Leliana

“In the cloister, away from the fuss and the flurry of the cities, I found peace. And in that stillness, I could hear the Maker.”

Leliana is an Orlesian bard who came to the village of Lothering and became a Lay Sister of the Chantry. Leliana is a possible companion to the Warden, as well as a romance option for either gender in Dragon Age: Origins. She can also teach the bard specialization.

Leliana is also the player-controlled protagonist in Leliana's Song DLC.

Background

Leliana was born in Orlais, and though she is culturally Orlesian, her mother was Fereldan and so she considers herself as such. Leliana's mother was a servant of Lady Cecilie, an Orlesian noble. Following the Fereldan victory in the Rebellion, Leliana and her mother followed Lady Cecilie back to Orlais. Cecilie raised Leliana after her mother's death, and in her care Leliana learned much about the royal court and Orlesian culture.

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.

In time she entered the Grand Game and entered training under Marjolaine, a master bard and highly skilled player of the Game. Leliana fell in love with Marjolaine, for whom she ran errands and became a merciless killer and thief. However, her mentor took advantage of her lover's infatuation and framed Leliana for espionage, a crime punishable by death. Captured and beaten, Leliana was imprisoned. After escaping, Leliana uncovered the full extent of Marjolaine's treachery and fled Orlais, marked as a traitor.

Cast adrift, Leliana crossed the border into her ancestral homeland of Ferelden, eventually ending up in the village of Lothering. To atone for her sins, Leliana joined the chantry there as a Lay Sister, becoming intensely religious.

Involvement

Leliana's Song

This section contains spoilers for:
Leliana's Song.

Marjolaine and Leliana, along with Tug and Sketch, arrive on a secret mission to Denerim. Marjolaine gives Leliana different assignments to carry out, which she completes with ease and signals Marjolaine when she is done with them.

Afterwards, Marjolaine informs Leliana that she has another assignment: to plant incriminating documents at the Arl of Denerim's Estate. Leliana infiltrates the estate along with Tug and Sketch, witnesses Marjolaine flirt with Harwen Raleigh, and plants the documents in the master's bedroom. Her curiosity gets the better of her, however, and upon taking a closer look at the documents, she discovers that they bear the seals of the Orlesian military.

Upon returning to their hideout, Leliana confronts Marjolaine about this apparent treason, and she agrees to go back to the estate and retrieve the documents. The alarm is raised, however and Leliana is forced to fight her way out. Upon escaping, Marjolaine betrays Leliana and her companions, stabbing her lover and leaving them to the mercy of Raleigh's guards. Utterly broken, Leliana almost gives in to despair when an unseen benefactor provides her with the means to escape from her cell.

Leliana eventually finds and freed Sketch but discovers that Tug had been tortured to death. Another freed prisoner, Silas Corthwaite, decides to accompany them to seek vengeance against Raleigh.

After escaping, the band are brought to Lothering by Leliana's benefactor, who reveals herself as Revered Mother Dorothea. Dorothea explains that the Orlesian documents Leliana had seen originally belonged her and asks her to retrieve them. Leliana and her companions chase after Marjolaine and Raleigh and finally corner them at an unnamed coast. After neutralizing Raleigh, Leliana once again confronts Marjolaine, but does not kill her.

Leliana returns the documents to Dorothea and joins the Chantry as a lay sister, having found faith in her ordeal.

Dragon Age: Origins

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.

Leliana first encounters the Warden at the Dane's Refuge tavern in Lothering. When the Warden is set upon by soldiers loyal to Loghain Mac Tir, Leliana assists the Warden in the skirmish. Following the fight, she explains that the Maker had sent her a vision which meant that she must aid the Warden in their quest to end the Blight. Despite the Chantry's claim that the Maker does not communicate directly with individuals, Leliana is firm in her belief. This causes Alistair to suspect she was mentally unstable, while Morrigan also doubted her sanity.

If Leliana was rejected:

The Warden denies Leliana's request to join their party, though she intercepts them as they left the village and again presses her request. Once again she is denied and so leaves Lothering and the Warden behind.

If Leliana was accepted:

To her great delight, Leliana is accepted into the Warden's party and sets out with them from Lothering, having previously obtained permission from her Revered Mother to do so.

The Urn of Sacred Ashes

During the quest to recover the fabled Sacred Ashes of Andraste, the Guardian of the Ashes states that the Maker only ever spoke to one mortal, Andraste, and accuses Leliana of inventing her vision. He proposes that she fabricated the tale for attention as she feared her life would become dull in the Chantry when compared to the thrill of a bard's life. Affronted, Leliana makes a flustered denial of the Guardian's accusation.

If Leliana was killed:

Witnessing defilement of the earthly remains of Andraste, Leliana becomes infuriated at the Warden's sacrilege and attacks them. She is slain in the temple at her companion's hands.

If Leliana was intimidated:

Leliana is appalled at the defilement of the Sacred Ashes, but is intimidated out of hostility by the Warden.

Leliana's Past

Following much discussion with the Warden of her life as a bard, Marjolaine sends assassins to murder Leliana. Upon defeat, the assassins reveal that Marjolaine is in Denerim. Leliana and the Warden thus set out to find her former mentor.

If Marjolaine dies:

After breaking into her house and killing her guards, Leliana confronts Marjolaine. Knowing that if she was spared, Marjolaine would continue to pursue her for the rest of her days, Leliana kills her old lover, encouraged by the Warden to do so.

After this event, Leliana's personality becomes much more pragmatic, no longer objecting as vocally to the more morally grey choices her companions make.

If Marjolaine lives:

Despite the countless injustices she visited upon Leliana, Marjolaine is spared by her old student. She returns to Orlais but made no promise not to seek out Leliana again.

Epilogue

Leliana is present at the coronation of the new monarch of Ferelden following the death of Urthemiel and the end of the Blight.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening

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

If Leliana was in a romance with the Warden:

Leliana sends a love letter to the Warden-Commander wishing them luck in eradicating the darkspawn threat in Amaranthine.

Following the conclusion of the Amaranthine Conflict, some rumors state that the Warden-Commander was spotted in Denerim with their love and never again returned to Vigil's Keep.

Dragon Age II

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

File:LelianaDA2.jpg

Leliana meeting with Cassandra Pentaghast

Leliana was appointed Left Hand of the Divine by Reverend Mother Dorothea, who had been elected Divine Justinia V. The Divine dispatches Leliana to Kirkwall under the pseudonym of "Sister Nightingale", in order to assess whether an Exalted March against the city would be necessary to suppress the conflict between templars and mages. While tracking down a shadowy apostate group known as "Resolutionists", she encounters Hawke and Prince Sebastian Vael in the Viscount's Keep, and asks them to convince Grand Cleric Elthina to flee Kirkwall and seek shelter in the Grand Cathedral of Val Royeaux at the Divine's invitation.

Leliana attends a party at Chateau Haine as a guest of Duke Prosper de Montfort. During the event, she encounters Tallis, a Qunari agent of the Ben-Hassrath and former associate of Leliana's.

Following Cassandra Pentaghast's interrogation of Varric Tethras, she rendezvouses with the Seeker outside the Hawke Estate. After confirming that Cassandra was unable to locate Hawke, the two agree to return to their other plan.

Dragon Age: Asunder

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Asunder.

Leliana continued to serve Divine Justinia V in seeking a solution to the ongoing conflict following the Kirkwall Rebellion.

She encounters Knight Captain Evangeline at a ball held for the Divine and is also present when Rhys, Wynne, Pharamond and Adrian are granted an audience with Justinia upon their return from Adamant Fortress. She restrains Lord Seeker Lambert, preventing him from attacking Rhys.

Leliana participates in the raid on the White Spire in order to free the captured mages, and it is her presence that reveals to Lord Seeker Lambert that Divine Justinia is conspiring against the Templar Order.

She later sings at the funeral of Wynne.

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire.

Leliana, in the capacity of the Divine's representative, meets with Empress Celene I at the University of Orlais to discuss the continued mage-templar tensions. Although she attempts to maintain anonymity, Celene reveals her knowledge of both Leliana and Justinia's identities and past exploits. The empress goes on to demand that the Divine make an official statement on the mage-templar conflict within three weeks, or she will be unable to restrain the overeager nobles at her court from interfering. Leliana agrees to take this proposal to Justinia.

Leliana later delivers to Celene the Divine's price for helping to quell conflict between mages and templars: the empress must end the elven revolt in Halamshiral. By doing so Celene would demonstrate the same control over her own affairs that she had demanded of the Divine. Given her adventures alongside elves in the past, Leliana regrets the repressive tactics employed against the elven population, but bids Celene good luck before leaving.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Leliana in Inquisition — Leliana, the spymaster of the Inquisition

Leliana joins the Inquisition as its spymaster and leads the clandestine division responsible for espionage and assassination, providing an effective alternative when diplomacy fails. Her focus in the Inquisition's War Table is "Secrets." She brings her old friend, the Antivan noblewoman Lady Josephine Montilyet into the Inquisition.^[2] Grieving at the lost of her dear friend, Divine Justinia V, Leliana struggles with a crisis of faith following the tragedy of the Breach.

If the Inquisition decides to recruit the Rebel Mages Leliana and her group, alongside Dorian, are sent to eliminate the Venatori and their leader, Gereon Alexius, at Redcliffe Castle where the Mages have made. However, when the Inquisitor and Dorian are accidentally sent one year in the future, where the former's absence had allowed the Elder One to conquer southern Thedas, Leliana had been captured and tortured, which leaves her traumatized and cold. As the Inquisitor enters the room, Leliana takes advantage of her interrogator's distraction to snap his neck with her legs.^[3] Leliana murders Alexius' son, Felix, and helps to delay approaching Venatori reinforcements to buy the Inquisitor time to get through the time rift and stop this future from occurring.^[3]

When the Inquisitor takes control of the fortress of Skyhold, Leliana will spend her free time in the rookery, making it a new home.^[4] Leliana is more hardened and is willing to respond to betrayal with vicious reprisal. After the attack on Haven, she also berates herself for the sentimentality she has for her agents, believing they lost Haven because she pulled her agents back when her first lookouts went missing. The Inquisitor can encourage or discourage her sentiments on both accounts. At any rate, she apologizes to the Inquisitor for letting her emotions get the better of her during their first conversation.

If romanced by The Warden in Origins, Leliana will comment on them fondly, stating that they are "always in her thoughts" and are "her love". Leliana adds that once the Inquisition is over, she plans to join her Warden lover "for good this time".

A spirit posing as Divine Justinia V aids the Inquisitor when they come back to the Fade to recover their missing memories. The spirit aids the Inquisitor in finding the truth of how they obtained their mark and also escaping the Fade once again from the Nightmare demon that serves Corypheus. The spirit once again sacrifices itself to weaken the Nightmare but not before asking the Inquisitor to relay a message to Leliana: "I'm sorry. I failed you, too." After Leliana inquires about the spirit and has its message relayed to her, she responds with a solemn "oh" before composing herself and focusing on her duties.

It is possible to have Leliana elected as the new Divine, after Justinia V. If chosen, she will be known as Divine Victoria. She will disband the Circle of Magi and allow mages to rule their own lives, admit non-humans into the Chantry priesthood, ally with the Inquisition and adhere to the principle of service to others. Leliana/Victoria ushers in a new and contentious age of Chantry leadership, meeting challengers with swift and bloody reprisal but maintaining unity.^[5]

Romance

See Leliana/Romance for a detailed walkthrough on romancing her.

See Romance: Love Triangles for information regarding simultaneous romances involving both Leliana and another companion.

Leliana Love Scene — Leliana sharing an intimate moment with the Warden

The Warden's first opportunity to kiss her occurs when her approval reaches "Adore" (71 or higher) and the Warden is not already in a romance with another party member. She starts a conversation in camp with the opening sentence "I enjoy the nights at camp. The night always seems more peaceful, to me. Safer." Nevertheless she isn't interested in a fling and will only bed the Warden once she's fallen in love with them. She will not fall in love with the Warden until her quest has been completed and her approval rating has reached 91 or higher. To increase her approval, talk to her a lot, listen to what she tells you, be supportive, avoid criticizing her when she talks about the Maker, give her gifts that are personally meaningful to her, do good deeds while she is in the party, and avoid evil acts (or at least avoid having Leliana in the party when performing them).

Although it isn't clearly a romantic advance on the Warden's part, asking "She was special to you, wasn't she?" starts a romance when talking about what happened with Marjolaine during Leliana's personal quest. This happens regardless of what dialogue choices you make after that, even if you don't ask about her current romantic interests. Take care not to select this option if you only want to be friends.

Gifts

Leliana prefers gifts with "Andraste" in their name, as well as other symbols of the Chantry. The white flowers called Andraste's Grace work particularly well. She loves shoes, too. Leliana can also be given a pet nug from the Idle Dwarf in Dust Town. It will stay with her throughout the game.

Name	Notes	Description

Andraste's Grace		A small white wildflower, commonly known as Andraste's Grace.
Blue Satin Shoes	Located: Old Tegrin	Powder blue satin shoes with long ribbons that circle the ankle. Gold lace trim and dangling gold charms shaped like puppies add the finishing touches.
Bronze Symbol of Andraste	Located: Lothering chantry	A small bronze plate with the symbol of a flame stamped into it.
Chantry Amulet	Located: Circle Tower	This amulet is similar to the ones worn by members of the Chantry. The carving on the amulet depicts Andraste's undying flame.
Etched Silver Symbol	Located: Ortan Thaig	A simple holy symbol, made of etched silver.
Golden Symbol of Andraste	Sold by Legnar in Orzammar Commons.	An elegant gold disk suspended from a ribbon that bears the mark of Andraste's flame.
Cute Nug	Acquired from the Idle Dwarf in Dust Town. It can be gifted to Leliana.	The nug's nose twitches as it stares at the world with clear inquisitive eyes. It seems to enjoy being stroked.
Silver Sword of Mercy	Located: Old Tegrin	An ornate silver amulet in the shape of a Sword.
Steel Symbol of Andraste	Located: Genitivi's Home	This holy symbol is crafted from polished steel and has a severe look to it.

Initial statistics

Dragon Age: Origins

Attributes

Relative attribute weightings on auto-level:

Strength	Dexterity	Willpower	Magic	Cunning	Constitution
0.6	1.2	0.4	0	1.2	0.6

Specialization

Bard

Skills

Improved Stealing Expert Stealing (level 8) Master Stealing (level 12)
Poison-Making
Improved Combat Training Expert Combat Training (level 10)

Talents (PC)

Bard		Song of Valor Distraction (level 8) Song of Courage (level 11)
Rogue	Dirty Fighting	Dirty Fighting Below the Belt (level 6)
Rogue	Deft Hands	Deft Hands Improved Tools Mechanical Expertise (level 12)
Archery	Pinning Shot	Pinning Shot Crippling Shot (level 9)
Archery	Rapid Shot	Rapid Shot Shattering Shot (level 7) Suppressing Fire (level 10)

Equipment

Weapons	Enchanted Dagger
Clothing	Chantry Robe
Armor	Leather Boots
Accessories	Seeker's Circle