Cammen's Lament

Cammen's Lament is a side quest in Dragon Age: Origins. It takes place in the Dalish Camp.

Walkthrough[]

Cammen is a hunter-apprentice who wants to become a real hunter but he can't. If you can persuade or intimidate him he will tell you his story (otherwise you cannot get this quest).

He appears to be in love with a girl, Gheyna, who refuses to marry him unless he becomes a full-fledged hunter. In order to become a hunter, Cammen must first bring back the pelt of a creature he has hunted himself... which he cannot do while the Keeper forbids the elves from going into the forest. There are several ways to resolve the quest:

Persuade Gheyna to give Cammen a chance.
Give Cammen a Wolf Pelt and persuade him to claim he has hunted it himself.

Note: This does not have to be a pelt from the Brecilian Forest. Cammen will accept any Wolf Pelt you encounter in the game.

Convince either Gheyna or Cammen the other one hates him/her.
Seduce Gheyna and tell Cammen (not possible if playing a female Warden).
Persuade Cammen to sleep with you (35+ Cunning required) and tell Gheyna.
Convince Gheyna that Cammen thinks he will bed her soon, leading her to slapping Cammen.

Note that the quest resolves itself – and thus bars the player from gaining a reward – if it is not completed before Nature of the Beast is completed. There is currently a bug that makes the (resolved) quest stay in your quest log after completing Nature of the Beast, but makes it impossible for you to talk to either Cammen or Gheyna. This quest, like most with the Dalish, is very prone to cutting the Warden off for such actions as trying to steal from the chest Lanaya guards, and also possibly failing to persuade Elora with a lie. To avoid these, complete all side quests before attempting any underhanded activities.

After the quest is over, if you managed to get the two together, Lanaya will voice her discomfort with the extent to which you have involved yourself in Dalish affairs, but concludes that no harm is done. Other Dalish around the camp will make mention of their now-open relationship, but will do nothing about it. However, if you caused them to separate by convincing Cammen that Gheyna hates him or vice versa, or by sleeping with Gheyna or Cammen, and you speak with Lanaya afterwards then Varathorn will not trade with you any longer. If you do not speak with Lanaya, Varathorn will continue to trade with until you do have to speak with her. This can be a poor outcome as Varathorn is the only merchant who sells an unlimited quantity of elfroot, deathroot and toxin extract. (This is not universal. See discussion.)

Completing this quest before speaking to Sarel will cause him to skip his usual bitter introduction.

Seducing Cammen[]

You need to do this in the first conversation or you will lose the conversation options needed to do this later on.

Tell Cammen to romance her
Ask if he has bedded her yet
Ask whether he is a virgin
Pass the persuasion check to seduce him

Rewards[]

Your reward depends on how you resolved the quest.

If you persuaded Cammen to accept a Wolf Pelt, or persuaded Gheyna to accept Cammen even if he is not a hunter-apprentice, or persuaded Cammen that Gheyna will never marry him, or persuaded Gheyna that Cammen hates her:

250 XP

The Tale of Iloren (which unlocks the following codex entry)

Codex entry: The Tale of Iloren

If the Warden is male and you seduced Gheyna and then talked to Cammen and persuaded him that Gheyna laughed in your face and said she would never marry him, and then told him she said she was through playing with him then he told Gheyna that they will never be wed. Talk to Cammen again.

500 XP (250 XP for seducing Gheyna and 250 XP for talking to Cammen to get the book).
The Tale of Iloren (which unlocks the following codex entry)
Codex entry: The Tale of Iloren

If the Warden is female and you seduced Cammen and then told Gheyna:

100 XP
You do not get the book.

Repercussions:

If you sleep with Gheyna or Cammen and then speak with Lanaya then Varathorn will no longer trade with you.
If you seduce Gheyna you can still trade with Varathorn through completing Rare Ironbark by offering ironbark to Varathorn without asking for reward.
The book can be used to trade with the Mad Hermit in the Brecilian Forest.

Approval[]

Persuading Gheyna to give Cammen a chance might make them both happy. Leliana approves (+4) of your decision to let "young love be allowed to flourish." Morrigan, on the other hand, is nauseated (-5).
Giving Cammen a wolf pelt: Leliana approves (+4), Morrigan disapproves (-5)
Bedding Gheyna yourself: Leliana disapproves (-3), while Wynne approves (+7)(Bug, the documentation calls for Wynne disapproves (-7).
Bedding Cammen yourself: Leliana disapproves (-3), Wynne disapproves (-10), Morrigan approves (+2) (up to +4 with Wynne present), and Zevran approves (+4) (up to +6 with Wynne present but not Morrigan present).

Clan attitude[]

This quest gives opportunities to affect the Clan Attitude global variable, which is a measure of the clan's approval of you.

Upon speaking to Cammen:

Choosing, "I spoke to Gheyna for you." followed by, "She laughed in my face. She said that she'd never marry you." requires a Persuade level of 5 to be successful.

If the persuade check is failed, Clan Attitude decreases.
If the persuade check is passed, choosing either, "Because you're not a hunter. As you said." or "How should I know?" decreases Clan Attitude.

Sleeping with Cammen decreases Clan Attitude.
If Cammen agrees that you can get a pelt for him, but then when he asks why you would do that, you respond, "I wouldn't. I just wanted to see if you would agree.", Clan Attitude decreases.
Offering to talk to Gheyna for him, but then taking it back by saying, "Not a chance. I'm not involving myself in this." decreases Clan Attitude.
If Cammen breaks up with Gheyna, Clan Attitude decreases.

Upon speaking to Gheyna:

Choosing, "If you love him, it doesn't matter what he is, does it?" (Persuade 2 required) and then, "Then you're out of luck, aren't you?" decreases Clan Attitude.
Choosing, "He said that if he was lucky, he would bed you soon." and then, "I assure you he did. Before the season's end, apparently." : If the player is not a Dalish elf and they fail a level 3 Persuasion check, Clan Attitude decreases.
A male Warden who chooses, "He said that you were cruel and that he hates you." and "Yes, and it's a shame, for you are very beautiful." and then follows it with, "True. You're actually rather hideous." decreases Clan Attitude.
Choosing, "Come. Let's discuss this in private." but failing the persuasion check (Persuade level 3 required for an elven Warden; level 5 for a human or dwarven Warden) decreases Clan Attitude.
Choosing, "If you love him, it doesn't matter what he is, does it?" (Persuade 2 required) and then any of the three options encouraging Gheyna, increases Clan Attitude.

Bringing Cammen and Gheyna together increases Clan Attitude. Lanaya will disapprove, however, telling the Warden it is not considered good conduct for Cammen to marry before completing a hunt of his own.

Bugs[]

Bug! Instead of giving only one pelt to Cammen as the dialog suggests, you may end up giving him your entire stack. It is highly recommended to sell all but one pelt before talking to Cammen, should giving him a pelt become your decision.

Bug! If you agree to find a Wolf Pelt for Cammen but complete Nature of the Beast before giving him one, this quest is impossible to complete and will get stuck in your quest log.

Bug! If left to resolving itself after completing Nature of the Beast) You can sleep with Cammen or Gheyna but fail to tell the other (thus not completing the quest) then Gheyna/Cammen will stop mentioning if you slept with her/him and Cammen will resolve to go and get his pelt himself now that the forest is open to him (provided the elven camp was not attacked in Nature of the Beast). You receive neither a punishment nor a reward for doing this.

Bug! If you persuaded Cammen that Gheyna said she would never marry him, or if the Warden is male and you seduced Gheyna and persuaded Cammen that she laughed in your face and said she would never marry him and that she was through playing with him, then there is a conversation between Cammen and Gheyna where their relationship ends but there is no cut-scene; they stay in their locations. If you want to hear both sides of the conversation you have to find a midpoint between them.