Storyline for Dragon Age II

This page provides the storyline for the critical path of Dragon Age II.

The Destruction of Lothering
The quest begins with Varric beginning the story of who The Champion is and how it all began to Cassandra. The story begins as Hawke's family escaping from Lothering and the darkspawn that has destroyed it. After fighting through a few groups of Darkspawn and conversing with your family, another group of survivors, fighting to escape, crosses your path. Aveline and her injured husband Wesley join your party while trying to escape.

Shortly thereafter the group encounters more darkspawn. After that battle, an Ogre appears and one of Hawkes' siblings is killed by the Ogre. After the battle with the ogre and waves of darkspawn, the group becomes surrounded. A great dragon suddenly appears and kills off the remaining darkspawn. The dragon then lands in front of the group and turns into Flemeth. Then Hawke engages in dialog with Flemeth and after Hawke reveals that they are planning to go to Kirkwall, Flemeth offers a deal. The deal is that Hawke has to carry an amulet to a Dalish keeper and in return Flemeth ensures the group's safety from Darkspawn. However, Wesley ends up succumbing to the taint and has to be put out of his misery despite Aveline's protests of not leaving him.

After the conversation with Flemeth, the group journeys to Kirkwall. Upon arrival, they find out that the city is filled with Ferelden refugees and that the city guards are not letting any of them leave the Gallows Courtyard. They talk to Captain Ewald, who will be in a middle of a conversation with some agitated Ferelden deserters and then those deserters will engage in combat. After that, Hawke mentions that they have an uncle, Gamlen, that lives in the city. The captain says that he will find Gamlen for them. After three days Gamlen appears, telling his sister Leandra that the estate is gone, but he can offer her eldest son/daughter a job with either the mercenary or the smuggler so they can pay off the debt of staying in Kirkwall for a year. Hawke can choose between becoming a mercenary or a smuggler. After either job is accepted and fulfilled, the quest ends as Hawke and the family get in to the city.

Act 1
After a year passes, Hawke and his/her sibling try to get Bartrand to accept them as part of the team for his Deep Roads expedition, but he refuses them, seeing that he doesn't need another hireling. They soon afterward meet with his brother Varric, who reveals that Bartrand is looking for a partner who will give him the funding of 50 gold for the expedition.

Long Way Home
Hawke travels to the Dalish camp in Sundermount and speaks with Keeper Marethari. She will send Hawke to meet her First, Merrill who will accompany Hawke up the mountain to perform a ritual involving the amulet given by Flemeth.

The party won't get far before a small group of undead attacks and after a brief conversation, they continue up the mountain until they reach a cave entrance. The party fights their way through the cave and emerge on a hillside. The way forward is blocked by a magical barrier to your left and Merrill removes it via blood magic.

On the other side of the barrier lies a graveyard. The party needs to fight with several Shades, undead and an Arcane Horror. After dispatching those creatures, they reach the altar where Merrill performs the ritual.

Flemeth emerges from the amulet and explains that Hawke may well have saved her life, in return for saving Hawke's. Flemeth then transforms into a dragon and flies away.

Then the party returns to the Dalish camp. After that Hawke takes Merrill to Kirkwall Alienage where Merrill asks Hawke to visit her in her new home, when possible.

Blackpowder Promise
This quest starts with the rescue of Javaris Tintop and his bodyguards at Dead Man's Pass near Sundermount. He asks Hawke to locate a band of Tal-Vashoth and obtain information on a powder that explodes without magic or lyrium. He says there should be profit in it for all.

Then Hawke goes to the Wounded Coast with the party. When they take the south main road, a Qunari steps out of the northward path and warns the party of a group of Qunari ahead who have set up an ambush for travelers.

The group reaches the hill to be ambushed by four Qunari who are known as Tal-Vashoth. After finishing them, the group finds several groups of Qunari up the hill. Then Hawke finds the entrance to the Tal-Vashoth Cavern. Within the cave the party fights with a group of four Qunari and another group of Qunari that commands by a Tal-Vashoth Officer. After those battles, the party continues to proceed into the cave. Then they encounter the Tal-Vashoth main body of four soldiers and a Leader with several more hidden at first who come out to join the battle once the battle starts.

After that battle Hawke visits the Qunari compound in order to meet the Arishok of the Qunari to inform him of the death of the Tal-Vashoth rebel group. The quest ends when the Arishok says that Javaris misunderstood and there was no deal to buy the secret of the grenade.

Shepherding Wolves
Blackpowder Promise must be completed for this rumor to become an active quest. Rumor has it that someone from the Chantry is offering good money for a mission. When Hawke goes to Lowtown at night Hawke sees Sister Petrice setting herself up for a mugging. After Hawke rescues her she asks Hawke to meet her at her safehouse which is in the Old City Slums region of Lowtown. When Hawke goes there, she introduce a Ketojan to his freedom.

In order to escape the city unseen, Sister Petrice instructs Hawke to lead Ketojan out of the city via an underground passage. A thug leader and his gang confront where the thug leader hurling insults at Hawke and Ketojan. Then the thug leader tries to stab Hawke and that provokes Ketojan into action and unleashes his magic on the thug leader. This causes the rest of the thug band to attack the party.

Upon exiting the underground tunnels to the Wounded Coast, Hawke encounters an encampment of other Qunari, who call Ketojan "Saarebas," meaning "dangerous thing". Apparently, the members of Ketojan's karataam were killed, and their bodies were left in a trail leading to exactly where Hawke and co. would emerge. The Arvaarad proclaims that since Ketojan has spent some time without his handler, he may have been corrupted by demons and thus cannot be allowed to live.

Hawke can decide not to hand over Ketojan, that results a battle with Qunari. After that battle is over Ketojan chooses death for himself and gives Hawke the Talisman of Saarebas before immolating himself with fire magic. If Hawke hands Ketojan over, the Qunari will unbind Ketojan, and with his final words before submitting to a ceremonial death, Ketojan acknowledges Hawke as worthy of following. The Qunari leader will then reveal that since Hawke is worth following, Hawke is also worthy of the ceremonial death; a death required by the Qun, since Hawke spent time with an unsupervised mage, forcing Hawke to defend himself/ herself.

It is clear that Sister Petrice had set Hawke up to be killed by the Qunari. When Hawke returns to Sister Petrice's safehouse in Lowtown at night, he/ she discover Sister Petrice and her templar assistant packing up, intending to leave without a trace. When Hawke confronts her, she reveals that had Hawke been killed, she would have used it to turn the Chantry against the Qunari.

Tranquility
The quest begins at Lirene's Fereldan Imports in Lowtown, where Hawke asks where he/she can find a Grey Warden. Lirene will tell Hawke that he can be found in Darktown as a healer. When the Grey Warden is found, he reveals himself as Anders, reacting with hostility toward Hawke at first. Anders offers the use of the Deep Roads maps for the favor of rescuing his friend Karl, a mage who has been kept prisoner in Kirkwall, which Hawke accepts.

Hawke meets Anders at the Chantry at night, where inside they discover that Karl has been made a Tranquil, and is being used as bait by the templars to capture Anders. The spirit of Vengeance then erupts from within Anders, and Hawke and his/her party end up fighting the templars, after which Karl is briefly restored, only long enough to tell Anders to kill him so that he would not live his life as a Tranquil. Anders mercifully kills Karl, and upon returning to his clinic in Darktown allows Hawke the use of his maps.

The Deep Roads Expedition
The quest begins with Hawke and his/her party finding a side passage to the Deep Roads after the main passage has been blocked off. Along the way they find Bodahn's son Sandal, who reveals that he has been using a rune to destroy the darkspawn that he came across, though he simply says "Not enchantment!" when asked about the frozen ogre.

Hawke's team find the way in for Bartrand and discover the Primeval Ruins, in which they come across an idol made of pure lyrium. Hawke hands over the idol to Bartrand, who then proceeds to lock them up inside the room where they found the idol and make a profit from the idol himself.

Hawke and his/her party travel to find another way out of the Deep Roads, where they will come across a Rock Wraith abomination, who will offer Hawke a way out which can accepted or refused. After the scene, Hawke and his companions will encounter an Ancient Rock Wraith and engage it in battle. After the battle, Hawke gets the key and whatever treasure the Rock Wraith was guarding.

They finally make it out of the Deep Roads and return home, but it comes with a price. If Bethany or Carver is in Hawke's party, they will die from the Blight unless Anders is also there, by which they can join the Grey Wardens to survive. If Bethany or Carver are left home with Hawke's mother, either Bethany will be made to join the Circle or Carver will choose to join the templars.

Prime Suspect
The quest begins in the Gallows where Emeric will ask Hawke to go to Gascard DuPuis' estate in Hightown to find evidence of his guilt as the murderer of the young women. After entering the estate and dealing with Shades and other enemies, Hawke will see Gascard with a woman, claiming he is using her to track down the real murderer. Hawke can either fight with Gascard or let him go.

Upon returning to the Gallows, Moira tells Hawke that Emeric received a letter that supposedly he/she wrote, telling him to meet in a back alley. Hawke realizes that it's a trap set up for Emeric, and upon arriving in the back alley, will find Shades, Abominations, and Emeric's dead body. Moira will appear on the scene and Hawke can either implicate Gascard in Emeric's murder or let him go.

Blackpowder Courtesy
The quest begins with the viscount telling Hawke that the Arishok has asked to speak to him/her personally. Upon arriving at the Qunari compound at the Docks, the Arishok tells Hawke that Javaris is believed to have stolen a formula for a poison gas. Upon a suggestion from either Varric or Aveline, Hawke travels to Darktown and speaks to a "Coterie barker" selling Javaris' assets, who reveals that he has left town in a hurry and has used tunnels to get to Smuggler's Cut. Hawke finds him there and, after fighting off a band of mercenaries, discovers from Javaris that an elf has framed him for stealing the gaatlok and because of that he has to run away. Hawke then either chooses to kill Javaris or let him go.

Hawke heads to Lowtown, where a side alley has been cordoned off due to some poisonous green gas that is making people go mad. As Hawke and his/her party seal off the cannisters emitting the gas, they fight off bands of mercenaries sent by the elf who reveals herself to be responsible for the poison gas. After defeating the elf and her bands, Hawke returns to the Qunari compound, where the Arishok reveals that he cannot leave the city without a certain item that has been taken under his care.

Offered and Lost
The quest begins with Seneschal Bran in the Viscount's Keep telling Hawke to go to the Hanged Man to find a guard who has allowed some Qunari to go missing. With the help of Aveline, Hawke learns from Oswald the Braggart that he was under orders by a templar bearing the seal of the grand cleric. Hawke visits the Chantry to speak to her, only to run into Petrice, who will setup a meeting point with Hawke to hand over the offending templar, Ser Varnell.

Hawke finds Ser Varnell in his secret refuge where he has a Qunari chained up and tortured. At this point, Hawke can either support Ser Varnell, which results in fighting the Qunari present, or oppose him and end up fighting Varnell and his fanatics. The viscount later comes to inspect the dead bodies of the Qunari, to which Hawke can either tell him to burn the bodies or tell him not hide them from the Arishok, thus earning the Arishok's respect.

All That Remains
The quest begins with Hawke returning to the estate to find Gamlen looking for Leandra. Bodahn reveals that Leandra may be with her suitor. Hawke realizes something about his/her mother's suitor sounds very familiar and decides to investigate.

The investigation leads to the basement of the Foundry, where Hawke finds a mage named Quentin has been piecing together parts of various women, including Hawke's mother, to create his "bride". Gascard may also appear on the scene if he was not implicated in Emeric's murder. Quentin attacks Hawke with a swarm of Shades and Abominations in addition to three Desire Demons before he finally falls. After his fall, Hawke's mother dies in her son's/daughter's arms, telling how proud she is of him/her.

Following the Qun
The quest begins with the viscount telling Hawke that his son Saemus has decided to convert to the Qun and fears that this is being used to trigger a political crisis. Hawke goes to the Qunari compound to investigate, with the Arishok telling Hawke that Saemus has converted of his own volition, adding that a letter preceded him/her to arrange a meeting with Saemus. He suspects foul play from Petrice, so Hawke goes to the Chantry to find out.

At the Chantry, Hawke discovers that Saemus has been murdered. Depending on whether Hawke supported Ser Varnell or not, either Petrice may frame Hawke for the murder, resulting in a fight with her brainwashed minions and Petrice being killed by the Qunari, or Hawke may help Petrice frame the Qunari, resulting in a fight with the Qunari.

Demands of The Qun
The quest begins with Hawke and Aveline at the Qunari compound, dealing with the Arishok defending two elven prisoners wanted for murder who submitted themselves to the Qun for protection. Eventually the Arishok decides that the time has come to deal with their problem with the city once and for all and sends his troops to attack Kirkwall.

Hawke and his/her party fight their way to Hightown, where they meet up with Meredith and Orsino, who offer their assistance in entering the Viscount's Keep, where the Arishok is holding hostages. Bethany or Carver may show up along the way to the Keep if they were made Grey Wardens. It is there that the Arishok has killed the viscount, and it is there that Hawke settles the matter with the Arishok by turning over Isabela if she returns with the relic she has taken, by dueling with the Arishok, or by killing the Arishok and the rest of the Qunari. Regardless of which action was taken, Meredith then declares Hawke the Champion of Kirkwall.

The Last Straw
The quest begins with Hawke arriving at the Gallows, seeing Meredith and Orsino in a heated argument about her order to search the Circle tower to root out any blood mages Orsino may be harboring. Anders comes on the scene to tell them there can be no more compromise, and at the same time the Chantry is destroyed in an explosion caused by him. This makes Meredith call for the Right of Annulment, and this also forces Hawke to choose who he/she is going to support. After Hawke makes the choice, he/she can either kill Anders or spare him, either to fight him if Hawke chooses to support the templars or to join his/her side if Hawke chooses to support the mages.

Hawke and his/her party fight their way to the Docks and then all the way back to the Gallows, where he/she will have to fight Orsino, who turns to blood magic and transforms himself into a Harvester, and then later Meredith, who calls for Hawke's execution, only to be opposed by Cullen (and Carver if he joins the templars). If Bethany or Carver were made Grey Wardens, Hawke may encounter either of them along the way as they offer their help. Using a sword made from the lyrium idol taken from the Deep Roads, Meredith fights Hawke and his/her party by making statues in the Gallows come to life. Eventually the lyrium sword breaks and Meredith falls, transformed into a lyrium statue.