Personal Quest
Promise of Destruction
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Locate the Missing Seekers
The PC enters to war room to find Cassandra looking over the maps.
Choice dependent dialogue:
- Low approval [1]
- High approval [2]
1 - Low approval Cassandra: Something in particular you require?
Dialogue options:
- General: Am I intruding? [3]
- General: Touchy, aren’t we? [4]
- General: What are you doing? [5]
3 - General: Am I intruding? PC: I see I’m intruding. I’ll be on my way. Cassandra: No, wait. [9]
4 - General: Touchy, aren’t we? PC: I see I’ve touched a nerve. Cassandra: I… suppose I do need your help. [9]
5 - General: What are you doing? PC: You could tell me what you’re doing here. Cassandra: I… suppose I do need your help. [9]
2 - High approval Cassandra: (Sighs.) I can keep staring at this, but I won’t get any closer.
Dialogue options:
- General: Can I help? [6] +Cassandra slightly approves
- General: Stubborn as ever? [7]
- General: Closer to what? [8]
6 - General: Can I help? PC: Something I can help you with? Cassandra: Yes. Possibly. [9]
7 - General: Stubborn as ever? PC: Keep banging your head against the problem. It will go away eventually. Cassandra: (Chuckles.) I’m predictable, I know. Cassandra: I suppose I’ll never find them on my own. [9]
8 - General: Closer to what? PC: What are you looking for? Cassandra: I suppose I’ll never find them on my own. [9]
9 - Scene continues.
Cassandra (sided templars): You recall the demon at Therinfal? The one impersonating Lord Seeker Lucius? We never found the real Lord Seeker—or his body. Cassandra (sided mages): We saw so many red templars at the assault on Haven. Perhaps all that was left of the Order. What we didn’t see was Lord Seeker Lucius.
Cassandra: Indeed, I’ve seen no hint of any Seekers amongst the red templars. Or anywhere. I’ve a growing suspicion Corypheus has imprisoned them.
10 - Dialogue options:
- Investigate: Couldn’t they be dead? [11]
- General: This is important to you. [12] +Cassandra slightly approves
- General: They might be his allies. [13]
- General: What’s the point? [14] -Cassandra slightly disapproves
11 - Investigate: Couldn’t they be dead? PC: Why imprisoned? He could just as easily have killed them. Cassandra: Not easily. But yes, they may be dead.
Cassandra (sided templars): Yet a demon of envy does not kill whomever it replaces: it hides them away and learns about them. Cassandra (sided mages): But the Seeker began this war against the mages. They cannot have simply vanished.
Cassandra: There must be a trail we can follow, yet so far I have only discovered hints.
Dialogue options:
- Special: What if they’re infected? [15]
- [Back to 10]
15 - Special: What if they’re infected? PC: But they could have ended up just like the red templars. Cassandra: Seekers do not use lyrium. I assume Corypheus gained control of the templars by corrupting the lyrium they were already taking. To do the same to a Seeker, you’d have to force the lyrium upon him. That may be what happened, but it couldn’t have began that way. We’re missing a piece of puzzle, Inquisitor. I need to find it. [back to 10]
12 - General: This is important to you. PC: Finding them obviously means a lot to you. [16]
13 - General: They might be his allies. PC: Wherever they are, they might be working with Corypheus willingly. Cassandra: I refuse to believe that without proof. [16]
14 - General: What’s the point? PC: They’re gone. What difference does it make where they are. [16]
16 - Scene continues.
Cassandra (low approval): I don’t expect you to understand. Cassandra (high approval): I left the Order, but I can never abandon them.
Cassandra: I cannot claim that rescuing them would be beneficial—they wouldn’t look kindly on the Inquisition. But even so, if there’s a chance…
They begin to make their wat out of the war room.
Cassandra (romanced): I have leads, but I cannot do this without you. Please help me. Cassandra (non-romanced): If we can spare resources to follow up on these leads, Inquisitor, I would appreciate it.
The PC can speak to Cassandra after the conversation.
Cassandra: I understand if resources cannot be spared to help search for the missing Seekers, Inquisitor. Still, it could involve a threat we are unaware of. There may be a use in looking.
After the PC finds the missing Seekers via War Table Mission.
Cassandra: I understand the Inquisition has tracked down the missing Seekers. Caer Oswin? I didn’t see Bann Loren as the sort of nobleman that would become involved in this war. The sooner we go there, the sooner I can put this search behind me.
Caer Oswin
The party makes their way to a fortress in Ferelden.
Cassandra: Caer Oswin. Odd that the trail should lead us here. Bann Loren is a pious, unassuming man. What has he become involved in?
Dialogue options:
- General: It might not be by choice. [1]
- General: Everyone’s going crazy. [2]
- General: It doesn’t matter. [3]
1 - General: It might not be by choice. PC: He might simply be a victim as well. [4]
2 - General: Everyone’s going crazy. PC: He’s involved in “crazy,” just like everyone else these days. Cassandra: Truer words have never been spoken. [4]
3 - General: It doesn’t matter. PC: We’re here to look for the Seekers. [4]
4 - Scene continues.
Cassandra: Let’s see what lies within.
They continue inside, and are immediately attacked.
Cassandra: Promisers. I should have known. The Order of Fiery Promise is a cult with… strange beliefs about the Seekers. They’ve hounded us for centuries.
5 - Dialogue options:
- Investigate: What strange beliefs? [6]
- Investigate: Why not deal with them? [7]
- General: Can they be reasoned with? [8]
- General: “Cultists” don’t sound good. [9]
- General: They’re not that tough. [10]
6 - Investigate: What strange beliefs? PC: What kind of “strange beliefs”? Cassandra: They believe they are Seekers—the only rightful ones. They say we robbed their powers long ago, preventing them from ending the world. PC: Ending the world? Cassandra: The only way to truly eradicate evil, in their eyes. “The world will be reborn a paradise.” It’s all nonsense. [back to 5]
7 - Investigate: Why not deal with them? PC: Why haven’t the Seekers dealt with them? Cassandra: We have. Many times. They simply reappear after a time, like weeds. Nobody knows how. [back to 5]
8 - General: Can they be reasoned with? PC: Is it possible to negotiate with them? Cassandra: They’re fanatics, drunk on whatever forbidden magic they can find to make themselves “true” Seekers. [11]
9 - General: “Cultists” don’t sound good. PC: Cultists? Why am I not surprised? [11]
10 - General: They’re not that tough. PC: We dealt with those few easily enough. Cassandra: They are less formidable than they are deranged. [11]
11 - Scene continues.
Cassandra: This explains why the Seekers might be here, but not the connection to Corypheus.
They find a corpse further in.
Cassandra: A Seeker. Did they torture him to death? The Promisers will pay for this.
The party enters a courtyard, where they fight more Promisers. Cassandra picks a letter off one of the corpses when the fighting ends.
Cassandra: “As the Seekers of Truth have proven resistant to the effect of red lyrium, the Elder One has seen fit to place them in your care. Reclaim you destiny, and know that the Elder One expects your devotion as repayment.”
Cassandra (sided templars): Signed by Magister Calpernia, leader of the Venatori. Cassandra (sided mages): Signed by Lord Samson, commander of the red templars.
Cassandra: Does Corypheus not realize the Promisers wants the world to end? What use are they to him?
Dialogue options:
- General: He sold the Seekers to them? [12]
- General: He’ll betray them first. [13]
- General: They belong together. [14]
12 - General: He sold the Seekers to them? PC: So Corypheus sold the Seekers to these cultists? Cassandra: And they leapt at the chance, of course. [15]
13 - General: He’ll betray them first. PC: Corypheus will probably betray them before they get their chance. Cassandra: But after he gets what he needs out of them. [15]
14 - General: They belong together. PC: Sounds like they’re perfect for each other. Cassandra: I suppose it does. [15]
15 - Scene continues.
Cassandra: But this doesn’t explain how he captured the Seekers in the first place, or what’s been done with them. We must keep looking.
16 - Dialogue options:
- Investigate: Why are Seekers “resistant”? [17]
- General: You’re worried. [18]
- General: Do you really want to know? [19]
- General: We’ll find them. [20]
17 - Investigate: Why are Seekers “resistant”? PC: The letter said Seekers were resistant to red lyrium. Cassandra: Our abilities grant us many gifts, but a resistance to red lyrium’s corruption? That seems strange. Although it would explain why none have numbered among the red templars… And thus Seekers would be useless to Corypheus. He would have no leash to hold us. [back to 16]
18 - General: You’re worried. PC: You sound worried. Cassandra: I am. The Seekers are my family. Cassandra: You must think me inhuman. Of course I am. [21]
19 - General: Do you really want to know? PC: Do you really want to keep looking? What we find might not be pleasant. Cassandra: I do not shy away from unpleasant things. I must know. [21]
20 - General: We’ll find them. PC: We’ll find them, Cassandra. Cassandra: I know we will. One way or another. [21]
21 - Scene ends.
Fate of the Seekers
A Seeker sits at the bottom of a staircase, looking disfigured and tainted. Cassandra runs up.
Cassandra: Daniel! Daniel, can you hear me?
Daniel: Cassandra? It is you. You’re alive.
Cassandra: As are you. I’m so glad I found you.
Daniel: No, they… put a demon inside me. It’s tearing me up.
Cassandra: What? You can’t be possessed—that’s impossible!
Daniel: I’m not possessed. They… fed me things. I can feel it growing.
Dialogue options:
- Angry: They will pay. [1]
- Anxious: That’s horrible! [2]
- Confused: Why would they do this? [3]
- Stoic: Can we help him? [4]
1 - Angry: They will pay. PC: The Promisers will pay for what they’ve done. Daniel: No. The Lord Seeker. [5]
2 - Anxious: That’s horrible! PC: Can a demon be grown inside someone? Cassandra: Savages! I will tear every last one of them apart! Daniel: No. The Lord Seeker. [5]
3 - Confused: Why would they do this? PC: What could they hope to gain from this? Cassandra: Our powers. Revenge. Who knows? Daniel: The Lord Seeker. You have to find him. [5]
4 - Stoic: Can we help him? PC: Can we do anything? Cassandra: I… don’t know. This thing inside him… Daniel: The Lord Seeker. You have to find him. [5]
5 - Scene continues.
Cassandra: Of course we’ll find him. If he lives, we’ll—
Daniel: Lucius betrayed us, Cassandra. He sent us here, one by one. “An important mission,” he said. Lies. He was here with them all along. He’s still working with them.
6 - Dialogue options:
- Investigate (sided templars): Was it the envy demon? [7]
- Investigate (sided mages): But we met the Lord Seeker. [8]
- General: I’m so sorry. [9]
- General: Can it be true? [10]
- General: He’s a dead man. [11]
7 - Investigate: Was it the envy demon? PC: Could it have been the demon from Therinfal? Daniel: No. The demon came later. Cassandra: But a demon couldn’t simply take his place without anyone noticing! Daniel: The Lord Seeker allowed it. He let the demon take command, while he… Cassandra: Came here. [back to 6]
8 - Investigate: But we met the Lord Seeker. PC: But we met Lord Seeker Lucius in Val Royeaux. He couldn’t have been here. Daniel: That wasn’t him. It was a demon, masquerading. Cassandra: What? How could that be? Daniel: The Lord Seeker allowed it. He let the demon take command, while he… Cassandra: Came here. [back to 6]
9 - General: I’m so sorry. PC: Cassandra… Cassandra: Now is not the time for sympathy. [12]
10 - General: Can it be true? PC: Would he really work with these cultists? Cassandra: I intend to find out. [12]
11 - General: He’s a dead man. PC: If we find the Lord Seeker, he’s dead. [12]
12 - Scene continues.
Daniel: Wait! Don’t leave me like this. Please…
The PC turns away.
Cassandra: You should have come with me. You didn’t believe in the war any more than I did.
Daniel: You know me. I wanted that promotion. (Coughs.)
Cassandra: Go to the Maker’s side, Daniel. You will be welcome.
Cassandra stands and draws her sword.
Cassandra: He was my apprentice. I have never known a finer young man. Now we find Lord Seeker Lucius.
The Truth
The party exists the fortress to find Lucius and more Promisers.
Cassandra: Lord Seeker Lucius.
Lucius: Cassandra… with a [person] I can only assume is the new Inquisitor.
Dialogue options:
- General: You have a lot to answer for. PC: You must be very proud of your handiwork. ㅤㅤ ㅤ
- General: And you’re a traitor. PC: And you’re the man who betrayed his own Order. ㅤㅤ ㅤ
- General: Stand down. PC: Call off your men, or this only ends one way.
Lucius: I presume you know we Seekers of Truth were once the original Inquisition. Oh, yes. We fought to restore order in a time of madness long ago, as you do now. And we became proud. We sought to remake the world—to make it better. But what did we create? The Chantry. The Circles of Magi. A war that will see no end.
Dialogue options:
- General: We are not the same. [1]
- General: So you help Corypheus? [2]
- General: You betrayed your people! [3]
- General: I agree with you. [4]
1 - General: We are not the same. PC: We are not the original Inquisition. Lucius: Of course you say that now. Cassandra: So you did all this because you hate our Order? [5]
2 - General: So you help Corypheus? PC: And aiding Corypheus is supposed to help? Lucius: Corypheus is a monster with limited ambition. Cassandra: And your ambition is so much greater. [5]
3 - General: You betrayed your people! PC: You lured your entire Order to their deaths! Lucius: There was no other choice. Cassandra: No other choice? Have you gone mad? [5]
4 - General: I agree with you. PC: Your Order is responsible for some terrible things. Cassandra: That does not excuse what you’ve done! [5]
5 - Scene continues.
Lucius: We Seekers are abominations, Cassandra. We created a decaying world, and fought to preserve it even as it crumbled. We had to be stopped.
Lucius pulls out a book.
Lucius: You don’t believe me? See for yourself. The secrets of our Order, passed to me after the former Lord Seeker was slain. The war with the mages had already begun, but it was not too late for me to do the right thing.
Dialogue options:
- General: This is not the right thing! [6]
- General: He’s insane. [7]
- General: We need to stop him. [8]
6 - General: This is not the right thing! PC: And this was the right thing? Cassandra: Lord Seeker, what you’ve done… Lucius: I know. [9]
7 - General: He’s insane. PC: He’s completely mad, isn’t he? Cassandra: Lord Seeker, what you’ve done… Lucius: I know. [9]
8 - General: We need to stop him. PC: Don’t listen, Cassandra. We need to end this. [9]
9 - Scene continues.
Lucius: What Corypheus did with the templars does not matter. I have seen the future. I have created a new Order to replace the old. The world will end so we can start anew–a pure beginning. Join us, Cassandra. It is the Maker’s will.
Cassandra draws her sword.
Cassandra: (Snarls.)
They fight, and Lucius falls.
Cassandra: He was insane. He had to be.
Cassandra (sided templars): Perhaps the envy demon’s influence? Remove the Lord Seeker so it could take over the templars? Cassandra (sided mages): The influence of Corypheus, perhaps? Was he trying to disable the Seekers?
Dialogue options:
- General: So much wasted life. PC: All these wasted lives… ㅤㅤ ㅤ
- General: If so, it worked. PC: If so, the plan worked perfectly. ㅤㅤ ㅤ
- General: They were weak. PC: If the Seekers had been stronger, the plan would have failed.
Cassandra: He could not have destroyed all of us. I won’t accept it. Let us return to Skyhold. I wish to see what’s in this “book of secrets.”
Book of Secrets
Cassandra sits at a table with the book from Lucius in front of her.
Cassandra: (Sighs.)
The PC approaches
Cassandra: This tome has passed from Lord Seeker to Lord Seeker, since the time of the old Inquisition. And now it falls to me.
Dialogue options:
- General: You seem upset. [1]
- General: Dry reading, I take it? [2]
- General: You should have left it. [3]
1 - General: You seem upset. PC: Are you all right? You look drained.
Cassandra (have flirted with prior): On the contrary, it’s a delight. I’m riveted. There’s a pause. PC: Oh, you’re joking. [4]
2 - General: Dry reading, I take it? PC: That’s a lot of… not very exciting reading, apparently.
Cassandra (have flirted with prior): On the contrary, it’s a delight. I’m riveted. There’s a pause. PC: Oh, you’re joking. [4]
3 - General: You should have left it. PC: Maybe you should have left it to rot. Cassandra: I wonder the same. [4]
4 - Scene continues
Cassandra (human mage PC): I assume you know about the Rite of Tranquility. Cassandra (non-human/nom-mage PC): Do you know what the Rite of Tranquility is?
Cassandra: The last resort used on mages in the Circle, leaving them unable to cast but depriving them of dreams and all emotion.
The PC sits.
Cassandra: It should only be used on those who cannot control their abilities… but that has not always been the case.
Dialogue options:
- General (human mage PC): It’s magical castration. [5]
- General: It sounds horrible. [6]
- General: A small price to pay. [7]
- General: Is that what the book says? [8]
5 - General: It’s magical castration. PC: You mutilate mages. Cassandra: I always thought it a necessary evil. [9]
6 - General: It sounds horrible. PC: Deprived of all emotion? That sounds… Cassandra: I always thought it a necessary evil. [9]
7 - General: A small price to pay. PC: It’s a small price to pay for the greater good. Cassandra: That’s what I always thought. [9]
8 - General: Is that what the book says? PC: Does the book say it was used for other things? Cassandra: No. As a Seeker, I looked into… abuses. Mages made Tranquil as punishment. [9]
9 - Scene continues.
Cassandra: What finally began the mage rebellion was a discovery the Rite of Tranquility could be reversed. The Lord Seeker at the time covered it up—harshly. There were deaths. It was dangerous knowledge. The shock of its discovery in addition to what happened in Kirkwall… But it appears we’ve always known how to reverse the rite. From the beginning.
Dialogue options:
Angry: You caused the rebellion. [10] Sad: The rebellion was needless. [11] Confused: Why keep it hidden? [12] Stoic: That’s not surprising. [13]
10 - Angry: You caused the rebellion. PC: So the Seekers are responsible for the rebellion. In more ways than one. Cassandra: One more crime to add to the pile, yes. [14]
11 - Sad: The rebellion was needless. PC: So the rebellion could have been prevented. Cassandra: Perhaps, but it was a long time coming, for many reasons. [14]
12 - Confused: Why keep it hidden? PC: Why keep that knowledge a secret? [14]
13 - Stoic: That’s not surprising. PC: That doesn’t surprise me at all. [14]
14 - Scene continues.
Cassandra: We created the Rite of Tranquility.
Cassandra (asked about her past): I told you of my vigil—the months I spent emptying myself of all emotion? Cassandra (did not ask about her past): To become a Seeker, I spent months in a vigil, emptying myself of all emotion.
Cassandra: I was made Tranquil, and did not even know. Then the vigil summoned a spirit of faith to touch my mind. That broke Tranquility—and gave me my abilities. The Seekers did not share that secret. Not with me, not with the Chantry. Not even with…
She stands and moves to the window.
Cassandra: There’s more. Lucius was not wrong about the Order. I thought to rebuild the Seekers once victory was ours. Now I’m not certain it deserves to be rebuilt.
15 - Dialogue options:
- Investigate: What else is in the book? [16]
- Investigate: Your faith has been shaken. [17]
- Investigate: How would you rebuild? [18]
- General: Let the Seekers go. [19]
- General: Make the Seekers better. [20]
- General: It’s up to you. [21]
- Flirt: You can do anything. [22]
16 - Investigate: What else is in the book? PC: You said there was more in the book… Cassandra: At some point, power becomes its own master. We cast aside ideals in favor of expedience and tell ourselves it was all necessary. For the people. Will that happen to us, Inquisitor? Will we repeat history?
Dialogue options:
- General: Never. [23]
- General: It’s possible. [24]
- General: I don’t know. [25]
23 - General: Never. PC: No. We’re nothing like the Seekers. Cassandra: I wonder how much we resemble what they used to be. [back to 15]
24 - General: It’s possible. PC: We might. It would be lying to say it’s impossible. Cassandra: An honest answer, if not a comforting one. [back to 15]
25 - General: I don’t know. PC: I can’t foresee the future, Cassandra. Cassandra: But we know the past. Those who do not heed history are doomed to repeat it. [back to 15]
17 - Investigate: Your faith has been shaken. PC: I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so shaken.
Cassandra (low approval): No? It seems as if everything I believe is under siege. PC: You know what I mean.
Cassandra: I do not think the Seekers have been doing the Maker’s work. Not truly. Perhaps we believed it, once. The original Inquisition came to be during a terrible time. But now? We harbored secrets and let them fester. We acted to survive, but not to serve. That is not the Maker’s work. [back to 15]
18 - Investigate: How would you rebuild? PC: If you did rebuild the Seekers, how would you do it? Cassandra: I can’t be the only one remaining. We were always spread to the winds, and some may still be out there. I would find them, one by one. We would all read this book–no more secrets. Then together we would establish a new charter. The Maker’s work, in truth.
Dialogue options:
- Special: But what is the Maker’s work? [26]
- [Back to 15]
26 - Special: But what is the Maker’s work? PC: You keep saying that, but what is “the Maker’s work”? Casandra: There is no way to know for certain. That is why we must seek it out. Perhaps we lost our way because we stopped looking. [back to 15]
19 - General: Let the Seekers go. PC: The Seekers are gone, Cassandra. Let them go. [27]
20 - General: Make the Seekers better. PC: Rebuild the Seekers. Make them better than they were. [27]
21 - General: It’s up to you. PC: That’s not for me to decide, Cassandra. [27]
22 - Flirt: You can do anything. PC: If anyone can rebuild them into something worthwhile, you can. Cassandra: But are they worth rebuilding? PC: You could make them worth it. Cassandra: I… will think on your words. [27]
27 - Scene continues.
She walks back to where the PC sits.
Cassandra (low approval): Inquisitor, I know we have not always seen eye to eye on matters… PC: You don’t say?
Cassandra: Thank you. I could not have done this on my own.
Special: About the Tranquil Cure…
Available with the arcane perk after Promise of Destruction
PC: I want to talk to you about the cure for Tranquility.
Cassandra: It’s not a cure… not truly. Mages who were once Tranquil lose all control over their emotions. They become irrational, unable to focus. Perhaps that state eventually passes and they can be helped, but it will take time to investigate.
Dialogue options:
- General: But you will investigate. [1]
- General: They deserve a chance. [2]
- General: They’d be dangerous. [3]
1 - General: But you will investigate. PC; But you are going to look into it? Cassandra: That is my intent.
2 - General: They deserve a chance. PC: There are so many Tranquil. They deserve a chance to heal.
3 - General: They’d be dangerous. PC: Mages unable to control their emotions? That sounds… Cassandra: Dangerous.
4 - Scene continues.
Cassandra: I would not want news of a cure to spread until we know for certain we can help these people. Once we have that, however? Then I will spread the word myself.