Zevran Arainai

Zevran Arainai is a libidinous and amoral Antivan elven rogue. He is a possible companion and romance option for Wardens of either gender. If his approval is +27, or over, he will teach the assassin specialization.

Background
The son of a Dalish elf, his mother left her clan and moved to the city after falling in love with a wood cutter. When his father died, his mother worked in the whorehouse to pay off his debts, then died giving birth to Zevran. Zevran was sold as a young child to an elite guild of assassins called the Crows of Antiva, who, he will explain, choose elves as assassins because humans find them more attractive. He attempted to resist their training, but eventually accepted and excelled in his position. Trained in stealth and seduction, he is one of the Crows' most promising assassins.

Involvement
The Warden encounters Zevran while traveling outside of Denerim, caught in an ambush of assassins hired by Arl Howe. If the Warden overcomes Zevran's forces through battle, however, they can choose to either kill him or keep him alive for interrogation. If allowed to say his piece, Zevran will ask to join the group, offering to protect and serve the Warden in exchange for his life. Note: You must have obtained at least one of your allies through the Warden Treaties to trigger the encounter with Zevran.



Confident and eager to put his abilities to good use under the Warden's employ, Zevran is easy going by nature. Though many of the party members have their doubts about whether or not he is trustworthy, he takes their suspicions into stride and deflects their accusations with wit. He has no reservations about what he does for a living, nor does he try to dress up his role as a Crow: he acknowledges freely that he is a killer, and he cannot picture himself doing anything else professionally. Zevran is a pragmatist at heart, preferring to use stealth to debilitate his foes, then poisons to quickly finish them off.

Zevran is a good party member to take along in a morally ambiguous group as he is probably one of the least judgmental companions. The Warden's execution of quests, for good or ill, rarely affect his disposition more than a few points (if at all), though there are some exceptions. He will object should the Warden opt to destroy the Anvil of the Void, arguing how valuable it could be to their war effort. He will also protest the decision to wipe out the Circle, wondering why his life was spared while those of the mages are so easily disregarded, although this does not seem to negatively impact his approval rating. If asked about the Dalish elves after the Warden has completed Nature of the Beast by siding with the werewolves, he will snap that it is ghoulish thing to bring up after everything that has transpired, although Zevran will concede that the werewolves deserved their revenge, and the Dalish fell because they were weak. He feels no collective kinship to other elves, those in alienages least of all: Zevran believes that too many of his kind have accepted being considered inferior as a fact of life, and feels they have to fight to earn a higher level of respect.

In time, if the Warden has garnered a high approval rating with Zevran, he will reveal the specifics of some of his missions as a Crow. The last job he performed in Antiva was to be carried out with the assistance of his fellow assassins, Taliesen and Rinna. Zevran explains that despite his attempts to shut out the emotion, he had become quite smitten with Rinna. But as the trio planned their attack, Taliesen somehow learned that Rinna had accepted a bribe from their mark and was planning to betray them. Zevran watched Taliesen kill the traitor with delight, callously mocking her pleas of innocence and dying declarations of love, and the two men carried out the mission on their own. Only after their target was dead did they discover the real source of their victim's information, which in turn proved Rinna had been telling the truth. Heartbroken and disgusted by his actions, Zevran returned to the Crows and made a bid for what many believed was a suicide mission: Kill any remaining Grey Wardens of Ferelden. He took the job expecting to die at the hands of legendary heroes, only to have his would-be killers show him the mercy he had not given Rinna.

If he was in the party when you completed The Urn of Sacred Ashes, the Guardian would asked him if he had regretted it. He would snap and admit that he did.

In the later stages of the game, while on the way to the Arl of Denerim's estate, Taliesen approaches the party and offers to take Zevran back to Antiva. If his approval rating is not high enough, Zevran (regardless if he's in the active party) will betray the team and permanently die in the following confrontation. If he has high approval (+33, or at least at "Interested"), he will deny the Crows and stay by the Warden's side.

Zevran is one of the most difficult characters for the Warden to get to know intimately, though he is arguably the easiest to receive the "Easy Lover" achievement from as the Warden can invite him back to their tent not long after meeting him. There are things in his past that he simply will not speak of, but should Zevran become a good friend or love interest, it becomes apparent that he is a very different individual than he portrays himself to be.

Initial Statistics
Class: Rogue

Specialization: Assassin

Starting Talents/Skills: Zevran begins with level 3 poison

Assassin: Mark of Death

Rogue: Dirty Fighting, Below the Belt, Deadly Strike, Lethality, Stealth, Stealth Item Use, Combat Stealth

Dual Weapon: Dual-Weapon Training, Dual-Weapon Sweep, Flurry, Momentum

Strategy
Zevran contributes best when you sneak up on opponents and surprise them. So before you enter line of sight with a mob, Zevran should go into stealth mode and go around to the mob’s rear where he can use Combat Movement to ensure a backstab and Exploit Weakness to deliver extra damage based on his cunning score. If he can’t reach the enemy’s rear, stay hidden and wait for adversaries to move and expose their vulnerable backs.

Focus on Zevran’s dexterity and willpower as he levels up. He will probably be an accomplished poisoner. He will take best to light armor, dual weapons, and archery with shortbows or longbows. Fill out Zevran’s assassin specialization as soon as they open up (especially up to level 14’s Lacerate). Concentrate on the Dual Weapon school whenever you don’t have an assassin point to spend. Dual-Weapon Finesse should be a priority to avoid the standard penalties associated with fighting two-handed; the goal, of course, is to reach Dual-Weapon Mastery. Whirlwind provides damage against multiple foes at once, while Riposte gives Zevran a stun attack for those targets that just won’t go down.

If you want Zevran in your party but also desire a rogue capable of lock picking, ensure that rogue is the Warden or Leliana. Zevran's skill set is intended for melee combat and poison making, and he comes with no Deft Hands abilities. You can either set aside skill points to learn these or focus on his melee/assassin skills, which are better for making him a useful member of your team.



Gifts
Zevran will get much friendlier with you if you find a gift of Dalish Gloves and Antivan Leather Boots. He also enjoys gold and silver bars.

See Gifts for more information.

Romance
Zevran will blatantly flirt with Wardens of either gender, along with some of the other companions, even if only in jest. He is easy to call back into your tent, but it is incredibly difficult to win his heart. If he does fall in love with you, he will offer you a gemmed earring which he took from his first mark as an assassin. If you ask him if the item is a token of affection he will give an awkward response that should make the answer obvious. If you push him to actually say it though, he will refuse to give you the earring, become angry, and his disposition will drop significantly. Another alternative is to refuse the earring altogether, which will also cause disapproval (but not as much as if the player presses him about his feelings at the time). If you choose to do this, he will approach later and admit it is a token of his affection (although when he offers it to you a second time [and you accept it] it does not seem to show up in Plot Items in the PC version, unlike if you accepted it the first time it was offered) and there is even an option to suggest that the earring represents a proposal, which he will agree to if it is the Warden's wish that it be taken as such.

If the Warden is romancing Alistair/ Leliana/ Morrigan at the same time, at one stage he will confront you, asking you if that relationship is 'going somewhere'. The player is then forced to make a choice, and if Zevran is chosen, he will then recite a poem. You can ask him about his last mission after this.

As easy as he is to get back into a tent initially, once he has given you the earring, he will refuse sexual encounters and will continue to do so until you ask him about it. Zevran will then explain that he is confused about his feelings (a conversation that can occur any time after the initial refusal to accompany the player back to their tent - after the Landsmeet, or even upon returning to camp after defeating the Archdemon). If the conversation ends well, he will no longer deny sleeping with you and that will be the closest the player can come to a confession of love from him (unless his earring was initially refused, as noted above).

If the Warden survives the fight with the Archdemon and elects to rebuild the Grey Wardens, Zevran will accompany you to rebuild the order, assisting with recruitment and training, though he will never actually join. Otherwise, should you choose remain in Denerim, return to your clan, travel or other selections like this, you and Zevran will only remain together "at least for a time", although the epilogue indicates that he does love you, referring to the Warden as Zevran's "beloved" or the man/woman he loves. The official guidebook states that you are able to keep Zevran as your consort if your approval rating is high enough with him, despite marrying Alistair or Anora and becoming King or Queen. There is an additional conversation with Zevran regarding this once the engagement is announced, where he will query you about where he stands and whether or not your romance will continue in spite of the upcoming nuptials.

If the Warden character sacrifices themselves in the final battle, the epilogue notes that Zevran had many offers of bed partners, but never loved again.

Quotes

 * "We all do our share of murdering around here, don't we?"
 * "Why aren't you the saucy little minx, then. I've been used and wasn't even aware of it! A masterpiece!"
 * (Sighs) "And here I thought the Wonders of Thedas would be a whore house. Pity."
 * "Now that we have mentioned tying me up in that context, do we have any extra rope around?"
 * "Tsk. And I'm not even drunk yet!"
 * "You tend to get up to interesting things. You meet interesting people and then you kill them. I'm game to tag along, if you are."
 * (upon seeing the high dragon) "A high dragon? We're not... planning on actually fighting it, are we? Couldn't we just... sneak around it?"
 * (upon entering the start of the Gauntlet) "I feel like we have just entered the Grand Cleric's bedchambers. Where no one has gone before..."
 * "Oh, I don't know. Random violence can be fun. But this is good, too."
 * (Upon urging Ser Perth to use the oil in the seige of undread on Redcliffe) "Assuming it actually kills them and we don't end up with just flaming corpses."
 * "Death Happens," As we like to say. And when I get paid for it, death happens more often."
 * "Just once I'd like to walk into one of these places and discover a lively dance, or a drinking festival. Or an orgy. But alas, no "
 * "By your side I would willingly storm the gates of the Dark City itself. Do not doubt it!"
 * "Am I the only one who sees the irony in this? Ah well. I do love to work in front of an audience."
 * "Oh? I must admit I do love a good royal scandal."
 * (after defeating Shah Wyrd) "Yes, I've been close to death from real monsters, now we've got to worry about imaginary ones?"

Dialogue
See Zevran's Dialogue for the complete list.

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 * Warden: "You must think I'm royally stupid."
 * Zevran: "I think you're royally tough to kill. And utterly gorgeous. Not that you'll respond to simple flattery. But there are worse things in life than serving the whims of a deadly sex goddess." (If the Warden is a female.) "

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 * Shale: "Order me to do something."
 * Warden: "Give Zevran a hug."
 * Zevran: "Now, now. I don't care much for foreign objects invading my personal space. Well... usually."

Battle Quotes
"I hope I don't get blood all over me again."

"Time for a little bloodletting, I see!"

(after a successful fight, with no significant injuries) "We are ridiculously awesome."

"Grey Warden, Darkspawn. Darkspawn, Grey Warden."

"I hate the smell these darkspawn leave on my blade."

"I love this part!"

Trivia

 * Writer Sheryl Chee has said that when going out for a drink Zevran would "insist on garnishing his with an orange slice and an umbrella."
 * Lead Writer, David Gaider described Zevran as "deceptively spicy salsa."
 * One of David Gaider's influences for Zevran was Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
 * You pronounce his name with a Spanish influence: "zehv-rahn".