In-Depth: Dragon Age (2)

Note: Due to not liking the direction of the first character, I decided to reroll a character. This one would be a human fighter who started off as a noble. The idea for the character was a no-nonsense soldier, who was fiercely loyal to his family and friends, but less inclined to trust outsiders. However, he felt that it was his duty to uphold what was right, even if it broke the law.

Once the intro was over I introduced to my character's father, who was meeting with a noble. My character arrived after a short conversation between the two, after being summoned. I was informed that the troops were to move out soon, to fight a Blight down south. My brother was to lead a contingent of men down, to help in the effort. Being a person inclined to fight, I insisted I should join, but it was to no avail. At this time Duncan, a Grey Warden arrived, he had a short conversation with my father. Apparently he was here looking for recruits, one in particular, but mentioned my potential as well. My father would not have it, and sent me off to inform my brother of his orders.

In route to my brother's quarters I met the aforementioned prospective Grey Warden. The young soldier seemed ecstatic once I told him of Duncan's presence, despite the bit of jealousy I admitted. He did inform me however, that my Marabi was currently in the kitchen pantry and was making a huge racket. He had orders from my mother to go get the dog under control. So the soldier accompanied me to the kitchen where I met the angry cook. It was here that I was exposed to the first signs of racism in Dragon Age. Elves had been a slave race for quite some time, and though they are now 'free' per say, they still hold lowly positions in normal society. The kitchen cook had two Elven aides that she rattled off insults to. As someone quite opposed to such notions, I decided that my character would be as well.

Being the lore nerd that I am I tend to like to have reasons for my character's personality. It could be that my character had a childhood Elf friend, or simply grew up during the freeing of Elven society and pitied them and hated their treatment. Due to this I insulted the cook when it came time, for both mistreating her aides and my dog. When I entered the pantry I found my dog was quite interesting to say the least.

In game lore Marabi are large very smart hounds, who are muscled and look pit-bullish in nature. They look very strong, and have a massive set of jaws and small short hair. Despite the brutish nature I still found the dog somewhat charming as it whined when asked it what was wrong. Apparently the dog had followed rats into the pantry and was hunting them. Large rats suddenly came out of the woodwork, and I got my first taste of battle.

Game mechanics are not my focus, but just to be informative they are very old-style RPG-ish in nature. The abilities are cued and the acted upon once you un-pause the game, or you can do it all in real-time. Once we defeated the rat infestation, the dialogue became quite self aware. The begrudgingly thankful cook mention that this was no silly adventure in which you got paid to hunt down pests. An obvious reference to the many old-school games in which you do just that for most of the early levels.

Once the infestation was cleared the prospective soldier left the party, and me and my dog (Now named Rakhain) headed to my brothers quarters. There I found my brother, with the rest of family. An emotional moment was held, in which the particularly good voice acting helped as my father and mother arrived aswell and we said our goodbyes. After that scene my character went to bed.

------------------------------------------ That Night-----------

I was awoke with a start as one of the servants appeared banging on my door. I got out of bed just in time to see a man run him through as put on my armor. Another taste of combat as I fought my way through a couple men with my loyal dog and reached my mothers room. She apparently a capable fighter, as she took up a sword and shield and joined in on the fray. As we fought our way through the castle, we found several servants who were running away. Through dialogue I was able to convince one of them to fight along side the rest of the defenders. This was a nice touch for those of us who enjoy dialogue as an option other than combat.

Once we reached the main hall I met the prospective Grey Warden again, he said that my father was in the Kitchen trying to find us at the secret escape tunnel. The man bravely held off an invading force as we went off in search of him. We found my father wounded and bleeding on the ground, dying. There was an emotional moment, where he told us that the noble who had visited, a friend he though he could trust, attacked the castle. I swore revenge, just as Duncan arrived covered in blood telling us he held off a small assault coming toward us.

It was here where my father told me to go with the Grey Warden, to exact revenge for our family. I agreed and moved to strike at the offenders, but Duncan stopped me, and told me to escape with him to the south. At first I refused, but at the behest of my father and mother I finally agreed and left them to their fate.