No Rest for the Wicked

No Rest for the Wicked is an Act 3 companion quest for Isabela in Dragon Age II.

Acquisition[]

Before obtaining the quest Hawke needs to find Isabela at The Hanged Man and get her to rejoin the party, as she has been in hiding since the end of Act 2 (if she returned with the Tome of Koslun and wasn't handed over to the Qunari). After the dialogue she can be found standing near the writing desk at the Hawke Estate. Speak to her to begin the quest.

Isabela says that Castillon is in Kirkwall and she wants to get him before he gets her.

Your response here affects whether you get any Approval changes at the end of this conversation.

Isabela doesn’t know where Castillon is, but she knows where his “right-hand”, Velasco, is. She says she can make him tell her when to find Castillon. It doesn't matter what you say here.

Isabela says that either you’ll have to come up with a plan, or you’ll have to think of something else. You can suggest using her as bait; if you say that you have no ideas then Isabela comes up with the bait idea.

Isabela says that Velasco spends his night at the brothel (The Blooming Rose).

“Let’s go then.”
- If the first response mentioned above was humorous or aggressive then Isabela: friendship (+20)
"No, I've changed my mind."
- If the first response mentioned above was diplomatic then Isabela: rivalry (+20)

Regardless of who comes up with the plan, and whether or not Hawke agreed with it, the quest can be resumed at The Blooming Rose in Hightown.

Walkthrough[]

The Blooming Rose[]

With Isabela in the party head towards The Blooming Rose in Hightown.

Note: While Isabela and the quest description tell you to go to the Blooming Rose at night, you can go there in the day. If Isabela is not in the party when you enter the Blooming Rose then you get the Change Party screen with her as a mandatory companion. Once you enter the Blooming Rose, you cannot exit until you talk to Velasco.

Go inside and up the stairs to Velasco's room. Dialogue begins in which Hawke and Isabela plan their approach. Isabela tells Hawke to make it convincing, even if they have to hit her.

Diplomatic response: Hawke says they're not sure about this. Isabela responds:
- Isabela: "Come on, haven't you ever wanted to slap me? Just a little?"
  - Varric/Anders/Fenris: "Yes."
  - Aveline: "Absolutely."
  - Merrill: "Yes... wait, what are we voting on?"
  - Sebastian: "Is that a trick question?"
- Isabela: "I wasn't asking you people!"
- Varric: "Face it. You set yourself up for that one."
Aggressive response: Sebastian: rivalry (+5).

Enter Velasco's room. No matter which option is chosen Isabela is taken away by Velasco's men and Hawke receives 3 from Velasco for "handing her over." After gathering a replacement party member, go outside and follow Isabela's trail.

Hightown (night)[]

When you exit The Blooming Rose you are in Hightown at night (even if you were in Hightown during the day when you entered The Blooming Rose).

Follow the trail through Hightown to the exit, leading to Lowtown.

Lowtown (night)[]

Follow the trail through Lowtown to the exit, leading to the Docks.

Docks (night)[]

Follow the trail through the Docks to Castillon's Landing.

Note: The trail must be followed; Hawke cannot skip it by going directly to the Docks, and you can only travel to each section once the quest updates and Hawke makes a comment. As a result, you may want to deal with all of the Act 3 Gangs before taking on this quest, as you will no doubt have to fight them if they're still roaming the streets. You must also run directly over, or very near to, each notch of the trail to render the next one, with the quest updating at the exit staircases.

Castillon's Landing[]

Once inside, before going to the main room, head immediately to the right (north). If you have a rogue with 50 Cunning (or 34 cunning + bonus to disarm traps), you can disarm the saw blade trap in this room. Further down this dead-end you will find a crate hidden in a small alcove between stacks of brown and red crates that may contain 12 or more. The two crates at the very end of the room can contain as much as 5, as well as various random items.

Note: If you do not have a rogue capable of disarming the saw blade trap, it may be possible to bypass it. Hold your party at the entrance of the room and have someone scale the very edge of the traps along the wall. You may get injured and it may take a couple tries, but if you scale the wall during the first saw trap, then shimmy between the saw and spike trap, then move along the wall near the carts on the right hand side, you can sneak through them.

Back in the main room, a cutscene occurs and Hawke will have to fight Velasco's men. Velasco and one more of his Raiders are Elite-ranked Assassins, so be ready to deal with them. Fortunately Isabela is an invincible ally in this fight, but the traps will also be difficult. Bring electricity damage to exploit the Raider enemy type's weakness. If you stay at the top of the stairs,

Note: There are three standard traps here - one at the bottom of the stairs and two near the flame trap trigger with an archer standing on it (20 Cunning, 100 XP each).

When the battle is over, loot Velasco for a key to unlock the southern door where there is a chest containing Incriminating Documents. Pick up the Ambrosia inside a chest in the northwest corner of the map; it's required to craft Elixir of Heroism.

Before Hawke and party can leave, Castillon arrives. Isabela negotiates with him, agreeing to hand over the incriminating documents in exchange for Castillon's ship and his promise to never come after her again. Hawke has the option to either kill Castillon, or to allow Isabela to proceed with the agreement.

Allowing Isabela give the documents to Castillon results in:
- Aveline: friendship (+10)
- Fenris: rivalry (+10)
- Sebastian: rivalry (+5).
- Varric: friendship (+5).

Note: You get the Change Party screen after this conversation; if you change your companions now you only get approval changes for those that were in the party when you let Castillon go.

Killing Castillon results in:
- Varric: rivalry (+5)
- Aveline: rivalry (+5)

Note: ps3xbox360If Castillon is killed, removing Aveline and/or Varric from the party immediately after the cutscene results in no approval loss.

Castillon is an Elite-ranked Assassin and Commander in one package, supported by a few mabari and more raiders. In addition, an archer will take up position on the sustained trap on the walkway overhead, causing the various flame jets to erupt continuously. After dispatching Castillon, fall back to the office for a much safer battlefield, as the mabari will be immune to the flames on Nightmare difficulty. You'll have to be very specific with each character's movement around the flame jets, otherwise they'll simply take the straightest path to the office, which is often right through the flames, get burned and knocked back, and try again. Any raiders that wish to attack will have to pursue you into the office, so use the door to force archers to draw even closer and re-open it. Be wary of another Raider Assassin that will join in the reinforcements from the top of the stairs. It can be very difficult to actually get to the trap archer to kill them and disarm it, so simply hold your position and pull the enemies to you. Only basic attacks from the nearby loft can hit the archer on the switch if you decide to shut them off, talents and spells will send them running directly to them, which can be fatal and not worth it.

If Hawke kills Castillon, Isabela complains that the documents are now useless (although if Aveline is in the party, she will point out that she can use them). If Isabela is a friend, also admits that Hawke's decision was not without merit, saying, "I really hate it when you're right." If she's a rival, however, she throws up her hands and yells at Hawke for "always making things so complicated." Either way, the quest concludes.

Rewards[]

3 (for "handing" Isabela over to Velasco at The Blooming Rose)
1200 XP (if Castillon lives)
1830 XP (if Castillon is killed)
Random loot
A unique dagger:

The Pairing Knife - dropped by Velasco

Notes[]

If seeking the Supplier achievement, be sure to grab the Ambrosia in a box in the upstairs office of Castillon's Landing.
Velasco's room in the Blooming Rose has a "Gather Your Party" interactive object, allowing you to select another companion to replace temporarily captured Isabela. However, it becomes unusable after the quest is completed.
Castillon wears the Cuirass of the Winds. As of patch 1.04, it is not received, likely due to a bug. There is a mod that restores numerous items that became unobtainable via normal means. The mod can be downloaded here.

Trivia[]

"No rest for the wicked" is a popular phrase which originates from the Book of Isaiah.
While speaking to Isabela at the beginning of the quest, if Hawke chooses the diplomatic or sarcastic response set she mentions a witty 3-step plan that has an uncertain 2nd step - "something exciting happens" - and a 3rd step of "Profit!" This is a reference to South Park's Underpants Gnomes episode.
The room to the left of the entrance has on its wall the image of a woman, which was also used for The Acerbic Dowager in Dragon Age: The Last Court

Bugs[]

Isabela can be found inside Hawke's estate after Isabela's Regret, but Hawke may be unable to begin the quest if you have started/completed some other quests. It is best to finish this quest first before beginning any other Act 3 quests to prevent this bug. 1.04 patch seems to resolve this issue.
- Workaround: At the start of Act 3, go to Hawke's estate. A conversation with Merrill will begin. Finish the conversation as desired, then exit the estate and reenter (NOTE: Hawke should not recruit Isabela back to the party otherwise she will appear in Hawke's estate and be bugged). Go to the main room where Bodahn is. He will initiate a quest about dog's non-stop barking; finish that quest then exit the estate. Now go to the Hanged Man and convince Isabela to rejoin the party. After she agrees, leave the Hanged Man and go to Hawke's estate again. You should now see Isabela in the main room, and the quest should start normally.
If Hawke enters the estate and ignores Isabela (thereby not triggering the quest by talking to her) and she is in the party later on, there is a possibility that talking to her anywhere OUTSIDE Hawke's Estate will trigger the cutscene and start the quest. Despite this error in location, everything else should proceed as normal.
After defeating Velasco and his men, the cutscene may not trigger. Instead, Isabela may simply leap around the room at non-existent targets. Saving and reloading does not fix this, and the only option is to reload a save from prior to entering Castillon's Landing, as the player cannot leave or open the office door.
Do not loot Velasco until the battle is over and a cutscene occurs where Isabela says "let's look around." Otherwise, Hawke will be unable to open the office door, whether or not they successfully loot the key from Velasco.
Even if Hawke allows Castillon to live after his bargain with Isabela, the fact that Isabela now has another ship is contradicted in later dialogue (specifically Questioning Beliefs (Fenris Act 3) on the friendship path).