[GUIDE] Nature of the Beast - Elves, Werewolves and Spirits, Oh My! Who to Side With?
Jan 11, 2019 19:11:24 GMT
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mousestalker, Catilina, and 1 more like this
Post by Heimdall on Jan 11, 2019 19:11:24 GMT
So you’ve decided to tramp through one of the largest forests on the continent in the hopes of running into a band of elves that might maybe lend you anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred warriors to fight the Blight. Every little bit helps, they are good archers. Luckily, the first clan you stumbled across happens to be led by Zathrian, a well respected Keeper and leader among the Dalish in the region for his mastery of ancient lore. Unfortunately, his clan is just now being savaged by a pack of werewolves that have spread their curse to some of the elven hunters. You’ll soon discover that the elves, or Zathrian anyway, aren’t as innocent as they appear. The werewolves suffer under a curse cast centuries ago by Zathrian himself and their attack was supposed to pressure him into undoing his spell. The wolf Witherfang, who originated the curse, is actually a spirit bound by Zathrian also called the Lady of the Forest (in her more humanoid naked form) and has been trying to help the werewolves recover some humanity. To be clear, Zathrian didn’t intend for werewolves to run rampant and multiply for centuries on end, it was just supposed to punish a specific group of humans, but he isn’t at all sympathetic to the plight of the current werewolves. So you have to choose how to handle the situation...
Please note: There are a myriad of different epilogue cards in Dragon Age Origins, many of which don't hold true with the story as it progresses through DA2 and DAI. To get round this BioWare has said they were merely rumours and not hard facts. Thus, information past the ending of DAO should not be considered hard canon.
There are three ways to resolve this conflict:
Kill the Werewolves and give Zathrian Witherfang’s Heart:
There are two ways to go about this, you can either refuse to hear out the Lady and kill her outright or decide to side with Zathrian after bringing him to meet with her. He’ll thank you for Witherfang’s heart and use it to cure his wounded hunters.
The rationale can be pretty simple here. You came here to get the aid of the elves and this is the most straightforward way to do that. The werewolves are also hardly innocent. Desperate though they may be, they have attacked and killed innocents, spreading their curse in the process. Perhaps you just trust Zathrian and want to help his people as quickly as possible. You also discover that Zathrian’s life is tied to the curse, so it cannot be lifted without killing him, so perhaps you want to keep him alive since he is a talented and knowledgeable mage. Or you may simply want to have as little to do with all the magic and spirits involved as possible, trusting none of it.
To that end, you can actually double cross Zathrian after killing the wolves and kill him as well. If you think he deserves to be punished for his role in the situation, you can still do that and have his apprentice Lanaya use the wolf’s heart to cure the hunters. You’ll have your Dalish archers for the final battle either way.
However, the curse still wasn’t technically lifted and according to the epilogue the werewolves of the Brecilian do eventually replenish their numbers, posing a threat to Dalish clans and travelers alike. Ultimately the forest is sealed off from travelers, though that does not stop the curse from spreading.
Lanaya is actually good at smoothing relations with humans if she leads the clan after the Blight is over. Zathrian doesn’t get along with the human leaders and ultimately decides he can’t keep pace with a changing world. He leaves his clan and disappears without a trace.
You’ll find an amulet on Witherfang’s body and Zathrian will give you an axe called Griffon’s Beak, which makes the user immune to extra flank attack damage if used with Griffon Helm, if he lives. You will not get the axe if you kill him.
Companions have mixed reactions to this course. The most extreme being Leliana, Wynne and Shale, all of whom can lose between 10-20 approval.
Kill the Elves
If you hate elves, the Dalish, or just like the idea of having a pack of werewolves on call, this might be the option for you. It requires high coercion, but you can convince the Lady and her wolves to attack and kill the elves off entirely. One can definitely sympathize with Swiftrunner’s desire to attack Zathrian, and unfortunately his clan isn’t going to standby and let that happen. If you feel Zathrian deserves to feel the rage of those he has wronged or simply can’t abide by his dishonesty, you might not be too fussed about taking it out on his clan.
You’ll be able to call werewolves to support you in the final battle, though the Lady is only able to rein in the werewolves’ instincts for so long. In time the werewolf population swells so much the Ferelden army is called in to handle the problem permanently, according to the epilogue. This is partially confirmed in the sequel.
In DA2, a woman named Clara appears in the Dalish camp on Sundermount looking for a way to help her werewolf cousin, who like all the other werewolves is losing their battle against their bestial nature.
Only Morrigan will approve of this choice (of course she does). Zevran in particular takes a lot of disapproval, he and Wynne will attempt to talk you out of it and give approval if you agree with them.
Lift the Curse
This is the option that gives everyone, except Zathrian, what they want. The werewolves and the wounded elves are cured. No matter how terrible what happened to Zathrian’s daughter was or how deserving the initial victims of his curse were, the werewolves now inhabiting the fortress had nothing to do with it. Many of them were just hapless travelers who wandered into the wrong part of the woods and until recently they were effectively mindless beasts. Almost everything these werewolves have done can be laid at the feet of Zathrian and his curse.
Zathrian and the Lady will die as a result of undoing the curse, but you may find it fitting for Zathrian to give his life to restore humanity to those who had it stolen from them by his curse. This leaves Lanaya as leader of the clan and she will be happy to lend the aid of the Dalish to the final battle. According to the epilogue, the newly human werewolves will stay together, collectively adopt the surname Wolf, and become the most famous animal trainers in Ferelden. The Dalish will hold a grudge though, some elves did die in the attacks after all. Some stay behind to hunt the cured werewolves and in DA2 you can encounter one elf confronting one of them on the Wounded Coast
Strangely the only companion who disapproves of this choice is Oghren of all people.
Swiftrunner will give you a shield for your trouble.
Conclusion:
Like the Redcliffe castle situation, there is a clear “best” option here with no real negative consequences. Lifting the curse resolves the situation to pretty much everyone’s satisfaction. The question is whether this is what your character wants. Your decision could come down to whether you think the elves or werewolves deserve to be punished. Or maybe it will just depend on whether you want archers or werewolves to help fight the Blight.
Please note: There are a myriad of different epilogue cards in Dragon Age Origins, many of which don't hold true with the story as it progresses through DA2 and DAI. To get round this BioWare has said they were merely rumours and not hard facts. Thus, information past the ending of DAO should not be considered hard canon.
There are three ways to resolve this conflict:
Kill the Werewolves and give Zathrian Witherfang’s Heart:
There are two ways to go about this, you can either refuse to hear out the Lady and kill her outright or decide to side with Zathrian after bringing him to meet with her. He’ll thank you for Witherfang’s heart and use it to cure his wounded hunters.
The rationale can be pretty simple here. You came here to get the aid of the elves and this is the most straightforward way to do that. The werewolves are also hardly innocent. Desperate though they may be, they have attacked and killed innocents, spreading their curse in the process. Perhaps you just trust Zathrian and want to help his people as quickly as possible. You also discover that Zathrian’s life is tied to the curse, so it cannot be lifted without killing him, so perhaps you want to keep him alive since he is a talented and knowledgeable mage. Or you may simply want to have as little to do with all the magic and spirits involved as possible, trusting none of it.
To that end, you can actually double cross Zathrian after killing the wolves and kill him as well. If you think he deserves to be punished for his role in the situation, you can still do that and have his apprentice Lanaya use the wolf’s heart to cure the hunters. You’ll have your Dalish archers for the final battle either way.
However, the curse still wasn’t technically lifted and according to the epilogue the werewolves of the Brecilian do eventually replenish their numbers, posing a threat to Dalish clans and travelers alike. Ultimately the forest is sealed off from travelers, though that does not stop the curse from spreading.
Lanaya is actually good at smoothing relations with humans if she leads the clan after the Blight is over. Zathrian doesn’t get along with the human leaders and ultimately decides he can’t keep pace with a changing world. He leaves his clan and disappears without a trace.
You’ll find an amulet on Witherfang’s body and Zathrian will give you an axe called Griffon’s Beak, which makes the user immune to extra flank attack damage if used with Griffon Helm, if he lives. You will not get the axe if you kill him.
Companions have mixed reactions to this course. The most extreme being Leliana, Wynne and Shale, all of whom can lose between 10-20 approval.
Kill the Elves
If you hate elves, the Dalish, or just like the idea of having a pack of werewolves on call, this might be the option for you. It requires high coercion, but you can convince the Lady and her wolves to attack and kill the elves off entirely. One can definitely sympathize with Swiftrunner’s desire to attack Zathrian, and unfortunately his clan isn’t going to standby and let that happen. If you feel Zathrian deserves to feel the rage of those he has wronged or simply can’t abide by his dishonesty, you might not be too fussed about taking it out on his clan.
You’ll be able to call werewolves to support you in the final battle, though the Lady is only able to rein in the werewolves’ instincts for so long. In time the werewolf population swells so much the Ferelden army is called in to handle the problem permanently, according to the epilogue. This is partially confirmed in the sequel.
In DA2, a woman named Clara appears in the Dalish camp on Sundermount looking for a way to help her werewolf cousin, who like all the other werewolves is losing their battle against their bestial nature.
Only Morrigan will approve of this choice (of course she does). Zevran in particular takes a lot of disapproval, he and Wynne will attempt to talk you out of it and give approval if you agree with them.
Lift the Curse
This is the option that gives everyone, except Zathrian, what they want. The werewolves and the wounded elves are cured. No matter how terrible what happened to Zathrian’s daughter was or how deserving the initial victims of his curse were, the werewolves now inhabiting the fortress had nothing to do with it. Many of them were just hapless travelers who wandered into the wrong part of the woods and until recently they were effectively mindless beasts. Almost everything these werewolves have done can be laid at the feet of Zathrian and his curse.
Zathrian and the Lady will die as a result of undoing the curse, but you may find it fitting for Zathrian to give his life to restore humanity to those who had it stolen from them by his curse. This leaves Lanaya as leader of the clan and she will be happy to lend the aid of the Dalish to the final battle. According to the epilogue, the newly human werewolves will stay together, collectively adopt the surname Wolf, and become the most famous animal trainers in Ferelden. The Dalish will hold a grudge though, some elves did die in the attacks after all. Some stay behind to hunt the cured werewolves and in DA2 you can encounter one elf confronting one of them on the Wounded Coast
Strangely the only companion who disapproves of this choice is Oghren of all people.
Swiftrunner will give you a shield for your trouble.
Conclusion:
Like the Redcliffe castle situation, there is a clear “best” option here with no real negative consequences. Lifting the curse resolves the situation to pretty much everyone’s satisfaction. The question is whether this is what your character wants. Your decision could come down to whether you think the elves or werewolves deserve to be punished. Or maybe it will just depend on whether you want archers or werewolves to help fight the Blight.
