“Our family's belief that we were wronged...it gave us strength to make something of ourselves.”
Levi Dryden is a descendant of Sophia Dryden, the famous, or rather infamous, Warden-Commander of Ferelden.
Background[]
After Ferelden was liberated by the Orlesian rule, the Wardens of Orlais asked Maric Theirin, the new King of Ferelden, permission to enter his kingdom because of an important internal business. The Wardens were banished from Ferelden since the days of King Arland, and Levi Dryden along with other Warden sympathizers spoke on the Wardens' behalf to King Maric. Despite Teyrn Loghain's objections, the request was eventually granted and Levi was inside the audience chamber when Warden-Commander Genevieve along with a young Duncan presented themselves to King Maric. According to Levi Dryden that was the proudest day of his life. This was when he also met Duncan and the two became lifelong friends.
Levi was under the impression that long ago, King Arland Theirin viewed the Grey Wardens as freeloaders and that Sophia Dryden defied him by upholding the relevance of the Grey Wardens' cause. For her vigilance against the Blight, King Arland had Sophia Dryden killed in Soldier's Peak, banished the Wardens, and took House Dryden's lands and titles.
After a failed rebellion against King Arland, Sophia Dryden was killed during an assault on Soldier's Peak and the Dryden name was disgraced throughout Ferelden. Nevertheless, the surviving Drydens' belief that they were wronged gave them the motivation to make something of themselves. Levi desperately wanted to clear his family's name and he knew the only place that he would find any proof to restore his great-great-grandmother's honor would be within Soldier's Peak itself. When Levi was a child, the Grey Warden Avernus saw how Levi was pure of heart and had a certain character. Avernus infiltrated Levi's dreams and guided him in reaching the Soldier's Peak fortress.
The twisting labyrinth of abandoned mine shafts that must be traversed to reach the keep were far too dangerous for Levi himself to journey through so he asked for the help of Warden-Commander Duncan who promised to help Levi find the answers he sought. However, the Fifth Blight arrived first on Ferelden and Duncan was forced to deal with it but promised he would help Levi after the Battle of Ostagar. When Duncan was struck down in the Battle of Ostagar, Levi sought out to find the last of the Fereldan Wardens in hope that they would take up the promise that Duncan could not.
Involvement[]
Levi meets the party at their camp where he starts the quest for Soldier's Peak. He will mark it on the map and will accompany the party when they travel there.
As Levi and the Warden explore Soldier's Peak, they learn that Sophia Dryden involved the Grey Wardens in a rebellion against the tyrannical Fereldan king, Arland Theirin. Levi can learn the truth about Sophia Dryden's character from either Avernus or the possessed corpse of Sophia Dryden. Sophia was both heroic and flawed; while some would consider her cause righteous, her career was marred by her allowance of forbidden magic and her controversial political ambitions. However, there is no physical evidence to serve as proof of their claims—just the word of the witness. Nevertheless, Levi is content to finally learn the truth about his family history.
After completing the quest there, he will settle at Soldier's Peak permanently and become a merchant with one of the best discounts in the game.
Quests[]
Inventory[]
90
28
Upgrading[]
- Any items sold to Levi will reappear in his regular inventory (as is usual), with one interesting and useful difference. Weapons and armor sold to Levi will reappear (in later visits) made of improved material (and corresponding price and attribute requirement).
- This will include applicable rune capacity. For example, sell Levi the Warden's Longsword (Iron; no rune slots), Alistair's starting weapon; return after the Warden has advanced past a certain level, and it will have been upgraded to Dragonbone, with 3 rune slots.
- This seems to apply to most weapons and armor, but not all will improve to tier 7. For example, Thane Helmet can be upgraded to Dragonbone along with several weapons (of starting tier from 1 to 5) "deposited" at the same time, while one of these weapons - Borrowed Longsword - only rose one tier, to (Grey Iron), and others - Asala and Barbarian Mace - remained (Steel); Cailan's Shield improved from tier 5 to 7 while Havard's Aegis remained (Yew), and so on. Each weapon/armor's page or group listing displays its quality: variable or set tier.
- Weapons enchanted with runes cannot be upgraded in this way. Remove any runes before selling items if you want to upgrade them.
- See the selling to/buying back from merchant exploit.
Codex entries[]
Trivia[]
- If the Warden is a Human Noble, you have the option when first talking to Levi of mentioning that you are aware that the Dryden's have "a black name". He will laugh and tell you that the son/daughter of Teyrn Cousland probably already knows things are rarely as simple as they seem.
- Levi is actually a distant relative of Alistair; Sophia Dryden was the cousin of Arland Theirin, Alistair's great-great-great-great-grandfather.