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Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Aug 25, 2020 9:47:09 GMT
(Tagging vertigomez again because she's the one who requested I go into detail about my first DA2 playthrough, so I want her to be able to find all of these. Explaining this again because given the way notifications work on this site, she's probably going to read the last one of these first.) So, Thomas Hawke couldn't find a horn to swap out party members in the Dalish camp at Sundermount, and he didn't want to collect the arulin'holm for Merrill with Anders and Aveline in the party. So he decided to turn back to Kirkwall... and was almost to the exit of the ledge the Dalish camp was located in when he realized there might be something worth taking back near the altar where Merrill had resurrected Flemeth. So he turned back around and slaughtered a bunch of spiders (including one the same size as the one in the Deep Roads that had knocked him and Anders out) a bunch of undead (including a revenant and an arcane horror) and a mature dragon and her brood. For his pains, he found... some crafting materials, and some stuff to sell later. He headed back to the Kirkwall, and found that it was night by the time he arrived. His first stop was the Black Emporium, to sell a whole lot of stuff he didn't need. (His pockets really were getting heavy.) Then he headed to Merrill's to give her the Carved Halla. (She seemed confused by the gesture, until she realized she really was getting this just because Hawke was feeling generous.) Then Hawke headed to the Hanged Man. His first order of business was to find the guard who'd sold out the Qunari, drinking away the money he'd gotten with his "new friends." Aveline picked him up by the collar and intimidated him into selling out the person who he'd sold out the Qunari to... to the best of his ability. All he knew was that he'd sold the Qunari out to a templar with the Grand Cleric's seal... Although that's enough of a lead: it's pretty obvious Hightown's Chantry is the next stop. (Even if there's another one in Kirkwall, which is quite possible, that's the only one where a templar could get that seal.) Aveline told her sellout guard that his next ten shifts would be on punishment detail, and he didn't bother arguing; he was probably feeling lucky he still had a job. Next order of business: helping Aveline get what she wants in life. Hawke approached Donnic for a drink, and Donnic figured out that he was the only guard who'd been told the guards were gathering for drinks... although he'd somehow missed that there were two other guards there, including his boss. (Wouldn't you think that'd be the sort of thing to draw some attention? Especially since she'd manhandled the guy getting him to talk.) Eventually, realizing that Aveline wasn't going to get up the courage to join them naturally, Thomas decided to turn the conversation to her, hoping Donnic would say something to get her courage up. What he said was that he was pretty sure Hawke was trying to use Donnic to get close to Aveline, and that Hawke should have a little backbone instead of trying to use a go-between. One more time for the Guard-Captains in the back! Donnic left, and Hawke passed on the message. Aveline said that she simply didn't have it in her: she only feels competent on a patrol, and Anders suggested that maybe it'd be wisest if Donnic and Aveline shared a patrol. Hawke said that someone as stable as Anders could only possibly give good advice, and Aveline left to follow it. Thomas stepped in to converse with Varric... and learned that Varric's spies had confirmed Bartrand was back in the city shaking down some people who owed him money. Varric, Thomas, and Bianca all agreed that they missed Varric's former brother, and that they should all catch up soon. Then Hawke stepped in to finally pick up the money he'd earned taking down the Invisible Sisters, and went for the horn to pick up Fenris. (He elected not to swap out Anders, partially because his healing abilities are useful and partially because he thought he might be able to keep Anders happy by making a show of distrusting Merrill with the arulin'holm.) So then the group headed back to Sundermount... and were interrupted by slavers demanding that Thomas step away from "the slave" if he valued his life. Hawke noted that that wasn't a very generous opening offer. Fenris noted that he wasn't a slave. The slavers noted that being torn apart by a lyrium warrior and his companions rather hurt. When the fight was over, Fenris grabbed a mage Thomas thought they'd already killed (whose enemy label was "Tevinter Magister" even though this guy probably doesn't even dare dream of becoming that powerful) and insisted on being told where Danarius was. The mage replied that he didn't know that, but that a woman named "Hadriana" was waiting at a set of caves. Fenris said he knew the ones, and told the mage that he "served the wrong master," before killing him. With the unpleasant task done, Fenris explained that Hadriana was his former master's apprentice, and that if she was here, it meant Danarius hadn't given up. He demanded to go to the old slaver caves right away, and Hawke replied that they had more important things to do. Fenris demanded to know who these things were more important to, and marked the caves on his map anyway. Hawke continued to the Dalish camp, handed over the three amulets of the dead hunters they'd found in the varterall's cave, and reported to Marethari that the varterall was dead... and that Pol had run right into it to get away from Merrill. Marethari said that some of the hunters fear that Merrill's going to bring the Blight back, and with some prodding, admitted they feared that because she'd told them Merrill might do that. And then Marethari said that Merrill should give up on the mirror, which had killed one of their hunters and (somehow) driven her to blood magic. Marethari said it wasn't too late for Merrill to come back to the clan, instead of living alone. What? At this point, I think she's better off alone than with her clan. If Merrill absolutely cannot live on her own (and she's done an okay job of that over the last three years) then maybe she should move in with Hawke instead of a clan whose hunters have demonstrated that they'd literally rather die than spend time with her. (And that's not just his attraction to her talking.) For some reason, Merrill refused this "generous" offer, and asked for the arulin'holm. Marethari gave it to Hawke, as a way of pretending to follow her ritual obligations rather than refusing, and Merrill expressed relief that Marethari had handed it over instead of going back on her word. Girl. Did you somehow not notice that Marethari is trying to do exactly that? Hawke asked what Marethari had meant when she'd blamed the mirror for Merrill turning to blood magic. And it turned out that she'd learned it in order to purify the mirror of the Blight, since Marethari wasn't going to lend her own power and Merrill couldn't find the lyrium she needed. Okay, important takeaway: the mirror was blighted and isn't. Marethari is exaggerating the danger when she says Merril's going to bring the Blight back to the clan. Good to know. This really would be a bad plan if it could end that way. Hawke suggested that maybe Merrill should listen to Marethari when she said the mirror was dangerous, even though Marethari offered no evidence that it was, because he was hoping that making that suggestion would make Anders more inclined to think Hawke wasn't just mindlessly going along with this. Merrill shot that down, and asked for the arulin'holm. Thomas agreed. Anders seemed okay with this, probably because it looked like Thomas wasn't taking for granted that this was safe. Fenris didn't, but Hawke's kind of deliberately screwing with him at this point. Anyway, Thomas decided that the next stop should be the slaver caves where Hadriana was waiting for Fenris: they were comfortably along the way to anywhere Hawke could want to go next, and anyway he figured really ought to do something about the slavers chasing his frenemy. The group handled the guards outside, and started towards the entrance... where Fenris decided to give a bit of the backstory. Apparently, these caves were used as slaver pens so that the slavers could hide their stocks from each other, since slavers weren't above stealing from their rivals. If even thieves don't have honor among them, why should slavers?
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Post by vertigomez on Aug 27, 2020 21:43:43 GMT
(Tagging vertigomez again because she's the one who requested I go into detail about my first DA2 playthrough, so I want her to be able to find all of these. Explaining this again because given the way notifications work on this site, she's probably going to read the last one of these first.) MY GUY I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS AAAHHHHHH Time to read from the beginning. And thank you for tagging me, twas very thoughtful ('cause you know I definitely want to live vicariously through your first DA2 playthrough )
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LadyofNemesis
N5
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Posts: 4,946 Likes: 12,302
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ladyofnemesis
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by LadyofNemesis on Aug 27, 2020 21:51:01 GMT
vertigomezHave fun with reading all the text also...welcome back, just in time for tea! (also, have some Dutch "stroopwafels"...they're good)
gotta ask, 'cause you're good at these things (at least imo.)
I've been planning out my male protagonists, but having a hard time deciding on a Warden currently dubbing between Aeducan or Cousland...but not really sure what to go with
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Sokemis
N3
Games: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Jade Empire
Posts: 876 Likes: 1,827
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sokemis
Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Jade Empire
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Post by Sokemis on Aug 27, 2020 23:17:17 GMT
(Tagging vertigomez again because she's the one who requested I go into detail about my first DA2 playthrough, so I want her to be able to find all of these. Explaining this again because given the way notifications work on this site, she's probably going to read the last one of these first.) MY GUY I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS AAAHHHHHH Time to read from the beginning. And thank you for tagging me, twas very thoughtful ('cause you know I definitely want to live vicariously through your first DA2 playthrough ) They are a fun read too, I've been enjoying following along with riverdaleswhiteflash and Thomas' story
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September 2016
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Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Aug 28, 2020 3:43:10 GMT
(Tagging vertigomez again because she's the one who requested I go into detail about my first DA2 playthrough, so I want her to be able to find all of these. Explaining this again because given the way notifications work on this site, she's probably going to read the last one of these first.) MY GUY I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS AAAHHHHHH Time to read from the beginning. And thank you for tagging me, twas very thoughtful ('cause you know I definitely want to live vicariously through your first DA2 playthrough ) You're welcome. I'm glad to share. I should probably warn you that the posts get a bit long... but you've probably already seen that. Anyway: to get back to the story... ---------- Thomas Hawke, Fenris, Anders, and Merrill walked into the "Abandoned" Slavers Den, and Hawke idly noted that it seemed to have been made in the dwarven style. And since Fenris had either implied or stated (I don't remember which) that this place had been purpose-built for slavers, that implies that the dwarves had been in on the slave trade. Not really their proudest moment, huh? Hawke also noted that the layout and construction seemed to be similar to the subterranean ruin near the coast that he'd killed Kelder in. Maybe that had been another slaver bolthole, from back in the bad old days when every inch of Thedas's surface was part of Tevinter? Anyway, the first man they came to in the complex was a dead man laid on a table, who seemed to have been ritually bled. Fenris noted that this had been done to prepare for their coming, and when Merrill expressed her horror, Fenris opined that she was only a step or two away from that. Dude. Not cool. They slaughtered their way through slavers and corpses, and eventually came to the one slave Hadriana hadn't bled to increase her power yet... although the gang seems to have gotten there right as her men were about to start. The gang slaughtered every slaver in the room, and Thomas proceeded to undo some of the hard work he'd done antagonizing the hell out of Fenris by showing sympathy to this woman (who called herself "Orana") and offering her paid work. (It occurred to Thomas later that he probably could have gotten away with enslaving her, but... there's some things you just don't do, no matter who they annoy.) Well, I'm sure it won't take Thomas long to regain the lost ground. Actually, I think he might have already done it, during the events I'll narrate two paragraphs down. Thomas picked up a new bow for himself, some armor straps for Fenris, and a Tevinter Chantry amulet that he figured Anders was going to like. And then, they finally came to the Magister. (Or, the woman who Orana had called a magister: I'm not actually sure she holds a seat in the Magisterium, although since she's an apprentice to Danarius I suppose I could believe it.) The gang managed to win this one fairly easily. The mooks were no threat, even after Hadriana ran out of living men and sent shades and corpses at them. And while Hadriana's magic probably could have done nasty things to them, she didn't get much of a chance to try: every time she dropped her shield, the entire party hit her at once. Then she tried to bargain for her life, by claiming that Fenris had a living sister. Thomas was pretty sure she was lying to give herself an out, but Fenris bought it, and requested she continue talking. Hadriana held out for a promise that she would be allowed to live if she talked, and when Fenris gave it, Hadriana claimed that the sister was a paid servant working in Qarinus. Fenris said that he believed her, and then punched her through the gut anyway. Hawke called him out over the broken promise, and Fenris deflected by going into a rant about mages, as though Hawke didn't have a mage sister and Anders and Merrill weren't standing within six feet. Hawke called Fenris out on blaming all mages for the actions of the Tevinter Magisters, reminding Fenris that not all mages were like that. Fenris responded by asking who Hawke's example of a good mage was, citing Merrill and Anders as though he hadn't met Bethany, before storming out to clear his head. Hawke decided to head back home... but when he got back to the entrance to the ruin, he found that there was an invisible force preventing him from leaving. He looked around for any way to get rid of it, and finding none, he went all the way back to the very end of the ruin... and found a door that could have taken him out of the ruin without needing to take the sidetrip. Anyway, back to the "heading home" thing. Fenris was waiting for Hawke at the estate. Fenris apologized for biting Hawke's head off at the ruin, and explained how Hadriana had tortured him just because she could without pretending that excused the rant after she was dead. Hawke accepted the apology, with only a trace of his usual sarcasm. Hawke broke from his usual pattern of antagonizing Fenris to try to communicate to him that Fenris's past was poisoning him, and Fenris said that he couldn't just let go of his past because his past was actively hunting him down... before admitting that he knew the hatred in him was unhealthy, and that he'd wanted to keep his word to Hadriana and let her go, but.... just couldn't. Damn. Poor guy's got baggage. He eventually left, and Hawke found Aveline in front of the dog. She'd stated that it wasn't good for mabari to be cooped up, and offered to let him train her recruits. Now, Hawke had been using him in combat (even if my previous posts don't mention it) but he agreed to let Aveline borrow the dog just because more exercise couldn't hurt the dog, and wouldn't hurt the recruits unless they came between him and his food. He went to his mother, and she said she was dating again. She didn't say who, though. Oh well, whoever she's dating, I'm sure this is leading to a beautiful relationship arc. Hawke went back out that night: he first went to the Black Emporium, to offload some junk that had been building up in his inventory and the two bows he had and couldn't use. (He'd picked up two in the slavers den that were both better than the one he'd brought in, and he can't dual-wield bows.) Then he headed to Anders's clinic to hand over the Tevinter Chantry Amulet. But before that conversation, Anders asked for some help with something: he claims (admittedly without evidence) that there's a plot to turn every mage in Kirkwall Tranquil over the next three years, and that it's the brainchild of a particularly sick templar named Ser Alrik. Anders had nothing good to say about this Alrik guy: he gave Meredith the minor praise that she at least thinks she's doing the right thing, just to draw a contrast with the sadistic Ser Alrik, who apparently deliberately drives mages to demons just for kicks. If Bethany's locked up with this guy, and he's really that bad, Thomas needs to do something about it. Anders's suggestion was to find evidence of his plan to Tranquil every mage in Kirkwall. Hawke noted that he'd be an idiot to have any written evidence, so Anders responded that they needed to hope he was as stupid as he was evil. Anyway, then Hawke got the chance to hand over the Black Chantry Amulet. Anders was eventually grateful, after fighting down his "are you trying to get me hanged for heresy?!" reaction. It doesn't seem to be at all magical, which is a surprise when you consider that Tevinter is known for magic, and that their Chantry is run by mages. Then again, lyrium is supposed to be way expensive, so I suppose they can't enchant all of their Chantry regalia.
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melbella
N7
Trouble-shooting Space Diva
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Origin: melbella
Prime Posts: 2186
Prime Likes: 5778
Posts: 8,223 Likes: 25,451
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by melbella on Aug 30, 2020 4:46:10 GMT
Worked my way through Emerald Graves, clearing the whole area, not just the near side. Still a few odds and ends left but that's it. Went back to Skyhold to talk to Cullen about red lyrium and get the 'fight Carroll' quest. The Din'an Hanin mission wasn't there yet even though I met with Tavin. Great bears tracked me all over the place until I finally had to kill a few so they'd leave me alone. Also killed a few giants while marking the Elven monuments, but luckily no stray magic bolts worked up the pet brontos.
Sutherland is in trouble so I have to go rescue him
I also have the amulet for Cole (will probably make him more spirit-y, even though I prefer more human, because I want Maryden to hook up with Krem in Trespasser).
I am putting off WEWH to minimize the time I have Morrigan around invading my WT space. Haven't decided whether to drink from the Well or not. So far only my elf mages have done so.
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Post by Rascoth on Aug 30, 2020 7:05:34 GMT
The Din'an Hanin mission wasn't there yet even though I met with Tavin. It appears only after WEWH.
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Aug 30, 2020 9:42:24 GMT
(Tagging vertigomez so she can find this one too. Uh... should I keep doing that? Or can you find them all on your own from here on out?) Thomas Hawke went right to the hidden entrance to the Gallows: if Bethany might be in danger from this Alrik freak, that needed to be handled right then. On the way there, he found a pile of coins, which he could only assume had been left behind when one of the carta assassins he'd killed a couple of posts ago had decayed. So nice of the people of Darktown to leave his rightful loot for him, even if they could use it so much more than he could. On the way in, Anders asked Hawke to keep the tunnels secret, because they've saved hundreds of mages' lives and Anders didn't want them uncovered. Fair enough. They got into the tunnels, and Anders commented that the fact that the mages were kept in old slave pens spoke to how Kirkwall viewed its Circle. Uh, maybe? But Thomas was more inclined to think the Chantry keeps the mages there for the practical reason that the slavers of old had built a handy place to keep a whole lot of people at once. He's sure that very few people in the Chantry care that the history of that edifice might make the mages feel subhuman, and that most of those who care in any way view it as a bonus, but he doesn't think the mages are there specifically to make them feel subhuman. Getting back to the plot: it didn't take the gang long to find lyrium smugglers, who seemed to think the gang were... the... authorities? Bruh. Thomas is a former smuggler, and he is sneaking into the Gallows illegally. He could be friends with you if you just put down the weapons and let him by. Or if you don't want that, he could at least completely ignore you in exchange for the same courtesy from your end. Oh, no? Well, cowabunga it is. Anders explained that the lyrium smugglers were servicing the templars, and Thomas wondered to himself if the mages got any hits of the stuff off these guys. It also occurred to him to wonder how mages kept using the tunnels to escape, and why Anders was worried about the templars cracking down on said tunnels, if the tunnels were a source of supplementary lyrium for them. The gang had to slaughter a whole bunch of these smugglers, and one turned out to be either carrying or wearing really nice dwarven pants. There's got to be a market for such things. (If killing the owner didn't soil them beyond use.) Anyway, after a whole bunch of dead smugglers, the gang came to... giant spiders? Why do the smugglers tolerate these things in their tunnels? Do they have some trick for avoiding them? It can't just be that they're willing to live and let live if you put food out, since they jumped on Thomas and friends pretty much immediately. Anyway, a couple dead spiders and a bunch more dead smugglers later, they came across Ser Alrik himself, threatening an escaped mage. She begged not to be made Tranquil, offering to do anything Ser Alrik asked... and Alrik said that if he made her Tranquil, he could get whatever he wanted anyway. This is the man who is trusted to protect mages, both from the outside world and from themselves. This is the man who is trusted to protect Bethany, both from the the outside world and from herself. Thomas decided to get a smart remark in before he started tearing through twisted templar tyrants... even though he's an archer, and Alrik had his back turned and wasn't wearing a helmet. (Seriously Hawke, what the actual hell? Perfect chance for a cutscene death.) Anders started glowing blue, and completely lost his temper. Which, given what they'd seen, wouldn't necessarily be cause for concern... except that Hawke knows Justice's voice after that trip to the Fade. Oh hell. There were a lot of templars, but they went down easily. Thomas made sure to have his party members focus on one templar at a time starting about halfway through. (And it wasn't because he'd already messed up that fight once: Hawke can't rewind time, so he couldn't go back to right before every started drawing their weapons and do the fight again, this time making sure to focus fire.) The fight was over, but Justice didn't seem to be done fighting. He continued ranting in a clearly non-human voice, even after Hawke reminded him that the fight was over and that Anders's body was still glowing... and the mage he'd just saved found her voice and told the demon to stay away from her. Justice stormed up to her and demanded to know if she was one of theirs, that she called him a demon. He had pretty clearly already made up his mind. Oh. Hell.Thomas reminded Anders (or Justice, really) that protecting the mages was why they were there, and that there was no reason to do it if they were just going to kill them afterwards. Justice blew Thomas off and raised his staff to kill her... but Anders found just enough of himself to force Justice back down. Anders freaked the hell out and quickly left. The mage (whose name I don't think anyone ever said out loud, and which Thomas certainly couldn't read in the air above her head) immediately fled. (And no, Hawke definitely didn't screw this up by putting more emphasis on smart-talking Anders than talking him down, and then turn back time again so that he could redo the fight and the subsequent dialogue. Like I said, Hawke can't turn back time.) Hawke continued looting the caverns, making sure to search Alrik's body to see if there was any evidence of the "Tranquil Solution." What Hawke found was that Alrik had floated the idea, but that neither Meredith nor the Divine wanted any part of it. Hawke also found a side-chamber that had some... ephemeral magic thing that Hawke thought might help Anders's armor... and another note from the Band of Three? Don't they get into the strangest places? What exactly would they be doing here? The note seemed to contain the answer to that: the group was searching underneath Kirkwall for hidden chambers that might contain whatever secret they were looking for. The ancient Tevinter mages tended to work in subterranean chambers far away from the scrutiny of common men. (The Band of Three were also wondering if they were trying to hide from the Archon... or if they were doing hidden work for him.) (But wait, if the Band of Three were looking for hidden chambers that might contain the secrets, what would they be doing here? Any hidden chambers along this smuggling route wouldn't stay that way for long.) Regardless, Hawke and Company eventually came to the exit. The mage was there, asking what the hell she had just seen. Hawke joked that she'd just seen an elaborate stunt designed to discourage her from ever summoning demons... and the spoilsport swore up and down that she'd never considered doing such a thing, forcing him to explain that he was joking. (Some people just don't have great senses of humor after almost being murdered.) Hawke told her that she could go back to her parents, but that she couldn't stay there. She needed to get out of the city. The mage immediately agreed. With that accomplished, Hawke immediately went back the the clinic. Anders could not be alone right now, for his safety and the safety of others. Thomas found Anders throwing away most of his stuff, and asked if he was punishing himself for almost killing that poor girl. Anders said that someone should punish him for it, and pondered if maybe the templars were right. Thomas told him not to give in to doubt: nobody was disputing the templars' general argument that mages are dangerous, but Anders could provide them with an example of a dangerous mage controlling his powers anyway. Anders agreed to put some thought into it, and Thomas welcomed him back to the team. Anders also asked if the "Tranquil Solution" was a real thing, or just a product of Justice's deranged imagination. Hawke told him the whole story, and handed him the letter to prove it. Anders celebrated it as proof that the situation was not as bad as he'd thought, and decided that it might be worth opening a dialogue with the Grand Cleric. I'm sure great things will come of that dialogue. Thomas added Anders to the party at the horn outside the clinic (because just asking while you're in his house is too easy) and they went to Merrill's place. Hawke had a flirtatious conversation with Merrill about how nobody else understood her efforts to restore the eluvian... while Fenris and Anders presumably shook their heads in disbelief just off-screen. Then the group stepped out the door into the Alienage plaza, noting to their amazement that the sun still wasn't up... and they ran into a remnant of the Dog Lords, the Ferelden gang Hawke thought he'd already dealt with. Round two, huh? Hawke whistled for his mabari this time, and the dog and his lord showed these pretenders what a real Dog Lord was. Then he went through some of the crates and sacks lying around the Alienage (figuring that the dirt-poor Alienage elves probably wouldn't miss the stuff that much) and found a book written by Shartan, the elf who'd helped Andraste free the slaves. Hawke headed to Fenris's mansion to give it to him, instead of just handing it to him right there like you'd expect him to do. But first Fenris pulled out the last of a rare wine he'd had (barely stopping to wipe his feet) and said he was doing it to celebrate the anniversary of his escape. He revealed that he'd been left behind on a disputed island named Seheron after the the Tevinter Imperium had lost a battle to the Qunari, and wound up with some people who were rebelling against both sides. Then Danarius came back for Fenris a few months later, and ordered Fenris to kill them all. He hadn't seen that he'd had any choice. He thought slavery was all he would ever know... but after he was done, he fled Danarius anyway. Danarius couldn't pursue him personally, because one of the rebels had gotten in a lucky shot, and Fenris either eluded or killed the soldiers Danarius sent to do it in his stead. (Fenris wasn't clear there.) Hawke liked the story, and said Fenris should write it down... and Fenris told him that slaves weren't taught to write. But Fenris hadn't explicitly said "slaves aren't taught to read," so Hawke handed him the book anyway. And it turned out Fenris didn't know how to read, and he took the gift the wrong way... but he implied that he was going to take this opportunity to learn to read. So hey: personal growth.
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August 2016
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire
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Post by fylimar on Aug 30, 2020 19:29:33 GMT
Time for a bit more DA2 - Alayne Hawke, sarcastic mage.
She helped Fenris finding Danarius, sadly without success, the guy had already left. Fenris wasn't too happy to be in the company of a mage, but was still grateful. He joined Alayne on her quest to find Feynriel and was really enjoying killing Tevinter slavers.
Meanwhile Anders apologized for getting moody before and Alayne politely turned down his advances - she already has her eyes on Isabela.
Not that much for today, but hopefully I'll be able to play a bit more soon.
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melbella
N7
Trouble-shooting Space Diva
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Origin: melbella
Prime Posts: 2186
Prime Likes: 5778
Posts: 8,223 Likes: 25,451
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Post by melbella on Aug 31, 2020 3:18:55 GMT
Rescued Sutherland and crew (needed to reload twice because the game bugged out on me - the darkspawn they were fighting wouldn't take any damage).
Stopped by Crestwood on the way back to sell more stuff. I'm currently rolling in coin but have nothing to buy. Made Cole more spirit-y. Sorry, Varric. (Bianca is still waiting in the cave )
Headed to Emprise du Lion to take out the Red Templar mining operation. Have cleared the first few camps, closed some rifts, met Michel and Mistress Poulin, and collected some shards. Next up will be Suledin Keep and Michel's buddy Imshael.
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Post by Rascoth on Aug 31, 2020 5:12:52 GMT
(Bianca is still waiting in the cave ) I love it
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Aug 31, 2020 6:55:17 GMT
(Just going to keep tagging vertigomez in these unless and until I hear differently.) After he finished up with his business that night, Thomas Hawke went back to the Black Emporium to drop off the junk he'd picked up since the last time he'd emptied his junk-bag, and buy Xenon's entire stock of Injury Kits and Basic Healing Potions. Then he went back home to finally get some sleep. And just as he'd changed into his noble attire and was heading to the door for some reason (I'm not sure if he was about to lock it for the night or if Bodhan told him there was someone there to see him) Merrill walked in. She'd said she almost went to Lowtown instead, since she thought he might have gone to the Hanged Man or to visit Gamlen (which he really ought to do one of these days, since the poor man's probably getting lonely.) She'd started rambling, which Thomas found adorably Hawkward, and at one point asked if she'd made a mistake leaving the Dalish. Noooo, who wouldn't want to live in Kirkwall, the city of rainbows and butterflies? The conversation eventually turned to all the flirting she and Hawke were doing: Merrill noted that if he were Dalish, the elves would have a kingdom... and would need to defend it against half of Thedas. But since he wasn't Dalish, part of her feared that her clan wouldn't accept it if she knocked boots with Hawke... and part of her feared that their regard for her was already so low that bedding Thomas wouldn't actually increase the doubts they're having about her. Thomas offered to go and apologize to them later, and even pretend to be sorry. Hawke eventually pulled her into a kiss, and took her into the bedroom to give her the Bearded Beast. (I'm not talking about an outlaw's skeleton: there's an entirely different kind of bone at work here.) After they were done Merrill stayed naked, while Hawke put on a pair of old-looking grey pants he'd never worn before. (There's no way those baggy things would have fit under his armor or his noble finery.) Merrill asked what it meant that they'd slept together, and Hawke said he wasn't sure: they'd have to do it several times to figure out if it meant anything. Merrill confessed her love, and worried that it was a bit soon after just three years of flirting and a single night in bed. Hawke answered that by asking if he should move his Dalish lover in. Merrill agreed. And that should put paid to any matchmaking. Thomas got up after the most restful night he'd had in years, and decided that since the sun was up, he should probably visit the Chantry to ask the Grand Cleric if she'd been busily kidnapping Qunari. But there was only one door, and to get to it, he had to walk past the family and staff. Bodhan said there was a new letter for him, and that it's strange the messengers never arrive when he's here to greet them. The dog barked happily, but said nothing. And his mother said "An elven slave? I hope you know what you're doing." Thomas is just going to assume she's talking about Oranna, not Merrill. He's also going to ignore the implication that she's still a slave. Speaking of, he decided to speak to Oranna to see how she was settling in. She was making herself at home, and falling all over herself to make herself useful. And she said "please don't hurt me" at one point. Slavery broke her in the exact opposite of the way it broke Fenris, but still, they both really need therapy. Hawke asked if she was feeling okay, and she admitted she missed everyone. She missed her father, she missed the other slaves, she even missed Hadrianna. She asked if that was wrong, and Hawke joked that he was sure Hadrianna appreciated the loyalty. Oranna seemed to take it as a compliment. It's a shame the Thedasian culture most likely to have competent therapists isn't big on personal liberties. Thomas ended the conversation by repeating the promise he'd made to Fenris: Fereldens employ servants, not slaves. Oranna fell all over herself praising him, as though he hadn't just promised her the bare minimum an employer should have to. As the gang gathered at the Hawke estate to head out, Merrill put on a new outfit: instead of the barely-there silver and pink bikini she'd been wearing since they met, she put on a black outfit shaped about the same way that covered even less, and left her chest entirely exposed. (I'd track down pictures of the outfits, but I don't know if Proboards wants me posting the first one, and I'm pretty sure the second one's right out.) He picked up Fenris, Anders, and Merrill (he can hardly leave her behind now) and headed right there. On the way in, Anders asked exactly why they were about to accuse the Grand Cleric of using a templar to kidnap Qunari on such scanty evidence. (Apparently he'd actually meant that thing he said about seeing her in a new light.) Hawke replied that they did have some missing Qunari to confront her with, and walked up to a priest. He asked her to tell the Grand Cleric that three Qunari had walked into an estate, and see if she knew how the story ends. Then he saw Sister Mother Petrice, whose new rank meant that she had access to the seal that the conspiracy had used. This "mystery" suddenly makes way too much sense. He confronted her with the evidence, and her previous actions against the Qunari. She eventually decided to throw the templar who'd done the thing under the bus, and try to paint the whole thing as his idea. Nobody believed her, but the gang agreed that the hideout she'd pointed them towards was worth investigating. But first they decided to search the wing of the Chantry to the right of the entrance, leaving the wing on the left for another day. There was another note from the Band of Three tucked into a book. Apparently the Chantry still had administrative records from the Bad Old Days when Kirkwall had been Emerius, and those records reflected a whole lot of slaves simply vanishing into thin air. Adding that information to the note in the Smugglers' Tunnels talking about secret magical research, it's starting to look like the Band of Three really were onto something maleficarum might kill to keep secret. On their way out, Hawke stopped by the robe shop to buy a backpack for himself (his pockets really are getting way too full) and a whole bunch of armor upgrades for the gang. (And he sold the fancy poisoner's ring he'd picked up somewhere after his last trip to the BE, too.) He also found the owner of the pair of pants he'd picked up in the Smugglers' Tunnels, and handed them over for a gold coin.
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by azarhal on Sept 2, 2020 13:56:32 GMT
I haven't done anything yet (playing HZD), but I have reinstalled DAO.
tl;dr plan: replay all 3 games.
Individual plans: Replay DAO with a magic scared Brosca dual wielding warrior and do the ultimate sacrifice. Play Awakening/Witch Hunt as an Orlesian human.
Replay DA2 with a criminally inclined female purple/red Hawke. Still debating classes. I don't like two-handed warrior, but I never tried s/s warrior because I always take Aveline along. But if criminally inclined, no Aveline right? Otherwise, rogue Archer it will be.
Replay DAI with s/s female warrior (human or dwarf). Most probably dwarf. I want to romance Josephine. Won't care about the Maker. Might be slightly criminally inclined too.
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by dmc1001 on Sept 2, 2020 16:29:54 GMT
Herald of Andraste/Trevelyan male mage, extremely religious and a True Believer that he's Andraste's herald:
I recruited everyone (except Cole) prior to "In Hushed Whispers" (where the mages were made full allies). I kind of liked having them all there. Cole showing up at the last minute appeals to me a lot more than Dorian. Cole is a purely-motivated character who has no real stake in the events of the game but just wants to help. It's impossible for me to not recruit him. Anyway, made the Inquisitor. Gotta say a Trevelyan has to best "look" when raising that sword. He's got the right build - not too skinny, not too bulky. It's the fantasy version of a "true king".
Just arrived in Crestwood. Can't remember who I have with me except probably Varric since he fits best. Ran across two Grey Wardens One is an "I was only following orders" type and the other truly conflicted. And that's where I'm at other then that I'm seeking Stroud.
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by LadyofNemesis on Sept 2, 2020 17:12:19 GMT
welp...I started up a new DA2 playthrough today...we'll see how far we get imported my current canon Warden, aka. Raelyn Tabris (Raelyn: *waves*)
Anyways, meet Eir...(aka. Ailith 2.0) changed up her hair + eye color (previously their were black and green respectively) in my opinion...she looks a bit warmer this time around (despite the grey eyes...but amber was already taken by my Quizzy)
going to follow the build I made for Ailith...but am going to try and do some different decisions this time around. At present she has just met with Varric, and I'm going to go get Aveline in a bit...and after that? We'll see won't we
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Sept 2, 2020 19:29:24 GMT
imported my current canon Warden, aka. Raelyn Tabris ( Raelyn: *waves*) Jeeves Tabris: *waves back* ------ (Tagging vertigomez until and unless I hear otherwise.) Maybe Thomas Hawke should have gone right to Ser Varnell's refuge... but instead, he went to the Alienage to drop off a knife he figured had come from there. Then he went into Merrill's place to use the companion-switching-horn there, since he figured he should probably have Aveline around for the templar-slaying instead of Fenris. Then he went to the hideout to handle Ser Varnell... and found him surrounded by an army of fanatics, and stabbing the qunari to death to their cheers. Thomas showed up to interrupt them, and Mother Petrice walked in behind them to condemn him for being open about using the Grand Cleric's authority. Hm. Maybe Petrice wasn't responsible for the kidnapping? Maybe she really doesn't approve of what Varnell did, if only because he's being way too obvious about it for her tastes. Anyway, Varnell killed the rest of the Qunari. Hawke didn't even try to stop him: the guy's got a serious lack of initiative with regards to shooting arrows at helmetless templars. And then The Faithful turned on Hawke. He whistled for his dog to distract the zealots, and then fell back to the entrance to their meeting hall. Some of the fanatics came to Hawke and Company while others stayed to fight the dog. But following the gang into a more cramped area made the fanatics who actually did that easier to Fireball, Cone of Cold, and Miasmic Flask. So Hawke polished them off, and then polished off the fanatics who'd teleported right into their midst about a third of the way through the fight. (Varnell hit the ground around this time too.) Then some more muppets came in through a door at the other end of the hall, and were easy pickings without the rest backing them up. When the last of them were polished off, Hawke went to bring the Viscount to the hideout, and he was not happy to say the least. He bemoaned the fact that there were Chantry elements trying to start a war with the Qunari, even though he'd previously suspected it. And while he didn't say this out loud, he was probably hoping to hand over the Qunari diplomats alive to try and salvage this. Now, he can't. Thomas said that he suspected a Chantry mother was involved ("suspected" being the generous way to phrase it) and the Viscount gave him to understand that he'd rather Hawke not say anything about that. The Viscount then said he couldn't hand over the Qunaris' bodies in that state, and Hawke said that he'd get more credit for doing so than for hiding what had happened to them. (Clearly Hawke wasn't listening when Seamus told him the Qunari wouldn't want the bodies back, and clearly the Viscount doesn't talk to his son about the Qunari enough to know that.) Anyway, Thomas looted the bodies, and then looked a crate in the corner and found a shield with Ser Aveline's name on it. He went to the Keep to hand it over to Aveline, as opposed to handing it over to her right there and then. She seemed a bit put out, and accused Hawke of selling Wesley's Shield. In fact, he hadn't: it's still in Hawke's storage, since he'd figured Aveline wouldn't want it sold. But Aveline hasn't seen it in a while... Hawke eventually got it through to Aveline that he'd bought it just to be nice to her, and she eventually thanked him. Then Hawke made to leave... but first, he swapped Aveline back out for Fenris at the horn by the door, since Aveline had another engagement right then... at the exact same place Hawke was going. The gang headed to the Wounded Coast, and after pausing to hear a short conversation between Anders and Fenris about whether anyone deserves to be made Tranquil, Thomas... went exactly the wrong direction at first. But he stumbled across what was left of the Qunari patrol he'd been accused of killing, and killed the abomination that had done them in, so that wasn't wasted effort. Then Hawke went ahead of Aveline and Donnic, killing the things they were supposed to be killing. (Given the numbers the group wound up facing, that was probably smarter than letting Aveline and Donnic do it.) Each time he'd killed a group for the guards, Thomas lit a signal fire... which Aveline saw and Donnic didn't. Then Aveline advanced on the perfectly safe ground, and Donnic didn't see the bodies or ask why they were walking so slowly. And Aveline... tried to flirt with Donnic. Tried. Eventually, Hawke got tired of this and just jumped out in front of them. Donnic asked what the hell was going on, and Thomas's girlfriend encouraged Donnic and Aveline to just jump right into kissing: it worked for Merrill and Thomas. And Donnic, who had clearly had his share of crazy for the day, just noped right back to Kirkwall. Aveline was pretty sure Donnic was going to file a sexual harrassment complaint (even though he could just as easily think Thomas was stalking Aveline, given the evidence he'd actually seen) and Aveline insisted Hawke head back to the barracks "double time" to explain what had happened. I think I've established by now just how good at urgent tasks Thomas isn't.He headed to the docks first, even though they were hardly on the way, and told the Qunari soldier who was tasked with looking for that patrol that they were all dead. The Qunari looked put out to have his job done for him, and grudgingly handed over the supplies he'd been given for the mission as payment. Then Thomas headed over the Viscount's Keep, where Aveline was still afraid Donnic was going to complain to her bosses. Hawke suggested that she could apologize with more copper marigolds: in retrospect, they aren't the worst possible way to flirt with someone. Eventually, Donnic asked to speak with Aveline privately... and it turned out he was into her. Which was good, considering that he really would have had grounds to complain otherwise. Thomas followed up with Aveline, and she asked if he'd ever thought she was beyond hope. As her friend, Thomas thought it would be better if he didn't answer that question, and said as much. Shortly afterwards, the seneschal showed up to show Aveline the "parade armor" she and the rest of the guards were expected to wear during inspection. If Thomas understood the concept correctly, it was armor worn for appearances, not for utility. What a ridiculous extravagance. Hawke completely understood Aveline's refusal to consider it. Anyway, after the seneschal left, Aveline told Hawke he should look into getting an official title and some official responsibilities. She's probably right, but Hawke wanted nothing to do with that. Hawke made to leave... but given how long the day had been, he figured it was probably almost night. He swapped Fenris out of the party to put Varric in it in his place. Time to say hi to Bartrand.
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Post by Reznore on Sept 3, 2020 13:29:25 GMT
I was thinking of replaying DAI with a female character then somehow it turned into a male redheaded dwarf...because "it sounds fun and i've never done that" I open my game. I see "Juice" as a character level 20. And I'm like "who the hell is Juice". I have a red headed dwarf warrior who romanced Cassandra and was about to kill Corypheus... I think Blackwall quest might have glitched and I got Save Sutherland quest triggering during Bull quest, so Sutherland is dead. And I stopped playing.
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Sept 3, 2020 17:57:09 GMT
I think Blackwall quest might have glitched and I got Save Sutherland quest triggering during Bull quest, so Sutherland is dead. And I stopped playing. Ouch. I got a kinda similar result my last time through: I accidentally picked an option on the war table that led to the group disbanding. It hurt... but not as badly as Sutherland dying would have. Anyway, on with the story... ------ (Tagging vertigomez unless and until I hear otherwise.) Thomas Hawke and company headed to Varric's estate in Hightown, and saw that the place looked abandoned... even though Varric's informants swore they saw people moving goods into the place a week ago. Thomas thought it was probably a trap, and Varric said that he hadn't had to deal with one of those from his brother in far too long. They walked in, and then a whole bunch of stuff happened that... didn't actually happen. Moving on, the group came in through the servants' entry, and... found what was left of the servants. It wasn't pretty. Varric was horrified that his brother had fallen this low. And then they came to the guards, who had completely lost their minds. Varric wasn't even sure how bad a sign that was, because he wasn't sure how Bartrand had messed them up that bad. The fighting was a bit more tense than usual, for the usual "didn't bring anyone whose main job was to be hard to put down" reason. But they got through. (The dog was helpful.) They thoroughly looted the side rooms, before heading into the main hall, hoping to find Bartrand. But before meeting him, they'd met his steward, Hugin. Hugin was the one servant who'd managed to dodge the crazy... although he hadn't managed to completely duck it, since he didn't dare try to slip past the guards and leave. He explained that the idol had driven Bartrand mad, as though the group didn't already have more than enough evidence of that. On one of Bartrand's good days, he'd gotten up the willpower to realize what was happening and sell the idol... but that just made it worse. Hugin said that on a good day, Bartrand was hearing voices, and on a bad day... Bartrand had killed the servants by slicing pieces off while they were still alive, and driven the guards to their current madness by force-feeding them lyrium, trying to get them to hear the same "song" the idol was making him hear. If anything in Bartrand's study was still alive, Hugin suggested that Varric should finish the job as a mercy. The group continued looting everyone who'd already dropped, and then Thomas opened the door. Bartrand was visible for about half a second before he vanished. Hawke immediately followed suit and walked back into the main hall to help his friends fight the guards who'd appeared out of nowhere. The group slaughtered the guards and kicked nine kinds of crap out of Bartrand, who teleported back into his study and started talking to the voices, and eventually asked Varric to help him find the idol again. Yep. He's lost it. Varric angrily berated him for what he'd done, to Bartrand's complete non-comprehension, and then Varric and Thomas turned to Anders, hoping he could restore Bartrand's senses and make this conversation more worth having. Anders said that this was a pretty bad case, but that he could do something to temporarily abate it. And then the sense came back into Bartrand's eyes, and the two brothers were brothers again. Bartrand begged Varric to undo what Bartrand had done to their house. Thomas offered to help carry Bartrand to someplace where something more permanent could be done for him, but Varric told Bartrand to stay where he was, and Varric would send someone. (Which is to say, they were all completely ignoring Hugin's suggestion of a mercy-kill, even though Hawke had previously gone along with a mercy-kill for Karl Thekla.) On the way out the door, Thomas and Varric conversed a bit on how far Bartrand had fallen, and Hawke tried to defend Bartrand by saying the idol had done this. Varric said not to let Bartrand off the hook completely, since he'd chosen to steal the thing... but given Bartrand's body language in the thaig, that probably wasn't entirely true. It seems more likely he wound up under its spell before he'd even touched it. Anyway, Varric said that he'd need to figure out who'd bought the idol, if only to warn them about how big a mistake they'd made. And I'm sure that won't be relevant several years later. Anyway, Thomas walked with Varric down to Lowtown and the Hanged Man, and was considering getting a drink while he was there. (It had been that sort of night.) But Varric distracted him by telling him about a story that was making the rounds: something to do with Hawke fighting off an army of pirates in the Chantry. Hawke asked why Varric hadn't made himself the hero of the story, and Varric... didn't really seem to answer the question? At any rate, Hawke decided to talk with Isabela... and provided her a handy escape from a guy reciting bad poetry in an attempt to get into her pants. She asked about Hawke's interest in Merrill, and showed her fondness for Merrill by telling Hawke she was probably involved in something heavy (this hadn't entirely escaped Thomas by this point) and threatening to cut Thomas's balls off if he did anything nasty to her. But what if it turns out Merrill likes nasty stuff? Anyway, Hawke switched Varric out for Aveline in case they ran into anyone on the way home... but that didn't happen. So Hawke looked over the letters on his writing desk, and decided to finally do something about one from one of the mages he'd saved from Thrask. It directed him to a woman named "Mistress Selby" at the docks, who was offering him a chance to help mages. He went over to the docks... and stopped at the sketchy shop next to Selby's place to sell the junk he'd picked up and pick up some armor upgrades. Then he went over to Mistress Selby's shop, and she kinda-sorta-told him that the job board was on the back of her menu. Hawke asked why she was taking the risk of helping mages, and it turned out that she got into it for the same reason he did: she had a mage sister. (Only Mistress Selby's had been Tranquil'd. ) Thomas suggested that if Mistress Selby needs another phrase to kinda-sorta-tell someone something, she could try "the queasy crow flies at midnight." She suggested she could instead use "the smart-mouthed Ferelden gets slapped across the face." Thomas couldn't very well suggest "the smart-mouthed Ferelden is into that" in front of his girlfriend, could he? ---- Edit: Also, Weeper Cadash, Belwether Treveylan, Saar'Kata Adaar, and Natalya Lavellan did some collection missions at their War Tables. Although Natalya's not entirely done with the more meaty missions, yet: she accepted a staff looted from the old Tevinter library in the Western Approach, and a map taken from Venatori surprised by Leiliana's agents, and authorized Cullen to bring Samson to Skyhold for judgement and Josephine to begin researching the Well of Sorrows.
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Post by Rascoth on Sept 4, 2020 6:12:33 GMT
I got Save Sutherland quest triggering during Bull quest, so Sutherland is dead.
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Post by vertigomez on Sept 4, 2020 15:10:57 GMT
vertigomez Have fun with reading all the text also...welcome back, just in time for tea! [snip] (also, have some Dutch "stroopwafels"...they're good) gotta ask, 'cause you're good at these things (at least imo.) I've been planning out my male protagonists, but having a hard time deciding on a Warden currently dubbing between Aeducan or Cousland...but not really sure what to go with Aww, thanks! Did you ever decide between Aeducan and Cousland? P.S. Stroopwafels.... Yum! (Tagging vertigomez so she can find this one too. Uh... should I keep doing that? Or can you find them all on your own from here on out?) No worries, now that I'm caught up I won't have any trouble finding them! Thanks for sharing your DA2 story. It's been a blast so far. Replay DAI with s/s female warrior (human or dwarf). Most probably dwarf. I want to romance Josephine. Won't care about the Maker. Might be slightly criminally inclined too. CUTE
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Sept 4, 2020 15:35:53 GMT
(Tagging vertigomez so she can find this one too. Uh... should I keep doing that? Or can you find them all on your own from here on out?) No worries, now that I'm caught up I won't have any trouble finding them! Thanks for sharing your DA2 story. It's been a blast so far. You're welcome. I'm kind of enjoying this. I'll let you find these yourself from here on out, then. Anyway, back to the story... -- Thomas Hawke saw two jobs on Mistress Selby's board: one was to take down some bounty hunters on the Wounded Coast who were catching mages and selling them to the templars, and the other was to discredit a templar who was inconveniently good at his job and get him drummed out of the templars. (The latter job expressly forbade killing: presumably they wanted him to look stupid, rather than looking like a martyr.) Hawke figured he was probably going to be better at the killing job, and anyway that one gave him an excuse to get out on the Wounded Coast and see some sea. He headed out to the Coast with his party, and as soon as they got there Anders grilled Aveline on how much her tenure as Guard Captain was hurting mages, as though she wasn't about to help save one. (Okay, I'm being a bit unfair, since she admitted she was handing over a few mages to the templars, but I don't know enough about the situation to know whether or not they'd done anything to deserve life imprisonment. You know, some people do deserve that, and it's not like Hawke didn't do the same thing to Idunna.) On the way, he saw some guards standing around. He was curious enough about what he was seeing to go check it out, even though it was slightly out of the way. And he discovered them pinned down by a gang called Evets' Marauders: they had a blood mage, a really good archer, and... someone named Sophie. Hawke told the guards to stay put while the superfighters handled it, and snuck around the minicanyon to attack some of the archers they had covering the open space the main group was standing in. The rest of the gang didn't do anything about that, so then Hawke and Company circled around to the front to attack the archers they could reach from there. (Hawke had to continously tell Aveline, who was the only melee fighter in the group, to stay out of the open space so that she didn't provoke the main gang.) By the time the gang's swordsmen and blood mage involved themselves, they'd lost enough support that the fight was completely unwinnable for them. The guards told them to go back to the Keep for a reward, but Hawke had other priorities. First, he looted the bodies, and it turned out the blood mage had an upgrade that Aveline could use on her armor, and a stretch of sailcloth from a missing pirate ship. Strangely, nobody there seemed to be named Evet, although Hawke couldn't be sure since they didn't have nametags. He headed along the coast, continuing to what had been the Tal'Vashoth camp, and was now the Bounty Hunters' lair. Although there were some Tal'Vashoth still there, and a presumably-apostate mage merchant too? Huh. Apparently the Tal'Vashoth have started to assimilate into the greater underworld subculture, and are playing both sides of the mage-templar dispute. I guess the Qun didn't eradicate their hustle. Hawke continued into the cave and slaughtered the bounty hunters living in it now. He found a woman in plain clothes, assumed she was the apostate, and told her to leave. She name-dropped the mage who'd referred Hawke to Mistress Selby, so that assumption seems to have been good. They left, and on the way out Hawke bought a new ring for Merrill. (Does this remind you of anything?) The group went back to the Keep to collect their reward for killing the marauders, and the guard who forked it over warned that their leader, Evet, hadn't been there at the time. Hawke assumed this was likely correct, but again: they didn't have nametags. The guard warned that Evet might come after Hawke later, but given how well he'd dispatched the rest of the group, Hawke wasn't worried. The gang went back to the docks to collect their reward for saving the apostate, and Hawke sold the sailcloth to a ship-spotter while he was there. Then Hawke accepted the job to frame a templar for... something, although he wasn't quite sure how he was going to do that. Well, he'll figure it out.
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LadyofNemesis
N5
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Posts: 4,946 Likes: 12,302
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Post by LadyofNemesis on Sept 4, 2020 17:43:26 GMT
vertigomez Have fun with reading all the text also...welcome back, just in time for tea! gotta ask, 'cause you're good at these things (at least imo.) I've been planning out my male protagonists, but having a hard time deciding on a Warden currently dubbing between Aeducan or Cousland...but not really sure what to go with Aww, thanks! Did you ever decide between Aeducan and Cousland? P.S. Stroopwafels.... Yum! you're quite welcome
also, sad to say...not really attempted a new DA2 playthrough with a female Hawke a few days ago, but didn't really get far with her either
On the male playthrough front though...err on one hand, I've played and finished Cousland several times but only as a female, so might be nice to get a different perspective
but on the other hand...I've never done Aeducan either (Aeducan and Tabris never got past Ostagar...though the latter is now my canon female Warden), and also...a male Aeducan has the ability to have two children (provided he slept with Mardy and Morrigan), so that's kinda neat
I haven't really decided yet who to romance though, I tend to pick a character based on that... Morrigan is amazing and Kieran is adorable...but if I am to play a male Warden I want a normal kid without the old god soul...though that leaves me with who to sacrifice to Archie the Archdemon on the other side...I've only ever romanced Leliana with a Warden twice...and the first one eventually got "seduced" by Morrigan and left her (kinda felt bad for Leli so the second one was kinda my "make it up to her" Warden)
As for other choices...I haven't really thought of those either at first I wanted to do an opposite playthrough, aka. doing opposite choices of the ones in my canon run. But I don't think I have the stomach to do a douche-bag playthrough who's only virtue is being sweet to his lover
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melbella
N7
Trouble-shooting Space Diva
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Origin: melbella
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Post by melbella on Sept 4, 2020 21:31:49 GMT
No more progress in DAI yet but yesterday in Heroes of Dragon Age I finally got Ser Pounce-A-Lot from a lyrium pack. I was so excited! I immediately stuffed him full of mythic and legendary wisps to get up to tier IV.
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Post by Rascoth on Sept 5, 2020 7:36:51 GMT
No more progress in DAI yet but yesterday in Heroes of Dragon Age I finally got Ser Pounce-A-Lot from a lyrium pack. I was so excited! I immediately stuffed him full of mythic and legendary wisps to get up to tier IV. I love his gear at tier IV. He looks so dashing
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Post by riverdaleswhiteflash on Sept 5, 2020 16:21:49 GMT
So, Thomas Hawke needed to figure out how to frame a templar.
He thought there might be some way to set up something in Lowtown... but nothing occurred to him. So he stopped in to visit Gamlen, who tried to borrow some money from him. (Given that Hawke does owe him for setting them up in Kirkwall at all, he probably does owe him a loan, but he didn't feel like it.)
Then he headed to the Gallows to try and find something there... after finally talking to Emeric about his theories about a serial killer. Aveline sounded kind of reasonable about her insistence that Gascard DuPuis seemed to be innocent... but Hawke did agree that it might be worth giving him a second look. Dismissing the killings as unrelated incidents the way Aveline had seemed a bit risky, when they were all killed in such similar ways... and considering that Hawke ran into a blood mage with demon minions standing over the bone-bag.
Emeric asked Hawke to investigate Gascard's house that night, and bring him evidence of his guilt... or at least evidence of his innocence, so that Emeric could rest easier. (Although what "evidence of his innocence" looks like is hard to say.)
Anyway, Hawke found a shipping manifest for some impounded lyrium, and got it diverted to Ser Conrad by writing his name on an almost-completed shipping manifest and handing it to a dockworker. Then, he decided to spring the trap... but first, he decided to have a chat with Solivitus, the alchemist he'd done some work for a couple years ago.
Along the way, he passed Alain, the escaped Starkhaven mage who'd turned himself in to Thrask three years ago... and Grace, who Hawke had thought escaped. Grace said Thomas shouldn't be surprised that she'd been recaptured, after he'd let her go with no supplies and only a very short headstart.
Such gratitude. It almost sounds like she's blaming Hawke for the fact that those were the circumstances he'd found her in, after he'd done what he could to improve them by killing the templars who had already found her in order to give her that headstart. (For the Maker's sake, he and his sister had almost died in the process.) Well, whatever. At least she's not doing anything with her resentment.
Solivitus had another list, and Hawke took it, bought a backpack and some lyrium weave for Anders' armor, and turned to go... and then Thomas read the list he'd just been handed as he was leaving, and realized he already had everything that was on it. He'd picked up Dalish tattoo ink in the camp at Sundermount while he was there with Merrill, and a varterall's bone while he was doing the Keeper's task. The only other thing Solivitus had wanted was a flower that Hawke had picked up on a whim outside of what had been the Tal'Vashoth cave. So Hawke handed over everything, in one go, and Solivitus was suitably impressed.
The last thing Hawke did was talk to Knight-Captain Cullen. He asked if Cullen needed any work done (figuring that if he didn't approve of it he could always refuse or even sabotage it) but Cullen said that he wasn't able to go to non-templars for work anymore: Meredith was refusing to let non-templars do templar work anymore (good instincts when it comes to Hawke) and was interrogating her own men weekly (which is kind of understandable given what Thomas and Cullen found, but still probably unpleasant for all concerned.)
Speaking of "unpleasant for all concerned," Thomas found the need to hand over the letters about the Tranquil Solution that he'd found (on Alrik's body, after killing the man under the Gallows, where his body was certain to be found, in case anyone has forgotten any of that.) Cullen made a point of noting how weird it was Thomas had those, but didn't do anything about it: presumably Cullen had some suspicions about Ser Alrik's character and had decided to assume Thomas had done the Templar order a favor there. He said that the Tranquil solution hadn't gotten any traction, that the Harrowing was enough security... and that if things got worse, blame the mages?
It sounds like Cullen was arguing to expand the rules on when mages can be Tranquil'd even if he didn't want to take it as far as the late and unlamented Ser Alrik did. And he admitted that he thinks there's an argument for applying it more widely.
Now that's exactly what you want to hear from a guy who has the power of life and death over your sister.
Thomas noped out of that conversation to start making Cullen's life harder by putting away one of his better mage-hunters. He headed out to the Hanged Man to find a lyrium-addled templar who could be trusted to report Ser Conrad without any real evidence, so that the investigators would be alerted to him and look hard enough to find Hawke's more believable frame-up with the diverted lyrium.
Hawke started by saying he was there to report Ser Conrad... before pausing the frame-up to ask if the lyrium-addled unfortunate he was using as a patsy was all right. Aforesaid unfortunate affirmed that he was in a way that screamed the opposite. (Now say that sentence five times fast.) That was exactly why Hawke had come to him, but... poor guy.
Now, the three ideas that Hawke came up with were to suggest that Ser Conrad had killed someone (which sounded semi-credible,) to suggest that he was taking bribes from mages (which sounded out of character given that they were framing him because he was doing too good a job,) and to suggest that he had sacrificed a goat to "the Great Demon."
No points for guessing what Thomas picked.
The templar left, and Hawke did too. He had a reward to pick up. Mistress Selby handed it to him and disappeared, and Hawke decided that it might be worth taking a trip to the Bone Pit. He's a partner in that mine, so maybe he should see that it was running smoothly... after embezzling everything that isn't nailed down and picking some deathroot on the road over there.
Sure enough, one of the workers he'd convinced to return three years ago told him there was a horrible smell in the mines. This is probably going to suck.
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