Isabela

"I win because I cheat, Kitten. I thought that was obvious."

Isabela was the captain of the pirate ship The Siren's Call. She can teach the Duelist specialization to the Warden in Dragon Age: Origins, and is a companion and romance option for either male or female Hawke in Dragon Age II.

Background
Isabela is originally from Rivain, but has traveled far and visited many places during her life. She was once married to the original owner of The Siren's Call, until he was killed by Zevran for unknown reasons, leading her to inherit the ship. She doesn't seem too regretful over her husband's death, calling him a "greasy bastard", explaining her rather cordial relationship with Zevran. She has picked up a special fighting technique during her travels, one that depends on speed instead of strength. Since she has learned this technique by dueling many different warriors, she calls herself a "duelist".

Dragon Age: Origins
Isabela can be found at The Pearl. Her ship is staying in Denerim to let her men fill up on supplies and other "pleasures from dry land". Zevran knows her from before and—if brought along—will announce that she is the "Queen of the Eastern Seas and the sharpest blade in Llomerryn".

In order to convince Isabela to teach the Duelist specialization, there are two options: Beat her in a game of cards, or "get to know each other better" by following her to bed.

To beat Isabela in the card game, the Warden will have to be dexterous enough to catch her cheating or subtle enough to cheat. If Zevran or Leliana are in the party, they can also help the Warden to win, but will only offer assistance if their approval is high enough.

For Isabela to take the Warden up on his/her offer to get to know her better, the Warden will have to be persuasive (Coercion * 25 + Cunning bonus must be at least 75, so three points in coercion by itself will do the trick regardless of cunning). If the Warden is in a romance (love) with Morrigan, an unhardened Leliana or an unhardened Alistair, then the Warden's romance partner will publicly disapprove and Isabela will not go to bed with the Warden. However, if either Leliana or Alistair is not only in a love-relationship with the Warden but has also been "hardened" following their personal quests, then they will actually join in the fun for a threesome (or possibly a foursome) and their approval will increase. If Zevran is in the party, Isabela will invite him as well (regardless of his relationship status with the Warden). If the Warden accepts, Zevran's approval will increase. Nevertheless Zevran will decline the offer if Alistair is included. The following combinations are thus possible:


 * Isabela-Warden
 * Isabela-Warden-Leliana
 * Isabela-Warden-Zevran
 * Isabela-Warden-Alistair (female Warden only)
 * Isabela-Warden-Leliana-Zevran

Once the Duelist specialization has been learned from her, Isabela will have no further dialogue or interactions.

Reactions and Approval

 * If Leliana has been flirted with but her personality has not been hardened by the time Isabela is spoken to, she will get jealous and ask, "What about us?", which will cause Isabela to take back her offer to sleep with the Warden.
 * If the Warden is female but not in a relationship with Alistair, he will wonder if he's dreaming, and then say that he's going to jump in the ocean. This doesn't occur if Leliana or Zevran joins in.
 * Morrigan is not nearly as open-minded about Isabela as the other romanceable companions. She will strongly disapprove if Isabela is bedded and tell the Warden to rinse off the stench after they are done "rolling around in the gutter". If the Warden is romantically involved with Morrigan a different dialogue occurs. Morrigan gets furious and states that she will not touch the Warden again if he goes through with it. The Warden will not be allowed to bed Isabela in this case. (The only way then is to make sure she is not in the party).
 * ''(If the Warden is female and Oghren is in the party, he will faint if the Warden and Leliana go to bed with Isabela.

Inviting a companion to bed with Isabela nets the following approval changes:


 * if he joins.
 * if she joins and the Warden is female.
 * if Isabela's invitation for him to join is accepted.
 * if Isabela's invitation for him to join is denied

Friendship and rivalry
Isabela values fun, freedom and getting ahead; she responds well to sarcasm. Jokes, flirting and Hawkes who solve problems in particularly clever and devious ways will delight her. She also approves if Hawke is slightly selfish in dealing with other people, trying to squeeze a little extra money out of them.

Getting involved in other people's business tends to annoy Isabela, so helping a character just for the sake of helping and not asking for a reward will often earn her ire. She also generally disapproves of rules and authority and attempts by Hawke to enforce rules on other people (especially her).

Another thing to note is that in some cases, Isabela will also respond well to Hawke's decision to not get involved at all in matters of no immediate concern to Hawke or his companions. Butting in to personal discussions, disagreements, and the like will sometimes irk Isabela. This is especially true with people Hawke has never met before.

Quests
Act 1

Act 2

(gift)

Act 3

(gift)

Mark of the Assassin

Gifts

 * A model ship can be found in a chest during the quest Blackpowder Courtesy in Act 2 when traveling through the smuggler's caves (in a chest near some stairs).
 * Rivaini Talisman can be found in Act 3 in the Disused Passage at the Docks.

Gear
Isabela's armor upgrades can be found at the following locations:
 * Act 2 Robes By Jean Luc Hightown: Supportive Corselet. (Gives Isabela an extra rune slot.)
 * Act 2 Apparel Shop (Tailor) in Lowtown: Rigid Boning. (+38 Defense)
 * Act 2 Lost End Foundry in Lowtown: Lambswool Insoles (+2% Critical Chance): During the "To Catch a Thief" quest, in a crate in one of the upstairs rooms.
 * Act 3 Mountain Cave during the A Murder of Crows quest, on a skeleton near the entrance: Boiled Leather Plates (gives Isabela an extra rune slot.)

If Isabela is romanced, she will update her outfit with a black corset, added goldwork embroidery to the bottom hem of her sash, a red scarf around her right bicep, and replaces the leather pauldron on her left shoulder with a metal one.

Isabela specific gear


 * Requires Rogue Item Pack 1 DLC.


 * Requires Rogue Item Pack 2 DLC.


 * Requires Mark of the Assassin DLC.


 * Requires Mark of the Assassin DLC.

Quotes

 * "Sailing is like sex. If you do it wrong, you will get sick... but do it right, and there's no feeling in the world like it."
 * "Ah, the Blooming Rose. Where people come... then go."
 * "And then Isabela went to the Chantry, and saw that it was...boring. Canticle of Isabela, stanza one, verse one."
 * "You smell that? Smells like repression, doesn't it? (in the Chantry)"
 * '"Hmm... apostate prostitutes? ...Apos-titutes! (Laughs)"
 * "Our mistakes make us who we are."
 * "Really? We're going to just waltz in here and fight dozens of blood mages?  Ourselves?  All right.  I'm game."
 * "Ah, the Hanged Man. Sometimes you want to be where everybody knows your name."
 * '"A warehouse? I don't like being led around. Unless leashes are involved. And they're not."
 * "Coming in here of my own free will feels wrong. Like diddling a sister. (in the guard barracks) "
 * "Your death toll is approaching natural disasters. (After combat) "
 * "Sailors only care about a very small number of very specific things: The Sea, Strong Drink, and Booty... both kinds."
 * "I like big Boats, I cannot lie."
 * "A sneer on your lip, but want in your eye."
 * "I'm sorry, I don't speak never-gets-sex-again." (both when speaking to commoners)
 * "If we kill them, we get their stuff!"
 * "Why must it always be ancient horrors? Why can't it be fabulous treasure once in a while?"
 * "Aveline, if you shove your thumb up his ass, I win."
 * "I like duels. It's what I do. And if I win, he'll be dead. Problem solved!"
 * "Wait. I’m helping the Qunari recover some priceless artifact? Oh, the irony."
 * "Stealing Qunari relics from Orlesians…why do I feel like I’ve been here before?"
 * "Oh, shit...literally.
 * "Please, Martin. You wouldn't know honest if I tied you up and spanked you with it."
 * "Step 1: Go to Velasco. Step 2: Something exciting happens. Step 3: Profit."

Trivia

 * If you don't recruit Isabela during act 1 the game will continue normally. All that happens is that you will never find out what kind of Relic was stolen from the Qunari.
 * "Isabela" is not her birth name. Her birth name is unknown.
 * Mika Simmons does not voice Isabela as she did in Origins; this is to reduce confusion as she also voiced Anora in Origins.
 * In Dragon Age II, she will remember her sexual encounter with the Warden, or lack thereof, at the Pearl in Origins.
 * Isabela's home base is The Hanged Man tavern, more specifically the bar.
 * In both Dragon Age games, the player meets Isabela as she is being attacked by three men in a bar brawl, who are handily beaten by her and forced to flee.
 * In DAII, the final clip of Isabella putting a knife to someone's throat is a perfect replica of the mugging clip in The Sims Medieval.
 * When encountering the Desire Demon in the side quest Night Terrors, upon betraying Hawke, Isabela will say "I like big boats, I cannot lie," a reference to the song Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot.
 * Isabela seems to have a collection of erotic books, and usually refers to sex in conversations with Alistair/Dialogue.
 * In a party banter with Aveline, she'll make several sexually-based references to Origins, including "Shank your Jory", "Grey your Warden", "Master your Taint", and "Arl your Eamon".
 * If you take Isabela into the Deep Roads she may comment nervously on how she "really doesn't like tight spaces", implying that she is claustrophobic.
 * The Line "Step 1: We find Velasco. Step 2: Something exciting happens. Step 3: Profit" is a reference to the Underpants Gnomes in the TV show South Park, whose business plan was "Phase 1: Collect underpants. Phase 2: ? Phase 3: Profit."
 * Upon meeting King Alistair in Viscount's Keep, Alistair will say that Isabela looks different, to which Isabela will respond "Don't we all." This in probably an in-game joke referring to the changes in character appearance between the games. If imported from Origins where Alistair is exiled or selecting the "No Compromise" backstory, Alistair will be found intoxicated in The Hanged Man, where Isabela will remark upon Alistair and he will say she sounds like Morrigan.
 * Isabela references Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy Production with the "Grr. Argh." when speaking of abominations during party banter with Anders. This is said by a monster during the Mutant Enemy Production logo at the ending of every show they produce.
 * Despite being from Rivain (hence Varric giving her the nick name of Rivaini) she doesn't appear to know a great deal about the Qun. It is more likely she is from Southern Rivain as Kont-Aar (A Qunari settlement) is located in the North.
 * "Fools Rush In" quest title may be a reference to the movie "Fools Rush In", in which Salma Hayek plays a character named Isabel.
 * According to David Gaider, Isabela always had dark skin. Gaider says the promo art of her being pale is a marketing error. In Origins, she is actually dark skinned, but the lighting of the game makes her pale. You can check this by putting her model into the model program and seeing it without the game's lighting.
 * The The Pearl (amulet) that you receive in the second rogue pack DLC could be a reference to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies or to The Pearl of "Origins".

Bugs

 * In the recruiting quest "Fools Rush In", if the player loots the corpses before instructed, it is impossible to recruit Isabela.
 * Every time when you go to the Qunari Compound with Isabela she will disappear with an "excuse". When you speak to her while she is talking, she stops saying her sentence and stay with you in the Qunari Compound.
 * If Hawke has slept with Isabela and slept with Merrill (and after that has chosen to reject Merrill to keep Isabela's romance alive), it will put the former's romance in a sort of a "ghost" state. This means that the romance dialogues still play properly, but in certain situations the game won't acknowledge the fact that it's still active (like making the threesome with Zevran impossible, missing companion interactions, endgame outcomes, etc.).
 * If Isabela is romanced, her outfit may not properly update to the newer version. Using the Maker's Sigh potion from the Black Emporium to respec her skills will update her outfit, picking up any armor upgrades for her also seems to work. It has been reported that her romance outfit can also be triggered by pressing the "Escape" key right after the bed scene (PC only).
 * Similarly, if the Supportive Corset has been purchased before romancing her, the rune slot will disappear. Using a Maker's Sigh does not restore the rune slot. It may reappear after a save-load or/and in Act 3 however (without a rune).
 * There is also a well documented bug with her friendship bonus - if Isabela is removed from the party without using the remove from party screen (Such as entering the Hawke Estate with her in the party), the game will remove the attack speed bonus from your base rate instead of the increased one. This effect is cumulative leading to greatly reduced attack speeds. The bug is heavily discussed here. Fixed in patch 1.02.
 * It is possible that Varric will say that she stayed with the Champion, indicating that she was romanced, even if another companion was romanced. This may happen even if she has left the party.
 * Varric will mention Isabela in the docks during the Rise of the Qunari quest regardless of if she is recruited in Act 1 or not.
 * Occasionally Isabela will turn completely white apart from her face before the final battle in Act 3.
 * If the Tome is given to Isabella, it is sometimes possible for you to have a scene with her in the Hawke Estate. This can be triggered by speaking to Dog.