Entry 16 of Neiko Hawke. Assassins want my body.

 I figured the first thing I should do is help the assassins look for this "Zevran" that is supposed to be hiding with the Dalish. One of the Dalish approached me as I walked into the camp and greeted me with the phrase "Champion of Kirkwall". It felt a little awkward coming from a Dalish Elf, but it still had a ring to it.

Upon asking about where Zevran was, she instantly knew where he was. She told me that she was actually instructed to tell anyone who came looking for him where he was. On top of that, he was in the same cave the Varterral was in earlier. Which only has one entrance. Why would he trap himself like that?

Upon entering the cave, we had the same routine of killing a few amount of spiders, and we eventually reached the end. Where the Varterral was again. I asked why it was still here, since we already killed it once, and Merrill explained to me that he is bound to this site by a Dalish god until his purpose is served. So even if he dies, he comes back. That must suck.

After we killed the Varterral (again), Zervran came out saying he wasn't expecting to see me, he said he was expecting his clan to come by to kill him. Since him leaving them was grounds for them to kill him. Not only that though, but apparently he was supposed to kill the Gray Warden, but was unable to, which is another reason why they wanted to kill him.

He then went on about how famous I really am, and that he liked my body. I was... Uh... Yeah... I gave him a quick notion that I don't fly that way, and he accepted that. I don't have anything against it, but uh... No homo... Right? I tell him that I'd let him go, but then he told me that if I did, the crows would be after me next. So there is only one way to settle this.

I showed up at their camp, telling them I have Zevran, but I have no intention of giving him over. Their leader says he's disappointed and whatnot, but I honestly couldn't give two shits about their code. It's full of shit to me.

The fight breaks out when someone tries to jump on Zevran, but he quickly throws a dagger right into his eye as he ran at him from behind. The fight was a breeze. All these "Crows" were nothing but all talk, and Zevran was the real assassin here.

He thanks me for helping him with this task, and ends up giving me a nice pair of daggers. I didn't really have a use for them, but Isabela might, so I accepted them. He talks about how it was nice to kill his brothers for once, and that he has many more to kill at his hometown. Before he leaves though, he asks me if I would reconsider my opinion about a night with him, I again stood firm on my "No homo" deal. He shrugged it off and replied with, "If you ever change your mind, I'll be in Antiva". Ehh... <_< Sigh.

Entry 15 of Neiko Hawke. Family, Friends, and Business.

 After the little verbal fight in front of the Chantry, I went towards my house to check my mail. On the way, I saw a Qunari still lingering around. He said that he has come to collect Qunari blades, and would like me to return any I found. He asked if I needed payment for finding them, but I refused a payment. I already put enough anguish on the Qunari for now.

While browsing the Hightown market, I was stopped by someone from Antiva. He said he was looking for an assassin that left "The Crows" who fled to the Dalish. Apparently "The Crows" are a reputable assassination group from Antiva, and leaving the group is grounds to be killed. He asked if I could find him and return him to their camp outside so they could punish him, but I didn't make any promises. I just said I'd keep a lookout for him.

 I found some new armor at the merchants in Hightown as well! =o

Continuing my sweep of merchants in Hightown, I found my old business partner who told me something terrible has happened at the mine in the Bone Pit. He said that his last shipment came in on a half destroyed wagon with mangled bodies and charred remains. I needed to check this out soon, to see if I could find any survivors and fix the problem.

I finally went home after visiting all the Merchants in Hightown, only to find my Mabari  barking at my armoire. There was apparently a thief in my house trying to steal from me. He just wanted to leave now, but I wasn't going to let him just leave after breaking and entering my house. I told my Mabari to go find the guards, and bring them back to arrest the robber. (Which he did)

I also found Merrill staring out of the window. She was talking about how everything seems so far away now that she's in Hightown. She then says that she needs to go to her house, and that she'd be home before dark. I asked her why she doesn't just bring her stuff to my house, but she said that some things are better off far from here. I'm guessing she was talking about her mirror.

 I was about to leave my house to go find Merrill since it was getting dark and she wasn't back yet, but Bodahn said he needed to talk to me. He was telling me about how he was starting to get old, and he needed to make sure Sandal was somewhere good, and that Sandal could move on with his life without Bodahn having to be there. I said that Sandal will always have a place here for me to make enchantments, and Bodahn thanked me for that, but he said that the Empress from the Imperial court had offered Sandal a job at enchanting there. Good for Sandal.

I went to go check on Merrill, since it was already dark and she wasn't back yet, and I found her at still at her old house. She was telling me how the Mirror still wasn't working, and she doesn't know what else to do now and that she's all alone in this. I reassured her that no matter what, she isn't alone, and I'll always be here for her.

Since I was in Lowtown, I decided to check on Gamlen. He had a note on his desk about a rare gem waiting for him. I'd have to check that out later. Gamlen goes on talking to me about how even though he doesn't agree with me, he's still glad that I'm his family. He was afraid that our family in Kirkwall would end with him, and he's glad that I'm here to bring our name out of the ground back to what it used to be.

I decided to check on Isabela in The Hanged Man after that, and she was moping around when I came up to her. She was saying that we have nothing in common anymore, and that there is no reason for her to stay around anymore. I told her that no matter what, she still came back for us in the end, and I could still use her skills.

Lol Varric.

Finished DA2 and other stuff

I finished DA2 the other day, and oh my god was the ending of act 3 just a cluster of awesome. So much crap happened, that I didn't expect, some that I did expect. Either way, it was really cool. I'll start posting up the rest of that journal soon.

I also found another game called, "Bloodline Champions". It's really fun. It's an area based game with action and skill shots. You have to aim everything, and actually use skill. It's really really fun, for how simple it is.

I've been progressing a bit on my map for BB:S as well.

That's where most of my time has been going recently, and I've been called for the possibilities of being a part of a family business. It sounds pretty neat, and I don't really have much else to do other than games/this/school. Been looking for a new job anyways, so hopefully this works out!

Entry 14 of Neiko Hawke. Grand Mother Cleric.

 I was coming out of my estate when Orsino was rallying some people in Hightown. He was talking about how Knight Commander Meredith has unjustly been ruling the city ever since the Viscount's death. I'd have to agree with him too. Anytime someone opposes her, she swiftly deals with them, usually in a violent way.

It wasn't long until Meredith came by to hush Orsino from his propaganda though. I was mostly inclined to agree with Orsino, until she talked about how my mother was killed by a blood mage. It was true, but the knight commander has been going to extreme means, and has been keeping mages on an extremely small leash.

It wasn't long until the Grand cleric showed up though. She quickly hushed Orsino for making such a commotion, and disciplined Meredith by telling her to go back to the Gallows. The Grand cleric thanked me for stepping in to stop the two from getting violent, it was nice to know the Grand Cleric was still smart. She then told me she had to go keep Meredith in line at the Gallows. Meredith seems to know how to get things done, but she is overzealous sometimes, as the past few years have shown.

Entry 13 of Neiko Hawke. Qunari are tougher than they look.

I went with Aveline and some guards to see the Qunari Arishok, and when we did, he didn't seem too happy. We went to go bring in elf criminals in who ran to the Qunari to follow the Qun to evade being captured, since the Qunari would defend someone in the Qun. Upon hearing their story though, they had every right to do what they did in my opinion. A guard "forced" himself upon the elf's sister, and he reported it, but after weeks to months of nothing happening about it, they murdered the guard who "forced" himself upon their sister. A little extreme, but the law was doing nothing about it. The Arishok goes on about how terrible our society is, and I agree, and ask why he doesn't just leave if he can't handle our society. He states that he cannot leave without the relic that was stolen, which Isabela now has, and he can no longer stand by and watch our society. We are instantly attacked by ranged Qunari and we have to pull out, all the guards with us sadly died.

When Aveline and I escaped, Merrill was waiting outside for me. She was afraid I was hurt and was glad that I was fine (<3). I decided to change out Anders for Fenris, since his heals do help, but killing things before they can kill us might be the easier route. That and Anders and Merrill don't exactly get along well.

We started pushing our way to the keep to help defend, and along the way there were plenty of Qunari to fight. Any time a Qunari mage showed up, he was instantly our main target, their spells are really deadly, and are usually area of effect spells. We eventually found a Grey Warden named, "Alistair". We asked him to help us fight against the Qunari, but he stated that he cannot take sides on this fight. They did that in Ferelden apparently, and the Grey Wardens didn't like that. Oh well, he gave me an item a friend of his gave him, it wasn't that great of an item, but it still holds value being from a Grey Warden and all.

I eventually came upon some Qunari dragging humans down to the keep, so I intercepted them and started to fight, but a mage showed up from behind us and blew us all off our feet. It seemed like he was about to kill us all, but miraculously a sword goes right through his chest from behind him, and his spell is stopped. It was apparently the Knight-Commander Meredith who saved us, and said she knew me since my name came up in her papers more times than they should of. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing though.

 We kept pushing up toward the keep, and found the first enchanter Orsino fighting off Qunari. We helped him defeat all the surrounding Qunari, and once he realized what happened, he asked if everyone else is ok. I look around and see that everyone else is dead. He races over to a body, and at first I don't see who it is, but then I realize it was my sister! Orsino revived her, and they have a conversation about how she should have let them take Orsino. I wasn't too worried about the conversation, just if my sister was alright.

The knight commander met up with us and Orsino, and they started fighting over who is to lead and how we attack. They eventually decided that I should lead the little group we have going on. When we arrived at the main entrance, there were tons of Qunari guarding the entrance. We needed a diversion to get inside. Orsino volunteered to distract them while we ran in to save the hostages. I wasn't sure if he would make it, but I needed to not make his sacrifice in vain if it came to that.

I barged into the main room, and saw the Arishok was giving speeches to everyone, and killing anyone who said something against him. The Viscount was also dead, with his head severed on the floor. Everyone in the room was afraid they were next, and I'm not sure how much longer they would have been alive if I didn't show up when I did.

We have a conversation about how this is ridiculous, and it's not helping him find his relic. All he is doing is pointless slaughter on our race. He spouts Qunari religion and ways, just the same things they always say. We ended up having to start fight Qunari around us as a "Test".

Right as it seemed the Arishok was about to actually fight us, Isabela showed up with the relic. She goes on saying that half way to her destination, she had to turn around because of how I've changed her. We give the relic back to the Arishok, but he said Isabela had to go with her. She would be forced into the Qun, and then punished accordingly. I of course, objected this, and we started to fight.

The Arishok was a beefy and strong mofo. Fenris would occupy most of the other Qunari while I kept the Arishok's attention. It was a long fight, but surprisingly no one on our side was killed in this fight, and we had Isabela to help as well.

(There was a neat cut scene for killing him) Before I killed him, he goes on saying this isn't over, and the Qunari will return. We'll see about that.

Entry 12 of Neiko Hawke. Friendly back stabbing.

 Upon entering my house, I found Isabela and Aveline at each other throat's over I have no clue what. Apparently Isabela found her relic that she needed to stop someone from trying to kill her, and needed my help to retrieve it. She was really dodgy on clues, and was saying that it was probably important to someone. I had to choose between instantly going to go see the Qunari, or help Isabella recover the artifact. I figured why not help Isabela right quick, we'll be done in a few minutes and I can be on my way to the Qunari compound.

 When we arrived at a foundry that Isabela said the relic was at, we found Qunari who asked if we had the relic. I was confused by this, but Isabela said right off the bat, "We don't have your stupid relic." and we were fighting a group of Qunari. After the fight I stopped Isabela before we continued, and she broke down telling me that she knew all of this, but didn't think it was important enough to tell me. She then said that she needed it to prevent someone following her from killing her, but the fact it's the Qunari artifact that they are looking for, I needed it to give back to the Arishok. She gave a very unbelievable response stating she would give it over, but I really didn't believe her. I would just have to grab it first.

We walked into the foundry and found a couple fanatics looking for the relic as well, they instantly started fighting with the Qunari here to recover it, and the person who had the relic darted off outside. Isabela gave chase as soon as he started running, but the rest of us were pinned inside to fight.

As soon as we finished the fight, I ran outside to see if Isabela had the relic. Of course she was gone. She left a note saying she was actually sorry though. I'm not sure how to feel about her, since the relic is what the Qunari were here for in the first place. Trying to talk to the Arishok about this wasn't going to be easy in the first place, now Isabela made it even worse.

Entry 11 of Neiko Hawke. Religion is bad for your health.

Even though my mother was killed, I had to keep moving forward with the Qunari threat. I was told that the Viscount's son changed to the Qunari ways, and he wants me to bring him back. I needed to go to the Qunari compound and talk with the Arishok about this.

On the way to the Qunari compound, I was ambushed by some fanatics whose purpose I was not really sure about. I'm not sure if they were for or against the Viscount's son being a part of the Qun. Either way, I found another part of this armor set, and the only thing left is the chest piece.

When we arrived, the Arishok said he was expecting me to come by. We had a lame conversation, but it made sense. He said that the Viscount's son came on his own free will. He said he wasn't going to exploit the fact that he was the Viscount's son, since once he is a part of the Qun, he is no longer what he was, only what he is now. I asked where he was, and the Arishok said he was meeting with his father because his father sent a letter. The strange thing about that is his father sent me here to find him.... Why would he send me and a letter? Something seems strange, and I feel Mother Petrice is behind this since the meeting place was at the Chantry.

Upon arriving at where he was supposed to meet his father, he was already dead. Mother Petrice then shows up with some Templars and fanatics. She tried to pin this on me, but I instantly threw the blame back at her and she accepted that she did this. She also spouted nonsense about how he denied the maker by converting, and that people need a chance to defend faith by fighting for their faith. A bunch of religious crap that just starts wars. Either way, the Templars and Fanatics tried to fight us, but they were a chore at most to fight. Such a waste of people and fight.

The Grand Cleric showed up after the fight, and Mother Petrice tried to pin this all on me. I again, threw the blame right back at her, telling the Grand Cleric how she murdered someone who was acting on free will. No one was harmed by his choices to change religions, and Petrice would start a war with the Qunari over this.

The Grand Cleric believed me, and said that she would be put in court for her crimes. The Qunari had other plans for her though. A Qunari had followed us here and killed her as the Grand Cleric was walking away. The Grand Cleric seemed to brush this aside, and just let it happen. I'm quite glad she did, and it's nice to know that the Grand Cleric isn't as stupid or righteous as Petrice was.

Entry 10 of Neiko Hawke. Love and Lost.

I was at my house when Merrill came running in all flustered and rambling, it was cute. She goes on talking about how everyone will frown upon us, and everyone that hated her will now hate me, but that didn't matter to her. I even made a little joke about making my ears pointy for her, but she said that wasn't necessary (Oh oblivious Merrill).

 We eventually found our way to my bedroom, and one thing led to another... After some things, she asked what will happen now, I told her I guess we're together now, and asked if she wanted to move in with me. She seemed ecstatic at the idea, but at the same time afraid of what people would think of me. I again reassured her that I don't care what other would think about us.

 Everything seemed to be going perfect, but that was only a false sense of security. I was informed by Gamlen, that my mother was missing for her normal weekly meeting. I rushed out to see where she would of walked through and found a child who said he saw what happened. He wasn't talking though, so I gave him some silver and he started spouting everything that happened. Sounded like blood magic was going on.

I followed the blood stains on the floor to a run down house in the back of lowtown, and upon entering Merrill said that she had a bad feeling about this place. We walked around and found some shades here and there but there wasn't anything too hard. When we found a little shrine that had a picture that looked like mother though, there was a Rage Demon, as well as a bunch of books about necromancy, as well as the other dead women that were murdered in the previous years.

What I saw a few rooms down, there was no amount of preparation I could of had to prepare me for what I was about to see. I saw my mother's head stitched together with pieces of other women. What. The. Fuck...

The necromancer hid behind an invulnerability bubble while essences from the other women showed up in the forms of Desire demons, as well as some Rage demons and shades. The fight wasn't anything too hard until he came out of his bubble and started throwing death magic everywhere and spawned undead everywhere. I eventually had the life drained out of myself, and I collapsed on the floor only to be risen again to fight my friends. Merril, Varric, and Anders all focused down the necromancer as fast as they could to release me from his grasp, but he was also the only thing keeping my mother alive...

I wasn't sure what to do, the only thing I could think of was how I should have been faster. If I was faster I might have been able to save her. Anders tells me that there is nothing he can do, since the necromancy was the only thing keeping her alive...

...

I went back to my house, and Gamlen asked where mother was, and if she was alright. There wasn't much to say, and I could only beat myself up over it. He went on a rant saying that this is why magic needs to be controlled, I then told him that it wasn't magic that killed mother, but a madman. A dagger could have killed her just as easily. He then told me even though that was true, the desecration that happened to her body wouldn't of happened without magic.

Merrill came to my room after I talked to Gamlen, and tried to comfort me. It was nice of her, and I was glad I still had her by my side.