Magistrate's Orders

Magistrate's Orders is a secondary quest in Dragon Age II.

Acquisition
Go to the Chantry in Hightown in Act 1. Magistrate Vanard will be waiting near the exit to the World map at the base of the Chantry steps. Magistrate Vanard will inform you about an escaped criminal who has taken refuge in an abandoned ruin outside of Kirkwall. A patrol of guards was sent to retrieve him, but they were slaughtered by unspecified "creatures" in the ruin. If you accept the quest, he will offer Hawke a promise of future support for the return of the criminal, as long as he is brought back alive and unharmed.

Walkthrough
Upon arriving at the ruin, Hawke will witness an angry elf berating the guards for failing to deliver justice to the murderer within. When questioning the elf, Elren, he reveals that the criminal has been murdering elven children, and implies that he has not received appropriate punishment for his deeds. Furthermore, his last victim was Elren's daughter, Lia. The guards will warn Hawke that defying the magistrate's direct orders is "madness". Hawke can either state his/her intention to bring the criminal back to Vanard, as originally promised, or to kill him for Elren. (Hawke can, however, change his/her mind later.)

Entering the ruins results in a dungeon crawl. The dungeon contains Spider and Poisonous Spider enemies. The spider silf for the Herbalist's Tasks quest can be obtained here.

Along the way, Hawke will find an elven girl sitting at the end of a walkway. She reveals that she is Lia, and that the criminal let her go. While the man was "hurting her" in some unspecified fashion, he abruptly stopped and started crying, stating that demons in his head were making him kill elven children. It is indicated that the man is mentally ill. He then told her to run away, which she did. In either a display of extreme empathy or Stockholm's Syndrome, Lea asks Hawke not to hurt the man.

After a fight with an arcane horror and more spiders, Hawke will find the man, Kelder, cowering in a room. Kelder is actually Vanard's son, which is why he wanted him back unharmed; however, he does not want to be rescued, begging Hawke to kill him to stop him from killing more elven children "because they are too beautiful".

Hawke can either kill Kelder or attempt to bring him back; however, if the latter option is chosen, Kelder runs away and must be tracked down in the ruins - which will spawn a fight that does not occur should the user choose to kill kelder.

Companion involvement
If Fenris is in the party, Fenris will request to kill him (denying or obliging his request grants no Friendship/Rivalry change). When encountering Lia, Fenris warns Hawke that her plea for mercy on Kelder's behalf is probably due to childish naivety, and that she should not be heeded.

For freeing Keldar:

For killing Keldar:
 * only if you do not let Fenris kill him
 * or if you let Fenris kill him
 * or if you let Fenris kill him
 * or if you let Fenris kill him
 * or if you let Fenris kill him

Extorting Vanard to keep his secret will give Aveline +10 rivalry.

If Carver is in the party, he will receive +5 rivalry if Hawke says that the magistrate wants him alive.

Rewards
If Kelder is killed, Elren will thank and reward Hawke with one gold sovereign and state that he never thought that he would see justice for the city elves. Magistrate Vanard must be spoken to to complete the quest; however, no cutscene will be triggered, and Vanard will walk away with a promise of revenge. This decision has no impact on whether or not Hawke's mother will be successful in petitioning to take up residence in her former estate; however, it will have an impact later on.

If Kelder is spared, Magistrate Vanard will reward Hawke. He can be blackmailed with his son's secret.