Demands of the Qun

Demands of the Qun is an Act 2 main quest in Dragon Age II.

Late in Act 2, return to the Hawke Estate to find Aveline requesting your help. Assuming you have recruited Isabela, she will also be present, and will argue with Aveline – Isabela has found the relic that she lost, and retrieving it would mean that her pursuer, Castillon, would spare her life. You will need to choose who to help first.

Acquisition
Enter Hawke Estate at Hightown. If Isabela is present but you choose to help Aveline first, you immediately activate this quest – this will cause Isabela to be permanently removed from your party. If you don't want lose her, help Isabela first (the To Catch a Thief quest); afterwards you will receive this quest.

Depending on previous choices, it's possible that you will encounter Aveline by herself near the start of Act II at your estate. If this happens, you can accept the quest at this point with no adverse affect on Isabela as long as you don't go to the Arishok with Aveline before completing To Catch a Thief. Also, you will still have the above described encounter where Aveline and Isabela argue over who should help first after you complete Following the Qun.

Walkthrough
Go with Aveline to the Qunari Compound by the Docks. She expects trouble, so finish any pressing business first. (Completing the quest ends the Act.) Make sure that you have a significant number of health potions and injury kits as you will not be able to buy any during the quest.

When you start the conversation with the Arishok, choosing to tell him "Isabela has it" regarding the relic earns an amount of respect from him. During the conversation, if you disagree with Aveline’s comment (“That doesn’t excuse murder”) by saying "Yes it does", you will get for doing so. The Arishok will ask Hawke's opinion on the matter of whether he should hand over the two elven fugitives for their trial. It's possible choosing not to hand them over will earn another degree of respect from him. (All the respect goes towards earning the "A Worthy Rival" achievement. If you've chosen intelligent, upfront actions and words during your dealings with the Arishok, regardless of whether or not you asked for money in the first Javaris business in Blackpowder Promise, you can earn the achievement by the end of this conversation. It's possible to have already earned enough respect for the achievement, but this conversation will be your last chance to earn his full respect storywise.) Either way, he is determined to defend the two elven converts due to their justified reason for their actions, and the conversation will end with his decision to attack the city no matter what dialogue you choose.

After the attack on your small party in the Qunari Compound and a short cutscene, you are given a chance to rearrange your party. If you do not accept Aveline, you will get or  if your friendship is high enough. If you accept Aveline in your party, you will get.

The Qunari now lay siege to Kirkwall. You can regroup and go to the Viscount's Keep to warn the city guards about the Qunari attack.

On your way to the Viscount's Keep you will encounter a group of Grey Wardens. If you imported a Dragon Age: Origins save where Alistair was not made King, killed or exiled, he will be leading the Wardens and will give you The Sacred Heart amulet. Otherwise the Wardens will be led by Stroud, who will give you the Warden's Promise ring instead. If you took Bethany or Carver on The Deep Roads Expedition and they survived, they will be among the Wardens as well. They will not rejoin your party.

You will fight a Sten, along with other Qunari, right before you enter Hightown. Note : There is a complex chest (30 Cunning- 150 XP) in the same area.

After a small battle in Hightown you are blind-sided by a Saarebas. Knight-Commander Meredith saves you, and she then asks you to meet her at Viscount's Keep. Note: there is a complex chest (30 Cunning req.'d - 150 XP) in the same area. The next area features a massive battle, with Qunari battling Carta Thugs. They will attack each other and you. On your way you will see a corpse on the ground, which you can loot for the Recipe: Elixir of Heroism. Easily missed, the corpse is located in a corner to the right, just as you head south from the area with the battle.

After that you will find the First Enchanter Orsino lying on the ground. A battle against a few waves of Qunari ensues, but be sure to loot all the bodies and containers in the area before killing the last opponent, as finishing the battle will trigger a cutscene almost immediately (OR you can double back during the next battle and grab the remains and the containers while the others battle it out, then come back and grab the remains of this battle and finish it). If you didn't take Bethany to the Deep Roads Expedition, Orsino will heal her and she will leave with him. If you didn't take Carver, he will be the one appearing with Meredith as she leads a group of templars to join you. After saving Orsino, you must choose between Meredith's and Orsino's plans. If Hawke is diplomatic, you can also ask them to stop arguing, after which Orsino suggests that you lead them and make the decisions. If you follow Meredith's plan, you will fight more Qunari; this plan gives you more items and experience. (Again, if you choose to battle the Qunari with Meredith's plan, loot the bodies during battle, as a cutscene will transport you inside the Keep once the last opponent dies.) Whichever choice you make, the hostages are not killed.

As you enter Viscount's Keep, you are attacked by a large contingent of Qunari led by a Saarebas and a Sten. Note : there are 2 standard traps (20 Cunning to detect/disarm - 100 XP each) at the bottoms of the second sets of stairs - both the right and the left side have a trap. After the fight, loot the remains and containers. Go to Viscount's Throne Room in the back and a cutscene, where the Arishok throws Viscount Marlowe Dumar's head at your feet, will start.

If you didn't get the the Arishok's respect (A Worthy Rival achievement) he will order several Qunari to attack you before he will talk with you. [360 & PC: This does not always appear to be the case; getting attacked seems to be a possibility anyway. Even after receiving the achievement there may be very few words before Arishok orders an attack. However, this battle is rather short and not difficult on the lower settings. After this, the conversation begins.]

If you had a high enough friendship/rivalry with Isabela (equal to or more than 50%) she will return with the Relic (Note: this is critical for Supplier achievement). You must now choose whether to give Isabela to the Arishok or not. By refusing to turn Isabela over, you receive. If you say that you will punish her, you receive. (Merrill and Aveline will also react with for protecting Isabela and  for handing her over.)

If you appease the Arishok by giving him Isabela, you will lose her forever, and he and the rest of the Qunari will leave Kirkwall peacefully. Otherwise you will have to fight. The Arishok will offer Hawke a duel:
 * If you refuse to turn Isabela over when the Arishok demands it
 * If your friendship or rivalry with Isabela was not high enough for her to return (or you never recruited her in the first place) and:
 * you have Fenris in your group, who will arrange the duel ( if you agree, if you refuse)
 * or the Arishok considers you to be A Worthy Rival and you choose the aggressive option when he asks how you plan to resolve this.



If you agree, there will be a one-on-one duel to the death between the Arishok and you. See Arishok (strategy) for details on fighting him.

If you are not offered or are offered and refuse the duel, you and your party will fight the Arishok and his Qunari to the death (the Arishok may be easier to beat this way). The strategy here is to quickly take out the three Qunari from behind first. A rogue should be able to take them out quickly. Then, proceed to the other two on the bottom room. Keep mages and archers close while a warrior holds position at the base of the stairs. (You may want or need to have your characters positioned very close to the "wall" on either side of the stairs to prevent them from being decimated by ranged attacks. This will also draw the ranged Qunari to the bottom of the stairs, where they can be more easily dealt with.) Wait for the rest of the Qunari to come down the stairs and have ranged fighters slow and bombard them. This should take them all out fairly quick (on normal difficulty). After that, take out the two remaining Qunari. You may want to leave the Arishok alive to loot the other bodies, and take him out afterwards.

After the battle, you are rewarded with Sataareth and the Mantle of the Champion gloves. ''Note: You are not meant to "loot" the Arishok, nor is it possible to do so - when the killing blow is landed, he doesn't actually die, but rather, turns into an "ally" (blue ground ring) and a plot point. The cut scene then triggers, so a lootable body is never present.''

After cutscenes, three years has passed and Act 3 begins.

Result

 * Transition to Act 3.
 * The Qunari leave Kirkwall.
 * Hawke is declared Champion of Kirkwall.

Rewards
For the final showdown inside the throne room of Viscount's Keep, there are three choices available. Two of them yield the same experience.


 * Giving Isabela to the Arishok results in no fight. (13200xp)
 * Dueling Arishok. (13200xp)
 * Fighting Arishok and killing all qunari with him. (13886xp)

There are also several items that are given as rewards or that may be picked up during the course of this quest:
 * Gloves of the Champion
 * - Requires a Dragon Age: Origins save import where Alistair is still in the Grey Wardens, i.e. isn't King and wasn't imprisoned or exiled after the Landsmeet.
 * Gloves of the Champion
 * - Requires a Dragon Age: Origins save import where Alistair is still in the Grey Wardens, i.e. isn't King and wasn't imprisoned or exiled after the Landsmeet.
 * Gloves of the Champion
 * - Requires a Dragon Age: Origins save import where Alistair is still in the Grey Wardens, i.e. isn't King and wasn't imprisoned or exiled after the Landsmeet.
 * - Requires a Dragon Age: Origins save import where Alistair is still in the Grey Wardens, i.e. isn't King and wasn't imprisoned or exiled after the Landsmeet.


 * Note: You appear to receive Gloves of the Champion, Sataareth, and the achievement King of the Hill only if Hawke is alive when you defeat the Arishok. If Hawke has fallen and Arishok is defeated with another party member, you will not receive these things.

Trivia
Even though it is seen that a qunari snaps the neck of one of the citizens in the keep he is seen cheering after Hawke is victorious.

Bugs

 * Just after the talk with Aveline, sometime during the first fight (when Qunari appear on the stairs) Some Qunari might flit through the stairs and end up beneath it, causing companions to get stuck in attack mode without it being possible to kill the enemy. These enemies will follow you beneath the ground and cause some companions to be unable to move. Reloading can (but does not always) fix this bug.
 * Approaching the Qunari compound at night will turn the city guards stationed outside the compound into hostile NPCs. After the fight a single guard NPC remains at his post. Returning to the Docks during the day makes all the guards appear at their posts again. (As of Patch 1.02 this is no longer the case.)
 * After killing the last group of Qunari, your game may send you back to an earlier dialog.
 * If you choose to slaughter the Qunari in the Viscount's throne room, the closing cut scene may still feature Qunari standing around the throne room area.
 * If you choose to duel the Arishok one on one, sometimes he will get his health all the way to 0 and then kind of like resurrect himself and then become untargetable.
 * If the Arishok backs you against the wall with the entrance door, he may knock you through the door/wall. It is impossible to get back into the room and finish the fight.
 * If this occurs, as a mage, you may still be able to defeat the Arishok from the back room during the glitch and gain an advantage as his attacks will not be able to harm you. Elemental Fire/Ice attacks can strike the Arishok if positioned correctly near the wall the Arishok is attempting to attack you.
 * If you defeat the Arishok as an Archer Rogue, the cutscene will show your character dual wielding to make the killing blows.
 * Sometimes Isabela would not return, even if you had 50% or more friendship or rivalry. The only known way to fix this is by using the console to set your relationship to an active romance, and after Act 2 has ended, clear the romance.
 * During the duel with Arishok, the quest will mark itself as completed in your journal even though Arishok is still alive.