Isolde

Arlessa Isolde is the wife of the renowned Arl Eamon Guerrin of Castle Redcliffe, she also has a young son called Connor.

Background
Isolde originally hailed from Orlais but moved to Redcliffe in Fereldan when Isolde's father became the tenth Orlesian Arl to govern over Redcliffe, Isolde's family didn't take to their new home and task very well as news that every other Orlesian Arl before Isolde's father had been assassinated by the Banns or beheaded by Emperor Reville - for failure most likely. During her life in Redcliffe, Isolde met Eamon Guerrin, the rightful heir to the lands of Refcliffe that her father had current control of.

Quickly Isolde became smitten with Eamon because he was part of the resistance - even though it was her own family he oppossed. Her love for Eamon grew rather rapidly and Isolde decided to stay by Eamon's side when her family was finally driven from Redcliffe, soon enough Eamon would take Isolde to be his wife - and the Arlessa of Redcliffe when he became Arl.

Involvement
Whilst playing through the quest to free Connor from the Desire Demon, the idea of a Blood Magic ritual is suggested; this is the second of such choices to destroy the demon.

However Jowan the Blood Mage states that he would need "life energy, a lot of life energy in fact" which becomes known to need a human sacrifice. As Connor is her son, Arlessa Isolde recognises her role to play and volunteers herself to save her son, and ultimately the village of Redcliffe.

The human sacrifice makes it possible for a Mage to enter the Fade and seek out the demon to eliminate it.

Strategy
You can either sacrifice Isolde in order to enter the Fade, or you can go to the Circle Tower and enlist the help of mages there, provided you complete the quests, or you can slay Connor.

By acquiring the aid of the Circle of Magi it is possible for the Warden to save both Connor and the Arlessa. This would be the optimal route for a player attempting to incur no negative penalties with their companions and play a "morally good" or "lawful" character.

Bugs
A possible bug can occur after saving both Arlessa Isolde and Connor by acquiring the aid of the Circle of Magi. The bug states that either Connor or Arlessa Isolde, or both, died during the events at Redcliffe Castle even though both survived and continue to appear in the game.

Another possible bug occurs after sacrificing Isolde to save Connor stating that both she and Connor survive after the Warden enlists the aid of the Circle, when actually you only save Connor.