Heart of the Many

Heart of the Many is a main quest in the Mark of the Assassin downloadable content for Dragon Age II.

Baiting a Wyvern
The quest begins with your arrival at Chateau Haine. You will meet Duke Prosper, the man who sent you the letter, and take part in a wyvern hunt and will need to kill a wyvern in order to complete it. This part of the quest is best explained in Baiting a Wyvern. You do not have to attract and kill an alpha wyvern to complete the quest, any wyvern will suffice. The minimum number of bait items needed appears to be 2.

After killing the wyvern, you will be attacked by a nobleman named Baron Arlange and his cronies. After the fight, you can choose to kill him, let him go, or let Duke Prosper (who turns up on the scene with his guards) decide. If you choose to kill Baron Arlange, the Duke will order Cahir to do it and you will later be able to loot Baron Arlange's Shield and Baron Arlange's Sword from the corpse. If you let Baron Arlange go, he will turn up and fight you again later in the quest. In that encounter, you will have no choice but to kill him anyway.

''Note: Killing Baron Arlange results in the combat ceasing immediately and Duke Prosper appearing on the scene. You may wish to kill all of Arlange's guards before killing him to maximise XP gain.''

The Chateau Courtyard
A party is thrown for Hawke in celebration of their achievement in slaying the first wyvern of the season. Before the party, the four characters in your party will have a quick discussion, where Tallis mentions that she found an unguarded entrance into the Chateau. She says she is unable to pick the lock and Hawke therefore has to find the key. The 2 the non-Tallis companions will leave Hawke and will be unavailable for the rest of this section.

At the start of the party, Hawke is given the Master Wyvern Hunter's Belt by Duke Prosper. Hawke then has to find a way to obtain the key, which involves a lot of running around the Chateau Courtyard.

''Note: Leliana is standing among the guests in the Courtyard. She is probably the Chantry/Seeker Agent mentioned by Cassandra Pentaghast as she speaks to Varric Tethras in the cutscene at the start of the quest.


 * The first person Hawke should talk to is one of the Guards. There are 3 guards standing around the Courtyard. Speaking to any of the guards will result in a cutscene where Tallis apparently seduces a guard behind a closed wooden door. When she emerges, she will report that the Guard had given his key to a servant.


 * The Elven Servant is standing near the fountain, who offers some "'am that tastes of despair". A cutscene will initiate where Tallis speaks to the servant behind a closed door. When she emerges, she will report that the Servant had given the key to the Duke's son, Lord Cyril.


 * Lord Cyril is also standing near the fountain. When spoke to, he will give Hawke a caprice, used in the quest Wishing Well. This then leads to in a cutscene where Tallis attempts to seduce Lord Cyril, but emerges reporting that she isn't Lord Cyril's type. Lord Cyril turns out to be attracted to Hawke (regardless of if Hawke was male or female) and will ask for Hawke. Hawke then has 3 options:
 * 'But not you?' (romantic option). Hawke then whispers to Lord Cyril, at the same time picking his pocket and obtaining the key.
 * 'No Comment.' Lord Cyril asks Hawke to get him a drink, which can be obtained from the table near the Quartermaster. Tallis will put something in the wine and when Lord Cyril drinks it, he passes out and Hawke takes the key from him.
 * 'Nap time.' (violent option) Hawke knocks out Lord Cyril and takes the key while he is unconscious.

Head to the locked door on the northern side of the Courtyard and enter. It leads to a narrow passageway, at the end of which Hawke and Tallis are surprised by a guard in a cutscene. Tallis kills the guard, after which Hawke has the option to choose whether to try and sneak through the Chateau ('I agree') or fight through it ('I prefer a more direct approach'). Fighting through the Chateau is simpler and gives more XP, but sneaking through the Chateau is needed for the Blackjack Subtle achievement.

After making your choice, Tallis and Hawke enter the Chateau.

Chateau Haine
There are 2 paths to complete this segment of the quest, the Sneaky Approach or the Direct Approach.

The Direct Approach gives more miscellaneous loot and about 3200 more XP.

The Sneaky Approach is needed to obtain the Blackjack Subtle Achievement.

Direct Approach
If the direct approach is chosen, Hawke and Tallis will have to fight through Chateau Haine.

When Hawke enters the Chateau, follow the path into a small room, where can be found Codex entry: The Wine of Chateau Haine. The first fight with the guards occurs there and the adjacent corridor. Continue along the corridor, and just before you reach the end there will be a kitchen along the north wall. This is where the quest Hard to Stomach can be completed for 210 XP. Opposite the kitchen is a locked door (simple) which can be picked for 50 XP.

Continue on heading west and up the staircase. At the end of the staircase is a door that leads to an open-air courtyard, where you will fight the second group of guards, including an Orlesian Assassin, for 731 XP. After the fight, loot a key from one of the bodies and proceed to the locked door at the other end of the courtyard. Move through the corridor to the room at the end, where you will find Codex entry: Uncertainty. If Aveline was brought along, the Romantic Poem to begin the A Romantic's Gift quest will also be found here. Leave the room through the door at the other end of the room.

The path opens up to a balcony overlooking the dining hall. Head directly south along the balcony and kill the 3 guards there for 401 XP in the corridor surrounding a central room. The central room's door is locked by a Complex Lock worth 151 XP and reveals a chest with some junk items. Proceed further south and you will encounter a balcony overlooking a room with many guards standing at parade. Go back to the door you entered the first balcony from and proceed west this time to the next door. Along the way, in an aclove to the side of the balcony, you can examine a statue for Codex entry: Bust of the Outlaw Bearded Beast.

Going through the door brings you through another small balcony where a servant is getting scolded for having dropped a pie. Proceed along the corridor till you enter a room with Codex entry: A Library of Distinction in the bookcases along the western wall. The 4th encouner with the guards occurs here for 441 XP. In the next room, 3 portraits can be examined for Codex entry: Lady Amandine du Val, Codex entry: Portrait of the Dowager and Codex entry: Pride and Rider. Leaving the room through the door on the western wall results in another fight with a group of guards, including a Mage and Guard Captain, for 804 XP. Loot the Guard Captain's body for a key and proceed through the locked door to the Vault.

The Sneaky Approach
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The Vault Door
Regardless of which method you chose to move through Chateau Haine, the same strategy is used for this section.

When you enter the vault and as you approach the door at the end, bars drop from the ceiling and seal Tallis and Hawke in a kind of prison. Tallis and Hawke have to stand on switches on the ground to raise specific gates so they can reach the final door.


 * Step on the first obvious 2 switches to raise the gates leading up the side staircases.
 * Have Tallis climb 1 staircase and Hawke climb the other. Stand on the switches there and the next gates will open. Have Hawke and Tallis move forward and stand on their respective switches again to open the gate to the end of the balcony corridors.
 * Have Hawke and Tallis knock down the statutes there to activate the next switch and send them back to the ground floor. Note that the original gate (opened by the ground floor switches) will now be closed, but are openable through the second set of switches and so Tallis/Hawke will have to move quickly to return to the ground floor.
 * Have Hawke and Tallis step on the original switches once again. This opens up the gates blocking the stairs and the ones immediately next to them. Have one of the characters stand on one of the newly-revealed switches and the other character ascend the neighbouring staircase to stand on the switch 'next' to the other character. Move both characters forward to allow the one on the ground floor to access the final chest. The original gate blocking the staircase will have fallen again, so have Hawke and Tallis stand on the first set of switches (the same as those at the start of this point) to raise the gate again. Repeat for the other side.
 * Note: One or more quest items for the various companion quests will appear on top of the northern chest. A possible bug may occur where the quest items and the chest contents are unobtainable though a quest marker remains on them and the chest continues to glitter. The solution appears to be to unlock the final gates first, upon which the quest items and content of the chest becomes accessible.
 * Finally, have Hawke and Tallis stand on the switches in front of the chests to open the final gate to the Vault Door.

Upon entering the Vault Door, a cutscene triggers where Hawke and Tallis enter an empty room and are ambushed by Duke Prosper, Cahir, and a lot of guards. Duke Prosper reveals that Tallis is an Assassin and, surprisingly, Qunari. No matter what Hawke says, Duke Prosper throws them into a dungeon.

The scene then changes to a further conversation between Cassandra and Varric, before moving on to the Dungeon.

The Dungeon
The Dungeon begins with a conversation between Hawke and Tallis, where Hawke is given the opportunity to question Tallis and (finally) discover the truth of Tallis' mission at Chateau Haine. Tallis reveals that she was one of the Ben-Hassrath, meaning literally 'Heart of the Many', an order who serves as defenders of Qunari faith and unity. She is there to prevent a Tal-Vashoth named Salit, who recruited her into the Ben-Hassrath, from selling Qunari secrets to Orlais. Though the Ariqun did not feel it worth intervening, Tallis decided to stop Salit of her own volition, knowing that Salit's betrayal will harm many people, not just Qunari. Hawke tells Tallis to wait for the other 2 companions to rescue them, but a cutscene shows that the companions had gotten lost, and eventually Tallis simply picks the lock and releases them from the prison herself. They meet up with the other 2 companions and agree to leave the Chateau, with Hawke suggesting they leave through the palace and Tallis offering another way out through underground tunnels.

Hawke now has a choice; they can:


 * Directly ascend through the northern staircase to the vaults,
 * Move through the dungeon first before ascending to the vaults through the southern staircase, or
 * Move through the dungeon and go straight to the tunnels

Regardless of the choice made, Hawke will not be able to leave through the palace and will have to take the tunnel exit out.

''Note: It is recommend that option (2) be taken for maximum XP and reward gain, as well as to obtain the achievement The Take. Taking option (3) will result in you not obtaining the achievement and missing out on a large amount of loot.''

Hawke and companions begin in the northern arm of the dungeon. A staircase towards the east leads to the northern part of the Vault, inside a treasure room. Hawke has the option to release many other prisoners held in the Dungeons by picking (or having Tallis pick) the locks on their cells. The locks are all simple locks and give 50 XP each.

The room at the western end of the corridor holds a bunch of guards. They raise an alarm before they are killed, which results in another large fight in the southern arm of the dungeon, including a Harlequin. The eastern end of the southern arm has a staircase leading up to the southern part of the Vault. The room opposite the staircase room contains a Crack in the Wall, which opens up into the Retreat, an underground tunnel complex.

Warning - once you go through the crack in the wall, you will not be able to return to the Dungeon or the Vault.

If Aveline is in your party and The Du Lac Sign quest has been started in the Vault, a loose brick will appear in one of the prison cells in the Northern arm with a quest marker. Clicking on it results in Aveline unearthing a small vial filled with black smoke, containing a paper and a ring with a crest. Aveline then smashes the bottle on the ground, resulting in a fight against a Revenant and several undead. After the fight, Tallis reveals that the vial was a Phylactery. The note contains a cryptic message, and after the conversation, Aveline receives the Signet of the Red.

The Vault
The vault contains 5 separate areas, which for the purposes of this guide are named:


 * The Audience Room (in the south),


 * The Puzzle Rooms, which consist of:
 * The Northern Room,
 * The Eastern Room, and
 * The Western Room.
 * The Central Room

If Hawke ascends by the Northern staircase, they appear in the Northern Room.

If Hawke ascends by the Southern staircase, they appear in the Audience Room.

Audience Room
As Hawke enters, they confront Duke Prosper, Cahir and a large company of guards in a cutscene. Duke Prosper then leaves, causing a metal gate to fall behind him and effectively barring Hawke's exit through the palace, and leaves Cahir behind to deal with Hawke. Cahir orders the guards to attack and runs off to release 'the beast'. The guards, including another Harlequin, then attack Hawke and party.

After defeating the party, move north through a door into a small corridor with a staircase leading down. Just beyond the door, if Aveline is present, lies a Time-Worn Book that begins the quest The Du Lac Sign.

The Puzzle Rooms
The 3 puzzle rooms all contribute towards unlocking the final rewards in the Central Room. The Northern Room and the Western Room contain similar 'seal' puzzles, while the Eastern room contains a logic-type puzzle.

The Northern and Western rooms contain door-opening puzzles. There are 3 elements in these puzzles: Apparatuses, Doors and Mixers.
 * Apparatuses are devices which, when clicked on, results in a coloured 'seal' being activated by Hawke. Hawke may only bear 1 seal at a time and the active seal colour is shown as a floating device just above Hawke's head.
 * Doors can only be opened when Hawke is bearing the colour of the seal identical to that of the Door.
 * Mixers are devices that allow combination of 2 seal colours to form a new colour.

Some of the seals have standard meanings/effect:
 * Blue seal: Rune Golem in this room
 * Orange seal: Resets all other seals
 * Non-primary coloured seal (non-Red, Blue or Yellow): Treasure Chamber

The Eastern room contains a 5x5 tileset on the floor and a lever. Flipping a tile will result in that tile, plus all 4 tiles directly adjacent to the sides of the selected tile to be flipped. The aim of the puzzle is to flip every tile so that the entire picture is revealed at the end. The lever acts as a reset.

Step-by-step guides to all 3 rooms are given below.

Completing each Room results in a painting being revealed, which shows the solution to the puzzle in the Central Room.

The Northern Room
Note: This is where Hawke first appears if he ascends from the dungeons by the northern staircase.

1. Collect Yellow Seal 2. Enter the Yellow Door 3. Place the Yellow Seal in Mixer 4. Collect White Seal 5. Open both White Doors 6. Collect Black Seal 7. Open Black Door 8. Collect Blue Sea 9. Place Blue Seal in Mixer (to make Green Seal) 10. Open Blue Door 11. Kill Rune Golem (Makes painting appear) 12. Collect Green Seal (from Mixer) 13. Open Green Door (gives about 9.5 and random loot from chests)

The Western Room
1. Collect Black Seal 2. Open both Black Doors 3. Collect White Seal 4. Open White Door 5. Collect Blue Seal 6. Place Blue Seal in Mixer 7. Open Blue Door 8. Kill Rune Golem (Makes painting appear) 9. Collect Red Seal 10. Place Red Seal in Mixer (to make Purple Seal) 11. Collect Purple Seal 12. Open Purple Door (gives about 1.5 and random loot from chests)

The Eastern Room
This puzzle's solution is remarkably simple. First, flip the leftmost 2 tiles in the top row (from any perspective). Next, start from the second row and flip any tile which has a blank tile directly above it. Continue down, row by row and moving always from left to right, and the puzzle will be solved in no time.

If confused by the above explanation, a graphical representation is below. Imagine each of the tiles bears a number: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

The order the tiles have to be flipped in is:

A, B, F, G, I, J, M, N, O, Q, R, S, V, W, Y.

The screenshot on the right also shows the order to activate the tiles in.

Once the picture is fully revealed, the painting will appear.

The Central Room
The Central Room initially contains a large ring of fire. The puzzles in the Northern, Western and Eastern rooms must first be solved in order to get past the fire. 3 3x5 tiles lie around the Northern, Western and Eastern sides of the room. The tiles have to be flipped in a certain fashion in order to solve the puzzle. Solving each puzzle results in the central fire shrinking by 1 increment, and solving all 3 results in the fire disappearing entirely. The puzzles in the Northern, Western and Eastern Rooms, once solved, unveil paintings of 3 rows of 5 men. Looking closely at each painting reveals that some of the men are masked while others aren't. The painting corresponds to the tilesets on the ground directly in front of the corresponding rooms, and the masked men represent the tiles that should be flipped face-up to solve the puzzle.

The solutions to each puzzle are show below (1 means face-up, 0 means face-down), from a perspective of Hawke looking over the tiles at the central fire:

North: 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

West: 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

East: 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

Clearing the first ring of flames gives you about 2.25 and either the Orlesian Lancer Boots (Warrior), Boots of the Messenger (Rogue) or Boots of Enchanter Illana (Mage). Clearing the second ring of flames gives you about 3.5 and either the Orlesian Lancer Gloves (Warrior), Gloves of the Messenger (Rogue) or Gloves of Enchanter Illana (Mage). Clearing the third and final ring of flames gives you about 6.5 and either the Orlesian Lancer Armor and Orlesian Lancer Helm (Warrior), Coat of the Messenger and Helm of the Messenger (Rogue), or Robes of Enchanter Illana and Headdress of Enchanter Illana (Mage). You will also receive the The Take achievement.

The Retreat
Note: Once in the Retreat, Hawke will be unable to return to the Dungeon.

A feather (for Arcane Feathers) is found immediately upon Hawke's entry to the Retreat.

Move down the tunnel and eventually you will see a pair of ghasts running past the party at a fork. The tunnels turn out to be infested with them. Heading either north or south will lead you to the same place (as the paths converge) and Hawke will be attacked by a party of ghasts either way. The northern route holds a health potion while the southern route holds a stamina draught.

Move along the tunnel until you encouter a metal gate in a metal fence and open it. The chamber holds a bridge, which has a viewpoint where Hawke realises that a lake exists under the mountain. Once Hawke crosses the bridge and reaches the opposite gate, a cutscene occurs where the gate falls and separates Tallis from the rest of the party, and Cahir appears with some lackeys and challenges Hawke with a squad of mages. Halfway through the battle, once Cahir's HP falls below 50%, Tallis reappears and joins in the fight, along with more mages and guards joining Cahir. One of the mages drops Sting and Cahir can be looted for Dragon's Breath and the Portcullis Key.

Open the portcullis and continue moving. The tunnel forks again in another loop, with a small aclove off the western path containing a love poem for A Romantic's Gift and an Injury Kit. After the paths merge again, Hawke and party will have to fight another party of ghasts. The velghastrial leader can be looted for a Gnawed Shiny Ring. Subsequently, Tallis asks Hawke to help her stop Salit again, and Hawke has the opportunity to find out more about Tallis. No matter what Hawke chooses, Tallis leaves the party and 2 tunnels open up, representing 2 choices - to continue with Tallis, or without her. If Hawke takes the western tunnel, Tallis rejoins the party, but if Hawke takes the Eastern tunnel, Tallis leaves the party until the final boss fight against Duke Prosper.

Mountainside Path
The results of choosing to go with Tallis or leaving her behind results in markedly dissimilar encounters, which will be covered here in 2 separate sections.

With Tallis
After Hawke leaves the Retreat and moves a short distance, their party is ambushed by Baron Arlange if he was not killed in the previous encounter. Baron Arlange claims he knew Hawke was a traitor from the very beginning and attacks the party. Hawke has no choice but to kill him this time, and can loot his corpse for Baron Arlange's Shield and Baron Arlange's Sword.

The party travels in a general northerly direction. As Hawke moves north, the party spots a wyvern jummping across the path and into the bushes at the side of the road. If Hawke follows the wyvern further north, they will have to fight it in a clearing. After the wyvern is killed, ghasts appear from nests around the clearing and attack.

The path then turns east, and a short while later a group of Tal-Vashoth led by an officer attack in a clearing at the base of a series of steps leading up the mountain. As you ascend the steps, the path bends to the south before looping back towards the north. At the bend towards the north, another group of Tal-Vashoth led by the Tal-Vashoth Leader attacks. When damaged enough, the Leader will run off up the hill to the next group of Tal-Vashoth.

The fight from now on is more or less continuous as Hawke chases the leader up the mountain, fighting off more Tal-Vashoth and a Tal-Vashoth Saarebas. The Leader will not be killable until Hawke reaches the summit of the mountain, with the Leader turning invulnerable and running off after a certain amount of damage has been done.

After the Leader and all the remaining Tal-Vashoth are killed, a cutscene triggers where Tallis asks the Leader in Qunari about Salit's location. After the leader tells her, she kills him and informs Hawke that Salit is meeting Duke Prosper at the base of the mountain. Proceed back down the mountain towards where Hawke originally came from. From here, Hawke and party are transported to the Ruins for the final boss battle against Duke Prosper.

Without Tallis
After Hawke leaves the Retreat and moves a short distance, their party is attacked from behind by a group of guards and a hunter. The hunter can use the Assassinate skill, so be careful with your party mages and rogues. A short distance further down the path, another group of Guards and a Hunter appears on your tail but gets ambushed by a party of ghasts. It is possible to attack both groups of enemies to get maximum XP, but the minor ghasts will all run and hide after the velghastrial is killed.

Moving west along the path, Hawke and companions witness a fight between a heavily injured alpha wyvern and a wyvern, which the alpha wyvern will win if there is no intervention. The party may however choose to kill both creatures for more XP. A little further west, the party is attacked again by a group of ghasts and a velghastrial, with the ghasts once again disappearing once the velghastrial is killed.

Near the western end of the path, a party of Guards and a Guard Commander await Hawke's arrival and attack Hawke. They are guarding the entrance to the Ruins, where the final battle against Duke Prosper will take place.

Duke Prosper (Boss fight)
The scene opens with Duke Prosper meeting Salit. Salit hands over a scroll to Duke Prosper, which is revealed to contain a list of names. Duke Prosper, expecting a military secret, is enraged and views the scroll as worthless. Just then, Hawke arrives on the scene. After a short conversation, Tallis appears, grabs the scroll, kills some guards, and escapes to the top of a nearby ruin. Salit tells her not to interfere and appears to threaten her, but Duke Prosper shoots him with some green substance from a gun. The green substance attracts Leopold, his pet Wyvern, who kills Salit. Duke Prosper then shouts "Kill them all!" and the boss fight begins.

The boss fight consists of 3 phases. Regardless if you had chosen to accompany or abandon Tallis in the Retreat, Tallis will rejoin your party for this battle.

Phase 1
The fight opens with Duke Prosper and his lackeys attacking the Party as the remaining Tal-Vashoth who had accompanied Salit fight some of his guards. Duke Prosper initially uses ranged attacks as Leopold stays on a ruin and spits acidic vomit at the fighters. During this phase, Leopold cannot be damaged.

After being reduced to roughly 25% HP, Prosper then stuns everyone on the field and leaps up to a ruin as Leopold enters the fray.

''Note: Aveline will also be stunned by the mass stun even if she has the Indomitable skill.

Phase 2
Several Guards and Leopold attack the party together as Prosper rains projectiles from above. Leopold has several attacks, including:


 * Jump attack, where Leopold jumps at an enemy and knocks him over.
 * 'Glowing' attack which damages and poisons melee attackers.
 * Targeted attack, where Duke Prosper 'marks' a target with the green substance. Leopold then exclusively targets that party member and chases him around the battlefield.

During this phase, Duke Prosper cannot be damaged.

After being damaged to about 40% HP, Duke Prosper jumps on Leopold's back and enters the battle.

Phase 3
Prosper has several attacks in this mode:


 * Jump attack, where Leopold jumps at an enemy and knocks him over.
 * Targeted attack, where Duke Prosper 'marks' a target with the green substance. Leopold then uses jump attacks at the target from the center of the battlefield.
 * Evading the targeted attack is simple. Have the targeted character run along the perimeter of the battlefield, and Leopold's jumps will miss.
 * Scattershot attack, where Duke Prosper fires flaming arrows in a conical area. The flaming arrows stay in the ground.
 * Explosion attack, where Duke Prosper jumps onto the nearby ruins and causes the flaming arrows from the Scattershot to explode, causing massive damage and knocking enemies to the ground.
 * The explosions have a small AoE, but are avoidable by careful positioning of the party as he prepares to explode the arrows.

After Duke Prosper's health reaches 0, a cutscene triggers where the Duke targets Hawke with the green substance, but Leopold ends up jumping past Hawke and off the cliff. Duke Prosper manages to cling to the rim of the cliff, but eventually falls off and dies. Tallis then gives Hawke the Heart of the Many (amulet) and leaves Hawke's party.