Nah, we're fine, Josephine. I double-checked the achievement list and this isn't the endgame quest yet.
Our advisers dicker a little over whether it would be best to march our army into the Wilds or wait for our allies to assemble so our combined forces can march together. They also can't agree on whether or not Leliana's spies should head into the Wilds ahead of everyone else since they'll be slaughtered if discovered without backup. Torquemada decides that everyone's moving out as quickly as possible... the spies go in, backed by whatever forces can be mustered immediately, and allies will join when they can. Josephine writes some polite letters, Leliana sends some birdies out and Cullen poses heroically atop battlements as troops march below him. One montage later, we find ourselves in the Arbor Wilds and are surprised to discover that Empress Celene herself has arrived on the battlefield, much to Josephine's annoyance. The Empress insists, however, that she wants to present when the Inquisition crushes the Red Templars and that's why she has arrived with Val Royeaux palace guards in tow. Knowing that Corypheus has a pet dragon, we tell her to be ready to move out at a moment's notice, then head down the path leading into the Wilds to start crushing Red Templars to please the Empress.
Corypheus really has pulled out as many of his remaining forces as he can for this push through the Wilds, as we discover when we find the last of his enthralled Grey Wardens holding a position in a river crossing along the path. There are plenty of Red Templars in various stages of red lyrium corruption, but the Empress wasn't lying about Orlais' desire to participate in the fighting and her elite guards make defeating them much easier. Torquemada just has to sneak up behind a distracted Templar and unleash her increasingly deadly assassin skills to bring a given melee to a sudden conclusion. The only difficulty we experience is when some aggressive, decidedly non-Dalish elves try attacking us as well. Torquemada's curious about who they are and what they're doing here, but it's a mystery that will have to wait. It's not long before we reach a cliff overlooking the approach to the elven ruin, where we see Corypheus himself, flanked by Samson and his favorite Red Templar buddies, engaged in a fight with some more elves.
"Note that I didn't say WHOSE death. Clever, huh? That's why I deserve to be a god and not you."
One elf, wielding a mage's staff and plenty of power to back it up, is retreating to the safety of a large, glowing magical stone as Corypheus approaches. The stone seems to be generating a barrier to keep him and his Red Templars out of the temple but Corypheus appears unconcerned, telling the elf that he will not be denied the power of the Well of Sorrows. He steps forward, getting lashed by the stone's energies and the mage's spells in the process, and destroys the stone in a huge magical explosion. The barrier goes down, but all that's left of Corypheus is a puddle of black goop. The elves retreat into the temple as the Red Templars charge after them, and Torquemada and her companions head down to survey the scene. Morrigan has no idea what this "Well of Sorrows" is and doesn't like the fact that she was apparently wrong about the eluvian. We don't have much time to discuss it, though. One of Corypheus' corrupted Grey Wardens, who was laying wounded on the ground after the battle, is consumed by the black goop and a new Corypheus bursts out of his body. The dragon shows up at this point as well, so Torquemada tells everyone to make a run for the temple and we close the doors behind us in order to hide from the incoming fire breath.
Corypheus has been delayed, but the ancient elven temple that stretches before us is full of Red Templars. We fight our way forwards until we eventually catch up with Samson again. He's not in a fighting mood though, and jumps through a hole in the floor of the temple along with a small group of Red Templars while leaving us to deal with some mutants. After dealing with them, Cassandra wants to pursue Samson directly but Morrigan has another idea: by completing the rituals symbolizing the "Pilgrim's Path" to the Temple of Mythal, we should be able to open a door that takes us closer to the Well of Sorrows. Cassandra says that stopping Samson is our objective, not reaching the well, and Vivienne says she doesn't trust Morrigan, either. Morrigan takes us aside and admits that she wants to reach the Well of Sorrows because she believes relics of the past must be preserved no matter the cost. She also points out that Corypheus wants this power and that's all the reason we should need to want to get it before he does. Torquemada doesn't trust Morrigan either, but she's too curious about her people's past to pass up this opportunity. We head for the ritual chambers.
"All I want is to absorb some ancient power without having to do something icky with a dwarf. Is that unreasonable?"
Now, at first, the Pilgrim's Path appear to be simple tile-based puzzles that require you to walk a path that has you step only once on each tile. One of these is straightforward and not too frustrating to figure out. However... it's impossible to tell exactly how many tiles are part of the other two puzzles at first glance. One has a lever that controls gates, which shut you out of tiles you need to walk on, and the second is divided by a half-wall that may or may not reset the puzzle if you jump over it. Initially, I assumed that I could use multiple party members to complete different sections of these puzzles but that's not the solution the designers were looking for. These are the bad kinds of puzzles in video games: the poorly-explained ones with fake difficulty thrown in. Also, taking Morrigan's suggestion gets you disapproval from Vivienne and Cassandra. Regardless, after some frustrating walking, a new door opens and we proceed into the inner sanctum.
Upon entering, five elves appear behind us with bows drawn while the apparent leader of the elves, who was blasting Corypheus with magic earlier, walks out onto a balcony above us. He introduces himself as Abelas and calls his group the sentinel elves, the guardians of the Temple of Mythal. Abelas assumes we're here to take the power of the Well of Sorrows and asks us why we've been fighting with the Red Templars. Torquemada tells him that the Red Templars are our mutual enemies and we're just here to stop their leader. She also tells him that she knows this place is sacred and she's tried to respect that as best she can, as a member of his people. Abelas replies that the Dalish are not his people, and we barged in uninvited just like any human would have. However, he recognizes that the Red Templars are a larger threat and if we're truly uninterested in the Well of Sorrows, he'll give us the chance to prove it. A sentinel elf will guide us through the temple to get ahead of Samson and after we defeat him, the sentinel elves will guide us out of the Wilds on the condition that we never return. Torquemada accepts, but Morrigan does not. She transforms into a bird and flies past Abelas, hoping to reach the Well before anyone else.
This offer isn't that generous, considering that the sentinel elves are already killing Red Templars in an adjoining room.
Thankfully, the rest of the sentinel elves are unperturbed by Morrigan's actions and the guide appears to take us through the temple. Using a series of secret doors to move through side passages, the guide takes us around the rooms where Red Templars are fighting sentinel elves and we eventually reach a chamber just outside of the Well of Sorrows. After cutting through some Red Templars to reach the door leading outside, we enter a courtyard where Samson and four of his fellows are casually walking towards the Well. He's annoyed that we followed him this far and boasts that Corypheus has chosen him to be the vessel for the Well's power. We point out that Corypheus only wants to use him and cast him aside but he scoffs at our attempt to play Commander Shepard and convince him to redeem himself. He channels the energy of the red lyrium within himself and attacks along with his personal guard. Samson is a heavy hitter, but he can only really focus on one of us at a time and that gives Torquemada plenty of opportunities to get behind him and use her skills that take advantage of flanking bonuses. The same tactics we used to furiously punch dragons in their tails until they die also work on Samson, but Cassandra notes that he's still breathing when the fight is over, and could be taken to Skyhold to face judgement.
The Red Templars are down, but there's a commotion at the Well of Sorrows ahead of us. Sure enough, Morrigan and Abelas have arrived and Abelas is prepared to destroy the Well to ensure that no one can abuse its power. Morrigan reminds Torquemada that he'll destroy elven history and Abelas insists that he's trying to keep his people's legacy intact. By his own admission, however, the Dalish are not his people so Torquemada tells him that everything the ancient elves once were is already gone. Even Mythal herself is believed to be dead. Abelas is forced to admit that their sacred mission has become pointless and we are free to do as we wish, but warns us that using the Well comes at a price. The Well of Sorrows contains the knowledge, wisdom and willpower of generations of priests of Mythal and taking their power binds us to the will of Mythal. Morrigan scoffs at being bound to the will of a dead goddess, but Torquemada thinks she shouldn't be so sure because the priests themselves have a will of their own. One thing's for sure, though: Abelas has given up on defending the Well and if we don't take its power, Corypheus will. Since Torquemada has no intention of binding herself to the power of the Well and Morrigan is still so eager, we decide to let her wade into its waters.
Morrigan, wait! I translated this ancient elven writing. It says: "No lifeguard on duty." Just thought you should know.
The energies flow around Morrigan, there is a burst of magic and when it dissipates, the Well of Sorrows is empty. We check on Morrigan, who babbles in elven a little but quickly regains her focus. She has gained the power of voices in her head and the ancient priests of Mythal are already imparting their knowledge to her. The first piece of info she learns is that there is, in fact, an eluvian located conveniently near the Well which Morrigan can activate now that she has absorbed this new power. This is about to come in handy because Corypheus has finally caught up to us. He sees that the Well is empty and is enraged, literally flying toward us to attack. Torquemada tells Morrigan to go ahead and prove she can activate the eluvian and she does so, allowing us to escape through the magic mirror portal. Corypheus' progress is impeded by what looks like a water elemental, and Morrigan closes the portal behind us before he can follow. Moments later, we reappear, stepping through the eluvian located in Skyhold near our garden.
As usual, we head to the war table for a debrief with our advisers. Cullen reports that we won the battle of course, but he does not know where Corypheus and his dragon have fled. They left the Arbor Wilds as soon as we escaped through the eluvian, effectively leaving his army to die by the swords of the Inquisition. Leliana is more concerned by the fact that Corypheus has demonstrated that he can be reborn in a new body when he dies, even the body of a Grey Warden. Morrigan says that she's been listening to the voices in her head and has learned a crucial secret about Corypheus, though. His dragon is not really an archdemon, it's a dragon that he has put part of his power into. If we can kill the dragon, it will eliminate his ability to be reborn in a new body. Torquemada asks her if the dragon is like a horcrux and Morrigan tells us to shut up, because we're not allowed to call it that. What matters is, we have a new impossible task before us: find Corypheus' dragon and manage to kill it right under its masters' nose. This task also promises to be "the final confrontation".
Sooo, now we're taking tactical advice from the witch who admits to hearing voices in her head?
I have to imagine that at this moment, Cullen is just outside of frame... drinking heavily.
I have to imagine that at this moment, Cullen is just outside of frame... drinking heavily.
So, the next major update is probably going to be the end game! I am planning a mini-update before then, however, because Morrigan has an interesting scene following the end of the Arbor Wilds quest. Said update will contain some fairly major spoilers regarding Morrigan, her son and her mother. That's why I'm keeping it separate, just in case you care about that sort of thing. Anyway, I promise we'll get through this without another one month break!
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