A Day for Celebration

A Day for Celebration
Location	Elven Alienage Arl of Denerim's Estate
Start	New game with the City Elf Origin
End	Deal with Vaughan
Next	Joining the Grey Wardens
Appearances	Dragon Age: Origins

A Day for Celebration is the central quest in the City Elf Origin.

Walkthrough

Find Soris

The quest begins when your cousin Shianni wakes you up to inform you that you and your cousin Soris will be getting married today and encourages you to find Soris. Before you leave Cyrion's Home, take the goods from the footlocker (Health Poultice, Small Grease Trap, and your Wedding Clothes), and speak to your father Cyrion to receive Adaia's Boots and Codex entry: The City Elves.

Before speaking to Soris you have the opportunity to explore the Denerim Alienage gather some money from the local elves as a wedding gift and make use of persuasion in dialogue. Near the wall, as you exit your house, there is a group of drunken elves. Speaking to them results in a gift of 30 , though they can be persuaded to give 40 . Near the center of the Alienage stands Dilwyn, an old friend of your mother. She and her husband have saved 15 , and offer it to you. (Note: This will only happen if you extend your friendship to them and/or respond fairly positively about your wedding.)

You can obtain some codex entries in the area, namely Codex entry: Vhenadahl: The Tree of the People by the sign at the tree, and Codex entry: Culture of Ferelden in Alarith's shop.

Help Nessa

Nessa and her family

Near the Vhenadahl, there is also a family of elves that you can help.

Nessa and her family have been forced out of their home, as their human landlord wants to use it for storage. They are currently preparing to travel to Ostagar, although Nessa is concerned about how the soldiers will treat her. Her parents are too proud to ask for help, but if you show concern Nessa asks you to intervene. You can:

• Leave her to her fate (no reward)
• Offer her 3 so the family can travel to Highever (50 XP)
• Offer her 10 so they can rent a new house in Denerim, with the possibility of opening a shop (100 XP)
• Ask if Nessa would like to stay with your father Cyrion, while her family travels on to Ostagar (requires Coercion, 50 XP).

Soris can be found near the northern exit of the Alienage.

Talk to your betrothed

After Soris has been found, you can speak to Taeodor, who offers his regrets that his brothers will not attend the wedding as they have left to find the Dalish. This conversation yields Codex entry: The Dalish Elves (if you did not already receive it when talking to Soris).

Before you can speak to your betrothed, a lecherous human nobleman enters and harasses the women, including Shianni. She takes offense at their actions and knocks out the man with a liquor bottle. His companions reveal he is the Arl of Denerim's son, Vaughan Kendells, and they carry him off. You can now have a brief discussion with your betrothed. After this, Soris notices another human and suggests you persuade him to leave.

Investigate the new human's presence

The new human is Duncan, leader of the Grey Wardens and an old friend of Elder Valendrian. Talking to him will lead to several new codex entries:

• Codex entry: Duncan
• Codex entry: The Grey Wardens
• Codex entry: Darkspawn
• Codex entry: Valendrian

You can ask Duncan additional questions about the Grey Wardens and how he knows Elder Valendrian, if you wish.

Proceed to the wedding

After you have spoken to Duncan, the next step is to proceed to the wedding ceremony, but before it can be completed Vaughan and his henchmen return and abduct the women of the bridal party.

Note: At this point, there is a divergence in the origin story, depending on gender

Note: Rogues can use Stealth to bypass most of the enemies you encounter. Just be sure to leave Soris behind (he will still be present for the scripted fights.)

Find a way out (female)

If you are a female you will be abducted by Vaughan and awaken in a cell with the other women inside the Arl of Denerim's Estate. A group of guards will come to take the women to Vaughan, and cut down one of the bridesmaids when she objects. You are the last prisoner to be taken out, but before the guards can restrain you, Soris appears and tosses you a Borrowed Longsword which you can use to kill the guards (make sure you equip it on the inventory screen). He says that the sword is from Duncan, and that your betrothed Nelaros has also come to help. Be sure to loot the chainmail and weapons from the guards.

Rescue the women (male)

Braden, Vaughan's companion, knocks you out and when you awaken on the wedding platform, you discover that all the women are gone including your betrothed Nesiara and the Alienage is in a state of unrest. Another elf works at the arl's estate and offers to show you and Soris a way in. This involves entering the estate from the outside, and fighting/bypassing 4 Mabari hounds from one side and 3 Guards and a Mabari from the other. The first Guard and 2 Mabari will have to be killed no matter what, as the Guard will attack Soris as soon as you move somewhere, while you won't be able to enter the Estate until you kill the 2 Mabari patrolling the paths on either side.

When you reach the servant's entrance you will be notified by the elven servant, who then departs. Once inside, you will encounter a sleeping guard who can either be interrogated and/or killed. A barrel nearby contains a bottle of Cleanser.

For both genders

After the foregoing section, the story largely continues on the same path, regardless of gender.

When you enter the kitchen, the cook will see you covered in blood (even if you changed your clothes), but will be knocked out by an elven servant before he can sound the alarm. After the servant flees the scene, you have the opportunity to gather some mugs of cheap brandy from the locked Liquor Cabinet and rat poison from the storage cabinet in the pantry, which can be used in the next room.

Note: A male City Elf can substitute the Rat Poison with the previously obtainable Cleanser. The dialogue choices will not distinguish between the two, and will choose the Rat Poison over the Cleanser if both are available.

Before you enter the dining hall be sure to go unarmed, and without any blood on your clothes. If you do this you are able to convince the off-duty guards that you are a servant. You can get brandy from the wine rack in the room next to the dining hall. If you have both brandy and rat poison/cleanser, you can serve the guards poisoned alcohol, causing their deaths and obtaining experience without having to fight them.

Alternatively, you can just fight all three of them (choosing the "(attack)" conversation choices will have your character throwing a knife at one of the guards, killing him instantly).

A third alternative is to serve unspiked brandy. The guards return to their game and you cannot initiate conversation with them again. (This requires you to put up with a lot of insults.)

After this, proceed through the estate fighting (or bypassing) any guards that you encounter. You can obtain some leather armor and weapons in the armory (including a greatsword and a heavy Denerim Guard Shield). In the next room, you will encounter the Guard Captain with 2 guards, just after he has killed Nelaros (if female) or a bridesmaid (if male). This fight is scripted and thus unavoidable. You can loot a Fencer's Cinch (+4 Attack) from the captain, and, if you're female, a Wedding Ring (no stats) from Nelaros. (If you didn't kill the guard in the corridor before entering the room, the battle music doesn't stop (and you cannot save/enter Stealth) until you kill either him or the guard in the next corridor.)

Continue into the next hallway. In the first room to your left, you'll see a locked chest and a stack of books that yield Codex entry: History of Ferelden: Chapter 1. The first room to your right is the kennels, with 2 hostile dog trainers and a Mabari. If you release the rest of the dogs from their kennels, they will also attack you. The next two rooms down the hall contain more off-duty guards and locked chests. The room at the end of the hall has two more guards. Through that room is another hall with a locked room on the left (needs a key), then a crossing hallway. Rogues can pick the lock on the door to the right (south), behind which are two more guards and an Heirloom Necklace in a locked chest. The room down the left (north) hallway also needs a key. The room on the other side (east) contains some miscellaneous usable items. Through that room, there's an automatic save by the door on the other (east) end.

In the last hallway, you will encounter a Lieutenant-rank Bodyguard and a Fire Trap just before you reach Vaughan's bedroom. It is nigh-impossible to avoid fighting him; even if you manage to sneak past him (and he has very high detection) or just run into the next room ignoring him, he will run into the room as soon as you kill Vaughan and his companions. The first room on the left has a pickable lock, and contains Codex entry: History of Ferelden: Chapter 2. Proceed to the end of the hall and turn left (north).

Vaughan

In the last room, you will find Vaughan and his two lackeys, Braden and Jonaley with Shianni. Seeing the blood on you from killing his guards (even if you change clothing), Vaughan will offer you a deal: if you promise to leave the women with him, exit the city immediately, and not speak of his actions to anyone, he will give you 40 .

If you agree to take the money, you must take the opportunity to stash it in the Alienage before you speak to the elder, or it will be lost forever. In order to do this, choose the dialog option "I don't care. I want to stash this gold." when Soris speaks to you about whether you did the right thing. Your character will then look around and place the money in a pile of rubble. You can retrieve it during the Rescue the Queen plot, much later in the game.

If you do not agree to Vaughan's terms, he and his lackeys will attack. After killing them, loot the Studded Leather Gloves and Studded Leather Helm from the armor stand, and then speak to Shianni to leave.

Return to the Alienage

When you return to the Alienage, Valendrian and Duncan are waiting for you. After you have told them what happened, the local guards will arrive to arrest whoever attacked the estate (this happens regardless of how you dealt with Vaughan). If you killed Vaughan, you get the option of (1) accepting sole responsibility; (2) announcing that it was you and Soris; or (3) remaining silent, which will cause another elf (Elva) to approach the guards and rat you both out. If you accepted Vaughan's deal, the guards will automatically identify you and Soris. Before you can be arrested, Duncan will invoke the Right of Conscription and save you (and only you) from impending execution. If Soris has been implicated, then he will be arrested. You now have an opportunity to say goodbye to your friends and family, before leaving with the Grey Warden and heading to Ostagar.

Result

• Having been conscripted into the Grey Wardens, you'll leave with Duncan for Ostagar and start the quest Joining the Grey Wardens.
  • If it has not been unlocked in a previous playthrough, on arrival in Ostagar the Conscripted achievement will be awarded.
• All of Soris' equipment will be placed in your inventory.

Enemies

• Guards (Human, Normal, Warrior - Wear full suits of chainmail and can fight with a crossbow, sword & shield or dual weapon. Know Precise Striking and Aim (Crossbowmen only).
• Off-duty Guards - unarmoured and fight with a bow or a single weapon. Same abilities as normal ones.
• Guard Captain (Human, Normal, Warrior) - fights with a Greatsword and can use Powerful Swings, Sunder Arms and Sunder Armor.
• Mabari - faster than humans, can use Growl.
• Dog Trainers - fight with sword and shield, use Precise Striking.
• Bodyguard (Human, Lieutenant, Warrior, Champion) - heavily armoured and equipped with sword and shield. Can use War Cry and Shield Bash.
• Vaughan - Human, Lieutenant, Rogue, Duelist - fights with a single dagger and can use Deadly Strike, Dirty Fighting, Below the Belt and Dueling.

Bugs

• There is a minor bug in the script handling the event in which Soris appears and throws the sword to the main character. Both the main character and Soris are supposed to automatically equip the longsword and crossbow (respectively) before the cutscene ends. However, the script calls for the generic longsword and crossbow instead of the special ones placed in the party inventory, resulting in the player having to manually equip them. These weapons (given by Duncan) have no attribute requirements, and the longsword is stronger than the generic version.