Changes: Velanna

Revision as of 03:05, 14 February 2020

“All people with power never fail to abuse it, even those with good intentions.”

Velanna is a Dalish elf mage and a potential companion in the Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion.

Background

Velanna was a quiet child who struggled to understand social interaction, and spent her time obsessively studying Elven history. This was in sharp contrast to her sister Seranni, who was two years her junior. Seranni was a cheerful and popular child who often attempted to include Velanna when she played with her friends. Velanna always failed to understand both the point of playing games and how to interact with her peers, and faced constant rejection.

Seranni's friends eventually stopped allowing Velanna to play with them. Velanna was devastated at the rejection, and she began to delve deeper and deeper into her studies. Her magic manifested when she was nine years old. She had long dreamed of being a mage, as she thought it would tie her further to the ancient elves, and when she finally produced a single flame in her hand, she immediately brought it to Keeper Ilshae and proclaimed that she would be the Keeper's First. Ilshae was impressed by Velanna's boldness and agreed. Ilshae nurtured Velanna's love of Elven history and in-time became like a second mother to her.^[1]

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

When some humans attempted to burn Velanna's clan out of the woods to prevent them from reaching their farms, Velanna was outraged and demanded revenge for their murder attempt, but Ilshae forbade it. Velanna called the Keeper a coward and was exiled. She left to seek vengeance on the humans with a handful of other elves and her sister, Seranni. The elves were attacked and killed, save Velanna herself and Seranni, who was seemingly taken captive. Believing the human merchant caravans traveling between the capital of the Arling of Amaranthine and Denerim to be responsible for the deaths of her comrades, Velanna begins using her magic to assault the caravans and their guards.

Involvement

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

The Warden-Commander and the Grey Wardens first encounter Velanna in the Wending Wood when they set out to protect the arlings' trade routes as part of The Righteous Path . Velanna has been murdering humans who cross her path in an attempt to terrorize the nearby villages. When the Warden-Commander explains their objective, Velanna agrees to stand aside to allow the Wardens to eliminate the Darkspawn. The Warden-Commander learns from a wounded Militiaman who has become a ghoul that it was actually the darkspawn who took Seranni and killed the other elves. Velanna suspects the Wardens of treachery and unleashes a pack of Sylvans on them. After slaying the Sylvans, the Warden-Commander corners Velanna at her campsite next to the cairns of her comrades. The Warden-Commander may slay Velanna for her deeds or reveal the Darkspawn's role in abducting her sister.

Once fully appraised of the situation, Velanna asks the Warden-Commander to join them in hunting down the darkspawn responsible for her sister's abduction in hopes of rescuing her. Together they track the darkspawn to the nearby Silverite Mine where they are captured by The Architect and imprisoned in its Laboratory. Velanna and the Wardens are freed from their cell by Seranni, now infected with the darkspawn taint, before she mysteriously vanishes. Together the party slay the gathered darkspawn however before they can kill it, the Architect escapes to the Deep Roads collapsing the passage behind it. Realizing that only Grey Warden training will grant her the abilities to track down the Architect and thus have any hope of rescuing her sister, Velanna offers to pledge herself to the order, in exchange for their unique powers. Velanna subsequently survives the Joining and becomes a full fledged Grey Warden.

Once her approval becomes high enough, Velanna will encounter a group of Dalish hunters from her clan, led by Maren. Velanna learns from them that Ilshae has passed on and this prompts Velanna to later reveal the circumstances that led to her leaving her clan to the Warden-Commander.

If Velanna is among the Warden squadron that attacks Drake's Fall, Seranni will be encountered one more time. Seranni and Velanna briefly discuss the similarities between the Architect's darkspawn and the Dalish before Seranni vanishes again, leaving Velanna bewildered.

Epilogue

Note: In Awakening, Epilogue slides are also affected by whether or not the relevant companion quests were completed and how high companions approval has been raised.

If left to defend Vigil's Keep, and the Warden chooses to save the City of Amaranthine, the surviving defenders watch in horror as a section of stone collapses upon her. When the rubble is later cleared, no body is found. Velanna is just gone. This occurs even if the walls are never breached.
If the Warden chooses to save Vigil's Keep, Velanna survives, though she does not return to her clan. Thanks to her friendship with the Warden Commander, she may eventually change her views on humankind. In the wake of the defeat of the Mother, when darkspawn stragglers attempt to attack a human village, Velanna single-handedly defends them.
If the Warden takes Velanna along and allies with the Architect against the Mother, Velanna will remain with the Wardens, but years later, on an expedition in the Deep Roads, Velanna takes off on her own after saying she had seen Seranni in the shadows. The other Wardens searched for her, but she was truly gone. Taking Velanna along during the final mission is not necessary; she might still have this even if she was not there when the Architect was spared.
If the Warden chooses to kill the Architect and Velanna survives the attack on Vigil's Keep (either because the Warden chose to save the Keep or was with Velanna when saving Amaranthine), she never sees her sister again. She partly blames the Commander for this, as she believes the Architect would have released her sister had they allied themselves with him, and this forever remains a source of friction between the two.

Quests

Velanna's Joining

Velanna's Exile

Gifts

Velanna favours items of elven heritage and objects that are her favourite color - green. Special dialogue can be obtained through befriending her and giving her a blank journal.

Name	Notes	Description

Blank Journal	Located: City of Amaranthine - Chantry of Our Lady Redeemer Plot Item	A fine leather binding surrounds crisp, wordless pages.
Carved Greenstone	Located: Kal'Hirol - Treasury in the trade quarter	Delicate greenstone engraved with eye-catching swirls.
Discarded Journal	Located: City of Amaranthine - Village	In this old journal, an elf who lived in Amaranthine writes about the hardships of daily life and the unrealized hopes of his people.
Elven Runestone	Located: Vigil's Keep- Deep roads Gem Mine	A flat stone bearing an elven rune.
Elven Trinket	Found in the Wending Wood	A carved ironbark trinket inlaid with silver and suspended from a leather cord.
Ornate Silver Bowl	Located: Blackmarsh	This antique bowl is embossed with graceful representations of elven halla.
Shiny Malachite	Located: Silverite Mines	A smooth piece of malachite, polished until glossy.

Initial statistics

Specialization

Keeper

Skills

Improved Herbalism Improved Combat Tactics

Spells

Equipment

Restricted gear

Keeper's Charm

Plot skills

As you befriend Velanna and gain her approval, she will gain the following additional skills:

Name	Benefit	Requirement
Inspired: Minor Magic	+1 magic	25% approval
Inspired: Moderate Magic	+2 magic	50% approval
Inspired: Major Magic	+4 magic	75% approval
Inspired: Massive Magic	+6 magic	90% approval

Note: These bonuses are non-cumulative, i.e. the total bonus is +6, not +13.

Dialogue points

Below are the spots where you can initiate dialogue with Velanna. On the PC, it can be hard to find the correct spot to click; make sure to hit "tab" and rotate the camera if it's not letting you click on it.

City of Amaranthine: a tree by the stairs to the Chantry
City of Amaranthine: as soon as you enter the city, there is an abandoned house on your right (later used for the Till Death Do Us Part quest) and two city elves nearby.
City of Amaranthine: Mervis (when handing in Trading Troubles)
Vigil's Keep: the statue of Andraste in the middle of the courtyard.

Quotes

Main article: Velanna/Dialogue

"You killed my friends and the merchants kidnapped my sister... They brought this on themselves just as you have!"
(About Andraste) "I should hate her, but I don't. I can respect a woman who fights for freedom and justice."
"Funny isn't it? Andraste fought a tyrannical empire, only to have her followers become one themselves."
"Stories connect us to our past. They shape a people in profound ways."
"I'm right here, you slack-jawed oafs! At least have the courtesy to speak when I pass by."

Dialogue

(When talking about Keenan)

Velanna: "'He wanted to make the world a better place'? What an insipid line. Is that really supposed to make her feel better about his death?"
Warden: "I'm not with her!"

Notes

If Sigrun and Justice are recruited before Velanna, you will not be able to do Velanna's Joining. To avoid this, simply head back to Vigil's Keep and talk to Varel before completing The Righteous Path.
The choices made regarding her are not customisable in the Dragon Age Keep.

Trivia

Her favorite color is green.
The writers weren't sure Anders would be the Awakening character coming over to Dragon Age II and merging with Justice — for a while it was going to be Velanna.^[2]
Anders makes a possible reference to Velanna whilst at the Dalish camp during Dragon Age II, stating how his experiences with Dalish women in the past have been crazy. He may also be referring to The Warden, If the Warden was a female Dalish
When Velanna is recruited, she is wearing a Ring of Study, however it is unknown how this came into her possession.
Velanna's vallaslin is unique to her and Seranni.

Bugs

Proceeding to complete the Silverite Mine without Velanna in the party will cause the plotline to be broken resulting in all sorts of strange behaviour such as Velanna becoming a permanent member of the teamxbox360 (see below for solution) and waking up back in the cell without the key when attempting to leave the mines.
xbox360 In addition to the bug where Velanna becomes locked to the party, it is also possible to have a full party and have her as an extra. Meaning you can have 5 party members but you cannot control her, the only fix to this bug is to restart the game (exit to the dashboard and go back). This also glitches the game- npcs with no body, white loading screen and blood appears as a red box on dead bodies.
xbox360 It is possible to have Velanna undergo The Joining and become a Grey Warden prior to completing the Silverite Mine and still get the dialogue where she asks to become a Grey Warden. This also clears the bug where she is locked to the team.
If Anders and Velanna are in the party simultaneously, Anders will sometimes initiate the same small talk lines multiple times with Velanna: "Have I ever told you that I find tattoos on women..."
pcxbox360 It is possible to get Velanna's approval to +100 by giving her a gift when she first joins your party. In order to not get the +100 approval bug with any of the characters, you need to do the "Blight Orfans Notis Bord" quests or Chanter's Board quests, that give (dis)approval to a character, only after you recruit that character. For example, if you do the From the Living Wood quest (which normally gives -1 approval to Velanna) before actually recruiting Velanna, that will get you the +100 approval bug with Velanna. Same goes for the quests for the "Blight Orfans". If you do quests that give (dis)approval to Justice or Sigrun before recruiting them, that will lead to the bug with them.
Her dialogue appears not to take the player's race into consideration. Ex: For an elven mage Warden, she consistently describes the Warden as human ("humans are all the same"), and Sigrun still informs Velanna that she is the first elf she has met, despite meeting the Warden earlier. This appears exclusive to mages, however, as Velanna gives the Warden a more friendly welcome if the Warden is of Dalish origin.
pcps3xbox360 While exploring the Wending Wood it is possible to accidentally trigger the conversation with the dying soldier at the Makeshift Lean-To by standing too far to the north of the very beginning portion of the map by the destroyed caravans. If this happens prior to your first meeting with Velanna it will break the plotline and make it impossible for you to trigger the second meeting and therefore prevents you from adding her as a party member.
pc If you kill Velanna instead of recruiting her and choose to defend Amaranthine you will get a codex entry saying she died at Vigil's Keep.

Gallery

References

↑ Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, pp. 122-123
↑ David Gaider. Answering questions: on Anders . Tumblr.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 == Background ==
-Velanna was a quiet child who struggled to understand social interaction, and spent her time obsessively studying Elven history. This was in sharp contrast to her sister [[Seranni]], who was two years her junior. Seranni was a cheerful, and popular child who often attempted to include Velanna when she played with her friends. Velanna always failed to understand both the point of playing games, and how to interact with her peers, and faced constant rejection.
+Velanna was a quiet child who struggled to understand social interaction, and spent her time obsessively studying Elven history. This was in sharp contrast to her sister [[Seranni]], who was two years her junior. Seranni was a cheerful and popular child who often attempted to include Velanna when she played with her friends. Velanna always failed to understand both the point of playing games and how to interact with her peers, and faced constant rejection.
-Seranni's friends eventually stopped allowing Velanna to play with them. Velanna was devasted at the rejection, and she began to delve deeper and deeper into her studies. Eventually Velanna's scholarship caught the eye of the clan's [[Keeper]] Ilshae, who selected Velanna as her first. Ilshae nurtured Velanna's love of Elven history and in-time became like a second mother to her.
+Seranni's friends eventually stopped allowing Velanna to play with them. Velanna was devastated at the rejection, and she began to delve deeper and deeper into her studies. Her magic manifested when she was nine years old. She had long dreamed of being a mage, as she thought it would tie her further to the ancient elves, and when she finally produced a single flame in her hand, she immediately brought it to [[Keeper]] Ilshae and proclaimed that she would be the Keeper's First. Ilshae was impressed by Velanna's boldness and agreed. Ilshae nurtured Velanna's love of Elven history and in-time became like a second mother to her.<ref>{{Cite wot2|122-123}}</ref>
 {{SpoilerDAOA|
-When some humans attempted to burn Velanna's clan out of the woods to prevent them from reaching their farms. Velanna was outraged and demanded revenge, but Ilshae forbade it. Velanna called the Keeper a coward and was exiled. She left to seek vengeance on the humans with a handful of other elves and her sister, [[Seranni]]. The elves were attacked and killed, save Velanna herself and Seranni, who was seemingly taken captive. Believing the human merchant caravans traveling between the [[City of Amaranthine|capital]] of the [[Arling of Amaranthine]] and [[Denerim]] to be responsible for the deaths of her comrades, Velanna begins using her magic to assault the caravans and their guards.}}
+When some humans attempted to burn Velanna's clan out of the woods to prevent them from reaching their farms, Velanna was outraged and demanded revenge for their murder attempt, but Ilshae forbade it. Velanna called the Keeper a coward and was exiled. She left to seek vengeance on the humans with a handful of other elves and her sister, [[Seranni]]. The elves were attacked and killed, save Velanna herself and Seranni, who was seemingly taken captive. Believing the human merchant caravans traveling between the [[City of Amaranthine|capital]] of the [[Arling of Amaranthine]] and [[Denerim]] to be responsible for the deaths of her comrades, Velanna begins using her magic to assault the caravans and their guards.}}
 == Involvement ==
-{{SpoilerDAOA| [[The Warden-Commander]] and the [[Grey Wardens]] first encounter Velanna in the [[Wending Wood]] when they set out to protect the arlings' trade routes. Velanna has been murdering humans who cross her path in an attempt to terrorize the nearby villages. When the Warden-Commander explains their objective, Velanna agrees to stand aside to allow the Wardens to eliminate the [[Darkspawn]].  The Warden-Commander learns from a wounded Militiaman who has become a [[Ghouls|ghoul]] that it was actually the [[darkspawn]] who took Seranni and killed the other elves. Velanna suspects the Wardens of treachery and unleashes a pack of [[Sylvan]]s on them. After slaying the Sylvans, the Warden-Commander corners Velanna at her campsite next to the cairns of her comrades. The Warden-Commander may slay Velanna for her deeds or reveal the Darkspawn's role in abducting her sister.
+{{SpoilerDAOA| [[The Warden-Commander]] and the [[Grey Wardens]] first encounter Velanna in the [[Wending Wood]] when they set out to protect the arlings' trade routes as part of [[The Righteous Path]] . Velanna has been murdering humans who cross her path in an attempt to terrorize the nearby villages. When the Warden-Commander explains their objective, Velanna agrees to stand aside to allow the Wardens to eliminate the [[Darkspawn]].  The Warden-Commander learns from a wounded Militiaman who has become a [[Ghouls|ghoul]] that it was actually the [[darkspawn]] who took Seranni and killed the other elves. Velanna suspects the Wardens of treachery and unleashes a pack of [[Sylvan]]s on them. After slaying the Sylvans, the Warden-Commander corners Velanna at her campsite next to the cairns of her comrades. The Warden-Commander may slay Velanna for her deeds or reveal the Darkspawn's role in abducting her sister.
 Once fully appraised of the situation, Velanna asks the Warden-Commander to join them in hunting down the darkspawn responsible for her sister's abduction in hopes of rescuing her. Together they track the darkspawn to the nearby [[Silverite Mine]] where they are captured by [[The Architect]] and imprisoned in its [[Architect's Lab|Laboratory]]. Velanna and the Wardens are freed from their cell by Seranni, now infected with the darkspawn taint, before she mysteriously vanishes. Together the party slay the gathered darkspawn however before they can kill it, the Architect escapes to the [[Deep Roads]] collapsing the passage behind it. Realizing that only Grey Warden training will grant her the abilities to track down the Architect and thus have any hope of rescuing her sister, Velanna offers to pledge herself to the order, in exchange for their unique powers. Velanna subsequently survives the [[Joining]] and becomes a full fledged Grey Warden.
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 Once her approval becomes high enough, Velanna will [[Velanna's Exile|encounter]] a group of Dalish hunters from her clan, led by Maren. Velanna learns from them that Ilshae has passed on and this prompts Velanna to later reveal the circumstances that led to her leaving her clan to the Warden-Commander.
-If Velanna is among the Warden squadron that attacks [[Drake's Fall]], Seranni will be countered one more time. Seranni and Velanna briefly discuss the similarities between the Architect's darkspawn and the Dalish before Seranni vanishes again, leaving Velanna bewildered.
+If Velanna is among the Warden squadron that attacks [[Drake's Fall]], Seranni will be encountered one more time. Seranni and Velanna briefly discuss the similarities between the Architect's darkspawn and the Dalish before Seranni vanishes again, leaving Velanna bewildered.
 === Epilogue ===
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 * If the Warden takes Velanna along and allies with the [[Architect]] against the Mother, Velanna will remain with the Wardens, but years later, on an expedition in the Deep Roads, Velanna takes off on her own after saying she had seen Seranni in the shadows. The other Wardens searched for her, but she was truly gone. Taking Velanna along during the final mission is not necessary; she might still have this even if she was not there when the Architect was spared.
 * If the Warden chooses to kill the Architect and Velanna survives the attack on Vigil's Keep (either because the Warden chose to save the Keep or was with Velanna when saving Amaranthine), she never sees her sister again. She partly blames the Commander for this, as she believes the Architect would have released her sister had they allied themselves with him, and this forever remains a source of friction between the two.}}
-[[Category:Characters]]
-[[Category:Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening characters]]
-[[Category:Heroes of Dragon Age characters]]
-[[Category:Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening companions]]
-[[Category:Elves]]
-[[Category:Dalish]]
-[[Category:Magi]]
-[[Category:Apostates]]
-[[Category:Grey Wardens]]
 == Quests ==
@@ Line 138: / Line 129: @@
 === Dialogue ===
 ''(When talking about [[Keenan]])''
-* '''Velanna''': "He wanted to make the world a better place"? What an insipid line. Is that really supposed to make her feel better about his death?"
+* '''Velanna''': "'He wanted to make the world a better place'? What an insipid line. Is that really supposed to make her feel better about his death?"
 * '''Warden''': "I'm not with her!"
@@ Line 147: / Line 138: @@
 == Trivia ==
 * Her favorite color is green.
-* The writers weren't sure [[Anders]] would be the ''Awakening'' character coming over to Dragon Age II and merging with [[Justice]] — for a while it was going to be Velanna.<ref>Gaider, David. [http://dgaider.tumblr.com/post/38614655213/answering-questions-on-anders "Answering questions: on Anders."] Tumblr.</ref>
+* The writers weren't sure [[Anders]] would be the ''Awakening'' character coming over to Dragon Age II and merging with [[Justice]] — for a while it was going to be Velanna.<ref>{{Tumblr|author=[[David Gaider]]|url=http://dgaider.tumblr.com/post/38614655213/answering-questions-on-anders Answering questions: on Anders}}</ref>
 * [[Anders]] makes a possible reference to Velanna whilst at the Dalish camp during ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', stating how his experiences with Dalish women in the past have been crazy. He may also be referring to The Warden, If the Warden was a female Dalish
 * When Velanna is recruited, she is wearing a [[Ring of Study]], however it is unknown how this came into her possession.
@@ Line 163: / Line 154: @@
 == Gallery ==
-<gallery widths="199" captionalign="center">
+<gallery>
 Velanna casting spell.png|Encountering Velanna in the [[Wending Wood]]
+Velanna HoDA tier.jpg|Artwork of Velanna's tier progression in ''[[Heroes of Dragon Age]]''
 VelannaHoDA_Tier4.jpg|Tier progression of Velanna in ''[[Heroes of Dragon Age]]''
 HoDA_GW_Velanna.jpg|Tier progression of [[Grey Warden]] Velanna in ''Heroes of Dragon Age''
+Gxa velanna.png|Velanna's epilogue slide in Awakening
 </gallery>
 == References ==
-<references />
+<references/>
 == See also ==
@@ Line 178: / Line 171: @@
 [[de:Velanna]]
+[[es:Velanna]]
 [[Category:Characters]]
 [[Category:Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening characters]]

Arcane	Arcane Bolt
Keeper	One With Nature
Primal	Flame Blast Flaming Weapons Fireball Inferno Rock Armor Stonefist
Creation	Heal
Spirit	Walking Bomb Mind Blast
Entropy	Vulnerability Hex Affliction Hex Misdirection Hex Drain Life Death Magic Curse of Mortality

Weapons	Heart of the Forest
Clothing	Skins of the Keeper
Armor	Pocketed Searing Gloves Imperial Weavers
Accessories	Earthen Cinch Halla Horn Keeper's Charm Ring of Study