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!

Dragon Age Inquisition Playthrough - Wibbly Wobbly, Magey Wagey

The choice between allying with mages or Templars in Dragon Age II was fairly ambiguous from a moral perspective. On the one hand, Meredith was a paranoid despot and her Templars were clearly overzealous and oppressive in their treatment of mages. At the same time, many mages were just monsters waiting to surface and Anders' destruction of the Chantry proved how dangerous they were. You could make a strong case for either side... but I don't think that's true in Dragon Age Inquisition. The leader of the Templars acts like another Meredith, whereas the leader of the mage rebellion is reasonable and you don't see blood mages or abominations among her ranks. At the same time, siding with the Templars means you'll allow a power grab from a rival empire to go unchecked, which could lead to another magical disaster. There's no good reason to side with the Templars this time around unless you think all mages are evil, and it's unfortunate that this part of the story didn't retain the same ambiguity it held in the past.

"Sure, I did call for the extermination of everyone at the Lake Calenhad Circle, but that's not why I don't want to help the mages.
It's because attacking a castle is hard, guys. It's gonna be really, really hard. *pout*"

So, naturally, Torquemada informs her war council that she'll be headed back to Redcliffe to confront Magister Alexius and his claim on Ferelden's mages. Dorian makes an appearance at the war table too, to inform us that this isn't about the Tevinter Imperium trying to annex part of Ferelden. Alexius has joined a cult within Tevinter known as the Venatori, who revere a mysterious leader called the Elder One, and are obsessed with this "Herald of Andraste" who survived when the breach destroyed the conclave. This is why Alexius has requested to meet with Torquemada alone, and Cullen is more convinced than ever that this is a bad idea. He knows that Redcliffe Castle is a well-protected fortress and there's no way that his soldiers could come to our defense once we're behind the closed doors of the throne room. Leliana disagrees, however, because she has some experience with sneaking into Redcliffe Castle from Dragon Age: Origins. She says she'll have her agents take the secret tunnel that Bann Teagan (now Arl Teagan) told her about, while we keep Alexius distracted by playing nice at his meeting.

Dorian insists on accompanying Torquemada to Redcliffe Castle, and we decide to round out our party with Sera and Blackwall. After some more moaning from Cullen about how risky this operation is, and how it'll be the end of any hope for cooperation with the Templars, we finally set off for the castle. Getting into the throne room with Alexius is no problem because it's clear that's he's very eager to have us here. His bodyguards attempt to tell us that our followers aren't welcome in the meeting, but Torquemada insists that they'll go where she goes. Dorian stays hidden while we approach Alexius and the magister asks us what we could possibly have to offer him that would be equal in worth to his new mages. In an effort to keep up the act, Torquemada offers her connections with Orlesian nobility but Alexius says he's well-connected enough already. At that point, Felix and Dorian reveal that we know everything about his time magic and cultist ties. Alexius orders his guards to haul us to the dungeons, but they've been replaced by Leliana's agents. The spies swiftly kill everyone in the room still loyal to Alexius, leaving us alone with him.

"You come in here with a Grey Warden bodyguard wearing a ridiculous yellow gambeson? FOOL!

Clearly, green is the color that brings out his eyes the best! You're no match for my fashion sense!"

The magister is prepared, though. He produces an amulet glowing with magical energy, which Dorian recognizes and yells at him not to use. Ignoring this, Alexius opens a rift, but not one that demons come out of. The next thing we know, we have been teleported to another room, somewhere in the dungeons of Redcliffe Castle, and the only party member with us is Dorian. He's fascinated by the fact that we have been displaced, but Torquemada is more concerned that everyone else is gone and there's red lyrium growing out of the walls. Dorian muses that Alexius altered time again but got it wrong, and sent us to a different moment in time instead of removing us from existence completely. He also thinks that he can reverse the spell if he can find the amulet that was used to send us here in the first place. All we need to do is find our way out of the dungeons and track the guy down. Easy, right?

We don't know when or where exactly we are, but the dungeons are full of guards that appear to be loyal to Alexius. A series of staircases winds up and down throughout the lower levels, and Torquemada and Dorian begin wandering in the hope of finding someone who can give them more information. Fighting the guards isn't easy when it's just one mage and one rogue against heavily armored swordsmen, but we eventually find our way to a cell where a familiar woman is imprisoned. Fiona is alive, but she is partially fused with the red lyrium growing out of the walls. We ask her for information and she says everyone turns out this way over time. Red lyrium infects a person's blood, it grows out of them until they die, and then Alexius' men harvest the corpse for the last of the red lyrium. She also gives us the date, and we realize that we have been sent a full year forward in time. Alexius, and the Elder One his cult supports, have conquered the world with their army and their demons.

"Yes, you traveled through time, and before you make any more Doctor Who references, please kill me first."

Not far from Fiona, we find Blackwall and Sera, who are pulsing with red energy and are convinced that we're supposed to be dead. We manage to persuade both of them that they can still fight with us to get revenge on Alexius even if we are dead, and their desire for vengeance compels them to agree. They also tell us that Leliana is still imprisoned somewhere within the castle, and she may be able to tell us where to find the magister. Our spymaster is in a different part of the dungeons, but getting there is easier now that we have our archer and our tank back on our side. After fighting our way through a few groups of guards, we find a torture chamber where one of Alexius' men is still trying to break Leliana's will and by the look on her face, it looks like she's been here a long time. The torturer turns to face us when we confront him and Leliana uses the distraction to wrap her legs around his neck and strangle him. She then frees herself and says she's ready to follow us again.

This is right up there alongside Meredith's death as one of the most unnecessary subtitles ever.

As we head back down to the main hallway of the dungeon, a large group of guards is lowering a drawbridge to investigate the disturbance. Torquemada slips into the shadows, gets behind the group and starts backstabbing while her followers take the guards head-on. Like other groups, this one doesn't last long and the path upstairs is now open to us. Leliana says that Alexius rarely leaves the throne room, so we should work our way there. The stairs lead to an outdoor courtyard and upon looking up at the sky, we see that the breach that filled a small circle of sky above Haven now stretches as far as the eye can see. There are also rifts in the courtyard, with groups of demons guarding them. Thankfully, the time travel didn't mess up Torquemada's glowy hand in any way, so once our group of five is finished killing the demons, we close the rifts and continue on our way. The throne room is in the central area of the castle, and there are plenty of guards there standing between us and Alexius.

We get to work on fighting our way through more of the magister's lackeys, including a larger fellow who has a shard of pure red lyrium on him. Dorian suggests holding onto it and when we find the door to the throne room, we realize this is a good idea. There are five notches carved into the door and one of them lights up in response to the shard we're carrying... which means we need four more from some of Alexius' most trusted guards. Luckily, everyone in the party is committed to taking their rage out on the magister, so finding four elite guards and fighting against them as a warm-up is not a tall order. By the time we're done, most of the guards in the castle have been killed and we have five red lyrium shards to open the door to Alexius' chambers.

Damn it, I just collected MacGuffins for you. The least you could do is look me in the eye.

The magister doesn't have the same cocky sense of bravado when we talk to him this time. He says that the fact that we survived is his final failure, but it doesn't matter because all that any of us can do is wait for the end. Attempting to take advantage of his somber attitude, Torquemada tells him that there is hope, because he can give us the amulet and stop this timeline from happening. Alexius says it's impossible to stop the Elder One though, and that all he wanted was to keep his son safe. Dorian notices that Felix is standing next to him, but is literally a shell of his former self. Leliana takes matters into her own hands, grabbing Felix from behind and demanding the amulet. Alexius pleads for her to let him go and before Torquemada can mediate things, Leliana slashes Felix's throat to force the battle that she clearly desires. Enraged, Alexius gives her the fight she wants.

Even with a larger group than normal, fighting Alexius is not easy. He surrounds himself with glyphs of rift energy that explode if you walk on them, and he fires powerful spells from within the safety of these wards. When he takes too much damage, he surrounds himself with a forcefield and opens up a fade rift so demons can fight us while he regains his strength. Torquemada ensures that the rifts don't stay open for long though, and is nimble enough to jump over his glyphs most of the time. It's a long battle, but Alexius finally falls and Dorian plucks the amulet off his body. He confirms that it's the same amulet he displaced us with and it's also something he helped Alexius craft years ago. All he needs is about an hour to work out the intricacies of the spell and he can reverse all this damage. The pounding sounds of approaching guards tell us that we don't have an hour, though.

"Don't move. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead.
...We killed Fiona before making this reference, right? Okay, good."

Leliana looks out and says Alexius must have summoned the Elder One, and his much more powerful minions are approaching the throne room. Blackwall and Sera say they will go out and meet them, while Leliana stays by the door as a last line of defense. Torquemada doesn't want to abandon her friends even though this timeline will be erased if we succeed, but Dorian pulls her away as he begins casting the spell. Leliana's arrows strike guard after guard with deadly precision and she continues to fight on even after taking an arrow to the chest herself. Before the forces can overwhelm her, Dorian finishes opening a rift with the amulet and he and Torquemada are pulled through it. They land back in the throne room, moments after Alexius originally displaced them. Torquemada tells the magister that he'll have to do better than that.

Alexius sinks to his knees in defeat, not in despair over failing the Elder One as much as the fact that he will not get the cure he was promised for his son's fatal disease. Felix tells his father that everyone dies some day, and he has already accepted his fate. We return to Fiona to inform her that the mages are no longer indebted to Tevinter, but we're not the only one who has come to see her. Anora, Queen of Ferelden, is in the middle of telling Fiona that she promised the mages sanctuary as long as her people remained safe and she has clearly not lived up to that promise. She's kicking the mages out of Redcliffe and is prepared to imprison them all if they don't comply. Torquemada tells Fiona that the mages can join up with the Inquisition instead. Fiona asks if it will be as prisoners or allies, but Torquemada decides that the mages won't be any good to her if they are giving assistance under duress. So, we tell her that it will be an alliance. Fiona accepts, as does Anora on the condition that they leave her lands.

I suspect this scene would have been much more awkward, in a charming kind of way, if I uploaded a save where Alistair was king.

Back in Haven, Torquemada's war council is pleased to hear that we have accomplished a task that seemed impossible, but they are skeptical about our decision. Cullen in particular says that giving mages as much freedom as we have is incredibly dangerous, and incidents involving abominations and maleficarum are inevitable. Torquemada tells Cullen that she will reign the mages in, if and only if they show that they are incapable of behaving themselves. Until then, she assumes their desire to help is genuine and will trust them to deal with their own troublemakers. Regardless, the mages' ability and willingness to help the Inquisition is about to be put to the test, because with this many magic-users on our side, we're ready to see if enough power can be channeled through Torquemada's mark to close the breach for good.

Torquemada is quick to point out to her more skeptical followers that the Dalish don't have nearly as many problems with mages.

Her arguments are an excerpt from a paper she submitted to an Orlesian academy, entitled "Elves Rule and Humans Drool".

A mission appears on the war table that allows us to mobilize our forces and head back to the breach. Well, there's no time like the present to do that. Along with Cassandra, Solas and Cullen, our substantial mage army arrives in the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes and lines up behind Torquemada. Solas directs the mages to wait for her to connect to the breach, then direct their magic toward the beam of energy she projects. Torquemada reaches up to close the rift as usual, and the mages raise their staves as her hand pulses with energy. The green light show is the most intense we've experienced so far and although she looks strained, Torquemada stays on her feet until a blast erupts from the breach and everyone is knocked down. When the dust settles, we look up to see that our efforts were completely successful. The breach has disappeared.

Cassandra, in a jovial mood. You can tell she's jovial because she's not attacking a training dummy in a fit of violent zeal.

A short while later in Haven, villagers are dancing and singing to celebrate the closure of the breach. As Torquemada watches from outside the Chantry, Cassandra approaches and says her men are still getting reports of small rifts in the countryside, but for now the greatest danger has passed. There is still work to be done, but this is a victory. Torquemada modestly says that she didn't do it alone, but Cassandra tells her that it was only possible because of Torquemada's skill and perseverance. It seems like everyone, even Cassandra, can unwind a little for now... but then we spot a countless number of torches approaching from the hills near Haven. An army, a very large one at that, is approaching the Inquisition's stronghold and their only purpose can be to eradicate everyone in Haven.

Dragon Age Inquisition Playthrough - More Followers, More Problems

Torquemada has three appointments with mysterious strangers, but two of them require us to leave Val Royeaux. So, we decide to follow up on the bad guy we learned about in the note delivered by arrow. It points us to three locations in the city where we find clues about this person, wrapped in red handkerchiefs, that suggest he's an Orlesian noble trying to undermine the Inquisition. We also find out where he's meeting his supporters tonight. This seems like a strange way to pass along information and Cassandra is thinking that the meeting is a trap, but she and Torquemada agree they should try to confront this person anyway.

Apparently, in Orlais, fancy opera costumes are quite intimidating. Not so much in Ferelden.

The information turns out to be valuable, as we arrive at the meeting place to find only a few guards. Unimpressed even after Torquemada swiftly defeats his men, the noble shows himself and says he's going to find a way to beat us. He's cut short, however, by the appearance of an elf woman pointing a drawn bow at him. She promptly shoots him when he starts yelling at her, then she turns to us and says we should get ready because he has reinforcements coming. She adds that she found where they stashed their equipment, however, and has a little surprise planned for them. Seconds later, a group of guards charges at us, fully armed... but not wearing any pants.

After the fight, we ask her why she didn't simply steal their weapons. She says she stole their breeches instead because that way, they had to fight naked from the waist down. We could argue with that logic, but I'm not sure why we'd want to. Anyway, she introduces herself as Sera and says she's coming with us. Torquemada wants to know more about her first though, which seems to annoy Sera, but she says she's with the Friends of Red Jenny. They're a supposedly leaderless group that we've heard of in passing in the previous games, and they exist to take revenge on nobles when they mess with the common folk too much. Revenge could mean anything from a prank to assassination depending on how angry someone is with them. In other words, Sera is a skilled archer with access to a wide network of commoners with eyes & ears throughout Thedas. Torquemada welcomes her to the Inquisition.

She also believes that the nobles' petty infighting is due to unresolved sexual tension.

Just one reason why I think she's way smarter than she lets people think she is.

We decide to leave the shady Orlesian back alley and head somewhere more comfortable: the estate north of Val Royeaux where Madame du Fer has requested the pleasure of our company. Torquemada's blood-stained leather armor doesn't exactly fit in with the fancy outfits of the Orlesian nobles in attendance, but the first lady we talk to is delighted to meet the famous Herald of Andraste regardless. It's not long before a gentleman with an unfavorable opinion of the Inquisition appears, though. He starts to deliver a scathing lecture about how evil we are, but is suddenly frozen by a woman making her way down a grand staircase. This turns out to be First Enchanter Vivienne, and she doesn't take kindly to people insulting her honored guests. After politely greeting us, she casually asks us whether or not the rude party guest should be killed and Torquemada says that won't be necessary, since executions are usually frowned upon at Dalish parties.

"My dear, if you're going to wear an intimidating opera costume, you simply must back it up with real power. Otherwise you just look a fool!"

Vivienne then asks to speak with us privately and after walking to a more secluded part of the estate, she tells us that she too would like to join the Inquisition. Torquemada is a bit skeptical, since this Madame du Fer seems to have a pretty good thing going here in Orlais. We ask her what her motivation is, and how a mage like herself has remained in such good standing in the middle of a mage rebellion. Vivienne says that the breach is a threat to everyone and her comfortable lifestyle won't last for much longer if she doesn't help to do something about it. As for the mage rebellion, she doesn't back the apostates because she believes the Circles of Magi are still the best option and wants to see them reinstated. It sounds like her views won't alienate anyone we're trying to work with, so we welcome another new follower to the group.

Before we head to Redcliffe to meet with Fiona, we stop in Haven to discuss the situation with our advisors. Cullen, a former Templar, is in disbelief over Lucius' actions in Val Royeaux and says the order is bound to see reason eventually. While Josephine and Leliana believe it's worth hearing what Fiona has to say, Cullen advises against it and says the mages are only coming to us out of desperation. Torquemada's already made up her mind about that, though. We proceed to the war room and we're told that all the operations went well, including the construction of the watchtowers in the Hinterlands. There are new missions to undertake now, including a suggestion from Sera: her friends know a beekeeper who can provide us with angry bees that we can throw at people. We tell Leliana to get on that right away. We also have Josephine send an envoy to our Dalish clan since the Keeper has expressed concern about our well-being, and we have Cullen's soldiers start looking for hidden tunnels near the Temple of Sacred Ashes that those pesky dragon cultists used to use.

There's a hole in the sky with demons pouring out, we've openly rebelled against the Chantry...
...and what Cullen finds odd is that the Templars are more belligerent and zealous than usual?

As Torquemada gets ready to leave for the Hinterlands with Cassandra, Sera and Vivienne, Leliana says there's one more thing we may want to look into. She's been trying to track down the Grey Wardens to determine whether or not they might help the Inquisition, but they appear to have gone into hiding around the same time that the breach opened up. Leliana doesn't believe the Wardens are involved with the breach, but the timing is suspicious and she thinks we should follow up on some leads she's discovered. One group of Wardens was spotted on the Storm Coast, north of the Hinterlands, but we'll have to approve a large scouting mission before we can set up a forward camp there. In the meantime, a solitary Warden has been spotted in the Hinterlands and we can try to find out where he went instead. Since we're headed there anyway, we add it to our to-do list.

Our first stop in the Hinterlands is the farmhouse belonging to Redcliffe's old horsemaster, Dennet. He tells us that wolf attacks aren't a problem anymore, and he's seen that the watchtowers have been constructed like he suggested. We honored our end of the bargain, so he honors his and provides the Inquisition with all the good horses he has. He also expresses some regret about not being able to take care of them himself, so we ask Cassandra to appeal to his sense of morality as a good Chantry-goer. Dennet accepts Cassandra's argument that it's his duty to help, and says he'll see us in Haven. Glad that these efforts have turned out well, Torquemada turns her attention to the last known location of the Grey Warden who is supposed to be in the area.

BioWare said that they took some inspiration from the Elder Scrolls series for this game.

You know what that means: horse armor DLC.

We find a well-armed man outside of a remote shack in the Hinterlands, who is training a couple of young, inexperienced villagers how to fight. As we approach, so does another group that appear to be bandits. The Warden tells the youths it's time to fight for real, and they prepare to defend themselves. Naturally, Torquemada and her companions join in and the bandits are completely overwhelmed. The Warden says the youths have earned their freedom and lets them go. We ask him what that was all about, and he says those two tried to steal from him so he had temporarily invoked the Grey Warden rite of conscription as a way of making them pay for their crimes with service. Torquemada tries to casually ask about the other Grey Wardens, but he realizes he's being interrogated and we admit we're with the Inquisition. That doesn't seem to bother him, though.

The Warden introduces himself as Blackwall and says he's been working on his own, trying to find new recruits in the Hinterlands. Between the lack of darkspawn activity in the ten years since Amastacia's disorganized victory and total paranoia over the breach, he hasn't had much luck. He also has no idea where the other Grey Wardens are and suggests they may have returned to their headquarters in Weisshaupt, which is a long ways away from here. Being a loner, he hasn't had much contact but realizes that his mission here isn't doing anyone much good. Grey Wardens are allowed, however, to uphold their oath to protect in any way they see fit when there's no blight to deal with and Blackwall says that if we want to close the breach, he'd be happy to help with that. Torquemada accepts, and we now have three new companions to choose from.

"If you need me, Inquisition, I'll be by this scenic lake, practicing my doleful brooding."

Since the one Grey Warden we've met has agreed that their order should be trying to close the breach, we decide to head to Haven with him to tell Leliana that scouting the Storm Coast is good idea. As we get outside the Chantry, however, we notice an unfamiliar-looking mercenary lurking about and decide to ask what he's doing here. He introduces himself as a member of a group called "The Bull's Chargers" and says he's been trying to get an audience. We tell him he's got one now, so he informs us that his leader, the Iron Bull, would like to discuss the possibility of working together. Conveniently enough, he and his company are located on the Storm Coast. We proceed to the war room and spend four power points to set up the appropriate scouting missions and forward camps that will give us access to the Storm Coast, then head to this new area of Ferelden.

Our forward camp isn't too far from the location of the Bull's Chargers, so we decide to get that meeting out of the way before tracking down clues about Wardens. The Iron Bull, a massive, shirtless Qunari, is in the middle of taking out bandits with his men as we approach. We decide to help with that, and the Bull asks if we'd like to join him for drinks while we talk business. He gets straight to the point once the casks are broken open, saying he knows the Inquisition needs soldiers and he'd like us to hire him. Torquemada is skeptical, so he lowers his voice and says he's also a Ben-Hasserath, a Qunari spy sent here to determine whether or not his people should invade due to the breach. Hiring him gets us his men, plus access to his spy network. Sure enough, we welcome yet another new companion.

"Excuse me, my eyes are up here. ...Well, one of them is."

Apart from getting his support, however, the trip to the Storm Coast isn't very fruitful. We find traces of Grey Warden campsites and journal entries that indicate they were looking for one of their own in the area, but neither the Wardens or the person they were looking for are here anymore. The Storm Coast is living up to its name by being rainy and generally unpleasant too, so we all head back to the Hinterlands once again. Next on the agenda is our meeting with the leader of the mage rebellion, Grand Enchanter Fiona, but getting into Redcliffe is easier said than done, it turns out. The main gate is blocked by a rift that's even more unusual than what we've encountered before because time keeps speeding up and slowing down as we fight the demons around it. Eventually, they're all defeated, but this is just the start of the unusual happenings.

Redcliffe guards tell us that a nearby tavern has been vacated so the Inquisition and the mages can meet, so we head inside and see Fiona again. She asks what brings us here and we reply that her invitation in Val Royeaux did, obviously. Fiona says she's never met us before, which is odd... but not as odd as the fact that she's indentured to a Tevinter magister now, and all the mages in the rebellion have agreed to join the Imperium. She then introduces us to her master, Gereon Alexius, who will negotiate with us for the use of "his" mages in the Inquisition.

Here's a hint: if you're pretending you're not pure evil, maybe DON'T wear the red cowl with horns on it.

Magister Alexius is a sleazy fellow, to say the least. He claims that his timely arrival in Redcliffe after the disaster at the conclave was a stroke of divine luck and Tevinter will be happy to accept Ferelden's mages as full members of the Imperium after they complete their mandatory one year of servitude. Until then, they do as he says and we must go through him if we want them to help us close the breach. Torquemada is unsure of how to proceed, but then the magister's son Felix arrives to serve us refreshments and nearly faints into her arms while doing so. The magister is concerned and says we'll have to continue later. At first, we assume this will give us time to think, but then we realize that Felix passed us a note when he nearly fainted on us, and we have another clandestine meeting to attend.

The note simply says we're in danger and should come to the Chantry. The situation is so bizarre at this point that Torquemada doesn't even care if it is a trap, she heads into the Chantry and hopes there's at least one answer waiting inside. What we find instead is another rift, along with another Tevinter mage who kindly asks us to help him close it. He doesn't need to ask twice, and after the fight he takes a moment to admire our glowy hand. We are then joined by Felix, who says that this mage is who actually wanted the meeting. His name is Dorian and he used to be Alexius' apprentice, but is working against him now because he manipulated time itself in order to reach the mage rebellion before the Inquisition did. That explains why we saw Fiona in Val Royeaux but she claims she was never there. Kind of. It just goes to show that the magic being used is unstable and threatens to tear another hole in reality.

"I realize you just met me and what I'm saying is hard to believe; but if you'd stop laughing at my mustache for a minute, I'll explain."

Dorian says we need to cut the meeting short before Alexius notices Felix is missing and gets suspicious. However, he claims that he developed the magic Alexius used and can reverse it if we work with him. He hopes we'll consider his offer and meet with him in Redcliffe again if we agree. We return to Haven and the war table with this information, and are faced with two options. Either we can throw our lot in with Dorian, hoping we can free the mages, stop a hole in time from being created and kick the Tevinters out of Ferelden... or we can take Cullen's advice, forget the mages, arrange a meeting with the Templars and hope Lucius is more reasonable than he was in Val Royeaux. The game is clear on one point, though: once we pick one side, we can't work with the other. Yet again, a Dragon Age game is making us choose between Templars and mages and we'll make that choice in the next update.