Giselle

“We do not teach that magic is evil. We teach that pride is evil - and does not corrupt only mages.”

Giselle
Title	Sister Revered mother
Race	Human
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Orlesian Chantry Inquisition
Location	The Crossroads, Hinterlands Haven Skyhold
Quests	The Threat Remains Investigate the Western Approach Last Resort of Good Men In Your Heart Shall Burn
Voice	Sara Powell
Appearances	Dragon Age: Inquisition Heroes of Dragon Age

Mother Giselle is a member of the Chantry in Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Background

Giselle is best known for her role as the revered mother of the chantry in Jader. In the years following the Fifth Blight, Jader saw an influx of Fereldan refugees, which in turn led to an outbreak of disease and then famine in the poorer quarters. As the Revered Mother of a prosperous Chantry, Giselle wrote to the Chantry in Val Royeaux asking for assistance. When help was not immediately forthcoming, she encouraged the clerics to go on a hunger strike, saying that their faith would sustain them like it had Andraste. She then took their chantry's entire food stores to the poor quarters of Jader to feed the starving peasants. This displeased the Chantry in Val Royeaux, who saw this move as a bullying tactic, but led to them sending official aid to Jader. Food arrived quickly, along with instructions on how to distribute it: first to the clerics of the Jader chantry, then to the Orlesian peasants, then to the Fereldan refugees and finally to the elves of the alienage. Mother Giselle famously refused the order, arguing that those furthest from the Maker were in greatest need of the Chantry's care, and that their souls couldn't be filled until their bellies were. With the support of Lady Seryl of Jader, who was directing relief efforts of her own, Mother Giselle distributed food to the poor of the city without care for race or nationality.

Her actions in Jader saved thousands of lives and made her beloved to the poor in both Orlais and Ferelden. It also destroyed any chance of advancement within Chantry hierarchy, who saw her as too rebellious. In the following years, Divine Justinia often deployed Giselle to troubled areas to help the poor and the sick, who hailed her arrival as a blessing. To the rich she remained a portent of unwelcome charity.

Involvement

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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Artwork of Giselle from Heroes of Dragon Age

Artwork of Giselle's tier progression in Heroes of Dragon Age

Mother Giselle aids refugees of the Mage-Templar War in the Hinterlands. She believes the Inquisitor can help to keep the Chantry from tearing itself apart following the Breach. She also maintains that the Chantry does not teach hatred of mages, and that swords and magic are equally dangerous when one is prideful.

She believes that the members of the Chantry are now free to follow their individual consciences, and hers advises her to do whatever she can to restore peace to the Chantry and to the world.

After advising the Inquisitor of her thoughts on the current conflicts in Thedas, Giselle heads to Haven to aid Leliana in locating clerics willing to gather in Val Royeaux, advising the Inquisitor to address them to give them reason to doubt their condemnation of them.

After the Inquisition is forced out of Haven, Giselle consoles the Inquisitor following their confrontation with Corypheus, allegedly an ancient magister who entered the Black City and came back as one of the first darkspawn. She offers her opinion on Corypheus, believing that he may be convincing himself that the Maker's throne is vacant. Seeing that the Inquisition is losing hope, Giselle sings an old Chantry hymn to rally the faithful. She then joins the Inquisition as the Inquisitor leads them to Skyhold. Giselle then takes residence in the fortress' garden.

The Inquisitor can discuss the Chantry's version of the origin of the darkspawn and Corypheus' own account of what happened in the Black City. Giselle admits that the Chant of Light could easily have been misinterpreted or rewritten due to political machinations such as the censure of the Canticle of Shartan.

After the Inquisition recruits the rebel mages/templars, Mother Giselle states her hope that the Inquisition will fare better in its handling of magic than the Chantry. Should the Inquisitor inquire about Giselle's thoughts about the Chantry's flaws, she reveals she has some liberal views which she shares only when in the company of like-minded individuals or those already deemed heretics by the Chantry.

Despite the stringent condemnation of magic by the Chantry, Mother Giselle maintains that Andraste always intended peaceful coexistence with mages and perhaps the methods of men may have undone the spirit of Andraste's goals. Additionally, she condemns the misuse of Exalted Marches as a political bludgeon or as a means to spread the Chant of Light. Giselle claims Exalted Marches should only be used to unite the people against a threat to the entire world. For this reason, and the fact that only a single nation participated, she doesn't consider the Exalted March against the Dales a true Exalted March.

Mother Giselle also believes the exclusion of men from the priesthood, the belittling of dwarves and elves, and other Chantry beliefs are the result of political machinations; noting that these beliefs were added after Andraste's death. Although the Chantry has done many wrongs, Mother Giselle thinks it is folly to fight too many battles at once and that these inequalities can be addressed after more pressing concerns are seen to.

Despite the Chantry being an imperfect vessel with many trying to steer its course, Mother Giselle hopes the Inquisition will show the Chantry a better way to address its problems.

Giselle later informs the Inquisitor that she has been approached by a messenger of Dorian's father, Magister Halward Pavus, asking her to arrange a reunion with his son. In a possible follow-up to this meeting, Giselle confronts Dorian about his "undue influence" on the Inquisitor. She states her concern, as there are rumors that stem from him being Tevinter. When the Inquisitor intervenes, Giselle declines to repeat the rumors, and apologizes before taking her leave.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Trespasser.

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Mother Giselle attends the Exalted Council at the Winter Palace and briefly greets the Inquisitor when they arrive at the council chamber, where they discuss the history of the first Inquisition and plans for the future. The Inquisitor has the opportunity here, if they wish, to reference Giselle's earlier lessons on the first Inquisition, and demonstrate that they paid attention and either agree with her conclusions or not.

If the Inquisitor intervened during her argument with Dorian back in Skyhold, she will apologize to the Inquisitor once again and admit that she erred on the matter.

Depending on which romance the Inquisitor may have chosen to pursue, Mother Giselle may also officiate the Inquisitor's wedding.

Quests

The Threat Remains

Investigate the Western Approach (war table) (conditional)

Last Resort of Good Men

In Your Heart Shall Burn

Quotes

Main article: Giselle/Dialogue

• "The Maker wishes His word to spread by example, not by war. We win no converts with blood."
• "Andraste led a rebellion against the Tevinter Imperium, whose magisters controlled most of the world at the time. Even then, she never called for all mages to be put to death. She believed in peaceful coexistence."
• "An army needs more than an enemy. It needs a cause."
• "Faith is made stronger by facing doubt. Untested, it is nothing."
• "Faith may have yet to find you, but it has already found them."
• "It's all one world, Herald. All that changes is our place in it."
• "Those who looked to the Maker never asked for a literal hand to stretch out of the Fade to protect them. They wanted a sign that in this harsh and unforgiving world, there existed some reason to hope."
• "A farmer, a noble, a warrior, and a mage will all see different aspects of the Maker in their lives. They must each hear a story that will reach them... and each of those stories is valid."
• "In some ways, Andraste had the simpler task. 'Magic should serve man, and not rule over him.' That tells us what should be. But it does not tell us how to get there. So many times the methods of men have undone the spirit of their goals."

Codex entries

Codex entry: A Letter to Revered Mother Giselle

Note texts

Proper Andraste x 2

Trivia

• According to Patrick Weekes, though Mother Giselle has no magic or martial prowess she nevertheless braves the wilds during a war in order to help others, and is in fact "in her own way, one of the most powerful characters in the game."
• The Inquisitor can find a letter at the Crossroads in the Hinterland addressed to Mother Giselle from Divine Justinia, proving the two were close and that the Divine relied on Mother Giselle for her counsel.