Sophia Dryden

"I will inspire the Wardens, and Arland will rue the day he spared my life."

Sophia Dryden was a former Warden-Commander of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden.

Background
Arlessa Sophia Dryden was the young Arland's rival for the throne of Ferelden after the old king left no successor. Dryden was a strong and charismatic leader with much support from the Bannorn. When Arland finally won the crown, Dryden refused to relent. She pushed her claim, was imprisoned and accused of treason. Her sympathizers continued to support her, however. In order to appease them, Dryden was spared execution and forced to join the Grey Wardens instead.

Sophia survived the Joining and dazzled the Grey Wardens at Soldier's Peak with her leadership skills and charm. She eventually rose to the rank of Warden-Commander of Ferelden. Before Commander Dryden, the Grey Wardens were seen as a relic of an older time and an unnecessary drain on the nobles' coffers, Dryden, though, with her political connections, reinvigorated the Wardens and rapidly increased their numbers.

In the meantime, Arland proved himself a devious king, willing to go to brutal lengths to silence his opponents. Arland's reign of terror grew worse with each passing year, and some of the banns approached Commander Dryden in desperation, begging her to intercede. She agreed, and thus the rebellion was born. Arland learned of the rebellion through his spies and took steps to end it. He publicly suspended all tithing (funding) to the Grey Wardens and declared they were no longer welcome in Ferelden. Some of the Wardens, mindful that they were supposed to remain politically neutral, felt disgraced by Dryden's involvement in Fereldan politics and left her side even as the king's forces lay siege to Soldier's Peak. (It is assumed many left to Orlais) The siege took months and ended with Sophia's death. King Arland had driven the Grey Wardens from Ferelden, and after the siege of Soldier's Peak, the base was abandoned. It was not until 200 years later, that King Maric would allow Grey Wardens back into Ferelden.

{{DAOSpoiler| When The Warden re-entered Soldier's Peak for the first time in centuries, it was discovered that Sophia Dryden was possessed by a demon. If the Warden makes a deal with the demon, who possesses all her former memories, it is revealed that Sophia knew of the blood magic and ordered Avernus to use it. The demon states Sophia saw herself as a hero, vowing to overthrow Arland and allot justice to those who betrayed her. When Sophia was abandoned by Avernus, the demon sensed her 'fierce pride' and 'lovely, delicious terror'. 'She would live, in a fashion', possessed by the demon.

It is unclear whether she in fact did make a deal with the demon, or if it possessed her body after she died, somehow reanimating the corpse without the 'usual', mindless results of demonic infestation of an already dead body.

Involvement
While exploring Soldier's Peak, the Warden and his/her party will eventually come across the possessed corpse of Sophia Dryden. Sophia engages the Warden in conversation giving them several options:
 * 1) Attack Sophia Dryden immediately. This ends the conversation and any chance to learn more from the demon.
 * 2) Engage the possessed Sophia in conversation. The Warden can learn a bit about the events that occurred within Soldier's Peak and open up other conversation options.
 * 3) The demon's request: a prior room contains a deep tear in the Veil between the world of the living and the Fade, which demons have used to cross into Ferelden. The demon offers to seal the Veil, for a price: first, kill its nemesis on the other side of a magically sealed door, and second, let the demon walk free. There are a few things to note with this option; you can persuade the demon to 'sweeten the deal,' which, if successful, will prompt it to tell you the location of some treasure after you kill its nemesis. You can also persuade the demon to close the Veil (harder than the first Persuade option) and then go kill its nemesis. A final, very hard Persuade option is to convince it to close the Veil, and then betray it without having to enter the door. Note that if you do convince it to close the Veil, you will have to fight four Lesser Rage Demons, then four Greater Shades, then two Ash Wraiths and two Lesser Rage Demons, and then a (boss) Desire Demon without any time to heal in between.

Once the character makes their decision, the magical barrier into the the next area is opened. There they will find the demon's nemesis and can choose several paths. Kill him, and uphold your bargain with the demon or spare him and ally with him against the demon (in which case the nemesis will seal the Veil if it is not yet sealed).

The possessed Sophia is wearing the unique Warden Commander's massive armor set, which can only be acquired by killing the demon. Note that it is possible to get this armor even if you take the demon's deal. When you are through killing the demon's nemesis and after the tear in the veil is sealed, the possessed Sophia will talk with the Warden. At this point you will need to remind it of the deal you may have made earlier (with a persuasion check, described above). The treasure promised turns out to be the Dryden cache of gold (8 sovereigns at Warden level 7) hidden behind a brick in the room in which you initially met the demon. The treasure will not be available unless you make the deal and remind the demon of it after the tear in the veil is sealed. Finally, you can either let the demon leave as you agreed to do, or be more aggressive, causing a battle with just your party facing the demon by itself. The latter course of action will yield the armor.

Sophia also has a chance to drop the Warden Tower Shield. However, the drop rate is extremely low, and players can expect to replay the battle countless times if they want to obtain it. However, this Warden Tower Shield seems to be the same as the a shield that the player could obtain via a side-quest late in the storyline. This suggests that the shield is in the random loot table of Sophia by 'accident'.}}

Sophia's Speech
As The Warden enters Soldier's Peak, they witness a vision of Sophia rallying a group of Wardens:

"Men, I won't lie to you. The situation is grim. Our forces outnumbered, our bellies empty, and our hearts sagging. But we are Wardens! Darkspawn flee when they hear our horns, Archdemons die when they taste our blades! So are we to bend knee to a mere human despot? No! I, for one, will never give up! I will never surrender just to dance on Arland's gallows! So I propose here and now, in these hallowed halls where generations of our bretheren stood vigil against darkspawn and evil, that we send a message to that fat bastard! In this sacred place, proud men, strong men, stood defiant, and would rather die than submit to tyranny!"''

Drops
- with higher dropchance at higher levels and nearly none under level 10

Gallery
}}

Quotes
"I will inspire the Wardens, and Arland will rue the day he spared my life."

Trivia
The Dryden family all have names with Jewish ancestry. Both Levi and Mikheal (in this, original Hebrew form) are exclusively Jewish names, while Sophia (var.: Sopha, Sonia) is arguably the most popular non-Biblical female name amongst Ashkenazi Jews. Dryden (usually spelled Dreiden) is a common enough Jewish surname.