Howe family

See also: Codex entry: The Howes of Amaranthine

For information about the Dragon Age: Awakening quest, see The Howe Family.

Howe
Leader	Rendon † Tarleton † Elias †
Heir	Nathaniel (†) Thomas †
Nationality	Fereldan
Type	Common Noble (Formerly)
Appearances	Dragon Age: Origins Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Dragon Age II

The Howe family are a noble family from Ferelden at the time of the Fifth Blight, claiming the Arling of Amaranthine. They hold the fortress of Vigil's Keep, one of the most ancient fortresses in the country.

Background

Rendon Howe, Arl of Amaranthine shown during the start of the Fifth Blight

The Howes are one of the oldest noble families in Ferelden.

Though nearly ninety already, the sharp and bitter Arl Tarleton Howe sided with Orlais during the occupation of Ferelden, although the Couslands openly supported the rebellion.

For his loyalty to Orlais, Howe was allowed to keep his powers, and was placed as governor of the town of Harper's Ford. When the rebellion broke out, the Couslands attacked Harper's Ford, capturing it. Arl Tarleton was hanged.

Rendon Howe, son of Tarleton, was keen to distance himself from his father, siding with the rebels led by Maric Theirin and Loghain Mac Tir. Once the war was won, Rendon was decorated for his service by King Maric, and was made Arl of Amaranthine. The Howes were hailed as heroes, and Arl Howe became close friends with Teyrn Bryce Cousland of Highever.

Arl Byron of Amaranthine, uncle of Rendon, bent knee to Maric and helped reclaim his throne. He died during the rebellion.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.

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In 9:30 Dragon, the Fifth Blight broke out in Ferelden. Arl Howe was invited to Castle Cousland, but turned traitor, using his soldiers to slaughter the Cousland family while their guards were battling darkspawn in the south. Howe was a confederate of Teyrn Loghain, whose actions at the Battle of Ostagar doomed King Cailan Theirin.

With Loghain as regent, Howe was made Teyrn of Highever, and Arl of Denerim, making him the most powerful man in Ferelden, second to Loghain and Queen Anora only. During his reign, he imprisoned and tortured innocents, intefered with a templar's duties, and was complicit in the selling of elven slaves to the Tevinter Imperium. Howe was killed by the Warden who ended the Blight. The Howe dynasty finally came to an end when the new monarch of Ferelden stripped the Howes of all land and titles, restoring Highever to Fergus Cousland, who was travelling south when his family was murdered. Amaranthine however, was granted to the Grey Wardens.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

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Rendon Howe's children, Nathaniel and Delilah, survived, though his younger son Thomas died during the Blight. Delilah remained in Amaranthine, hating her father and believing he deserved to die for his crimes. Nathaniel returned from the Free Marches, and sought revenge on the Wardens, ignorant of his father's atrocities. He was captured by the Orlesian Grey Warden stationed at Vigil's Keep, the former home of the Howes, after being caught prowling inside.

If the Warden-Commander recruited or conscripted Nathaniel:

He joined the Grey Wardens either after the Warden-Commander invokes the Right of Conscription, or when the Commander accepts his plea to be recruited after being released from the Vigil's Keep prison.

If the Warden-Commander had Nathaniel executed:

For trespassing in the Grey Warden's fortress, Nathaniel was executed.

If the Warden-Commander raised Nathaniel's approval high enough and he survived:

If the Commander befriends him after Nathaniel is made a Grey Warden, Nathaniel is informed of his father's crimes by his sister, and comes to hate him as she did.

Following the Darkspawn Civil War, Nathaniel saved Fergus Cousland, now Teyrn of Highever, from bandits. For this, a portion of land was restored to the Howes, which Nathaniel passed on to his sister's son.

In case the Commander doesn't befriend Nathaniel:

He decides that the life of a Grey Warden is not for him and leaves the Wardens.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

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If Nathaniel was recruited into the Grey Wardens and survived the events of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening:

Later Nathaniel was assigned to an expedition by the Wardens to the Primeval Thaig ordered by the First Warden himself.

If Nathaniel was made a Grey Warden and the Warden-Commander befriended him, Nathaniel and his sister appear in Kirkwall, as Nathaniel is part of a Grey Warden expedition to the Primeval Thaig. Delilah tasks Hawke with Finding Nathaniel.

Notable Howes

• Elias Howe, one of the first freeholders to follow Calenhad
• Arl Tarleton Howe, Arl Rendon Howe's father.
• Arl Rendon Howe
• Unnamed wife of Rendon Howe and mother of Nathaniel, Delilah and Thomas
• Nathaniel Howe - eldest child of Rendon Howe
• Delilah Howe - middle child of Rendon Howe
• Thomas Howe, younger brother of Nathaniel and Delilah
• Padric Howe, a Grey Warden.
• Byron Howe, Arl of Amaranthine, great-uncle of Nathaniel Howe
• Delilah's son - mentioned by his uncle Nathaniel in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening and Dragon Age II.

Notes

After giving the Howe Bow to Nathaniel, he tells the warden, that the bow was last used by his grandfather Padric Howe, who left the family to become a Grey Warden. This is inconsistent with Arl Tarleton Howe being Rendon Howe's father.