Castle Redcliffe

Castle Redcliffe

We end up in a hallway with a door at the other end, behind which the sounds of beasts are clearly heard.  Wynne comments that at least the place does not seem to be much used whatever that means.  There is only one direction to head in that does not involve a strategic retreat, so I guess we have to open that door, eh?

I knew it!  Undead!  After we kill them we hear a human talking it turns out we are in the dungeons!  A quick inquiry reveals that the man is the mage who poisoned the Arl and he freely admits that but claims that he has had nothing to do with what came after that, and he does not know anything useful about it either. 

The mage admits that Loghain hired him to poison the Arl and then he admits that he is a Blood Mage!  Wynne recognizes him apparently he was a mage in the Circle before he escaped to do his Blood Mage thing.  As you question him further you learn that Connor is also a mage, and that Isolde is supporting her son's illegal magic studies.  The plot thickens!

If Connor is responsible chances are he did not cause this on purpose, but it does not help that Isolde has been covering his magic abilities up.  The mage does not think that Connor knows enough to summon Fade creatures intentionally but admits that the boy is strong enough so that he could have done it accidentally.  He wants to help us but accepting his help could cause you problems remember that Alistair is an ex-mage hunter, and Wynne is a member of the Circle. 

I offered to let him out if he would accompany us into the fray, and he declined, preferring to stay in his cell and wait so much for his wanting to atone for his misdeeds.  Huh.  Atone as long as he does not have to risk his skin!  At the end of the conversation you pick up two more Codex Entries.

In the next area there are lootable items a pile of filth, and a book on the floor that gives a Codex Entry.  Once you reach the end of this section you trigger an undead spawn, so fight them off and then take the stairs to the Main Floor of the castle.

Main Floor

You enter the area in an empty room, but when you step through the next door into the hall you face more undead.  The large room across the hall has three demons and a book on a lectern that gives you another Codex Entry.  Basically what you want to do here is go room-to-room, clearing the enemies and looting the lootables.  Enter the armory and strip it bare,

When you enter the kennel you will have to take out the three war dogs there.  Loot the chest to get a gift for your dog as well as some dog-specific items, and then head back into the hall.  There is a trap just inside the next area for you to disarm, and some more undead to kill in the next room.  There is a quest we are doing that requires us to collect Corpse Gall which I must admit was pretty rare until now but everything here seems to be dropping it as loot!

In a room at the end of the hall you will encounter Valena, the Arlessa's maid.  She is also the Smith's daughter who we promised to look for.  You tell her about the tunnel out through the dungeon, and she takes off.  One more quest updated!

We cannot head South through the door in the room across the hall because it is locked and we do not have a key, so enter that room and head east to the Basement entrance.  The Basement has a lot of lootable containers in it including one with a gift and a love letter in it.  There is an exit to the Courtyard here take that when you are finished looting the Basement. 

The Courtyard

There is a barrel to loot to your right as you enter the Courtyard, and some undead will charge out from the far side meet them by the stairs and kill them.  A quick check of the Gate determines that it is locked and we cannot raise it though I do recall raising the gate to be something that was discussed as part of the plan prior to our setting off on this adventure.

Loot another barrel on the other side of the stairs and then head up the stairs and back into the Main Hall.

The Main Hall

As we enter the next chamber we get a very strange CS and it turns out that Connor really is at the root of the problems here.  The question in my mind is to wonder if Connor is possessed by a demon or is he really bent?

Connor sets his guards onto us after he gives his long position statement, and the fight restores Teagen to his right mind.  I know that there was something fishy about Isolde's story earlier and now Teagen is ripping her a new one for the deception! 

In an act of desperation Islode sends Teagen for the mage so that we can interrogate him.  He explains our options kill him, or deal with the demon in the Fade.  Ah, back to the Fade it seems assuming that we can find a human to sacrifice to make the spell work. 

Isolde volunteers to be the sacrificial lamb and personally I think she deserves that fate for what she has done but the decision as to whether to do it is left up to us.  So how do you decide?  Someone has to die either way the mother or the son?  Technically the son is an innocent victim of the mother's illegal scheme on the other hand he is rather annoying...  Ah but the thing is, I am good, so nobody must die.

I decide to head to the Mage Tower to see if the Circle has the Lyrium that we need, despite the fact that the trip will just give that little bugger more time to play King with his undead army.  Since we are here now and there are areas of the castle we can reach, we may as well clear them and loot what there is to loot before we depart of the Tower!

In the next room are some suits of armor to fight, as well as some undead in the small room off of it.  This room has some lootable containers one of which has a gift in it, and there is a book with a Codex Entry as well.  The room at the end of the hall has a desk you can loot with another gift that is clearly Alistair's, and a book for another Codex Entry.

Back in the other room are the stairs to the Second Floor let's head up there for some more looting fun! 

Second Floor

The first room on the right has a bookshelf with another gift and some vellum, and a vanity with a healing potion.  As you near the door on the left in the hall the bodies that littered the floor come to life more undead for us to kill!  As we enter the adjacent chamber more undead attack,

The door in this chamber is for the Vault and hey, we have the key we looted earlier!  Go us!

The vault is just full of good stuff though if you are like me, you are quickly running out of space in your bag!  Make sure you grab the gift in here and since we will be back, if you run out of room, leave the stuff for grabbing after we return from the Mage Tower, where we can sell off the loot we do not want, right?

Now let's clear the rooms to the South take out the undead there and loot there is another gift in here, a Stone Dragon Statue and a book with a Codex Entry in the room across the hall.  Right then, we've cleared most of the Second Floor, so now we should head downstairs past Ser Perth and his knights who are in the hall with Isolde and Teagen and use the door to the Courtyard.

With the castle gates now open we can head straight out to the World Map.  The first choice I made was to head to my camp so I can distribute kit, gifts, upgrade my party members who have leveled, and sell off my loot to Bodahn.  Once that is done, head for the World Map, and select Lake Calenhad.

Lake Calenhad

Head down to the Tavern and talk to the Mage's Collective Representative outside to turn in the quest 'Greasing the Wheels' for our reward.  Now enter the Spoiled Princess.

Oghren spots his ex-girlfriend in the Tavern and insists that you have to back him up my response was 'She's not a Genlock, you can handle her yourself!'  It turns out that the last time he had seen her was when she threw him out of their house, and tossed all his clothing down a lava vent!

I decided that it might be wiser if I talked to her first, and told him that.

She seems nice enough a dwarf and once I got her talking I realized she has some pretty good reasons for feeling the way she does about him for instance he got drunk and wrestled a Nug naked at her father's funeral the story might have been even better but her boss yelled at her to get back to work before she could dish any more details.

He is determined to give it a try so I was as supportive as I could be, and it all turned out okay.  As much as she talks the game, it is clear that she actually likes that smelly drunken midget!

Exit the Tavern and head over to the docks to catch the ferry over to the Tower since it is much more impressive to journey to it this way. 

When you get to the tower, talk to Irving and tell him about the problem.  He does not even make us beg or call in a favor, he just concludes that it can be done, figures out what he needs to do it, and heads out!  Irving is one righteous dude!

Hit the World Map and head for Redcliffe Village now.

Redcliffe Village

Run down to the Chantry and turn in the quest 'Skin Deep' for 5 gold and some XP glad that one is done!  With that done, head over to the Blacksmith Shop and go in.

Owen is here waiting for you and he is ecstatic!  He offers you a reward a dwarven-made set of armor that Oghern likes, though it is not exactly the equal to what we are already wearing...  But that wraps up our business here, so head back up the hill for the gates to the castle now.

As you enter the castle you find that Irving and his crew have already arrived.  Talk to him to trigger the CS.  You can talk with him about the procedure if you need to, and asking his advice can help prepare you as to what to expect.  When you are ready, tell Irvine and the ritual will commence.

As they get ready, Alistair says he is relieved that this was the route we decided to take, and then Irvine asks who will go?  Whoever it is needs to be in your active party if they are back at camp you have to go there and add them to your party so when you have them, they will appear alone in the Fade.

Of the four choices that we have, I think that either Wynne or Morrigan are the way to go Jowen is too weak, and Irvine too old. 

In the Fade

As you move along you hear the Fade images of Connor talking to his father the Arl, and the Arl talking back.  You will actually encounter the Arl ahead as you move towards the first portal you can try to explain what is happening to him, letting him know that he is in the Fade.  He wants you to help Connor but hey, that is why we are here, right?

Head over to the portal nearby and use it, and then run ahead to find Connor.  You talk to him to call out the demon and fight it.  Just before you do enough damage to kill it, the demon retreats, disappearing before your eyes in a puff of flames.  You are not done yet head back to the portal and use it.

Find Connor again and talk to him drawing out the demon again but this time it summons a minion. Take out the demon first, then the minion and again just before you would have killed the demon it retreats. Head to the portal and use it.

Find Connor again and talk to him again. You try to reason with it, but that does not work and it appears with another minion take them both out, and use the portal again.

This time you find the demon in its real form waiting for you it tries to convince you to leave it alone, but I chose not to talk to it and the battle begins!

It is tough but not as tough as you and slowly you weaken it and then defeat it, and you are pulled back out of the Fade.  You get a CS upon your return that shows the castle guards holding Viking funerals and then you are back in the castle.  Connor is better now he does not remember what happened to him and they are deciding upon what to do with him and Jowen.

You are asked for your opinion on this specifically on what should happen to Jowen there really is no right answer to this, so say what you feel.  It did not give me the option of saying that Jowen AND Isolde should be imprisoned together which is what I would have preferred for say...

The Arl's condition is now discussed, and Isolde declares that the Urn of the Sacred Ashes is what is needed to save him!  Well, here is where we get to surprise everyone and tell them we already found that!

The Urn lives up to its reputation and the Arl is cured!  We get the Achievement/Trophy 'Hero of Redcliffe' and the Arl wants to reward us.  We mention the treaty of course, but he insists that he must make a gesture, and declares your party Champions of Redcliffe, and awards you a shield. 

The Arl proposes a compromise that includes putting Alistair on the throne and asks for your blessing on the entire affair.  The Arl wants you to approve of his plan he says that he needs you to make it work and he is probably right.  If you agree, the Arl will spread the word and call for a Landsmeet a meeting of the Nobility, in order to declare a new King.

The Arl calls for Jowen and sentences him to death.  After that, the Arl asks if you are ready to go to Denerim and hold the Landsmeet.  As this is not the end-game yet, we will still have time to finish the quests that we have not yet completed, so there is no reason not to head off to Denerim now and have the Landsmeet!  To Denerim!