Dragon Age: Origins Preview Page 2

26 Oct 2009 at 16:47:48 by Tim McDonald

Nelaros, Soris explained as we stole the equipment of the guards, had decided to come and rescue me, and he was guarding the far end of the hall. Apparently Duncan – a Grey Warden who had come to the Alienage on business – had seen the injustice but couldn't directly act, so he gave my unlikely rescuers his sword and crossbow and sent them after us.

We worked our way through the building towards whatever the hell hall Nelaros was supposed to be guarding, but when we finally got there, it was clear we were too late. The remaining three guards from the cellar were there, and we opened the door just as Nelaros was cut in two. This fight was the first truly difficult one since waking up in the cellar – the guard captain had a yellow name, indicating that he was hard enough to take on a few party members by himself. Thankfully, no-one with an orange name was around, as those signify people capable of taking on parties by themselves.

Two skills came in helpful: Dirty Fighting, and Dual-Weapon Sweep. The latter is useful for warriors and rogues who like to use two weapons, as it's essentially two simultaneously horizontal slashes that hit everything in a forward arc. By stunning one, having Soris attract another and stabbing him in the back a few times, and then turning around and using Dual-Weapon Sweep to cut down the other two, we survived.

Which left only Vaughan, busily beating up Shianni while two of his guards smirked in the corner. When Soris and I walked in, they assured him that they'd take care of us. He told them to stop. “Look at them,” he said, if memory serves. “They've made it through the estate and they're covered in enough blood to fill a bath. What do you think that means?”

Yes, well done. I'd killed every other guard in the place. Ten points for observation. He offered me a bag of gold and my freedom if I left now and let him have his way with the girls, who would be returned to the Alienage the next day, “a little worse for wear.” Considering I'm a mass-murdering psychopath that would probably have been okay had he not hit me, so I told him precisely where I'd put that bag of gold, one coin at a time, if I got my hands on it. He urged me to think again: the streets of the Alienage would be running with blood if I hurt him; the entire community would be punished. Again: mass-murdering psychopath. He was going to die. “I always regret talking to knife-ears,” he spat, drawing his sword.

But by this time, I'd gotten into the rhythm of the combat, and the experience gained as I left the rest of the estate stained red  meant that he had little chance. It wasn't long before his guards were down, and he wheezed his last breath.

Which just left the inevitable aftermath. Shianni and the other girls were largely okay, if psychologically scarred by the attempted rape, but when the city guard came around the Alienage later that day I save Soris by taking the rap – and my execution was stayed by the unlikeliest of people. Duncan, the Grey Warden who had essentially initiated my escape, invoked the Right of Conscription: he saved me from death by recruiting me into the Wardens, to fight alongside King Cailan against the horde of Darkspawn besieging the country.

And this is how the origins largely seem to end: the main character exiled in some way, and left with no choice but to sign up with Duncan and join the Grey Wardens. Not an easy path, by any means, and one that leads to almost certain death at the hands of the monsters once more ravaging the world, but better than living a few days in prison until execution day.

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