A Mother's Hope

A Mother's Hope
Location	Orzammar Commons Ortan Thaig
Quest Giver	Filda, Orzammar Commons
End	Filda, Orzammar Commons
Other NPCs	Ruck
Rewards	Ruck's Shield
Appearances	Dragon Age: Origins

A Mother's Hope is a side quest that begins in Orzammar.

Background

Filda, in Orzammar Commons, has lost track of her son Ruck, a dwarven smith last seen in the Deep Roads. She asks The Warden to help find him.

Walkthrough

En route to finding Branka during A Paragon of Her Kind, the party will pass through Ortan Thaig. Deep in the tunnels, Ruck will appear and scurry away leaving the party to deal with a surprise attack of some spiders. After, you can follow him to his cave. When you speak to the Dwarf, you will learn he has become tainted from eating the flesh of darkspawn and his mind has deteriorated. You have a couple of options at this point:

1. Kill him;
2. Intimidate or persuade him to talk with you, which offers an opportunity to trade with him and two additional options:
   • Tell him you will let his mother know where he is;
   • Tell him you will tell his mother he is dead; this is his preference because he is ashamed of what he has become. Wynne approves of this action for +2 approval.

Return to Filda, who offers two more choices (regardless of your promise to Ruck):

1. (Lie) Tell her her son died. Wynne approves of this for +2 Approval.
2. Tell her he lived, but has been tainted by darkspawn and is a little less than sane from his isolation from society.

Regardless of your choice, she will offer her thanks, some gold, and Ruck's Shield.

Alternative approaches

• Instead of searching for Ruck, or after you found him, you can lie to Filda and tell her you looked, but could not find him. You will get some gold, but not the shield. Sten, if in the party, will chastise you for lying to her. Should you tell Filda he's speaking rubbish, Sten will tell her Ruck's fate. No approval change. If you wish to lie, remove Sten from the active party.
• When you find Ruck, you can choose to kill him. You will lose him as a merchant, but still get the opportunity to get the shield from his mother.

Reward

• 100 experience points

Money, Gold

Ruck's Shield

Notes

Bug! If you choose the alternate route of lying to Filda before you enter the tunnels, you will not be able to change your mind later. However, Filda will still appear with a marker over her head, as if the quest has not been resolved.

Bug! If you talk to Ruck after completing the quest, Filda will appear with quest marker over her head, but will not speak with you.

• If you tell Filda that Ruck is alive, she will say that she plans to look for him. However, she seems to remain in her same spot.
• Killing Ruck has a few disadvantages; he sells a couple of unique item and is the only source of unlimited Deep Mushrooms.