The first main quest of the Dragon Age: Origins video-game. The story follows along with one of six Ferelden origin stories where something goes wrong that results in the player eventually being recruited by Duncan to join up with the Grey Wardens.
The Six Player Origins
The story takes place in the kingdom of Ferelden, which makes up a southern region of Thedas. The opening involves six unique origin stories dependent on the player character's choice of race, ability and gender. The choices are the following: a son or daughter of the noble family of House Cousland (Human Noble), an elven or human member of the Circle of Magi (Mage), a hunter from one of the nomadic Dalish elf clans (Dalish Elf), a member of the elven Tabris family (City Elf), a son or daughter of the dwarven royal family, House Aeducan (Dwarf Noble), or a castleless vagrant of the dwarven peasant classes (Dwarf Commoner). Within each of these origin stories, Commander Duncan of the Grey Wardens appears as he searches around for new recruits to combat the start of what is potentially believed to be the Fifth Blight in southern Ferelden.
Human Noble Origin Story
The player takes control of a Human Noble that's a member of House Cousland, a well-respected noble family that's been stewarding over the lands of Highever in northern Ferelden. At the Cousland castle, the player's father, Teyrn Bryce Cousland, and the player's older brother, Fergus, are seen making preparations to heed King Cailan's call to join the battle at Ostagar against the darkspawn. Arl Rendon Howe of the neighboring Amaranthine lands waits with them, which his forces that are supposed to march alongside the Couslands' army to Ostagar are arriving late. Along with them is Duncan, who's arrived at Cousland castle seeking out recruits for the Grey Wardens, which he's taken an interest in the player and Ser Roderick Gilmore. The latter of which is a knight servicing the Couslands. However, Bryce rejects turning any of his people into Grey Wardens.
Fergus departs with the bulk of the Couslands' army ahead of everyone else, which leaves the castle almost empty. The player is met by Gilmore, which they're given a task by the player's mother, Teyrna Eleanor Cousland, to fetch the Cousland pet Mabari Hound, an attack dog that's been trying to catch rats that invaded the kitchen. After helping out the family dog, the player meets back up with Eleanor, who's talking with Lady Landra, and accompanied by her children, Dairren and Iona. The player can entertain Landra's children by flirting with Dairren (female Human Noble) or Iona (male Human Noble), which the player then brings either of them to the player's bedroom for a night of sex.
In the middle of the night, Howe's army finally arrives at Cousland castle, but it's here that his true intentions are revealed. The reason Howe's forces arrived "late" was because they were waiting for the Cousland army to depart, which Howe and his men move in to seize the now defenseless castle as a power grab to take control over Highever. Howe's soldiers invade the castle and begin killing all of its inhabitants, which the player wakes up during the attack. The player's lover is killed, but with the help of the family dog, the player fights through the castle until eventually reuniting with Eleanor. They discover Fergus' son and wife murdered while Gilmore and the remaining Cousland defenders engage in a last stand against Howe's soldiers. Before continuing his last battle, Gilmore informs Eleanor and the player that Bryce was last seen escaping towards the castle's larder.
At the larder, the player and Eleanor find a heavily wounded Bryce. Duncan is also with him having been the one who came to Bryce's rescue. However, Duncan provides the bad news that due to the castle being surrounded by Howe's forces, it will be too difficult for Bryce to escape with such a heavy injury. Thus, Bryce must be left behind. Duncan offers Bryce a deal to truly save the remainder of the Cousland family if it means that he can recruit the player into the Grey Wardens, which the player, Bryce and Eleanor accept. However, Eleanor decides to stay behind with her husband to fight Howe's forces. Having to leave their parents behind, the player and the family's Mabari Hound depart with Duncan in order to make their escape.
Magi Origin Story
The player takes control of a Human or Elf Mage of the Amell Family. Within Ferelden is a remote Circle Tower known as Kinloch Hold, which resides in the middle of Lake Calenhad. The tower is run by the Circle of Magi; a Chantry-operated organization that monitors and polices the use of magic. Led by the First Enchanter, Irving, it is here that the Circle of Magi trains new mage apprentices. However, due to the dangers that the magi pose to the world, they're kept under the watchful eyes of the Chantry's Templar Order. The templar at the Circle Tower being led by its Knight Commander, Greagoir. The player is one of these apprentice magi, and has lived their whole life within the tower. Currently, the player is about to take part in the Harrowing, the final test of apprenticeship to become a full-fledged mage.
At the tower's Harrowing Chamber, the player is given final warnings from Greagoir and Irving about what the player will endure within the test. The player mage then uses a mineral, lyrium, to enter the Fade; a metaphysical realm made up of floating islands and lyrium veins, and is the home of spirits and demons. Within the Fade, the player takes on a demon with the help of Mouse, who's an apprentice that failed his Harrowing test. Mouse then turns out to be a pride demon that was masquerading as a human, and tries to trick the player into having it enter the player's mage body. However, the player succeeds in rejecting the temptation, and comes out of the Fade as a true mage that has graduated apprenticeship.
After the Harrowing test, the player sees that Duncan has arrived at the Circle Tower seeking out mages to recruit for the upcoming war against the Blight. In addition, the player comes across their mage friend, Jowan, who's accompanied by his lover Lily, an initiate of the Chantry. Jowan tells the player his bad news that he's under suspicion of being a blood mage. This could result in Jowan being made Tranquil, a punishment for mages where they lose their connection to the Fade; resulting in the mage no longer being able to use magic or show any emotions. As a result, Jowan and Lily have come up with a plan to escape the Circle Tower, which is to destroy Jowan's phylactery. The phylacterys being small vials that contain the blood of each mage, which act as trackers for the Circle Tower to hunt down runaway apostate mages. Jowan and Lily ask the player to help them with this stunt.
The player agrees to go along with Jowan and Lily's plan, which the player has the option to report the scheme to Irving, who takes note that a member of the Chantry having an affair with a mage is quite an embarrassment. Irving would ask the player to go along with it to catch Jowan in the act as the player, Jowan, and Lily proceed to break into the Circle Tower's basement where the phylacterys are stored. They manage to break Jowan's phylactery, which takes the tracker off him, but as the group makes their escape, they're caught by Irving and Greagoir. Jowan then reveals that he really is a blood mage as he uses blood magic to escape on his own. Lily ends up accepting defeat, and agrees to be taken away. Even if the player told Irving beforehand, Greagoir is so furious over the situation that he desires for the player to be punished for aiding Jowan and Lily. However, Duncan intervenes seeing this as an opportunity to recruit a mage for his Grey Wardens, which the player mage is sent off with Duncan.
Dalish Elf Origin Story
The player takes control of a Dalish Elf that's a descendant of the Sabrae Clan's Mahariel Family. As a Dalish Elf, the player lives in the wilds with the other Dalish Elves that have made Ferelden's Brecilian Forest their homeland. One day within the wilderness of Brecilian Forest, the player is out hunting with Tamlen, their childhood friend. They come across three humans that claim to have discovered an ancient elven ruin in a nearby cave, which the player and Tamlen head off to explore it. At the elven ruins, they discover a statue of the elven god, Falon'din, who's known as the "Friend of the Dead." Despite the ruins looking dangerous, the player and Tamlen continue deeper into the cave fighting through whatever Corpse or Bereskarn they come across.
Tamlen eventually comes across a strange Eluvian mirror within the ruins, but upon touching it, he's drawn in by something black that he sees within the mirror. The Eluvian mirror then gives off a burst of energy that knocks the player unconscious, but the player turns out to have been rescued by Duncan, who brings the unconscious player back to the Dalish home camp. After being unconscious for two days, the player wakes up having recovered from the lingering "illness" effects of the Eluvian mirror thanks to the magic of Keeper Marethari, the leader of the Dalish camp. Marethari informs the player that she's decided to relocate the clan to the north due to humans getting closer to their home, but that she first wants to commence one last search for the missing Tamlen. Thus, Marethari tasks a Dalish mage of the clan, Merrill, to retun to the elven ruins with the player in the hopes that Merrill can use her magic to locate Tamlen. In addition, the Dalish warrior, Fenarel, joins the group as support.
Making their way back to the elven ruin cave, the player, Merrill and Fenarel are surprised to find that the cave is now surrounded by darkspawn, and have to fight through them. Merrill guessing that the Eluvian mirror is causing the darkspawn to appear. They eventually make it back to the elven ruins only to find Duncan with the Eluvian mirror, which he proceeds to shatter it. Duncan explains that the tainted mirror was acting as a transmitter that brought the darkspawn to the elven ruins, and that even though the player has recovered from the mirror's "illness" thanks to Marethari's magic, it's only temporary. The Grey Warden Commander also provides the bad news that given how Tamlen's been untreated from the mirror's "illness" for the past three days, there's no possibility that he survived at this point. Thus, Tamlen is pronounced dead. Duncan then advises the group not to enter back into the currently tainted ruins due to how unsafe it is unless they decide to destroy it all by fire.
The player's group and Duncan return to the Dalish camp, which Duncan explains everything that happened to Keeper Marethari. Duncan then explains how the player can survive their "illness" if they were to join the Grey Wardens since such people have immunity to the taint. He also goes over how he's been looking for new recruits for the Grey Wardens, which causes Marethari to remember that the Dalish Elves swore oaths long ago to aid the Grey Wardens in their fight against the Blight. As a result, the player's only option in order to recover from the "illness" is to depart from the clan with Duncan in order to become a Grey Warden, which the two of them head off.
City Elf Origin Story
The player takes control of a poor City Elf of the Tabris Family. As a City Elf, the player lives in the walled off Elven Alienage; the impoverished elven district of Ferelden's human capital city, Denerim. Currently, it's the wedding day for the player along with their cousin, Soris. However, trouble suddenly appears within the Elven Alienage when a sadistic Denerim lord, Vaughan Kendells, arrives with some of his associates. They come off abusive towards the elven women, but the player's other cousin, Shianni, stands up to them, and manages to knock Vaughan unconscious; forcing his friends to carry him off and out of the Elven Alienage. After Vaughan's removal, Duncan arrives shortly after looking for City Elves to recruit into the Grey Wardens. He takes note of the player; mentioning that he attempted to recruit the player's mother into the Grey Wardens ages ago.
The wedding ceremony then commences as the player and Soris are to be wed off to their respective lovers. However, Vaughan returns with armed guards out of revenge for his earlier humiliation, and orders said guards to abduct all the elven women. The women end up being taken to the Arl of Denerim's Estate. If the player's a male City Elf, he joins up with Soris to take part in a rescue mission to save the women. If the player's a female City Elf, she gets taken captive along with all the other women, including Shianni and Soris' betrothed.
The male City Elf and Soris would break into estate while the captured female City Elf would go about breaking out of captivity. Eventually, the storylines would be one again when the player and Soris break into Vaughan's room, which it turns out that alongside his friends, Braden and Jonaley, they raped Shianni, who they left lying on the floor. A confrontation goes down between the player's side and Vaughan's side. Vaughan attempts to bribe the player with 40 gold sovereigns to make the player leave so that they can continue tormenting the elven women for the night. If the player accepts the offer and leaves, Vaughan would give the player the 40 gold. If the player refuses the bribe, it turns into a fight; the player and Soris against Vaughan and his associates, which results in the deaths of the latter, and the women rescued.
Following the confrontation with Vaughan, the Denerim guards arrive at the Elven Alienage to arrest the player for the attack on the Arl of Denerim's Estate. If the player accepted the bribe, the 40 gold would get confiscated by the Denerim guards, but there's an option for the player to stash the 40 gold into a hiding spot outside the estate, which the player can return at a much later time to pick it up. As the guards are about to take the player into custody, Duncan intervenes by invoking the Right of Conscription. This allows Duncan to overrule the guards' arrest by taking the City Elf player into his custody, which the guards accept. With no other option but to go along with this, the player agrees to become a Grey Warden, and departs from the Elven Alienage with Duncan.
Dwarf Noble Origin Story
The player takes control of a Dwarf Noble that's a member of House Aeducan, one of the leading, most powerful, and respected houses of the Orzammar dwarves. Residing within the Frostback Mountains, Orzammar stands as one of the last two remaining dwarven kingdoms. As the second child of King Endrin Aeducan, the player starts off in the Orzammar Palace, which a celebration is held to congratulate the player for becoming Orzammar's newest commander. The player can then either participate in the Provings combat-arena, or visit the merchants. Both of which the player is accompanied by their second-in-command, Gorim Saelac, who could be in a relationship with the player if they're a female Dwarf Noble. Eventually, the player's met by their older brother, Trian, and younger brother, Bhelen. Being the arrogant crown-prince to the throne, Trian orders the player to join his ceremony at the throne room.
During the ceremony, the player meets several other nobles along with the King. The player also meets Duncan, who's come to watch the ceremony, and to find any dwarf recruits for the Grey Wardens. Following the ceremony, Bhelen meets with the player for a private talk. Bhelen reveals to the player that the latter is in trouble as it turns out that Trian is planning to kill the player. The reason being that there's a possibility that the Orzammar Assembly will choose the player over Trian to be the next King. The player either decides to not believe the rumor, or comes to the decision that Trian needs to be disposed of.
Before the situation with Trian could be resolved, the dwarven expedition to the Deep Roads goes down where under order of King Endrin, the player and Gorim are sent off to the fallen Aeducan Thaig to retrieve the lost Shield of Aeducan. The Aeducan Thaig was once the proud underground home of House Aeducan, but fell to the darkspawn ages ago. The player and Gorim fight their way through the darkspawn that infest Aeducan Thaig, and locate the chamber of Paragon Aeducan. The two of them manage to find the shield within the chamber, but they also end up getting attacked by mercenaries who carry on them Trian's Aeducan Signet Ring. The player and Gorim make their way out of Aeducan Thaig only for two scenarios to happen. If the player agreed earlier that Trian needed to be disposed off, they're confronted by a vengeful Trian wanting to know why the player betrayed him, which leads to a fight that results in Trian dying. If the player chose not to believe the rumors that Trian is plotting against them, the player will end up stumbling upon the corpses of Trian and his men due to them already being killed by someone.
Shortly after, Bhelen and King Endrin's party arrives at the scene where they find the player standing over the corpses of Trian and his men. Bhelen accuses the player of killing their brother, which the set-up is enough to leave the dwarvern lords convinced that the player committed murder. Especially after Bhelen brings forth two fake witnesses, a Dwarf Scout and Frandlin Ivo, that the player ordered them to attack Trian's party. As punishment, the Orzammar Assembly banishes Gorim to the surface while the player is to die in the Deep Roads to the darkspawn. Due to how unfair Bhelen's trial towards the player was, the Orzammar Lord, Pyral Harrowmont, remains convinced that something's amiss, and provides the player with a sword to help with surviving in the Deep Roads. Afterwards, the Dwarf Noble player is sent into the Deep Roads to battle and die to the darkspawn. While trekking through the Deep Roads however, the player ends up running into Duncan. With nothing left to his name at this point, the player agrees to be recruited into the Grey Wardens, and heads off with Duncan.
Dwarf Commoner Origin Story
The player takes control of a poor Dwarf Commoner of the Brosca family. Within Orzammar lies Dust Town, a highly impoverished area that's made up of casteless dwarves. In order to survive, the player has to be one of many hoodlums that resort to petty crime work, such as running errands for Dust Town's Carta crime lord, Beraht. The player also lives with a half-sister in Rica Brosca, who's been working to try to get with a wealthy male suitor while the player has to do unsavory work for Beraht. Helping with the work is the player's best friend, Leske, a fellow casteless Dust Town dwarf.
Working for the Carta crime lord, the first job that the player and Leske are tasked with is to kill Oskias, a surface dwarf smuggler that's been hiding lyrium from Beraht. The player and Leske confront Oskias at Tapster's Tavern where he's either killed, or Oskias bribes his way out by offering a couple lyrium nuggets. After the Oskias job is done with, the next job Beraht gives the player and Leske is to drug the drink of a fighter that's going to be partaking in the Provings combat-arena, which will rig the event in Beraht's favor for his own fighter, Everd, that will be taking part in the Provings. Upon arriving at the Provings however, the player and Leske discover Everd passed out from having too many drinks, and is unable to fight. Thus, with no other option but to swap places, the player takes up Everd's armor to impersonate as Beraht's fighter in order to win the Provings match for him. The player enters the Provings arena, which Duncan can be seen watching amongst the spectators.
Fighting their way through the Provings, the player manages to defeat several of the Warrior caste's best fighters. The player makes it to the final Provings match, but Everd ends up stumbling into the arena, which forces the player to reveal that they switched with Everd. As a result, the Provings Master calls for the player's arrest for defiling the Provings' sacred constitution. Thus, resulting in the player getting taken into custody. Shortly after however, the player ends up waking up in the prison cell of the Dust Town Carta Hideout, and that Leske had also ended up getting imprisoned with the player. During imprisonment, Beraht's second-in-command, Jarvia, greets the player and Leske at their cells, which she informs them of the bad news that Beraht lost 100 gold due to the Provings being deemed invalid. Thus, he bribed the Orzammar guards in order to have the player and Leske brought to him so that he can kill them himself for handing him such a massive failure.
After Jarvia leaves, the player and Leske manage to escape depending on how they deal with their prison locks or the nearby guard that's watching over their prison cell. Following the breakout, the two of them confront Beraht and his men within the main area of the Carta Hideout. The player and Leske manage to kill Beraht and his followers, and then escape out a secret entrance that brings them back out into Dust Town. Shortly after, the Proving Master arrives to imprison the player for impersonating Everd. However, Duncan appears to intervene as he was impressed by the player's efforts during the Provings. Duncan invites the player into the Grey Wardens, which the player sees that they have no other option left other than death or exile. Thus, after saying goodbye to Rica and Leske, the player departs from Dust Town by heading off with Duncan.
