Dragon Age Inquisition Playthrough - Now With More Dragon, Less Age

The Inquisition is more popular than ever following Torquemada's public thwarting of an assassination attempt and Empress Celene's subsequent support. Our advisers tell us that Corypheus is officially on the defensive and we gather around the war table, trying to figure out what he might be doing in the Arbor Wilds, where he is believed to be hiding out with most of his army. Morrigan enters the war room uninvited and says we can stop trying to puzzle it out because she already knows. Rather than explaining it however, she tells Torquemada that it's easier to show her, and she leads us to a small chamber near our garden.

Morrigan reveals that she has brought an eluvian to Skyhold, a magic mirror used by ancient elves to travel across great distances. As a Dalish elf, Torquemada is fascinated and happily steps through the portal when Morrigan activates the eluvian. We find ourselves in a still, ethereal plane with other darkened mirrors nearby. Morrigan says only a few remain intact and free of corruption, and she believes one to be in the Arbor Wilds. Corypheus isn't interested in traveling, though. This plane is apparently "close" to the Fade and Corypheus would probably be able to accomplish his goal of assaulting the heavens from here. Now that Morrigan has made her point, we return to Skyhold to see about the attack plans.

"This realm has soothing blue lighting other than foreboding green lighting. Basically, it's the Fade with better feng shui."

Gathering our forces to attack Corypheus in the Arbor Wilds is going to require significant effort (40 power points) so there's time to engage in smaller operations while we muster our strength. Leliana says that her agents may have located the Hero of Ferelden, and we approve an operation to find him straight away. Unfortunately, Amastacia proves to be completely unreliable once again. He sends a letter saying he's looking for a way to solve the Grey Wardens' problem of "the Calling" once and for all. He's pretty sure the solution is at the bottom of this next bottle of Grey Warden conscription wine. He also sends along one of his old belts. The reason for this is unknown to Leliana or Torquemada, but from Amastacia's perspective it was incredibly helpful.

Prior to our appearance at Empress Celene's ball, we got a lead stating that Orlesian factions fighting in the Exalted Plains had stopped reporting in to their respective commanders. Now that the conflict between the Empress and the Duke has been resolved, those armies should have gone home. However, that hasn't happened, so Leliana and Cullen agree that we should investigate. Additionally, Cassandra wants to kill a rogue Templar, Dorian wants to kill a Venatori cultist and Vivienne wants to kill a snowy wyvern, all of which can be found in the Exalted Plains. So, we decide to do what we do best: make a camp in the wilderness and start killing everything around us.

Now, before I go too much further, I want to take a moment to talk about Dragon Age Inquisition's "creative interpretation" of what certain creatures look like. According to my trusty Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 Monster Manual, a wyvern is a large, flying reptilian beast with two wings, two legs and a long tail with a venomous stinger on the end. It's supposed to look like this:

Wyverns resemble dragons and although they're far less intelligent, they're still a threat to lower-level adventurers.

So, I was a little surprised to find out that in Dragon Age Inquisition, a wyvern is an iridescent, flightless, quadrupedal reptilian with no true wings and no tail stinger. It doesn't even remotely resemble a creature I'd describe as a wyvern:

This is just a mutant frilled lizard that's been playing with his mom's makeup.

Anyway, that's how I wound up fighting a high dragon in the Exalted Plains: by thinking it was the snowy wyvern that Vivienne wanted us to kill and not realizing her desired prey was the albino monitor lizard wandering through the marshes. However, since I haven't talked about the dragons in Dragon Age Inquisition so far, this provides a good opportunity to go into detail about what it's like to fight one in this game.

In Dragon Age: Origins, fighting a high dragon (whether it was the one outside the Temple of Sacred Ashes, Flemeth's shapeshifted form or the Archdemon itself) meant you had to watch your party's health closely and keep squishy rogues and mages out of range. In addition to being able to make effective attacks from any angle, Origins' high dragons could deal massive damage to even the best-armored warriors with a grapple attack that left them helpless. A well-placed fire breath attack in the direction of a mage can also turn the tide of battle against you in a matter of seconds. In summary, dragons had to be respected and handled with the appropriate amount of concentration, and defeating one felt like an accomplishment.

In Inquisition, however, dragons are lumbering meat slabs and fighting them is more about attrition than tactics. If you flank one, it will spend two seconds looking at you menacingly before delivering a telegraphed, easily avoidable kick in your direction. Their breath weapon is also preceded by a period of a couple seconds where the dragon inhales deeply and growls a Draconic phrase which translates to, "stand back! I'm charging my laser!" They hit hard, but not hard enough that you have to worry about keeping rogues or mages out of close range. This is especially true if you bring a mage that has invested points in the barrier spell. All you have to do is whittle down their massive health bars to zero before you run out of healing potions. Very little skill is necessary.

Vinsomer can be found on an island in the Storm Coast, after you beat up some Red Templars and steal their boat.

DAI Dragons don't deal well with being flanked... and Torquemada has gotten VERY good at flanking enemies.

The good thing about killing a dragon is the benefits for your Inquisitor, though. You get small quantities of dragon bone (which acts as metal for crafting purposes), dragon scales (acts as leather) and dragon webbing (acts as cloth), as well as any rare trinkets the dragon was hoarding. Your Inquisition also gains power and influence since being a dragonslayer gets you noticed even if an NPC didn't ask you to go out and kill it specifically. There are also at least ten dragon fights to be found in the game, so if you want multiple sets of dragon armor you can count on being able to find plenty of wyrms to harvest the materials from. This is definitely an improvement over Origins, where Wade made you choose between medium, heavy or massive armor and what he produced was the only set of dragon armor you'd find in the game.

Once again on the downside, however, some dragons are more rewarding than others. Torquemada killed the dragons in the Western Approach, the Exalted Plains and the Storm Coast but still didn't have enough dragon scales to make a set of tier 3 armor for herself. That situation changed drastically when she killed a frost dragon in Emprise du Lion though, and got 15 dragon scales from that wyrm alone. Now, I could understand this if greater rewards came from dragons that were actually harder to beat, but for the most part all the dragon battles are basically the same. In the case of this frost dragon, in fact, I found it to be inept compared to the lightning-breathing dragon in the Storm Coast. When the Storm Coast dragon was low on hit points, it used an ability similar to a stoneskin spell that gave it temporary armor to resist attacks. The Emprise du Lion dragon, on the other hand, would take flight to belch cold from above when it was low on health. It can only hit you if you stand perfectly still however, so eventually it will get bored, land, and allow itself to be thrashed.

These tarot cards represent our companions on the character select screen.

Helping Vivienne gives us one where... she spills wine on an old man?

Enough about dragons, though. Back to Vivienne and her poorly-explained bloodlust for genetically mutated lizard monsters. This is one of several quests that your companions give you once they like you enough and you have progressed far enough in the game. Vivienne doesn't explain why she wants the heart of a snowy wyvern but since we were going to kill it anyway along our path of destruction through the Exalted Plains, Torquemada respects her privacy and gives her the heart. She decides to open up to us when we're back at Skyhold, as she takes us to Orlais and the home of her husband, a nobleman by the name of Bastien. He is bedridden with some kind of illness and the heart is apparently a reagent for a potion, which she administers to her husband. Bastien wakes up, briefly, but only shares a final few seconds with Vivienne before dying. Torquemada awkwardly says she's sorry and we return to Skyhold.

Vivienne is clearly shaken by Bastien's death but she remains focused and says she must make sure that all the funeral arrangements are taken care of according to the demands of the Orlesian court. We get a large boost of approval from her simply by being there for her, though. As for our other companions, I've been completing their quests throughout the playthrough but haven't written about them yet since I've been focusing on the main storyline. Here are a few of the more memorable quests in brief:

I have some very rude things to say about "Blackwall" and the horse he rode in on.

After helping Blackwall recover some Grey Warden artifacts, he mysteriously disappears from Skyhold one day. Leliana tells us that he seemed disturbed by news of a pending execution in Val Royeaux. The connection is unclear, but we head to Val Royeaux to see if anyone there has run into him. Blackwall makes his presence known, however, as the execution is getting underway. The condemned man is a soldier who took part in a massacre but Blackwall says it's not the soldier's fault because he gave the order. He then reveals that he is not really the Grey Warden Blackwall, but an Orlesian army captain named Thom Rainier who commanded the troops responsible for the massacre. He fled from justice and was found in the countryside by the real Blackwall, who intended to conscript him into the Wardens. That never happened though, as Blackwall was killed in an ambush while Thom was traveling with him. Thom then decided to assume Blackwall's identity and perform noble deeds in the fallen Grey Warden's name.

Thom is taken into custody by Orlesian authorities, but Torquemada pulls some strings and has him transferred to Inquisition custody. He is then brought before her throne so she can pass judgement on him. Torquemada informs him that he dodged the Grey Warden right of conscription and stole a Warden's identity, so he will go to Weisshaupt to face their judgement as soon as Corypheus is dealt with. Until then, he will continue to serve the Inquisition. Thom claims he never wanted to deceive us but the fact is, he did. Several times. The guy is welcome to hang out in the stables and defend Skyhold in case Corypheus' forces decide to attack, but he can forget about being a party member from here on out.

Iron Bull is sad because he can't look intimidating while attacking people with a dainty, golden poleaxe.

One of our other warriors, Iron Bull, told us a while back that his contacts in the Ben-Hassrath informed him that the Qunari are concerned about Tevinter's new influence in the form of the Venatori alliance with Corypheus. As a result, there's a potential for an alliance between the Qunari and the Inquisition. To start, Iron Bull has arranged a meeting with another Ben-Hassrath operative who will meet us on the Storm Coast to take down a Venatori encampment they've found there. We proceed to the meeting site, and we're surprised to see that our Ben-Hassrath contact is an elf. He tells us that the Venatori have two lookout points that we need to take out simultaneously to prevent them from alerting their friends to an attack. Torquemada and her companions will hit the larger camp while Iron Bull will send his mercenaries, the Bull's Chargers, to take out the smaller one. Once we've done that, the Qunari will be sending in one of their dreadnought attack ships to assault the main Venatori forces. Iron Bull says he doesn't like covering for dreadnoughts because it's always risky, but we go forward with the plan.

Taking down the lookouts is the easy part. The scouts offer no serious resistance to Iron Bull's overpowering assault, especially with Torquemada sneaking around and stabbing them in the back at the same time. Looking to the other lookout site in the distance, we see that the Bull's Chargers took care of their target just as easily. Unfortunately, as we look down at the main Venatori encampment below, we see that a large group of mages have noticed the Chargers, too. The elven Ben-Hassrath tells us the Chargers need to hold that position and draw the mages' attention to keep them from attacking the dreadnought. Iron Bull knows that those mages will tear his company to pieces, though. The elf tells him that the dreadnought takes priority and if he orders the Chargers to retreat, he'll be declared Tal-Vashoth and his life with the Qunari will be over. Torquemada can tell that Iron Bull doesn't want to sacrifice his men. We tell him that we'll deal with Corypheus without a Qunari alliance, and he should have his Chargers retreat. As expected, the mages turn their attention on the dreadnought, which explodes and kills all the mages along with everyone on board the ship. Our elf contact is not happy, especially since he vouched for Iron Bull, and we part ways.

Leliana's card appears on the war table, and doesn't change when we help her.

Apparently, she's really committed to posing nude with her favorite raven.

Last but not least, we were approached by Leliana about a message that was delivered to her, which Divine Justinia had arranged to be sent to her in the event of her death. The letter says that Justinia has an item waiting for Leliana to be retrieved in a Chantry where she used to be a lay sister. Given the significance of the location and the lengths Justinia went to in order to have this message delivered, Leliana is certain that it's very important. So, we travel with her to the Chantry in question during the dead of night, only to find that there's someone there waiting for us. Leliana recognizes her as Sister Natalie, someone she knew from her Chantry life, and greets her warmly but she gives Torquemada a warning glance and slight shake of her head when Natalie's not looking. We continue to play nice though, and eventually find Justinia's hiding place. That's when Leliana's demeanor changes.

She draws a knife and holds it to Natalie's throat, and the sister admits she was sent here by an anti-Inquisition Grand Cleric. Torquemada tells Leliana we don't have to kill her but Leliana disagrees and slits Natalie's throat. She then opens the ornate box that Justinia left for her... only to find that it is empty, save for an inscription telling her to lay down her burden. Leliana incredulously says that Justinia was afraid that she was using her, and the message that the not-Justinia fade spirit gave us about failing Leliana reflected that fear that she was turning her into a weapon. Torquemada says that maybe Leliana should accept this message, but she scoffs and says she really is a ruthless person, and Justinia only freed her by proving that she never needed the Divine in the first place. Back at Skyhold, Leliana is back to planning assassinations and kidnappings with renewed gusto. Torquemada starts to think that maybe Leliana isn't the best choice to become the new Divine.

Vivienne summarized the Exalted Plains quite well, by describing it as a place where she's glad she didn't buy real estate.

As for the Exalted Plains, the region is similar to Emprise du Lion in the sense that it offers plenty of quests but they're all completely unrelated to the main storyline and not very interesting on their own merits. The region is full of Orlesian soldiers who didn't get the memo that said "war over" and Torquemada gets to deliver the bad news that the guy they were fighting for, Duke Gaspard, is the one who lost. Also, there are pits full of dead bodies being raised as undead that we have to set fire to, an accomplishment we celebrate by blowing nearby war horns. Corypheus may or may not be involved... it's unclear whether Venatori mages were raising the dead, or if they were just out in the Exalted Plains putting up "Vote for Corypheus" signs at the time. Either way, we kill them when we find them and we now have plenty of power points to track down his forces in the Arbor Wilds.

So, I didn't get much accomplished with this update, but we did learn a thing or two about the derpy dragons in this game! By virtue of defeating them, Torquemada has a new outfit that she'll show off when she attacks Corypheus in the near future. Unless, of course, Sera asks us to do her laundry for her and we get distracted by a new round of companion quests.

Dragon Age Inquisition Playthrough - The Masque of the Unflattering Red Outfit

There are plenty of options for locations to visit on the war table, but the truth is that most of these regions don't offer much in terms of story. I decided to confront the Red Templars in Emprise du Lion and the location basically offered just that: a new map where you can confront a bunch of Red Templars. There are plenty of high quality resources to gather in Emprise du Lion and some areas of interest to certain companions, but nothing of importance in terms of information about Corypheus or his plots. So, we're going to cover the action at the Winter Palace of Orlais, where Empress Celene will be attending a ball.

I'm not sure if peace talks fueled by copious amounts of red wine is a horrible idea, or a great one.

Leliana, being a former bard with extensive experience in navigating court intrigue, has taken care of most of the details already. Our invitation was secured with the help of Duke Gaspard, a noble who was in line to become emperor before Celene outplayed him and secured the title for herself. Gaspard still has the support of the Orlesian military though, including the famed order of knights known as the Chevaliers, and there's been a little civil war going on since Celene became empress. Complicating things is an elven rebellion lead by a woman named Briala who may also be a former lover of Celene's. The duke believes that walking into the ball with the Inquisitor at his side will destabilize the empress' court, which is already experiencing some difficulties, and improve his chances of ascending to the throne. Leliana has also secured invitations for a small group of soldiers and her own agents, to be brought in a few at a time so they can effectively pose as guests. She's not sure which group the assassin will be hiding with, but she knows that Briala will be attending as an elven ambassador to engage in peace negotiations with Celene and Gaspard, so we may want to start there.

Torquemada is allowed to bring companions as her guests too, and we go with Blackwall since Grey Wardens are popular in Orlais, Varric because we want an archer and Sera would be a huge liability, and Vivienne because she still holds an Orlesian court position and could be incredibly useful here. She's not, however, allowed to go in with her weapons and armor so we're provided with a number of fancy red outfits inspired by the Nutcracker ballet. The getup looks slightly ridiculous on our skinny elven lady, and the Orlesian nobles assembled outside the Winter Palace immediately take notice. Before we've even had a chance to talk to anyone, the court disapproves of us due to unjust prejudice against elves and their inability to pull off an outfit with golden shoulder pads.

Sorry, I'm not taking that advice from a guy who's dressed like Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

We greet Duke Gaspard as well, who is eager to make an entrance and echoes Leliana's suspicions about Ambassador Briala. We assure him that we're eager to find out what's going on at this gathering, which he finds somewhat unsettling but we proceed into the Winter Palace's vestibule, where we're met by our own ambassador, Josephine. She reminds us before we enter the ballroom that the nobles will be scrutinizing us when we greet Empress Celene and we'll probably feel more comfortable when we're fighting demons in the Fade again. No pressure, then... thanks, Josie. Sure enough, all eyes are on us when we walk into the ballroom with Duke Gaspard and a herald begins listing the many honorific titles of Torquemada and her companions. Eventually, we reach the empress and Duke Gaspard address her first, telling her to spare him the small talk so they can proceed with the negotiations. Celene says they'll start when all the guests have been attended to, and turns to Torquemada. Our elf politely greets her and gushes about the beauty of the traditionally elven land of Halamshiral when prompted. The court is pleasantly surprised by our skill in brown-nosing.

Leliana finds us as we part ways with the empress, saying we're doing well enough so far, but she has more bad news for us. We continue the conversation in the vestibule, where she says that Celene has brought her mage adviser with her as well. This position in the Orlesian court used to be meaningless, but the woman who currently occupies it is dangerous. Leliana tells us she's dealt with this woman in the past and knows her to be ruthless. There's no sign of her yet though, so Leliana will gather more information while we try to snoop around the Winter Palace and figure out who brought a Tevinter assassin to the party. This brings us to a side garden where we find three of Celene's ladies in waiting, who inform us that despite the fact that we came here with Gaspard, the empress will be more than happy to align with the Inquisition if we expose the duke's crimes. We tell them we'll consider it, but it's not long before we discover that they're not exaggerating. Behind a locked door in the apartments above the garden, we find a suspicious letter from the duke about the servant's quarters. We also hear a bell tolling from the ballroom, calling the attendees to come and dance, so we decide to head that way and talk to Leliana again.

We hardly recognized her, given the fact that she's wearing proper clothing.

As we approach the door to the ballroom, however, we hear a familiar voice and turn to see Celene's mage advisor: Morrigan, the Witch of the Wilds from Dragon Age: Origins. She knows we've been poking around in the palace and is also aware that the empress is in danger tonight. Morrigan says Celene is safe enough for now, but she should return to her side to make sure she stays that way. She encourages us to keep looking though, and hands us the key to the servant's quarters. I guess the dancing will have to wait. We head to the lower level of the palace, where we rendezvous with Blackwall, Varric and Vivienne, and change into our more comfortable combat attire.

We find that some of the elves who came down here were killed by an unknown assailant. Proceeding further into the quarters, we find the body of one of the personal attendants of a member of the council of Orlesian nobles. A dagger is still lodged is his torso, which bears the crest of the De Chalons family... Duke Gaspard's family. Before we can return to the ballroom with this information, however, we're attacked as well and we're unsurprised to see that the shadowy killers are Venatori agents. We make quick work out of most of them, but their leader is taken down by a dagger thrown by someone who's not part of our group. Ambassador Briala steps out of the shadows and says it seems we beat her to the chance for revenge for the deaths of her elven spies. She takes the opportunity to say that she won't be surprised if we become involved in the peace negotiations and suggests that her elven spy network would be very helpful to the Inquisition if we support her.

Briala, if diplomacy means stabbing Venatori to death, I'm the most diplomatic person you've ever met.

By the time we're done in the servant's quarters, a bell is tolling to call attendees to dance once again but luckily, this means we're fashionably late. We proceed to the ballroom, hoping to find one of our advisers, but we're met instead by Duchess Florianne de Chalons, Duke Gaspard's sister. She organized the party, and she has valuable information to share about the negotiations but invites us to the dance floor to discuss it. Torquemada probably knows about as much about Orlesian dance as she does about nuclear physics, but we accept the offer regardless. On the dance floor, the duchess confirms what we already know and says her brother has snuck mercenaries into the Winter Palace. She also probes us for information about the Inquisition's goals but we remain as vague as possible because we don't trust anyone at this ball just yet. As the dance ends, she tells us we should search the palace gardens for Gaspard's hired men. Josephine says she's impressed, and the court was as well, which is surprising since Torquemada made that dance up as she went along.

We finally have the chance to share information with Leliana and to our surprise, she responds that our ultimate goal at this ball is to ensure that Orlais is still strong when it's over. If that means Gaspard becomes emperor, that would be an acceptable outcome. Cullen even says it's an outcome he'd prefer since it would guarantee the support of the Chevaliers for the Inquisition. Torquemada's not ready to let Corypheus' agent kill Celene though, nor is she convinced that Gaspard's not working with the Venatori. Sure, Gaspard secured our invitation but that may have just been part of a plot to get the Inquisitor killed, too. Hopefully, we'll find out more information when we go to the palace gardens.

Someone must be victorous, eh? ...Okay, I pick Corypheus. He'll never see that coming.

One thing is certain: the palace gardens are full of Venatori agents laying in wait, too. Torquemada is happy to take the opportunity to eliminate more of Corypheus' assassins, especially when she comes to an apartment with an elf woman inside, who is about to be stabbed by another masked intruder. The Inquisitor runs forward and kicks him out of an open window, then checks on the elf. Sure enough, she's one of Briala's spies but she's not too happy with her ambassador. In fact, she's convinced Briala tried to get her killed by sending her here because she's one of few elves who know that not only was she Celene's lover, she also stayed loyal to Celene even while the empress was sending soldiers into alienages to put down rebels. We make a note of that and tell her to get to safety. Our group then proceeds to the main area of the gardens to find not only a large group of Venatori agents, but a fade rift and the Orlesian noble who brought them here.

This is because you didn't like how I danced with you, isn't it? Lady, I think you're overreacting.

It turns out, we suspected the wrong De Chalons. It's not Duke Gaspard but Duchess Florianne who appears on a balcony to boast about how well her trap worked. We give her one chance to abandon Corypheus' cause, but she directs the Venatori to kill us and bring her our hand instead. Apparently, the duchess hasn't been paying attention to all the other dead Venatori we've left throughout the palace. They get overpowered by Torquemada and her companions, the rift is sealed and we look around the room to find that there is, in fact, a mercenary here and somehow he's still alive. He's in disbelief about demons in the palace and says Gaspard never mentioned this when he hired him. So, it turns out Florianne wasn't lying about that much. Seeing how this contract has gone to hell, the mercenary captain says he'll be more than happy to testify against Gaspard for the Inquisition.

We know Florianne is headed back to the ballroom to put her plan into motion, so Torquemada hurries back to put a stop to it. Josephine approaches us as we enter, clearly dismayed by the fact that we haven't bothered to change out of our bloody armor and back into our formal outfit. We tell her we need to have another chat with the duchess, which Josephine isn't too sure about, but the court has been sufficiently charmed by Torquemada's surprising amount of social grace. In front of the assembled crowd, including Empress Celene, we loudly tell Duchess Florianne that her archers failed to kill us, so regretfully she'll be unable to kill the empress now. Florianne, stricken either by guilt or severe embarrassment, can do nothing but stammer in her defense and Empress Celene has her guards haul the duchess away. Torquemada politely suggests to the empress that we continue this conversation in a more private setting.

Sorry, Grounder. Your robot chicken buddy Scratch isn't going to help you out of this one.

A short time later, Torquemada meets with Celene, Briala and Gaspard on a secluded balcony. The Duke immediately denies any knowledge or involvement with his sister's plot and accuses Briala of knowing about it. We point out the hired mercenaries, the slain elven servants and a De Chalons knife in the gut of some poor page in the basement. Celene says that's more than enough to declare him an enemy of the state. Gaspard's pursuit of the throne is officially over. As for Briala, Torquemada decides to tell Celene that she was influential in exposing Gaspard's crimes. The empress decides that she will forgive Briala's crimes against Orlais in leading the elven rebels, but says that Briala will have to live in exile from now on. That probably won't get us access to her spy network, but we're not sure we want her as an ally anyway.

With Celene's judgments rendered, Torquemada appears alongside the empress as she announces to the crowd that the civil war is over and Orlais is united again. She pledges her support to the Inquisition and asks if we'd like to address the crowd. Torquemada tells the nobles that her goal is peace for all of Thedas and welcomes Orlais' help in accomplishing it. The nobles cheer for the Inquisitor and their empress, and we decide to find somewhere quieter for a while. Morrigan finds us again though, and informs us that Celene has decided to appoint an official representative to the Inquisition: her. We ask how she feels about that and she says that it's the empress' decision, and she'll abide by it. Since this is Morrigan we're talking to, we're pretty sure she's telling us at least one lie here. However, we welcome her to the Inquisition and tell her we'll see her in Skyhold.

You're going to hang around Skyhold in your skimpy outfit, right? ...Yes? Okay then, welcome to the Inquisition.

Back in our fortress, Josephine tells us she's impressed by our success at the Winter Palace, stating that some nobles who dislike Celene have renounced us but we have more than made up for their loss. There's a new complication that has arisen from our popularity, however. Now that the Chantry has warmed up to the Inquisition, they are pressuring us to send Leliana and Cassandra to Val Royeaux to decide on a new Divine. The two of them were literally Justinia's left-hand and right-hand advisers, respectively, and their presence is requested not just to decide on a new Divine. Both of their names are being considered to actually become the new Divine. Josephine says that the matter will have to continue to wait though, because Cullen has drawn up attack plans now that we have the support of the Orlesian army....

Dragon Age Inquisition Playthrough - Grey Expectations

With so many Templars corrupted by Corypheus, Torquemada is concerned by Hawke's suggestion that another great order of warriors, the Grey Wardens, may suffer a similar fate. So, she directs Leliana to send scouts to a region called Crestwood, where Loghain is supposed to be hiding out. This part of Fereldan is similar to the Storm Coast in the sense that it is rainy, gloomy and saturated with things that want to kill us. The key feature of this area is not a coast, however, but a lake that sits where Old Crestwood used to exist before the darkspawn blight of Dragon Age: Origins. Somewhere under the lake is another fade rift, which is causing dead bodies to walk out of the water as undead that attack the new village. That's a crisis for another time, though.

Look, we have to live up to Amastacia's legacy. Protecting helpless villages from the undead wasn't really his thing.

At a crossroads near the new village, we find two Grey Wardens protecting a random villager from a couple of stray undead. Torquemada joins the fray and helps the Wardens to take down the walking corpses-- probably unnecessary, but they're grateful anyway. We strike up a conversation about what they're doing here and they say they're here to arrest Loghain, on the orders of their Warden-Commander, Clarel. They sound a bit reluctant about it too, but that's all the info they're going to share about their mission. Torquemada decides she'd better head to Loghain's hideout before someone else finds it.

Hawke is waiting for us at the entrance to a cave that was once used by smugglers. We warn him that there are Grey Wardens looking for Loghain but Chickene already knows. He says he hopes he doesn't have to kill them because most Wardens aren't bad men, they've just been given bad orders. We proceed inside the cave, where we meet a sword-brandishing Loghain who's ready for a fight before Hawke tells him to relax. He relaxes, introduces himself and confirms that yes, he's the same "traitorous Teyrn" who wanted to wipe out the Grey Wardens 10 years ago.

You know, Loghain, if being a Grey Warden doesn't work out, "The Traitorous Teyrn" is a great name for a pro wrestler.

Loghain has worked out that Corypheus hasn't corrupted the Grey Wardens exactly, but his connection to the darkspawn taint has somehow allowed him to influence the Wardens in a more subtle way. All Wardens, when they are close to dying due to their tainted blood, feel what is known as the Calling. It is a subconscious urge to go into the darkspawn lairs in the Deep Roads, where a Grey Warden will spend the last moments of their life killing as many darkspawn as possible before being slain. Corypheus has found a way to make all Wardens feel the Calling simultaneously. Many have already disappeared into the Deep Roads and the rest believe they're about to die, too. As for the Hero of Fereldan, his whereabouts have been unknown for a while now.

Loghain continues, saying that Warden-Commander Clarel ordered his arrest after he spoke out against her plan to use blood magic to solve the problem. He does not believe she is being controlled by Corypheus, she is just so determined to her cause that she is going to extremes... a mindset he admits to being familiar with. Hawke adds that in any case, he has seen enough blood magic to know that such rituals never end well. Loghain agrees, and says we should go to a Warden stronghold in a region of Orlais called the Western Approach, where this Commander's supporters are gathering for the ritual.

The odds aren't good that Amastacia is still alive but let's face it, maybe we're better off without him.

Before heading to the Western Approach, however, Torquemada is going to return to Skyhold and see if she can navigate the fortress without getting lost this time. With the help of some dwarven engineers, rubble is being cleared and fewer doors are blocked off now, but the place still needs plenty of work. We learn that Skyhold includes a garden and Torquemada has gathered enough resources to improve it a little. There are two options: we can either make it an herb garden, which will allow us to plant seeds and gather more key ingredients when we need them, or a Chantry garden which... is just a garden that really likes Andraste, I guess. Being Dalish, Torquemada sets the place up as an herb garden and tells Mother Giselle, who is hanging out among the shrubberies, that she'll have to go somewhere else if she wants to lead people in song again. Preferably, a different video game.

Another feature of Skyhold we haven't mentioned is the Inquisitor's throne. Here, we have the opportunity to decide the fate of certain characters, such as Alexius who we managed to defeat without killing. It's possible to show mercy, or proceed straight to an execution if we want, but Torquemada remembers how Alexius treated his own prisoners in the alternate future she visited. We tell him he's going straight to the dungeons and Leliana will be in charge of his interrogation... which probably makes him wish he was dead. Josephine also brings an Avvar barbarian before us whose tribe was attacking us because one of his idiot sons mistakenly thought we were in league with Tevinter. He's not exactly apologetic for his actions, but it seems his honor compels him to act this way so we make things easier for him. We arm him and his entire tribe and banish him to the Tevinter Imperium. Everyone comes out of that decision feeling better about themselves.

He was also attacking Skyhold with a catapult. Using goats as ammunition. I'm not going to punish a guy for being AWESOME.

Eventually, we turn our attention back to the war table and the Western Approach. The site that Loghain gave us is in the middle of Orlais' western desert and our favorite dwarven scout, Harding, confirms that it's the most inhospitable location we've sent her to so far. In addition to aggressive native wildlife, there seems to be a large area of hot springs that spew sulfur and noxious gases. One of her scouts came back from those springs in a state of delirium, so she's not sure if his claims of spotting a High Dragon are correct or not. In her professional opinion as head scout, she says that there's something "off" about the whole area. She does, however, confirm the location of the Grey Wardens' meeting place and reiterates that we should proceed with caution.

As promised, the desert is full of some nasty predators called quillbacks, as well as some critters called hyenas that look nothing like hyenas, and critters called phoenixes which look nothing like phoenixes. Sure enough, the High Dragon wasn't a hallucination either, and we steer clear of it as we head to a large temple/fortress where the Grey Wardens are gathering. Hawke and Loghain are standing at the foot of a bridge that leads to the structure ahead and Hawke tells us that he'll watch our backs while the rest of us go in with Loghain. ...Kind of living up to your name there, aren't you Chickene? Regardless, Torquemada walks across the bridge and finds a group of Grey Wardens being led in a ritual by Tevinter Magister Livius Erimond who, sure enough, turns out to be a Venatori cultist.

"In death... cookies?" I hope it's cookies. Please let it be cookies.

Erimond kills a young Warden who is protesting the ritual, summons a rage demon and has one of the less scrupulous Wardens bind it to his service. He sees us approach and thanks us for bringing Loghain to him since his friend Clarel is still quite unhappy with him. We try to tell the Wardens that they're being deceived by the Venatori, but Erimond demonstrates that all the Wardens with new demon friends are under the total control of his blood magic. He brags that the Wardens were all too willing to accept Tevinter's help once they thought they were all about to die, and Corypheus now has an army that will march into the Deep Roads to kill the Old Gods in their lairs. Torquemada tells him that's not going to happen now and demands that he release the Wardens under his control. The magister, however, says Corypheus told him how to handle us and begins to channel energy that makes our glowy hand get wracked with pain.

He didn't count on the fact that Torquemada is more comfortable with her mark now, and she throws off the energy while Erimond continues to gloat. Realizing that he has a fight on his hands that he hadn't planned for, he tells the Wardens and their demons to attack us, and flees. There are plenty of them to deal with but we have Loghain's help in addition to our usual band of companions, and group of demons and enslaved Wardens are quickly slain. Hawke joins us shortly thereafter and curses the use of blood magic once again. Loghain tells Hawke that the Wardens were desperate and had good reason to turn to blood magic, but Hawke replies that every blood mage has rationalized their actions some way and it is never justified. Returning to the business at hand, Hawke and Loghain say that they will assist our scouts in tracking Erimond in order to determine where the rest of the Wardens are. Torquemada is a bit annoyed by the fact that he got away, but at least this means we can get out of the desert.

Look, Traitorous Teyrn, could we maybe discuss this AFTER we get all this sand out of our codpieces?

We return to Skyhold once more and find Hawke chatting with Varric outside our war room. He's just finished telling my advisers that Erimond and the Wardens are using Adamant Fortress as their base of operations. That's not the best news he could have delivered, because the fortress in question was designed to stand against a darkspawn blight. Cullen knows that it was built before trebuchets existed, however, and believes that all we need to do is focus our siege engines on a key point, then get to Clarel as quickly as possible. Leliana hopes that some Grey Wardens in the fort will be willing to see reason, so she agrees that we should fight them as little as possible and focus on getting to Clarel and Erimond. This tactic sounds all well and good, but we expect it's not going to be that easy to execute. It's the best plan we've got though, so Torquemada tells her advisers to make the appropriate preparations.

At this point, we don't really need the battering ram but Cullen brought it and by the Maker, he's going to use it.

Some time later, Cullen has brought our trebuchets to a promising-looking section of wall and has made a hole for us to enter. Torquemada enters with Varric, Blackwall, Solas and Loghain and Cullen tells us that Hawke is assisting Inquisition soldiers who are fighting on the battlements. The walls above us are full of archers, mages and demons who can rain attacks down on us from above and Cullen hints that they may need some more help up there. Torquemada takes everyone up and starts thinning out the army of demons, which becomes quite easy when we round a corner and find Chickene Hawke obliterating a pride demon singlehandedly. We backstab it while it's distracted and Chickene casually asks where we'd like him to go next. We ask him to help our reinforcements and let us go it alone, since they'll need his firepower more than we will.

Eventually, we find a central courtyard where Clarel and Erimond are standing above the assembled Wardens and demons, issuing orders. Hawke catches up with Torquemada as she enters the area and tries to tell Clarel that Erimond is turning her Wardens over to his darkspawn master. Erimond replies that the Inquisition will say anything if it suits their agenda and tries to convince Clarel to let him summon a powerful demon that she can bind for herself. We brought Blackwall with us for a reason though, and ask him to speak on our behalf. He reminds his fellow Wardens that those who have heard of him know his commitment to the order and he wouldn't be with the Inquisition if it conflicted with his duty. At this, even Clarel falters in her support for Erimond, so the Venatori announces that Corypheus has sent another of his followers to his defense. At that point, an archdemon shows up.

"Hold on, hold on! Let me check my notes here... oh, there it is!

'Grey Wardens + Archdemons = Mortal Enemies'! Son of a bitch! I even had it underlined!"

Clarel has gone along with plenty of forbidden magic at Erimond's urging, but she knows an archdemon when she sees one and the Wardens kind of have a rule about killing them. Erimond makes one last feeble attempt to convince her that he's still on her side, but as Clarel starts firing bolts of magic at the archdemon, the other Wardens follow her lead and turn their swords on their mages under Corypheus' control. Erimond attempts to flee and we follow Clarel as she pursues him. She knocks him down with a spell as he runs along a wall and is ready to finish him off, but the archdemon has followed the chase, too. It mauls Clarel with a snap of its jaws, flings her to the ground and moves in for the kill. The Warden-Commander channels as much energy as she can in response, detonating a magic explosion when the archdemon is directly above her.

Her spell does some damage to the archdemon, but not as much damage as it does to the Adamant Fortress itself. The walls we're standing on start crumbling. Torquemada and her companions try to run for safe ground, but everything is collapsing so it's only a matter of time before we're in a freefall. It's a long way down to the earth below so as we begin to plummet, Torquemada uses her mark to open a rift, which she, Varric, Solas, Blackwall, Loghain and Hawke all fall through. When we reach the other side, we discover that we've entered the Fade but it's not just our spirits that are here. Solas confirms that we have found a way to physically enter the Fade, which he finds fascinating but the rest of us find pretty disturbing.

Solas, don't just stand there, staring at the Fade. I'm taking screenshots. They'll last longer.

It's not long before we find out that we're not alone here but surprisingly, the first thing we encounter is friendly... in fact, it looks exactly like Divine Justinia V. Solas and Torquemada believe that it can't actually be the Divine, but either a spirit inspired by her or a demon trying to deceive us. Whatever it is, she tells us that we're in an area of the Fade controlled by a fear demon that calls itself Nightmare. It's an ally of Corypheus, and she says it's responsible for making all the Grey Wardens feel the Calling. Also, this is supposedly the same part of the Fade that we entered during the disaster at the Conclave, and we left something behind: our memories. Not-Justinia points toward a group of nearby demons and says they're holding on to them. Sounds odd, but we planned on killing demons anyway so we might as well start with that group.

Although we're still unsure of this spirit's motivations, we can't deny the results. The demons literally drop memories and we pick them up to get flashbacks of the events that led up to the destruction of the Conclave. Some things wind up being what we expected, such as the memory that shows us that Torquemada barged into the chamber while Corypheus was sacrificing Justinia, causing him to drop orb of power. Torquemada grabbed the orb with her left hand as it rolled toward her, which caused her to absorb the power of the anchor. What was surprising about that scene, however, was the fact that Grey Wardens were holding Justinia still while Corypheus performed his ritual. Additional memories show that Justinia was pulled into the Fade with Torquemada when she first acquired the anchor, and it was the Divine that people saw standing alongside her in the Fade, not Andraste. Luckily for Torquemada, she never bought this whole "Herald of Andraste" thing in the first place.

Thanks to our trip to the Fade, we now have the comfort of knowing... how Justinia died horribly. I guess.

The Fade being the Fade, everyone with us could see the memories along with Torquemada and Hawke isn't at all happy about the fact that the Wardens have been helping Corypheus all this time. Loghain tries to defend the Wardens again, but Torquemada reminds them that they're in the middle of the Fade and still have a fear demon to deal with. The arrival of more demons proves that this argument will have to wait, and our group continues forward in order to confront Nightmare. The demon is aware of our presence now that we've been taking our memories back and begins taunting us. He's not very good at it though, because when he gloats about being the leader of Corypheus' demon army, Not-Justinia points out that taking him down will banish all the demons under his command, much to Nightmare's annoyance.

The spirit accompanies us all the way to the fear demon's lair, which is a good thing because its aspect is accompanied by a rather large, mutated spider. Not-Justinia flies toward it, and the two of them vanish in a flash of energy. This leaves all of us to deal with the smaller, but still powerful part of the fear demon and its spiderling swarms. Normally, this would be a difficult battle but we still have Hawke and Loghain with us, and despite Nightmare's attempts to hide from us and let the spiderlings fight for him, he can't get away from the six of us for long before someone finds him. The demon is finally destroyed and we're about to make our escape when we realize that the giant mutant spider was only temporarily dealt with by Not-Justinia. Now it's back, and it wants to eat something corporeal.

"INQUISITOR. YOU REFER TO ME AS A MUTANT SPIDER. THIS IS HURTFUL.

YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW ME AS A MONSTROSITY, YET YOU MAKE JUDGMENTS."

Loghain immediately volunteers to fight the monstrosity while we retreat, because the Wardens caused this problem and as a Warden, he intends to fix it. Hawke tells Loghain that his order will need him to rebuild, that it was his failure to kill Corypheus that caused all this in the first place and he'll deal with it instead. Naturally, it falls to Torquemada to make the decision. The fact is, we do intend to have the Chickene Hawke help us deal with Corypheus but this thing isn't Corypheus. Not only is Hawke more likely to have better insight about our enemy, but the Champion of Kirkwall is more valuable as an ally than one disgraced Teyrn turned Grey Warden. We're not happy about sending Loghain to his death, but he charges into the fight without hesitation and we take the opportunity to leave the Fade. A short time later, Torquemada and her four companions step through a portal back to the physical world and find that all the demons within the Adamant Fortress are vanquished, and the Grey Wardens are firmly on her side.

Torquemada tells the Wardens that Loghain sacrificed himself, just as he promised he would in his oath. One of the Wardens says that he was the last senior Warden whose whereabouts were known, and they are now leaderless. We had a feeling he'd say that. Torquemada continues, saying that the Grey Wardens are invited to add their strength to the Inquisition in order to defeat the archdemon and its darkspawn master, Corypheus. Additionally, since they're still susceptible to his corruption, we would much rather keep a close eye on them than exile them for Orlais and leave them vulnerable. The Grey Wardens accept her offer without hesitation, which makes Solas a little bit uneasy but Varric and Blackwall are quite pleased with our decision.

Look, how important could Orlais be? You couldn't even go there in the previous two games.

Upon returning to Skyhold, Leliana discusses the revelations from our recovered memories with us, but we're not too concerned with the nature of Not-Justinia, or the fact that we're really not the Herald of Andraste. So, Leliana tells us that our focus should now be firmly on Orlais, because we may have freed the Wardens from Corypheus' corruption and vanquished an army of demons, but even this will be meaningless if Orlais falls. Our invitation to Empress Celine's ball has been arranged but there are plenty of other regions for us to explore, including Emprise du Lion, a known stronghold of the Venatori and the Red Templars. Leliana thinks we should focus on ensuring Celine's safety and go to the ball, but destabilizing Corypheus' forces in the area may be a better way of keeping Orlais safe. That's a decision for the next update, though!

Dragon Age Inquisition Playthrough - Boy, That Escalated Quickly

The arrival of an army at the gates of Haven is surprising to say the least. Cullen is quick to point out that the village was never meant to be a defensive stronghold and our ability to repel an invasion is limited at best. With few other options though, Torquemada heads to the main gate of the city to lead the defense. The gate is already rattling due to the presence of an intruder, but this visitor isn't part of the army marching on the village. He kindly asks us to open the gate so we can talk, and upon doing so we see an odd-looking, blonde-haired young man with the bodies of a couple of enemy soldiers next to him. He informs us that his name is Cole, that the Elder One is unhappy with us for stealing his mages from him, and this situation is exactly as bad as it looks. Fortunately, the Inquisition built some siege engines just in case someone tried to attack Haven and Torquemada takes Blackwall, Varric and Dorian with her to defend these trebuchets against the oncoming attackers.

We know he's not part of the approaching army...
because no self-respecting general would allow one of his soldiers to wear a hat that ridiculous.

Even though the bulk of this army is still in the hills, there are plenty of soldiers coming to attack the trebuchets just outside of the village. The attackers appear to be Templars, but there's definitely something wrong with them: they're glowing with red energy and the leaders appear to have red lyrium growing out of their bodies. We can only assume that the Templars have been corrupted by the Elder One and their forces have now joined his. Torquemada doesn't waste any time in putting these knights out of their misery and allowing our siege engine operators to rain as much destruction as they can down on the advancing army. We then proceed to our second trebuchet, which has been overrun by these "red Templars", and get it operational again. With a well-placed volley, we're able to cause an avalanche on the snowy mountain near the battlefield, which looks like it claims the lives of many of the Elder One's soldiers. Unfortunately, this is when his best minion joins the fight.

A large dragon arrives, destroys the trebuchet responsible for the devastating attack, and flies toward the village of Haven to do more damage. We immediately head back to the gate, where Cullen is trying to herd as many people as possible off of the front lines and into the Chantry. He says that they have no defense against a dragon, and the Chantry is the strongest building in the village, so the best strategy is to have the townsfolk and soldiers bunker down there. With the entire village retreating into the Chantry, red Templars begin to advance into Haven, so Torquemada and her companions need to fight their way through the town. On the way, we hear the cries of other townspeople who need help. The tavern owner is trapped under burning rubble, our researcher and our alchemist have gotten too close to flammable ingredients and our requisitions officer is trying to fight off a group of Templars all by herself. These NPCs can and will die unless you intervene quickly, so Torquemada stealthily walks around the Templars in order to help her people while her followers keep them distracted. It's impossible to save everyone, but Torquemada saves who she can.

Cullen manages to look heroic and valorous, even when retreating from his mutated, former allies.

Once inside the Chantry, the hopelessness of our situation becomes clear. We're completely outnumbered by the army outside our gates, there's no escape route out of the Chantry and the Elder One isn't likely to accept a surrender. The stranger named Cole, who is tending to Chancellor Roderick as we enter the Chantry, also says that he's pretty sure the dragon is actually an Archdemon. There's a little bit of good news, though: Cole says the Chancellor wants to say something before he dies from the sword wound in his torso. Roderick has had a change of heart since we closed the breach and as someone who made a pilgrimage to the Temple of the Sacred Ashes when he was younger, he knows of a path out of Haven. He can show the villagers the way out, but the Elder One's armies are going to need to be distracted in order to ensure that our people aren't followed. Cole says it "hurts" to listen to the Elder One, but he believes he's come for Torquemada specifically and won't be inclined to pursue if she's the distraction. Cullen doesn't like it, but recognizes that it's the best plan. Torquemada agrees and says she'll do her best to come out of this situation alive.

There's still one trebuchet in Haven that the dragon hasn't destroyed, so that's where Torquemada is headed. She has an idea about how to use it too, but she'll need to aim it first. This means repelling a large number of red Templars in order to set up the shot, which isn't easy when it's just her and her three companions that are doing the fighting. It's even less easy when the Elder One sends in a grotesquely corrupted brute called a "behemoth" into the fight, which has a red lyrium arm wider than a telephone pole to swing at you. Sneak attacks don't cripple the behemoth the same way that they affect lesser minions, and it's generally resistant to any attack that gets thrown at it. The wild swings are easy enough for Torquemada to dodge though, and the monstrosity is eventually whittled down until it falls. Torquemada finishes aiming the trebuchet, but that's when the Elder One and his pet Archdemon show up. She tells her followers to run while they still can.

Is this the guy who's going to deliver the villain monologue, or is he just the front man for the tavern's death metal cover band?

Torquemada doesn't even bother trying to fight the dragon, since it's far beyond her abilities. So, the Elder One calls it off and speaks to Torquemada directly. He tells us that our mark is called the "anchor", which he designed himself before we stole it from him. He's come to take it back, because he wants to assault the heavens themselves with it. Torquemada asks him why he it's so important, and he continues to talk about his experiences in the Fade, where he went to the throne where the Maker is supposed to sit and found it empty. He literally wants to make himself a god, and claims to have be someone who came close to becoming a god thousands of years ago. He names himself Corypheus, and attempts to take the anchor back for himself by force. After seizing Torquemada and channeling his power into her hand, he says that her meddling has made it impossible to extract from her body. He's displeased, and prepares to kill her.

Torquemada manages to get away and seizes a nearby discarded greatsword, much to Corypheus' amusement. He begins to tell her that resistance is futile, when Torquemada replies that he should enjoy his victory while he can, and cuts the rope holding the trebuchet's payload in place. A large boulder is flung toward a nearby snowy hillside, triggering an avalanche that will consume the village of Haven. Torquemada makes a run for it and Corypheus, realizing that even he can't survive if he remains here, gets on the back of his dragon and flies away. The avalanche moves faster than Torquemada can run though, and at some point during her escape, she blacks out.

"Oh, COME ON! That was cutscene power! You always complain when the antagonists do it to you, you damned hypocrite!"

We wake up in a tunnel underneath Haven, with Torquemada's mark glowing more vibrantly than ever. She walks, with difficulty, toward what she thinks is an exit but finds it blocked by a small group of demons. The game tells us we have a new way to use the mark, though. Torquemada focuses its energy on a point above the group of demons and a small rift appears above them, which pulls four of the five of them back into the fade. Killing the last demon is easy after that, but we're no closer to finding where the rest of our Inquisition went. The tunnel leads to the surface, where it's after dark and the only way forward is through a windy, frozen mountain pass. Visibility is limited at best and there are no signs to indicate where Haven's vllagers went, but the quest marker directs us to walk deeper into the frozen terrain ahead.

After trudging through the winter wasteland for hours, Torquemada finally comes over the crest of a hill and sees fires burning in a large encampment below. An Inquisition search party is already coming our way as we approach, so Torquemada allows herself to pass out and let her soldiers take her to the camp. When she awakens in a cot later, Mother Giselle is by her side and her advisors are having a heated argument nearby. Most of the villagers made it out safely, but Cullen and Cassandra in particular are trying to figure out who's to blame for this defeat. Torquemada wants to calm everyone down, but Mother Giselle doesn't think that will help. She leads everyone in song instead... which doesn't solve any problems but it boosts morale a little.

"You make an excellent point. In lieu of refuting it, we're all going to sing a hymn now, and you're going to like it."

Solas, on the other hand, has useful information for us. He starts by saying that the humans may support an elf for now, but they won't be happy when they learn where one of Corypheus' most powerful artifacts came from. Solas says our nemesis was using an orb of Dalish origin but like so many other Dalish artifacts, even the elves know little about it. On a happier note, he knows of a fortress built long ago that has been forgotten over time and he can help us lead people there. One montage later, Torquemada comes over the crest of another mountainside to find a massive castle below: Skyhold.

This is great, but really, Solas... would it have KILLED you to mention this perfectly good abandoned stronghold earlier?

Skyhold is vast, mostly intact and will serve as an excellent base for both housing our refugees and defending ourselves from another attack. It's also kind of a mess right now, with several doors blocked by rubble and even some partially collapsed walls. We can work on that, though. In the meantime, Varric comes to see us and says that once he saw it was Corypheus we were dealing with, he got in touch with a friend who can help. We tell Varric that's great, ask for his name and say we'll meet him right away. Varric becomes evasive and says it'll be better if we meet him up on the battlements. As we head toward the stairs that lead to the top of Skyhold's outer walls, we see Cassandra savagely beating another training dummy. She doesn't have much to say except that Varric's friend better not be who she thinks he is. She's going to be disappointed. When Torquemada arrives on top of the crumbling walls of her new fortress, Varric introduces us to the Champion of Kirkwall: Chickene Hawke.

Chickene starts out grumpy, saying he doesn't know why we bothered to contact him since he left Kirkwall such a mess. Torquemada asks him why he's not viscount anymore, and he politely explains that the Templars started using a new kind of lyrium to boost their powers. Red lyrium. They became paranoid and stripped Hawke of his title, and he had to leave while he still could. Varric steers the conversation to Corypheus, because he and Hawke have fought him before. Hawke confirms that Corypheus once lured him to a fort where he had a small army of corrupted Grey Wardens waiting to ambush him. He believes Corypheus is a darkspawn, but thinks the creature itself is not sure of what it is. He is just as uncertain about how it managed to survive, because both he and Varric were quite sure they killed it. What he does know is he already managed to corrupt Grey Wardens and force them to drink darkspawn blood once, and suspects he may have succeeded again. Chickene says that he should contact his friend in the Wardens who was worried about some kind of corruption when they last spoke. His name is Loghain Mac Tir.

With the Templars being corrupted and another Archdemon appearing, it's good to know some things don't change.
Chickene Hawke is just as unpleasant a person to talk to as he was in Dragon Age II. It's comforting.

Once our meeting with Chickene is finished, Cassandra violently confronts Varric about the fact that he lied to her during Dragon Age II, because he knew where Hawke was the whole time. Varric confirms that he did know, but refused to hand Hawke over to Cassandra because he felt he had been through enough already. Torquemada separates the two and once Varric leaves, Cassandra says that she's not really mad at the dwarf. She believes that Hawke may have been one of the only people who could have kept Divine Justinia save at the conclave and she blames herself for believing Varric's lies. Torquemada tells her that what's done is done at this point, and we have to work together if we're going to defeat Corypheus. Cassandra recognizes that this is her duty now, and agrees not to take her frustration out on Varric in the future. With that resolved, Torquemada is left to face her war table again... we know from our vision of the future that Corypheus will try to kill Celine, the Empress of Orlais next. We also have the option of finding Loghain instead of traveling to Orlais. Next time, we'll choose our mission and begin exploring options on how to make Skyhold prettier!