Demands of the Qun

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 &mdash; 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 &mdash; this will cause Isabela to permanently be removed from your party. If you don't want to do that then choose to help Isabela first and follow the To Catch a Thief quest. After you complete To Catch a Thief you will receive this quest.

Walkthrough
Go with Aveline to the Qunari Compound by the Docks. She expects trouble, so finish any pressing business first.

Once you reach the Qunari Compound the Arishok defends the two elven prisoners and attacks you no matter what dialog you choose. If you disagree with Aveline’s comment (“That doesn’t excuse murder”) during the opening dialogue with the Arishok by saying "Yes it does", you will get for doing so.

After the attack on your small party in the Qunari Compound, the Qunari attack Kirkwall. You can regroup and go to the Viscount's Keep to warn the city guards about the Qunari attack.

If you do not accept Aveline in your party, you will get or  if your friendship is high enough.

If you took Bethany or Carver on The Deep Roads Expedition and let them join the Grey Wardens, they will be in a group of Grey Wardens led by Stroud on your way to Viscount's Keep. They will not rejoin your party and Stroud gives you a ring called Warden's Promise. If you imported a save from Dragon Age: Origins where Alistair was neither made King nor killed, he will be in the group of Grey Wardens and will give you The Sacred Heart amulet.

You will fight a Sten, along with other Qunari, right before you enter Hightown.

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. On your way you will see a corpse on the ground, which you can loot for the Recipe: Elixir of Heroism.

After that you will find the First Enchanter Orsino lying on the ground. If you didn't take your sister Bethany on The Deep Roads Expedition, Orsino will heal her and she will leave with him. After saving Orsino, you must choose between Meredith's and Orsino's plans. 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 to sell and experience. Whichever choice you make, the hostages are not killed.

As you enter Viscount's Keep, the Arishok throws Viscount Marlowe Dumar's head at your feet.

If you didn't get the the Arishok's respect (A Worthy Rival achievement) he will order several Qunari attack you before he will talk with you.

If you had a friendship with Isabela she will return with the Relic. You must now choose whether to give Isabela to the Arishok or not. If Isabela doesn't show up, or you decided to keep her with you, the Arishok offers to duel you. Alternatively, if your friendship with Isabela was not high enough for her to return (or you never recruited her in the first place), you can obtain a duel with the Arishok by having Fenris in your party, or by having the Arishok's respect and choosing the aggressive option when he asks how you plan on resolving this. If you agree when Fenris arranges the duel you receive. There will be a one-on-one duel to the death between the Arishok and you. The Arishok will heal three times during the battle, so ensure you have plenty of mana/stamina potions (no need for health potion) if you choose the one-on-one fight. If you dual, it may take awhile to kill Arishok. The strategy is to run around the room. Wait until he uses his rush/speed skill, at which point he's momentary stuck and you hit him. Repeat this run and hit strategy and you wouldn't lose a single health. This strategy works for all Hawke classes. Alternatively, if Hawke is rogue, you can go toe-to-toe with him and should be able to take him out with 2-3 health and stamina potions each on a normal level. By the time you get to this stage, Hawke should be around lvl 18-19 if you maximize all the experience. Thus, specialize as an assassin and a duelist. Using twin fangs, assassinate, vendetta, and back stab should be able to do some serious damages. Don't forget to use throw the gauntlet and/or mark of death to reduces his defenses and maximizes damages.

If you refuse the duel when Fenris arranges it, you receive and you and your party will fight the Arishok and his Qunari to the death; the Arishok will be easier to beat this way. The strategy here is to quickly take out the three Qunaris from behind first. A rogue Hawke should be able to take them out b4 they can even blink. Use vendetta on one, follows by twin fangs on the second and assassinate on the third. Help your warrior and Isabela take out the other two Qunaris on the bottom room. Keep you two mages (Merrill and Anders) close while having your warrior holds position at the bottom of the stairs. Wait for the rest of Qunaris to come down the stairs and having one mage freezes while the other one fireballs. Then alternate. This should take them all out fairly quick (again on normal level). After that take out the two remaining Qunaris (each around the corner with your rogue). Don't kill Arishok until you get all the loots. After that take him out.

On PC or Mac, the cut scene comes too quickly to be able to loot the Arishok in either dual or group combat. Need to verify with consoles. Either way, after the battle you are rewarded with Sataareth, a single-handed sword.

Once the battle is over, Hawke is declared the Champion of Kirkwall and you get the Champion gauntlet. The remaining Champion gears (helmet, armor and boots come from the Main quests in Act 3).

After all the cut scenes you arrive in Hightown and see Orsino starting a small rebellion. Meredith walks up to put a stop to Orsino. At this point you must choose to support the Chantry and the Templars, Orsino and the Mages, or to keep the middle ground by saying that both parties are wrong. At this point, the Grand Cleric will step in and ask both Orsino and Meredith to leave.

Note
There are three choices available 2 of which yield the same experience after the initial battle that rewards 500xp


 * Giving Isabela to the Arishok results in no fight. 13200xp
 * Dueling Arishok. 13200xp
 * Fighting Arishok and killing all the adds. 13886xp

Result

 * Ending of Act 2.
 * Beginning of Act 3.
 * The Qunari leave Kirkwall.
 * You are declared Champion of Kirkwall.

Rewards

 * You are declared Champion of Kirkwall
 * Warden's Promise (ring)
 * Recipe: Elixir of Heroism
 * Sataareth (sword, 1-handed)
 * The Sacred Heart (amulet) - Requires Dragon Age: Origins save import where Alistair isn't King and wasn't imprisoned after the Landsmeet.