What did you do today in DA? [Spoilers]

After defeating Corypheus' demon army at Adamant and recruiting the non-corrupted Wardens, Revas was finally ready to go Halamshiral to counter Corypheus' machinations there. (Gamer Note: Revas was already at Level 16 when arriving at the Winter Palace, a bit overpowered. To even things up a little bit, I had Revas fight in her formal dress. Unfortunately, when going into tactical areas, the companions went from their formal uniforms (modded blue)into what looked like their default underwear; they got their normal gear.)



After reading Masked Empire, I came to the conclusion that the "reuniting Celene and Briala" option was not the best solution since Briala could have had that at the end of Masked Empire but instead, opted to start an elven insurgency against both Celene and Gaspard. In my previous two PTs, my two elven mages opted for a 3-way truce. This time, I opted to have the "Briala rules through Gaspard" option. It's certainly an option that an elven Inquisitor would consider. But it was definitely painful to have Revas and company sit on their hands while Florianne assassinated Celene. (Shades of Cassius in "Julius Ceasar.") It should be interesting to see how this impacts Trespasser...

After Revas returned to Skyhold, she made the rounds with the companions. She met with Blackwall and they had the big, torrid love scene before Blackwall disappeared. (At least the "stray dog" story was avoided!) Revas found out that both Leliana and Cass are being considered for Divine. I'm surprised that Cass seems to be warming up to Revas again even after she "strongly disapproved" of the favoring Briala option. Also, Vivienne's "Snow White" quest has triggered despite her cold relation with Revas. Looks like the impact of the "Fair Weather Friends" trial is wearing off. Either that or quests ultimately trigger no matter how much a companion hate Inky.

deadlydwarf

Nah. My Ghi'ral never got Vivienne's quest, even after he scraped up some approves from other decisions and the War Table.

That first conversation he had with her after allying mages made her hit bottom I guess.(he insisted the Dalish way was better than the Circle. It got nasty.) And I never did her books since she moved his furniture, would have been weird for her to crack and be friendly.

I wasn't exactly going out of my way to annoy her. my first PT I allied the mages, I was trying to get along with everyone, so I got approves in that convo with Viv. The 2nd PT, I was playing a character who had conscripted the mages because she thought the mages had been a bit dumb, and got approves in that convo with Viv. The 3rd PT, I was a Dalish Mage who honestly believed the circles were doing it wrong, and that the Dalish way was better. Kinda like Merril. It was a frustrating conversation, where Vivienne gets the final word no matter what you say, bringing up the 3 mage rules she shouldn't even know anything about and didn't exist before DAI. Anyway, it was one disapprove after another, with a great disapprove too.  The next time I talk to her, she moves my furntiture at skyhold. And every time I visited, she had nothing more to say- ever. I would have had to actively do her book quest to get enough points to even get her to talk to me again, and she certainly never asked me about the Wyvern Heart.

And despite all that, I don't think the spa scene is any different at all. Except, knowing their history, it's easy fro my brain to apply a layer of FAKE to the whole thing. Even knowing it was the same lines, I thought she was just keeping up appearances and playing The Game even as she told me to relax. 

Oh my gosh, I played through the Blackwall scene like 6+ times with my Mara. I wanted every line to be exactly her. No, "close enough,". I got a lot of fun out of trying out all the options. ^^ Such an epic scene. 

Arkady Hawke did the First Sacrifice quest. It's actually kinda weird that the Templar just dumps all the evidence on Hawke and says, :HEre, you have a go at it." When he hadn't even truly bothered the City Guard with it.

The delivery of male Sarcastic Hawke lines have not pleased me as much as female Hawke. Or perhaps now that I know what's going to be said, the sparkle of newness has worn off. Hmmm. Or perhaps I've just not gotten enough in character. It's starting to shape up a bit. Told Anders the Justice thing was a bit creepy, got some Rivalry there, and it just occurred to me, I was supposed to flirt there. LOL I dunno, it was a serious subject to be flirting in the middle of. Slept with Jethann- Decided my Hawke would rather let him live with the idea that she'd escaped her husband. And it made Isabella happy. I've been pondering a small conversation I shall head cannon them having later. When he's slept through the entire crew and what Isa would say about it.

I've accidentally slipped back into total metagaming when I told myself I wasn't going to.(Friend everyone but Isabella, which is opposite of what I did last time, which was rival everyone but Isabella) And I haven't brought Bethany with me anywhere cuz she's maxed. Oh well. She'll go to the Deep Roads with Anders this PT, and warden Bethany will get attention on both DLCs.

I'm a bit bummed that I won't get this PT even close to done before I drive home to Kentucky. I'll have my PS3 again and would rather play these "extra" non canon folk more comfortably.

I played with Inara a bit more. She helped clearing the Crossroads, spoke with Mother Giselle and did go to Val Royeaux.
There was sweet conversation with Josephine about Inaras family and her life in the Circle - with some really sweet flirting. I think, INara might go for Josephine, those two get along so well. Oh and Inara admitted to have a little crush on a templar in her circle - reminded me a bit of the mage origin in DAo.
Later Inara bonded with Vivienne over her old mentor and with Sera over ... well funny stuff.

Inara choosing something nice to wear for Val Royeaux - that retexture of the GW mage armor is so fitting for those occasions, when it has to be a bit more formal. WIth my Dalish, I normally choose the keeper armor for that, but for a Trevelyan, this is perfect



Being amused by Sera



At Vivs party

Since returning to Skyhold, Revas has become aware that the Chantry is looking to either Leliana or Cassandra as the next Divine. Though Dalish, Revas sees the importance of this and immediately favors Leliana, who not only supported Revas' decision to free the mages but who is also the lover of the HOF, a city elf. She follows her to Valence where she seeks to uncover a last message from Divine Justinia. Leliana uncovers a spy sent by one of Justinia's rivals, but Revas restrains Leliana from taking lethal action against the spy. A compassionate, idealistic Divine would be more likely to bridge the various divides among the people of Thedas.

Upon meeting Iron Bull, he relays the Qunari offer of an alliance. IB, however, shows signs of nervousness about the affair. Revas, whose clan wandered the Free Marches before finally settling in Wycomme, remembers what happened with the Qunari in Kirkwall and is wary of the Qunari in general. Further, the plan over which the Qun and the Inquisition would consummate the alliance is an odd one. The Qunari want to send a dreadnaught to attack a Venatori smuggling ship carrying Red Lyrium while it is docked in the Storm Coast. They also want the Inquisition to provide cover for the dreadnaught from two key areas overlooking the dock, but demand that the Inquisition do it with a small force. This makes no sense to Revas, who feels the troops tasked with guarding the position would be vulnerable to attack from Venatori forces, particularly those including mages. The Qunari insist the area is clear of Venatori but still want a small force at those positions just in case. Revas rejects the offer. IB disapproves. (The offer still stands, however, and is marked on the Storm Coast.)

Revas hooks up with LI Blackwall. He's brooding more than usual. Somehow, they end up having a night of passion and she wakes up alone in Blackwall's barn. (Because a barn is so much more romantic than her huge apartment which actually has a bed! ) She finds a brief goodbye letter from Blackwall and one of Leliana's scouts arrives to confirm he's no longer in Skyhold and brings a report about an upcoming execution in VR which Blackwall appears to have had an interest in. But before the sense of abandonment can set in, she finds an unusual visitor: Trifles Minutiae of the Quizquisition!


Revas also pays a visit to her not-so-good friend, Vivienne. Revas feels a tinge of guilt as she passes Vivienne's shrine to the late Empress Celene. Viv wants to ask her a favor. She wants Revas to hunt down the heart of a White Wyvern for some potion she's concocting for someone in the Council of Heralds. When Revas asks what the potion is for, Viv refuses to be forthcoming and with more than a little bit of snark adds "you wouldn't want me blabbing about some of your issues!" Revas turns her down.

Revas also catches Varric talking a female dwarven smith named Bianca - so much for the story Varric told about the origins of his crossbow. She had information about smugglers using an abandoned Thaig for their Red Lyrium operations. She seemed a bit nervous however... Varric vouched for her, however, so back to old Thaig underneath the Hinterlands.

@deadkydwarf

Shrine? SHe builds a shrine?

I've never killed Celene. Closest I got was asking about it, then letting Florian expose herself. Felt guilty because that version let a bunch f red shirt Inquisition scouts get knifed, all so I could attempt to wear my armor during the dance scene instead of my formal wear. And even that didn't work.

On the left side of Vivienne's accomodations, there's a painting of Celene with some candles next to it.  It might have been there before, but for an Inky who's feeling guilty...

And ironically, Revas did end up dancing with Blackwall in her Dalish scout armor (modded Raven version) even though I would've preferred her to be back in her dress!

Aw...the poor red shirts!  Did they have a contest to come up with the ugliest possible uniform for Inquisition grunts?  The helmet is awful.  The uniforms look like they're made out of tin cans and sackcloth.  Both the Orlesians and Fereldens have better armor/clothing.

As to the assassination, even without all the collateral damage, I do feel dirty for betraying Celene's trust.  It's easy to imagine an elven Inky doing it....and then feeling horrible afterward, assuming Inky is an idealistic good guy.  It'll be interesting to see how this works out in Trespasser.  Also, what will happen with IB if he goes into Trespasser with the Chargers still alive but without having broken with the Qun.

I just realised that if Loghain survives Origins and didn't die in the Fade he becomes the Warden-Commander of Orlais. The irony is strong here

I imagine he would spend his days talking to Orlaisian Wardens about how he hates Orlais

Brought Merril, Isabella, and Aveline to the Bone Pit.

Miner: Don't go that way! There is a huge dragon! *runs away*

*Merril steps up* "We should go that way. I've never seen a huge dragon before."