Soldier's Peak (quest)

Soldier's Peak is the central quest in Warden's Keep DLC for Dragon Age: Origins.

Courtyard and first floor
As the party enters the Courtyard (after the initial cutscene), they should make an immediate left turn to reach and inspect a statue, unlocking the Ancient History quest and Codex entry: The History of Soldier's Peak: Chapter 1. Afterwards, return to the Courtyard proper and prepare for battle: three waves of undead will attack.

Climb the stairs and enter the First Floor of the Keep. An animation will play out presenting more details about the fall of the keep when the king and the Wardens squared off, as attested by the Statement of Defiance on the wall. Behind the door lies the Break Room, where the party will meet an Arcane Horror and two Lesser Rage Demons. A note on a table unlocks the Codex entry: A Letter From Bann Mathuin Wulff.

To the West lies the Barracks, where Commander Athlar awaits with 3 Warden Skeletons. There is a note that gives Codex entry: A Plea from Commander Athlar. The doorway to the North is blocked, but the passage to the East leads to the Mess Hall, and then to the Archives (beyond the barricade). The Archives are guarded by Corpses (at low level) and an Archivist and two rage demons (the archivist is a lieutenant rage demon and these only appear during higher levels). The large Archivist's Book on the floor is associated with the conflict that led to the fall of the keep, and will trigger a cut-scene into the past of the keep. A smaller book will unlock the Codex entry: The History of Soldier's Peak: Chapter 2 which is associated with Ancient History quest.

Second floor
The first room on the Second Floor is divided in two by the remnants of a barricade. As the party approaches it, a cut-scene reveals that the Wardens (specifically a Mage named Avernus) summoned demons to help them in the defense of the keep, but were betrayed. As the cut-scene ends, a Rage Abomination will appear and attack the party. In addition to this demon, the party will have to deal with some of his aides during the fight. First, as the fight begins, there will be 4 undead wardens (one in each of the purple glyphs on the floor) whose job is primarily that of healing the demon, although they may only appear twice, And the boss is technically a Rage Abomination. Secondly, as the demon's health approaches zero, two Greater Rage Demons will spawn and attack, and the boss Demon will refill his health. Recommended strategies include focusing on the undead wardens to avoid their healing effect, or cast Curse of Mortality on the demon to prevent him from receiving the healing. At the end of the battle, the Warden will have a brief dialogue with Levi, who is shocked to discover that Wardens would summon demons for help.

The next door leads to a room marked on the map as the Shrine, and a simpler fight against some undead (a Shambling corpse and a couple of Shambling skeletons). A bottle of Raspberry Jam on a table will unlock the Codex entry: The History of Soldier's Peak: Chapter 3 and advance the Ancient History quest. The party is now faced with an exit door leading to The Bridge but sealed by a magic barrier. On the other side, a door leads to the Commander' Quarters where the party can meet Sophia Dryden.

Meeting Sophia Dryden
Enter the Commander's Quarters on the Second Floor of the Keep to meet Sophia. The dialogue will present the Warden with the option of attacking her right away or accept her offer. The Codex entry: Sophia Dryden will be updated at the end of the conversation. A book on the table unlocks Codex entry: Sophia Dryden's Journal.

Sophia is Levi's great-great-grandmother but has been possessed by a demon (Levi himself will point out that what the group is facing is not his relative anymore). She has been locked up in the keep since the time of the Wardens-Ferelden conflict and wishes only to be let out, free to roam the rest of the world. She will offer the Warden the promise of sealing the rift into the Fade. In exchange for Sophia's freedom, the Warden will have to kill Avernus. Avernus is found in Avernus's Tower, past the Bridge from the Second Floor. A short overview of the Warden's options:


 * Accept Sophia's Deal: accepting Sophia's request will add the Infernal Dealings quest to the Warden's journal.
 * The Warden may also Ask for Additional Reward: during the conversation with Sophia, the Warden can Persuade her to sweeten the deal; Sophia will offer to reveal the location of a secret stash of gold once the rift to the Fade is sealed (the treasure turns out to be 8 );


 * Pretend to accept Sophia's offer: even if the Warden accepts Sophia's offer in words, he/she can choose not to kill Avernus once he is found;
 * Avernus will lead you back to the main body of the Keep where a Confrontation with Sophia will take place. Alternatively, if the Warden has sufficient coercive skills, you may persuade Sophia to seal the veil before even heading into Avernus' tower. If this path is chosen, Sophia will still attack the Warden upon re-entering the area if the Warden has not killed Avernus. However, she will be in the veil area, and have no minions to support her.


 * Kill Sophia Immediately: as the Warden meets the demon, her offer can be refused and she can be attacked right away.
 * Sophia will be aided by 4 undead wardens during the fight;
 * Once the Warden meets Avernus, he/she can ask him for answers, and Persuade him that his experiments are wrong. Avernus will ask for the Warden's help in sealing the veil before accepting judgment for his actions.


 * Side with Avernus: once the Warden meets Avernus, he will ask for the party's help in mending the rift to the Fade, and in dealing with the demon possessing Sophia.

The bridge
Once the party has talked with Sophia, the magic barrier sealing the door to the Bridge is removed. The door leads to a brief passage between the keep and a tower. A few undead wardens will attack as soon as the party reaches the bridge. They don't represent a big challenge, but be careful of the various traps laid out on this passage.

Avernus's Tower
Past the bridge, the party will enter Avernus's Tower, where a group of 4 Warden Corpses guards a Study. In this room, a large book of Ability Notes holds some of Avernus's notes on his last experiments (and a short cut-scene). Next, a book on the table unlocks the Codex entry: Avernus's Notes, and an Alchemical Concoction holds the culmination of Avernus's horrific research. If the Warden does not examine the book and notes in the room before inspecting the concoction, there will be no hint as to the concoction's nature.

The doors from The Study both lead to The Sanctum, where the party can meet Avernus.

Meeting Avernus
In The Sanctum the Warden will meet Avernus. As mentioned above, the Warden can side with Sophia and kill the old Mage, or side with him. Either character will help in sealing the rift to the Fade. During the initial dialogue with Avernus, the Warden can ask a number of questions (and even let Levi ask about his grand-grandmother). If the Warden does not wish to attack Avernus, he can Persuade him that his research was dangerous and morally questionable. Avernus will willingly submit to the Warden's judgement but will ask that the party first help him in sealing the rift to the Fade and handling Sophia's demon. If the Warden agrees, Avernus will lead the group back to the Great Hall. Before leaving The Sanctum, the Warden may inspect a Corpse hanging from the Northern wall to unlock Codex entry: The History of Soldier's Peak: Chapter 4 and advancing the Ancient History quest

Confrontation
One of the options available to the Warden is that of leaving Sophia alive in her quarters, and following Avernus from his Tower back to the Great Hall. Under those conditions, Sophia will confront the group as the party re-enters the keep main body. At this point, the Warden must make a decision as to which side to aid. Siding with Sophia and sparing her will unlock Terror on the Coast if imported to Dragon Age II while siding with Avernus and allowing him to continue his research (whether ehtically or not) will unlock Dark Epiphany. Be careful if you choose to side with Avernus here; He will use Fireball against Sophia regardless of who is standing near. This can possibly do a large amount of friendly fire to your party.


 * * This bug can be worked around using spells. Crushing Prison, Tempest, and Blizzard can be cast through walls. These attacks will make the skeletons open the doorway. This technique can be used any place in the game where enemies are behind closed doors, as long as the enemies do not require dialogue prior to fighting.
 * * It is also possible to get around this bug by simply pressing up on the D-Pad when in front of the door, which will focus on the door itself and allow you to hit X and open the door.

Sealing the Veil
Whichever side the Warden allied with, Avernus or Sophia, will attempt to seal the veil in the Great Hall. The ritual takes time, with the caster standing in each of the summoning circles. The Warden and his or her companions will have to protect him or her from the demons that will spawn and attack in the meanwhile (one wave of demons for each summoning circle).

Details on the waves:
 * The first wave is composed of 3 Rage demons that spawn around the gate to the fade in the South-West corner;


 * The second wave is composed of 4 Greater shades that spawn spread around the South and West walls;


 * The third wave is composed of 2 Ash Wraiths and 2 Lesser rage demons that spawn along the two walls;


 * The fourth wave includes only one boss-grade Desire Demon (drops US$35000)

After sealing the Veil
If the Warden sided with Avernus, he will now submit to his/her judgement. The Warden can chose to execute him, kick him out of the keep (and the order), or let him continue his research in an ethical manner. Alternatively, the Warden can choose not to judge Avernus and he may or may not willingly give up his research.

If the Warden sided with the possessed Sophia Dryden, she can ask for her reward now. The demon will reveal the location of Sophia's secret stash (in her quarters) and/or more of the keep's history, as appropriate (based on previous dialogue choices). The Warden can now let the demon free to leave the keep, or fight her

Returning to the keep
Once the party leaves the keep, Levi and his brother Mikhael Dryden will open a shop at the keep. Return to the area for access to their merchandise. In addition, a Party Storage Chest will be available.

Party reaction
If you have Morrigan in your party and persuade Avernus to submit to the Warden's judgement, then decide that death is the only solution,.

If you have Morrigan in your party and persuade Avernus to submit to the Warden's judgement, then decide to listen to Morrigan and let Avernus live,.

If you have Wynne in your party and persuade Avernus to submit to the Warden's judgement, then decide that you will not be his judge, she will object that what he has done is completely immoral and there must be consequences. If you choose to support him, you will lose. At this point, the worst case scenario for Avernus is to cast him out of the Wardens, and you will not lose any points with her. A similar discussion occurs if you choose that his punishment is to live with what he has done, also losing approval if you support him. Wynne will not disapprove if you allow Avernus to continue his experiments ethically, which can be done before or after closing the Veil.

If Zevran is in your group and you ask Sophia Dryden about her deal, you will gain approval from him. You don't need to agree to the deal she describes to get the approval - Zevran is impressed that you're ruthless enough to even consider bargaining with demons.

Note however that if the scene draws no comment from either Morrigan or Zevran, there will be no change in approval. This can happen if another party member such as Alistair or Sten reacts first.

Though Leliana interrupts and would appear to object to your making a deal with Sophia, there seems to be no actual change in approval if you continue making the deal.

Trivia

 * The names on the "Statement of Defiance" on the first floor are: Captain Melo, The Black Ferret, Chair-Thrower Lopez, Ser Derek of Orlais, Jason the Longbow, Allan the Quibbler, Cartography Martyr, David the Silent, Dustin the Colour-Blind, Ebenger of the Bovine Brethren, Farrell the Feral, Sir Graham the Untiring, Jason sans les Argonauts, Langley the Nefarious, Lucky Lacuna, Mad Dog Smeadows, Matthias the Bloody, McGuirk the Vile Priest, Melissa the Magical Malefactor, Om the Stretched, Packrat Derksen, Sergeant "Red" Morrison, Santos the Silent Scimitar, Vitriolic Eric, Weak Eye Santos, and Welburn the Exhaustive Fire.