Prompted Conversations

Varric Prompted Conversations

Back to Varric Directory

I Have Questions About Hawke

PC: I’ve read your Tales of the Champion, and I have a few questions.

Varric: That’s a pretty common reaction. Go ahead.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate (Anders alive): What happened to Anders? [2]
Investigate: Orsino’s fate made no sense. [3] -Varric slightly disapproves
Investigate (Arishock killed): You made up the Arishok fight. [4]
Investigate (Arishock lived): What happened to the Arishok? [5]
Investigate: Where are Hawke’s friends? [6]
General: Never mind. [7]

2 - Investigate: What happened to Anders? PC: What happened to the mage who destroyed the Chantry? The book never said.

Varric (Hawke sided mages): He fled Kirkwall with the mages from the Circle. Stayed with them a while. But he had to move on. Somehow, a lot of mages blamed him for making them live a fugitives. Varric (Hawke sided templars): Hawke made him stay to help put out the fire he caused. But he eventually moved on. Nobody else wanted him in Kirkwall.

Varric: I don’t know where he is now, and I don’t want to know. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: Orsino’s fate made no sense. PC: In the book, you say that First Enchanter Orsino turned himself into a giant monster made of corpses. How? Why? Varric: Do I look like an expert on magical weirdness to you? I can’t tell you how. As for the “why,” all I can say is he was desperate. [back to 1]

4 - Investigate: You made up the Arishok fight. PC: There’s no way Hawke really could have killed the Arishok. It would have started a war with the Qunari. Varric: Apparently, the Arishok didn’t get permission before he attacked Kirkwall, and the Qun didn’t want another Exalted March. When they finally sent a ship to haul the wrecked dreadnought away, they just said, “We will never speak of this again.” As far as I can tell, that’s the Qun’s version of an apology. [back to 1]

5 - Investigate: What happened to the Arishok? PC: Your book doesn’t say what happened after the Arishok left Kirkwall. Varric: He kind of… lost the Tome of Koslun again. Along with the thief. As I understand it, he returned to Par Vollen to find the Qunari equivalent of a court-martial waiting for him. There’s a new guy named Arishok now, and asking about the old one is a nightmare of logic and grammar. [back to 1]

6 - Investigate: Where are Hawke’s friends? PC: Where are the rest of Hawke’s associates?

If Merrill is alive and stayed with Hawke: Varric: Merrill decided to look after the elves left homeless by the fighting. She’s done a pretty good job of keeping them away from the mages and templars so far. I guess she had plenty of practice avoiding stupid human battles with her old Dalish clan.

If Fenris is alive and stayed with Hawke Varric: Fenris has kept himself busy, hunting down the Tevinter slavers who came south to prey on the refugees. I’m not sure exactly where he is at the moment. You can usually follow the trail of corpses, though.

If Isabella stayed with Hawke Varric: Isabella went back to the raiders. She’s calling herself an admiral now. I don’t know if she’s actually in charge or just has a really big hat. Might be the same thing, honestly.

If Sebastian was recruited: Varric: Sebastian went back to Starkhaven. I’m sure he’s boring all sorts of people there.

If Hawke was not a mage and Bethany survived the Deep Roads: Varric: Last I knew, Hawke’s little sister Bethany was doing something Wardeny near the Anderfels border.

If Hawke was not a mage and Bethany did not go to the Deep Roads: Varric: Hawke’s little sister is in the Free Marches, helping some of the other survivors from the Kirkwall Circle.

If Hawke was a mage and Carver survived the Deep Roads: Varric: Hawke’s little brother was off on some Warden business near the Anderfels border last I knew.

If Hawke was a mage and Carver did not go to the Deep Roads: Varric: Hawke’s little brother Carver is still in the Free Marches, helping the Kirkwall guard keep order.

Varric: Aveline is still guard-captain. I’m pretty sure Kirkwall would fall right into the sea if she quit her job. [back to 1]

7 - General: Never mind. PC: Carry on.

I Have a Personal Question

PC: Can I ask you something, Varric?

Varric: You want to talk about me? I’m flattered. Also, inclined toward extravagant lies.

1 - Dialogue options:

General: How do you know Cassandra? [2]
General: Where are you from? [3]
General: What do you do? [4]
General: Tell me about the crossbow. [5]
General: That’s all for now. [6]

2 - General: How do you know Cassandra? PC: How do you and Cassandra know each other? Varric: You heard about the Kirkwall chantry being destroyed? The guy responsible used to be a friend of mine. The Seeker had questions about that, and I had answers.

3 - General: Where are you from? PC: Are you from Ferelden? Orlais? Varric: Free Marches. Born and raised in Kirkwall. And despite whatever you’ve heard, no. Kirkwall’s not that bad.

4 - General: What do you do? PC: I’m not clear on your line of work. You’re a merchant?
Varric: I’m a businessman. My family has a seat in the Dwarven Merchants Guild. Merchants buy and sell goods. Businessmen buy and sell stores. In my spare time, I manage a spy network. And occasionally, I write books.

7 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: Could you do Leliana’s job? [8]
Investigate: What books do you write? [9]
Investigate: What shops do you own? [10]
[Back to 1]

8 - Investigate: Could you do Leliana’s job? PC: If you’ve run a spy network, why is Leliana our spymaster? Varric: To be honest with you, she’s just a better spymaster. The truly great ones can keep their distance. They don’t get attached to their people. Me? I always wind up babysitting my informants and worrying about their families. We’re in better hands with her.

9 - Investigate: What books do you write? PC: You’re an author? What kind of books have you written? Varric: I’ve tried my hand at a few genres. My crime serials are my most popular. Hard in Hightown. Guards breaking the rules to get things done. The Tale of the Champion is the most famous thing I’ve written. Or infamous, maybe.

Varric (before Guilty Pleasure): I started a romance serial once. Swords & Shields. But to be honest, I don’t have the knack for romances. Varric (after Guilty Pleasure): And, well, you already know about Swords & Shields. To be honest, it’s not a great serial. I don’t have the knack for romances.

Varric: Most of my stories end in tragedy. Probably that says something unfortunate about me personally.

10 - Investigate: What shops do you own? PC: What sort of shops do you own? Varric: Actually, we don’t own shops. That was just an example. Mostly, we invest in money lenders. Auction houses, a few mercenary companies, a couple of smithies. I think we own half a beet plantation in Rivain somewhere. Most of that’s my brother’s doing. Bartrand had business sense. Not much tact, but loads of business sense.

5 - General: Tell me about the crossbow. PC: Where did you get that crossbow? I’ve never seen one like it. Varric: Bianca? She’s one of a kind.

Varric: I won her from Paragon Smith Branka in a game of Wicked Grace. She was such a sore loser. Ran off to the Deep Roads in a huff, and that was the last anyone saw of her.
Varric: Funny story. I bought a salvaged ship and found her locked in a dragonbone-reinforced chest in the hold. I broke three dozen lockpicks and blunted nine saws opening that trunk, but it was worth it.
Varric: I got her off a guy in Darktown. Took me a week to pry his dead fingers off the stock.
Varric: There’s a hidden shop in Kirkwall called the Black Emporium. I found her in a barrel labeled “swag.” The owner sold her to me for a ham sandwich and a pair of yellow ruffled pants.

Dialogue options:

Investigate: Why “Bianca”? [11]
[Back to 1]

12 - Investigate: Why “Bianca”? PC: Who is she named for? Varric: I can’t tell you.

Dialogue options:

Investigate: Why not? [12]
[Back to 1]

12 - Investigate: Why not? PC: And the reason for that is… Varric: Complicated. It’s the one story I’ll never tell. We’ll just have to leave it at that.

6 - General: That’s all for now. PC: Thanks, Varric. Varric: No problem.

Tell Me About Red Lyrium

PC: The red lyrium we found at the temple seemed to upset you.

Varric: My brother Bartrand and I sort of discovered red lyrium during an expedition in the Deep Roads. We located an ancient thaig, so old it barely looked dwarven. There was this idol there, made of it. Bartrand brought it back to the surface and, well, everything’s gone downhill from there.

If asked before PC: I want to know more about red lyrium. Varric: I’ll tell you what I can.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: What is it, exactly? [2]
Investigate: What can it do? [3]
Investigate: Why was it in the temple? [4]
Investigate (Skyhold only): Why would templars take it? [5]
Investigate (Skyhold only): How does it petrify people? [6]
General: That’s enough for now. [7]

2 - Investigate: What is it, exactly? PC: So what is it, just another kind of lyrium? Varric: The red stuff is lyrium like a dragon is a lizard. It’s not just a different colour. It has a whole host of weirdness all its own. I’ve written to every Mining Caste house in Orzammar. No one’s seen this stuff before or knows where it came from. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: What can it do? PC: What makes it special? Varric: Regular lyrium can mess you up pretty badly, but you have to ingest it for that to happen. Red lyrium messes with your mind when you’re just near the stuff. You hear singing, get violent, paranoid. And then it does… creepy shit. Makes things float. Brings statues to life.

Varric (Varric kept the red lyrium shard): I’ve had a few alchemists studying it in Kirkwall. In shifts. [8] Varric (Varric did not keep the red lyrium shard): It also turned Kirkwall’s knight-commander to lyrium. Everyone’s been kept at least a hundred paces from it since. [back to 1] Varric (if asked before): It also turns people to lyrium. Considering what we saw on the mountain, probably worse things too. [back to 1]

4 - Investigate: Why was it in the temple? PC: How did the red lyrium get in the Temple of Sacred Ashes? Varric: I don’t know.

Varric (Varric kept the red lyrium shard): As far as I knew, there was only one small piece of the original idol we brought out of the Deep Roads. And it’s locked in a vault in Kirkwall—one I had built by the Mining Caste especially to hold it. [8] Varric(Varric did not keep the red lyrium shard): So far as I knew, the only piece to make it to the surface was destroyed. And the location of the thaig it came from is a secret. Did someone find more of it in the Deep Roads? That’s not a cheery thought. [back to 1]

8 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: You have a piece of it? [9]
Investigate: Isn’t that dangerous? [10]
[Back to 1]

9 - Investigate: You have a piece of it? PC: Why do you have red lyrium? Varric: My brother kept a sliver when he sold it. I’m pretty sure he held onto it because it was already “talking” to him.

Varric (Bartrand alive): That little shard drove him mad. I had him taken to a sanitarium and eventually found the fragment in his house. Varric (Bartrand died): That little shard drove him mad. After his death, I found it hidden in his house.

Varric: We brought the shit to the surface, Bartrand and I. I wanted to find out if there was a way to shut it up. So far, it looks like the answer is no. [back to 8]

10 - Investigate: Isn’t that dangerous? PC: If red lyrium is as dangerous as you say, why do you keep it? Varric: I’ve heard that shit “singing” to me. I know better than anyone how bad it is. In Orzammar, miners keep regular, non-crazy raw lyrium in special lead-lined containers. Actually, it’s a huge secret how they’re constructed. Keeps surface-folk from horning in on the lyrium trade. I pulled a lot of strings and got a smith to build me four of them nested inside each other. Nobody gets to study it up close for more than an hour, and they have to wait a week between shifts. [back to 8]

5 - Investigate: Why would templars take it? PC: What could the templars want with it? Varric: In Kirkwall, just having the lyrium idol made Knight-Commander Meredith impossibly strong. Before it turned her into a lyrium statue, anyway. Maybe they thought the power was worth it. Or maybe they didn’t know the consequences. [back to 1]

6 - Investigate: How does it petrify people? PC: I’ve seen it infect people like a disease and turn them to lyrium. How can it do that? Varric: That’s a good question.

Varric (Varric kept the red lyrium shard): The people I’ve had studying the stuff say you need to actually touch it to get infected. But it seems to take time. The longer you spend with it, the more likely you’ll come down with a case of the crazy. But how it works, and if it can be cured, they haven’t figured out. [8] Varric (Varric did not keep the red lyrium shard): To tell the truth, we don’t really know what that shit can do to a person. And I don’t want to find out. [back to 1]

7 - General: That’s enough for now. PC: I think that’s enough on red lyrium. Varric: Yeah, not really my favorite subject.

Tell Me About Corypheus

Skyhold only

PC: What can you tell me about this “Corypheus”?

Varric: I’m not exactly an expert, but ask away, and I’ll answer what I can.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: How did you find him? [2]
Investigate: What is he? [3]
Investigate (after meeting Hawke): You said he should be dead. [4]
General: Enough about Corypheus. [5]

2 - Investigate: How did you find him? PC: How did you first encounter him? Varric: A few years back, I was dealing with some trouble from a Carta clan that went rogue.

Varric (before meeting Hawke): They were sending people after a friend of mine, and we tracked them to a ruin in the Vimmark Mountains. Varric (after meeting Hawke): They were sending assassins after the Hawke family. We tracked them to a ruin in the Vimmarks.

It turned out to be a trap. Once you went far enough into the ruin, there was a magic barrier that kept you from going back. The whole thing was a prison the Grey Wardens were using to hold what they thought was a powerful darkspawn.

Dialogue options:

Investigate: Why didn’t they just kill him? [6]
[Back to 1]

6 - Investigate: Why didn’t they just kill him? PC: I’ve never heard of Wardens locking up darkspawn. Why wouldn’t they just kill him and be done with it? Varric: I don’t think they could. From what we saw in there, Corypheus can control Wardens somehow. They couldn’t attack him. The Wardens locked him up because there was nothing else they could do. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: What is he? PC: He looks like some sort of blighted creature, but he speaks. What is he, exactly? Varric: The Wardens who imprisoned him thought he was just a darkspawn. But you heard him ranting. He claims he’s a magister. One who assaulted the Golden City, what, more than a thousand years ago? It seems crazy, but if he’s telling the truth, he’s one of the people who caused the Blights. [back to 1]

4 - Investigate: You said he should be dead. PC: You and Hawke both said before he was supposed to be dead. Varric: He was dead. We killed him. The only way for us to escape the prison Corypheus was trapped in was to go through him. We weren’t going to just leave the door to his prison open behind us and hope he was dead. We made sure. [back to 1]

5 - General: Enough about Corypheus. PC: All right, I think that’s enough about Corypheus. Varric: No problem.

Specialization: Artificer

Varric: So… you’ve been hanging out with Three-Eyes. He does good work. Nothing compared to Bianca, though.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: You know Three-Eyes? [2]
General: He called her a vanity piece. [3]
General: I want to build one like her. [4]
General: I’ll stick with traps. [5]

2 - Investigate: You know Three-Eyes? PC: I take it you know each other? Varric: Acquainted. I wouldn’t call us drinking buddies or anything. Guy’s got weird priorities. Frankly, I think he’s jealous of Bianca. Poor sod. [back to 1]

3 - General: He called her a vanity piece. PC: He told me that Bianca is a “vanity piece.” Varric: That’s the envy talking. Bianca is a masterpiece. Three-Eyes isn’t enough of a craftsman to build anything like her. Scene ends.

4 - General: I want to build one like her. PC: I’d love to build a crossbow like Bianca some day. Varric: Then I wish you luck. The world could probably use a few more smiths that good. Scene ends.

5 - General: I’ll stick with traps. PC: Personally, I’m happy with traps. Varric: Hey, if they keep your skin in one piece, that’s all that matters. Scene ends.