Dragon Age: Origins
You do not need to have played any previous Dragon Age games to understand and enjoy Dragon Age II and its story. Although they are set in the same richly developed universe, each episode stands alone. But if you are intrigued by the setting, it’s worth noting that there is a continuity of incidents and characters. Some of the same events are covered from different perspectives. The games are broadly contemporaneous, taking place during and after the Fifth Blight, though Dragon Age II covers ten years rather than the two to three years of Origins and its Awakening expansion.
Origins opens in Year 30 of the Dragon Age, when Ferelden was threatened by the Fifth Blight. Our protagonist, later known as the Hero of Ferelden, was plucked from their place of birth under Right of Conscription and recruited by Duncan, a senior Grey Warden on his way to join King Cailan’s forces. Reaching the historic stronghold of Ostagar, the new recruits were sent out on their first rookie mission to retrieve some old paperwork from a Warden outpost before the darkspawn advanced. Deep in the Korcari Wilds they encountered Morrigan and her mother Flemeth, an old Witch of the Wilds, who handed over the scrolls they were seeking.
On returning to Ostagar, the new recruits were put through an initiation ceremony known as The Joining. Only by drinking a preparation of the poisonous blood of the darkspawn can one become a Warden. Not all survive the test, and those that do are forever marked by the Taint.
As the darkspawn horde gathered, the Hero of Ferelden was assigned to light the beacon that would signal Teyrn Loghain’s forces to launch a flanking assault. The King’s regiment stood proudly before Ostagar, drawing the horde into a trap. But when the attack began, Loghain treacherously retired from battle and left Ostagar to perish. Both the King and Duncan were slain. The hero and fellow Warden Alistair were both rescued from the beacon tower by the old Witch, Flemeth.
Fearing that the world was lost, the survivors – now joined by Morrigan – resolved to invoke the invested authority of the Grey Wardens. Under the venerable law of Thedas, the scrolls of Ancient Treaties they had collected could revive age-old allegiances in days of Blight.
And so the hero’s party swiftly set out to invoke the Treaties. After many quests and adventures, they enlisted the armies of Arl Eamon of Redcliffe; the clans of the Dalish Elves; the Dwarves of deep Orzammar; and even the Circle of Magi, whose members had been quarantined under the vigilant gaze of the Order of Templars. In a time of peril, the races and factions of Ferelden had always been compelled to forget their differences in confronting a common foe.
A Landsmeet was called in which the assembled forces rallied and the usurper Loghain’s authority was challenged. They learned that only a Grey Warden may slay the archdemon leading the Blight – an act of sacrifice that would claim both lives. The demon’s life essence would be reborn in the nearest darkspawn host, rendering it immortal, unless it could be drawn to the Warden instead – or to the Warden’s unborn child if the player decided to perform a specific ritual with Morrigan.
Many endgame choices were open to the player, and it’s worth noting that no one Dragon Age: Origins ending is considered the ‘canon’ or proper version of events by the developers.
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
The Awakening expansion picked up the story six months after the conclusion of Origins. The player then assumed the role of a Warden-Commander, commissioned to take charge of the Grey Wardens at Vigil’s Keep. Traveling from the city of Amaranthine, the Warden arrived to find the Keep had been attacked by darkspawn. With the end of the Fifth Blight, and no archdemon to control these darkspawn, such an organized assault should have been impossible.
Cleaning the tower led to the discovery of a new form of darkspawn, known as the “disciples”, that were not only intelligent but capable of speech, hitherto thought impossible. With admirable regard for the empirical method, the Warden-Commander went on to establish that disciples could still bleed and die like any other darkspawn.
An encounter with the enigmatic Architect (the “father” of the disciples) revealed the existence of even stranger creatures. The player learned of the Mother – a sentient broodmother – and was quested to track it down. Only later was it revealed that the Fifth Blight was brought about by The Architect’s sincere but botched experiment to create independent, free-thinking disciples.
Awakening concluded with a typically difficult choice. A darkspawn band had gathered to besiege the city of Amaranthine, while another was advancing on Vigil’s Keep. Duties conflicted, the Warden-Commander was forced to choose between the two in lending support and saving lives.
Familiar Faces
Origins players may be able to spot the return of both major and minor characters while playing Dragon Age II. Although these are mostly cameos, it’s a reminder that the Fifth Blight was only one chapter in the turbulent history of Thedas – and that life goes on, thanks to the Hero of Ferelden...
Isabela
Duelist captain of the pirate ship “The Siren’s Call”. Self-proclaimed “Queen of the eastern seas and sharpest blade in Llomerryn”.
Anders
The dry-humored Grey Warden from Awakening.
Alistair
The Grey Warden and templar companion of the Hero of Ferelden.
Merrill
The origin story Keeper’s apprentice.
Leliana
The bard-thief of Orlais who turned to the Chantry after an epiphany.
Zevran
City-elf assassin of the Antivan Crows, disgraced when he failed to kill the Hero of Ferelden.
Nathaniel Howe
Another companion, the rogue assassin from Awakening, currently sought by Delilah Howe.
Bodahn & Sandal Feddic
Dwarf trader and his enchanter son, first rescued from darkspawn on the Imperial Highway out of Lothering.
Knight-Captain Cullen
The templar imprisoned by Uldred in the Broken Circle quest, now enjoying a promotion.
Justice
A spirit from the Fade who has now fused with Anders, much as a spirit bound itself to Wynne.
Sketch
The bookish city elf from Leliana’s Song (downloadable content).
Bonny Lem
A merchant spy in the service of Marjolaine.
Sophia Dryden
Warden-Commander from Warden’s Keep (downloadable content) who became involved in blood magic.
Dragon Age II
The Storyteller's conceit
Dragon Age II tells its tale through a “framed narrative”, a story within a story. In the opening scenes, the picaresque frame placed around our tale is that of Varric being interrogated by Cassandra Pentaghast as she pursues the truth about the rise to power of the Champion of Kirkwall. The world is on the brink of ruin, and Cassandra believes that Hawke has a key role to play in the future. But the Champion is nowhere to be found. If there’s to be any hope of resolution, she needs to understand the target of her investigation. Chronologically, then, the events of Hawke’s life in Dragon Age II are now also history.
As Varric recounts what he knows of Hawke’s adventures, it is down to the player to write those adventures by reliving them. Each Act of the game’s plot focuses on a crucial period in a ten year history, leaping forward through time at the end of each chronicle, such that the consequences of your decisions are all the more apparent.
Prologue: The Escape to Kirkwall
Overlapping the events of Origins, the prologue begins around the year 9:30 Dragon in the Dragon Age calendar, as the Fifth Blight is spreading with nothing to stem the tide of darkspawn.
Ahead of that surge came a deluge of human migrants, overwhelming the village of Lothering. Leaving almost too late, the Hawke family was among the last to make it out alive. Hawke’s mother Leandra suggests that they flee to Kirkwall, where her younger brother Gamlen holds the Amell estate.
On the road they stumble into Aveline and her husband, Wesley, also survivors of the massacre. During their escape, they run into further bands of darkspawn. Though the party defeats many of these creatures, victory comes at a cruel price: Aveline’s husband and Hawke’s sibling are both slain.
The battle only really ends when a dragon swoops from the clouds and blasts the encroaching horde. The beast then transforms into Flemeth, the shapeshifting Witch of the Wilds. She rescues Hawke just as she recently rescued the Warden from the Tower of Ishal (covered in Origins). Having seen them defeat an ogre, Flemeth knows they cannot be peasants, and that means they may be of use. She is intrigued and asks them to perform a favor in return for safe passage past the horde.
They board a ship from Gwaren to Kirkwall, the towering city port. There is no welcome here: the authorities are unwilling to accept the influx of immigrants. All refugees are being held at the gates by the harbor guard, ready to be sent back to Ferelden. The bad news continues when they chance upon their uncle, only to find the family fortune gone and the estate sold. Gamlen explains that he can get them inside if they agree to work for a contact who can be convinced to vouch for them with hard cash. If Hawke will choose a sponsor, they can begin working off the considerable debt…
Act 1: From Rags to Riches
Over a year has passed, in which the player has made friends but little money. Brothers Varric and Bartrand plan an expedition into the Deep Roads. The end of the Fifth Blight makes this the safest time to venture into the abandoned dwarven network in search of antiquities. Though Bartrand dismisses the need for Hawke’s services, Varric persuades the hero to become a business partner.
Principally, partnership means stumping up fifty sovereigns to ‘co-invest’ in the expedition on the promise of being repaid many times over with great treasures from the depths. Hawke simply needs to raise some capital, taking on whatever work can be found.
Hawke recruits a number of characters to aid him in future ventures, including Varric, as well as Aveline who has joined the city guard and offers some contract work to get started. Hawke also encounters Isabela, the pirate captain without a ship; Sebastian, the Exiled Prince; and is hired by Fenris, a fugitive slave. Bartrand believes that no venture into the Deep Roads would be safe without a Grey Warden to scan for darkspawn, so Hawke also tracks down the highly charged Anders. Later, completing Flemeth’s errand introduces Merrill.
The expedition into the Deep Roads leads to an ancient dwarven thaig. Greed gets the better of Bartrand when they uncover a small but priceless statue fashioned from pure lyrium. Double crossing his own brother, Bartrand seals the tomb and leaves his partners to die. The party must tread a more dangerous path to escape.