Hello, hello!
After 35 days of Dragon Age: Origins now it's time to begin the next part with a story playthrough of Dragon Age 2.
I decided not to do a "full" playthrough because there are some things I just can't be bothered with in-game. Like the companion Sebastian. Or the Mark of the Assassin expansion. Both of which add absolutely nothing to my world state as far as I'm concerned.
Those who have played Dragon Age 2 are aware that the entire story is being narrated by the dwarf, Varric, as he is being interrogated by Seeker Cassandra.
In this playthrough I'm sharing, I'll be writing my own narrative like I did with Origins and will be ignoring Varric and Cassandra's interactions.
And so I imported Caelyra, the Hero of Ferelden's story into the game.
And created a future Champion.
She is Lyria Hawke, apostate mage, once of Lothering but is now on the run with her family before the darkspawn can claim them.
The story of the Champion begins...
Lyria and her brother and sister, Carver and Bethany, fought the darkspawn on their heels. They were everywhere. Darkspawn to the back of them, to the sides, in front of them; they were being surrounded.
Luckily with the girls magic and their brother's sword they were able to create a brief reprieve.
Forcing a barrier of fire to close off an area, the family gathered together and tried to work out a plan.
Carver had just fled Ostagar, barely surviving the crushing defeat thanks to Loghain's betrayal, and had warned his family of the incoming darkspawn army that was approaching Lothering. And still they had barely escaped. They were breathless, dirty and scared, and quick to argue with one another. They needed to cool down a bit and work out what to do.
Their mother suggested they go to Kirkwall. That their family had an estate there so surely they'd be able to gain entry to the safety of the city.
Both Lyria and Bethany were concerned with that plan. Kirkwall was known for its templars and they just happened to be two apostate mages, free from the Circle of Magi. They did not want to be taken.
There did not seem to be much of a choice though. There were no other options. If they went there, they would have to lie low and keep their magic hidden, more thoroughly than ever... but first they had to survive. They had to fight through these darkspawn and get through to where ships were setting sail for the continent across the sea.
If they could even make it.
They set off across the withered plains, blackened by darkspawn rot, and fought all the creatures they encountered. One group was fighting someone else and they quickly jumped in to help.
Once the darkspawn were destroyed, they realised just who they had helped... a templar.
Despite the severity of the situation, and his obvious injury, he threatened to take them in, but the woman at his side calmed him. These mages had obviously helped them, she said, the Maker would understand if he didn't do the Chantry's work for just one day.
The woman's name was Aveline and the templar was her husband, Ser Wesley. She, too, had escaped Ostagar and the betrayal that had seen most of the army slaughtered.
They would travel together, for now, as friends. They couldn't go North as the bulk of the horde was that way which meant the only way forward was South, through the Wilds.
Carver was immediately apprehensive. They couldn't just go through the Wilds! It was dangerous in there. It was dangerous out here, too. Either they went north and definitely died, or went south and only possibly died. So they decided they would go south.
Together they fought through more waves of approaching darkspawn. Aveline was quite good with a sword and very disciplined with her fighting manner. She was a welcome addition to their escape from Lothering.
Her husband was too injured to do anything so stayed by their mother as they fought to both escape these creatures and protect the two who could not fight.
Suddenly, the ground shook and a great ogre burst up the hill at full speed. Before anyone could do anything let alone think, it grabbed Bethany and slammed her against the ground repeatedly until she was broken and battered and flung into the dirt.
Fueled by terror, Lyria grabbed her staff and prepared her magic as both she and Carver, and Aveline, fought the ogre before it could do any more damage.
When the beast lay dead, they raced over to their mother and sister and prayed that she was okay.
She was not. Bethany was dead.
Despite the fact that Bethany was an apostate mage, Aveline's templar husband showed some humanity and commended Bethany's soul to the Maker. Lyria closed her eyes briefly but stowed away all of her tears. There was no time for grief, not right now, and at least her sister would find company with their father, may they both rest in peace.
A stampede of feet and slobbering voices pulled them away from Bethany.
In their few moments of silence for the departed, the darkspawn had come. They were well and truly surrounded! There was no escape. Soon they would all be with Bethany.
Lyria brandished her staff and prepared to defend herself and those behind her. She would die fighting.
A great screech suddenly rang out from overhead and Lyria whipped upright. There was a dragon above them! With a great whoosh of its wings, it glided across the sky mere metres overheard and burnt all of the darkspawn with its flaming breath.
Once all of the darkspawn were cooked, it landed with an earth-shuddering slam and looked at them head on, and Lyria gasped as the beast transformed into an old woman.
She was curious, the dragon-woman said. She had spied a mighty ogre, vanquished, and wanted to see who could have performed such a feat.
Lyria was more interested in how she had become a dragon and, being a mage, surely she could learn such a nifty trick. The woman laughed but would not give away her secrets.
Aveline butted in and proclaimed the woman to be the fabled witch of the wilds. The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. Yes, some called her that. Others called her Flemeth. Or Asha'bellanar. It did not matter who she was, but what she could offer.
In exchange for delivering a small token to a group of Dalish elves near Kirkwall, Flemeth would provide them safe passage to the docks where boats were departing to the far off continent.
She did not tell Lyria what the token was, but that the small delivery would ensure her price paid in full. After speaking amongst her family and friends, Lyria decided she would perform this small gesture. Her family would be safe from the darkspawn.
Before they could leave, however, there was the matter of Aveline's husband. His injury seemed to be getting worse, and then Flemeth informed them that it was no mere injury — he was infected with the Blight. The templar lowered his eyes and nodded. He knew he had been infected when it happened. He was just trying to last as long as possible. He begged his wife to kill him. Aveline refused, surely there was something they could do.
Flemeth said that the only cure she knew of was to become a Grey Warden, and the last of those were now beyond their reach. With that said, Aveline knew what she must do, and after telling her husband she loved him she drove a blade through his heart.
The deed was done and emotions were high, and Flemeth did exactly as promised, and as a great dragon she allowed the group safe passage to the harbour.
Lyria, her remaining family, and Aveline were pushed into a cargo hold of a small boat and thus began their sea voyage to Kirkwall. It took several weeks to get there...
...and when they finally arrived, none of the refugees were being allowed into the city.
The docks were crowded with other Fereldens who had travelled to escape the blight and it looked as though they were going to be more faces in this swirling mass of people.
Lyria's mother was more hopeful. She had once lived in Kirkwall, after all, before running away to Ferelden with her husband. Their family had an estate there, their family was well-regarded, her brother, Gamlen, owned the estate now and surely they would be let in. They were no mere refugees. They were of Kirkwall and they had returned!
Lyria was less hopeful than her mother about being let into the city but tried to keep a brave face. Regardless of if they were in an estate or on this docks, at least they were away from the darkspawn. They would find a way.
Aveline suggested they talked to the guard in charge. He might be able to alert Gamlen to their arrival.
When they spoke to the guard, however, he was less than eager to help. His only purpose was to stop the refugees from climbing the walls and marching into the city. Soon, under Knight-Commander Meredith's orders, they would be sorting through the refugees and most of them would be sent on boats back to Ferelden.
Lyria was confused. Why was a templar in charge of the city guard? The guard didn't offer any answer and told her to speak to another guard further up the path if they wanted to convince someone to let them in.
Fine. They continued up the path until they found another guard that looked like they were in charge. He was standing in front of some large stairs and was arguing with a group of men. Lyria decided to go over and argue with him too.
She told him that if he could find their uncle, Gamlen Amell, he'd have a few less refugees bugging him.
The group of men who had been arguing with the guard were immediately peeved that it seemed as though Lyria and her group were being let in. They attacked!
Not thinking, Lyria unleashed her magic upon them as Aveline and Carver took them down the more conventional way, with sharpened steel.
It didn't matter. No one seemed to notice the fireballs flinging about and soon the men were defeated, the guard thanked them and offered to find their uncle for them.
It took three days of waiting, but finally a lowly-dressed common man walked over to them. Their uncle Gamlen. A far cry from the nobleman their mother had led them to believe.
After speaking with him it was discovered that he had sold their family estate to settle a debt, he was penniless, but he had contacts and if Lyria was willing to get her hands dirty then the family would be able to earn their way into the city.
She had the choice of talking to a smuggler or a mercenary. Considering her state as an apostate, Lyria thought it would be better to work more in the dark with a smuggler than as an open mercenary.
The smuggler's name was Athenril. Lyria was a little surprised to see an elf running a smuggler's ring, but apparently they didn't kill anyone nor did they trade in slavery. Seemed honest enough — for a smuggler.
Gamlen had the audacity to inform Athenril that Lyria was a mage and a mage would be very welcome in their operations. They would work for a year to pay off the debt to get them into the city, and after that they were free to leave the smuggling ring.
That sounded fair enough to Lyria.
To prove her worth, Athenril asked her to collect a debt owed to her by a merchant here in these Gallows. And then they would talk business.
The merchant just so happened to be a greedy jerk who was fleecing the Ferelden refugees of their few remaining goods for barely any coin at all. As such, Lyria, her brother, and Aveline were all more than happy to ruin this man's day.
Lyria told him that Athenril had sent him for the money he owed her, and when he baulked she gave Aveline the nod. With Aveline's sword against his throat, the merchant was more than willing to give them the profits then left the quarter as fast as he could.
With the deed sorted and Athenril impressed enough with them to sponsor their way into the city, they no longer had any worry about being sent back to Ferelden and the blight and the darkspawn. They would have a home here, in Kirkwall.
Gamlen went to Athenril to finalise the bribe details then went over to talk to the guard to allow them entry.
It was time to start a new life. After they worked for Athenril for a year first, of course.
...It was a pity that Bethany was unable to join them on this new adventure.
Until next time! 😊🐲⚔️