Betrayed from Within

Betrayed from Within
Location	Orzammar Diamond Quarter
Start	Vartag Gavorn
End	Prince Bhelen Aeducan
Previous	A Lord's Trust: The First Task
Next	Anvil of the Void
Appearances	Dragon Age: Origins

Betrayed from Within is an optional main quest in Dragon Age: Origins.

It is a sub-quest of A Paragon of Her Kind quest line, obtained if Lord Harrowmont is double-crossed after completing A Lord's Trust: The First Task.

Acquisition

In order to obtain Orzammar's aid against the Blight, the Warden must help put a new king on the throne. The aides of both candidates, Prince Bhelen Aeducan and Lord Pyral Harrowmont, will insist that the Warden performs a task - A Prince's Favor: The First Task and A Lord's Trust: The First Task respectively - before meeting their employer. It is necessary to perform one or other of these tasks (performing both will result in a stalemate). However, after completing A Lord's Trust: The First Task and meeting Lord Harrowmont, it is possible to shift allegiances to Prince Bhelen.

Note: The Warden can also perform A Prince's Favor: The First Task for Prince Bhelen Aeducan then betray him to Lord Harrowmont: that option leads to the quest Shifting Allegiances.

Walkthrough

• If The Warden had previously obtained the documents required for A Prince's Favor: The First Task from Vartag Gavorn, then after championing Lord Harrowmont in the Provings, Vartag will appear in the Proving Grounds and take the Warden to task for their betrayal. He can be persuaded that the intention was to betray Lord Harrowmont from within and will instruct The Warden to find out what Harrowmont requires next then come find him. If Wynne is in the party she will object and suffer (-1) (can be eliminated with a persuasion check). Having Shale in your party will result in a (-5) (does not occur with Shale at warm approval). Sten will also disapprove if he is in your party. Note that if The Warden had previously accepted A Lord's Trust: The First Task and informed Vartag of this fact, then there will be no option to persuade him at this point: his patience will already have been exhausted. If however, Vartag does not appear in the Proving grounds after becoming a champion, it is still possible to activate the quest by talking to him in the Chamber of the Assembly and telling him to hear you out.

Note: In order to persuade Vartag, Improved Coercion is required and to choose the second persuade option as the first one will never be believed by Vartag Gavorn.

• Lord Harrowmont will ask The Warden to wipe out Jarvia's cartel by Entering Jarvia's Hideout.
• Once this task has been obtained, find Vartag in the Chamber of the Assembly and inform him (if Vartag has not already been persuaded that The Warden wishes to switch sides, this will need to happen now - this option will only be available if Vartag has not already been encountered in the Proving Grounds).
• Vartag will encourage The Warden to take out Jarvia as Harrowmont requested. However, he will hand over some papers "proving" that Harrowmont's cousin Harvel is implicated in lyrium smuggling with the carta and ask that these are planted on or near Jarvia's corpse.
• Proceed with the Entering Jarvia's Hideout and to the confrontation with Jarvia. At the back of the room where Jarvia is encountered is a chest marked "Jarvia's Personal Effects". Interact with this chest and choose the option to plant the documents.
• Find Vartag in the Chamber of the Assembly (if you did not speak to Harrowmont yet) or Orzammar Royal Palace (if you did speak to Harrowmont) and he will grant an audience with Prince Bhelen.

Result

• Both Harrowmont and Bhelen will request that the Warden enters the Deep Roads to seek out Branka. It is possible to tell the second one spoken to that the first has asked the same thing, and to lie about who the Warden will eventually support (requires no Coercion skills in order to pass).
• Proceed with A Paragon of Her Kind as normal.
• 750 XP, upon reporting back to Vartag about planting evidence.

Bugs

• Because both Bhelen and Harrowmont request that The Warden finds Branka, some of the dialogue with, for example, Oghren gets a little bit mixed up.
• Each time a potential king requests that The Warden finds Branka, an "A Paragon of Her Kind" entry will be created in the Orzammar section of the journal (each of the two entries will refer to a different king). This is in addition to the "A Paragon of Her Kind" quest in "The Blight" section of the journal. Only one of the two Orzammar quests seems to be closed off correctly at the end of the quest, though the quest in "The Blight" section is marked as complete.
• Once a side has been picked, The Warden will be ambushed by supporters of the other side at various locations in Orzammar. If The Warden switches sides part way, then they may end up fighting supporters of both candidates at once.
• If the Warden should first talk to Vartag, and agrees to help him, then talk with Dulin after leaving the Assembly, the Warden can be given both Harrowmont's and Bhelen's first task. Should the Warden then enter the Proving, but not finish it, then finish Bhelen's quest, then talk to Vartag and convince him they will spy on Harrowmont for him; and finally return and finish the Proving, then speak with Dulin, you will be given the chance to make the same deal with Dulin. This creates an infinite, and most probably unbreakable loop of each asking for information. This is potentially game breaking, and an earlier save may need to be utilized.
• You can get infinite XP from Vartag Gavorn when report to him. Just delay the meeting with Prince Bhelen Aeducan, and report again. You can get 750 XP each time you report. Fixed in 360.
• pcps3 If you receive this quest, but complete A Paragon of Her Kind for Harrowmont, You will be forced to kill the quest giver and the Quest will forever remain in your journal.