"Dragon Age: Origins" Story Trivia Quiz

Answer: Duncan

Duncan was the leader of the Grey Wardens in the nation of Ferelden. He sensed the coming Blight, and was looking for new recruits to bolster the Wardens' numbers. Regardless of which race, class, and origin story the player chose, Duncan would be nearby to recruit the player. In some cases, Duncan had to use the Right of Conscription to force the player into service, or to protect the player from punishment.

King Cailan was the king of Ferelden, and a strong supporter of the Grey Wardens. He trusted Duncan when told about the coming Blight, and looked forward to fighting the Archdemon alongside the Wardens.

First Enchanter Irving was the head of the Circle of Mages in Ferelden, headquartered at Kinlock Hold (also known as the Circle Tower) on lake Calenhad.

Keeper Marethari was the leader of a clan of Dalish elves. Players with the Dalish elf origin started as part of her clan. Keeper Marethari appeared in "Dragon Age 2".

Answer: Drink Darkspawn blood

The oldest nation in Thedas was the Tevinter Imperium, whose citizens worshiped gods who took the shape of dragons. The seven old gods were:

Andoral: Dragon of Slaves
Dumat: Dragon of Silence
Lusacan: Dragon of Night
Razikale: Dragon of Mystery
Toth: Dragon of Fire
Urthemiel: Dragon of Beauty
Zazikel: Dragon of Freedom
("Dragon Age: The World of Thedas" page 123)

The mages of the Tevinter Imperium attempted to enter the Fade in their physical forms, using copious amounts of lyrium and blood magic (blood being provided by slaves) to do so. There, they awoke the first of the Archdemons, Dumat, and were corrupted into the first Darkspawn. This started the first Blight on Thedas.

When the Archdemon was first slain by normal mortals, its spirit jumped to the nearest tainted creature (usually a Darkspawn), and transformed its body into that of a high dragon, once again. The Grey Warden recruits consumed Darkspawn blood mixed with a drop of blood from the Archdemon. If they survived the process, they became full Grey Wardens, being able to sense nearby Darkspawn and hear the Archdemon. When the Archdemon was slain by a Grey Warden, its spirit jumped to the nearest tainted creature, but because the Grey Warden still had a soul, the two souls annihilated each other, ending both lives.

The Blight in "Dragon Age: Origins" was the fifth blight. The first five Blights were:

First Blight, started -395 Ancient, led by Dumat: Dragon of Silence
Second Blight, started 1:5 Divine, led by Zazikel: Dragon of Chaos (no longer the Dragon of Freedom)
Third Blight, started 3:10 Towers, led by Toth: Dragon of Fire
Fourth Blight, started 5:12 Exalted, led by Andoral: Dragon of Slaves
Fifth Blight, started 9:30 Dragon, led by Urthemiel: Dragon of Beauty
("Dragon Age: The World of Thedas" page 147)

The Grey Wardens did not believe that the Blights would be over until all seven old gods were dead.

Answer: Ostagar

Regardless of which of the six origin stories was chosen, all players ended up being recruited by Duncan, and brought to Ostagar to face the Darkspawn horde. It was at Ostagar that the player completed their Joining. The two other recruits were Daveth and Jory. Daveth died during the Joining, and Jory refused to risk the Joining once he knew what was involved. He drew his sword to defend himself, and Duncan was forced to kill him.

The battle at Ostagar had Grey Wardens and the King's men luring the Darkspawn into their defended positions. Loghain was supposed to then sweep in and attack the Darkspawn in the flanks. After becoming a full Grey Warden, the player, along with Alistair, was tasked with lighting a beacon to signal Loghain to attack. Loghain instead turned his forces away and retreated. Duncan, King Cailan, and all their soldiers were slaughtered without Loghain's help. The player and Alistair were also nearly killed, but were rescued just in time by an unlikely ally. They became the only two Grey Wardens left in Ferelden.

Answer: They were beset by werewolves

The Dalish elves in Ferelden were nomadic clans that wandered the forests. The clan that the Warden encountered knew that they had a treaty that obliged them to help, but they could not. Too many of their warriors were wounded and sick, having been the victims of recent werewolf attacks.

Zathrian, the Keeper of the clan, knew that the original werewolf was Witherfang. The werewolf curse was transmitted through bite, and all werewolves could trace their curse back to Witherfang. Zathrian asked the Warden to recover Witherfang's heart so he could make a potential cure for his infected warriors. He agreed to help the Warden against the Blight once the werewolf situation had been dealt with.

Answer: They had no king

The treaty the Grey Wardens had with the dwarves of Orzammar only obliged the king to help. However, when the Warden first entered Orzammar, there was no king. The previous king, King Endrin Aeducan, died shortly before the Warden arrived. The throne was contested by Endrin's son Bhelen and Endrin's closest friend and advisor, Pyral Harrowmont. The Warden had to help resolve this issue, choosing to support one candidate or the other, and performing various tasks to gain their trust.

Harrowmont was an older candidate, known for being honorable, and able to negotiate compromises. He was also a traditionalist, and was reluctant to change Orzammar's ways to match shifting world politics.

Bhelen was a younger man, and not afraid to use less honorable tactics to win support. He had a sense of entitlement to the throne, and was arrogant and harsh. He was also more willing to open Orzammar to deal with the other people of Thedas, and to change Orzammar's policies in reaction to what happened in surface politics.

Answer: They were beset by demons

The Fade was where gods, spirits, and demons lived. It was also where living creatures (except dwarves) went when they dreamed. The spirits and demons that dwelled there had a fascination with the real world, and would jump at any opportunity to escape. The barrier between the real world and the Fade was called the Veil, and was known to become "thinner" under certain circumstances.

When mortals entered the Fade, they did so in mind only (the only exception being the Tevinter mages that started the first Blight). Spirits and demons would often try to possess mortals that they encountered, to gain access to the real world. Usually this would kill the mortal in the Fade, and the mortal would wake up in the real world. Mages, however, possessed the unique ability to wander the Fade while lucid, which made them much better targets for spirits and demons. Mages would often try to convince spirits that they encountered that they were just regular sleeping mortals. If a lucid dreamer died in the Fade (such as a mage), because they were already awake, they risked death in the real world as well.

When the Warden reached the Circle Tower to request the help of the mages, they found the tower overrun with demons and abominations. The Veil had torn, and demons had spilled through from the Fade. Many of the mages were slaughtered outright, and the Templars watching them sealed the tower to contain the situation. The Templars wanted to cleanse the entire tower, killing every demon, abomination, and mage that they encountered.

The Warden had the choice to either save the mages and gain their support against the Archdemon, or to slay all the mages and instead recruit the Templars, who would no longer have mages to watch over.

Answer: Broodmothers

Dwarves did not have a religion the same way other races did, but instead worshipped Paragons, or living ancestors. Dwarves that made incredible discoveries or acts that greatly advanced the entire society were elevated to Paragon. Paragons were highly respected, and their words carried weight in politics. The only surviving Paragon when the Warden arrived in Orzammar was Branka, and she had disappeared into the Deep Roads two years prior. The Warden sought out Branka to settle the issue of Orzammar's king.

Branka was a smith, and had traveled into the Deep Roads to find an ancient treasure that would aid the dwarves against the Darkspawn that were slowly wearing away the dwarves' warriors faster than they could be replaced. However, this artifact was guarded by traps and puzzles, and Branka needed test subjects.

Females of a species, when captured by the Darkspawn, could be forced to consume Dawkspawn flesh. Slowly they would transform into Broodmothers that could birth more Darkspawn. Branka forced the people of her own house, including her lover, to become Broodmothers, so she could send their offspring into the traps.

Broodmothers created different forms of Darkspawn, depending on what species they were originally. Dwarf Broodmothers created Grenlocks, humans created Hurlocks, elves created Shrieks, and kossith (Qunari) created Ogres ("Dragon Age: The World of Thedas" page 165).

Abominations were mages in the real world that became possessed by demons. The Tranquil were mages that had their ability to connect with the Fade severed. This was often down if the mage appeared particularly susceptible to possession. The Tranquil had no emotion, and could do mind-numbing tasks for hours without complaint.

Answer: For creating the Anvil of the Void and golems

Caridin was a dwarf Paragon who created the Anvil of the Void in -255 Ancient (1185 years before the events in "Dragon Age: Origins"), during the first Blight. The Anvil of the Void was used to create golems for the dwarves against the Darkspawn.

Despite being able to create golems, the dwarves still did not have the magic to create life. A life had to be offered to make a golem. Caridin had only wanted to use volunteers to create golems, but the king of Orzammar became greedy, and started forcing dwarves to make the sacrifice. Caridin objected, and was himself turned into a golem. However, a control rod could not be fashioned for Caridin, so he retained his free will. He took the Anvil and fled. Caridin could not destroy the Anvil, and so he decided to guard it until he could figure out how. The Anvil was the ancient artifact that Paragon Branka had gone searching for in 9:28 Dragon.

Caridin lived until the Warden found him in 9:30 Dragon, when attempting to resolve the issue of Orzammar's king. The Warden could choose to side with Branka, who wanted to create more golems, or with Caridin, who thought using the Anvil was immoral. Either way, the Warden had a Paragon to help them settle the king issue.

Answer: The Lady of the Forest

Centuries before the events in "Dragon Age: Origins" took place, Zathrian, a Keeper of the Dalish elves, had a family. One day, his clan got too close to a group of human bandits, who kidnapped and did terrible things to his children. In his grief and rage, Zathrian called to the Lady of the Forest (the Brecillian Forest's spirit) and bound it to a wolf form, creating the first werewolf, Witherfang.

Throughout the generations, the werewolves hunted like savage beasts, taking humans away from their families, and adding to their own. By 9:30 Dragon, however, the Lady of the Forest had regained some control, and was helping the werewolves fight their bestial nature. She wanted an end to the curse that had hurt so many, but Zathrian knew how to hold a grudge. The werewolves coordinated attacks against Zathrian's people, instead of humans, hoping that by infecting them they could force Zathrian to negotiate.

The Warden was able to choose whether to help the elves slay all the werewolves, to help the werewolves slay all the elves, or to negotiate an end to the curse.

Answer: Eamon, the Arl of Redcliffe

When the Warden arrived in Lothering, Alistair recommended that they seek out Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. Eamon did not have an army at Ostagar, and Alistair thought he would be sympathetic to the Warden, which would make him an excellent ally against Teyrn Loghain.

When the Warden arrived in Redcliffe, they eventually found out that Eamon had been poisoned by Loghain, and that not even magic could cure his illness. Eamon's young wife had sent out Redcliffe's knights in search of the Urn of Sacred Ashes, which held strong magic that could cure any illness. The Urn purportedly held the cremated remains of Andraste, the prophetess of the Chantry, the largest religious order on the continent.

The Warden had to travel to the village of Haven, where they encountered the Cult of Andraste. The cult believed that the prophetess had been reborn as a high dragon; the one that nested on the mountain above their village. The cultists were a volatile bunch, and quickly became hostile. After fighting through cultists, cave creatures, and a gauntlet of puzzles, the Warden finally made it to the Urn of Sacred Ashes. The Warden took a pinch of the ashes, and was able to return to Redcliffe to cure Eamon, securing his support.