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 an elven whore, 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
When the Warden meets Zevran, it is during a mission to kill the Warden and their party. If the Warden overcomes Zevran through battle, however, you can choose whether to kill him or question his motives. He will ask to join the Warden's group to escape his life with the Crows. A good way to trigger the random encounter with Zevran, is to go to the Denerim Chantry and accept the "Refugees" quest from the chanter's board and travel directly to the location from Denerim. Note: You must have obtained at least one of your allies through the Warden Treaties to trigger the encounter with Zevran.



Later on during the adventure, as the party travels from Arl of Redcliffe's estate to the Arl of Denerim's estate (in Denerim), a Crow named Taliesin approaches the party and wishes to speak to Zevran, wondering if he'll come back. If Zevran's approval rating is not high enough, Zevran (regardless if he's in your party) will betray you and permanently die. If he has high approval (+33, or at least at "Interested"), the Warden will have option to keep him in the party. He'll deny the Crows and stay with the party.

Zevran is one of the most difficult characters for the player character to get to know, though he is arguably the easiest to receive the "Easy Lover" achievement for with regard to a romance sub-plot (you can invite him into your tent very early after meeting him). There are several instances in his past that he simply will not speak to you about but if you manage to make Zevran your good friend or romantic interest, you'll discover an individual who is very different than he portrays himself to be.

Zevran has several different specific involvements with conversations should he be in your main party namely with regard to the Anvil of the Void, the assignment with the Crows, gives very wise advice about using the oil to stop the onslaught of undead in Redcliffe and of course the infamous Pearl interaction.

Strategy
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



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 and also with many 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, a rich Rivain man. He kept it to remind him of his first job. If you ask him if the item is a token of affection, you'll get 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, get angry with you and you will lose quite a bit of approval with him. Another alternative is to refuse the earring altogether. If you choose to do this, he will approach you later and admit it is a token of his affection.

As easy as he is to get back into a tent, once he has given you the earring, he will refuse sex. If you ask him about it the next time, he will explain that he is confused about his feelings. If the conversation ends well, he will no longer deny sleeping with you. If you return to the camp after defeating the archdemon when Zevran will finally (though not directly) confess that he loves you. Though this even may also occur between the Landsmeet and Redcliffe Castle. Despite this though, there are very few conclusions which end with you and Zevran having a future committed to one another. One in which this occurs is if the PC sacrifices themselves to which the Epilogue notes that although Zevran has many other bed partners, he never loves again. If the PC survives the final battle with the Archdemon either through Morrigan's Ritual, Alistair's Sacrifice or Loghain's Sacrifice, and you choose to "Rebuild the Grey Wardens" when requested by either Alistair or Anora, Zevran will accompany you to rebuild the Warden, though he will never actually join the order. Should you choose to travel, return to your clan, or other selections like this, you and Zevran will travel together "for a time" or if you choose to remain in Denerim, he can stay in Ferelden with his beloved. The official guidebook states that you are able to keep Zevran as your 'lover in the castle' if your approval rating is high enough with him, despite marrying Alistair or Anora and becoming King or Queen.

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 mention tying me, 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."

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."

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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."

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."