Starkhaven

Starkhaven
Type	Principality/City-State
Terrain	Urban
Location	Northern Free Marches
Inhabitants	Humans, Elves
Appearances	Dragon Age II (mentioned) Dragon Age: Last Flight

Starkhaven is an independent and prominent city-state of the Free Marches, which lies close to the Minanter River. It's the largest city of the Free Marches and the most influential along with Kirkwall and Tantervale.

Starkhaven heraldry

Background

Starkhaven is the largest city in the Free Marches. The independent city-state of Starkhaven is ruled by the Vael family and has strong ties to the Chantry in its governance. It sits on the Minanter River in the northeast and borders Antiva.

It is a place of wealth and opulance, with many kingly estates with fountains of marble and paths of granite. It is also famed for its superb cuisine, with its most famous dish being fish and egg pie. It is made with three deboned fresh fish, boiled eggs, dried fruit, spices, and thickened cream, topped with a light crust.

History

In 1:95 Divine, the last battle of the Second Blight was fought at Starkhaven with a human army led by the Grey Wardens. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but Zazikel was slain by the Grey Warden Corin, ending the Second Blight.

In 2:15–2:45 Glory Starkhaven arose and prompted its king, Fyruss, in attempt to unite the Free Marches under his banner and build his own empire. In 2:80 Glory, Fyruss was betrayed by his Tevinter allies and ousted from Starkhaven; the Tevinter Imperium conquered his city in result. This led the Chantry to declare an Exalted March to liberate Starkhaven from the Imperium. The following battle for the independence of Starkhaven was short, but bloody.

In 5:12 Exalted, Starkhaven accepted a large group of refugees from Wycome fleeing from the Darkspawn in the Fourth Blight.

It is known to have had at least one Champion rise to prominence who assisted the Grey Wardens with the evacuation of civilians from Kirkwall during the Fourth Blight & later participated in the Battle of Ayesleigh in 5:24 Exalted at which the Archdemon Andoral was slain.

In 7:56 Storm, the Qunari landed near Ostwick and launched assaults against Starkhaven and Kirkwall. Starkhaven was besieged by Qunari invaders who hoped to cut off trade to the north, only to be repelled, but Kirkwall fell due to the magic of the Saarebas.

Starkhaven's Circle of Magi tower was burned down in 9:31 Dragon.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

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Most members of the ruling family were murdered in 9:31 Dragon by Flint Company mercenaries in a brutal coup d'etat engineered by Lady Johane Harimann of Kirkwall. The Harimanns intended to usurp the Vaels, placing the malleable Goran Vael, a distant cousin of the main family, upon the throne.

Before the coup d'etat, the Vael family had committed their youngest son, Sebastian, to the Kirkwall Chantry to live a chaste life in service to Andraste. The young Vael avenged his parents, killing both Johane Harimann and the Flint Company Mercenaries, though Goran Vael still rules the city.

According to Sebastian Vael, Kirkwall is the city's largest trading partner.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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In 9:41 Dragon, Starkhaven places sanctions on trade against Ferelden- ostensibly as a sign of protest for providing sanctuary for the rebel mages during the Mage-Templar War.

Sebastian Vael recruited by Hawke, Anders survived, and the Inquisitor accepts Sebastian's offer of friendship:

Sebastian Vael reclaims his title as Prince of Starkhaven and in 9:41 leads an invasion of Kirkwall. In the mission Annexing Kirkwall, Sebastian requests support from the Inquisition in helping him suppress the city's resistance forces led by Guard-Captain Aveline Vallen and hunt down Anders and his associates. The Inquisitor can choose to send Leliana's agents to bolster Sebastian's forces and strong-arm Aveline to back down or send Cullen's military to bolster Aveline's resistance forces and repel Sebastian's occupation forces back to Starkhaven.

Anders executed, and the Inquisitor accepts Sebastian's offer of friendship:

Sebastian Vael reclaims his title as Prince of Starkhaven and in 9:41 decides to aid in the reconstruction of Kirkwall, which continues to suffer from Anders' actions. In the mission Aiding Kirkwall, Sebastian requests that the Inquisition send in soldiers and workers. The Inquisitor can choose to heed Leliana's advice and ignore the request in order focus resources on defeating Corypheus, have Josephine appeal to noble allies to help Kirkwall, or order Cullen to send in troops to expunge red lyrium from the Gallows.

Governance

Being the largest of the Free Marches' many city-states, Starkhaven is governed by a prince. Starkhaven has been ruled by the Vael family since the ousting of the self-anointed "King Ironfist," the last in a series of low-born warlords claiming sovereignty over the city. The first Prince Vael was proclaimed prince when he refused the title of king.

Trivia

• According to Varric, Starkhaven is "pretentious".
• If in Act III female Hawke rivals and flirts with Sebastian, he says "The prince of Starkhaven and the viscountess of Kirkwall? It would be the strongest alliance the Free Marches ever had".

See also

Codex entry: The City of Starkhaven

Codex entry: The Vael Family