New day, new chapter. I think I won't have any time to make more progress tonight though so let's make what will probably be the only real update for a couple of days count, shall we? An explosive dialog with the Arishok and several companion quests await. Let's get crazy!
Garrett had put off a chat with Merrill for too long. He felt it gnawing, like he'd given her sufficient distance and her request to speak further would begin to dissolve if he kept ignoring things. So he took a long jaunt to her humble abode and they had themselves a discussion. Thankfully he was able to curb that blasted sarcasm reflux for a little while and things went pretty amicably between them. Merrill is a constant source of allure for Garrett. With Isabela the writing's on the table -- whether or not that writing is even true is almost irrelevant. He knows what he's getting from her. Theirs is a skin-deep affair. There's nothing going on between Garrett and Merrill, mind, and yet... there seems to be. Ah, I know those relationships all too well, too.
More big things put off to set to rights. Mainly just that wee issue of the qunari. Intriguingly, Isabela had no interest in entering the compound and I was left with a scant two companions as a result. Something fishy there. The meeting went about as well as it possibly could considering its content. Garrett has learned that a more direct approach is necessary with their kind and once again curbed his wit... to a point. That blasted dwarf, I'll tell you. But the fact that the qunari have these weapons, that they let their people die as part of the decoy process, really several things here, it's all pretty harsh, isn't it? Troubling, but for now Hawke was a man on a mission. We tracked that miserable little man out to the shore and slew all his guards before learning the truth. A qunari led us to a dwarf who led us to an elf. What's next, pray tell, a talking darkspawn? Who is the real architect of these machinations? We left that guardless pleb to his own devices. If he can make it back in one piece he'll live. But this ain't Mass Effect 2, baby, we're not forming a small army, so no, you can't come with us.
To the shock of absolutely no one, the elf wasn't going to play ball. Garrett and his cohorts had to cut through the climax of Batman Begins before they even had a chance to speak with her, and she proved a unique brand of crazy. What I wouldn't have given for a renegade interrupt here. Took her out and reported back to the Arishok, who proceeded to channel his best James Earl Jones to the delight of yours truly and the tired terror of his fellow countrymen. This man is grand, but he's incredibly dangerous. War is looming and thanks to the viscount I then learned beyond doubt someone is pulling strings here from the shadows. When next I continue this plotline I'll be speaking with Bran.
But quite a few quests had popped up in the interim and they were all character-centric so I just had to pursue them.
First up was Anders. Garrett learned about the mage underground and the dark ways of a certain Ser. Of course he was delighted to assist in ridding the world of such bastards. Had Bethany survived, she may have one day been at the whims of animals like him. The trip through the tunnels saw the trails of various lyrium dealers who had been supplying templar addicts, which leads to an increase in scrutiny over the whole lyrium gig to begin with. The more I hear about this stuff, I'll tell ya. Then at last we reached the ugly monster and along came a Justice.
Whoa buddy, whoa, I mean, whoa, tear it up, but back down, tear it up and then back down, like pronto, this could be very, very bad. OK, that was a really messy fight but he's dead, they're all dead, whoa, OK, Vengeance, calm down buddy, you, it... oh dear... oh thank god, a starred dialogue option, OK, attaboy... atta... spirit... thing... good. Good. Sheesh, Aedan never had to deal with this. Lucky sod.
The mage survived and Anders felt awful about the schtick. Garrett spoke with him afterward as reassuringly as possible. Talk about a unique dilemma. It was around then I learned he wants to kickstart a revolution. I gingerly warned him such things don't involve meeting stretch goals on internet webpages, I mean, we're talking life and death to the max here, but he had Garrett's back if he ever decided to strike. Just...within reason. There may be no real convincing Justice/Vengeance/Goa'uld on these things, but Anders knows most templars aren't so extreme. And I found a note too, which made Meredith look a bit better. Well, that's good at least. Oh, and I maxed friendship with Anders as a result of all this, so I had a lovely chat with him about conviction and camaraderie afterward.
Varric had an update on Bartrand. That nug-sucker was going to pay. Garrett had been looking forward to this for years. Funnily enough I once strolled over to where his mansion eventually is located and thought, "this secluded portion is totally going to have a quest at some point." Didn't anticipate that quest being Bartrand-related, but hey.
Thankfully Varric was prepared. He wanted Bartrand to say hello to his little friend. He had blood splattered all over his face like some kind of Dragon Age character or something, but he didn't care. He was going to get even. It was the end of every gangster movie ever filmed in Thedas, and it was something else. Bartrand's men fell by the dozens. Possibly hundreds. Dynasty Warriors Bianca is an excellent game, a real button-masher if ever there were one, and it culminated in the incredibly handsome, suave, dashing, daunting, thoughtful, carefree, powerful, sensitive, compelling, compulsive, flawless, peerless, perfect, chiseled, grand...
Oh hey there Cassandra, fancy seeing your friendly mug.
"Fine then, be that way," Varric spat defiantly, "I'll just tell you the truth then, you ungrateful Seeker of Filth." Or that's essentially what he meant anyway. So we wandered the halls of Sebastian's Act 2 quest in search of an answer to Varric's, and I swear, we just can't catch a break from all this Batman Begins. Kept waiting for Cillian Murphy to pop out but alas. Seems Bartrand had been infected by that damn idol all this time. I sorta saw that coming (pretty sure we're supposed to after all) but man, he was a wreck. It didn't excuse him for running off, though, did it? But what's even left of him? That's what it boiled down to for Garrett. Bartrand had become an abomination -- not truly, but I mean, truly. The things he'd done were unforgivable, but he was gone by the looks of it. He'd paid the ultimate price for his betrayal -- he'd essentially lost himself utterly. Garrett and Varric are like two peas in a pod, though. That was important. He's the only person closer to Garrett than Anders at this point in his life. Revenge for Bethany felt oddly sated. Bartrand had certainly paid dearly. He was allowed to live.
Talk about awkward though.
Gave Isabela a ship. Flirted in the process. I have to hand it to Garrett, I don't know that I'd have been able to transform that exchange into something suggestive.
Garrett's all for elves gaining some of their culture back as well, even if it doesn't speak to him on such a personal level as the whole mage deal. Injustice is injustice and he's seen quite a bit go around. If he can help the wronged make things right, well, might as well. So when Merrill spoke at length about the Eluvian, well... things got complicated anyway. Blood magic this way, Anders frowning deeply that way. Crikey, this girl can make Anders look like Fenris sometimes by comparison. But she really does seem to have a good cause in all this. An understanding stake. The details are... dubious, but it's got to be the best rationale I've ever heard on the subject. So they were off to see the Keeper, the haggard old Keeper of Oz.
Who, naturally, was like "ugh." Well, after thinking Merrill was rescinding on her decision to leave. Which apparently happens often. Talk about little faith. Then again, I can't chat Merrill up anywhere in Kirkwall without hearing complaints about the place. Heart's in the right place though. A deal is a deal, and we went to handle that varterral. Which happened to be the beast I needed for the Herbalist's Tasks! I'm surprised it took me so long to connect the dots here too: I killed one of these things in.. Witch Hunt, I think? So much Dragon Age this past several weeks. So much first time Dragon Age. It blurs. I know Aedan slew one, but then, Aedan slew one of everything, genlocks to Loghains and every demon in-between. It's kinda his schtick.
Oh yeah, and there was this Pol fellow and he was so terribly afraid of Merrill he ran straight into the varterral. Damn, dude, she's cute. It is not cute. Well now it's dead and... damn, so is he. Merrill was understandably more than a bit angsty over that. Seems Marethari has been quite vocal about the dangers of her former First's practices, to the point of that much morbid fear. Kind of messed up. I'm slowly but surely learning something vitally important about Thedas: never trust an old woman at face value. Even Wynne had the whole "well I'm kind of dead lol" thing going on, but that's OK, she was the best healer in two ages. And she'd probably been around for both, too! Ohh! ...no but seriously Origins had so many opportunities to tell her she was old, it seemed overboard. I never clicked them, so now I'm pretending I did. Er, right, Merrill.
Garrett felt compelled to comfort her after all that. And after handing her the damn item, too. Sheesh, Keeper. Keep to yourself, will ya? Get it? Because... nevermind. Merrill's made her choice, and it's one of those Feyndiel moments all over again. I'll tell you what, elves sure do have a tendency to make Hawke question the likelihood of sticking by his decisions in the long run. But for now, she's going to get what she wants. And if it really does help the Dalish, and if she really does have a grasp on her power (which I'm still dubious about...) then what's the real harm? Garrett's pro-magic enough anyway. And so am I.
But I ramble. Because really that's the best I can do on these matters, first timer and all. So you get to read my circular thoughts as I retrospectively psychoanalyze my decisions and the decisions of my character. All the while chomping down on popcorn because you know what I don't -- Merrill is the final boss and she turns into an archdemon (er, somehow) and Feyndiel backs her up from a position of incredible Tevinter prowess, bolstering her defenses to the point in which she's completely invincible, so I've doomed myself to a game over.
Yep.
One more quest before I turned in for the evening.
Aveline had a problem, and you know, we've always been there for eachother. We share a bond and such. I bet it involves killing. Lots of killing. I bet that's what it is. What? A delivery? Yeah, alright. Oh, isn't Donnic that fellow you've shared glances with? Hmm. But I bet it's like. A sword. For his promotion. So they can glance all askance again. Oh. It's... what? Aveline, what kind of gift is this? You're damn right he's confused! I am too! Aveline, what are you even... oh, I get it. Well that's just darling. Well what are we going to do about it? A posting? Uhh, sure. Can't you just...? Oh for the love of Andraste, Aveline. Fine, I'll walk over and post it. There. Now he'll -- well now he's livid. And he's cemented a rivalry with another guard in the process. Peachy, Aveline, just peachy. A dowry? Goats? What is it with you people and goats? Yes, Merill, a dowry as in... oh, now she gets it. Merrill, you're precious, don't ever change. OK, look, let's arrange a night out. Garrett's got swagger, recall? He'll make Donnic not feel awkward. This will work, trust Garrett. Don't believe in yourself, believe in Garrett, who believes in you... rself. So, a night at the Hanged Man. This is perfect. Spotless. It'll work. Strange stares. Extremely uncomfortable. Many time-shifting fades to black. Donnic is beginning to suspect. Curses, Aveline, you are impossible. Wait. No. Donnic, you misunderstand. No. Garrett has no interest in... damn it, get back here! Oh. Aveline. There you are. Well of course you're there. He left, you oaf. Ugh. What the frak do we do now? Killing things to clear the way. Yes, perfect. I knew there'd be killing. Didn't I tell you there'd be killing? Alright, let's kill things. We kill things. We give them alone time. They... she completely squanders it. Unbelievable. Maybe on the next pass. Oh wow. This is painful. One more? She's done it again. Well I'll say this for Aveline, she's relentless in the pursuit of evasion for a warrior type. Isabela orders Donnic to bend her over. And for once "her" doesn't mean her. Well, it was worth a try. You're damn right I'll see you at the barracks, Aveline. Oh Donnic, there you are. Why don't the two of you just go inside there and start giggling. Good. Grief. What? Hey, that worked. I can't believe that... no, of course I can believe that worked. I swear, you people. Did I ever doubt you, Aveline? "Not for a second."
I'm a good liar, dammit!
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I'm glad you're loving the relationship with Fenris; he's really my favorite character in the whole franchise... maybe in DA and ME combined. He's a complicated guy with a gut-wrenching past, and it's sweet that our Hawke's can help him TRY to get past that... even if rivaled!Fenris doesn't always appreciate the help 
