I see it as also being a symptom of Angua being too used to going up against common thugs unprepared to take on werewolves. The number of times Angua's life has been in danger up to this point is relatively low; her werewolf nature means she can spring back from what the rest of the cast would consider fatal wounds, and there's only been a handful of times she's been up against opponents who can actually do her serious harm. The rest of the time, she can just shift to wolf and chomp some trousers until her opponents either run away or surrender, and even the people who know there's a werewolf in the city have trouble identifying her as anything but a dog.

So it's complacency. Angua's gotten used to being beneath notice, invulnerable, and otherwise unbeatable against a normal human. And now that attitude's gotten her into significant trouble. Tbbq guvat Nuzrq unf ab vagragvba bs npghnyyl qbvat ure unez. Jryy, orlbaq gur fvyire oheaf, ohg ur'f obgu ehguyrffyl centzngvp naq cebonoyl xarj gung gur pbyyne jbhyqa'g xvyy ure.

Got a question. Will Mark be reading Maurice and the Tiffany books? If not, could we convince him to add those to the list, or would that be commission territory?

And so ends Orzammar. Now endgame lies before you. The Archdemon and the Blight must be ended, and the threat to the world extinguished.

Well. As soon as you're finished running errands for characters of suspect nature. And fussy mages. And that nice lady you met down the street.

This is a staple of most linear RPGs I've ever played. There's an overall threat to the world/galaxy and I'm the only one who can stop it. But I can hear my companions saying, "Uh, shouldn't we, you know, get a move on? Complete our task? Save everything we love? That sort of thing?" To which I will respond, "SHUT UP I MUST GATHER THESE INGREDIENTS FOR THE LOCAL PIE SHOP. This is IMPORTANT."

Yeah.

And so it's done. Bhelen is dead and Harrowmont is on the throne. Naq fb gur ervta bs bccerffvba jvyy pbagvahr naq Bemnzzne vf qbbzrq. Gung'f tbvat gb or na vagrerfgvat guvat gb gnyx nobhg jura gur rcvybthr ebyyf.

Also, I believe this is the first time you've met Bhelen in person? If so, Origin time! If not, still Origin time!

Meet Bhelen Aeducan, potential heir to the dwarven throne and brother to the Dwarven Noble.

The Dwarven Noble was one of the three sons of the then-current king, Endrin. They were the middle child, and the second most likely choice for the throne, behind Trian but before Bhelen.

The Dwarven Noble lived a life of no real consequence, their only concerns the approval of the other houses, the gaining and retaining of honor, and the fending off of numerous assassination attempts from pretty much everyone at one time or another. All in all, it was a good life.

On the day before a routine battle against darkspawn forces in the Deep Roads, Bhelen approached his older sibling, and informed them that Trian planned to assassinate them during the fight. The next day, during the battle, the Noble went to find Trian in the ruins. Trian was there, all right… enraged that Bhelen seemed to be correct: the younger sibling was trying to murder the heir to the throne.

As to who attacked first, no one rightly knows. Perhaps the Noble decided the secluded spot was perfect for getting rid of an obstacle to the throne, or perhaps the enraged Trian attacked while their sibling was trying to convince him of Bhelen’s treachery. Either way, when King Endrin and his entourage reached the spot, led by Bhelen, it was to find Trian dead and the Noble standing over their corpse. The Noble was immediately arrested, and sentenced to be exiled to the Deep Roads, where they would fight the darkspawn until they were overrun.

Now, Duncan had planned to visit Orzammar. Had he gone and decided to meet the nobility rather than attend the Proving in their honor, he would have met the Noble and been impressed by stories of their skills. After the Noble’s exile, he would have run across them while scouting the Deep Roads with a party of other Wardens, and recruited them into the group. Unfortunately, he decided to visit an old friend in the Denerim alienage instead, and the Noble died, alone and betrayed, slaughtered by darkspawn in the Deep Roads.

So ends the story of the Dwarven Noble, the Warden who could have been.

That just leaves the Dalish Elf, I think, which will have to wait for one of the post-game DLC packs.

Quote of the Day:

Wynne: Wonder why they decided to build a city around streams of lava. It's an accident waiting to happen.

Yrg'f gryy uvz nsgre gur perqvgf ebyy.

AHAHA BROODMOTHER. Oh dear God, you still haunt my dreams.

This was a just a wonderfully done part of the game and your reactions are hilarious. I don't have much time to post this, so here is your comforting quote!

Quote of the Day:

First day, they come and catch everyone.

Second day, they beat us and eat some for meat.

Third day, the men are all gnawed on again.

Fourth day, we wait and fear for our fate.

Fifth day, they return and it's another girl's turn.

Sixth day, her screams we hear in our dreams.

Seventh day, she grew as in her mouth they spew.

Eighth day, we hate it as she is violated.

Ninth day, she grins and devours her kin.

Now she does feast, as she's become the beast.

Now you lay and wait, for their screams will haunt you in your dreams.

Jryy, gung fubhyq bayl znggre vs ur pubbfrf Ybtunva bire Nyvfgnve, lrnu?

SHALE! I know I've greeted every other party member with this kind of enthusiasm, but that's because there aren't really any party members I really dislike. The closest I get is Morrigan, and that's mostly because I can't stand her behavior outside of camp. She's nice to talk to at camp, she's a fascinating character with interesting backstory and motivation, but any time she's in my party while I'm trying to help people I want to mix a poison that only paralyzes vocal cords.

Anyways the party banter is always wonderful and fascinating, especially between... well, everyone. Wynne and Zevran is hilarious, Wynne and Leliana is sweet, Wynne and Alistair is hilarious and sweet, Wynne and Shale is hilarious... you get the point, I think. It's been a staple of BioWare games since... I'm actually not sure. I'm waiting for the revised edition of Baldur's Gate to come out before I play it, so the earliest I know of is Knights of the Old Republic.

In any case, SHALE!

Quote of the Day:

Shale: Go on, order me to do something.
Warden: All right, give Zevran a hug.
Zevran: Erm, I don't appreciate foreign objects invading my personal space. Well, usually.

Yes, those are the only other two pieces that must be played before the end of the game. The rest is either post-game content (Awakening, Amgarrak, Witch Hunt) or side stories that don't really matter when you play them (Leliana's Song, Darkspawn Chronicles).

Also, I feel the community as a whole will appreciate this:
http://awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&com...

I'm sorry, I don't don't know how to make a link on this program. :(

YAY MARK HAS DISCOVERED HOW TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS! This is the source of most character development in the game and is the reason most of us rant and rave about any given character. Because sure, there are the quips and the random one-liner inputs during quests, but they all have a lot of depth to them. All of them.

Also, TRAPS. Another reason I will always play rogue. The first thing I always, always do when entering a room is tell my companions to sit down while I do a sweep for traps. If I can, then I stealth and sneak around the enemies before hand before leaving to get my murder train and return.

Also, it's time for yet another Origin story! My goodness. Also, this one contains a little speculation on my part, but I will be certain to point out exactly what. Everything else is in the game.

Do you remember finding a beat-down dwarf in a prison cell in Jarvia's hideout, who begged you to let him out? Meet Leske, friend, companion, and quite literal partner in crime to the Dwarven Commoner.

The Dwarven Commoner was born, grew up, and lived in Dust Town. There was nowhere else for them to go. And they were criminals, because there was no other way to live. Tradition had seen to that. From a young age, the Commoner did unsavory things to protect their beloved little sister (currently training to be a noble hunter) and alcoholic mother.

In the time just before Ostagar, the Commoner worked with their good friend Leske for the head of the Carta, Beraht. It was a fairly standard day, getting protection money from merchants, catching another trying to flee from Orzammar. But then Beraht delivered a special job: there was to be a proving that day. And he had laid quite a bit of money on a particular noble, Everd, to win. So he sent the pair to make sure that this would be so. Of course, when they got there, Everd was drunk. Smashed out of his mind, in fact. There was no way he could win his Proving.

Things looked desperate. If Everd didn't win, Beraht would blame the Commoner and Leske, regardless of whether or not it was their fault. And so they hatched a desperate plan: the Commoner would put on Everd's armor and fight in the Proving in his place. So, wearing his armor, the Dwarven Commoner marched into one of the dwarven nobility's most cherished traditions and fought for their life. And won. Not just against the relatively unskilled warrior to start, but two others, including an initiate of the revered Sisters of Silence. It was unbelievable. Everything was going amazingly...

...until Everd shambled drunkenly onto the field.

Well. After that, you can imagine how furious the nobility were. As well as Beraht and his second-in-command Jarvia. Both the Commoner and Leske were immediately arrested, and the Carta arranged for them to be delivered into their custody rather than the Guard's. Jarvia promised that the remainder of their lives would not be fun at all, and left them to rot.

Now, Duncan went to visit the Denerim alienage. But he had been considering going to Orzammar. Had he gone to Orzammar, the Proving would have been held in his honor as well as in memory of the dead King Endrin. Had it been held for him, he might have attended, and seen and been greatly impressed by the prowess of the warrior named Everd. And when the Dwarven Commoner was unmasked, he would have protested that by dwarven tradition, the ancestors favored this duster over the nobility in the ring (and promptly been told that he didn't get it). He the Commoner heard this, they would have gained the will to get out and done something with their life, escaping from the prison, killing Beraht, and running into Duncan, who would have offered Grey Warden membership as a form of amnesty.

Had Duncan been there.

But he wasn't. No one spoke in the Commoner's defense. No one but their sister and Leske thought well of them, and neither was in a position to help. Convinced that their life was worth exactly as much as the nobility claimed, the Commoner fell into a deep depression, eventually refusing food in Beraht's, and eventually Jarvia's prison. They starved to death in the depths of Orzammar, loved by few, remembered by almost all as a blasphemer and a criminal.

So ends the story of the Dwarven Commoner, the Warden that could have been.

Okay, so all of that was true except for the bit about Duncan's words motivating the Commoner. That's just my reasoning as to why they escaped as opposed to starving themselves.

Quote of the Day:
Sten: Either you have an enviable memory, or a pitiable life, to know nothing of regret.

Not sure why that one. A funny one just didn't seem appropriate after the story.