Continue your story, or fix it a little
If you're like me, it''s been several years since you've played through both Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2's massive adventures. And though it's awesome to be able to revisit the plot points in those games and transfer my story to Dragon Age: Inquisition, selecting my choices on DragonAgeKeep.com Tapestry exactly the way I did it in the previous games was a bit challenging.
See, the Keep Tapestry allows you to go through every major decision in the series so far, but it doesn't give you a whole lot of context surrounding each of those choices. With multiple outcomes coming from some of the major narrative branches - several of which have huge repercussions on the world - there's a lot to consider when building your story. Well, I'm going to break down some of the biggest, world-altering decisions that you can make in the Tapestry, so you know exactly what you're getting into when you step into Inquisition's world.
This article contains major SPOILERS for Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, duh.
You can kill Leliana in Origin's Urn of Sacred Ashes quest
What you decide to do during the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest can potentially change a whole lot in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Leliana plays a huge role in the third game, acting as the Inquisitor's advisor and spymaster. But, whether she actually shows up depends on if she survived the events of the first Dragon Age game.
Other than not recruiting her, there is one choice in Origins that can wipe Leliana from the world forever. In an effort to find a cure for the ruler of Redcliff, your party seeks out the Sacred Ashes of Andraste, to which Leliana is extremely devout. Along the way, the Warden gets the option to join a cult called the Disciples of Andraste by defiling the urn's ashes with a vial of blood. Of course, if you decide to go through with the defiling Leliana will attack you and die by your hand. No sequel time for her. Choose wisely.
Destroying the Anvil of the Void might not be a good idea
The dwarves in the Dragon Age world have a ton of problems. They are constantly battling for survival against an endless horde of darkspawn (blight or no). When it comes to the A Paragon of Her Kind quest in Origins, you have the option to potentially strengthen the Dwarven forces by allowing the creation of ancient rock soldiers called Golems. But, to make the decision that much more difficult, you'll have to destroy a great Dwarven hero, side with a psycho Paragon, and enslave countless number of dwarven souls to create the rock soldiers.
If you choose to commit evil for the greater good and allow the creation of more Golems, the Dwarven kingdom could potentially become extremely powerful. Not only will the dwarf armies be able to hold back the underground Darkspawn, the increase in military power could give them more influence over the surface politics. Plus, Paragon Branka is insane, and she would be the dwarven leader. That can't be good.
There are some heavy decisions to make at Origin's Landsmeet
Your companions play a huge role in shaping your Dragon Age world, and there are a few potentially world-changing decisions to be made in this section of the Keep Tapestry. One of the most important relationships you'll want to get right is with the Warden and his/her companion Alistair. Depending on how you go about things at the Landsmeet, Alistair could end up dead, estranged, or even become the king of Ferelden.
The big choice comes at the Landsmeet, when the Warden, Alistair, and the rest of your crew finally confront Loghain - the commander who betrayed the Grey Wardens, killed Ferelden's king, and tried take power. You find out that, through some pretty evil means, Loghain's intentions were to save his country from the Blight, and maybe he isn't such a bad dude after all. He still wants to help out, and will join the Grey Wardens to do so. But allowing him to live will cause Alistair to hate you. Now it's decision time. What do you do?
You can romance Morrigan and make a god baby
A god baby? Why yes. Origins has one of those. At least, it does if you played your cards right with your companion Morrigan. Just before your group heads off to face the Archdemon and its legion of Darkspawn, Morrigan makes an offer. She wants to make babies. An ancient-god-soul-carrying baby, in fact.
But the baby making is to be done to overcome the power of the Archdemon. See, when a Grey Warden strikes down an Archdemon, the evil god's soul gets absorbed into the Warden and both the Archdemon and Warden cease to exist. Performing Morrigan's baby making ritual plus some additional magic intervention gets around that, forcing the god soul to come into the baby's body. What are the implications of making a god baby? Is the little guy going to be a big problem later on? Should you make a god baby with Morrigan? The choice is yours.
You can plant a Hawke sibling in various organizations
Lots of interesting things happen in relation to your companions in Dragon Age 2. One of the most interesting is Hawke's relationships with his/her siblings, Carver and Bethany. Only one sibling will survive the prologue, and depending on what decisions you make, each sibling could end up in very different situations.
For example, taking your sibling into the Deep Roads can end in a few ways. They can end up dead from Darkspawn poison, or perform the Grey Warden initiation ritual and join the order. Preventing them from entering the Deep Roads could land them in the Circle of Mages. So, how could they affect the Inquisition world? Well, Varric knows them, and they could potentially end up in significant seats of power and influence. If you help them to survive, that is.
Killing Anders can have some unforeseen repercussions
Ok, Anders is a big deal. He's the one that kicks off the war between the Mages and Templars. The Templars are the protectors of the Chantry, and the ones that keep magic users in check. People with magic powers tend to release demons and dabble in blood magic, but the Templars are also kind of dicks to the good mages and punishments don't always fit the crime. Anyway, many of the mages have gotten tired of the abuse, including Anders. And that leads him to blow up Kirkwall's Chantry leadership including the Grand Cleric.
As you can imagine, that really pissed some people off. When Hawke finds out that Anders was the person behind the mass killing, you have a few choices. You can side with Anders and lose the respect of many of your companions, or kill Anders and lose the respect of many of your companions. Whew. This one's a tough choice.
What will you decide?
Those are the major choices that you should take your time on when you begin crafting your Dragon Age Keep Tapestry. Are there any other choices that you think will significantly impact Inquisition's world? Will you kill of any of the major Inquisition characters before jumping in? I want to know. Leave a comment in the comments section below.
For more on Dragon Age, be sure to check out our full Dragon Age: Inquisition review.
