The Magister's Birthright

The Magister's Birthright
Location	Skyhold Val Royeaux
Previous	Last Resort of Good Men
Appearances	Dragon Age: Inquisition

The Magister's Birthright is a romance specific companion quest for Dorian in Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Acquisition

The romance doesn't officially begin until after you've completed Dorian's personal plot, Last Resort of Good Men. Indicate your intentions to Dorian at the end of this quest or during a conversation at Skyhold. Once Dorian's relationship has progressed far enough along with the Inquisitor, Dorian will mention that he plans to travel to Val Royeaux to retrieve a family amulet from Ponchard de Lieux. Head downstairs to Solas' quarters and you will receive a message from one of Leliana's messengers. This initiates Dorian's romantic quest, The Magister's Birthright.

Note: It may be necessary to leave Skyhold and return in order for the agent to appear in the rotunda.

Walkthrough

IMPORTANT! Be careful when going about this quest as killing Ponchard de Lieux will prematurely end your relationship with Dorian. Additionally if you end the relationship with Dorian prior to speaking with Ponchard, the companion quest can no longer be completed.

Before leaving Skyhold you have the option of asking Dorian about the amulet and its significance. Dorian will instead end the conversation abruptly by telling the Inquisitor to leave the matter be; however, finding the amulet is the only means of furthering a relationship. Whether or not you spoke to Dorian about the amulet—as well as whether you decide to take him with you to Val Royeaux—alters some of the dialogue within the upcoming cutscenes.

Head to Val Royeaux; Ponchard can be found in an alcove just beside the bottom left fast travel location on the ground floor of your map. He may not be marked on the map until you arrive in the city.

Note: Ponchard may not appear at all if Josephine is waiting for you here as part of the Of Somewhat Fallen Fortune side quest. If this occurs, meet with Josephine first and return to Val Royeaux after control is regained.

Approach Ponchard to discover that he is already well aware of Dorian's ties to the Inquisition and will only grant you the amulet if the Inquisitor agrees to use their influence to get him into the Celestine League. If Dorian is present in the party, he will be vocally frustrated and angry that the Inquisitor is even pursuing the matter.

You now have three options to progress the conversation:

• Agree or disagree to Ponchard's terms, both of which unlocks the Help Ponchard de Lieux operation war table operation. This operation must be completed to further the relationship if the amulet cannot be collected via intimidation.
  • If you disagree to Ponchard's terms ("Forget it."): Dorian Slightly Approves
• Intimidate Ponchard Dorian Slightly Disapproves
  • If the Inquisitor has blackmailed Gaspard, Celene and Briala into working together for the Inquisition, threatening Ponchard will scare him into giving up the amulet immediately.
  • If the Inquisitor is a Qunari or a non-mage Trevelyan, threatening Ponchard will also work automatically. Sera Slightly Approves
• Kill Ponchard. (Only available after attempting to intimidate him.) Dorian Greatly Disapproves
  • If you kill Ponchard, you will not acquire the amulet. When you return to Skyhold, Dorian will not be impressed and any existing romance will end.

If Dorian is in the party and the amulet is acquired through intimidation, you will automatically return to Skyhold and enter into a cutscene with him. If he is not in the party, you will remain in Val Royeaux; then upon returning to Skyhold you can engage Dorian at your leisure to initiate a cutscene.

After the cutscene, talk to him again and he will say that there is something waiting in the Inquisitor's room. This is where the Inquisitor can choose to enter an exclusive relationship with Dorian, break off the relationship, or prefer "to keep this fun".^[note]

Results

• Completing the quest without killing Ponchard (regardless of whether the Inquisitor tells Dorian that he knows about the amulet, intimidates Ponchard, or any dialogue choices when giving Dorian the amulet in Skyhold): Dorian Greatly Approves
• Giving Dorian the amulet results in furthering the romance.
• Alternatively, killing Ponchard will terminate the relationship.

Notes

• If the Inquisitor takes Dorian along with him to Val Royeaux, the Inquisitor will shoot a look at Dorian when Dorian tries to correct Ponchard on their status as "friends".

Bugs

• While the last option to "keep this fun" is not marked to end the relationship with Dorian in the dialogue wheel, it will still result in the Inquistor no longer flagged as being in an active romance with Dorian. Speaking with him again will show the dialogue wheel to begin a romance with Dorian, but selecting it will yield no effect. This is effectively a soft-lock out of the romance (confirmed on ps4 and xboxone).
  • After this point, the Inquisitor can potentially pursue other romances, and Dorian will recognize as such when attempting to initiate a romance with him. However, some users report the other companion romances becoming bugged at this point as well:
    • The Iron Bull romance seems to be consistently broken, with the romance never initiating after this point (confirmed on ps4 and xboxone).
    • The Josephine romance has mixed results, with it initiating and progressing normally (confirmed on ps4) or failing to initiate at all, with Josephine speaking as if the Inquisitor is still in a romance with Dorian (confirmed on xboxone).
    • The Cassandra romance also can fail to initiate as well, with Cassandra speaking as if the Inquisitor is in a relationship already (confirmed on xboxone).
  • However, successfully initiating and ending another romance, and then attempting to start a romance with Dorian again will not fix the broken romance initiation dialogue (confirmed on ps4).