Fool's Gold

Fool's Gold is a secondary quest in Act 2 of Dragon Age II. Yevhen, a dwarf and member in good standing of the Dwarven Merchants' Guild, blames you for inspiring his three sons Merin, Iwan and Emrys to go off looking for treasure in the Deep Roads. He demands that you go looking for them and hopefully bring them back alive.

Acquisition
Talk to Yevhen in the north-east area of Hightown during Act 2. if she is in the party when you accept the job, when refusing. if he's in your party when accepting the job.

Walkthrough
This quest is only available if Nathaniel died or wasn’t recruited in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, or if you chose the Hero of Ferelden character background during the Prologue, or if you loaded a save from Origins wherein the Warden died. (Conflict- XBox 360- quest available without any of the preceding prerequisites)

Note that you may want to bring a Rogue with 30 Cunning on this quest because there is one Chest - Complex at the end.

Go to The Deep Roads location on the Free Marches map. You arrive in a Deep Roads tunnel. Proceed east around the corner and kill several Hurlocks. Go north and then east again. Grab the contents of the Rubble just before a doorway. Go through the door and keep going straight until you see Emrys and have a conversation after which he leaves. During that conversation, selecting the "I'll save Merin" option results in.

The previous doors which were inaccessible before can be accessed now. You need to decide whom to save, you cannot save both brothers. Whomever you first go after will be alive, the other will be dead. Check map to see their locations.

Investigate the pit just south and you will be ambushed by a number of spiders. This is not a hard fight but not trivial either as it includes four or more Poisonous, two Corrupted, and some Giant spiders, so just watch your Rogues' and Mages' health. Duck into the small alcove to the east of the pit to find a lootable Pile of Bones.

If you want to save Merin, go into the north-leading doorway to the left (west) of where Emrys was cowering. Continue north and prepare to fight some more Hurlocks led by two Darkspawn Emissaries. Kill the Emissaries first because they use spells that can spike your health down fast. After this fight you will automatically talk to Merin who then leaves. Proceed to east, where you'll find Iwan's corpse. you can loot golem control rod from his corpse.

If you want to save Iwan, take the way to the right of the Emrys' former spot and then north into a wide tunnel with shining lyrium veins. Loot the Pile of Bones on the right hand side. Turn the corner east to find Iwan fighting with some darkspawn. After dealing with them, you'll have a conversation. He doesn't want to leave unless you "persuade" him. After getting the Golem Control Rod, proceed to east.

Continue east up the stairs and notice the Golem to the south which you can interact with. It's not required to but it's recommended, since if you do this you will use the Control Rod and then it becomes your ally. Proceed north through the Golem-lined hall. After you kill them all proceed west and fight Hurlocks and another Emissary. An Ogre may join the fight if you go too far west so it's best to stay easterly until all foes have been killed, then go west until the Ogre spawns and kill it. Check in the south-east area of this room for a Pile of Bones. Go north into the room containing the treasure caches, a new side quest object(Lyrium-Laced Bilge Hoop) and a locked (Complex) chest. Regardless of your choices, the chest supposed to hold the sword has been destroyed by the darkspawn. If you choose to let Merin die, there will be a second chest with the unique mace Sundarin Thunder, along with other seemingly randomized loot. The Complex Chest can hold Zoey's Battered Horde-Kickers as well. Loot up and then head back south and west to the exit room. Loot the Pile of Bones then leave and return to Yevhen in Hightown.

Result
Two of the brothers are saved.

If you save Iwan and the truth comes out about Merin's death. Iwan threatens Hawke, but there are no later repercussions.

If you accept Fool’s Gold, you cannot undertake the Finding Nathaniel quest in Act 3. It is only possible to play one of these two quests in a given playthrough. If the Fool's Gold quest is available, it may mean that you do not have the pre-requisite conditions to play Finding Nathaniel and that quest will not appear in Act 3 either way.

Rewards

 * 1000 Exp. and 2
 * The Treasure Cache at the end containing at least 4

Bugs

 * If Varric is with you, and you choose to let him "negotiate" for the control rod, the conversation with Iwan may replay, without Iwan standing there; Hawke will be talking to the air. This conversation will only replay once, choosing the Varric response at the end a second time will not replay the conversation a third.


 * The appearance of Fools Gold assumes that Nathaniel is dead in DA:O:A which is not always true. Many people have an issue where Nathaniel survives yet they will recieve fools gold. This has been linked to whether or not the architect was killed or not (leaving him alive seems to have more chance of the Nathaniel Quest appearing). It is currently unknown why people who saved Nathaniel cannot complete this quest.