Precious Metals

Precious Metals is one of the most lucrative quests in Dragon Age: Origins, in terms of pure currency. Rogek in Dust Town is in dire need of help. He needs someone to get his lyrium to the Circle Tower.

Acquisition
When the Warden enters Dust Town, Rogek will be waiting near Alimar's Emporium with other casteless Dwarves. If spoken to, he will proposition the Warden to deliver Smuggled Lyrium to Godwin in the Senior Mage Quarters of the Circle Tower.

Do not take this quest on if you have already sided with the Templars in Broken Circle. There will be no one to sell the lyrium to, and Rogek no longer drops gold when he's killed.



Deal with Rogek
There are four ways of completing the initial meeting with Rogek. You may as well reveal that you are a Grey Warden which will need to persuade him and requires one point in Coercion:

Option 1: Refuse and walk away. This gives you nothing and Rogek disappears.

Option 2: Refuse and try to turn Rogek in. This causes Rogek and his bodyguards to attack. This option gives you experience points and some money. (Note: Killing Rogek forfeits the initial sequence for triggering the beginning of Precious Metals. You will not have the option to undertake this quest. Additionally, the ensuing conversation with Godwin is simply that, an interesting banter.)

Option 3: Before talking to Rogek, be sure to have at least 40, otherwise Rogek will not sell the Smuggled Lyrium. He may then leave the area and not return. It is possible to pick-pocket 20 from Rogek before talking to him. He will ask for 50, but with high enough Coercion he can be persuaded to make the deal for 40. The agreed upon price will be removed from the Warden's inventory and the smuggled lyrium will be added.

Option 4:

You will need a high leveled thief with a 60+ Cunning to steal the smuggled lyrium from Rogek. Which means you pay him nothing.

Make sure you save before entering dust town because it may take several attempts to steal the smuggled lyrium and not the cheap gold. Also, it is recommended that you have the skill Master Stealing and equip any items that improve your thief's cunning like: Duncan's Sword, Quicksilver Arming Cap, Dusk Ring, The High Regard of House Dace and Silverleaf. If Leliana is used, Marjolaine's Recurve and Seeker's Circle can be used as well.

Deal with Godwin
After receiving the smuggled lyrium, travel to the Circle Tower. If the Broken Circle quest has not been completed, it must be undertaken to meet Rogek's contact, Godwin. In the Senior Mage Quarters there is a closet that can be activated. Godwin is hiding in this closet and will come out to speak with the Warden. If the Broken Circle quest had already been completed, Godwin may be approached and spoken to at any time. If, however, when dealing with the events in the tower, you chose to side with the templars, by the time you come back for this quest Godwin is no longer in the closet, and is nowhere to be found. When you come back to Rogeck, a fight will ensue.

Godwin will offer 50 for the lyrium, but can be persuaded to pay 60, or even (By selecting the 75 dialogue option) 65 and a Crow Dagger if you pass a very hard coercion check. If he cannot be persuaded, he will offer 53 instead. He will disappear if this offer is not accepted. In addition, Godwin can be blackmailed for an additional 8 when asked why he needs all this lyrium then threatening to report him to the templars. The blackmail option requires two additional successful persuasion checks.

If you ask why Godwin needs the lyrium before saying that you met a dwarf who mentioned him, you will not be able to collect ANY money from Godwin through the trade (50, 65, or 53) except for the 8 through blackmail if you pass persuasion checks. If this happens, load a previous save and initiate in conversation again.

Back to Rogek
After successfully delivering the lyrium, return to Rogek, who will offer a 10 finder's fee. He can be told the deal was for 30 (Persuade), and he will reply that he cannot believe he would offer that much. This will result in 25, or no change at all if you fail the persuasion check. Depending on the Warden's coercion, there may only be the option to try and persuade him it was 20. You also have the option to intimidate him for 20 - if one doesn't work, try the other.

Should the coercion attempt fail, Rogek can be killed and looted of 20, but there will be no gold on his corpse if the Warden pick-pocketed the 20 earlier. Which means if you chose option 3 or 4, you can still get experience.


 * Killing Rogek may result in the quest being listed as having failed.

Rewards
This can be one of the most lucrative quests in the base campaign. If the correct choices are made, the Warden's investment can be nearly tripled.
 * If persuasive enough, one can receive a total of 98 and a Crow Dagger. Subtracting the initial investment of 40  yields a profit of 58, plus the dagger.
 * Pick-pocketing Rogek effectively reduces the initial investment by 20, yielding a gain of 78 and a Crow Dagger.
 * Without taking advantage of persuasion, blackmail and pick-pocketing, delivering the lyrium only covers the initial investment. The only gain will be Rogek's 10 finder's fee.

Trivia

 * If Alistair is in the party, he will be outraged that Godwin is using lyrium to profit from the Templars' addiction. His approval rating will not change however, no matter which course the Warden chooses.