Dragon Age II Playthrough - The Cat That Swallowed the Qunari

Chickene finds himself in the keep once again, as Viscount Dumar tells us that his son Seamus has decided to convert to the Qun and he wants us to talk him out of it. Hawke kindly points out that Seamus is a full-grown man and has the right to make that choice, but the Viscount says the political consequences are too great to allow that. So, Hawke rudely asks if he'd like us to drag him out of the compound in front of the Arishok. The viscount is, for some reason, still convinced that we can diplomatically persuade Seamus or the Arishok to play along and sends us on our way. Great.

 

Contempt and an air of superiority. Two ingredients not commonly found in a recipe for success.

 

Later at the Qunari Compound, where Chickene broaches the topic of Seamus politely, the Arishok says Seamus came to him as a willing convert and will not turn him away. Chickene accuses him of trying to find human soldiers to replace dead Qunari, but the Arishok insists they only do that to prisoners. He then cuts to the chase and says Seamus isn't even here... apparently he agreed to meet the viscount at the Chantry. Chickene and the Arishok both suspect Mother Petrice of meddling again. Hawke resolves to kill her this time and the Arishok says this is the only outcome he'll accept for someone who threatens Qunari converts.

Back to the Chantry we go. The good news is, we find Seamus right away. The bad news is, Petrice's zealots have already killed him and now she has showed up with a large group of her "faithful" to frame us for the murder. I guess it's a good thing that we already decided to kill her... unfortunately, she throws her followers at us and runs off again. Even with a couple of Templars in the group, it's not a difficult fight but this was just a means to an end for Petrice.

 

In Mass Effect 2, they introduced a "dialogue interrupt" system in which you could cut a conversation short and act.
...Why BioWare didn't include it here, and let me punch Mother Petrice like she's a tabloid journalist, I don't know.

 

By the time we're through dealing with the zealots, Mother Petrice is coming down the stairs with Grand Cleric Elthina herself. Petrice is already telling her how Chickene has gone on a killing spree exactly as she predicted, but we note that Elthina replies that she predicted it "all too well". We politely state our case, that Petrice killed Seamus to stir up anti-Qunari sentiments. Petrice can't help but start talking about how bad the Qunari are and Hawke angrily calls her out on her hatred. Elthina has heard enough. She chastises Petrice for crossing a line and says she'll be put on trial for this.

A Qunari lurking in the shadows disagrees with Elthina, though. While Petrice stares in shock as the Grand Cleric heads back upstairs, the Qunari fires two arrows into Petrice and leaves. Elthina suggests we get the viscount, so we do. He has little to say however, apart from stating that he can no longer be the leader Kirkwall needs now that his son is dead. We leave him to his grief and as we exit the Chantry, Aveline says there's a matter we need to discuss given the fact that things have gotten this bad.

 

Maybe you could let a balding nobleman who's totally not a mage give it a try? Just sayin'.

Chickene agrees to meet Aveline at his manor, but she's not the only guest we have. Isabela has chosen this moment to ask us for a favor too, and insists she's going to die if we don't help. Said favor turns out to be retrieving a relic that her old boss wants, which is being sold to Tevinter magisters tonight. Aveline, on the other hand, says she needs to talk to the Arishok about some elf fugitives who are trying to escape justice by converting to the Qun. She reasons that the city will riot if the citizens believe the Qunari are above the law, and Chickene agrees that's more important. Isabela vaguely suggests her relic might help with the Qunari too. We tell her to stop being so selfish but Aveline concedes that if there's any chance the relic can appease the Arishok, it would be good to retrieve it. So, we decide to follow Isabela to Lowtown.

Merrill and Aveline accompany Hawke and Isabela to Lowtown, and they run into Qunari almost immediately. They assume we have the relic and attack, which is certainly an auspicious start. Chickene politely asks Isabela to explain what this relic's connection to the Qunari is so we know what we're dealing with, and she finally admits it's the sacred Qunari relic that the Arishok is refusing to leave without. Chickene explodes, accusing Isabela of hiding the truth the whole time and telling her in no uncertain terms that the relic is going back to them. Isabela's not happy since she's convinced Castillon will hunt her down and kill her without it, but she eventually stops arguing and we go inside the nearby Foundry.

 

With that, Isabela goes from "not particularly useful" to "person we have burning hate for" in a heartbeat.

As we arrive on the scene, the seller is getting ready to hand the relic over to the Tevinter buyers. We approach at the same time as a group of Qunari warriors who shout at the Tevinters to back off. The mages draw their staves, the seller runs off with the relic, and Isabela breaks rank to pursue him. Now Chickene has to deal with an angry group of Tevinters and Qunari with just Aveline and Merrill to back him up. Naturally, by the time we've finished dealing with that hostility, we run outside to find the seller dead and his pockets empty except for a note from Isabela. In it, she tells us she's run off with the relic and doesn't intend to come back. She also apologizes for lying again, but it's small consolation for Hawke and Aveline, who have to deal with the Arishok under even less fortunate circumstances.

Reluctantly, Aveline asks for an audience with the Arishok the next morning with Hawke and a small group of her guards. We approach to find that the Qunari leader is carrying a massive axe on his shoulder, which certainly can't be a good sign. Aveline asks about the fugitives, so the Arishok brings out his two elven converts and asks them to confess to their crimes. One of the elves says a guardsman forced himself on his sister, so he and his friends murdered him for revenge. Chickene remains stern and says we're just here for the elves, not to debate culpability. Surprisingly, the Arishok asks Chickene what he would do if their positions were reversed. Chickene kindly suggests that he would leave peacefully. The Arishok disagrees, stating he cannot leave without his relic and he cannot stay while remaining blind to the disorder. So, he orders his warriors to attack us and the Qunari seige of Kirkwall begins.

 

Admittedly, this guy would probably do a better job at keeping order than the Viscount or the Knight-Commander.

Chickene and Aveline manage to slip out of the docks and regroup in Lowtown. Fighting can be heard throughout the city and Aveline suggests the Arishok has been planning this for a while. With her guardsmen otherwise occupied, she sticks with Hawke, Fenris and Varric to defend the area against the Qunari. There are plenty to be found in Lowtown, too. Horned warriors come from all corners of the slums to attack and progress is slow from one end of Lowtown to the other. As we reach the outskirts of Hightown, we find a small group of Grey Wardens who were caught up in the sudden uprising, who say they cannot help us fight but they will spread the word across the Free Marches in case the worst happens and Kirkwall falls.

Our group continues to the market district of Hightown, where the Qunari are dragging citizens toward the keep and they've let their Saarebas mages off their leashes to make that job easier. We encounter a particularly nasty one who seems ready to do major damage to Chickene, but he's put to a stop by a woman with a large sword and full plate armor. She introduces herself as Meredith, Knight-Commander of the Templars, recognizes us as Ser Carver's brother and says it's strange that he never mentioned us. We tell her about the hostage taking and say we want to stop it, so Meredith says she'll overlook our use of magic for now. We go our separate ways and find plenty more Qunari, including a few Saarebas, on our way to the keep but we eventually find ourselves there.

 

Carver appears briefly to remind you that he's not among your growing number of dead family members.

We clear out a large number of Qunari just outside the keep and find an older, elven mage rising unsteadily to his feet among the dead. This turns out to be Orsinio, First Enchanter of the Circle. Unfortunately for him, he's the sole survivor of a group of mages who were in the area and his mood doesn't improve when Meredith arrives on the scene. She's determined to go on the offensive while the Qunari are scattered throughout the city, but Orsinio refuses to take orders from her. So, Chickene decides to bark orders instead and tells the two of them that rescuing the hostages in the keep should be the top priority. Meredith agrees to follow this lead for now, and we all advance up the stairs to the keep.

 

I'm sure Meredith wants you dead, Orsinio, but seeing how useless you were against Qunari, she may not have to wait long. 

Qunari resistance is heavy and Orsinio is unsure about engaging them directly, but Meredith and Chickene opt for the direct approach. With a group of Templars backing us up, the fight is not too difficult and a path is cleared to the throne room. Meredith tells us to go ahead while she and her Templars hold the entrance. Chickene walks in to see the Arishok throw the Viscount's head at an assembled group of nobles, and a Qunari snapping one man's neck when he calls them monsters. Chickene confronts the Arishok, who says we must prove our worth before directing his honor guard to attack us. They're not any tougher than the warriors we fought to get here, though.

 

The Arishok, now calling us basalit-an for some reason, asks us how we propose to end this conflict. Chickene replies that he'd really like to hunt Isabela down and get the relic back. The Arishok says it's too late for that and intends to make us pay for our follower's crime. Fenris, however, knows what the term basalit-an means and says this gives us the right to duel the Arishok. If we win, the Qunari will leave without resistance... however, it means a squishy mage has to fight a beefy warrior, one on one. That's a horrible idea; but Chickene's never been one for rationality.

 

I'd like to end this conflict amiably, over tea and crumpets, followed by a nice tiramisu.

...Damn it all, what do you mean that's not one of my dialogue options?

The only thing keeping Chickene alive in this duel is his powerful healing aura that rapidly regenerates his health. Unfortunately, as long as it's active, we lose access to our few offensive spells like spirit bolt and walking bomb. So the duel consists of Chickene running around, hoping not to get his head cut off, taking little shots at the Arishok with his staff and casting haste when he can. It's a long and fairly ridiculous battle, but the Arishok's health is finally chipped away and Hawke is victorious.

"Damn you, Hawke. Don't you know that killing is basically the only thing I can do well?"

 

Even Cassandra points out that this is an unlikely part of Varric's story, but the nobles cheer as Chickene deals with his massive chest pains. Meredith enters to see that there is no glory for her to claim and shoots us a brief, but nasty glare. She then hails us as Kirkwall's new champion and act two comes to a close. It wasn't pretty, but Chickene finally managed to do something that was worthy of respect. When his story continues, however, we'll see that the Qunari revolt was merely a precursor to a much larger conflict.