturing the Qunari. I mean if you are going to hire somebody to do some cloak and dagger you might not want to pay off the guy called 'the Braggart'. So they start a barfight with he and his friends.

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'This will soon be edited to show that Orwald the Braggart shot first'

After the fight he admits a Templar paid him to nab the Qunari. The Templar used the seal of the Grand Cleric to show he had Chantry authority to do so. Now the Grand Cleric Elthina is a pretty harmless clergywoman almost to a fault. She is content to just let Meredith do whatever against Chantry law in its name. She is doing this seemingly in the faith that everybody will learn being mean doesn't pay or something. Seems to me the lesson is a bit lost when it is the institutions of the Chantry itself doing the mean stuff. But hey I am no theologian.

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'Or anything at all really.'

Urien surprises his dear love...er...casual sexual partner Isabela with a model ship. I found it weird joking about her being serviced by a dozen seamen was a flirting line but Isabela admitted that was a worthy goal. Bah Urien can do the work of a dozen men. Or maybe he can find a potion or something to help him do so.

So on to the Chantry. So they go inside and are immediately confronted by Petrice, the woman who had the convoluted set up quest back in Act 1 involving the Qunari mage. She tells them the Templar was the Templar she was with in that quest, and tells Urien where to meet them and the kidnapped Qunari. They will show him why the Qunari must be provoked in this way.

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'Yeah Petrice and her Templar are probably not going to be surprising us with a power point presentation'

So Urien figures he should let the relevant authorities know before he walks into this trap. First he tells the Grand Cleric and she leaps into action!

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'Before or after me and all the Qunari are killed?'

Haha just kidding she won't do shit. At least she could pray for us or something. Next Urien goes to tell the Arishok.

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'Oh you just happened to see a guy you knew from Antiva right now? What a weird coincidence. Well see you later Isabela.'

Urien informs the Arishok about the missing delegation. He takes it well.

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'Oh so it's like that is it?'

So the Arishok gives Urien an ultimatum: handle this crisis or Kirkwall will be destroyed.

No pressure!

With a bit of trepidation they set off for the ambushrendezvous point. Walking up they can hear the Templar, Ser Varnell, saying his anti-Qunari screed. They approach and Mother Petrice shows up and sells him out. Nice.

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'Well I am glad somebody knows something for certain about the Qun'

So he has the Qunari envoys all strung up and is haranging them with a big crowd of fanatics. Urien has seen enough so he charges in. Abominanders approves because:

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'That's right. The group of guys whose jobs are trying to control the most powerful people in the world are cowards. Thanks Anders.'

I mean isn't this the guy who keeps demanding we not judge mages based on the thousand years they turned the world into a racist slave state? Ser Varnell and his cronies start the battle by murdering the Qunari. Then he and his massive army of fanatics attacks. This battle is perfect for a berserker like Urien, he gets stamina from killing people and there are massive numbers of wimpy fanatics to kill. BOOM.

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'Aveline's got this'

Aveline :wub:.

Major political crisis incoming! Mother Petrice ran off. Urien fetches the Viscount and he comes down to see the carnage. Viscount Dumar is getting really stressed out and seems powerless to do anything to check the out of control factions. What he says suggests he cannot really do much about that Chantry, even after Urien tells him Mother Petrice is behind it and he discovers it is just this one woman and her fringe faction. I guess that makes sense as it was clear he owed his position to Meredith and the Templars in the prologue. Since the Chantry also will not do anything to lessen the political crisis train I guess nobody will. The Grand Cleric seems content to let the Chantry itself destroy the city. Urien certainly won't take aggressive action, he is not the sort of guy to lead a revolution or political coup.

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'Well to be fair I could have taken care of these fanatics three years ago...'

Urien's easygoing ways have come back to bite Kirkwall here. He works to keep his family going and his friends. He knows that Meredith needs to be removed and all that but he is hoping that the powers that be can do their job without him having to risk everything. Thus the tragic hero is made.

Back to the Arishok to tell him the bad news. I put Isabela in the party just so she can bail again.

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'Ok see you back at the Hanged Man!'

This is Urien's erm...casual sexual partner and he will not confront her on this. He just respects her enough to let her reveal whatever she wants to reveal but again another situation is heading to a crisis and he is being passive about it.

The Arishok is impressed Urien defeated the extremists and did not hide the bodies of the murdered Qunari and took responsibility. His respect for Urien stays his wrath.

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'Damn Arishok that almost brings a tear to my eye.'

So crisis averted...for now.

Now back to the main quest: getting Aveline laid. She may have courage and skills like a great hero she lacks the hero's usual social prowess. Urien and company clear out the beach for she and Donnic's patrol but she chats him up in a way reminiscent of me trying to pick up the captain of the dance team in High School.

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'Hehe...you're handsome'

So eventually Urien and Isabela force the issue and Donnic walks off embarrassed. Aveline gets all horrified she is going to lose her job and lose the respect of the guard...but then Donnic comes around later and reduces her to a giggling school girl. Well the hero always gets her man in the end.

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'Wahoo! I won Dragon Age II!'

I was looking for the credits to roll but then I realized I have to change the world or save Kirkwall or something. Ah well this was the real climax...erm ok maybe that came out wrong.

Urien and company go to the Chantry to talk to the Grand Cleric and confront Mother Petrice. She assures Urien this is not over. Pity.

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'You tell her guys!'

The Grand Cleric won't do shit. I bet if Leliana was the Grand Cleric Meredith and all these nutters would be hanging in her subterranean sex dungeon. Pity.

So with that taken care of Urien returns home to find Uncle Gamlen there. Leandra did not meet them for their weekly get together and he is worried. Bodahn suggests she went to meet her suitor. Suitor?

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'Lillies? MAKER NO!'

Urien hoped the Templars would track down the Lilly killer but now he has Urien's mother! He rushes to Darktown and this time Gascard DuPuis is there. He reveals he can use his blood magic to locate the killer...

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'No shit!'

Gascard gives the lame excuse he did not feel strong enough after Urien killed all his shades but that is weak sauce, he could have come to Urien for help at any time. But no time to argue now. Gascard uses his blood magic and they rush back to the place Urien found the Orlesian's dead wife in Act 1. Hey that sounds like a place Urien could have investigated much earlier  :wacko:

Seriously Urien is a horrible murder investigator.

So they rush through the creepy serial killers lair. First they find the woman Gascard had taken earlier in the act. Aveline's guards were supposed to watch her but the killer got her anyway...she has had her feet removed. Later they find his erm...living quarters I guess. After defeating all the fade monsters and disarming the traps they look around. There is a letter of enouragement and support from the Kirkwall Circle of Magi signed 'O'. Huh. Who is 'O'? Then they find a creepy shrine to a woman who looks like Leandra.

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'Well that is horrifying. And friend of the Circle of Magi to boot.'

He is trying to rebuild a dead woman using body parts that resemble her. The Circle seems interested in his attempts to make this Frankenstein's Monster. Next they find him and he has built his demonic bride. Gascard confronts him and Urien asks the Lilly killer, a mage named Quentin, if he thought Gascard was going to let him get away with his crimes. Quentin laughs.

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'Oh so another mage is pure evil? Shocking!'

Man mages you are making it very hard to support here. With the revelation that Gascard wants to join Quentin instead of kill him Varric has heard enough and takes out Gascard from behind.

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'You are rapidly moving up the ladder of favorite Bioware characters Varric'

And then crazy man goes on his crazy bad guy speech.

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'By creating a hideous unholy monster? Far from being impossible that is rather standard behavior for mages around here.'

What follows is a massive battle where waves of demons and fade monsters pour in while they do their best to hack down Quentin. With the killer dead Leandra returns to her senses and starts to die. Urien is crushed and apologizes for not coming sooner and not stopping the killer earlier.

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':weep:'

Urien is overcome with soul crushing grief. Uncle Gamlen is really upset and goes on an anti-mage screed.

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Urien reminds him of Bethany and he calms down. Gamlen says he will go tell Bethany since Urien is too upset to do it himself. This is rather stupid by Urien, by the way, he needs to bring her the letter from the Circle and find out who the killer's accomplices are. He is a bit out of skull right now though. His companions all step up admirably to comfort him.

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'Damn Isabela you have all sorts of skills I didn't know you had'

I was glad to see that little moment of Isabela consoling him. And she did a surprisingly gentle and caring job of it. For this being a 'romance' Bioware has not really done much to show it. Granted under normal circumstances she prefers to avoid intimacy. Also the conversation system post-Origins prevents you from spending alot of time talking to them like Lorcan could do with Morrigan.

Anders, of course:

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'Yes yes your mother...BUT DO NOT LET THIS IMPACT YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT I CARE ABOUT'

It is almost like Anders is unable to change his mind or change the subject.

I figure Urien spends quite sometime mourning and handling the arrangements around his mother's tragic death and dealing with his own role in it so we will just leave him there for now.

Quote from: Valmy on May 29, 2015, 03:04:55 PM
Couple of things I might consider.

1. More aggressive use of healing potions to make sure people are not going down as much. That might get expensive but fights are so long and now only Abominanders can heal.

2. I am thinking about how to better use Isabela. She should be hiding in the shadows more and backstabbing. I will try making that her default combat state instead of waiting until she is surrounded by enemies. I just don't feel like the AI uses stealth rogues very well. I need to take a closer look at her scripts. Varric and Sebastian do decently when Urien can keep them reasonably left alone.

3. Maybe more focus firing on enemies. I generally do not like this unless a boss is concerned but the number of elites can get really out of control when you have a few waves including revenants and golems and the like.

Also might look at my specs a bit. Any recommendations?

sorry for being so late.  you probably finished the game by now :P

Basically, yes, use healing potion. You can craft them at your home, once you got the required elements.
There are potions for health, stamina/mana and both at once.  Carry them all.

To hit something: Warrior is all strength, rogue is all dexterity and mage will always hit their target.  No other stats count when it's time to determine if you hit something.
To do damage once you've hit: Warrior is all strength, rogue is all cunning and mage is all magic. The higher these stats the more damage.
To evade damage, it's dexterity.
To determine if you do a critical hit, it's mostly cunning.  Except for mages, I don't think there are critical hits for mage.

The only real fights on hard were:
[spoiler]
- Varterhal (2 times)
- First dragon in the mine
- Last dragon in the mine, in Act III
[/spoiler]
These were really, really, really tough on hard.

You can still control the battlefield but you need to have the good specs and the good people:
Isabella is pretty weak until the end of Act 2, even Act 3.  There she got special abilities that let's her move around the battlefield stealthy and hit multiple targets.  There she's the queen.
Varric is good once you unlock his loyalty, there are a few Bianca options there that packs a punch and rejuvenate stamina.
Fenris, you need his lyrium tatoos to work for you.
Aveline, you'll be tempted to use her as guardian to take damage on behalf of your party, but I max out her other abilities before.
The little elf girl has some nasty blood/elven magic spell that can be pretty damaging for the ennemy, but also for her.  Be careful.
I always prefer Anders, due to his healing abilities.
Specialize first in lighting, second in fire.  Lighting is always the best option in this game, because no monster has immunity to this.  Contrary to fire and cold.  Although cold will be excellent against dragons and fire against humans.  But dragons are immune to fire and some demons are immune to cold.
Bethany is only available in Act 1
[spoiler]
also for the very end of Act 3 and one of the DLC[/spoiler]
I specialize her in lighting and her special ability that is very nasty.

There are a few weapons that keep upgrading their stats with you, use these.

My favorite party was always Fenris, Anders and Varric.   Doesn't matter if I play a mage a warrior or a dual weilding rogue. Well, in case of a rogue, I tended to use Aveline more often.  When doing Legacy, use Bethany, Fenris, and Varric.

Aveline is very good in the beginning as tank, but later on, Fenris surpasses her.

Isabella needs to cloack, then attack.  Rogue gets bonus when striking from behind.  You'll need to micro-manage her, contrary to an archer rogue like Varric.
Fenris charges through the ranks, Aveline stands and fight.
The Elf mage is good if she has lots of health, some staff combines her health with her mana to let her cast a little more.

Quote from: viper37 on June 02, 2015, 10:32:48 AM
sorry for being so late.  you probably finished the game by now :P

Nope still in Act 2 :P

I told you I am going through this slow. I have been busy.

Thanks for the advice. I have already been doing much of it but some good thoughts there. Those restoration potions are pretty great I guess I will stock up on them. My favorite party is Aveline, Varric/Isabela, Anders. Though, as I hope is obvious in this AAR, I try to use everybody equally. Fenris, Isabela, and Urien really chew through shit fast.

I think I am going to use Mark of the Assassin as an entre'act adventure. As in once Act 3 starts I am going to just do it and role play it happened at some point during the however long the time period skipped is...or at least that is my thinking without having any idea how Act 2 ends.

Several months pass and eventually Urien gets over his mourning. Merrill wants to see him at her house. He arrives to discover she has the Eluvian from the Dalish Origin and Witch Hunt from DA:O in her house. Huh. When did she go back to the Brescian and get it? It was still there in Witch Hunt and...oh forget it.

It seems this is what she learned blood magic for: to restore the Eluvian. She says the Keeper had tried to convince her that they were supposed to forget the secrets of the Eluvian and all this is why she was cast out. She also says instead of blood magic she could just use a bunch of Lyrium...um pretty sure Urien could get you that but whatever lets do demon stuff intead. I am not surprised the Dalish are embracing ignorance.

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'Of course you don't'

So she wants him to travel with her to her people and back her up while she asks the Keeper for help restoring the Eluvian. Remembering what Hubert asked him to do Urien visits the Bone Pit Mine just to see how things are going.

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'Of course they did'

So they drive out the spiders. The miners go back to work. Also while they are there they find another evil book. Not surprisingly Merrill gets upset when Urien destroys it. Crazy demon loving elf.

Urien goes back to discuss the mine business with Hubert.

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'Of course they are'

So they go back to the mine.

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'Sure you might have uncovered dragons, giant spiders, and demon possessed corpses but how many new veins of ore have we found?'

So they defeat the undead...then the workers want new pick axes. So they go buy them new pick axes. OK now we are done. In response Hubert speculates that maybe he should hire security for the mine. Well lets not go crazy and start eating into profits here Hubert.

Back to Sundermount, that hill of horrors. The Keeper is not happy to see her blood mage protege but Merrill invokes some elfy custom where a member of the clan can use an elfy artifact if they perform a service for the clan. So what is it? Prancing through the forest? Making elfroot bouquets? Oh no.

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'Oh is that it?'

That's right. In order to use this little elfy tool Urien has to defeat a monster of legend. It lives in a cave near where they found the other evil book earlier. Now for some reason the varterral had been letting their hunters go by unharmed but all the sudden it has started to kill them all. I wonder if Merrill had anything to do with it. So we find the dead hunters and a fourth living one, a former Denerim City Elf. Huh, was he in Origins? Yes he was, also from the Dalish Origin. His name is Pol and he sees Merrill and freaks out and runs directly to the varterral, being quickly killed. Well that is unsettling.

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'Wait didn't Lorcan have to be level 35 to beat this thing last time?'

They defeat the varterral and get its heart to take back to the herbalist. Merrill mourns Pol's death and cannot understand why he treated her like a monster. They return to the Keeper and she is relieved they defeated the beast. Still hesitant to help Merrill in her blood magic quest of potential evil she does something annoying.

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'Wait me?! Why do I have to be responsible this?'

Freaking authority figures around Kirkwall never take responsibility for anything. Merrill begs him to give her the elfy tool, called an Arulin'Holm and will help me repair the mirror somehow. Urien is hesitant after what the Keeper told him. But she asks again and finally he relents. I mean what is the worst that can happen by giving a blood mage everything she needs? Well in this case pretty much nothing. The Arulin'Holm does not seem to help Merrill restore the Eluvian at all. She is heartbroken all her friends and family now think she is a monster. So Urien reaches out to her.

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'Urien is such a sweet talker'

Merrill thanks Urien for believing in her and being a friend. Urien once again sticks out his neck and trusts his friends against his better judgement. He just sees these people as family and his support group and needs to trust them. This will become more and more significant as time goes on.

Like now actually as Abominanders wants Uriens help again. Once they reach Darktown they go in search of the final evil book, the works that made the evil of Tarohne during the missing Templar trainees quest in Act 1 possible. They find the last one and it has a particularly ominous name and led to a particularly difficult fight.

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'A demon whose name contains an 'X'? That means ultimate evil.'

Having Fenris in the group really helped here. It took awhile but once Xebenkeck went down she couldn't heal the bad guys anymore and they could wear them down. Whew that was alot of evil overcome.

Now that we have seen more of the worst in mages, let's go do something completely different.

Anders talks to Urien in his clinic. He has noticed the number of tranquil in the Gallows is increasing.

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'OMG I KNEW it was against the law. I was so worried this was retconned just to make the Templars and the Chantry more evil'

Anders outlines a conspiracy to tranquil every single mage in Kirkwall being carried out by a particularly sadistic Templar named Ser Alrik. Urien doesn't buy it. Anders explains he is an especially evil Templar even going so far as saying...

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'Really? Because it seems clear to me she is the most dangerous single individual in Thedas.'

Huh. Sometimes Anders suprises you. Anyway he wants Urien to help him break into the Gallows and find evidence of this plot by Ser Alrik. That seems like a crazy plan and Urien hesitates but Anders pressures him. True to form Urien eventually relents but has his doubts.

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'What Urien forgets is everybody carries a journal describing their vile plots in video games'

For some reason this conversation gives Urien full friendship with Sebastian. Only Merrill left and she is close. It takes a certain type of agreeable charmer to befriend this remarkably diverse rogues gallery.

Anders leads them to a secret tunnel into the Gallows that Lyrium smugglers use to give Templars their fix. Anders outlines his grand plan on the way.

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'I am pretty sure you could bring her severed heads of children and she would still claim neutrality.'

Well that good old Amell luck and timing are still in effect because they never get to the Gallows. Instead Ser Alric is down in the tunnels bullying a mage trying to see her parents. I mean really?

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'At least in places where Grand Cleric Elthina is not in charge. Here the Chantry is pretty much down for whatever.'

Urien attempts to appeal to his sense of honor. Perhaps a peaceful discussion can...

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'Oh right we have Abominanders in our group.'

Every mission with Anders eventually leads to killing Templars. Vengeance comes out and even after Alrik and his Templars are defeated he still wants more. Urien barely manages to calm him before he kills the mage.

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'Yes...something to think about Anders'

Anders is horrified by the abomination he has become and runs off. The mage is terrified and Urien tells her to leave Kirkwall and go anywhere. I suggest Ferelden, their Circle of Magi is reasonable. He finds the incriminating letter on Ser Alrik's person.

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'Anders was wrong.'

The Templars rejected Alrik's plan. But it is pretty telling he was even allowed to suggest it. Urien rushes back to Anders. He is preparing to leave. Urien stops him and shows him the letter. There is no Tranquil Conspiracy.

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'Oh dear the Grand Cleric? Well please make sure I am there when you do that.'

Anders should take this right to the Divine or one of the other first enchanters or knight-commanders or really anybody but Grand Cleric Elthina. That just sounds like another Vengeance episode waiting to happen. But he doesn't seem to be in a hurry.

Awhile after this Urien gets summoned by Viscount Dumar once again. His son has defected to the Qunari, thus risking the Viscount being accused of being anti-Chantry and destabilizing the city.

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Really Kirkwall is on a razor edge of all out war. Templar vs. mage and Qunari vs. Chantry. Urien prepares to head down to the Qunari compound and say something, anything, that might diffuse the crisis. I wonder if Isabela has any thoughts?

QuoteThe Circle seems interested in his attempts to make this Frankenstein's Monster.

No, not exactly.  Someone in the circle is interested in his attemps to learn about "forbiden magic" because he believes the Templars are simply too oppressive, and Meredith in particular, in quashing all kinds of research.  Sort of like the debates we have about ethical and non ethical research.  Except no one here talks about using body parts to reconstruct the dead, so we pretty much stress about nothing important :P

Quote from: viper37 on June 02, 2015, 01:07:12 PM

QuoteThe Circle seems interested in his attempts to make this Frankenstein's Monster.

No, not exactly.  Someone in the circle is interested in his attemps to learn about "forbiden magic" because he believes the Templars are simply too oppressive, and Meredith in particular, in quashing all kinds of research.  Sort of like the debates we have about ethical and non ethical research.  Except no one here talks about using body parts to reconstruct the dead, so we pretty much stress about nothing important :P

True. I guess I shouldn't immediately think they are complicit. I have to say I am glad the Templars are too oppressive for this kind of research, this is the kind of thing they should be oppressive about. It is just driving me crazy I never get to meet Meredith. She is just out there, this incredibly dangerous cloud of illegal extremism.

Quote from: Valmy on June 02, 2015, 10:43:59 AM

Quote from: viper37 on June 02, 2015, 10:32:48 AM
sorry for being so late.  you probably finished the game by now :P

Nope still in Act 2 :P

I told you I am going through this slow. I have been busy.

Thanks for the advice. I have already been doing much of it but some good thoughts there. Those restoration potions are pretty great I guess I will stock up on them. My favorite party is Aveline, Varric/Isabela, Anders. Though, as I hope is obvious in this AAR, I try to use everybody equally. Fenris, Isabela, and Urien really chew through shit fast.

I think I am going to use Mark of the Assassin as an entre'act adventure. As in once Act 3 starts I am going to just do it and role play it happened at some point during the however long the time period skipped is...or at least that is my thinking without having any idea how Act 2 ends.

I still recommend you wait for Mark of the Assassin.  There is one quest with a really, really, really extremely tough monster and the end game fight is even worst :P
And you have to take Talis, a rogue with her weapon set.  If I were you, I'd keep one or two of those potions for restat nearby ;) (Maker's sigh, I think, available at the Emporium).  She lacks a little cunning to be an effective rogue, imho.

Usually, I start the basic side quests of Act III, then move on to Mark of the Assassin.

The respec potions are very cheap. I will haul along a few.

A few quests in eh? Ok then.

Quote from: Valmy on June 02, 2015, 12:58:40 PM
Several months pass and eventually Urien gets over his mourning. Merrill wants to see him at her house. He arrives to discover she has the Eluvian from the Dalish Origin and Witch Hunt from DA:O in her house. Huh. When did she go back to the Brescian and get it? It was still there in Witch Hunt and...oh forget it.

The Eluvian is not unique.  In fact, there are still many of them scattered around Thedas. 

I am using the spoiler tag, but it does not affect anything in game.  It is revealed in a book.  And that book contradicts Dragon Age Inquisition.  Or DA:I contradicts the book :P  Anyway, With Hunt seems to agree with DA:I...  Oh, it isn't a good book btw ;)
[spoiler]
Ancient Elves used it to move quickly from one place to another.  You need a "key" to activate the Eluvian and once activated you go through it and sort of move through a parallel universe wich shortens the distance two points.  So you walk for an hour but do entire day's worth of marching.  They would be similar to Babylon 5's jumpgate.  You enter hyperspace to travel into, along a line of beacon.  And in the book, it is clear that this parallel universe is hostile to non-elves, making it harder for them to do any kind of physical effort.[/spoiler]

This one is revealed in DA:I:
[spoiler]
The Ancient Elves were not pacifists, nor innocent martyrs at the end of humans religious zealots.  They used to Eluvians to maintain an Empire, not unlike Orlais and war with one another.[/spoiler]

Quote from: viper37 on June 02, 2015, 01:50:06 PM
The Eluvian is not unique.  In fact, there are still many of them scattered around Thedas. 

I know. There were two in Witch Hunt. But Merrill says that this Eluvian is the same one as the one that kills Tamlen in the Dalish Origin and is used by Finn in Witch Hunt.

Quote from: Valmy on June 02, 2015, 12:58:40 PM
I wonder if Isabela has any thoughts?

Yes, she has some :P

Btw, did you do the night quests, where you repeatdly go into each area of the city until you get a bandit's lair to clear out? :)
I know you encountered Lelianna's cousins :D , but I wasn't clear on if you ultimately eradicated them all? :)

Quote from: Valmy on June 02, 2015, 01:52:08 PM

Quote from: viper37 on June 02, 2015, 01:50:06 PM
The Eluvian is not unique.  In fact, there are still many of them scattered around Thedas. 

I know. There were two in Witch Hunt. But Merrill says that this Eluvian is the same one as the one that kills Tamlen in the Dalish Origin and is used by Finn in Witch Hunt.

ah, well, I am sorry then.  It's been to long since I played DA:O (it was bugged on my system :( )

Quote from: viper37 on June 02, 2015, 02:00:19 PM
Btw, did you do the night quests, where you repeatdly go into each area of the city until you get a bandit's lair to clear out? :)
I know you encountered Lelianna's cousins :D , but I wasn't clear on if you ultimately eradicated them all? :)

Yes. There were dog bandits in Lowtown and thrifty dwarves at the docks. I took out all three of their hideouts. Surprisingly Darktown is the safest place in Kirkwall to walk around at night.

So time to journey on to the Qunari Compound to deal with the latest disaster. However a group of fine upstanding citizens do not want Urien to get there.

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'I mean seriously?'

Those Mercs must be either suicidal or very hard up. They brushed them aside and arrived at the compound. Shockingly Isabela buggers off again.

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'Wow two guys from Andromeda..er..Antiva? What a weird coincidence!'

That is the last time I can do that running gag. The Arishok will not turn over Saemus to us as he is now under the Arishok's protection.  However Saemus has already left, he got a letter from the Viscount telling him to meet at the Chantry.  Um...ok that is obviously Mother Petrice again. The Arishok warns us again...

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'Frankly if I were him I would have burned the place down after the envoys got slaughtered'

So they rush back to the Chantry and well...Saemus has been murdered. Oh shit.

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'Yeah I am sure everybody is totally going to buy this'

So Urien saved the Viscount's sons life for nothing in Act 1. Actually it probably would have been better if the mercs had killed him. Now his murder by Mother Petrice might trigger a war. She has her fanatics attack Urien while she runs for the Grand Cleric. Petrice leads Elthina to them once the battle is over claiming Urien Hawke slaughtered them all in the Chantry. Elthina does not believe her for a second and asks that we take her captive. So yeah she knew this the whole time didn't do anything and still won't. No huge denunciation of what happened, no big call for calm amongst the faithful nada.

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'You respect the law? Like how you make sure the Templars follow it? Oh wait...'

Seriously isn't punishing heretical clerics her job? She cannot even plead ignorance, she admits she knows what is going on but just refuses to do anything on principle. And she is the only authority who can solve this crisis as it is being driven by the Chantry itself. Ah well a Qunari warrior shoots her with an arrow, killing her to avenge Saemus. Elthina seems not too bothered by this.

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'Wait so we could have just killed her here at any time? Now you tell us'

Viscount Dumar arrives and is crushed by the death of his son. Urien tries to remind him of his duty and that his people need to be rallied to stop a conflict with the Qunari.

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'I get that your son has died but FUCK the leadership is so bad here I wish Loghain was in charge. YES I SAID IT'

So they leave. Kirkwall is doomed. Then Isabela hints the incredibly unlikely possibility she might be involved in some way.

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'I am SHOCKED SHOCKED to discover...'

So Urien rushes home to find Aveline and Isabella ready to talk to him.

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'Yes chasing two fugitives seems like a brilliant idea when the Qunari could destroy the city at any time.'

Ok two criminals ran off to 'join the Qun' and Aveline wants us to go confront the Arishok to apprehend them. Now? Can't this wait a week or so? Could your timing possibly be any worse?

Speaking of interesting timing Isabela has located her relic and if she does not get it Castillon, a crazy Antivan "Merchant", will kill her. She has located the fence who has it and he is going to sell it off in Lowtown...

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'Yeah so...um...actually words fail me'

So presuming this relic is the key to getting the Qunari to leave that seems a lot more productive than Aveline's rather provocative confrontation. Also Isabela needs it to not die. Probably can not get it for both things...sounds like a problem to figure out later. Also Isabela might not be totally trustworthy here. No loyalty to her one true pairing casual sexual partner? Man I liked it better when women were just using my heroes for old god children seed.

We flash back to the interrogation and Cassandra is surprised Urien is being pulled in all these directions. She seems to think the Qunari conflict was planned by him to achieve whatever ends he achieves.

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'Yeah because just between you and me I have no idea what is going to happen next'

Well ok I have known Isabela's relic is what is keeping the Qunari here since I first heard the Qunari were looking for something. Would have been nice to ask Isabela about it then but Urien just trusts his companions to a fault.

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'The Qunari have no such problem'

So once again Urien has to kill Qunari, a rather counterproductive move to somebody trying to keep the peace. He seems rather unsure how to react to this and then Isabela drops the bomb.

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':frusty:'

Urien agrees to let Isabela have the artifact and just trusts she will do the right thing. The fence is inside the foundry trying to sell the relic to the Qunari's Tevinter enemies. Urien and company breaks in just to see the Qunari do the same at the same moment. That Amell timing continues to be impeccable. The Tevinter's turn on both Urien and the Qunari and we have a nice three way fight going on. Meanwhile the fence charges off with Isabela close behind him. After the battle they exit the foundry to find the fence dead and Isabela and the relic missing. At least she left a note.

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'Well...we're boned'

Well unfortunately all of Kirkwall kind of got dragged in along with Urien. So with a mounting sense of dread Urien goes to join Aveline and the city guards. Aveline, Urien, and a small group of guards enter the compound and Aveline rather brazenly goes up and demands the Arishok turn over the fugitives. Well turns out they were elves who could not get the city guard to respond to one of the guardsmen raping their sister so eventually they took justice into their own hands and fled to the Qunari. Aveline admits she heard something but that did not justify their actions. Oh dear.

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'You must...what? Write an angry letter to the editor?'

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'I think Vinek Kathas means something similar to 'kill them all, the Qun will recognize its own''

So they attack and Aveline and Urien barely escape alive. The Qunari attack the city and the battle is on. Hard to feel like much of a hero in this game.

Aveline goes to rally the guard. Urien, Fenris, Varric, and Anders try to fight their way to Hightown. They fight through thugs and looters and Qunari through Lowtown as it burns around them. Surprisingly they run into a random group of Grey Wardens who I guess just happened to be passing through at just that moment.

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'Nice to meet you Stroud. It would have been cooler if you were Loghain.'

So that was pointless plotwise but it was nice to get a little help. They charge off to do important Grey Warden stuff saying they cannot involve themselves in local political issues. It seems the Grey Wardens were not happy about Lorcan being a kingmaker in Ferelden and Orzammar. So they fight into Hightown and after furious combat against the Qunari they get ambushed by a rather powerful Qunari mage but suddenly his magic stops working, and that can only mean Templars! But not just any Templar...

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'Nice to meet you! I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I have been desperate to kill you for the past three years'

Oh my how I wish Urien could just off her now. Nobody would suspect anything being in the middle of a battle and Abominanders wouldn't mind. Heck actually could Vengeance come out and get all demony right now? No? Stupid Anders. But really if Urien could take out Meredith and stop the Qunari here well, that would solve most of the remaining problems.

But I guess murdering a high ranking official, even one with such complete disregard for her jurisdiction and laws governing her office, is a bit too much. Also she probably is too powerful for him right now.

Meredith tells them the Qunari are gathering the nobles in the Viscount's Keep. Fenris informs them this is standard Qunari practice. The notables are all gathered and they either accept the Qun or die. Lovely.

In the square before the palace they find an elf mage who seems to be the only survivor of a Qunari attack...well actually one of the other mages survives and he heals her and it is...

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'SWEET SISTER! :hug:'

But she is not so sweet here. In fact she is downright cold to Urien. Meredith makes her charming arrival.

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'Wait...Orsino...the guy who was bugging the Viscount at the beginning of the act.  The letter from the Circle to the Lilly Killer was signed 'O'. Damn it I want to kill this joker as well'

Man...man...if only.

So they start bickering over who is in charge. Urien tells them to stuff and he is in charge. Bethany rolls her eyes. Damn sis what happened? They rush to the entrance to the keep and the Qunari fortunately did not lower the portcullis as leaving the gates to fortresses wide open is standard for Dragon Age keep defense.

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'Does anybody have a wheelbarrow and a holocaust cloak?'

Orsino distracts the Qunari and Urien and his group rush in the door. The giant iron door. That they didn't lock or bar or anything because of course they didn't. Soon they arrive at the Viscount's throne room. The Qunari are just killing the Viscount and the Seneschal as they walk in. The Arishok is giving the nobles an inspiring sermon.

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'Convert or die eh? Well I have to admit I have been looking for a little more spirituality in my life.'

I foresee the mega church career in the Arishok's future. Actually his harps on the nobles was disturbingly right on but insulting them is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. Urien, Abominanders, Fenris and Varric storm in and the final confrontation begins!

The Arishok points out he cannot leave without the relic and he cannot stand staying here with all the corrupt non-Qun around so he must convert the city. But at that dramatic moment Isabela returns to save the day! Wow how about that Amell timing? Or probably like that elf messenger in Awakenings she had actually gotten there 20 minutes earlier and was just waiting for the most dramatic moment. She strides up and hands the relic over to the Arishok at the risk of her own life. Urien's faith restored! Though...you know...the whole situation was her fault and everything.

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'Awwww that sweet moment when you influence your girlfriend to be slightly less evil'

But Urien, who is all about loyalty to his friends and family, has a huge moral shot in the arm. The Arishok says he will leave now but he must also take Isabela back for punishment. Urien stands by her and refuses. So then it seems the Qun demands a duel to the death.

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'A woman as the prize? You Qunari have some serious female objectification issues.'

Isabela doesn't want her true lo...er...casual sexual partner to risk himself on her account and heroically demands to duel the Arishok in Urien's place. But she is not Qun-y enough and only Urien has the Qun stuff the Arishok respects for duels to the death purposes. So we have the hero in an old school romantic fight to the death for his fair..erm...mature experienced partner.

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'I am a man, who will fight for your honor. I'll be the hero you're dreaming of'

So this is kind of a silly fight. I mean the setup is epic but the Arishok is loaded with healing potions and Urien is loaded with healing potions. So it all came down to who had the most healing potions and that was Urien. I trust Varric made it more dramatic in his retelling. Judging by Cassandra's reaction yes he did.

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'I did it all for you baby..er..I mean Isabela. Did it all for Isabela.'

Meredith walks in to see the nobles cheering on their savior Urien. Best not to tell them what was the ultimate cause of this. Meredith walks in and gives an expression like she just smelled a skunk and then declares...

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'No time for Templars 'cause I am the champion...'

Of course only the Viscount can declare a new champion and Meredith is not some crazy dictator who is going to abuse her power and take over a city or anything...

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'Haha just kidding'

Yeah she is now dictator of Kirkwall. Man Urien just keeps making it worse.

So three years pass under her illegal tyranny. Finally serial killer supporter First Enchanter Orsino gives a speech denouncing her arbitrary rule and demands a return to the traditional laws of Kirkwall, thus triggering the events that will drive Act 3.

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'I mean seriously would 99.99% of the Templars in Thedas not agree with this statement?'

Meredith storms in and accuses Orsino of treason. Well he probably is a blood mage and a traitor but Meredith is way off the rails. Urien is invited to enter the conversation and is remarkably restrained.

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'Yeah. That's right. I said it. Wrong. Deal with it.'

I would rather he just called for her arrest and execution for an illegal seizure of power and abuse of office. But I guess 'wrong' will have to do. Grand Cleric Elthina shows up and tells the First Enchanter and Meredith to go to their rooms and think about what they did.

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'Thanks...you can end this anytime you want. Just saying. Don't trouble yourself or anything.'

So we begin Act 3 and damn I want to wring some necks this game is driving me insane  :P

I thought this was supposed to be Mages vs. Templars. This has nothing at all to do with that and everything to do with the insanity of one singular individual.

Next post I will sum up Act 2 and discuss Act 3 a bit.

Here is what Urien did in Act 2:

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Ok so Gascard DuPuis was killed by Varric. Sic Semper Cruentus Magus.

Killed Ser Varnell when he kidnapped the Qunari envoys

Did not side with Mother Petrice. Because she and Ser Varnell were psycho maniacs. Though I suppose Urien may as well have considering how things went down.

Urien discovered Brekker was behind raiding the caravans he and Hubert owned. Despite Brekker's best efforts it was not the Ferelden who stayed dead.

Urien did not encounter the dwarf Yevhen. Quickly looking it up it seems you only meet him if Nathaniel Howe died in Awakenings...um I guess Nathaniel has killed him for some reason otherwise. Weird.

Urien let Javaris leave after he told Urien about the psycho elf in the Qunari fake explosives quest.

Urien helped Aveline and the City Guards defeat Evets' Marauders sans Evets.

Urien saved Feynriel from the fade and he went off to Tevinter. Far away from Urien, which was good.

Urien heroically beat the Arishok in a potion drinking competition to the death.

Ok so Act 2 kind of ground my gears a bit if you couldn't tell. The Hero is being really passive in the face of the threats he is facing. Now I can role-play a bit around that. I had originally pictured Urien as an easy going man who enjoyed life and looked after his own. But the extent he just lets dangerous villains be until they strike again and lets obvious problems fester until they become a crisis is rather...off putting. Maybe I just got used to Dragon Age: Origins where the hero swoops in to save the day against incredible odds. Here the hero lets things get really shitty until he swoops in to make them slightly less shitty. I just do not get why. Ah well. Urien just procrastinates I guess.

And man the leaders in this game are just remarkably incompetent and the few that aren't are either obviously evil, Meredith, or only 90% likely to be evil, Orsino. I have never seen a game where the Big Bad (Meredith) just sits there in front of you so long with you unable to oppose her in the fashion it would seem logical to do so.

Bioware has not attempted to write a plot exactly like this one so I guess I should be understanding they had some issues. They usually write the big 'save the world from the big bad' thing. I will say absent the Bhallspawn part the first Baldur's Gate kind of had similar elements and they did a great job leading up to the final battle with Sarevok. I don't know. On the other hand judging from the interrogation of Varric by Cassandra everything is going to go very badly and that is also a unique aspect not present in many RPGs. So I guess I can at least give them props for trying something different. Actually there are a lot of elements that new as I have mentioned before.

I really enjoy the characters though even though man I cannot recall another game where this many of your party members either betray you or are highly likely to. And what is the deal with Bethany? Her reaction was weird and out of character. Orsino must be brainwashing her :angry:

Aveline got married to Donnic a year ago and they went on a honeymoon in Orlais. She has been softened a bit by domestic bliss and has delegated and empowered the guard more. The guard is prospering as never before under her command and now exists as the only public institution the people can rely on. However that has made Meredith suspicious and now she desires to control it as well.

Anders gave up his revolutionary committee after the shock of his near murder of the Circle Mage in his escape plot in Act 2. He withdrew for many years struggling to master his abomination status. But recently he has returned to take up the banner of revolt once more...but who is in charge? Vengeance or Anders? Survey says: Vengeance. Get ready for more Abominanders theatre in Act 3.

Varric put Bartrand into a sanitarium and now runs House Tethras as the rightful head of the family. Though, for mysterious reasons, he has fake relatives listed as shadow owners on all official documents. Odd...

Fenris is now a famous hero, the Hightown friend of the Champion of Kirkwall, and hates all the attention. He wants to leave Kirkwall and learning of his sister from Hadriana still weighs on his mind. Yet he stays out of loyalty to Urien and sensing he will be needed in the coming crisis in Kirkwall.

Merrill has shut herself into her house in the Alienage puzzling over the Eluvian. She comes out so rarely Varric has food delivered to her house since she sometimes forgets to go get some. At least she no longer wanders around the city getting into trouble.

Isabela and Urien had a moment after he killed the Arishok. A tense one. She was upset he had fought the duel on her behalf and upset she had just put her life in danger by returning with the relic. Now Castillon will kill her before. Urien said he forgave her and praised her for helping the people of Kirkwall but she said "I didn't do it for them. I did it for you. It was always about you." As one usually says to their casual sexual partner. She then fled the city, hiding out for her enemies. Urien figured he would never see her again but rumor has it she is back in Kirkwall at her usual spot in the hanged man.

Bethany remains in the Circle of Magi after the battle but she ceased to write Urien letting him know she is ok.

During the past three years Urien has been elevated to Champion of Kirkwall, the most prominent person in the city who is not the Grand Cleric or Knight-Commander Meredith. In that time I assume he has been working to rebuild and maintain order as Meredith's tyrannical reign ramps up public discontent. But he is basically alone now and struggled with depression. Only Varric and Fenris have spent time with him in the past three years. But now the crisis is finally here. How will he manage.

Well first he will gather his allies and do whatever pressing quests he has to do. Then do Mark of the Assassin.

Quote from: Valmy on June 03, 2015, 06:41:14 PM
Orsino distracts the Qunari and Urien and his group rush in the door. The giant iron door. That they didn't lock or bar or anything because of course they didn't.

Everyone has its place in the Qun.  Even the doors.  Doors are meant to be opened, so they stay open!
Only an heretic would believe otherwise!

Quote
Urien did not encounter the dwarf Yevhen. Quickly looking it up it seems you only meet him if Nathaniel Howe died in Awakenings...um I guess Nathaniel has killed him for some reason otherwise. Weird.

Given the game was rushed, they didn't have time to fit it in.  But both of them use the exact same area you've been before in the deep roads.  It is an interesting quest to do, though.
There are mods that let you generate saves based on various choices you want to make, if you ever want to try that.

Quote
And what is the deal with Bethany? Her reaction was weird and out of character. Orsino must be brainwashing her (https://languish.org/forums/Smileys/langsmiley/mad.gif)

She has it rough in the Circle, what with Templars' oppression and all.  She blames you for not protecting her against the Templars in the first place.
But don't worry, had you brought her with you in the Deep Roads, there was 50% chances she'd still be mad at you :P

Quote from: viper37 on June 08, 2015, 04:16:19 PM
Everyone has its place in the Qun.  Even the doors.  Doors are meant to be opened, so they stay open!
Only an heretic would believe otherwise!

It is rare one of your kind has such a perfect understanding of the Qun.

Quote
Given the game was rushed, they didn't have time to fit it in.  But both of them use the exact same area you've been before in the deep roads.  It is an interesting quest to do, though.
There are mods that let you generate saves based on various choices you want to make, if you ever want to try that.

Fit what in? :hmm:

Anyway not sure I will be replaying this one any time soon but I will keep that in mind.

Quote
She has it rough in the Circle, what with Templars' oppression and all.  She blames you for not protecting her against the Templars in the first place.
But don't worry, had you brought her with you in the Deep Roads, there was 50% chances she'd still be mad at you :P

Pfft she was all 'the Templars are not so bad and I love teaching those cute little apprentices' last time.

I am so glad I decided not to take her on the Deep Roads. I would never have taken Anders with her.

Ok so Act III. This is where the rubber meets the road. The boys are separated from the men. When push comes to shove. When all will be said and done. When Urien will finally solve this problem before it blows up into an enormous crisis for once.

Eh probably not. But it should be a fun ride.

Ok so first Urien is going to go home then get the band back together. His dog trapped an intruder in the wardrobe.

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'But if you buy these magazines I will turn my life around'

But Urien has no time for helping troubled youth pull themselves up by their bootstraps and has his dog chase the kid out. No time for peasants. Bodahn and Sandal are about ready to return to Ferelden. Pity then Urien will be alone with his elf and his dog. I hope they stay just long enough for some last minute enchantments. Orsino writes Urien a butt kissing letter.

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'Oh Orsino :wub:'

What a sweet talker. Don't think you can seduce me with your honeyed words Orsino. Well time to go visit Aveline.

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'Well nothing symbolic about this'

Also I think I mistook just another noble with the Seneschal at the end of Act 2. Because instead of being killed by the Qunari, he is still there doing whatever with no Viscount around. He informs Urien that Meredith is likely to realize he is dispensable and boot him to the curb soon. He tells Urien that Viscount Dumar's predecessor was removed because he opposed Meredith. Man how long has the Chantry allowed her to get away with this?

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'And we use the term 'ruling' loosely'

Aveline really has the guard moving like a well oiled machine. Urien comments they are almost as formidable as the Templars.

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'Yeah because when there was a Viscount they were so restrained and knew their place.'

I just don't get it. Why does everybody put up with this woman? Does she have a pet Kraken or something? Exiting the palace Urien and Aveline head over to the Chantry to fetch Sebastian. Maybe he has finally decided whether he will stick with the Chantry or regain his throne. And the Grand Cleric called him impulsive. On the way we run into Delilah Howe! She tells Urien that Nathaniel has ventured into the Deep Roads to find that Thaig Urien got rich in in Act 2. Maybe I finally learn about that Lyrium eh? Anyway she wants me to go in after him.

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'Well I will try.

Do or do not. There is no try.'

So I am sure they will get right on that. First let's go see Grand Cleric Elthina not do anything in a highly spiritual manner.

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'The Chantry has nothing to do with the Templars or the mages. Nothing to do really.'

The Divine has gotten tired of everything going down in Kirkwall and has sent a secret agent, codenamed 'Nightingale' to straighten stuff out. Elthina is horrified the Chantry might actually do something so wants Sebastian and Urien to take care of it and make for sure nothing is done.

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'Step 1: Get rid of Meredith. There are no other steps.'

I sure hope this secret agent can help out somehow. Next they visit Fenris and he has not been able to restrain himself from trying to track down his sister. Well Aveline informs him she is here. They are to meet in the Hanged Man. Sounds legit.

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'Do Dalish shit in the woods?'

Ok so with Sebastian, Fenris, and Aveline they head over to the Hanged Man. On the way Urien is stopped by a brave Kirkwall noble eager to back Urien's plot.

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'Let's march on the Gallows right now! Oh what? No? Alright then'

She is going to send me secret messages. Because it is better for plotting to put down all of our plans in writing. Intrigue mastery!

They also swing by Hubert and just check on what is going on with the Bone Pit Mine. Well things are going horribly. A single horse escaped the mine pulling a cart full of dead miners. Hubert is trying to get the mages to talk to the horse.

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'Sounds like another even division of labor'

So business as usual in the Bone Pit. Quick stop to see Uncle Gamlen in the Blooming Rose then they run into a totally legitimate Antivan government official wanting Urien to track down some Elf Assassin hiding out with the Dalish. Huh...could be anyone.

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'Oh yeah I think I have heard of him'

Is that beard even possible? They go to the Hanged Man and Fenris' sister is waiting for him. She says his real name is Leto. I sure hope it is Leto II. And of course Danarius is there to pick up his property.

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'They arrived right before you did. I am sorry'

The great battle enfolds and it ends...well the only way it could.

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'Let's just say Danarius was heartbroken to lose his beloved slave *rim-shot*'

Urien convinces Fenris to let his sister go. While she is walking out she informs Fenris he was desperate to win the honor of becoming a magical super slave. He also freed his mother and sister as a boon after winning the honor. The process wiped Fenris' memory so he remembered none of this. He now realizes he has no past to reclaim. Now only an uncertain future. He decides to stay around and help his good buddy Urien who he has only tried to kill once. They leave the Hanged Man while the staff cleans up all the bodies. A disturbingly common situation when Urien drops in. One of the things the noble conspiracy wants Urien to do is find the Templar death squad in Lowtown. Well they see them roughing up some woman. Urien strolls up wondering how exactly he should handle this. Well it seems this group of Templars just murderers anybody who sees them on sight. That made it easier.

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'The Champion of Kirkwall, the Captain of the Guard, and a Brother of the Chantry? KILL THEM ALL BROTHER TEMPLARS!!!11'

I mean WTF? So Templars were killed without Anders being involved at all. That is a first. Kirkwall really is bizarre world. Next they visit Gamlen at home. He has a note mentioning the Gem of Kerosheck and meeting some group in Darktown. Gamlen doesn't want to talk about it but he does have nice things to say to Urien.

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'*sniff* thanks Uncle Gamlen'

The feels. This Gem of Kerosheck thing is one of the more impressive McGuffins I have ever seen. More on that later. At this point the Hanged Man is cleaned up so back to meet Isabela and Varric. Isabela is struggling with self loathing.

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'Have you seen my other friends?'

Anyway Isabela eventually agrees we had fun and rejoins the group. Varric is discussing the events of Awakenings with Anders and marvels they ever ventured into a place called 'Blackmarsh'. Still better than 'The Bone Pit' I say. Varric tells him trouble is brewing. Glad we have your sensitive ear to the ground Varric. Then it is on to visit Merrill in the Alienage. She just kind of sits around looking at her mirror.

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'Varric is kind of the team nanny'

Alright...only one freak left. Anders. He is kind of losing it. He goes on a big rant to Aveline about how she is nothing but a Templar stooge.

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'Why do I have the sudden feeling the catastrophe will be called 'Anders'?'

And why does he think our cause is lost? Urien is on the case he has connections...oh ok I see it now. Anyway interesting he is blaming the Chantry after that letter they found in Act 2. Hey did he ever go to the Grand Cleric? Eh I don't know. He is probably completely out of his scull now. First they recover a cache from some mercenaries and Templars for the Noble's allied with Urien. Then they stop by the group of guys who were going to meet Gamlen about the gem. Well they decide they want the gem for themselves and attack us. Woah. Once they die the only clue is a mallet that looks like a mallet in Uncle Gamlen's house. So they go back to Gamlen's and discover his mallet was made from the wood of the giant tree in the Alienage.

So they go to the tree and them showing up asking about the mallet was the signal to get a note from an elf telling them to go investigate a crate in a storehouse in the Docks. Really? This quest is silly. While in the Alienage they run into that elf girl Urien rescued from the deranged son of the Magistrate in Act 1. She just joined the City Guard so that is good. Hey whatever happened to the magistrate? Didn't he swear revenge? This is going to be some very cold revenge when it is served indeed. On to the Docks.

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'I wonder what handsome devil they built that statue of?'

So they go into the warehouse and are attacked by a massive horde of mercenaries. Holy shit this gem must be worth a king's ransom. They find another note telling them the gem is in a cave outside of town. Really so those dudes have just been waiting around until Gamlen got around to following up on all of this?

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'A salient point'

Come on Bioware don't lampshade your own silly quests :P

A quick stop by the Gallows before meeting up with this Chantry secret agent. The Templar allies of Urien are ready.

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(https://media3.giphy.com/media/8fen5LSZcHQ5O/200_s.gif)

It is amazing how unaltered my plan is from Act 1. It looks like I can actually go visit Meredith now...eh maybe later.

So this codename 'Nightingale' is going to meet Urien and Sebastian in the throne room of the Viscount's palace. It has been sealed since Act 2 but whatever Sebastian got that 40 cunning dontcha know. Inside they find a group of hardcore blood mages ready to murder them all. Well they were made short work of. Two more blood mages approach from behind and...

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'LELIANA!!!111 Er....I mean nice to meet you woman I have never met before'

Leliana set this trap for these mages, a dangerous force of mage anarchists known as the 'Resolutionists' who are taking the 'Libertarians' philosophy into revolutionary action. She thinks they are behind the mage revolt in Kirkwall. While they are surely a factor it would be a small issue were Meredith's illegal policies not pushing the entire Gallows to revolt. Leliana is sure, after what she has observed, that horrible things are about to go down. She gives us one job.

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'That would require Elthina to do something so probably not happening'

Well Urien tries.

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'I bet there are plenty of Chantry driven catastrophes you can ignore that way'

Well she won't do it.

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'Well I cannot say I have not been tempted to slap you a few times.'

Sebastian is moved by the Grand Cleric's courageous inaction and finally decides to stay loyal to the Chantry. What an exciting subplot that was :P

Urien heads home to check his mail from his noble accomplices. Seems pretty clear Leliana is not going to help for awhile. Isabela is there. Castillon is still trying to kill her but she has located his flunky Velasco. Now they just need a plan.

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'A cunning plan that cannot fail'

And the conspiracy is afoot!

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'This message will self destruct in five minutes'

Oh a bit of cloak and dagger. So they go down to Lowtown to find the Nobles conspiring together.

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'Sanity? In Kirkwall? You nobles may be a bit extreme.'

Anyway there is a mole and hordes of Templars rush in. Fortunately all the Templars and Meredith loving traitor nobles are delt with. So glad the Templars have all this manpower to try to kill Urien. I guess the hunting for blood mages is left up to us again.

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'Geez Meredith you have ONE JOB'

Now on to more cunning plans and crazy capers.

Quote from: Valmy on June 08, 2015, 10:12:36 PM
Fit what in? :hmm:

both storylines.  Now, it's one or the other.  With 2 more years development, such quests could have existed in parallel.

I cannot believe this game came out in 2011. That blows my mind. Did it even have 2 years of development total?

You didn't forget to cash in reward in the Hanged Man for those bandits, did you? :)
Also, there's a Qunari waiting for you near your home, with an important quest.

Mini spoiler wich you might still want to click (not story related):
[spoiler]
He will offer you money, say no.  At the end of the quest, you'll get a juge xp bonus[/spoiler]

Yeah the first few Qunari swords cost 3 gold at stores so I was hoping for a bit of cash back. So I totally messed that one up.

And yeah I am always forgetting to go visit the person at the Hanged Man for the bandit quests.

Ok so next on the docket of madness is: Isabela and Urien's plan to capture Castillon. They arrive at the Blooming Rose while Velasco is there banging elves. Then they will allow him to capture Isabela and take her to Castillon. She will leave a trail for Urien to follow.

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'My companions are all loonies'

So they break in and Urien pretends to sell Isabela off. Then they pursue her trail...

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'Isabela always carries a bag of glitter for just such emergencies'

So we track them down to a warehouse by the docks which looks strangely familiar...Velasco and Castillon get what's coming to them despite an attempt by Isabela to buy off Castillon. She is both unscrupulous and a bit dense. Kind of charming really.

So afterwards she finally admits she loves Urien and wants to feel all the feels.

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'Your competition are an abomination, an emotionally unstable guy who rips people's hearts out, and a blood mage. You only almost got the city destroyed.'

So sweet love foreva! What could go wrong?

Ok so remember the weird Gamlen quest? The one with the mallets and weird elves who wait around trees to deliver messages to people talking about mallets? Well they have to go to the secret cave outside of town to pick up the Gem of something-or-other. They fight through spiders and demon possessed corpses to find...

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'Isabela propositions Gamlen's daughter to a threesome five seconds after meeting her'

So yes Gamlen had a long lost daughter named Charade. Seriously. It seems Gamlen was so obsessed with finding this gem that he didn't notice his girlfriend left him preggers. And he also blew all the money in part trying to get this thing. And I have no idea if the gem was even recovered or what. It is the most pointless plot point ever, a total McGuffin. And what was supposed to happen here? Charade Amell really expected her dear old absentee dad to fight through all these bandits, figure out all those bizarre clues, and then fight through a spider infested cave to reach her? Why not just go to his house? This quest man. It is so bad it's good. So Charade went back to introduce herself to Gamlen. Welcome to the family!

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'Obligatory joke'

Oh and there was a big fight with some more thugs for some reason. Thus ends the most non-sensical quest I have ever seen in Dragon Age. But at least we know the noble line of Amell has yet another fertile plot from which it may sprout anew. How is that for a Lettow-esque sentence?

So next: Zevranerm...the mysterious elf assassin the Antivan Crownobleman with the impossible beard wants us to kill. But first Urien has to manipulate the Dalish into giving him up.

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'Wait so he is letting the Dalish just telling whomever where he is? What is he thinking?'

What he was thinking was he was pretty safe where he was.

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'So what? You and Zevran are now Varterral experts or something?'

So now it is Valmy 3 Varterral 0. Ah yeah.

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'Zevran 2.0 with clownish elf ears upgrade'

Zev is STILL hiding out from the Antivan Crows after like 6+ years. He and Isabella knew each other but actually she already told Urien about Zevran in Act 2. Urien asks her what they should do with Zev.

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'Too much information...'

I just cannot get enough of DA2 Isabela she cracks me up. So on to the give the Antivan Crows our regards.

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'If they fail to assassinate you they will just bore you to death with their endless tedious attempts to do so'

That is the end of that. And Urien and Isabela and Zevran all have a threesome because that is what it means to have Isabela as your girlfriend. Ah well. So Urien goes back to Kirkwall and changes parties. Time for my favorite parts of any Act in Dragon Age 2: exploring the Wounded Coast, climbing Sundermount, and visiting the Bone Pit. Abominanders, Aveline, and Varric are up for the challenge.

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'Oh I guess I expected a more insidious revenge plot'

So as soon as we get to the Wounded Coast Evets is there to be killed. So that takes care of that sword of Damocles. One of their quests was to rescue a damsel fair from wicked bandits. But when they arrive the damsel fair is sitting there all Sandal-like surrounded by the bloody corpses of the kidnappers. It seems she has a boyfriend who seduced her through her dreams.

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'Well this super power is not abusable or anything'

So Feynriel is seducing ladies and murdering bandits from hundreds of miles away. Well I guess if Dagna is not the villain of Inquisition maybe he should. The rest of this session was about a series of very tough fights. First they were finding these scrolls which spoke of evil demons imprisoned or something or other. The usual thing. And they kept running into said eldritch horrors.

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'You will fall to my demonic powers MORTAL!'

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'No it is to MY demonic powers you shall fall!'

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'They were both wrong it is to OUR demonic powers you shall fall!!!11'

So two really powerful arcane horrors then a named walking corpse and two muthafucking revenants. So there is a super powerful big boss demon waiting deep under Kirkwall someplace but hehe think I will wait on that one. Those were bitching fights. I honestly am not sure how I won the one with two boss revenants. It was good to have Aveline. The combat in DA2 is pretty great, if I replay this game it will be for this. Thanks to all the new AoE abilities I have not been able to play it on Nightmare but I would like to learn. I planned Urien around using the two handed weapon skills but they are almost impossible to use well with friendly fire taking down the rogue beside me everytime. So maybe next time. More on the this later when  I finish the game.

So they ascend to the top of Sundermount AGAIN fighting through tough fights and once again...nothing. But at least those other times there were mysterious force fields and strangely placed wagons blocking the entrance to the cave at the top this time...

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'Yeah so...it is open but we cannot go inside. Well maybe Act 4...oh wait'

Stupid cave at the top of Sundermount CONSTANTLY TAUNTING ME.

Alright so now just to go down to The Bone Pit and see how the miners are doing and...oh wait everything was totally destroyed and everybody killed.

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'Ah hell yeah!'

So a High Dragon moved in with all of her family and one of those super stage-based WoW-ish boss fights commenced. I think there were three dragons in addition to the hordes of dragonlings. I had a blast and it was super fun.

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'My weapon maybe stupid but I AM AWESOME!'

Seriously what is up with that weapon? It is just lame as hell. That would never work, it is like some kind of anime weapon only lacking that over the top that would make it cool. But man does it have great stats.

But everybody is dead. It is just that sort of game for heroes. Urien goes back and tells Hubert it is all over and Hubert gives Urien sole ownership of the Bone Pit. Eh everybody gave up and gave Cecil Rhodes those diamond mines and look how that turned out? That's right. Horribly for most everybody except Cecil Rhodes.

Next on the heroic social calendar is a trip to the Deep Roads. They did not have to go far (well actually they probably had been traveling for a week or more) until they find a singular Grey Warden being attacked by vile Darkspawn. Ah yeah it is Nathaniel Howe one of the saviors of Ferelden. He is glad to see his old friend.

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'You aren't kidding pal'

Anyway the Grey Wardens are working with the Architect to...clear up something in the Deep Roads. Anyway it seems Varric and Bartrand were venturing deeper into the Deep Roads than anybody had ever gone before. Huh? Anyway the Architect assured Nathaniel the passage was clear but instead it was very unclear. Damn it. So they find the cousin of that dwarf demolitions expert from Awakenings who, shockingly, has actually gone into hiding from the Qunari just like it said in the Awakenings Epilogue. Nice when what they say happens actually happens :P

He has set demolition charges to take out the Darkspawn but Urien elects to do it the old fashioned way. That was fun, lots of Ogres. Blowup up sections of a cave seemed like a really bad idea, I remember the collapsed Deep Roads from Awakenings. Granted Urien didn't but maybe Anders and Nathaniel filled him in.

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'It was good to see you again Nathaniel...er...I mean it was nice to meet you Nathaniel'

That was a nice little quest only I didn't get any more light shown on the weird details of the Deep Roads expedition and it did not seem to have much to do with the other plots in the game. Ah well.

Now it is time for the big quest that will finally answer the question:

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Do you want to date her avatar?

That's right it is Mark of the Assassin time. Get ready for something completely different!

I suggest Aveline + Anders as your companions.  Tallis will be your rogue, but you'll need to respect her to give her more cunning to open locks.

There are some tough fights in this one. :)

Banter wise, when you walk Kirkwall, try it with Isabella and Aveline, that always cracks me up, especially in act 3 :D

Finished Mark of the Assassin. I took Bethany and Isabela because I just love making things harder on myself. But seriously I will always always take Bethany if I can at this point.

I LOVED the last fight. It was all about my favorite parts of Dragon Age fights. Positioning and controling the battlefield.

But especially during phase three I was super intense prompting my four year old, who usually plays Minecraft on a tablet on the chair behind me while I play Dragon Age, to say 'Daddy you are ridiculous when you get to the hard fights'

This is serious business son -_-

I like Varric banter, he is everybody's bud. He and Fenris talking about their Wicked Grace games makes me wish that was a mini-game :blush:

I had more trouble doing the ancient deity fight in the first part.  That one was really, really, really tough to do.  The battlefield is really small, the ennemies are really tough to kill and pack a punch and that fucker always disapear behind a force field whenever I start getting his health down!

Quote from: viper37 on June 12, 2015, 09:37:24 AM
I had more trouble doing the ancient deity fight in the first part.  That one was really, really, really tough to do.  The battlefield is really small, the ennemies are really tough to kill and pack a punch and that fucker always disapear behind a force field whenever I start getting his health down!

I got beat down once and figured it out. You cannot hit the Arcane Horror in melee (well you can but he has this PBAoE that wrecks your shit, just like Fenris does). So I had Isabela and Urien kill all the adds and Bethany and Tallis (who I found out throws her daggers...woman must have hundreds) hit it from long range. It was pretty squishy for a boss so that was not too hard.

Now the Alpha Wyvern was something else. That fight made me rip my hair out.

Quote from: Valmy on June 12, 2015, 09:50:12 AM

Quote from: viper37 on June 12, 2015, 09:37:24 AM
I had more trouble doing the ancient deity fight in the first part.  That one was really, really, really tough to do.  The battlefield is really small, the ennemies are really tough to kill and pack a punch and that fucker always disapear behind a force field whenever I start getting his health down!

I got beat down once and figured it out. You cannot hit the Arcane Horror in melee (well you can but he has this PBAoE that wrecks your shit, just like Fenris does). So I had Isabela and Urien kill all the adds and Bethany and Tallis (who I found out throws her daggers...woman must have hundreds) hit it from long range. It was pretty squishy for a boss so that was not too hard.

Now the Alpha Wyvern was something else. That fight made me rip my hair out.

Funny.  The Alpha Wyvern did not give me that much problem.  The last time, I was a rogue, I had Fenrys, Tallis and Anders.  Anders cage force one of the baddies, shoots lighting at them, My rogue finish them, Fenrys hits the beast.  When it shoots arrows of fire everywhere, I move my people around. Easily done in 20-30 minutes and all my health potions :P

Time for MARK OF THE ASSASSIN. I have to admit even after finishing the DLC I am not exactly sure what the title refers to. Once Tallis gets referred to as an assassin and the bad guy marks people during the final battle but...eh oh well.

We start with the lovely dominatrix Cassandra busting Varric's balls about Urien Amell Hawke almost starting a war with the Qunari.

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'But what we had was very much like a war wasn't it?'

Well turns out he also nearly started another war. Urien just cannot quit the Qunari.

We start with the same crew that Urien was with at the end of the last section: Abominanders, Varric, and Aveline. One of his Merchant's Guild contacts wants us to meet some people in the High Town Market but instead it is a massive group of Antivan Crows. Damn these guys just never give up! Tallis shows up with super cut-scene powers

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'She can one shot five guys! What is her class? Super ninja?'

Unfortunately her class abilities are only usable in cut scenes. Anyway they stomp the Antivan Crows who are the worst most unsubtle assassins in the world. Tallis introduces herself and asks that Urien attend a party being held by a Duke Prosper at his estate at Chateau Haine. Hate Castle? Sounds charming. I guess Chateau Rage or Chateau Mépris were already taken. They are to steal a gem called 'The Heart of The Many' for unknown reasons. Well that is the whole hook. Meet some weird elf and go to a party to steal a gem for unknown reasons.

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'This is the actual reason for the adventure. La quête du fromage is the real name of this DLC'

So who gets to go to the party?

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'Hey look a screen of every single joinable character except Carver. RIP bro.'

I have to take Tallis so it seemed logical that Aveline and Bethany should have been my group but...eh...I thought maybe Isabela or Varric might be more fun at a party. I thought maybe with Urien and Tallis we could melee DPS everything down with Isabela so I took her. Turns out there was some salty dog pirate type content just for her so that was cool.

Tallis, Isabela, and Urien arrive at Chateau Haine and introduce themselves to Duke Prosper. It seems Urien was not the only Amell Hawke invited.

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'Hey! Who is that chatting up my sister?!'

This time Bethany is glad to see Urien. Awwwww so glad to have her in the group again :wub: She admits she kind of likes being in the Circle, much less stressful than being an Apostate. And Isabela smuggles in pornographic materials which Bethany appreciates. So much love in Urien's gang.

So this is one of those noble hunting parties. Except instead of hunting stags or foxes or something they are going to be hunting Wyverns. Orlesian nobles are hard core. Heck the Orlesian Jacobins will hardly have any work left if they keep having parties like this. Man I freaking love the Orlesians they are so snobby and badass. I wish I could play one. They are combination Venetian-Three Musketeers type people. So much awesome. They make me want to strut around with an alabaster mask and spit on Ferelden dogs. And after that maybe spit on their mabaris as well.

The banter in this DLC is top notch. The Bioware writers really hit their stride. Here is Tallis asking Urien about his title.

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'The Only One in Kirkwall Not Completely Insane would have been perfect'

An empty title with no privileges or responsibilities. Got to love it.

And here is Tallis talking about how Duke Prosper de Montfort's family got possession of the chateau.

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'Damn straight it is!'

I mean really I could go on and on.

So Urien sets off in his quest to win a noble party game. Eh he has risked his life for less. During this time he saves the lives of a couple Orlesian hunting dogs and defeats a cult for the elder sky god.

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'I am known as the Bane of Viper37'

They also find a brand new monster. Ghasts which are sort of like Goblins who are trying to dress up like Orlesians. They like to live in holes in the ground and burst out and make funny noises...and try to kill you. Everytime I run into a new monster in Dragon Age it is an experience of shock and joy. So finally they gather the materials to bait the mighty Wyvern (another new monster!!) to win the party prize. This culminates in Tallis running around making Nug noises. This DLC is so very grimdark  :P

The Alpha Wyvern swooped down and this was one pain in the ass of a fight. It can stun and charge and hits like a mack truck. It can one hit both Tallis and Isabela. Oh crap. I mean rogues have lots of ways to escape getting hit but none of them work if they go down in one hit. And of course it could one hit Bethany to. And it just drops agro and smashes random targets every once in a while. Basically there was no sure fire strategy for my group because of this, it just required a bit of luck...and potions...lots of potions. There was one incident where the Alpha Wyvern charged and took down Tallis, Isabela, and nearly killed Bethany in one charge. Then it finished off Bethany while she was still on the ground. LOL.

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'Don't charge...please don't charge...just...'

Anyway there were a few things I figured out to help our chances and eventually it worked out. The beast went down. They were immediately attacked by an outrageous Orlesian Baron who tried to steal their kill. Well that was not happening so we beat them down but damn I was crapping my pants. I had no time to save after the Wyvern fight since this came on immediately. Fortunately nobody died. For winning the prize Urien got a pretty badass Wyvern hunting belt. I imagine it looks like a boxing championship belt.

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'This means we are all going to be poisoned doesn't it?'

Sadly Bethany and Isabela do not come to the party with Urien and Tallis, they are sent off to find an alternative route into the castle. Urien and Tallis are trying to get a key to get inside the castle to steal the McGuffin of The Many. I mean the Heart of The Many. Tallis tries to use her Felicia Day wiles and first tries to seduce a guard but finds he gave the key to a servant. So then she tries to seduce the servant and it turns out she gave the key to Cyril de Montfort, the Duke's son. More on that later.

So anybody who is anybody is at this party.

Bann Teagan and Isolde are there.

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'Quel scandale!'

Leliana is there.

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'We all know Leliana's signature move is hair complements'

But also the Comtesse de Launcet and her daughters. The Compte de Launcet was the noble Leandra Amell was originally betrothed to before she ran off with Malcolm Hawke and spawned a bunch of troublemakers. Also present is Bann Perrin, who I did not remember at first but then the dialog reminded me he is the noble Leliana stole frilly underwear from in Leliana's Song. Damn people are still giving him shit for that? Wasn't that like 9 years ago now? The Seneschal of Kirkwall, Urien's old bud, is also there with his trans-woman elf consort. Huh. Didn't see that one coming. I mean an elf? How scandalous.

The canapés and gossip are delightful but they have a mission here. They find Cyril de Montfort and Tallis tries to seduce him. But it seems he is more into Urien. Tallis does what any seducer does when she fails and slips a date rape drug into his wine.

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'Now we shall take your key...and fortunately for you that is not a euphemism'

So we get a fun stealth section where Urien sneaks through the castle avoiding guards and looting stuff. There is also a quest to poison Duke Prosper's pet Wyvern Leopold. So yeah I just did that without knowing why really. Turns out that helped a bit with the final battle. Urien also finds some pirate medallions for Isabela and paintings for Bethany...one of which looks like their mother. Why do so many people have pictures of Leandra? So weird. Was she like some kind of pin-up for the nobles in her youth? Eventually Duke Prosper finds them before they can get to the vault, and reveals Tallis is a Qunari assassin and the Heart of the Many is actually a reference to a Tal Vashoth who is going to hand over some important Qunari relic to the Orlesians. Stupid gem McGuffins.

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'Well once you leave the Qun you are no longer Qunari. The second part of your question I have no idea.'

I guess when you get famous random secret agents just start recruiting you to get involved in international incidents. At this point you can turn on Tallis for betraying you but Urien figured he was in too deep at this point anyway. Might as well finish the job. Besides the Qunari might be mad at him for killing their supreme warlord and this might make some amends or something.

Tallis and Urien get thrown into prison. Tallis unlocks the door and they run into Isabela and Bethany, who happen to be carrying their gear. So that worked out. There was a funny scene earlier where Bethany and Isabela got lost in the castle and decided to booze it up in the wine cellar but I guess they didn't get too trashed.

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'Indeed. Nothing horrible ever happens to me'

I will miss his jaunty party outfit. So Tallis has a way out through a secret passage built by the Grey Wardens back when Chateau Haine was used as a garrison during the Fourth Blight (the one from DA:O is the Fifth Blight) that seemed easy enough but that old problem reared its head: petrified pirates. I hate it when that happens.

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'It is saying 'enjoy Captain Morgan's spiced rum''

A horrible pirate curse has turned these three salty dogs into stone statues. Only a sexy and dashing pirate captain can save them. But Isabela will have to do. It seems they stole a priceless dagger that was cursed by their apostate captain. It is up in the vault so it looks like they will not be escaping the castle after all. They climb the stairs and Duke Prosper seals the rest of the castle and sends his soldiers to kill them after appropriately witty banter with Urien.

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'It is shit like this that makes the Orlesians awesome'

After the battle they go down to the vault where I have to solve many different puzzles. I won't go into great detail but there were lots of door and floor puzzles.

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'Most people just use a key or something but people who design vaults for RPGs know better'

The big one was a massive 5x5 floor puzzle that took me forever to solve. In fact I am not even sure how I did it. Just I kept screwing with it and suddenly I noticed it was set up to be solved. So in addition to lots of nice loot they got the cursed pirate dagger with its massive cursed jewels. Isabela really wants to keep the dagger and screw those pirates but Urien points out it is a cursed dagger. So she frees them. They pledge to serve on her pirate crew.

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'Those are the sorts of results you can expect under my leadership!'

But it pays off soon. They slip through the Grey Warden tunnel. Eventually Duke Prosper's muscle, a giant Chasind Warrior and his pet mages confront them...I swear does every Thedas noble have his own staff of mages?

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'Damn it! Whenever you WANT Abominanders to lose it he is not around'

Isabela's three pirates show up to help and they cut them down in a most swashbuckling manner. So they reach the end of the tunnels to find a huge battle with ghasts. This one was actually kind of hard, the big boss ghast had a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

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'How ghastly! Ok I will get my coat'

I mean just look at them. They are all painted up like Orlesians. Hope we get more ghasts later. After this Urien had to decide whether to stay with Tallis or not. Well it is not like Prosper de Montfort is going to become their best bud at this point so might as well stick with her.

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'Indeed. I have no idea why they are even doing this. I hope they at least got good cheese.'

The Tal-Vashoth are waiting for them.

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'We rejected the harsh conformity of the Qun! And somehow all look exactly the same.'

Tallis finds the Tal-Vashoth leader and gets him to tell her where the meeting between the Tal-Vashoth and Duke Prosper is going to be. Then she kills him.

So they arrive at the spot and the Tal-Vashoth big boss hands over a list of names to Duke Prosper who is enraged it is not some secret weapon or artifact. Then at that dramatic moment Urien strolls in.

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'And a fabulous beard. The tattoo is a bit weak though'

This distracts everybody for Tallis to steal the scroll of names. Duke Prosper then kills the Tal-Vashoth big boss using some green goo that tells his pet Wyvern to kill. Then he orders everybody, Tal-Vashoth and Urien's group alike, be killed. A massive three way battle begins. The first stage there are lots of guards and Tal-Vashoth fighting around you and as the guards kill the Tal-Vashoth they attack you. Also Prosper summons his Mabari to fight but Mabari are not the weapons of destruction they were in DA:O. They probably gain super powers inside the borders of Ferelden. Meanwhile Leopold the Wyvern is sitting above spitting poison down on everybody.

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'Isabela is our tactical expert'

After we get Prosper down to about...um...I think 25% of is health he runs off and sends Leopold down after them along with a hoard of guards. Because Leopold was poisoned he got sick and was stunned for a few seconds at the beginning of the fight which gave us sometime to kill the guards. Leopold was nowhere near the terror the Alpha Wyvern was though. He had some skills but his inability to one shot everybody was his downfall.

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'Legbiter is disgusted by beta wyverns'

After you beat him up Prosper and Leopold combine Voltron style and attack at full health again. Prosper has one of those repeating crossbows and marks Urien (a Mark of the Assassin? Though Prosper is not really an assassin) with the green goo stuff getting Leopold to charge at him. This is the key to the fight because you are fighting on this Cliffside and you trick Leopold into running off and he gets stuck for a second or two and you can beat up on them. This makes no sense as Wyverns can fly but hey whatever.

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'Your ridiculous repeating crossbow is no match for my stupid looking sword villain!'

This fight was all about managing positioning and getting people on the right adds and bosses when they needed to be. A very long resource management fight. I was healing with Bethany most chances I got and was using the potions to keep everybody up. Eventually they got Isabela with a poison spit but that was very late in the third phase. The last healing potion was used right at the end of the fight. I had brought almost 40 with me. All the mana potions were also used. The fight didn't end a moment too soon. When Leopold-Prosper reaches zero health a cut scene plays where Prosper and Leopold go over the cliff face. Urien has some James Bondish one liners.

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'To be fair it is a pretty great belt'

Then Duke Prosper de Montfort loses his grip and falls to his death.

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'*puts on shades*'

Tallis explains that the scroll contained a list of Qunari agents throughout Thedas. So glad they saved the lives of all those foreign spies. Well when the Qunari win I hope they remember who made their victory possible. Urien offers Tallis a permanent spot on team Amell Hawke and Isabela explains the qualifications.

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'You forgot vengeful psychopath'

Tallis goes off to do whatever Qunari do.

So now we flash back to Varric talking to Cassandra and I don't know she is any more enlightened by why that went down as she was before.

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'It was all for the cheese Varric'

Well anyway that was a badass adventure. It was funny and dramatic and filled with great puzzles and challenging fights. I loved every bit of it. Bravo Bioware. I feel much less bitter about paying full price for it. So with that Urien goes back to his home in Kirkwall and gets a letter from his arch nemesis. That's right. A message from Anders to visit him in his clinic.

Oh wait no a letter from Meredith.

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'You are stepping down and supporting my bid for Viscount? LOL just kidding'

So meetings with Meredith and Anders. This must be Urien's lucky day. I dearly wish Urien could coordinate his conspirators and go in there and kill her and seize power right now. Ah well she has Bethany so cannot oppose her unless it is a killing shot.

So tune in next time for the dirty deeds done dirt cheap...likely for free in fact.

You can bring Bethany for the other DLC, Legacy.  In fact, it is recommended and you happen to like her :)

If you bring Varric, there's one piece of unique dialog during a quest.

In Mark of the Assassin, there's a side quest for everyone involded (say, if you bring Anders, there's something for him, so you don't miss anything) :)

Quote from: viper37 on June 13, 2015, 10:37:46 AM
You can bring Bethany for the other DLC, Legacy.  In fact, it is recommended and you happen to like her :)

If you bring Varric, there's one piece of unique dialog during a quest.

In Mark of the Assassin, there's a side quest for everyone involded (say, if you bring Anders, there's something for him, so you don't miss anything) :)

Aveline, Varric, and Bethany will be the crew for Legacy. That was the original party for Act 1.

Well I think I got the best one since I got pirates :P

Back to Kirkwall and down to business.

A gentlemanly social call with the Knight Commander is the first appointment. Urien goes in ready to be polite and charming.

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'No no no you are supposed to comment on the excellent grooming of my beard. For a Knight Commander you are quite the bore'

Anyway the Templars have mage sympathizers in their ranks who aided in a big Gallowsbreak while Bethany was at Chateau Haine I guess. All except three of the escaped mages have been captured. Now it falls to Urien to catch the other three because um...eh not sure why. Templar incompetence I guess. So because Urien is a genius detective of the highest order he will start by visiting their families. But first a quick visit to Anders to see what horrible thing he wants them to do for him next.

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'NO I AM NOT KILLING ANY MORE TEMP...oh what? Ok that sounds good.'

So Anders claims he has been studying thaumaturgical arts of the Tevinter Magisters and has found a potion he can make to separate himself from vengeance demon Justice. First they need to collect crystalized poop and then a rare stone that can be found in The Bone Pit. Hey Anders lives in the sewers and Urien owns The Bone Pit! So that works out. Rare normalish quest for Anders.

So first we find the Ferelden Urchins the first apostate mage Meredith wants us to track down helped escape Ferelden. She returned to them recently acting all weird. So the kids take Urien to her and...well yeah.

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'Wait aren't you possessed by a sloth demon? Shouldn't you be too lazy to kill us and rule the city?'

Anyway after she was slain Urien gave money to help all the Ferelden Urchins.

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'Noblesse oblige and all that. Sorry for killing your mentor.'

So since they were already in Darktown might as well descend into the sewers for some Anders-saving crystalized poop. The Sewers were full of apostate mages and Carta lyrium smugglers who KILL ON SIGHT. Damn who would have thought getting shit would be so dangerous?

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'So...who wants to be responsible for holding the crystal poop?'

Next they journey on to The Bone Pit. Yep...still a burning wreck. At least no more dragons have moved in. So they descend into the mines and are attacked by a bunch of giant spiders.

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'Drakestone...it is fossilized dragon shit isn't it? Nevermind I don't want to know.'

I bet Anders doesn't even need this stuff and just wants to trick us all into handling shit. Anyway that is it! Anders has been saved and he will never make us do anymore crazy stuff...

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'DAMMIT!'

I mean what more does he need? All he has to do is mix that potion and he is free. Well anyway a quick change of parties to Sebastian, Fenris, and Merrill and on to the Alienage to find the next mage. His wife is a vendor there and she says he came back acting all nutty telling her he was going to show the world true elven power. So he is going to prance through the forest in a particularly amazing way?

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'I have a feeling he does not mean he got tickets to Hawai'i'

So he is going to be back tonight to pick her up. So they go to talk to Anders. On the way they find a secret lair just sort of sitting around all exposed. It is literally a door that is labelled 'secret lair'. Some secret. Anyway this is the demon they freed by killing those other demons before they left for Chateau Haine. He is free and ready to party!

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'Not a modesty demon. Actually I think it actually is a pride demon so that works.'

I keep having my guys free these demons and I do not even know why. It is a mania. Well I guess it is for fights like this. This demon has a couple different interesting abilities that includes creating this big ominous circle of powah. The main thing in this fight is to stay out of the circle which is kind of hard to see with all the seizure inducing lights flashing all over the screen and make sure you kill all the adds.

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'So can you make out the circle of powah there? Eh? Yeah I thought so. It is the thing that looks like it has an upside down tornado coming out of it'

This group does a pretty good job. Sebastian and Urien take out all the adds while Merrill and Fenris focus on the demon.

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'BOOM another non-plot related super boss taken down!'

In the main quest in DA2 all the toughest fights are not even part of the main quest...that is kind of weird. Anders lives close by to this secret lair so they stop by. He wants Urien to help him sneak into the Chantry for...reasons. Yep he will not tell us at all. Bear in mind the last time he had us help him sneak into the Chantry it was a total clusterfuck. But all he wants is for Urien to talk to Grand Cleric Elthina for a few seconds.

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'Yeah ok what the fuck are you talking about?'

What does this have to do with his de-Justice-fying potion? Well ok it is not like we don't stroll in there and waste time talking to that useless Grand Cleric enough as it is. But right now the Chantry is closed because it is night time. They go to the Alienage to see if ELF POWER crazy mage is there with his fist in the air. They get there just in time to see him murder his wife to use her blood to gain super powers.

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'Seriously they breed them nuts in this town'

This elf is so insane he has Dwarf Casteless tattoos on his face instead of Valleslin. Weirdo. So he turns into a demon and summons a bunch of fade monsters and we kill him. Two apostates down one to go. His name is Emile de Launcet. The son of the guy Leandra Amell was betrothed to. Also the son of Dulci de Launcet who Urien met at the party in Chateau Haine. So Urien goes by their home and Dulci greets him and unlike Meredith has a firm grasp of social graces.

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'Really? I guess the Templars do have a modicum of common sense after all'

But she claims not to have seen her boy since he was six. But in an appaling breach of decorum the Comte de Launcet barges in and gets mad at Dulci for helping out Emile. Man what a very convenient outburst!

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'Damn Urien is good at this detective stuff'

So it turns out Emile has been drinking and roughing it down at the Hanged Man with the Plebs. Somehow he has been announcing who he was and the Templars have still failed to find him. SHOCKING. Urien goes down to the Hanged Man to discover he just broke out of The Gallows because he was a virgin and wanted to party.

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'Wait what kind of books do they have in those Mage libraries?'

So Emile agrees to go back to The Gallows once he becomes a man with a local lady of grace and charm. Having shown himself a master mage hunter by spending a few minutes talking to the obvious people Urien heads back to Meredith.

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'Eh I wouldn't watch him too closely. You don't know what his hands are doing under those robes'

He keeps it short and polite with Meredith. It is not time to strike just yet. Or is it? On the way out Urien gets some shocking news. Ser Karras is almost giddy.

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'Wait the Right of Annulment?! But...why?'

Cullen gives a dire warning as well.

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'To be fair at least Meredith is pretending to follow the law this time'

Pfft no way the Divine would approve the Right of Annulment in this case...I mean would she? For what? Crazy. DAMN WE NEED TO PERFORM OUR COUP. But nothing to do. I guess once again I have to watch this thing rushing along to total disaster.

Speaking of total disaster Urien goes down to the Chantry to help Anders do whatever he is doing. He is really creeping me out by assuring Urien what a great buddy he is and how kind he is to do this. Um all he is doing is talking to the Grand Cleric for a few seconds.

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'I have a feeling 'sucker' should have been added to the end of that sentence'

So he walks up to Elthina and asks her to bless him. He needs all the help he can get.

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'I hope he grants me strength to potentially wring Anders' neck.'

So they go back to Anders' clinic and Anders has changed clothes to black robes and is trying to give personal items to Varric who rejects them. Well that's ominous. Then he assures Urien he has a ton of respect for him and he has been a great bud and asks him not to take what happens next personally.

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'Yeah...so...'

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'A better way than what? I thought the whole point of this quest was to separate vengeance from you? WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?'

What did I just do? Fuck Anders man. He does realize Urien is trying to overthrow Meredith and calm the situation down? Why can't he just go along with that?

Hell why can't Urien go along with the plan? What are we waiting for?

Varric wants to see Urien in the Hanged Man. It seems he sold Bartrand's old place to some Rivaini noble but something came up in the housing inspection.

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'Maybe bump the asking price down a few thousand?'

Instead they are going to investigate. So sure there are a few weird things. Ghostly apparitions, doors slamming, voices and music playing. Ghost Hunters tells me this is the fault of high EMF readings.

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'Damn exposed power lines'

So then something weird happens. They find a woman randomly up in Bartrand's old office who Varric mysteriously starts screaming at her that she has the idol.

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'Um Varric what the hell?'

So she runs to get outside of the house and gets squashed by a giant ghost golem. Yes you heard me. A giant ghost golem. And a giant battle starts where they get beat up by the golem for a bit then it vanishes and they have to kill lots of fade monsters and then the golem comes back to tenderize their meat some more.

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'GHOST GOLEM SMASH!!11'

Then after it falls they discover the golem was a little bit of the idol Bartrand chipped off and kept in his house. Well that explains why giving the thing away didn't make him sane. Then Varric, continuing to lose his shit, asks to hold on to the fragment.

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'I mean not to highlight the obvious or anything'

Sandal will take care of the fragment later. Either that or it will make Sandal an insane force for evil. Or is he that already? Not sure.

Speaking of insane forces for evil Merrill wants to talk to Urien next. So off to her house. She has given up trying to get the Eluvian fixed and has made the rational choice of seeking out the demon who helped her earlier to try to fix it.

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'Oh wait you mean that cave Urien has been trying to get into for the past six years? Well I don't care how bad of an idea this is they must do this!'

So one more trip up Sundermount.

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'I am pretty sure everybody knows that Varric. This game is like watching a dozen slow motion trainwrecks in a row'

Strangely no big fights or anything on this trip up the mountain. It was good they cleared it all later. Just one quick spider fight and then a few demon possessed corpses at the top.

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'We can go into the cave! OH HAPPY DAY!'

Inside it a bit of a letdown. Just one big creepy Tevinter Imperium looking shrine to an evil looking Buddha. But ominously the demon has already left its prison.

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'Evil Buddha no!'

The Keeper shows up and announces she already freed the demon and made herself an abomination to keep Merrill from doing this horrible thing. GG Merrill.

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'The Dalish really know how to lay the guilt on thick'

Then she turns into a giant pride demon, like the one back in Kirkwall they just fought, and here we go again. It basically does the same stuff only weaker without all the adds.

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'A demon who gains strength through smart-assness?! Urien's worst nightmare!'

Once the demon is defeated he turns back into the Keeper pretending to be defeated. Urien points out the demon can only be defeated when the Keeper is dead as well so Merrill plunges a dagger into her guts. Merrill mourns. As I have mentioned before you never really save the day in this game just kind of make things slightly less shitty than they might have been :P

Once Merrill is all cried out they walk outside to find the whole Dalish Clan waiting with arrows drawn ready to kill Merrill for slaying the keeper. Urien promises to take her away and never bring her back.

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'You can trust me I am a human'

The Dalish are...uncharacteristically reasonable about the arrangement.

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'Will do. I am just heartbroken to never be able to visit Sundermount ever again.'

Seriously screw Sundermount and screw the Dalish. Glad to be done with both of them. They take Merrill back to Kirkwall to start her life of permanent exile from her people.

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'Well Isabela is your best bud so you will probably end up on our pirate crew eventually'

Urien returns home and gives Sandal the fragment to destroy.

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'I just made Sandal's day!'

He destroys it and uses the residue to create a unique weapon rune. I think I will hold onto it for the time being. Surely there is a better sword than that silly thing Urien has been using since Act 2.

Urien returns to Varric to let him know the deed is done.

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'Don't worry half of Kirkwall is possessed by demons at any one time.'

Then they celebrate the sixth anniversary of when Varric pinned that cutpurse to a wall with a crossbow bolt way back in Act 1. Urien returns home to nurse his hangover.

And here we have a lull in the action. Time for Legacy!

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A secret buried within! I know you are all intrigued! Well actually you all probably know the secret but I am intrigued!

If we are lucky while Bethany and Urien are away at the Vimmark Mountains Meredith will try to carry out the Rite of Annulment and all the mages and Templars will kill each other.

Quote from: Valmy on June 14, 2015, 05:33:38 PM
If we are lucky while Bethany and Urien are away at the Vimmark Mountains Meredith will try to carry out the Rite of Annulment and all the mages and Templars will kill each other.

:P
You'd just wish, don't you? :P

One thing I noticed on the way up Sundermount is that Merrill stopped by that altar Flemeth was revived at in Act 1 and said a prayer to Mythal. So I started thinking: aha! Flemeth is Mythal! So I looked it up in the Codex and Mythal is the Goddess of Protection, Love, Motherhood, and Justice :lol:

So probably not  :P

Besides, as I speculated earlier, she has the form of the Old Gods who were worshipped by the Tevinters so I think she is either Razikale, the Goddess of Mystery, or the mysterious 8th Old God.

Quote from: viper37 on June 15, 2015, 12:25:33 PM
You'd just wish, don't you? :P

It would sure be nice. :P

Legacy might earn the prize for epic per square inch in Dragon Age so far.

Quote from: Valmy on June 15, 2015, 12:53:39 PM
One thing I noticed on the way up Sundermount is that Merrill stopped by that altar Flemeth was revived at in Act 1 and said a prayer to Mythal. So I started thinking: aha! Flemeth is Mythal! So I looked it up in the Codex and Mythal is the Goddess of Protection, Love, Motherhood, and Justice :lol:

So probably not  :P

Besides, as I speculated earlier, she has the form of the Old Gods who were worshipped by the Tevinters so I think she is either Razikale, the Goddess of Mystery, or the mysterious 8th Old God.

Well, in DA: Inquisition, you will, at some point, visit the Temple of Mythal, and you will also meet Mythal toward the end.  You'll also meet Fen'harel, the Dread Wolf.

Also, Flemeth's prophecy to Hawke will come through :)

Quote from: Valmy on June 15, 2015, 12:54:18 PM
Legacy might earn the prize for epic per square inch in Dragon Age so far.

don't forget to come back home when you have the chance, just before entering the prison :)

Alright so I finished the game and...well that happened. Hilariously enough a couple of the things I called as jokes turned out to be true. The final battle was really LOL worthy. Bioware really knows how to turn it up to over 9000.

Anyway full AAR of Legacy and the end of Dragon Age II to come.

So Carta Dwarves have been trying to murder Bethany and Urien. Varric finds out they are doing this from a base in the Vimmark Mountains. Aveline, Varric, Bethany, and Urien make the trip.

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'The Templars aren't so oppressive now eh?'

Moving onwards they find these Carta Dwarves massacred a Merchant's Guild Caravan in a shocking breach of protocol. First hint these guys might not be the standard mobsters.

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'Not the Bronto! YOU MONSTERS'

So they advance towards the Carta fortress. Eventually a group approaches them and declares they need the blood of a Hawke. And they do not mean blood money but literal blood.

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'Corypheus is some sort of Vampire who can only drink Hawke blood? Tough break for him'

All these guys have crazy eyes as well. So eventually they reach a huge arena looking place with an obelisk in the middle. The Carta have their big ambush here complete with crazily fatal traps. These dwarves are out of control.

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'Maybe Corypheus gave them an offer they could not refuse'

Damn what is up with Al Pacino movies and Varric? Anyway there is something else going on here as well. The Arena thing has an inscription.

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'Aveline it seems has become an expert on Dwarf lore'

So this becomes a thing later. More and more endless Carta and Bronto fights. Afterwards Bioware has us looting Bronto crap because they seem to have some sort of fecal thing going on in this game.

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'Somebody put a Horde fortress in a Dragon Age game!'

Seriously though that dome thing is where the last battle of this DLC is. Check out the big griffons: that means Grey Wardens.

They descend into the dwarf fortress and the crazy just keeps going.

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'Why does she have to be alive for her blood to be 'pure'?'

And why is dear old Daddy Hawke so important to dwarf vampires?

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'Stupid born-again Corypheuns'

Eventually they find a dwarf Varric knows, who built Bianca (his ridiculous repeating crossbow) for him. Corypheus is some kind of Darkspawn who does the calling like an Old God. Weird.

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'Oh good I was worried Bioware had introduced a new kind of bad guy there for a second'

Now around here Urien found a globe. I remembered the globe being mentioned at that inscription at the arena but kept going onwards and got pretty near the end of the DLC actually. Then Viper wrote that I should go back to Kirkwall at my last chance to do so. So I reloaded to this point figuring I should go back to Kirkwall and see if there was something I needed to do. While I did this I checked the Codex on the globe and saw that it had something to do with a monster named Malvernis who was trapped 'under the sun'. So just on a hunch I had Urien and company go back to the surface to see if anything would happen now that they had the orb...

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'I cannot imagine why'

So Malvernis the Pestilent One bursts forth and immediately summons a truly awesome number of spectral archers. This was a crazy fight because those fuckers would turn them all into pincushions in seconds. But once that was done he came back as a mage and teleports around nuking them and summoning more spectral archers. Once he got beaten on a bit well...

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'It's the Queen of the Blackmarsh!'

And then the fight went like a normal High Dragon fight would go. The loot was pretty sweet but I am not sure what that monster even was was. A Tevinter Magister who went nuts? Who knows. Another super boss fight that had nothing to do with the main plot :P

So thanks Viper I never would have bothered if it were not for you. So then they did go back to Kirkwall and restocked on potions and sold all the loot and came back. The next room slammed the door behind us and there they faced the Carta's big boss.

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'I suddenly have an image of a Darkspawn dancing like Lola from 'Damn Yankees''

So the dwarf had a pet Bronto and a ton of minions with him but eventually they won. The first time I did this fight I went through it no problem but after they came back from beating Malvernis I had a much harder time of it. Beginner's luck I guess. As Urien approaches the corpse something begins to glow. It is a sword with a comically huge hilt. It bonds to Urien somehow.

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'I am magically bound to all stupid looking weapons!!11'

This is the key to the prison, the Grey Wardens had it but forgot what they had so the Carta had little problem stealing it. A few remaining Carta dwarves see they have the key and then charge deeper into the compound. Urien and company give chase. ...and then Corypheus' prison magically shuts behind them.

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'Another fine mess you have gotten us into Urien Hawke'

So now they are trapped in an ancient prison for an ancient powerful Darkspawn. Should be fun!

So nowhere to go but downwards. I think we all know where we are headed: we have to release the ancient trapped evil from its prison and destroy it. Like we always do.

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'OMG evil mutant versions of Donkey Kong!'

Actually while they may look like a new monster they are actually Genlocks. That's right the Darkspawn Goblins to the Hurlock's orcs to use a Warhammer reference. Only now they are the big beefy guys instead of the little stealthy guys. I have no idea why this redesign took place. I guess in response to the failure of the Blight the Genlocks have developed a steroid habit. Still no Shrieks though. Alright so who Corpyheus? If you remember the beginning movie of Dragon Age: Origins then this next shot should make it obvious:

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'Let's see...a Darkspawn with the powers of a Tevinter Magister who was around for the First Blight...'

I mean this should trigger Urien and company as much as finding a prison holding Adam and Eve should for anybody living in the Christian west. Though I have to say Atheism and disbelief the Chantry when there is no scientific revolution or any appreciable evidence to doubt their version of events is really mind blowing. I mean we had a hard enough time getting people to do that even with those things. Anyway so yeah it looks like Tevinter Magisters were the first Darkspawn just the Chantry preaches. Yet despite being preached this their entire lives they still seem surprised when it actually turns out that way. Score another one for the Chantry.

Ok now behind the Genlocks there is a prison holding a fade monster.

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'Hey look a demon that has been sealed away for the world's safety. Time to free it!'

It is what we do. Urien and Bethany's father trapped the demons here. So natch they free it and kill it. Then a blue cloud speaks with Malcolm Hawke's voice that the Warden's made him deal with these demons and he sealed them here. The reason is blood magic was needed to seal Corypheus and it brought out these demons. Daddy Hawke sealed them here. Somehow a bit of his spirit remained to explain himself.

Wait does that mean Malcolm Hawke created this prison? Is he two thousand years old? More on this later.

Speaking of Grey Wardens:

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'No...there is another. She is right behind me actually. Say 'hi' Bethany.'

This very Darkspawn tainted Grey Warden explains that they have to use the comically huge sword to open the seals in order to escape the prison. Everybody who comes in can never leave except Hawke did because he created it I guess. Does that mean this guy has been here for two thousand years as well? When two thousand years old you are look as good you will not.

So they find the the first seal and opening it triggers a fight with a pride demon. Not sure why it is a pride demon but they are big and impressive looking. Afterwards Urien's sword absorbs the powah of the seal and down deeper into the prison they go.

The next level is chocked with Darkspawn. So glad hardly ever have gotten to fight Darkspawn in this series.

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'He is wielding a castle door! Might as well nobody else in Thedas ever uses them'

More daddy trapped demons on this floor.

The first one had some profanes, the ones from the Deep Roads expedition from Act 1. That seems silly but I was glad to fight something newish again.

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'May all of our loved ones live on in bizarre magical contraptions'

The third one was the last one and revealed another layer to Malcolm's role.

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'That he had freaky blue glowy eyes!'

No...but the glowy eyes in the blue fog was creepy. It was that by doing whatever he did he earned their freedom. And there is a reference to a baby. Wait is Urien two thousand years old? We know Leandra isn't so...what is going on here? This brings Bethany and Urien closer together.

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'I know sis :hug: :cry:'

The Sibling-mance with Bethany might be one of my favorite NPC relationships in a Bioware game evah.

The third level is a the bottom. A bit of the deep roads and it looks like the deep roads from Dragon Age: Origins. There is a sidequest where they find an altar to Dumat, the Old God who was the First Blight. He looks familiar.

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'Evil Buddha!'

Maybe that altar was also to Dumat? Anyway Urien desecrates it. Dumat is dead, get over it people! Or is he? I don't get how these Archdemons work. There is another sidequest where they find the guy who Varric's Great House was named after. That was nice.

I think my favorite part was this find:

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'Ok Corypheus must fucking die now!'

Finally all the nuttiness in Kirkwall, with like every other mage being a blood mage, is explained! Now it is personal. Well ok before it involved our dad but now it is like super double personal.

Ok so eventually they find a rival group of wardens who have a briliant idea on how to deal with Corypheus:

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'A plan that always works'

LOL no. We came here to release an ancient evil from its prison and kill it and that is what we shall do. There is another level here with a puzzle and a race with the other grey wardens but nothing really to talk about (well there was a nice fight with multiple Arcane Horrors and Revenents). The brainwashed Grey Wardens meet us again and reveal the old Grey Warden was the Commander of the Grey, named Larius, who kidnapped Leandra and forced Malcolm to use blood magic to seal Corypheus down here. And all this happened 30 years ago. The seals were breaking down so Larius selected Malcolm to be the one to seal the Well be that as it may:

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'You guys are still idiots'

So they took care of them and went on to rouse a two thousand year old Magister. Oh man I was pumped for this.

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'Tevinter Magister Darkspawn? Check'

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'Turned the Golden City black by trying to become a god thus damning all humanity to the blights? Check.'

So hey go Chantry. They were right on the story of Andraste and right on the origin of the Darkspawn. Granted the existence of the Maker is still out there but they sure do better than real religions do.

This battle was kind of a letdown. I mean it was long and involved some AMAZING POWERS but nothing too difficult. You could be on him for a bit and then he would poof to the middle and start using attacks based on the elements in Dragon Age: Nature, Electricity, Cold, Fire, and Spirit.

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'Oh and the Giant Tornado Monkey phase'

But eventually our foe is bested and the great Tevinter Magister is no more.

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'Wow did Urien actually do something heroic and make the world a better place?'

That is kind of a weird thought. Usually total disaster occurs around him. Larius is returned to lucidity and thanks Urien for his liberation and says he will go tell the Grey Wardens about what happened. Urien heads back to Kirkwall.

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'Damn straight he did!'

But Cassandra claims Larius never made it back to the Grey Wardens and nobody outside of Varric and Urien and company know what happened. Huh. Everybody else just found an empty prison.

Eh probably nothing to worry about.

After that Bethany and Urien have another moment and Urien imagines what his mother would say. I really like this element of having a sort of pre-determined character is the family dynamic. Really adds something.

This DLC was alot of fun and had alot of relevance to the series up to this point. It was basically just a straight dungeon crawl with lots of hard fights (but no including the last fight...which was too bad) and a few nice puzzles. Probably not everybody's cup of tea but I do enjoy some challenging Dragon Age combat.

Stuff that was done in Legacy:

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Urien sided with Larius instead of those other Grey Wardens with their obviously stupid plan.

Urien released and destroyed all the demons Malcolm Hawke had bound to save himself from becoming an abomination after he was forced to use blood magic to reinforce the seals keeping in Corypheus. Interesting they have an Amell family crest behind Malcolm Hawke there, he is only an Amell by marriage!

Urien has mail!

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'Well I know what I am doing today'

Sadly the Templars and mages did not slaughter each other while they were gone. Bethany goes back to the Gallows...but not for long as it turned out. Urien lives right by the Viscount's palace so he goes there first to see King Alistair and Aveline.

When he gets there he sees Meredith speaking for Kirkwall telling Alistair to go F himself he will get so assitance from Kirkwall because he sheltered some escaped Kirkwall mages in the Ferelden Circle Tower. Then she threatens him with being overthrown.

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'Who knew being the Knight Commander of one Circle Tower actually gave your dominion over the entire world?'

Seriously this is almost getting comical. In Ferelden the Templars seemed like a small group of suckers drafted into doing really shitty job in the middle of nowhere. Here they are the SUPREME POWER IN THE UNIVERSE.

Aveline at least remembers decorum and respect.

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'Ah Alistair never change'

So it seems Ferelden is in a bad place. Orlais is politically fracturing and alot of its lords want to regain their lands lost when Maric and Loghain kicked them out. Ferelden is still hurting from the Blight so Alistair is traveling around looking for allies. Unfortunately Kirkwall can hardly keep itself from collapsing into open warfare every three years so cannot do much even if it wasn't being run by a power mad paranoid illegal dictator.

So Alistair and Bann Teagan leave. Hey it seems Lorcan is back in Denerim after going wherever it was he and Morrigan went.

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'IT IS AMELL! SAY IT WITH ME! Damnit.'

So with that little cameo completed Urien and Aveline discuss the accusations brought forth by Knight Captain Cullen.

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'Aveline keeps her men hard at all times!'

Especially her husband Donnic. We go find out just how hard his patrol is and then go grumpily to Cullen. He passes the buck and says the accusations were coming from somebody in Lowtown. Well after a little investigating guess who it was? That's right. That foul mouthed guy from Act 1 who we got fired for being corrupt.

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'Really? All those years in prison and you couldn't come up with a different insult for her?'

So they solve this problem permanently. This solidifies the loyalty of Aveline and ensures Meredith never gets control of the City Guard. It is all falling into place...or at least seems to.

Oh and while I was doing this quest I did the last two bandit crew quests and visited the 'friend' in the Hanged Man. She thanked Urien and gave him lots of extra gold and as she left she informed him she works for the 'Friends of Red Jenny'. You might not remember but that is the mysterious organization we delivered that small painted box to in Dragon Age: Origins. So here they are again. Well they like small boxes and dead bandits so we know that.

On to see Orsino. God I hate that guy. But any port in a storm and all that. It seems mages are sneaking out of the Tower every night for what he suspects are dirty deeds. He wants Urien to investigate.

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'Wait so disregarding the rules and laws regarding Templar conduct makes it more difficult to police the mages? It is almost like they existed for a reason Meredith.'

By they way it confuses me the Templars are portrayed a bit as having arbitrary power over life and death over the mages when we have seen before that is just not true. The Templars have a very specific set of rules and laws on how they do their business, ones the mages seem to basically agree on. It just does not work here because Meredith just ignores those laws and nobody has a problem with this for some reason. As if that is standard Templar business.

So anyway Urien tracks down these mages and they are meeting with Templars in High Town. They accuse Urien of being an Orsino stooge and a battle breaks out and...well damn they are planning to overthrow Meredith. Dammit I have the City Guard and the Nobles in my pocket lets do this! Let's march down to the Gallows and do this NOW. WHY CAN'T I DO THAT. So frustrating. I guess because Urien is worried for Bethany?

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'Yeah! I just slaughtered my own allies!'

So they head down to Gardibali's warehouse where again the allied Templars and Mages just try to kill me. Just head-desk poundingly frustrating. Only Keran, the guy I rescued from the Blood Mages in Act 1, survives. The Templar-Mage anti-Meredith alliance has kidnapped Bethany and are on the Wounded Coast. You know what? GREAT. Now I have no reason at all to not overthrow the illegal regime of Meredith.

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'You know you guys just could have asked me I would have helped you kidnap her'

Keran goes home to his sister and leaves this craziness. I cannot say I am not envious.

So they go down to the Wounded Coast and Samson, the ex-Templar who helped us with Feynriel way back in Act 1, greets us and says he is leaving the conspiracy because of their blood magic. Damnit those morons. Urien has publicly come out against Meredith why not just talk to him?

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'Great! Join us!'

But Samson won't. He heads off while Urien goes down to meet the Conspirators. They are led by Grace and Trask, unsurprisingly.

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'No shit Trask!'

Then Grace flips the fuck out even after Urien informs them he is on their side.

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'Because...reasons'

For revenge for killing her boyfriend in Act 1 even though he just attacked without giving them a chance to talk. Oh and she turns Trask into an abomination and makes us kill him. Lovely. Alain, one of Grace's people in Act 1, stays sane and frees Bethany.

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'Anytime Sis'

Samson arrives with Cullen. Damnit now is the time! We have Bethany. Let's convince Cullen to join us, and capture him if he refuses, and march on the Gallows NOW. NOW IS THE TIME DAMNIT.

But Urien doesn't and I have no explanation why not. Alain explains Urien was not part of the plot and Urien makes sure Alain is unpunished and Samson is reinstated in the order. Everybody goes back to the Gallows. And...well...that is frustrating. Urien's position is now weaker not stronger and the golden opportunity to unleash the conspiracy was handed to him on a silver platter. What exactly is the plan? I guess from what was said we were supposed to be getting Meredith out of power and electing a new Viscount. But did something change? The pacing in this game is so frustrating. Just like why Urien never bothered to question Isabela in Act 2 or preempt Sister Petrice.

At least with Bethany you could see why he would stay his hand against Meredith in Act 3 but there is no reason once she was out of the tower and he had this anti-Meredith Conspiracy there nothing happened. I don't get it. I just cannot come up with a RP explanation for this. So they go back to Orsino.

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'Yes Urien, yes she will. And now she has Bethany again.'

Seriously Urien sucks as a hero. I guess we will just await events.

They do not have long to wait.

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'Somebody lit up the Amell signal!'

And now onto the final disaster.

So Meredith wants to search the tower and accuses Orsino of harboring blood mages. Orsino has had enough and is heading off to the Chantry to seek Grand Cleric Elthina's intervention. Urien rushes of to meet them. Bethany is with them and knew Urien would come to do something that might be confused with saving the day.

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'You tell her!'

Wait we are still talking! Strike her down Urien! Fortunately Abominanders is there and he is not one for half measures.

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'Damn straight Vengeance finally do something good and strike Meredith down! NO HALF MEASURES LETS DO THIS'

But instead he blows up the Chantry. Yes. Instead of attacking Meredith the fucking idiot blows up the Chantry. Why? How is that not a half measure? If you want to strike a blow against the Nazis you kill Hitler not blow up Bopfinburg. What kind of nonsensical Anders nonsense is that? Meredith is standing not 10 feet from where he is standing.

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'Well the Templars will sure be hurt by your killing of...all those not Templars you just nuked'

Man I am so done with this dude. Well at least his Act 3 quests now make sense. He needed those ingredients to make a bomb not brew a potion and he planted it when Urien was in the Chantry. No wonder he was apologizing for betraying Urien like that.

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'Because he is a FUCKING IDIOT'

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'You don't have the authority to do that and the circle had nothing to do with...actually nevermind why do we bother?'

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'And you could have done that. Meredith was right there in front of you. But instead you blew up worthless people for no reason.'

Meredith runs off to mobilize her men and we take out the other Templars. Orsino heads back to the Gallows to mobilize the mages and leaves Anders to Urien. Anders wants to die a martyr to...um...stupidity I guess. Wish granted.

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'RIP Justice. Good riddance Anders.'

So relieved. Like a great burden was lifted off my shoulders. No more Anders. No more stupid companion quests that always end in demoralizing train wrecks. No more selfish whines or detached from reality screeds. And he even got to go out like he wanted. So everybody won. Except Justice...and all those people he murdered.

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'Time to get down to business'

Now for some reason the city has erupted into violence between mages and Templars even though shouldn't the mages all be at the Gallows? Was the Chantry explosion the trigger for a mass break? Actually it would not surprise me if there were that many Apostates living in Kirkwall, the Templars are so inept. Actually since the Kirk is no more I guess the city is just 'Wall' now?

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'It's everybody become an abomination day!'

They rush down to the harbor and sail across to the Gallows.

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'Urien crosses a la Washington crossing the Delaware'

As Urien and his team get there Orsino makes a last desperate attempt to surrender.

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But Meredith is a psycho and will have none of it but allows the mages to go into the Gallows and prepare for the battle while the rest of the Templars assemble. Seems like a bad idea but Orsino does it. Everybody prepares for the final battle.

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'Awwwwww House Amell forevah'

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'It is how it always goes amiright ladies? He is either gay or married or Templars decide to go crazy and kill everybody.'

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'Booze always motivates the troops'

So....

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1st, you're welcome.  I knew you'd like the fight and need the extra potions and space in your inventory :D

Quote from: Valmy on June 18, 2015, 11:14:58 AM
I guess in response to the failure of the Blight the Genlocks have developed a steroid habit.

I'm guessing the Darkspawn are breeded from the genetic material available, in this case, mostly dwarves, so they are bulkier thant those based on humans we saw in Origins and Awekaning.

Quote
Alright so who Corpyheus? If you remember the beginning movie of Dragon Age: Origins then this next shot should make it obvious:

Wasn't it hinted at in DA:O, during your Deep Roads run that someone noticed a talking darkspawn?  A letter found that made a codex entry?  It wasn't Corypheus, but he wasn't alone in entering the Golden City either.

Quote
Yet despite being preached this their entire lives they still seem surprised when it actually turns out that way. Score another one for the Chantry.

There are various current as to how the blight began.  The Tevinters have other ideas on this, it would seem ;)  The Qunari probably have their own version too, so do the Dwarves.  I figure lots of people don't know what to believe.  The Chantry strikes me as less orthodoxal than Christianity in that it does not preach the Chant of Light to be the literal truth about everything.  I think even the Chantry thinks there is some part of myth to the story of Darkspawn.

Quote
Wait does that mean Malcolm Hawke created this prison? Is he two thousand years old? More on this later.

No, not by far.  Corypheus was captured and chained 2000 years ago, but eventually, the Wardens realized they weren't really holding him as secure as they thought, so they had Malcom Hawke re/design this particular prison for him.

Quote
Not sure why it is a pride demon but they are big and impressive looking.

In DA:O, while touring the Mage Circle tower, you find a reference on demons.  They are as big&powerful as the sin they represent.  I guess pride is the worst of sin. ;)
Don't know why they picked pride demon, maybe because they are big and powerful :P

About Anders, his story makes sense.  He's the only one who makes sense in this story ;)

See, Anders, he was frustrated with the Templars.  he hated life in the circle, he dreamt of liberty from taxation without representation or something :P
When he got Justice inside him, the Spirit was twisted by his own emotions.  It appears that often, in the fade, spirits are neutral, leaning on benevolent, but once they have contact with humans, they can become demons.  Or so I'm told in DA:I by a mage who sympathizes with both spirits and demons and don't see them as evil by nature.  Great philosophical debate there :P

So, Anders and Justice who becomes vengeance because of Anders and Anders no longer able to control Justice wich has no identity besides Anders now...  Ah, great recipe for disaster, as you noticed :P

So Anders is so mad at the whole system, he wants to bring it down.  It's Anders of a down, now.  Things are tense, but a calm voice of authority, if she ever decided to use her authority could save it.  But provoking both parties into open war, the Templars will react badly to an attack on the Chantry and the mages will react badly that the Templars are trying to slaughter them, that is a brilliant plan for anarchy in Thedas.  No Viscount, no Chantry, templars hating all mages, mages hating all templars.  This will rally all templars and mages in thedas.

So the Templars try to break in but they hold them back. After this victory Orsino inexplicably gives in to despair and says his buddy Quentin was right that it is the time for evil magic. I knew that guy was in league with the Lily killer!

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'Wait he is drawing all those corpses to him that kind of reminds me off...'

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'THE HARVESTER!!11'

Now this is weird. I guess I tought the dwarves had made the Harvestor through truly extreme amounts of Lyrium and dark magics. That it was some kind of unique horror not something any mage can just dump out a little blood to make.

But hey didn't I make a joke at the time about how Dragon Age II would be about destroying the other Harvesters? Well here we are.

So the battle begins. It is not to be compared with the craziness that was the Dragon Age: Origins Harvester.

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'I knew the Harvester. I spent an entire Saturday fighting the Harvester. And you, sir, are no Harvester'

The main difference is that Orisno's Harvester summons much wimpier skeletons. They are not the walking death machines they were before. However Orsino's harvester has a third phase. Once the little monster is beaten it hoped BACK on top of the big construct and gains full health again ah well. So Orsino paid for his crimes. Now Urien and company march through the Gallows to the Courtyard. On the way they find a group of mages and Templars praying together, innocents caught up in a tragedy attempting to comfort each other.

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'Oh you noble souls!'

HAHA just kidding they were worshipping a demon

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'Muahahahaha'

Well the tone of that scene changed quickly.

They storm out to the courtyard where a massive force of Templars is waiting led by Cullen and Meredith.

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'FINALLY'

She demands the Templars kill Urien and his companions. Cullen and the Templars refuse.

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'Really? This is too far? Well better late than never pal'

Then Meredith pulls out her sword and yes it has the Lyrium Idol embedded in it. Holy shit did I not call that? As a joke? So the idol has driven her completely mad and Cullen joins the gang to strike her down in the FINAL EPIC BATTLE.

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So the battle starts rather normally with us all beating on her but when she gets a little hurt she jumps on the gallows. Yes the sword gives her super jumping powers. And then she animates all the Tevinter statues to attack us? LOL WTF? That is one hell of a idol and if can do that why not just animate the stones on the ground and swallow us up into the earth?

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'Ok so this is happening'

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But all her statues are to no great effect, our might group strikes them all down. Then there is nowhere for Meredith to go.

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'FOR GREAT JUSTICE'

And as she falls she gets um...engulfed by the idol somehow.

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So she is now a giant lyrium idol?

The Templars all come and crowd around Meredith's statue while Urien and company walk away. Sic semper tyrannis and all that.

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'Thanks for the help Cullen'

And one might think that with all the troublemakers dead that order and justice had been restored. But oh no the disaster is only getting going.

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'Oh is that what I did? I thought I just killed their leader and left the others alone.'

Also I am kind of blown away that the Templars were some invincible army I thought they just were a small order of mage watchers.

Urien and his team feel Kirkwall as more Templars pour in. That strikes me as weird the Templars clearly had enough men to kill him there if they wanted. But the party scatters except Isabela who stays with Urien.

So the mages rise up and everybody starts murdering each other. I mean geez the person responsible was killed what is wrong with you people? Two entire circles get eliminated. The Templars secede from the Chantry and the Mages and the Templars smash up shit in a giant war for...um...something.

Cassandra gets it.

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'Yes! Thank you! I hope that is everybody's tale away.'

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'Way to go hero'

They are not wrong. What actual good did Urien do in Kirkwall? But Cassandra wants Urien to come talk sense to everybody and that was the purpose of the interview in the end. Or at least it became that when she heard the story.

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'Really? Because I don't know how good his track record is at stopping madness'

But Varric doesn't know where Urien is. Cassandra says he is free to go and they walk outside which you can now see is the Viscount's palace in Kirkwall...er...Wall.  Leliana is there to meet her and Cassandra tells her both Urien and Lorcan are gone and nobody can find them. And it seems they needed them for some scheme they are concocting. Could it be...AN INQUISITION?!

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'Lots of hotness in this picture'

So that is that. I will post the Dragon Age Keep stuff later and wrap up my thoughts on DAII and say a bit about Inquisition. Probably later tonight.

Quote from: viper37 on June 18, 2015, 02:00:53 PM
So Anders is so mad at the whole system, he wants to bring it down.  It's Anders of a down, now.  Things are tense, but a calm voice of authority, if she ever decided to use her authority could save it.  But provoking both parties into open war, the Templars will react badly to an attack on the Chantry and the mages will react badly that the Templars are trying to slaughter them, that is a brilliant plan for anarchy in Thedas.  No Viscount, no Chantry, templars hating all mages, mages hating all templars.  This will rally all templars and mages in thedas.

And the terrorists win. Stupid Anders. At least he cannot be forced on me a third time.

Quote from: Valmy on June 18, 2015, 02:28:16 PM

Quote from: viper37 on June 18, 2015, 02:00:53 PM
So Anders is so mad at the whole system, he wants to bring it down.  It's Anders of a down, now.  Things are tense, but a calm voice of authority, if she ever decided to use her authority could save it.  But provoking both parties into open war, the Templars will react badly to an attack on the Chantry and the mages will react badly that the Templars are trying to slaughter them, that is a brilliant plan for anarchy in Thedas.  No Viscount, no Chantry, templars hating all mages, mages hating all templars.  This will rally all templars and mages in thedas.

And the terrorists win. Stupid Anders. At least he cannot be forced on me a third time.

never say never!  maybe  he's the big baddy of DA:I!  :P

Well that would be alright so long as he is not in my party  :ph34r:

Alright stuff Urien did in Act 3:

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He agreed to help Nuncio find Zevran

But then let Zevran go and kill Nuncio

This one was weird but he did the Conspiracy quest with Orsino. It was Cullen who actually apprehended them conspirators but this is how I had to answer this question.

He rescued Nathaniel Howe from the Deep Roads.

He reunited Gamlen with Charade Amell.

Emile de Launcet was returned to the circle after popping his cherry. Boy was he mad at the end of the game to be caught up in that mess.

He sided with Orsino when Meredith illegally enacted the Rite of Annulment.

He let Keran go home during the anti-Meredith conspiracy quest

He killed the High Dragon at the Bone Pit

Stuff Urien did in Dragon Age 2 with the Companions:

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He romanced Isabela.

Varric was his bud.

Bethany became a Circle Mage.

Carver was smashed by an Ogre on the way out of Lothering.

Bartrand is going to spend the rest of his life in a sanitarium.

Bethany survived the final battle.

Varric discovered the sliver of the idol causing the haunting at the Tethras Mansion.

Urien did not let Varric have the idol sliver, Sandal disposed of it.

Isabela was recruited in Act 1.

Isabela heroically returned with the Qunari relic at the end of Act 2.

Fenris lived free to the end of the game.

More Stuff Urien did in Dragon Age 2 with the Companions:

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He did not give Isabela to the Arishok.

He recruited Merrill in Act 1.

Merrill lived until the end of the game.

Urien thought Anders was a psycho for his shit at the Chantry.

Urien executed Anders, though Anders was literally asking for it.

Merrill did not destroy the Eluvian, but never got it working either.

Aveline Married Donnic and maybe will live happily ever after.

Aveline stayed friends with Urien to the end.

Urien did not kill Merrill's Clan. Though he was tempted.

Urien teamed up with Sebastian.

Urien and Tallis parted on good terms.

Urien did not have kissy time with Tallis.

I really enjoyed Dragon Age II. The combat was a big improvement on Dragon Age Origins in a lot of ways. The boss fights were much more sophisticated, the numerous adds that joined the fights made things more challenging and exciting, and the companions each had their own talent tree which was a great idea which I hope carries on to Inquisition.

The lack of a tactical camera was a huge problem. Friendly Fire in DA:O was not a big deal since there were few AoE spells and the tactical view made them easy to manage. In DAII it was a nightmare. Lots of abilities that didn't seem like they were AoE, like basically all of Urien's two handed weapon attacks, were. It was hard to see exactly what areas were being targeted without the tactical view. This made using grenades a pain as well. So I just gave up eventually and stuck with Hard because I had no idea how to manage it. Fortunately friendly fire and difficulty are not connected anymore. So I can play on nightmare and try out friendly fire and see if it is viable or adds any fun to the fights. Another problem with the lack of a tactical camera is that it is just much easier to click on targets from above. Man sometimes I was going crazy unable to target things.

The characters were great though I felt like something was missing a bit. You kept hearing about how they were getting together to play Wicked Grace and drink and do things like that but you rarely saw them do it. I feel like some scenes from time to time where everybody is together and discussing what is going on and their thoughts on what to do next might have really helped further connect you to the team. I mean these people were together for six years and you got the sense they were all great friends, or at least all great friends with Varric, but you the player were not involved somehow.

I am not sure how I felt about the new talent trees with so many passives and upgrades instead of new abilities but I think that made combat easier to balance and perhaps helped it overall. But Lorcan always felt like he had a huge bag of tricks to call upon that I never felt with Bethany, Merrill, or Anders.

I liked how Urien contracted out his crafting, I find crafting systems kind of silly in these games. People spend decades becoming competent craftsmen and it seemed silly one could become an expert alchemist as a side hobby in a few weeks. But since this game lasted seven years ironically I guess this might have been one of the rare occurrences that may have worked for me :P

The repeating maps were out of control. They kind of numb you to it by the sheer volume of times they do it. And it is so often I had a hard time knowing if it was justified, if I actually was in the same location or not. Locations in DA:O were memorable in their map layout but certainly not here. The worst offender was the red deep roads one they liked to use for all the demon lairs for some reason. It was constantly used for places clearly not in the deep roads and worse it is boring as hell just straight hallways connecting square rooms. I groaned every time I entered one of those maps.

The companions all had their own armor like in Mass Effect 2 and eh I am ok with it. I suppose it is too much to ask to be able to control what everybody is wearing.

The game was bold in that it was a major departure from the usual Bioware formula and this is also where the game had its biggest problems IMO. Taking place in the same location over a long period of time without a big world ending big bad were all huge gambles. It only kind of worked. There were a lot of possibilities to have each act be radically different depending on the choices made in the previous acts and really give you the ability to shape how things went in the city but that never really happened. You never really felt like you were in control of the action driving it forward as an active participant. Rather the game would throw events at you and you had to react to them. That bit was by far the most frustrating part of how this story was told. Like it was playing you instead of you playing it. Like this story had to unfold a certain way and you were not allowed to interfere.

The plot was really disjointed and it was hard to tell what was part of the main plot and what wasn't. That made it really difficult to write this playthrough especially having never played it before. I am sure it was not very coherent and I apologize.

Now that might have been fine but they needed to define why your character was not doing certain things. Again a scene where all the party members would discuss what is going on might help communicate what was intended.

Lastly Origins had this attempt at gritty realism but that was tossed completely out the window. The outfits are crazy, the weapons are silly looking, the melodrama was high, the angst and brooding were turned up. It was kind of great really but coming right from Origins there was a bit of 'WTF' at first at the tone shift in both graphics and storytelling.

If you enjoy Bioware characters and Dragon Age combat you will love it. But if you love their epic plots and big twists this one might not be for you. I thought Origins was a masterpiece. This one is just good.

Anybody still reading I hope you enjoyed it. I only see Viper commenting now but there are still views so that's nice :P

Final stats:

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Warrior
Berserker
Reaver

Gear:
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/The_Hawke's_Key
Aka absurdly large handle greatsword.
Damage 46
+4 Str
+3% Crit
Ignores Armor
+5 Fire Damage
+5 Nature Damage

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/The_Golden_Mask
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Ser_Maura's_Gauntlets
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Hauberk_of_Gelgenig_the_Faithful
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Boots_of_the_Fortress
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Master_Wyvern_Hunter's_Belt
Ornate Amulet (+58 attack, +4% Physical Damage)
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Ring_of_the_Emerald_Knights
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Ichor

What I know about Dragon Age Inquistion: It tries to incorporate more open world elements and is more console friendly. That is basically it. It did not seem to generate the controversy DAII did so maybe that means it is a better game.

Having loaded it up I see the Divine has brought together the Templars and Mages for truce talks and then hilarity ensues.

Ok so my character in Dragon Age Inquisition will be: Lord Lothar Bernard Anthony Ferdinand Aurelian Tythas Trevelyan. Or simply Lord Lothar to his friends. Though His Lordship works fine. No need to be too formal. Duel wielding rogue because some of us prefer to fight like gentlemen. I shall aspire to be as pompous and aristocratic as possible. Uphold the Chantry and be courteous to women...and all that good stuff. Or bad stuff depending on your predilections.

I think DA:I is still on special, 35$.  If you haven't bought it yet, don't take the special edition (or whatever it's called), it's not worth 15$, it gives you a set of armor for your character only and a weapon.  Both of these are outdated within 2hrs of game time.

Also, the DLC Jaws of Hakkon is about 2hrs gameplay for 15$, unrelated to the main story.  Make of that you will.

So. Go and buy it, I want to read you AAR! :P

If you do all quests, it's about 120hrs of gameplay.  There's a lot of fetch quests ("requisitions") they are called wich gives you power, but every action in the game gives you power, so you don't really need to do them unless you really want to advance quickly to the next story mission (wich I don't recommend until you level up sufficiently).

I already bought Inquisition awhile ago sadly. How was I supposed to know it would take me so long to play DA2?

Oh my play time for DAII was 140 hours. I have no idea how I am racking up times like that. I know I am a completionist who takes his time but that is ridiculous. I think all the times I have to pause and look to my family day after day really adds up.

QuoteIf you do all quests, it's about 120hrs of gameplay.  There's a lot of fetch quests ("requisitions") they are called wich gives you power, but every action in the game gives you power, so you don't really need to do them unless you really want to advance quickly to the next story mission (wich I don't recommend until you level up sufficiently).

Wait...so don't do quests? Am I capable of doing such a thing?  :ph34r: Are these generic in someway? I would hate to leave quests staring at me in my journal silently judging me  :P

I do not really want to advance the story until I am ready. Huh that will be a challenge.

Quote from: Valmy on June 18, 2015, 10:18:39 PM
I really enjoyed Dragon Age II. The combat was a big improvement on Dragon Age Origins in a lot of ways. The boss fights were much more sophisticated, the numerous adds that joined the fights made things more challenging and exciting, and the companions each had their own talent tree which was a great idea which I hope carries on to Inquisition.

Once they added the 2 DLCs and gave us all these free items, I quite liked it :P
The 1st time around, I was more 'meh'.

Quote
The lack of a tactical camera was a huge problem.

Yes.

Quote
The characters were great though I felt like something was missing a bit. You kept hearing about how they were getting together to play Wicked Grace and drink and do things like that but you rarely saw them do it. I feel like some scenes from time to time where everybody is together and discussing what is going on and their thoughts on what to do next might have really helped further connect you to the team. I mean these people were together for six years and you got the sense they were all great friends, or at least all great friends with Varric, but you the player were not involved somehow.

yeah, round corners&all.

Quote
The companions all had their own armor like in Mass Effect 2 and eh I am ok with it. I suppose it is too much to ask to be able to control what everybody is wearing.

In DA:I, you have control over that :)

Quote
Taking place in the same location over a long period of time without a big world ending big bad were all huge gambles. It only kind of worked. There were a lot of possibilities to have each act be radically different depending on the choices made in the previous acts and really give you the ability to shape how things went in the city but that never really happened. You never really felt like you were in control of the action driving it forward as an active participant. Rather the game would throw events at you and you had to react to them. That bit was by far the most frustrating part of how this story was told. Like it was playing you instead of you playing it. Like this story had to unfold a certain way and you were not allowed to interfere.

I liked the concept.  Like you, not how it was done.
See, I like that you are essentially playing a nobody, and even when you rise through the ranks, you can't change things by yourself.  Everyone is set on their paths, and you try your best, and you want to do good (or not :P ), but no matter what you do, you are powerless.  You can only react to what is going on, not prevent tragedy, only live with the outcome.  It could have been way better.

QuoteI am sure it was not very coherent and I apologize.

Well, having played 3 times, no, I don't think there was a lack of coherence.  Can't vouch for those who haven't played.

QuoteThe outfits are crazy, the weapons are silly looking, the melodrama was high, the angst and brooding were turned up.

DA:I has kept some of it, like the silly oversized weapons.  Jesus, at some point, there is a cutscene (wich may not appear depending on your choices) where your character is weilding a sword.  My last playthrough was a female elf dual rogue.  That darn sword was bigger and taller than my girl!  How can she waves that around with one hand??

Quote
Anybody still reading I hope you enjoyed it. I only see Viper commenting now but there are still views so that's nice :P

that's only me coming back for more :P

Quote
What I know about Dragon Age Inquistion: It tries to incorporate more open world elements and is more console friendly. That is basically it. It did not seem to generate the controversy DAII did so maybe that means it is a better game.

Duel wielding rogue because some of us prefer to fight like gentlemen.

There is a tac cam in DA:I, it is activated with T.  You will need it, but... it does not play very well with it, it does not zom out enough and it is a little confusing on how stuff goes on there, and you don't get the full view of the environment.

So, here is what I suggest, because I now see you have started!

When you are entering a fight, a big fight with lots of creatures, or super large ones like dragons, pause the game, go to tactical camera, make your moves, go back to normal mode.  Do this as often as you need.

Sometimes you will need to position your characters some place fixed, and naturally, you press "H" and see the little hand symbol over your characters, meaning they are holding their stance.  So that way, an archer would stay out of fucking trouble and shoot targets at a distance, not run through a sea of fire and engage single-handedly that freaky big Templar.  No, it doesn't work that way [sigh].  If you want your characters to go to a specific path and/or hold their stance, use the tactical camera to position them.  You can also use the Tac cam to target specific body parts for dragons (it is called Dragon Age, it should be no surprise to you by this point :P ) and other very large creatures.

Once you finish the prologue, you will be back in Haven, and you will discover the table mission.
You will have, over the course of your game, various missions to execute.  These missions are automatically carried out by your agents with varying outcome.  Some are spanning over the course of multiple missions like that, some end up with a real world mission (there should be more of these).  You have 3 agents: a diplomat, a psy and a warrior.  Each missions gives best results with one particular agent, and you have to guess it by reading the briefing and what each of your agent proposes. Two essential missions that should be done asap when they become available:
[spoiler]
- you have a mission to recruit specialists.  These guys are there to help your character develop a speciality in his chosen field (rogue, warrior, mage)
- You will also get a mission "recruit the arcanist", do it asap.[/spoiler]

You can also recruit people in the inquisition.  And you gain "perks" over time, wich adds bonus to your inquisition.
I'm not gonna tell you wich ones to pick, unless you ask me, but I'll tell the generality: inventory is worthless now because you have a chest later on in the game.  Anything that proposes schematics or resources is worthless.  Anything related to horses is worthless, because this is not Skyrim and horses don't have much use.  Discounts ain't that great either, you should craft your weapons and armor, it's nearly always the best solution.

Your main game objective is to close breaches in the sky, like the 1st one of the prologue.  The best way to do it:
[spoiler]
Since you use a rogue, get the 2 points in stealth, stealth on approach as soon as the demons spawn.  Engage the first demon and kill it, send your teammates to the others demons to occupy them.  Use your mark to disrupt the rift.  Kill demons, wait for the 2nd spawn, repeat first steps, close the rift[/spoiler]

How I would build my rogue:
[spoiler]
When specialisations unlock, take "Assassin".  When there's a special ability to be picked, choose "Thousand Cuts"[/spoiler]

You will also notice during combat that your archers have a tendancy to close in on their targets.  I mean, really close in, as if they would engage them with their daggers, only thing is they don't carry daggers :P  So, you will need to pay attention to these people.

Also, there's a lot of fetch quests, or requisitions as they call it.  These are repeatable ad infinitum.  They give you power, wich you don't really need because just closing rifts gives you power, so unless you're not a completionists, you don't need that.  But some of them will also give you influence, wich will bring those perks I was talking about earlier.  And these usually don't appear until you've completed the first requisition... (wich is usually "geoligical survey of...").

So, that's all my advice for now :) I don't think I spoiled the game, and I don't want to spoil it to you.  I did like the game, though I felt it could have been way better, especially with the \*## controls.

Quote from: Valmy on June 18, 2015, 10:37:26 PM
Wait...so don't do quests? Am I capable of doing such a thing?  :ph34r: Are these generic in someway? I would hate to leave quests staring at me in my journal silently judging me  :P

good boy :hug:  I play just like you :D

See my next message, hopefully it's clearer.  They are repeatable quests.  Say, you get "Geoligical survey of the Hinterlands".  It asks you to bring back two different sets of stones.  You do that, then you get power and another random quest, maybe Ferelden locks, where it asks you specific items to build locks.  Do that and then you get a new request: ""Geoligical survey of the Hinterlands". (or sometimes something else).  It will always bring back either an exclamation point over your requisition officer in each area and if you talk to her, a new mission.  They are infinite and repeat themselves.  Do as you wish, but I got tired really quickly :)  I did 2-3 per maps, no more.

Quote
I do not really want to advance the story until I am ready. Huh that will be a challenge.

It's ok.  The missions are on the war maps, with a glowing green above them, it will tell you the required level.  Some people like to skip secondary quests and do them as soon as possible.  It will be a lesser challenge if you do them in the upper levels (let's say the first one says "recommended level 5-7" and you do it at level 7), but to vanquish without peril is to avoid troubles ;)

Some of these critical missions will lock out quests for you, so since you are a completionists like me, I'd do most of the quests, until I reach the required upper level for the mission.  And clean the war table missions before doing one of them.  They don't disapear over time, even when they say it's an emergency ;) , but they might disapear after one of the main missions is done :)

My current rig has a hard time running Inquisition which caught me off guard. It is not a slideshow or anything but it is pretty weak.

AMD A8-6500 3.5 Ghz Quad Core processor

AMD Radeon HD 8570D

16 GB RAM

I think it is the graphics card because I am aware it is pretty shit by today's standards. Maybe I can just replace it and get on with my business.

my older card (7950) is way better than that, maybe it would work for you.  Does your system support Mantle?  It might improve performance if you enable it in your preferences.

But I got to tell you, the CPU is pretty weak for gaming.  Don't expect to crank up the resolution to maximum.

This computer has just under one month of life left before it is retired for gaming purposes.

I guess it works well enough on low settings and since my most modern game I have played since coming out of retirement was Skyrim it looks great to me and my antiquated gaming tastes.

So game on I say!

Dragon Age Inquisition

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'Lalalala here we go for a peaceful conclave lalalala'

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'Aaaaaaaah!'

Yeah so the Divine calls a conclave to end the long war between Mages and Templars that Meredith...AND NOBODY ELSE...started. Just a rehash all the Circles have grouped together under Alistair's mom Grand Enchanter Fiona. Two entire circles were exterminated before this happened. The Chantry tried to take a mage apologist stance so the Templars seceded along with, it seems, the Seekers and all their other military arms. Leliana and Cassandra are leading the people who stayed loyal to the Chantry and it seems exhaustion with the struggle has set in and this Conclave is being held at the Temple of the Sacred Ashes near that crazy town Haven. Remember when I said we would never return to Haven again because it was an obscure crazy place? Well color me a prophet.

Then the Conclave blew up. Yep it blew up. So isn't that special?

Here is Lord Lothar Trevelyan

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He doesn't look too inbred. Go me. His hair looks like play-doh though.

btw, Bioware made a "fix" to prevent an exploit in one of their patches.  The exploit was that if you found a chest or a creature containing an amulet of power (wich gives you one ability), if you picked only one item of the container exited the map, came back, then you could have the item respawn infinately, namely that amulet of power.  So they removed all amulets of power from the game.

If you want them back, there's a mod for that: "amulet of power fix unfixed"

So I thought Viper was joking about Anders being the villain of DA: Inquisition but really it makes perfect sense. The Chantry trying to bring mages and Templars together and find a middle ground...if Anders didn't blow it up he wishes he would have.

So Lothar's family are devoted Chantry types and he has many relatives in the Chantry and Templars. So he was sent to join his relatives at the conclave. Then it blew up and he appears in a cave of some kind. He looks up and sees a glowing figure with a weird shaped head.

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'What is that hideous monster?'

So he runs towards it being chased by spiders, like you do. He reaches out for its hand...

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'Save me weird glowing woman with the strange head!'

And BOOM. He awakes in prison.

The hand he touched the glowing being with is now glowing green. Cassandra walks in (:wub: she's back!) with Leliana and things go great.

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'Wait is this game going to be me telling you all about the crazy adventure that led to this moment?'

Oh I guess they are only going to do that once. She asks why he has the green glowing hand and he says he doesn't remember only that he was running to some woman.

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'Oh yes all my dreams come true! Oh you don't mean in that way? R-right the blowing up conclave thing'

Yeah what the heck do you need Lothar for?

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'Rift? What rift?'

And sweet! Cassandra is going to be a companion in this game isn't she? :yeah:

So Cassandra leads him outside and wow that was some explosion.

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'OMG it is the Burning Legion!'

Seriously it looks like something out of WoW. A giant green fire? Did fade rifts look like this before?

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Oh I guess they kind of did :hmm:

Nevermind I am not sure why my mind went there.

The breach or rift or veil tear or whatever pulses a bit and Lothar collapses into agony.

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'Well I guess I know my motivation now'

So he agrees to come with Cassandra to the breach. They walk through Haven where the people look about as friendly as they did when Lorcan arrived there so many years before. But this time it is because they think Lothar blew up the Conclave so I guess that is fair.

So they are rushing up from Haven to the Temple of Sacred Ashes and a bolt of um...fade holeness blows up the bridge they are on sending them sliding onto the frozen river below.

So the...erm...breach? Rift? Whatever. The hole in the world into the fade is dropping fade monsters including green people called wraiths I do not recall meeting before. I mean there were ash wraiths and rock wraiths but I do not recall green wraiths. So a new Dragon Age monster! Rejoice!

Lothar sees two daggers laying near him coincidentally. He picks them up and helps Cassandra fight. Afterwards she commands Lothar to drop his weapons and he does. Then she changes her mind and tells him to come along and fight demons.

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'The list of things I would not do willingly for you is short...ok stop crushing on Cassandra...seriously'

Combat seems tricky in this game. I have to keep Lothar facing the foe in melee range while I click on the monster to attack which feels a bit like rubbing my belly and patting my head at the same time. Also they moved pause to ctrl from space and made space on jump. So for awhile I was jumping up and down whenever I wanted to pause. Yes I know I can change key bindings but I got the hang of it.

Still very happy to get my tactical menu back. Controling the companions is sort of like it was before. The way you set up the AI is different but I am sure I will get the hang of it later.

So after a few more fights they make it to a little rift where a bunch of other good guys are fighting the demons. After the fight an elf mage just grabs Lothar's hand and sticks it into the rift.

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'Well you have not tried to kill Lothar so that puts you above most of the other elf companions in Dragon Age'

It seems he just thought it might close the rift and it did.

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'More like you wild assed guessed'

What was the theory based on? It is green, Lothar's make is green? Anyway lucky guess. His name is Solas and he is kind of a weird bird. Super serious and clearly not a Dalish Elf. I guess he is a Circle Mage working for the Chantry but he has a codex entry I haven't read yet. With him is:

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'Varric! I can't wait to learn a whole new load of nicknames'

He calls Solas 'chuckles' which is awesome. That is also what he said he was going to call Urien when he requested Varric give him a nickname in DAII. So now I have a whole crew. And not one chest I needed a rogue to open...typical.

So on to more rifts!

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'Taste my green rays of JUSTICE! Wait how does it go? Let those who worship evil's might behold my green lantern's light?'

So with that we catch up to Leliana and company at the forward camp. There the crusty police chief/dean of Dragon Age Inquisition, Grand Chancellor Roderick, is there telling Leliana and Cassandra to do things by the book and turn in their guns and badges. And they are all 'no we are doing things my way now old man'.

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'It is never hopeless so long as the HEROS are here'

I find his strategy of just leaving the demon barfing rifts alone to barf out demons for all time an intriguing plan. The man is Napoleon reborn.

Leliana and Cassandra have their wild reckless plans of either launching a direct assault with the military or taking a side route through the mountains and using the army as a diversion. For some strange reason they want Lothar to decide.

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'You cannot agree? You literally just suggested these two options a second ago.'

Well the indirect approach is the proper way to do this, not charge forward blindly like some peasant. So up to the Temple of Sacred Ashes they go...

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'I feel a 2009 Dragon Age: Origins trailer coming on'

They climb up some ladders to a small ruin and defeat some demons before finding another rift with a small squad of soldiers trying to keep the demons under control. In a bit of great timing for the suicidal soldiers Lothar and company charge in and defeat the demons and seal the rift.

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'Thanks Solas. I am growing ever more skilled at pointing my hand at them.'

So they get to the blasted ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I guess it is just that part after the High Dragon because it looks a bit smaller. It looks really grim.

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'Damn did somebody drag Meredith here?'

Actually all the dead kind of look like Meredith. And sure enough Red Lyrium is all over.

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'Whatever you do don't make an idol out of it'

So they get close to the rift and we get a vision of what happened in the fade earlier. It is Divine Justinia V, aka Mother Dorothea, and she is being interrogated or tortured from some glowy eyed guy with a deep voice. He doesn't sound like Anders but I am not ruling it out. She tells Lothar to run and warn the others and the guy who is possibly Anders tells his minions to kill him. Well Lothar didn't remember any of that. Anyway once again Mother Dorothea saves the day. She is the guardian angel of my characters in Dragon Age (well she and Flemeth). Or was I don't think she is getting out of this one.

But man what is up with those horrible hats the Chantry Clerics are wearing now? Dear Maker people.

At the point the big rift spits out a Pride Demon and the battle is on. From time to time Lothar has to seal the rift and that weakens it a bit. This is kind of a rough thing for a dagger rogue to do since I have to be watching the rift which is hard to do while fighting so up close. Also I discover I can bring fallen companions back with Lothar's mark on his hand. That is useful...one might even say handy...but that would be a terrible pun so I won't.

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'A game that challenges you to fight evil through epileptic symptoms.'

Eventually the rift gets sealed enough to finish it off.

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'Must...point....hand...at....thing'

Then it blows up and knocks Lothar out. He wakes up in a house with a groveling elf boy servant who rushes off to find Cassandra to tell her Lothar is awake. Lothar is to go to the Chantry and meet her. In the house there is a chest with some nice stuff including some snazzy new threads. He walks outside and everybody is bowing and scraping like he is a big damn hero.

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'That is his lordship the most divine Herald of Andraste! Wait what does that even mean?'

So he walks through his adoring fans to the Chantry where Grand Chancellor Roderick is not so much a fan.

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'Dragon Age: Inquisition is going to be a court room drama! Hang on to your dockets folks!'

But no instead it is just going to be a normal RPG. Leliana and Cassandra announce their intention to find who was responsible for the explosion and all the rifts and everything and restore order. To do this they bring out a holy writ and let me tell you this writ is a freaking door stop. Justinia V was very wordy.

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'Roll credits!'

So I guess they just seceded from the Chantry as well. The Inquistion originally I guess delt with the chaos after the Tevinter Imperium executed Andraste and then became the Templars. Well that's wild. Lothar says he is with them. Then Leliana sends out ravens announcing this development to the Templars and the Mages. Now the Inquisition is on its own and needs to get down to business. Lothar gets introduced to the other officers.

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'Cullen :hug:! It is so good to see...er....nice to meet you Cullen. Man I have never met before.'

I guess things did not go well for him as the new commander of Kirkwall's Templars. The other officer is Josephine Montilyet, another fancy pants aristocrat like Lothar, who is the diplomat. Now it seems the rift is only stabilized and closed but not disappeared. We need more power to do that. Leliana and Cassandra suggests recruiting the mages to get the mojo necessary to increase the power of Lothar's mark. Cullen wants us to fetch his old buds.

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'Going insane and trying to take over the world?'

But seriously I think he has a point here. Templars are all about closing off the fade from the real world and isn't that what we are trying to do? Don't mages do the opposite which is what we are not trying to do? Besides it sounds like Lothar would naturally favor them anyway.

However both will shun the Inquisition now because the Chantry has already condemned the inquisition as heretics and it is all Lothar's fault.

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'Stupid theologians and their search for truth'

I find it rather funny that like I did in my playthrough of Leliana's Song Mother Dorothea is being confused with Andraste. Anyway there is one important cleric who wants to talk to Lothar and can perhaps start getting them some support. Her name is Mother Giselle and she is tending to refugees from the war in the Hinterlands. In case you forgot the Hinterlands is the area between Lothering and Ostagar. Urien and Lorcan both crossed it and I thought the Darkspawn had completely destroyed it. But it looks like Lothar will be going there soon. Now on to the war table.

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'Wait I get to go to Orlais?! Yes! Venetian mask wearing Frenchmen!'

Anyway the first thing to do is scout out the Hinterlands and see how messed up things are. The report comes back:

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'Levels of messed-upness: very'

So should be fun. Nutty apostates and crazy Templars fighting each other is something I have not seen since the entirety of Dragon Age II. I squeed a bit when I saw Leliana's seal was a Nightingale.

Ok now I have to pick out table missions. There are a few. One to find some bastard encroaching on Varric's copyrights.

I am thinking send Cullen and the soldiers to guard caravans to get some financial resources.

Send Josephine to stop Lothar's relatives from trying to use his position in the Inquisition to settle personal scores.

Send Leliana to divert some refugees from some whiny noble's lands.

But will the other missions be there to do later? Does it matter which ones I pick when? Huh.

And wait is Lothar in charge already? Just because he has a mark on his hand? I just don't think a woman passing out demonic marks is a good basis for a system of government.

So I guess I will make my decision on the table missions, explore Haven and look for secret dragon cults still lurking around, and then leave for the Hinterlands to find Mother Giselle.

Quote from: viper37 on June 19, 2015, 02:08:08 PM
my older card (7950) is way better than that, maybe it would work for you. Does your system support Mantle?  It might improve performance if you enable it in your preferences.

Most cards would probably be much better than that :P

Mantle? What is Mantle? Um maybe.

I hope the graphics don't look too bad to you. They work for me but I never saw the game at full graphical glory.

Quotebtw, Bioware made a "fix" to prevent an exploit in one of their patches.  The exploit was that if you found a chest or a creature containing an amulet of power (wich gives you one ability), if you picked only one item of the container exited the map, came back, then you could have the item respawn infinately, namely that amulet of power.  So they removed all amulets of power from the game.

If you want them back, there's a mod for that: "amulet of power fix unfixed"

That is a very heavy handed way to fix a simple exploit. I guess it broke the multi-player component? Alright I will do that.

Huh. How do I apply the mod? It has a weird .diamod type.

I thought there would just be some file to overwrite.

Quote from: Valmy on June 20, 2015, 08:11:52 PM
But will the other missions be there to do later? Does it matter which ones I pick when? Huh.

Table missions never disapear.  Most of the missions are unrelated to one another, but a few of them are linked, in that the outcome of your missions, whom you selected to do it will have an impact later on a related mission.

Quote
And wait is Lothar in charge already? Just because he has a mark on his hand? I just don't think a woman passing out demonic marks is a good basis for a system of government.

He's the Herald of Andraste!  He's like Jesus walking among us.  Everyone believes in him!
But don't worry, Cassandra and Leliana will keep a close look on you ;)

Quote
So I guess I will make my decision on the table missions, explore Haven and look for secret dragon cults still lurking around, and then leave for the Hinterlands to find Mother Giselle.

In Haven's basement, there are jail cells that only a rogue can open :)


Oh, btw, re: Darkspawn in the Hinterlands.  It's been... 6-7 years since the blight. :)

Also, veil tear and fade rift are similar, but not identical.  I can not reveal exactly their differences, because you will sorta discover it by yourself later :)

One more thing: This ain't DA2 :)  Your companions and people around you have a lot to say.  So do not hesitate to speak to them on a regular basis.

Combat wise, rogue strikes from behind.  Always.  You get a bonus for flanking your ennemy, and in this game, flanking = attacking from the rear.  Don't stay in front.

Cassandra is like Aveline on steroids.  If Aveline was a woman shaped battering ram, I have no idea what this girl is!  :hug:
She may seem a little squishy at first, but as soon as you can craft her good armor and a good shield, damn, she can take some punishment!

Quote from: Valmy on June 20, 2015, 09:35:36 PM
Huh. How do I apply the mod? It has a weird .diamod type.

I thought there would just be some file to overwrite.

It's complicated ;)

You need DAI mod manager:
http://daitools.freeforums.org/post6441.html#p6441
take v.52 alpha.

After that, follow the instructions. You need to configure your mods and game directory, then put the dai file in that mod directory, select it and compile the patch.  DAI is not mod friendly.

Quote from: Valmy on June 20, 2015, 08:41:37 PM
Mantle? What is Mantle? Um maybe.

Mantle is an API, like DirectX, but only for AMD video cards.  It's better than DX11 because it "talks directly to the hardware".

Quote
I hope the graphics don't look too bad to you. They work for me but I never saw the game at full graphical glory.

It's ok, I just finished my 2nd playthrough, much easier than the first, now that I know what I'm doing! :P

Varric's nicknames:

Anders - Blondie
Fenris - Broody
Sebastian - Choir Boy
Bethany - Sunshine
Merrill - Daisy
Isabela - Rivaini
Solas - Chuckles
Josephine - Ruffles

He never thought of a good one for Aveline.

Cassandra is a Seeker of Truth, the order above the Templars, hinted at in DA:O.  So, Seeker is her title, not really a nick.  I think he called Aveline "Captain".  But yeah, I think it's part of the banter in DA2, when she asks why no nickame :)

Alright so Inquisition automatically updates Dragon Age Keep for you.

Stuff Lothar did:

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So he denied being the Chosen of Andraste? He did? I don't recall doing that. I mean everybody saw the lady in the fade with him was Divine Justinia V so there was only so far he could claim it was Andraste. I wonder what exactly he said that triggered that decision.

And he is a rogue human.

So there's that.

Quote from: viper37 on June 20, 2015, 10:57:18 PM
Cassandra is a Seeker of Truth, the order above the Templars, hinted at in DA:O.  So, Seeker is her title, not really a nick.  I think he called Aveline "Captain".  But yeah, I think it's part of the banter in DA2, when she asks why no nickame :)

Well not anymore! But yes good point.

I don't recall him ever calling Aveline 'captain'.

Quote from: Valmy on June 21, 2015, 08:33:03 PM
So he denied being the Chosen of Andraste? He did? I don't recall doing that. I mean everybody saw the lady in the fade with him was Divine Justinia V so there was only so far he could claim it was Andraste. I wonder what exactly he said that triggered that decision.

some of the early questions they ask you, when you get a choice.  You don't deny, but you don't confirm, so that's a denial ;)

Ok so the guy who is allegedly the Herald of Andraste launches his great plan. First we put copyright infringers out of business using the Antivan Crows. Then we use the resources of the Inquisition to drive innocent refugees out of a whiny noble's lands in Ferelden. The Inquisition uses its friends in high places to muzzle Lothar's troublesome relatives.

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'Wait our noble agent is Lady Buttleforth? Was Mrs. Butterworth now available?'

But there is more intrigue amongst the troublesome nobles of Thedas yet. The Marquis DuRellion claims to own Haven and its surrounding lands and questions if his grant of rights to the Chantry covers this heretical sect declared by Cassandra. He challenges her authority under Justinia V to declare the Inquisition. Ah so it is to be an affaire d'honneur.

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'Repeating crossbows at ten paces!'

But then he wimps out. What a poor excuse for a nobleman. So he walks off. Lothar gets to know Josephine a little bit, she is an Antivan noble who was once the ambassador from Antiva to Orlais. She is the head of an ancient noble family with impressive pedigree but humble resources. And she likes to wear as many ruffles as possible on her clothing at all times.

Also she has to share her office with a Dalish mage who was booted out of her clan because they were full up on mages. Her name is Minaeve and she has a few Tranquil under her supervision who perform research. Basically Lothar brings her things in his travels and they research things and this knowledge gives the party combat bonuses. Kind of cool I guess. Collecting quests!

Lothar explores the rest of the Chantry including a delightful looting of all the locked jail cells in the basement. If it is not nailed down the Herald of Andraste will be commandeering it. Then he explores Haven and the area around it learning about the requisitions (getting stuff for your army basically) and how to craft things using the crafters of the inquisition and all that. Also there were a few quests to do and a little local area to explore. He talks to all the other team members.

Leliana has a crisis of faith after her mentor's senseless death.

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'Except that time you got a vision and stopped the blight with a particularly handsome not-inbred-looking mage'

I mean Lothar showed up and inexplicably saved the day. That has to mean something. Years working for the secret Chantry service has not been kind to Leliana she is no longer as soft and fluffy as Lorcan left her. She is now a ruthless killer who inspires fear throughout the land. Well glad you are on Lothar's side.

She mentions meeting Urien but didn't have anything to say about him. She did know Bethany and remembered telling her stories in the Chantry at Lothering. I remember Bethany mentioning that as well. She only had kind words about Lorcan Amell.

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'Lorcan writes 'you should let your enemies join the Grey Wardens' and Leliana is all 'nah *stab*''

It seems Lorcan has not answered her letters for awhile. But we already knew that from the end of Dragon Age II.

Varric wrote a book about Urien and the events of Dragon Age II that Lothar read. That was kind of a bummer since Lothar already knew what happened so I didn't get to hear him give his perspective of the story. Lothar found the part where Orsino turned into a Harvester unrealistic and I totally agree. I mean the Dwarves had to...wait I already talked about this didn't I?

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'I knew she turned into a Red Lyrium statue but it was nice to have it confirmed'

Red Lyrium is obviously going to be a big thing in this game. It had only ever been known to exist in that one place in the Deep Roads, nobody in Orzammar had ever heard of it, and suddenly it appeared at the Temple of Sacred Ashes when it blew.

Varric tells Lothar what happened to all of Urien's companions. It was weird to hear Varric call them by their real names.

Merrill is taking care of all the elves who were driven from their homes in Kirkwall during the war. I guess her love affair with demons came to an end. I wonder what happened to her Eluvian?

Fenris is hunting down Tevinter slavers leaving a path of death and terror in his wake...as he does.

Isabela is back to being a pirate and now calls herself an Admiral and has a fancy hat.

Sebastian FINALLY went back to Starkhaven. I guess he is in charge there now.

Aveline is still guard-captain in Kirkwall and I suppose she rules that city now for all intents and purposes.

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'Hey it was always Urien's plan to put her in charge of the Kirkwall Circle'

Next it was Cullen. He joined with Cassandra when she was in Kirkwall interrogating Varric. He continues to be a fair minded guy and couldn't go along with the hardline of the Templars, wanting a more collaborative relationship with the mages. Though he does understand the Templar's rage at being taken for granted and abandoned by the Chantry during the crisis. Cullen is a good guy which is impressive considering what happened to him in Ferelden and being subjected to the crazy train that was the Kirkwall Templar order.

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'Yeah you got a nice big lesson in that in the last game'

Cassandra is a bit unsure if she did the right thing but she is a woman of action to the point of impetuousness. The plan to her is simply: get the mages or Templars to help, seal the breach, and then...

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'Now that is what I am talking about'

I love it when she talks ruthlessly. For no reason whatsoever Lothar inquires about her lineage.

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'Royal blood eh? Consider my aristocratic brow arched'

Anyway I feel like they bonded here. Finally Solas. Wow he is weird I am not sure what to make of him. He was born in a village and seems to be a self-taught mage. He spends all his time in the fade learning from all the spirits and demons. He is an apostate and neither a City Elf nor a Dalish Elf but a unique sort of an elf. A Solas Elf if you will. He is neither a psycho nor an ignorant moron so he clearly is unique amongst Dragon Age elves.

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'He is still weird as hell though'

So all Lothar's business is wrapped up and it is time to depart for the First Hinterlands Campaign. Yes I fear there will have to be a second. More on that later.

The goals are to find Mother Giselle, secure the area for the Inquisition, and secure horses for the Inquistion. Wait horses? Do they have those things in this world? Because cavalry sure would have been useful against the Darkspawn. Just saying. It does make the Orlesian Chevaliers less ridiculous of a name.

They arrive at the crossroads and get debriefed by the Inquisitions chief scout, a surface dwarf woman named Harding who is from the Hinterlands.

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'Were you ever jealous since you were too short to ride them?'

Maybe they have a few ponies for she and Varric. Man all these dwarves and not a beard amongst them.

This is going to a different sort of military operation. The territory will be conquered by the generals and then the soldiers move in to occupy it. Sort of like an Ancient Greek army led by Achilles. They assault the Crossroads and drive off the mages and Templars in a brilliant assault.

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'Ok our plan is not step on the glowy blue thing'

Lothar meets Mother Giselle and she tells him that he needs to meet with the Clerics in Val Royeaux and appear to be lucid and responsible and maybe sew a little doubt in their ranks. All the Inquisition has to do is protect the refugees.

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'Ok you go talk to Leliana and I will defeat two entire armies. Sounds fair.'

Well I guess we will see her later. Now to pacify the Hinterlands. First they find a humble little note alerting them to the stronghold of the apostate mages.

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'Anders was right. The mages are not megalomaniacal nuts driven mad by power but only for freedom and light and kittens.'

So they find the cave in the Witchwood sealed by magic. Solas blasts through the barrier and they charge in to face a horde of mages. I was not aware of the disengage command yet so retreating once the group had had enough was a little problematic :P but they wore them down eventually. With that the Apostate Mages were broken as a force. But the Templars were still out there raising havoc.

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'You said it Varric'

After awhile they find that the Templars have set up their headquarters in the western area but eh...they get distracted. Lots to do.

A couple of notes.

This game is not meant to be played linearly, like DA:O and DA2.  You're not meant to fully explore an area and then move on (except for main story missions, indicated with a green cloud over the mission table).  You have to fight a few ennemis, gather some pieces to give to your mage at Haven, go back there, get the damage bonus, go back to the Hinterlands, do a few more quests, try another area (say, Val Royaux...), come back to the Hinterlands, do some more quests, move to another area, do some quests, etc,etc.  Also, take your time in taking down Templars&Mage stronghold.  So long as these exists, the ennemies will respawn indefinately, wich means lots of people to fight and gain experience.

I'm going to give you a hint about an area called Storm Coast that will open later on.  I will put it in spoiler, but I strongly recommend you read it, it will help you a lot in your future exploration of the area, although not essential:
[spoiler]
After one of your first fight on the coast, once you've filled the first requistion, IIRC, you get a requisition to build an amulet.  The amulet is worhtless in itself because it gives no bonus.  However, it will let you accomplish a certain quest without killing everyone and challenging their leader for control of the mercs, wich will then serve as agents and provide you other missions as well as let your cross the area without attacking you at all times and keeping the area cleaner in the future.
[/spoiler]

Regarding Leliana.  If you want Darth Leliana to take over, you will have plenty of chances.  If you want her to be the soft Lelianna you've always known (well, almost), you get one chance.  One chance only, early on in the game when you interact with her, to give her a choice of path that will lead her to redemption (well, sort of).  Failure to do so = Darth Leliana, no matter your future choices.  If you pick the correct options, you still get more chances to unleash her dark side later.

How early are we talking about here?

Quote from: Valmy on June 25, 2015, 09:20:04 AM
How early are we talking about here?

After a few missions you will hear Leliana talking with someone about some agent.  There is your clue.  It is very easy to miss, and imho badly done that one non story related small piece of dialogue turns here in Darth Treya, but well, that's Bioware.

I think I got this during my first conversation with her. Is it the traitor guy? I didn't think I should be telling her what to do five seconds after meeting her so LOL I already doomed Leliana. Oh Bioware.

Ah well evil Leliana should be fun.

Quote from: Valmy on June 25, 2015, 09:24:12 AM
I think I got this during my first conversation with her. Is it the traitor guy? I didn't think I should be telling her what to do five seconds after meeting her so LOL I already doomed Leliana. Oh Bioware.

Ah well evil Leliana should be fun.

yes, that was it :)
no matter what you chose after, she remains, err, dedicated to her work, shall we say :P

It will mostly show in the latter scenes and the epilogue though, it doesn't affect gameplay.

Good. Death to Lothar's enemies.

The primary thing that distracts Lothar from cutting out the Templars like the tumor they are is the Fade Rifts. There are loads of them and they need to be closed without mercy. Every time he sets up a new Inquisition outpost he gets taxed with eliminating more of them and he cannot really delegate that task. Actually considering he is the only person in the world who can do it it is amazing the Inquisition allows him to do anything besides that.

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'How is the Herald able to do that without removing his gloves? ANOTHER MIRACLE!!!11'

There are also issues. Local issues that need addressing. Issues of vengeance and supplies and ram meat obtaining. Those are all handled with Lothar's customary ruthless efficiency.

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'And if by some chance an honest woman like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you. Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider this justice a gift.'

One of the rifts is worshiped by a cult. Well ok, not really worshiped but they have all grouped together to pray to the Maker to forgive their sins so he will close the rift. It is all sort of 'Flagellants in the Black Death'ish. Their deliverance is at hand.

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'I shall close this rift and then turn water into wine to celebrate my victory'

So he goes and closes their rift. A Fereldan noble of some prominence has joined this cult and after they discover his lover has died he brings his troops to join the Inquisition. They get a little military bonus for that, that was cool. I am digging this element of the game whether or not it actually matters in the end. You get the feeling you are building a powerful political and military juggernaut.

Anyway after closing the rift the cultists are dully impressed.

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'Damn I am not used to people so quickly recognizing the obvious in this world.'

So I told her to help the refugees. Probably should have used her for more ruthless things. Lesson learned.

Speaking of lessons and needing to learn them they find a cave with a dwarf who thought he had hit the jackpot with an exciting new lyrium supply. Unfortunately it was THAT kind of lyrium.

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'Probably dwarf short joke in there somewhere.'

But where it is all coming from? Did the explosion at the Conclave just cause this stuff to appear everwhere? Are the rifts causing it? Huh. There might be some answers here as there seems to be a bunch of it. But first some business to wrap up. It is nice to be appreciated for once.

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'Remember us if you ever feel like killing somebody's enemies'

But others not so much.

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'Because it is the Maker's will?'

Stupid peacenik mages. The Inquisition kills for great justice!

A little break in the Red Lyrium case breaks when Lothar is told a small army of mercenaries have taken over the east road out of the Crossroads. On the way to vanquish this force they find a Dalish Elf standing outside an old Elvish ruin. Shockingly, and rather hilariously, Solas knows everything about it while she doesn't know shit. Inside the ruin we find some weird Veil Fire stuff and an ancient artifact that strengthens the Veil which seems like it would be a good time to activate.

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'Solas is all 'elfy talk' and she is all 'does anybody know what this flat ear is saying?''

At the end Solas got one of those Amulets of Power from doing this. Varric got one earlier from taking out his copyright violator. Does this mean the mod is working or did Bioware only replace the ones you get as loot?

So they go on to kill that mercenary force and capture the East Road. They find a note from the Mercs employer.

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'Well this is going to end well.'

So massive amounts of Red Lyrium is 'growing' near the surface. Dwarves have hired this mercenary army to protect their mining operations and are based out of a fortress far to the west, beyond the Templar base. Lothar sets up an Inquisition camp here and but instead of finding new rifts to close, as is normal, instead they discover a valley in the north east of the map that is dominated by a freaking dragon. It saw us and instantly knocked out Solas and Lothar so they ran like hell. Probably have to take care of that problem later, hence one reason for needing a second Hinterlands campaign.

There is some weird shit here in the Hinterlands. There are weird star gazing things that require Lothar to solve connect-the-dots puzzles. Doing three of these eventually revealed a secret cave in the Apostate Mage base that had treasure. There are also these weird skull things that allow them to see weird shards. Nobody knows how they got there or what they are for, only Solas seems to have a clue.

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'These sorts of things are pretty normal for Varric at this point'

So they get a few shards for research purposes.

So enough of all these distractions. Time to push westwards towards the Templar base and the Mercenary fortress. On the way they encounter a dead body where evidence suggests the Red Lyrium is not treating the mercs well.

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'Just a matter of time until ghost golems are terrorizing the world'

They need to get to that fortress and shut this operation down.

First though they put the Templars out of business.

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'Lothar always pounds them from behind! Wait...'

So that takes care of the Templar vs. Mage war in the Hinterlands. Only the mercenaries to deal with. Eliminating the Templars also opens the way to the Hinterlands farms where the horse breeders live. So they drop by.

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'Sorry I just cannot get over the fact that Arl Eamon had a horsemaster and yet he never gave any horses for Lorcan to even ride around on. Bastard.'

He gives Lothar a horse which he uses to ride in some timed horse races. Well this is no problem for a nobleman like Lothar, horse racing is mainly what they do. However the course ran right next to a fade rift so it was pretty exciting. Also the farmers need Lothar to take out some demon controlled wolf packs and build some defense watch towers before they will let us take the horses for the Inquisition. Lothar takes out the demon running the packs around and marks out the places for the watch towers. He will need to send people around later to build them. I was glad the towers did not just magically spring from the ground like what often happens in these games :P

Getting to the mercenary fortress in the west was incredibly challenging. The mercenaries have warriors who swing around giant mauls that look just like the one I had Fenris using in all of DAII. It does AoE damage so tends to wack Lothar around when he is standing directly behind them. There are also huge bears that have a similar attack so this area is not very rogue friendly. Finally they pick their way inside the fortress and make it to the mercenary leader. But he is just too powerful for a group of level 6 heroes to defeat. He slaughtered them all without really getting dented that much so...probably have to come back and do this later.

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'What you are seeing here never occured. Please avert your eyes.'

Nothing left to do now but visit Redcliffe village. I was looking forward to seeing what it looked like now that several years had passed but it seems they are taking no visitors now.

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'Do you know who I am? I am kind of a big deal.'

Well even though the Mages and Templars have been taken care of Redcliffe will still not let them in. Bastards. So I guess time to return to Haven. They go by way of the West Road and there are a few mercs that are holding the gate. They beat them down but Lothar does note they have a black banner of a hand holding a snake...interesting. I wonder if that is theirs or belongs to their dwarf masters.

Back in Haven mage and Templar members of the Inquisition are having a hard time not beating each other down. They each believe the other was responsible for the Chantry explosion. Once more everybody else pays for Anders' crimes.

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'The mage is all 'haha you got in trouble''

In addition to that Chancellor Roderick is there to impress us with his crusty bureaucratness.

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'Well we do have the guy with a mark on his hand that can magically close the rifts.'

I mean really what more do we need? Nobody else has any ideas. Lothar does the round of his companions and Solas reveals some weird theories of his. It seems demons only exist in your mind or something. And some of his best friends are demons.

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'So those wolves who were being controlled by demons...they had unstable minds?'

First Merrill now this guy. Man what is up with elves and their hardon for demons? Solas usually approves of everything Lothar says but this time he is sad Lothar doesn't share his particular...erm...wacky theory. I mean demons are responsible for like 80% of every plot in this series. If they become our friends what adventures will be left to have?

He meets with Mother Giselle and they discuss the ruthless Inquisition of old. I think my knowledge of Dragon Age history is off a bit. The original Inquisition formed after or during the First Blight to hunt down the mages who had let this evil upon the world. So it was an Inquisition in that sense of the word, hunting down evil mages. And it seems they were brutal and ruthless but once the Chantry was established they laid down their weapons. So she asks that Lothar do the same, be ruthless and have no mercy but once the evil creating the breach is defeated lay down their swords and give up power. I think Leliana can help alot with the ruthless thing but we shall see about the giving up power thing later.

Also they discuss issues with the Chantry and why only human females can be priests. Humans are closer to the maker than elf, dwarf, and Qunari scum and I guess that is fair.

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'What? That is OUTRAGEOUS. I WILL MURDER YOU WHERE YOU STAND.'

But then she says she thinks that is all silly and mostly political. Perhaps in the new chantry everybody can be a priest if they are so religiously inspired. Sounds like a bunch of hippy crap.

Josephine knows how to sweet talk Lothar.

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'Wait somebody called one of my characters by their name? What madness is this?'

See now was that hard? Anyway she asks if she can ask for an alliance from his noble house. Well the Trevelyans are noted religious fanatics so they will surely be delighted to support one of their own being a prophet. Or at least they better. She asks him how he finds his quarters in Haven.

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'The sitting room lacks the proper upholstery and I only have four valets. It is a nightmare.'

She agrees so hopefully we will have accommodations worthy of our station soon. Now on to the war room, where there is absolutely no fighting, and down to business. First the matter of those shards. Josephine is able to use her connections to secure a scroll that was in one of the destroyed Circle Towers (destroyed in the mage-Templar war that is) that ended up in an auction.

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'Such fucked up things must be elven, of course.'

So they shall be bound for Western Orlais to investigate. In the meantime an expedition is launched to secure footholds on the Storm Coast, way to the north near Amaranthine, and to rescue some soldiers way to the South in the Kolcari wilds at a place called the Fallow Mire.

So very soon three more campaigns will be launched by the Inquisition. But first Mother Giselle has provided the names of the clerics Lothar should address in Val Royeaux. Josephine is eager to get that party started, if likely just to get the hell out of Haven and move to the big glamorous city. Leliana and Cullen are appalled that she would suggest they put their biggest asset, and only chance at closing the rifts, in such danger. Lothar, however, is eager to proceed. Cassandra says she will go with him and it is time to go kick Chantry ass (figuratively...at first anyway). Because she is awesome.

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'Josephine is giving Cullen and Leliana that 'haha mom chose me' look.'

Her clip board with the candle is hilarious.

Time for decisive action!

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'En avant!'

Ah yeah time for Orlesian action!

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'It is everything I hoped it would be and more'

The frilly coated mask wearing Orlesian nobility is horrified at Lothar's appearance though. He was worried it was his selection of suit jacket but Varric assures him it is because they know he is the heretical Herald of Andraste. On the way in one of Leliana's spies (who really should not have a uniform to easily identify them but hey whatever...) approaches them and informs them the Templars have arrived in force and are waiting for them.

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'With flowers and a big 'Welcome Herald of Andraste' sign? No? Pity. Wait does Cassandra have a pink gauntlet?'

Cassandra boldly declares we will go forward anyway but sends the spy back to Haven to tell them what happened. So here we go. For death or glory.

I made (well...commissioned from the crafters anyway) a sword for Cassandra when we got back to Haven, you can see it there in the last screenshot. It was a little unnerving to see it was better than anything Lothar had looted up to that point for her level. Is this normal? Do I need to be scouring our crafting schematics for gear all the time?

Oh and man did I have a blast exploring the Hinterlands. The most fun I have had in Dragon Age I think. The exploration aspect was just what this series was missing I think. Even in Origins there were too many straight corridor type dungeons and situations. So very glad to see that.

It is so much fun reading this game through someone else's eyes :D

Quote from: Valmy on June 26, 2015, 10:30:38 AM
'And if by some chance an honest woman like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you. Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider this justice a gift.'

:)

Quote
I am digging this element of the game whether or not it actually matters in the end. You get the feeling you are building a powerful political and military juggernaut.

'Damn I am not used to people so quickly recognizing the obvious in this world.'

So I told her to help the refugees. Probably should have used her for more ruthless things. Lesson learned.

It does not matter for the end, unfortunately, unlike DA:O, that would have been very cool.
However, each agent you recruit will increase your perks in one field or another, depending on the speciality of the agent or your choice in dialogue.  Had you recruited that last one to spy on your ennemies (and, well, allies too ;) ), you would have gained a perk in "Secrets" (Leliana's branch) wich would eventually let you chose more powerful options without having to sacrifice those hard earn points.

Quote
But where it is all coming from?

Later. All in due time young padawan.  Your quest has just started, the ancient mysteries can not be all revealed at once.

Quote
Stupid peacenik mages. The Inquisition kills for great justice!

Now, if only you had a mage with you to talk some sense into her...

Quote
Does this mean the mod is working or did Bioware only replace the ones you get as loot?

the mod is working, but I am unsure in this case if it is the mod or if Bioware only removed them from the lootable chests/critters.

Quote
Probably have to take care of that problem later, hence one reason for needing a second Hinterlands campaign.

yes, later.  :)
try to be at least the same level as the dragon you're fighting, even 1-2 level above won't hurt.
Gather your full party first, so you can chose the appropriate companion.  Don't worry, they fly, but they never get really far, always waiting for you to come back and visit them :P

Quote
He slaughtered them all without really getting dented that much so...probably have to come back and do this later.

I tought about warning you, but, experience, as they say, is what comes after you needed it :P

Quotebut we shall see about the giving up power thing later.

It would make for a nice DLC.  Either extend your control of Thedas with a firm grip on everyone, for their sake, or let the people freely decide... I mean, let the nobles freely decide what to do with the peasants :P

Quote from: Valmy on June 26, 2015, 10:56:12 AM
It was a little unnerving to see it was better than anything Lothar had looted up to that point for her level. Is this normal? Do I need to be scouring our crafting schematics for gear all the time?

Yes and yes.
Well, almost.

At some point, you may get lucky.  You may have one or two very special items that are way better than anything you could craft.  Especially for a mage staff.  Maybe one two handed sword (it is random).  But schematics beats 95% of everything.  Especially for add ons, like legs or arms for armors, staff blades, etc.  Don't bother buying that stuff, save money for the schematics.

You will later gain access (or maybe already?) the Black Emporium, a high level, high priced store, just like DA2.  They have the best schematics, but it's hard to find wich one is really good.  Don't go overboard and buy everything in sight :P

Quote
Oh and man did I have a blast exploring the Hinterlands. The most fun I have had in Dragon Age I think. The exploration aspect was just what this series was missing I think. Even in Origins there were too many straight corridor type dungeons and situations. So very glad to see that.

Yes it is great, unfortunately, as you advance, you'll realize that the Hinterlands was the biggest area and they had to cut short on everything else, it seems.  But diversity is nice, indeed. :)

Ok so they go into the marketplace of Val Royeaux for a nice meeting the Chantry. But the Clerics are all empowered by the arrival of the Templars and are not in the mood to hear Lothar give an inspiring speech.

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'True but I am lovely once you get to know me.'

However the Clerics really should have cleared their plan with the Templars because they walk up and one of them punches the cleric out. In public. So that happened. Kind of takes the sting out of that denunciation. Lord Seeker Lucius, their commander, is present and denounces Cassandra, the Inquisition, and the Chantry all as heretical and traitors to the righteous.

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'The void? Whatchu talkin about Lucius?'

So that was public and did not go well.

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'Does Meredith glow red?'

Templars are just as crazy as ever.

A nice little discussion with the humiliated clerics was more conciliatory but didn't really go anywhere.

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'I just cannot get over horses now being a thing.'

Anyway that breaks the Chantry and takes the sting out of their condemnation. People now want to deal with the Inquisition. First the 'Friends of Red Jenny'. You might remember them from Dragon Age:Origins where they had us deliver a box in Denerim and in Dragon Age II when that one woman paid Urien alot to exterminate street gangs. So now Lothar is being contacted by them.

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'Fortunately I always have my swords floating eerily off my back a few inches.'

Looking for the Red Jenny clues they explore the marketplace at Val Royeaux and blow all their money on schematics. So many yummy schematics. There is also a shop that just sells one thing. A box. Nobody knows what the box is or why it is so expensive. It just seems like a funky marketing gimmick. But damn does it work I must buy this useless box!

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'It will be mine...oh yes...it will be mine.'

They find out where to meet the baddie who is after the Inquisition. But also they get a gracious invitation from a woman of iron.

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'de fer eh? I guess better than 'de pudding' though that would be yummy.'

But then they are approached by non other than Alistair's mom. The Grand Enchanter former Grey Warden Fiona. I always found it funny that Alistair was the one who told me that Grey Wardens couldn't have children...or at least it is very hard...when his own mother was one.

Anyway she wants the Inquisition to come to Redcliffe and talk with the mages. She says she thinks the Templars were behind the Conclave explosion.

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'So since you suspect him 100% that means you only suspect me 99%? Nice.'

You can really see the resemblance. She isn't funny though, Alistair must have gotten that from Maric. Well as flattering as being suspected of blowing up the conclave to a lesser extent than she suspects the Templars Lothar is going to say no. Many of his family members are Templars and getting them would be better propaganda. The common people do not like the mages. Besides there is a rumor floating around they have allied with Tevinter so it could be a trap. Frankly I have no idea why they didn't just go to Tevinter in the first place instead of hiding out in Ferelden.

So once that is done Lothar and company go to meet this baddie. It turns out it is another Orlesian noble. He seems to think we have been obsessively tracking him down. Lothar tells him he does not even know who he is.

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'The name of...erm...whomever will live on forever!'

Then he gets killed by a psycho city elf. An elf of such psychoness I am actually surprised. I mean at least Zevran and company were at least a little self aware. Sera is completely off her rocker. She claims to represent all the little people against the powerful which is quite a self appointed mission. Plus she is a bow savant of sorts, having achieved mastery with no training at all. She is the Friend of Red Jenny in Val Royeaux and it seems the Friends of Red Jenny are just a bunch of people who do...things...and try to protect the little people and mess with mean nobles. Weird how that one in Kirkwall was so rich given this revelation about their 'organization'.

Oh and she has a hilarious British accent. The kind of accent Americans make when they are trying to do a British accent. Like how British people always talk with southern drawls when they try to speak like Americans.

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'I prefer His Excellency the Thingy if you must.'

Oh and she hates nobles. So she and Lothar should get on well. Oh and of course the first thing we do is fight a huge horde of guards...whose underpants she stole. I mean this woman is perpetually 12 years old.

Fortunately the party with the enchantress was more Lothar's speed.

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'Man I just cannot get enough of people saying my name.'

So he engages in conversation with some refined people of breeding and culture and they discuss the finer elements in Orlesian politics, about the Inquisition and the Civil War between Gaspard and Empress Celene and the like. But then some boorish marquis insults him personally and the Inquisition in general.

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'What? I demand satisfaction sir!'

But before we can have our honor satisfied he gets frozen solid by Vivienne de Fer, the First Enchanter of Montsimmard and mistress to a fancy pants Duke. She asks what Lothar wanted to do with the marquis and Lothar lets him go. Killing him while he is frozen will not satisfy any honor. She is the leader of the few remaining Circle Mages and wants to join the Inquisition. Plus she is an advisor to Empress Celene so that is good. Basically she wants mages to be powerful but within the old circle system or a variation thereof. Interesting she seems like she is an adult who knows how the world works. Probably is secretly insane but as far as mages go she seems to be the most stable since Wynne.

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'Sanity and order shall be our inspiring battle cry!'

So they return to Haven with two new party members. But everybody is more interested in talking about the incident at the market place. Cassandra is saddened by the depths the Chantry has sunk.

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'St. Cassandra of Assisi'

Well we will keep that in mind since the Chantry probably needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. Cullen assures Lothar the Templars are not as insane as they appear.

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'Yeah remember that time you didn't believe Trask and gave Meredith the benefit of the doubt? That went well.'

Sera hopes Lothar can stop the war and close the breach and get things back to order. Further she claims she tried to close the breach with an arrow and was puzzled it didn't work. Isabella was more charming as the party dumbass. Anyway she also fills Lothar in about the Friends of Red Jenny'

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'Man I am so let down by this reveal!'

The name does work at sounding impressive though because I thought the Friends of Red Jenny were actually interesting and slightly sinister before this  :(

Now we know they are just some random people including a crazy underpants stealing elf.

Lothar returns to the Haven Chantry and we are getting ready for our next move.

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'Who knew being denounced by the Chantry and spat on by the Templars could be such a boon to our cause?'

And then an argument breaks out with Cullen insisting they go to the Templars on one side and Leliana and Josephine preferring the mages on the other. Some advisors this lot is.

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'Cassandra loves a man who takes charge.'

Leliana has been trying to get in touch with the Grey Wardens for support but all of them in Ferelden and Orlais has vanished. Grey Wardens, always gone when you need them. Well except one.

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'Maybe he discovered there can only be one Grey Warden and murdered the rest?'

So maybe this Blackwall guy knows what happened. It looks like they will be returning to the Hinterlands soon. Lothar gets the advisers working on some missions and then goes to craft some gear. On the way out he gets approached by some guy named Krem who offers the services of a mercenary company led by some Qunari. A Qunari and not a Tal Vashoth? Yes as it turned out. Huh. More on that later. They are on the Storm Coast.

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'Do you do tricks?'

He crafts his stuff (man I am getting pretty obsessive about the crafting, not sure how I feel about basically ignoring drops and getting all excited when I see a Nug to kill) and heads back to the Chantry. He chats with Vivienne a bit about things. She explains how the Circle worked in her neck of the woods and it sounds pretty much how I thought it worked before Dragon Age II.

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'Not to mention every mercenary and criminal gang in Ferelden'

I mean it didn't seem like that much of a prison when people actually followed the rules, but I guess the mages did rebel so...

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'Good now we can finally get that horse master in to...do whatever it is they do with horses.

FIRST STORM COAST CAMPAIGN

But first to the Storm Coast. Scout Harding greets them and tells them a group of mercenaries is dominating the area, boxing the Inquisition in.

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'We will get right on that!'

Lothar probably should have made it a higher priority because he quickly got distracted. This would not end well for that group. A short distance away from the camp The Bull's Chargers are fighting Tevinter mercenaries.

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'Wait if we are helping them fight are they really showing us what they can do?'

After the battle the Qunari in charge, The Iron Bull, wants the Inquisition to hire his crew. He also promises to be Lothar's bodyguard. Damn sounds good. But then he tells him he is a Qunari spy.

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'Some secret agent you are'

So he is a member of the Qunari secret police and sends reports back to the Qunari leaders on a regular basis. Well I guess that is ok for now, nothing we are doing has anything to do with the Qunari. He is weirdly not using the Qun to be disgusted and exasperated at humans all the time. He almost seems to like them. He even expressed a sexual interest in Leliana and redheads in general. This is disturbing since Sten made it clear sex with a Qunari would probably be fatal. So anyway he joins the Inquisition and they head back to Haven.

The agents of the Inquistion have been busy.

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'Wait did we really get jars of bees as grenades? I cannot even bring myself to use that.'

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'Yes we will just put our guys here to protect the Grand Cathedral from harm. Don't mind us grand clerics.'

So that should keep the Chantry in line. This is just a short stop to chat with The Iron Bull. Now it is on to The Hinterlands to find that Grey Warden.

SECOND HINTERLANDS CAMPAIGN

There is a new area near Calenhad's Foothold that has a big lake and fills in the area between the Crossroads and the Mercenary Fortress. I am not even sure what kept us from going there before. Maybe I just missed it for some reason. They go there and find Warden Blackwall training a bunch of farmers to fight off the mercenaries. Due to that amazing Ame...er...Trevelyan timing they get there just as the fight breaks out. Afterwards Lothar approaches Blackwall.

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'We are the Gibberlings Three. As merry a band as you ever did see.'

So he has no idea why the other Wardens are gone. He suggests maybe they all went to Weisshaupt and that maybe he just failed to get the orders. Pretty sure Leliana would have sniffed that out so I don't think so. He is just going along recruiting even though there is no Blight.

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'Ah so the recruiter becomes the recruitee. How ironic.'

He seems a dour and decent enough guy. It was just weird to see him 'conscripting' the farmers to fight the mercs and then releasing them again once he taught them how to fight. Seems very un-Grey Wardeny. More on this later.

Now they explore the new section of the map, or the old section of the map I missed for some reason. There are more bears here to stomp on Lothar and more mercenaries. In fact they tried to approach the mercenary fortress from the rear only to find a truly fearsome picket line of mercenaries waiting for them...yeah so probably still going to do this later. There are other items of interest though. First somebody buried their grandfather with the intention of raising him as a fearsome undead. Well you know what that is going to require Lothar to do.

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'Die random person's undead grandpa!'

Yep. Raise the horror, kill it, and take its stuff. Later they find a door under a waterfall guarded by Dwarf Carta members. It appears to go underground to the Deep Roads to a Thaig called Valammar. Well color me crazy but this is probably where the Red Lyrium is being mined. However the door cannot be picked. I bet the Mercenary leader has the key. Just a theory. We will find out later.

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'Abandon hope all who mine in here!'

They go back to the camp just north of the lake and switch parties. Out goes Cassandra and Solas and in comes Varric and Vivienne. Cassandra kind of hinted another mage would allow me to recruit the peacenik mage Ellandra earlier so going to try that. Or if not Vivienne some other mage I had not met yet :P

But first they head over to the farms and let the Horse master know the towers are in place. He hands over the horses but is reluctant to come with us. So Vivienne suggests we could get a nice horse master from Orlais. Well this stokes his Malthus-esque anti-Orlais feelings.

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'Victory through chauvinism!'

And then they go back to Ellandra and she is dazzled by my illustrious company.

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'You shall be known as codename Viper37'

So they spend some time doing some collection quests and gathering crafting stuff and then return to Haven. Still have that dragon and mercenary fortress sitting out there. Probably come back when they are level 10 or 11 and do everything but the dragon. Carefully avoided Redcliffe since Lothar is going to see the Templars.

A short stop in Haven to sell off and craft some. Lothar talks to Blackwall and discuss the Grey Wardens and our current situation. He wants Lothar to help him find Grey Warden artifacts that the Grey Wardens might have left behind as they vacated Ferelden and Orlais. Will do. Lothar asks him what he was doing in the Fifth Blight.

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'Wait there was a Blight on, you were in Ferelden, and you didn't join Duncan and the others?'

I mean he sensed a Blight was on and just hung out killing a few stragglers and hanging around? He was a freaking recruiter. This makes no sense. He would have been at Ostagar with his recruits. Just...weird. Vivienne has another collecting quest where books have been lost during the Mage-Templar war. Thinking about it this war probably was a knowledge. Yet another atrocity courtesy of Anders. Speaking of which Vivienne is pretty outraged Fiona started this revolt in response to what Anders did, she thinks it makes mages look like they are all terrorists. The Andersists have won :(

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'So neither the Templars nor mages thought those books would be worth taking? Typical.'

SECOND STORM COAST CAMPAIGN

So back to the Storm Coast to rescue that team of soldiers. Well they go there too late and all the soldiers are dead. The Mercenaries, who have been harassing us the whole way to the meeting place, left a note.

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'We need a Mercy's Crest to challenge your leader to a fight to the death? Well that makes sense.'

So there are these caves in the cliffs that have deepstalkers and giant spiders so they are able to get the deepstalker hide they need to make the crest. I guess some entrance to the Deep Roads is down there someplace. While exploring the coast they see tons of wrecked ships that have Templar heraldry and...something else.

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'Hey its the banner from The Hinterlands'

I think that is the flag either the mercenaries or the Carta in The Hinterlands is using. The black flag with the hand holding the snake. Wonder what the connection there is? They climb back into the mountains and fight to the mercenary fortress and confront their leader for killing their soldiers.

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'See I am wearing a Mercy's Crest but I came here to punish you without mercy, pretty ironic huh?'

This company, a group of religious fanatics known as the Blades of Hessarian (the blade of Hessarian was the blade that killed Andraste), serve whomever kills their leader wearing that crest so they work for Lothar now.

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'Their loyalty is assured until somebody kills Lothar, then they will immediately switch sides...presuming they are wearing the right crest.'

There are more of the usual weirdness that was found in the Hinterlands: star gazing dot connect puzzles that find treasure caves, skulls that light up weird shards, and fade rifts. I guess these are everywhere in the world now. Best keep an eye on your kids these days.

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'It's show time!'

They set up another camp to the south and then switch The Iron Bull and Vivienne out for Varric and Solas. Nearby they find a random evil wizard just walking around being evil.

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'Why hello Mr. Evil wizard fancy meeting you here'

They find a key to his house and yeah...he has a basement full of evil.

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'Only one evil altar and one pile of bodies? Must be an apprentice mage.'

The whole time we are finding Grey Warden camps and various notes written by them. They were here looking for somebody and seemed to be hearing The Calling and starting to become a bit unhinged. They failed to find him and moved on. Blackwall has not commented in hearing The Calling so whatever was causing that must be gone. Weird.

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'They just hang around and guilt people for ignoring them.'

They also find a few Grey Warden artifacts for Blackwall and man is he happy about that.

Near this last Grey Warden camp they set up the third and last Inquisition Camp and that is about that for the Storm Coast for the time being. There are still things to explore but the inventory is full. Back to Haven.

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'See you soon Storm Coast'

He gets back to Haven and Blackwall heaps praise on him for helping find those Grey Warden things.

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'Stop you are embarrassing me'

Man does Blackwall go nuts for Grey Warden baubles. We still have several more to find, he may want to marry Lothar by the time they are done. Speaking of which Blackwall has a little love advice for Lothar.

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'Man is it that obvious?'

I mean sure I may worship the rendered ground that digital character walks but all Lothar has done is flirt with her a little bit and hardly overtly. The gossip in Haven is strong. Anyway he just tells Lothar to remind her there is more to life than fighting. I have a feeling that is a hard thing to remind people of in the middle of a RPG :(

So with the Storm Coast research and Blackwall recruited what is happening with the Wardens is still a mystery. Leliana is disappointed.

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'Is this why Lorcan has also disappeared? :('

Man I hadn't thought of that. I hope he is ok. Now it is time to seek out the Templars. Lothar and company are level 9 now and it maxes out at level 7. I was worried this would make it easier but LOL was that not true. Anyway Josephine and company have put together an alliance of prominent Orlesian families to petition the Templars to help the Inquisition close the Breach. The Templars have relocated to some ancient fortress in southeastern Ferelden for who knows what reason.

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'Time to teach Lord Seeker Lucius a lesson'

Now for the team. Well we have to take Cassandra, since she was a Seeker and Templars are naturally deferential to them. Varric has lots of experience with crazy Templars so he should come. Vivienne is the highest ranking loyalist mage so she should have some cache with them as well. Besides she should help us work with the Orlesian Nobles.