Thursday, September 6, 2012

Dragon Age: Origins Chapter 11 - Something's Rotten in Redcliffe Castle

Hello, heroes! So...what was I saying about another post last week? I must have been hallucinating.Well, anyway. The unholy abomination that is World of Warcraft seems to have taken hold of me again and, well...yeah. But fear not, all two readers! I will continue to post thrilling photos of my Dragon Age playthrough. And with that, let's continue.

When I left off last time, Bann Teagan was about to depart on his suicide mission. Well, I couldn't let him get himself killed through his own stupidity, so of course I had to follow him. Not "follow" exactly, since we had to take the secret passage, but whatever. The passage led into the castle basement, and eventually we found some cells.

Here's a fun picture of a wall!



Someone's alive in the cells? How quaint.


No, we've been hiding in the pantry the whole time. Of course we're from outside, you dolt.


Completely without warrant, I suppose. Oh, Jowan, I can already tell you're just another moron. So, are you behind all the weirdness in the castle?


Oh, right, well then - WAIT, YOU POISONED THE ARL? OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!


HOW DARE YOU TRY TO MURDER YOUR BETTERS, I'LL HAVE YOU DRAWN AND QUARTERED FOR THIS


NO MORE THAN YOU DESERVE, YOU FILTHY HEATHEN


I - oh. Well, that doesn't tell us anything other than that Loghain is up to no good, but we already knew that.


The Circle? Wait a second, you're wearing robes. Are you a mage?



HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD ALREADY, ARGH I SHOULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW



So where's Loghain now, guy? Hasn't he sent someone to save you now that you've almost fulfilled your mission, or would that be too much to hope for?



Don't tell me the kid is a mage too...


And instead of rightfully sending him to the Chantry, she let her emotions get in the way of the Chantry's decrees...


How very irresponsible, and disobedient to the Chantry to boot. I'll be sure to report her when all this is over with.


But not pious enough to be obedient to the Chantry, I see. Hmm, interesting. So Connor is the source of the weirdness?


That doesn't sound good at all.



Hoo boy. See, this is why you pack the mages off to the Chantry while they're still young, so stuff like this doesn't happen. Clearly we need to get into the castle proper and deal with this threat.

And then that leaves us with the question of what to do with young Jowan here.



He'll be lucky if I don't slit his throat right here.



Shut up, Alistair.

Okay, whatever. We'll leave him here and let someone else decide how to deal with him. Let's keep moving, shall we?

Here we are in the castle courtyard!



You can't really see it, but over in the shadows next to the stairs there was a revenant waiting for us (this game's version of a miniboss). He went down like a chump, though, and we opened the castle gates to let Bann Teagan's men in.


Really? You don't sound eager. You sound creepy. Are you possessed? I'm not going to have to kill you, am I?


Right, right...okay, whatever. Let's go.

So we traipsed into the main hall, and found...this.


Is he...dancing? Well, at least he's still alive...


Oh, so this demon turns you into a breakdancer. Gotcha. I fully expect to see Bann Teagan show up on So You Think You Can Dance now.


You ratted us out! Argh, what a worthless woman.



Yep, that's me.







Well, clearly this kid is possessed. Not that his weird voice makes me think that or anything.



HEY. I'm a teyrn's son! Show some respect.


Oooooooookay then...

So then his mom stepped in and tried to calm him down, but that didn't go well at all.


Somebody needs to take this kid down a few pegs. I volunteer for the job!



So, she was lying earlier. Ugh.



Why do you keep blaming the mage for everything? Sure, he's a blood mage, so I'll try to make Eamon put him to death later, but still.


Too right you are, Morrigan. Can I get in your pants now?




And I accidentally skipped the next scene, but this should be sufficient.



Creepy. Okay, are we going to decide what to do soon?









Well, it seems to me that leaving a demon-possessed kid in charge of an entire town is a recipe for disaster. How does that sound?



Well, I wouldn't call myself a well-wisher per se...


Ugh, this kid is really getting on my nerves.


Okay, I'm tired of this already. Hey kid, why don't you go play with your toys and let the adults talk now?


Oh, I spoiled your sport, all right. And I'll keep doing it. I'll spoil your sport all day. What are you gonna do about it, shrimp?

And then the kid ran off like a chump and left the possessed guards and Teagan to do his dirty work. Which had predictable results.


Let's hope so. We don't want you to start dancing another jig.


Finally, she's getting the picture.


Right you are again, Morrigan. *wink*

So then Isolde had to confess how she'd hired the mage to tutor Connor and how it all went wrong, since Teagan didn't know yet.


Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know what she did wrong! Pick me! Pick me!


You know what the Chantry says, woman. By trying to avoid it, you invited disaster!

So, it turns out the only way to get the demon out of Connor is to kill Connor. Uh...that doesn't sound like a very good solution.


Shut up, Alistair.

Hey, wait! There's that blood mage in the dungeon. My spidey-sense says we should ask him what to do.


You've got a lot of nerve saying that, Isolde. I'm just saying.



But we can't just take the easy way out! That would be too easy!



Okay. Why don't we do that then? Let's send Jowan into the Fade!

I guess I should have tried harder to save the Circle of Magi. Oh well. How do we get into the Fade, then? I don't know if I like the sound of using blood magic for this.


...Oh. That doesn't sound good at all.



Ooh! Ooh! I volunteer Alistair for the cause!



Ooh! Ooh! Pick Alistair! Pick Alistair!



Wait, Isolde wants to volunteer? I'm listening!


Well, I'm down with that. Let's do this!


Shut up, Alistair.


That leads me to another question I had. I'm guessing there are enough people and guards left alive that Jowan could take blood from all of us without having to kill someone. Why doesn't he just do that?


Looks like we're doing this.



OKAY!


Well, I meant to send Morrigan into the Fade, but accidentally chose Wynne. Oh well. Let the ritual commence!


Well, this doesn't look so bad so far...


Hope you're ready, Wynne!


And into the Fade we go. Bye, Isolde!

So, I (as Wynne) went into the Fade. Fun stuff. So there I was, wandering around in the Fade, and who do I meet but Eamon himself!



There's your son. He's right behind you...wait, no he isn't. I'm not sure where he is, to be honest with you.


That's right. Oh, wait...this guy isn't Eamon at all! He's a phony!


He's a big fat phony demon! Argh! Die, demon!

So, rinse and repeat about four more times, and suddenly I found the actual demon I was trying to find!


Right. You're going down, demon.


Too bad, because I'm going to kill you in about one minute.



Killing you in 5...4...3...



Well, everything must be back to normal now, because we're seeing this clip of people mourning...


...and Connor and Bann Teagan and me looking at something...


...and a bonfire, and dead people being sent out into the lake in boats...


...and archers setting the boats on fire. Fun stuff.


I'm not sure why I took this screenshot, but it looks like Teagan just realized something horrible. Yay for the Grey Wardens!



Good. Well, you'll be sending him off to the mage tower posthaste, then?


Get used to it. You know the rules!


Well, she kinda deserved what she got, so...



Meh, he helped us in his (illegal) way.


Yeah, sure, whatever.


Then clearly our work here isn't done. I suppose you want me to help revive him, too?


I suppose I can help with that. But you're going to owe me big, you understand?


Of course you are. Well, I won't forget how much you owe me when all of this is done, either.

And that brings me to my stopping point for today. Well, Alistair did make a point of tracking me down at the party camp and yelling at me for using blood magic, but it wasn't like we had any other choice. And it's not like I was going to kill a kid - how's he supposed to bootstrap his way to success without it? He's a mage, so he won't be able to rely on Daddy's largesse anymore.

Well, I suppose we'll have to go look for the Urn of Sacred Ashes next time. Good thing I already know where to look.

Until next time, heroes!