Dragon Age 2

Bioware

2011

Games Master:   No volunteers

Set in the same mythical world introduced in Dragon Age: Origins, the player assumes the role of Hawke, a human mage, warrior, or rogue who arrives in the city of Kirkwall as a lowly refugee but becomes its legendary champion over a turbulent decade of political and social conflict.

Set in the mythical world of Thedas, Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, who fled the nation of Ferelden during the events of Dragon Age: Origins and arrived in the neighboring state of Kirkwall as a refugee. Within the span of a decade, Hawke would rise in power and influence to become the legendary "Champion of Kirkwall", and the center of events that change the course of Thedas forever. The game focuses on Hawke's rise to power and is framed through flashbacks by one of Hawke's old companions, Varric, who relates the Champion's 'true story' to Cassandra Pentaghast, a Seeker of Thedas' religious Chantry.

The story begins with Hawke and family fleeing from Darkspawn after Ferelden's defeat at Ostagar. After being surrounded by Darkspawn, Hawke and fellow survivors are rescued by Flemeth. Hawke tells Flemeth that they will try to flee to Kirkwall, since they have family and an estate there. Flemeth decides to help them get to Kirkwall, in return for delivering a pendant to the leader of a group of Dalish living outside the city. However, when Hawke finally arrives at Kirkwall, the city has closed its gates to Fereldan refugees. Hawke's uncle Gamlen admits that he squandered the family fortune and estate, but manages to convince several groups to bribe the city guards to let Hawke's party in, in return for a year of service to them.

Once the year has passed, Hawke begins looking for a way to get out of Kirkwall's slums. Hawke delivers the pendant to the Dalish, which is revealed to have contained a piece of Flemeth as a contingency in case Morrigan killed her. She thanks Hawke for honoring their deal before leaving. Meanwhile, with some help from Varric and Anders, Hawke manages to take part in a Dwarven expedition to the Deep Roads led by Varric's brother Bartrand. While exploring the Deep Roads, the party stumbles across a Primeval Thaig, which contains an idol made out of pure lyrium. Bartrand steals the idol for himself and leaves Hawke, Varric, and the rest of the party to die. Fortunately, they manage to find a way back to the surface, as well as a vault full of priceless artifacts.

Three years later, Hawke is now extremely wealthy and famous thanks to the Deep Roads expedition. Hawke buys back the old family estate and continues adventuring in order to improve Kirkwall. Eventually gaining the trust of Kirkwall's leader, the Viscount, Hawke is tasked to act as an intermediary between the people of Kirkwall and a group of Qunari staying in the city. The Qunari leader, called the Arishok, explains that he hates Kirkwall due to the city's corruption and lawlessness, but is forced to stay due to theft of an important Qunari artifact that he must recover. Meanwhile, Chantry extremists within Kirkwall attempt to promote discrimination against the Qunari as more of Kirkwall's citizens are converting to the Qunari's religion the Qun, but their attempts are stopped by Hawke. Tensions between Kirwall and the Qunari heightens to the point where the Viscount's son, a recent convert to the Qun, is killed by religious fanatics seeking to stir public opinion against the qunari, prompting the Arishok to invade the city in retaliation, killing many civilians including the Viscount. With help from Knight Commander Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino, the leaders of Kirkwall's Templars and Circle of Magi respectively, Hawke defeats the Arishok and saves Kirkwall, gaining the title of "Champion of Kirkwall".

Another three years pass, and despite the repulsion of the Qunari invasion, conditions within Kirkwall are not improving. Meredith usurps the deceased Viscount's position as unofficial ruler of Kirkwall, and her methods for tracking down and controlling mages become increasingly harsher. In order to protect themselves from the Templars, numerous mages begin turning to forbidden blood magic, which further inflames the Templars. Orsino also begins to encourage the citizens of Kirkwall to openly rebel against Meredith. These tensions finally come to a climax when Anders, angry at how the Circle of Magi allows itself to be oppressed by the Chantry and the Templars, destroys Kirkwall's Chantry. Meredith angrily declares that all mages in Kirkwall must be exterminated, and a civil war breaks out. Hawke is then forced to choose to either side with the Templars or the Circle of Magi. However, despite Hawke's allegiance, the Champion will be forced to fight both Meredith and Orsino. In desperation, Orsino resorts to using blood magic and turns himself into a horrifying Harvester Abomination, forcing Hawke to kill him. Meredith then reveals that she obtained the cursed lyrium idol from Bartrand after the Qunari uprising and forged it into a sword. The idol's influence has been corrupting Meredith with insanity ever since she usurped the city's leadership after the death of the Viscount, causing her to deem all of the Kirkwall Circle of Magi's members as corrupt, magic itself as a curse that must be cleansed, and eventually Hawke as an even greater threat to her power, worse than all mages. After killing Meredith, depending on whom the player sides with, Hawke can either become Viscount of Kirkwall or flee the city.

As Varric finishes his story, Cassandra admits that she must revise several preconceptions she had about Hawke, whom she is still determined to find. It is revealed that the events at Kirkwall have caused all of the 14 Circles of Magi in Thedas outside the Tevinter Imperium to rebel from the brutal injustice of the Chantry's Templars. With the Chantry in shambles and the Templars also rebelling, it appears that the entire world will be plunged into war. Cassandra asks Varric if he knows where Hawke is, to gain the support of the Champion's faction so they and the Seekers can convince both sides to make peace before it gets worse. However, Varric reveals that all of Hawke's companions (except the love interest) were forced to abandon the Champion, whose whereabouts are unknown. Cassandra then leaves and meets with fellow Seeker Leliana, where they both stress the importance of finding either Hawke or the Warden, the Hero of Ferelden and protagonist of Dragon Age: Origins, since they are the only individuals capable of averting total war.