Amell family

The Amell family is a noble family from Kirkwall in the Free Marches.

History

Lord Aristide Amell was one of the most wealthy and influential men in Kirkwall, known for the opulent balls he would host at his mansion. Following the arrest of Lord Viscount Perrin Threnhold by the city's Templar Order, it was universally agreed that Lord Amell would succeed Threnhold as Viscount. Even the Templars agreed that the Amells were worthy successors; however, misfortune struck when Aristide's niece, Revka, gave birth to a mage child. The child was given to the Circle to be raised, but the ascension of a family "tainted" by magical blood would have been a scandal, and Marlowe Dumar was appointed Viscount instead.

After that incident, the fortunes of the Amells soured. Revka gave birth to more children, all found to be mages and taken to the Circle. Damion was accused of smuggling, and Fausten nearly bankrupted the family paying to get charges dropped, while Aristide's treasured daughter Leandra shamed her parents by eloping with the apostate Malcolm Hawke and running away to Ferelden.

With Leandra gone, her brother Gamlen was left to care for the aging Lord and Lady Amell through a wasting sickness and three bouts of cholera. Lord Aristide eventually forgave his daughter and created a will that stated that Leandra and her children were to inherit the estate, while Gamlen was to live on a stipend, controlled only by his sister. Yet when he and his wife finally passed away, Gamlen kept the will a secret and became the new de facto Amell lord. Leandra failed to return home for her parents' funeral because she had recently given birth to fraternal twins, Bethany and Carver.

Lord Gamlen proved ill-suited to the position. He quickly gambled, drank, and whored the once vast Amell fortune away. He also married a commoner, Mara, with whom he had one daughter, Charade. Mara left Gamlen without ever informing him of his child. Left with no other option, he eventually sold the once-proud family mansion to slavers to pay off his debts, and was forced into a Lowtown hovel.

The Fifth Blight struck Ferelden in 9:30 Dragon, overrunning Lothering three years after the death of Leandra's husband. Fleeing the horde that destroyed their home, Leandra and her three children made their way to Kirkwall. Unfortunately, one of her children was killed by an ogre before escaping Lothering.

Upon the family's arrival in Kirkwall, Leandra was shocked to learn what had happened to her family's estate and fortune. To pay for their family's entry into Kirkwall, as well as settle some of his own debts, Gamlen sold the Hawke children into indentured servitude. The Hawkes served their term for a year, living with Gamlen during that time.

GamlensHouse-maindoor — The home of Gamlen Amell in Lowtown

The Hawke siblings eventually learned of their uncle's misdeeds regarding the Amell estate, and kicked the slavers out of their ancestral home. While Leandra Hawke arranged a meeting with Viscount Dumar to ask for the mansion back, the eldest of the Hawke siblings financed a Deep Roads expedition. The expedition made them rich, and provided them with the funds to buy back the Amell family home.

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

The same expedition, however, led to the loss of Leandra's second child, who either died from the Taint contracted in the Deep Roads or was subsequently recruited into the Grey Wardens, the Templar Order, or the Circle of Magi. Either way, Hawke and Leandra became the only residents of the Amell estate after Hawke bought it back using the Deep Roads treasure.

Three years later, tragedy struck the family again. Leandra was abducted by an insane serial killer, and murdered by him. The head of the family was now her eldest child, who was later declared Champion of Kirkwall for defeating the Qunari who declared war on the city.

Viscount Dumar was killed in the conflict. Meredith Stannard, Knight-Commander of Kirkwall's Templars, became steward of the city. She used her position to stop a new Viscount from being appointed, until ever-increasing tensions between the mages and the Templars resulted in her demise.

If Hawke sided with the Templars:

After assisting the Templars in the brutal annulment of Kirkwall's Circle of Magi during the Kirkwall Rebellion, Hawke was elevated to the position of Viscount. However, in more recent times, Hawke left Kirkwall; the Champion's whereabouts are currently unknown.

If Hawke sided with the mages:

Once again, the Amells collapsed at their peak. Hawke saved the mages of Kirkwall from death at the hands of the Templars, and, in doing so, was forced to flee the city. The Champion's whereabouts are currently unknown.