History Recap / DragonAgeOrigins

!!The Final Battle

Once the matter is done, the Warden and their companions head back to Redcliffe, where the darkspawn are rumoured to be moving to attack. However, after fending off an attack on Eamon's castle, they discover from Riordan they have been duped; contrary to what all their intelligence suggested, the bulk of the darkspawn horde has circled around them and is now moving to attack Denerim. With most of its soldiers having gone to reinforce Redcliffe, the capital city is all but defenceless and to make matters worse, the archdemon itself is personally leading the attack. The gathered forces decide to make a forced march back to Denerim; if they can kill the archdemon before it and its army move on from sacking the city, they can end the Blight before it spreads beyond Ferelden. In private, however, Riordan explains why the Grey Wardens are essential to stopping the Blight; while archdemons are not invulnerable, if an ordinary warrior strikes a fatal blow against the dragon, its spirit will survive its body's death and find a new host in the nearest darkspawn, making the archdemon effectively immortal. If a Grey Warden deals the killing blow however, the archdemon's spirit will be drawn into the Warden's body, killing them both. Riordan is willing to make that sacrifice, but warns the other Wardens they must be prepared to do the same if needs be.

It is after this meeting that Morrigan confronts the Warden in their chambers and offers an alternative: a magical ritual that involves a Grey Warden conceiving a child with her. The child will possess the taint and at such an early stage in its development, absorb the archdemon's spirit without perishing, ending the Blight but sparing the Grey Warden the need to die to do so. In return, Morrigan gains a child born with the soul of an Old God, effectively a demi-god that she intends to raise by herself for her own ends (Morrigan freely admits this has been the sole reason she accompanied the Wardens, and the sole reason Flemeth saved their lives at Ostagar). The Warden can either sleep with Morrigan or, if they are unwilling or female, convince Alistair or Loghain to do it. If her offer is refused, Morrigan leaves.

The Wardens and their army march to Denerim and a bloody battle ensues between the forces they have gathered and the darkspawn rampaging through the city. In the course of the battle, Riordan is able to cripple the archdemon to stop it escaping Denerim, though doing so costs him his life. Fighting their way through the city, the Warden confronts the archdemon at the summit of Fort Drakon, a fortress that is the tallest building in the city, and after a climactic final battle against the archdemon and the darkspawn trying to defend it, brings the dragon down. If the ritual with Morrigan is performed, the Warden automatically deals the fatal blow; if not, they must decide whether they or their companion will sacrifice their life to kill the monster. Either way, the archdemon is slain, and the darkspawn horde, robbed of the will to fight on without their leader, retreat from Denerim in disarray, bringing the Fifth Blight to an end.

The story concludes with the new monarch of Ferelden being crowned, the Warden and their companions being honoured for their bravery in fighting the Blight and an epilogue detailing the consequences of the Warden's choices over the course of the story for Ferelden and Thedas.

* [[Recap/DragonAgeOriginsAParagonOfHerKind A Paragon of her Kind]]

!!The Landsmeet

Once all these allies have been gathered, the Warden returns to Redcliffe to find that concurrently to their quest, Ferelden has collapsed into civil war. Loghain, convinced the Blight is a hoax to allow a new Orlesian invasion of Feredlden, has refused to resign the regency despite the accusations of his involvement in Cailan's death and the Fereldan nobility's refusal to bow down to his authority has caused a civil war. Even worse, the darkspawn have taken advantage of the chaos to advance further into Ferelden unopposed. At this time, Eamon and Alistair reveal a secret; Alistair is a bastard son of King Maric, King Cailan's half-brother. He was raised by Eamon away from court to stop Cailan's enemies using him as a pawn, but with Cailan dead, Alistair possesses a better claim to the throne of Ferelden as a blood son of King Maric than Queen Anora, Loghain's daughter and Cailan's widow. Eamon proposes a Landsmeet, a political gathering of all Ferelden's nobility in the capital city, Denerim, where they can put forward their case to dethrone Loghain and place Alistair on the throne.

Upon arrival in Denerim and after a brief attempt by Loghain to intimidate them into submission, the Warden is discreetly contacted by Erlina, a handmaiden of Queen Anora herself. The Queen has come to suspect her father's role in her husband's death, and fearing Loghain's pigheaded stubbornness will leave Ferelden defenceless against the darkspawn horde, is willing to offer an alliance to stop her father. At present however, Loghain's chief lieutenant, Arl Rendon Howe, is keeping her as a virtual hostage at his estate in Denerim, and Anora believes Howe, with her father's consent, plans to assassinate her and pin the killing on Eamon and the Warden to destroy their credibility at the Landsmeet. Given the seriousness of that threat, and the fact Anora could be an invaluable source of information on Loghain, the Warden and their companions mount a rescue mission. In the course of rescuing Anora, killing Howe along the way, the Warden can free a number of prisoners whose testimony would prove damning to Loghain at the Landsmeet. Among them is an Orlesian Grey Warden called Riordan, who was sent to investigate what was going on after Ostagar and why Loghain was blaming the Grey Wardens for the disaster.

Back at Eamon's estate, the Warden must make a choice who they will back; Anora is willing to support the Warden and Eamon against her father, but makes it clear her support is conditional on them backing her claim to the throne. The two claimants for the throne have both good and bad points; Alistair has little experience with politics and ruling, but he is a good man willing to learn, and with the right guidance and direction could become a good king in time. Anora, on the other hand, is an experienced politician and diplomat, having been Ferelden's de facto ruler for years, but like her father, she is proud, stubborn and arrogantly overconfident in her abilities, and the fact she was never able to give Cailan a child cast serious doubts about her ability to continue the royal line. Anora does however provide the Warden with information regarding potentially damning acts and practices Loghain has condoned amongst his forces that would help shatter his credibility at the Landsmeet. Once they have completed their investigations, the Landsmeet begins in earnest; Loghain continues to blame the Grey Wardens for the defeat at Ostagar and being facilitators of a new Orlesian conquest of Ferelden, while the Warden argues the severity of the threat posed by the Blight and lists the atrocities Loghain has committed (including torture, assassination, murder, endorsing slavery) in a bid to retain a throne he has no right to. Whether by political means or direct force, the Landsmeet turns against Loghain and strips him of his power and authority, leaving his fate in the hands of the victorious Warden.

The Warden must now make a choice; Anora wants her father spared, both out of paternal loyalty and because of his years of previously loyal service to the nation, while Alistair wants the man whose treachery cost his half-brother, his mentor Duncan and his friends in the Grey Wardens their lives executed. Riordan offers a compromise between both sides in putting Loghain through the Joining; if he dies in the ritual, justice is served for his crimes, and if he lives, the Grey Wardens gain a skilled military commander to their ranks. The Warden must decide Loghain's fate and the matter of who takes the throne of Ferelden in Cailan's place (either Alistair or Anora rules alone, the pair join together in a political marriage, or a Human Noble Warden can arrange matters to rule besides them- a male Warden can rule besides Anora as Prince Consort, while a female Warden can wed Alistair and become his Queen, though this is dependent on certain conditions- if Loghain is executed, Anora will refuse to wed her father's killer, and if he is spared, Alistair leaves the party in disgust).

!!The Four Main Recruitment Quests

* Alistair suggests seeking aid from Arl Eamon Guerrin, the elder of King Cailan's maternal uncles and a popular man amongst Ferelden's nobility. As his forces did not fight at Ostagar, his army remains the largest not sworn to Loghain. Unfortunately, Eamon has been struck down by a strange and mysterious illness that defies all efforts to heal it. The Arl's pious wife, Lady Isolde, is convinced the only thing that can save her husband now is the Urn of Sacred Ashes, a container for the mortal remains of Andraste, the Chantry's messianic figure, said to have incredible healing powers, and implores the Warden and their company to find the Urn.
* The Circle of Magi, a Chantry-operated organisation that monitors and polices the use of magic, have long aided the Grey Wardens in the Blights. However, upon arrival at the Circle's stronghold in Ferelden, the Wardens discover an insurrection has taken place; mages in league with Loghain tried to convince the Circle to back Loghain's claim to the regency, but when others revealed his treachery at Ostagar, a battle broke out between both sides, and in the chaos, legions of demons were let loose, killing many and possessing others. The Warden must work quickly to put an end to the disaster, if they are to ensure the Circle's magic will be at their side against the darkspawn.
* The Dalish elf clans, nomadic survivors of the long fallen elven empire, have little love for the kingdoms of humanity, but the darkspawn will not spare them either and they are compelled to aid the Grey Wardens against the Blight. Encountering a Dalish clan within the forests to the south-east of Ferelden, the Warden's party discover the elves are being attacked by werewolves, and many in the clan have been infected with lycanthropy. The clan's Keeper (a mixture of tribal chieftain and shaman) Zathrian, requests the Warden bring him the heart of the werewolves' leader, as it will allow him to cure the afflicted, but as they venture into the forests, the Wardens discover that the werewolves seek redress of an ancient wrong done to them by the elves, and the Warden must decide whose side they will take in a bitter dispute spanning centuries.
* With the death of their king Endrin Aeducan, the dwarves of the city of Orzammar are in disarray as bitter infighting over who next takes the throne rages, while criminal elements in the city are taking advantage of the chaos to enrich themselves. The Warden finds themselves forced to side with one of the two candidates for the dwarven throne; either Lord Pyral Harrowmont, the late King's chief advisor, said to be a good man but one devoted to the conservative traditions of the dwarves, or Prince Bhelen Aeducan, King Endrin's last surviving son, who favours change and wants to advance Orzammar's society, but is regarded with suspicion due to rumours he arranged the assassination and disgrace of his elder siblings to advance up the line of succession. After helping their chosen candidate amass political and popular support while restoring law and order to Orzammar, the Warden is asked to complete one final task to swing the balance completely in their candidate's favour: with the dwarven Assembly deadlocked, the only one who can sway the debate is a woman called Branka. A Paragon of the Dwarves, recognised for her genius and abilities so highly she is the closest thing the dwarves have to a living god, if Branka were to return and give her backing to one candidate or the other, the dwarves would be obliged to accept her choice. Unfortunately, Branka is gone from the city; two years earlier, she departed into the Deep Roads, a network of continent-spanning underground tunnels that once allowed the dwarves to traverse the length and breadth of Thedas, now long since abandoned and overrun with darkspawn, in search of some ancient dwarven artefact, and while most in Orzammar assume she's long dead, the stakes are now too high to simply take that as fact. The Warden, accompanied by Branka's ex-husband, the dwarven warrior Oghren, must journey through miles of hostile territory to find Branka and convince her to return and give her blessing to allow the dwarves a new king.

!!Return to Ostagar (DLC)

!!!A King's Confidant

After the initial journey through Lothering, a travel location on the map known as Bann Loren's Lands will open up to the player if the Return to Ostagar DLC is installed. Bann Loren's allegiances to any Ferelden faction are questionable at best, so the likelihood of his men attacking anyone who encroaches on his land is high. Located just northeast of the Circle of Magi's Kinloch Hold, the player and company appear in a forest area of Bann Loren's Lands only to stumble across some of Loren's private soldiers confronting a wealthy looking male. The player recognizes this person as Elric Maraigne, who was one of King Cailan's honor guards that fought at Ostagar. Loren's men stab Elric in the torso, which they then notice the arrival of the player's group, and a battle breaks out.

After disposing of Loren's private soldiers, the player and company check to see if Elric's still alive, who fell over unconscious due to the attack. They manage to wake Elric up, but the stab injury is deemed a death sentence, so he doesn't have long to live. With little time remaining, Elric thanks the player and company for the rescue, and explains of how he deserted the Ostagar battlefield after it became clear that they were going to lose the fight due to Loghain's betrayal, and that he ended up in Loren's prison when he was running away through Bann Loren's Lands. Elric also mentions that while he managed to escape, he ended up being caught by the Loren soldiers that were killed just now. He then informs the player and company that King Cailan provided him the key to the royal arms chest that's still at Ostagar, and that if anything was to happen to the King, it's vital that it's given to the Grey Wardens.

The player asks if Elric still has the key, which he states that it's thankfully not in Bann Loren's hands. That the key's stored away back at the Ostagar camp as he was worried of losing it during the fight against the darkspawn. Elric then informs the player that the key is behind a loose rock on a statue at Ostagar, and even draws a map for them to know where to search. He also warns the player that when they go to Ostagar, it's vital that the King's documents, along with his weapons and armor, don't fall into the wrong hands. Elric also wishes that they give King Cailan's body a proper send off rather than have it rot to the darkspawn. It's at this point that Elric takes his last breath and dies. The player and company then depart from Bann Loren's Lands to go back to Ostagar. Alistair being the most interested in following along given that he was part of the lost battle.

!!!Return to Ostagar

The player and company arrive back at Ostagar, which has become snowed over and overrun by darkspawn. They arrive through Ostagar's upper west fortress entrance, which the player's group fights through the darkspawn stationed in the western half of the fortress. Along with looting Cailan's Greaves and Shield off the darkspawn commanders in the area, the player and company find the royal arms chest's key that Elric hid at the statue he mentioned. The nearby kennel will also have a Mabari Dog to recruit if the player still doesn't have one by this point. Investigating what's left of Cailan's camp tent, the player and company find the locked royal chest, and use the special key to open it. The player finds within said chest the King's powerful sword, Maric's Blade, along with the mentioned documents known as the Secret Correspondence.

Within the Secret Correspondence are three documents. Two of them reveal what would have been King Cailan's future plan to divorce Queen Anora. It turns out that he was secretly forging an alliance by marriage with Empress Celene I of Orlais to bring peace to the two kingdoms that hate one another. However, the marriage had to be postponed due to the arrival of the Blight, and that while Empress Celene was set to send an army of Orlais to support King Cailan in Ferelden, Loghain's timely betrayal kept that from happening. The third document is a letter from Arl Eamon informing his nephew, the King, that his forces at Redcliffe are ready to join the battle against the Blight. However, he begs Cailan to not fight with the Grey Wardens on the front line as Ferelden can't afford to lose its King. In addition, it's revealed in the letter that it was Eamon who urged the King to divorce Queen Anora due to the latter's struggles to birth a child that would continue the royal bloodline.

Crossing the bridge that leads to the fortress' eastern half, the player and company stumble upon the corpse of King Cailan, which the darkspawn hung up as a trophy as a way to celebrate their victory at Ostagar. The player and company look upon the King's corpse in sadness as a darkspawn necromancer notices their arrival. The necromancer summons up a couple skeletons, and then retreats back into the eastern half of Ostagar. After disposing of the skeletons, the player and company cross the remainder of the bridge to reach the eastern side of the fortress.

Upon entering the east side of Ostagar's fortress, the player's group continues to fight through the darkspawn. They manage to loot Cailan's Gauntlets and Breastplate off the darkspawn commanders in the area, and then arrive at the entrance to the Tower of Ishal that the necromancer retreated into. Entering the Tower of Ishal, the player and company chase after the necromancer while fighting through any darkspawn that bars their way. They eventually arrive at one of the leftover tunnel holes that the darkspawn opened when they were digging their way up into the Tower of Ishal during the Battle of Ostagar. Knowing that the necromancer retreated into the tunnel, the player's group enter it to continue the chase.

The player and company fight through a lower area of the Tower of Ishal, which is overrun by darkspawn and corrupted spiders. They eventually find the exit, which takes the player's group out to the lower Ostagar battlefield where King Cailan, Warden-Commander Duncan, and their combined forces all lost their lives fighting the darkspawn. The corpse of the darkspawn ogre that Duncan killed during the battle remains on the field, which the cornered necromancer raises, and sends it after the player's group as a powerful risen ogre. A battle breaks out on what was once the major ground battlefield of Ostagar. The battle being the player's group against the necromancer and its minions that include the risen ogre. The player and company come out victorious, which they manage to retrieve Duncan's unique dagger and sword weapons off the risen ogre along with looting Cailan's Helm off the necromancer.

Having successfully gathered up all of King Cailan's belongings, the player's group returns to Cailan's corpse. A decision is made as to what should be done with the King's body. Either he's given an honorable funeral pyre, the corpse gets thrown to the wolves, or it gets left where it is. Following the decision, the player and company finally depart from Ostagar.

!!The Stone Prisoner (DLC)

!!!Sulcher's Pass

After the initial journey through Lothering, a travel location on the map known as Sulcher's Pass will open up to the player if the Stone Prisoner DLC is installed. Sulcher's Pass being far to the west serving as the Frostback Mountain gateway between the kingdoms of Ferelden and Orlais. Upon arriving at Sulcher's Pass, the player and company come across a Ferelden merchant escaping from the Blight named Felix de Grosbois. Felix remains stuck for the time being due to the mule that was carrying his supplies having run off. The player asks if he needs help fetching the mule, which Felix assures the player that he already has someone else doing that job. However, he informs the player of something else he could use some help with.

Felix explains of how he purchased an artifact only for it to turn out that he has no use for it. The artifact being a control rod for a golem that can be found in Honnleath; a remote village in the southwest of Ferelden that's been overrun by darkspawn. Given that the player's group looks like a party of adventurers that can fight darkspawn, Felix offers to give them the control rod under the belief that them having a golem at their side will help accomplish their goals. He also mentions that the command phrase to work the control rod is to say "dulef gar." The player accepts the control rod, and then heads off to Honnleath with their companions.

!!!The Golem in Honnleath

The player and company arrive at the southwestern Ferelden village of Honnleath. Just like Felix warned, the village is now overrun by darkspawn, which the player's group fights through in order to reach the golem. Eventually, they come across the golem in the middle of the village. Almost as if it's an outside statue for the villagers or tourists to look at. Upon closer inspection, the player and company can see that the golem is dwarven made. The player then holds up the control rod towards the golem while saying the "dulef gar" command phrase, but for some reason, the control rod isn't working.

The player's group explores around Honnleath, such as investigating the home of a deceased mage named Wilhelm Sulzbacher that's now infested by darkspawn. They fight through the darkspawn infested basement cellar of Wilhelm's home, and eventually come across a magical barrier that's protecting a few of Honnleath's surviving villagers. The villagers behind the barrier ask if rescue has finally arrived, which the player informs them that they were just here for the golem. One of the villagers gets the gist of what's going on that the player and company must have the control rod to work Shale, which is what the golem is named. Said villager that mentioned Shale turns out to be the mage holding up the barrier, who drops it to speak privately with the player. Given that the player's group removed the darkspawn within the cellar, the other villagers use the opening to escape from Honnleath.

!!!Matthias, Amalia and the Desire Demon

Alone, the villager mage reveals to the player that he's Wilhelm's son, Matthias, and that his mother sold the control rod away after the golem killed his father years ago. Wanting nothing to do with the golem that killed Wilhelm, Matthias is fine with the player taking the golem away. However, the player reveals that the control rod's not working for some reason, which catches Matthias' attention. Matthias then asks for help as it turns out his daughter, Amalia, is still lost somewhere within the part of the cellar that acts as Wilhelm's laboratory. He warns the player that the laboratory has defenses set up, yet Matthias remains confused as to how Amalia got by them. The player agrees to help, and heads deeper into the cellar towards Wilhelm's laboratory.

Journeying down to the laboratory, the player's group fights through a couple wraiths, which shows that Wilhelm's laboratory has a demonic presence. They eventually arrive at the lab containing a floor puzzle along with the missing daughter, who's accompanied by a small orange kitten that the daughter named "Kitty." The player informs Amalia that her father is worried about her, but the daughter assures them that she's fine, and that they should leave if they're not going to play with her and Kitty. Amalia then explains that she can't leave as Kitty would be lonely, which the cat's eyes then start to glow purple. Kitty speaks calling Amalia kind for not leaving and making it lonely. Thus, revealing that the cat is actually a shapeshifted desire demon that's influencing Amalia to stay.

The player warns Amalia to get away from the cat, but it has no effect as the desire demon taunts them that the girl is friends with it. Thus, Amalia won't leave with complete strangers. The player makes it clear that they're not leaving without Amalia, which the desire demon offers a deal. The deal being that to avoid a confrontation, they allow the desire demon to escape the laboratory that it's trapped within by possessing Amalia, and then return to the girl's father. The player isn't convinced how possession does Amalia any good, which the desire demon explains that it just wants to see the world from Amalia's eyes rather than actually harm the girl in any way.

A choice is made regarding the desire demon. Some choices allow the desire demon to get to live free out in the world by either possessing Amalia or Matthias. Attacking the desire demon right away would result in Amalia's death. The choice that kills the desire demon while Amalia and Matthias remain safe is to complete the lab's floor puzzle to drop the barrier that's keeping the desire demon trapped within the lab. This provides a moment where the desire demon believing to have been freed can be caught off-guard for Amalia to run free while the player's group attacks and kills the desire demon. Whatever choice is made, the player and company then returns to Matthias, who thanks them for their efforts in potentially rescuing his daughter. Knowing that the player's group was probably given the wrong command phrase, Matthias provides for them the true words to activate the golem as "dulen harn." Matthias and his daughter, if she's still alive, then depart as the player's group makes their way back out of the cellar.

!!!Recruiting Shale

Back outside, the player and company return to the golem known as Shale that's residing in the middle of Honnleath village. The player holds up the control rod to Shale while stating the "dulen harn" command phrase, which this time around, the golem awakens and starts moving. Turning out to be a golem that can speak, Shale states that it knew that a day would come that someone would finally bring the control rod. Shale explains how it was actually conscious the entire time that it remained stuck in place, and that for the past 30 years, it had to watch the Honnleath villagers scurry around it. However, it also doesn't deny that it kind of came to enjoy the company of the villagers, and wonders if they're okay given the recent darkspawn attack on Honnleath. The player asks if Shale has a true name, which it explains that people originally just saw it as a golem, and ordered the golem through the control rod to perform certain tasks. However, Shale notes that something feels off compared to when it was just a golem that followed the rod's orders.

The golem asks the player to give it and order, which the player tells Shale to move. However, the golem doesn't move as commanded, which leaves Shale wondering if the control rod is now broken as it no longer feels the compulsion to follow the rod's orders. The player asks what Shale will do from now on, which the golem realizes that it now has free will. However, Shale has no idea what to do given that it's been stuck as a statue for 30 years. The player informs Shale that it killed its original master years ago, which it's implied that the golem probably got sick of Wilhelm trying to give it orders. The golem asks why the player's group chose to awaken it, which the player explains that they're on a quest to end the threat of the darkspawn. Thus, Shale realizes that it has two choices to either follow the player's group, or go off and do its own thing. The player offers for the golem to follow along, which Shale accepts. After properly introducing themselves to each other, the player's group with Shale as a new companion finally depart from Honnleath.

!!Warden's Keep (DLC)

!!!Meeting with Levi Dryden

After the initial journey through Lothering, a Ferelden citizen named Levi Dryden will pop up at the player's campsite, and can be talked to if the Warden's Keep DLC is installed. The player approaches Levi, who introduces himself as a past friend of Duncan that helped bring the Grey Wardens back to Ferelden. Levi explains that he had a past discussion with Duncan about promising to investigate something important one day, but it's no longer possible given Duncan's death. The player asks what the investigation is, which Levi explains of how his Dryden family doesn't have much of a reputation these days. However, he points out that his great-great-grandmother, Sophia Dryden, was once the Warden-Commander of Ferelden, but because of the Grey Wardens' reputation as freeloaders back in the day, Ferelden's past King, Arland Theirin, chose to banish the Wardens. This included taking away all of House Dryden's family possessions, even their land and noble titles, which left them with nothing, and Sophia's proud history gone.

Levi continues on that even to this day, his family reveres Sophia Dryden. That he's looking for evidence to reveal to everyone that Sophia was once a person of legend rather than an unimportant nobody after her status was stripped away. He reveals to the player that what they do know about Sophia Dryden is that she died at an old Grey Warden base in Ferelden known as Soldier's Peak. The player asks why Levi doesn't just go there himself, which Levi explains that no one's been there in years, and that he's been spending the past few years just figuring out the map on how to get there, and only recently discovered the main location of Soldier's Peak. Levi adds that he was hoping for Duncan to be the one to first investigate it since there's no telling what dangers now live there after all these years. In return, the player agrees to help. Levi appreciates it, which the map he provides shows that Soldier's Peak is located in northern Ferelden.

!!!Soldier's Peak

The player's group follows along with Levi to Soldier's Peak, which appears as a large Grey Warden fortress at the top of a mountain. Given that Levi's not much of a fighter, he tells the player that he will follow close behind while the player and company explore around and dispose of any danger. They pass through the outer gate of Soldier's Peak to reach the frontal courtyard only to suddenly be hit with a vision. The vision showing a group of King Arland's soldiers trying to break into Soldier's Peak to kill off the Grey Wardens that have barricaded themselves up within the fortress. Given the struggle to break in, the soldiers decide to just wait it out to keep the Grey Wardens trapped until they starve to death. After the vision, Levi and the player both admit that they saw it. Levi questioning if the place is haunted, which it turns out that the Veil between the human world and the Fade is weak at Soldier's Peak for some reason. Thus, demonic magic might be at play here.

Exploring further into Soldier's Peak, the demonic magic from the Veil rift raises up the corpses of the Grey Wardens and King Arland's soldiers that litter the fortress, which they attack the player and company as skeletal forces. Within the keep is a side-quest to follow Asturian's notes. Asturian was the Commander of the Grey who oversaw the construction of Soldier's Peak, which following the note clues leads the player to Asturian's hidden stash that provides gold and two unique items: a Shadow Belt, and a unique sword, Asturian's Might. Eventually, the player's group enters into the main keep of Soldier Peak. They have another vision where they see Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden holding down the fort against King Arland's forces. As her mage ally, Avernus, provides the bad news that his magic won't be of much help from here on out, Sophia proceeds to give a heroic speech to her fellow Grey Wardens that they will hold out and fight down to the last breath rather than become a part of King Arland's tyranny. After the vision, Levi is proud to see that Sophia's past greatness is true, but is also disgusted that King Arland went so far as to try to kill Ferelden's Grey Wardens.

Continuing on through the keep of Soldier's Peak, the player's group starts to come across demon summons that they have to fight through. They eventually come across a badly burned book that provides another vision involving an archivist working within the keep. A woman with the archivist warns him that they've run out of time as the keeps about to fall, which the archivist states his disappointment they were so close to accomplishing their grand rebellion. The woman complains that Grey Wardens such as them should never have gone against the rulers of Ferelden as they're interrupted by soldiers breaking in. The vision ends, which Levi questions what this "rebellion" is that they were referring to. However, there's still not much to go on, which the group continues on through the keep. Further into Soldier's Peak, the player's group eventually comes across a spot in the keep where the rift in the Veil is at its strongest due to summoning circles that were left behind on the floor.

Upon investigating the summoning circles, the group has another vision where they see Commander Sophia, Avernus, and what's left of her Grey Warden forces battling it out with King Arland's soldiers that have invaded the keep. Avernus goes so far as to summon in demon allies to fight Arland's soldiers, but they quickly turn on him, and start killing off the Grey Wardens. Avernus tries to order his demons to fight the actual enemy, but one of the demons refuses; claiming that Avernus's body now belongs to it. Left in despair, Avernus deserts from the battle by running away to a higher floor of Soldier's Peak; leaving Sophia and the remaining Grey Wardens to die. Thus, the rift between the normal world and the Fade remains open since Avernus didn't cancel the summoning circles. Following the vision, the player and company dispose of the demons in the area. Levi then discusses about the vision, which it comes as a surprise and disappointment to him that a Grey Warden mage went so far as to summon in demons, and that Sophia knew about it. The player tries to reassure him that Sophia was in a desperate situation, but Levi still remains disappointed having thought that House Dryden wouldn't stoop so low as to summon demons.

!!!Sophia and Avernus

Fighting on through the keep, the door up to the higher level turns out to be blocked by a magic barrier, but the nearby Commander's quarter room remains open. Upon investigating the quarter room, the player's group stumble upon the walking corpse of Sophia Dryden, which is possessed by a demon. Knowing the threat that the player and company pose having fought their way through Soldier's Peak, the demon possessed Sophia offers a deal. The demon explains that the mage that's holed up on the top floor set up some sort of magic device that's keeping the demons locked up in Soldier's Peak. As a result, the deal is that if it's freed from being trapped within the keep, the demon will seal the rift in the Veil that's been pouring demons of the Fade into Soldier's Peak. The player either chooses to help the demon, which would release the demon possessed Sophia out into the world, or the player's group refuses, and disposes of the demon right there; leaving behind just Sophia's corpse.

Departing from the Commander's quarters, the magic barrier blocking the door to the upper level has been lifted. The player and company fights their way up the keep until coming across a room of caged skeletons along with a book detailing Avernus' notes and brutal experiments. The notes explaining that Avernus' blood magic tests on his captives were moving along quite well, but that he ended up running out of live subjects to test on despite being so close to having a break through. Continuing on up the keep, the player's group and Levi eventually arrive at Avernus' sanctum at the top of Soldier's Peak. Within the sanctum, they find Avernus still alive, and continuing his work as an old mage. Avernus gets the gist that the player's group are the reason the demon numbers within the keep have dwindled, which the player calls out Avernus' as a monster for relying on demons and performing blood magic experiments. However, Avernus defends his actions that summoning demons, and doing blood magic tests on Ferelden nobles for some sort of power breakthrough, were necessary due to King Arland trying to kill the Soldier's Peak Grey Wardens.

Levi uses the meeting to ask Avernus if there's any proof about how great Sophia was during her past days as the Warden-Commander, but Avernus provides him the bad news that while he knows from personal experience how strong and influential Sophia was, there's no evidence remaining. The answer disappoints Levi knowing that the Dryden family's honor can't be restored, but he remains satisfied that he finally has closure regarding Sophia. The player is then given a choice regarding what to do with Avernus. Either Avernus is fought with given his heinous actions, or Avernus is convinced to make amends, which he wishes to close the Veil rift himself. If Avernus lives, he travels back down the keep to the location where he abandoned Sophia to die, which is the spot where the rift in the Veil is at the strongest due to Avernus' actions when he originally tried to summon in demons.

When Avernus and the player's group arrive back at the rift location, Avernus explains that he will go about undoing the summoning circles that he created so long ago, which will finally fix the rift. However, he warns that the demons will surely try to attack to keep the rift from closing (if the player accepted the deal with the demon possessed Sophia to kill Avernus, it's her that goes about shutting down the summoning circles to close the rift). The player and company go about protecting Avernus from the demons appearing through the rift as the old mage successfully removes the summoning circles. Though a powerful desire demon manages to break in, the player's group manages to defeat it, which finally closes the Veil rift for good. Thus, freeing Soldier's Peak from its curse. Depending on whether the player sided with Avernus or the demon possessed Sophia, final choices are made regarding the fates of these two. For Avernus, he either continues his work in Soldier's Peak, gets exiled, or gets killed off. For the demon possessed Sophia, she's either killed off, or she's set free into the world.

!!!After the Curse is Lifted

With Soldier's Peak safe again, Levi congratulates the player for the job well done while still left in disbelief that there was a blood mage within the Grey Warden ranks. Levi then states that while it's disappointing that he couldn't restore his family's honor, there's still the future to build towards rather than remaining stuck on the past. He also tells the player of how they now have the Soldier's Peak fortress to use as a Grey Warden base, which it now comes with a storage chest for the player to store away items, and two merchants appear to set up shop. One of which is Levi Dryden, who provides some of the best merchant discounts for the player. Afterwards, the player's group departs from Soldier's Peak.

!!Setting up Camp

Following the departure from Lothering, the player and their companions will now have a camp set up in the Ferelden wilderness anytime they're traveling along the road. During a night shortly after the journey through Lothering, the player has a dream where they see a massive army of darkspawn marching through the Deep Roads. The archdemon flying above commanding this darkspawn army. The player than wakes up in their wilderness camp, which Alistair could tell that the player was having a Grey Warden dream. Hearing the player admit that the dream seemed so real, Alistair explains that it's a part of being a Grey Warden; being able to hear the darkspawn as if you're there with them.

Alistair adds that they can also hear the archdemon when it talks to its darkspawn horde, which given that they've been hearing an archdemon, it's full confirmation that they're dealing with a Blight. The player asks if the archdemon really is a dragon like what's seen in the dreams. In return, Alistair states it is, but also reassures the player that once one starts getting used to being a Grey Warden, it becomes easier to block the dreams out. The player asks if there's any other surprises they should know about, which Alistair states that he's got nothing else to tell other than the obvious Grey Warden facts that they die young due to the taint, and that they are the only ones that can end the Blight. With nothing left to discuss, the player gets up to move around their campsite.

It's during off-time at the camp that the player can speak to companions to learn more about them, along with starting up potential romances. In addition, Bodahn and Sandal have arrived at the camp, which Bodahn explains that he realized that there's no safer place to rest than in a camp run by Grey Wardens. As a result, in exchange for using the camp as a safe place to set up shop and support the Grey Wardens, Bodahn offers his discounted merchant services, and Sandal's unique "Enchantment" skills where the boy can upgrade weapons and armor by inscribing lyrium runes on items. Overall, the player accepts Bodahn and Sandal into the camp. Meanwhile, any time the player and company are not in camp, they're off completing the main four army recruitment objectives that revolve around Arl Eamon's forces of Redcliffe, the Circle of Magi, the Dalish Elves, and the Orzammar Dwarves.