Redcliffe

Redcliffe

When we arrive in Redcliffe Village we learn from Tomas that demons have been attacking the Village every night from the Castle!  Many of the villagers are dead, and those that are left alive need you help.  After the CS, Tomas takes us to Bann Teagan, who not only recognizes Alistair but is happy to see him!  More important than that, Bann does not believe the lies that Loghain has been spreading about the Grey Wardens.  That is certainly a relief.

Bann explains that his brother the Arl is very ill, and there has been no contact with the Castle since the attacks began days ago.  After the conversation ends you get a quest update and the approval of your party.  Now before we head out, let us do a bit of looting to pick up the three Codex Entries here from two books and a bookshelf, and then speak with Jetta and deliver the news that her family is dead, which completes the quest Last Will. 

On the way out of the Chantry stop and talk to Kaitlyn (she has a "!" over her head) to hear her story and then agree to help her thus flagging the quest A Missing Child. 

Outside talk to Murdoch he is a male chauvinist so if your character is female expect to be insulted.  This updates the quest 'A Village Under Siege.'  Now head up the hill towards the Windmill and talk to Ser Perth.  Go inside the Windmill and loot the crate in there it has one of the letters we are collecting and then exit.  Let's head out to do what Ser Perth asked of us speak to the Revered Mother to get God's help in the fight but before we do that, look to the left on the way down the hill for a white flower Andraste's Grace that is a gift item.

Once you have collected that, head down the hill and over the stone bridge, and immediately turn left as you leave the bridge you see the wooden walkway leading to that house there?  Right, go into the house, where you will find Dernal Garrison the last one on our list for the Blackstone Irregulars quest 'Scraping the Barrel.'  That wraps up another quest but we still have one to complete for the Irregulars here in Redcilffe 'Notices of Death.' 

The bookshelf by the bed has a Codex Entry, and there is a chest in the back room that has supplies in it you can loot.  Once you have done that, exit the house and head to the Southwest corner of the area where you will find a boat under construction.  There is a Deathroot plant here you can loot, and if you head along the left side of the boat forms and up the path here, it loops around to the roof of this lean-to and two containers for you to loot.

Blacksmith Shop

Retrace your steps and head down the hill to the village center, staying to the left.  First we visit the Blacksmith Shop where we find that the Smith himself is very depressed and does not feel up to having visitors, even a Grey Warden!  Ask if he is Owen the Blacksmith, and then persuade him to let you in.  He says he does not want trouble, and then unlocks the door for you.  Say, why is it that when people say that they do not want trouble, it usually means they are willing to give you trouble?

Telling Owen that the militia needs his help prompts him to tell you the story of his daughter which gives you the opportunity for some quid-pro-quo, something that we are pretty good at!  Offering to rescue his daughter is the ticket, and now that you have given him hope, he is willing to reopen the Smithy once you remind him about the militia and its needs.  Once you make your promise, Owen gets to work, and we can check the crate in the corner to reveal a hidden trapdoor. 

Owen opens the trapdoor for you and now you can loot it but he was right, it is mostly old gear.  Before you leave, talk to Owen again and tell him you want to do business which puts you in his shop mode.  Sell off anything you do not need, and then exit the shop.

Dwyn's Home

Grab the Deathroot and loot the chest that are behind the Blacksmith Shop, and then walk over to Murdoch (marked on the map) and talk to him.  You get a CS of his assessment of the situation and he tells you that he will send one of his men with the news.  You have a Persuasion opportunity here you may as well use it gets you closer to the Achievement and may make him feel a little better. 

Ask him if there is anything else that you can do, and Murdoch will tell you that they need more help, and then mentions Dwyn.  Right, that is our next stop then!  Take the wooden steps between the buildings just past Murdoch to get to Dwyn's Home.

Knocking does not do any good he is ignoring the door it seems so picking the lock is probably the way to go, since breaking down the door would send the wrong message.  Intimidation is the way to go here, and a blunt approach, but in the end you get Dwyn to join the militia, so it is all good, and now it is time to move on!

Follow the walkway outside to the left and visit the General Store, and loot it.  There is a book with a Codex Entry on the floor and a chest in the corner, as well as some barrels of lamp oil.  When you are finished here, exit and head to the left along the next walkway to Kaitlyn's Home.

Kaitlyn's Home

After you enter loot the book that is on the chest ahead of you, then go into the small bedroom on this level, where you hear a noise.  Someone is hiding in the clothes closet a young man with a secret!  Use the persuasion option to learn about his father's sword which is in a chest in his father's room.  Persuade him to give you the key to the chest, after which he heads back to the Chantry which is our next destination after we wrap things up here!

Now that we have the key, head up the stairs to the Second Level, open the chest here and loot the Green Blade.  This is actually not a bad blade at all, though it would help to have some runes added to it to give it more effectiveness, right?   Loot the bookshelf in this room for a Codex Entry, and then head back downstairs and out to the Village.

The Chantry

Around the back of the Chantry is a Deathroot Plant if you want to loot that, and inside you will find Kaitlyn who you should talk to.  She is happy that you found her brother, and you let her know that you have her Grandfather's sword.  Being the all-around nice person that I am, I had to pay her for the sword and 500 silver is the least I could do!

Irenia is standing nearby on the right, and when you talk to her you deliver the last of the letters for the Death Notice Quest, which wraps up our obligation to the Blackstone Irregulars quite nicely!  Now head further into the Chantry and to the left, where you will find Mother Hannah standing by some children.

She is observant and thankful, and gives you a quick summary of the situation. When you tell her what Ser Perth wants, she explains that she does not have anything that she can give him even remotely equal to what he wants, and you have another opportunity to use the persuade skill. She gives you the Holy Symbols that she has and asks that you give them to Ser Perth with her message and another leg of the quest is done!

Bann Teagan is standing in the Chantry so we may as well say hello asking him about himself gets you another opportunity to persuade, and the chance to learn what he has been doing and what he plans to do. That wraps up what we have to do in the Chantry now we should pay a visit to the Tavern nearby, as there is more work for us to do there!

The Tavern

Head up the hill to the door to the Tavern and go in. 

The first thing we want to do is talk to the militiamen sitting at the table in the corner, to learn that they are very upset with the Tavern Keeper.  What they want is some free ale and you can help them!

Read the graffiti on the bar for a Codex Entry, and then talk to Lloyd, who is not happy with the fact that business is down.  It seems to me that some of these people are just not in touch with the level of peril they are facing...

You can easily intimidate him into him into joining the militia, but before you do that, talk to him about the militiamen and he replies with a garrulous refusal giving you the opportunity to use your power of persuasion to change his mind!  Now that you have that quest updated, go ahead and intimidate him into helping to defend the village.

Now talk to Bella, who is now in charge of the Tavern.  If you ask for supplies she goes into shop mode, but the stuff she is selling is free.  Grab the gift she has Wine which you can give to Oghern who does like his booze.  You may as well take all that she has, since it is free, right?

The elf in the corner that we asked Owen about Berwick is our next task, but when we say hello he gets all shifty on us.  This is starting to feel like an episode of Cops to me.  As you interrogate him, his responses clearly indicate that something is not right here...  As the dialogue progresses you have the opportunity to either intimidate or persuade and speaking of that...

The Achievements for intimidating and persuading are based upon the number of successes that you have at either five each for the first Achievement, and then 10 for the second intimidation one, but 25 for the second persuasion Achievement. That makes sense considering that there are a lot more persuasion opportunities than there are intimidation ones but if you read the section on Orzammer you know that there is a bugged interaction in Dust Town that will let you get the intimidate Achievements all in one go.  That being the case, you should probably be concentrating on persuading successes.

As the discussion progresses we learn that Berwick was hired by Loghain's advisor he is not here waiting for his brother, and other than his initial report of the Arl's illness, Berwick has been unable to file any further reports.  According to the Elf, he knows nothing about the creatures, but he wonders if the people who hired him knew that the Arl would get sick.  He has a letter with instructions for you to read, and then you have to make a decision kill the spy, make him leave the village, or force him to help defend it. 

Depending upon who is in your party, there is a good chance that one of your warrior types is going to want to kill Berwick but you will have the option of persuading them to accept your decision if you like.  As I am mostly good, I want Berwick to help defend the village after all he is an Elf and an archer, he could make a contribution.  Berwick says he will help and by my count that makes three warm bodies we have contributed to the defense of the Village!

Now that we have done all that there is to do in the Tavern, it is time to return to Murdoch and give him the good news.  Murdoch seems a little happier than he was or maybe just not as annoyed as he was earlier, I cannot tell.  You can tell him you are ready to wait for the attack now but before you do that, there are a few small chores we want to take care of.

First, head up the hill to the windmill and talk to Ser Perth, who is relieved that you were able to get him some additional protection.  Be sure that you mention the barrels of oil that you found in the Village Store to Ser Perth, as he was unaware of that resource.  Finishing the conversation with him updates the quest, and at this point we are in theory ready to take on the monsters from the castle, sort of.  I say sort of because while we could jump right in, it might be a good idea to head back to the World Map and visit your camp. 

While you are in camp you can pass out any armor and weapons you are holding for inactive party members, give whatever gifts you have to give, and deposit the extra supplies that you have been collecting for the coalition troops in the crate by the coalition representatives.  Don't forget to upgrade the stats for any who have leveled, and have your social conversations with all of them to make sure that all are up-to-date.

Note: the conversations that you have with your party members in camp and in the field are what trigger the availability of some skill and ability upgrades, and both trigger and in some cases progress their personal quests, so this is something that you should be doing on a routine basis.  Oh and do not forget to play with your dog!  He needs love too!

If you have not asked Leliana to tell you her Bard Stories you should they fill in a lot of backstory on some of what we have been doing.  Sten does not have much to day ever so if you have asked the basic questions that you can ask, his menu will be empty. 

Finally we want to go and see Sandal to swap in new or better Runes for our weapons.  With that done, it is time to return to Redcliffe Village and see Ser Perth, and tell him that we are ready to make our stand here!

The Undead of Redcliffe Castle

At nightfall a fog descends and the undead surge down open valley that leads to the castle.  Wave after wave of the walking dead attack from the valley, and after you kill quite a few a runner from the town comes to alert you that the monsters are now attacking from the lake!   Your help is needed in town so you leave the knights to hold the pass while you rush down to help defend against the attack from the lake!

Once you reach the center of town you face more waves of undead, and while it seems like they will never end, eventually they do!  Now talk to Murdoch and you get a CS in which dawn has come, the town is defended, and you are honored.  Bann Teagan offers you the Helm of Ser Ferris as your reward for standing to fight with them and of course you thank him and accept it, because hey, we deserve a reward!

The Revered Mother offers a prayer and a blessing, and then Bann Teagan announces that it is time to attack the castle, now that the undead forces have been thinned out.  He orders you to meet him at the Windmill, where you can talk further but before we head up there, drop by the Blacksmith and sell off the stuff we looted from the undead.

Now before we continue on with this quest line, there are some minor tasks we can finish up! If you look to the left of the Chantry entrance you will see that the Blackstone Irregulars have sent a representative to Redcliffe.  Excellent!  Talk to him to turn in the quest 'Notices of Death' and collect your reward, leaving 'Scraping the Barrel' as our only quest for them at the moment, and that one we cannot finish until we gain access to the Alienage in Denerim.

If you target the chest next to him, there is a new quest available called 'Grease the Wheels' that we can claim might as well! This quest is to deliver notes to the five hooded couriers in Denerim I knew that they were there for a reason!  Since Alistair has asked us to help him look up the sister he did not know he had and since she lives in Denerim we will head there in a moment.

Now let's talk to Tomas to hear of his plans, and after he takes off head over to the nearby Doomsayer, who we need to calm down because he is freaking out the locals.  You get a chance to use persuade with him so do that. Say, wasn't he in Lothering earlier? 

Go to Dwyn's and say hello and learn a little more about how he ended up in Redcliffe, and then head over to the Chantry.  There is a Chanter standing by the Chantry Board so let's say hello to her and then check the Board and yes!  There are more quests!  Grab them all they are:

(1) Caravan Down
Travel to the trade route marked on your map to determine the fate of the border caravan.

(2) Brothers and Sons
Go to the spot marked on the map to see what has happened to the conscripts of Company Easthill.

(3) Unintended Consequences
Be on the lookout for a strange creature that is killing merchants.  We will encounter this while traveling.

Enter the Chantry and say hello to the Revered Mother, and then Murdoch, who is still seriously in need of some anti-depressants!  Kaitlyn is by the door say hello to her and get thanked once again. You learn that she is going to use the money you gave her for her Grandfather's sword to pay to travel to Denerim well good for her!

Next stop is the Tavern on the hill, where we say hello to Lloyd, the militiamen, and overhear some gossip about us from the gossips.  Last we say hello to Bella again, and then exit the Tavern and head up the hill to the World Map.  Our first destination is the one marked "Battlefield."

Battlefield

On the way to the Battlefield we will get a combat interruption a caravan that has been ambushed, and a group of Tricksters for us to kill!  Loverly!  A bit of XP, some loot, some supplies not bad for a few minutes work and now we hit the World Map to continue our journey!

Ahead of us is a soldier's body that has a diary on it that gives us a quest update, and then we loot the battlefield until we are set upon by a wolf pack.  Resume looting until another wolf pack attacks and kill them, and then loot some more until a Bear attacks a Bear?! 

Once you have finished looting, hit the World Map and select Caravan as our next destination.

Caravan

We arrive there with no trouble and are immediately attacked by Darkspawn!   Looks like the Caravan has been knackered!  Well, start looting after you kill the wave of Darkspawn, and when you have all you can get, head for the World Map.  By the way, we have now completed all three of the quests, because we determined that the thing killing the merchants was something that got loose when we cleared the Circle of Mages Tower...

At the World Map, select Denerim as our next destination.

Back in Denerim

You know, we have been here so much that this is starting to feel like coming home every time we visit! 

First let's stop by the Chantry Board and turn in our quests then head in the direction of the Alienage and find the Hooded Courier standing on the side of the square. His client appreciates our generosity cool!  If you have not already had the two suits of Drake Scale Armor made for you at Wade's Emporium, go ahead and drop in to order them.  If he has already made you the second set, his counterman will tell you to get lost and stick the drake scales up your...  Eh hem...  Which means you have completed that side-quest and are not going to be getting any more armor made.

Hit the World Map and visit The Pearl, where you will find the next Hooded Messenger in the lobby.  Talk to him and then hit the map again and go to Dark Alley, talk to the Hooded Messenger there, and finally use the map to visit Rundown Back Street and see the Hooded Messenger there.  The final Hooded Messenger is in the Alienage which we do not have access to yet so we are done with quests in Denerim for now.

Hit the World Map and return to Redcliffe Village.

The Windmill

Knight-Commander Harrith is standing next to the door to the Windmill go up and talk to him, to deliver the 10 Lyrium Potions for the Mage's Collective this updates the quest 'A Gift of Silence' which we can then turn in next time we are in Denerim.  With that outstanding chore now complete, head over and talk to Bann Teagan, who is nearby.

He relates that there is a secret passage in the mill that only his family knows about, and using that you can get into the castle.  Nice!  Your conversation is interrupted when a woman runs out from the castle and urges Teagan to come back into the castle with her alone with her!

Lady Isolde describes what has happened that the man responsible for the raising of the undead was caught and punished, but that the attacks still take place.  From what she says though, Teagan's nephew her son Connor may be part of this! 

Isolde explains that the Arl yet lives, and she then begs Teagan to come back to the castle with her, giving a disjointed story with few details to convince by.  After she fails to give you useful information, you are certain that it is a trap, but Teagan vows to go anyway, saying that they are still his family and that he must help them if he can.

While Isolde waits for him at the bridge, he tells you to use the secret passage and enter the castle while he accompanies his sister-in-law into the castle.  The plan is for him to try to distract whatever it is in the castle while your party slips in unnoticed, and do whatever it is you can do to defeat it.  Basically you are going to be winging it but hey, we have been winging it all along, right?

Teagan gives you his signet ring which apparently will open doors in the castle. The last order he gives you is to concentrate on the Arl he is to be rescued at all costs, even if the rest of them must die.  Yeah, doesn't sit well with me either but we are simply an arrow shot into the air, right?

The quest is updated, we are given the ring, and we have already sold off our loot and checked our kit, all of our chores are done, so it is time we got on with this adventurer thing, right?

The secret passage entrance is behind the main shaft, and not very well hidden by the straw scattered on the floor.  I cannot believe we did not notice this last time we were here!  I mean hey, we are Grey Wardens, it is not like this is the first secret passage entrance we have ever seen, right?  Well, we see it now, so let's open that puppy up and claw our way through the narrow, rat-infested tunnel, open the door at the other end, and climb down into the guts of Castle Redcliffe, shall we?