Conversations
Harding Act 1 Conversations
Back to Harding Directory
Conversations are in order of availability.
Shadows of Ancient Arlathan
Talk to Harding
Harding is sitting in a ruined conservatory, looking out the window into the Fade.
Harding: I wasn’t supposed to go this way. What do we do now? What do we do? (Sighs)
Rook: Harding?
Rook walks up, and Harding stands.
Harding: Oh, hey, Rook. How’s it going?
Choice dependent dialogue:
Rook: I should be asking you that. I got you hurt.
Harding: This is a dangerous job. Everyone knew that signing on. There’s so much to do. We have to keep going.
Dialogue options:
- Affable: You’re sure you’re okay? [1]
- Harding Disapproves - Sarcastic: You’re unstoppable, huh? [2]
- Stoic: No rest for the weary. [3]
1 - Affable: You’re sure you’re okay?
Rook: Are you sure you’re all right? Maybe you should rest.
Harding: Yes, Rook. I’m fine! This is nothing! I’m just a little dizzy. I’ll… walk it off! Or something.
Rook: Harding. You can’t just—
Harding: Oh, yeah? Watch me.
2 - Sarcastic: You’re unstoppable, huh?
Rook: You don’t slow down for much, do you?
Harding: You sound just like Varric. And I always said, “well… someone’s gotta keep you on your toes, old man.” So… that’s what I’m here to do. That’s what I have to do.
3 - Stoic: No rest for the weary.
Rook: Agreed. It’s rough, but we can’t let up. You good to go?
Harding: Of course I am! I can’t let a throbbing head and some dizziness hold me back, especially when… I just mean we can’t stop. I don’t want to stop.
4 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Harding: We need to get back to the ritual site, don’t we? Let’s stop worrying about me and go do that. Come get me when you’re ready to go.
Scene ends.
Dialogue options:
- Investigate: Ever seen a place like this? [1]
- Affable: Are you okay? [2]
+ Harding Approves - Sarcastic: You have plants. [3]
1 - Investigate: Ever seen a place like this?
Rook: Did you ever find places like this chasing Solas with Varric? Harding: Not exactly, but with Solas, it was always about the Fade or the Veil or some other in-between place. Varric always hated it though… At least this place feels different. Maybe… safer?
2 - Affable: Are you okay?
Rook: Harding, are you… doing all right?
Harding: I don’t know. Are you? Is anyone? Anyway, it doesn’t matter how I’m doing. What are we going to do about this mess?
3 - Sarcastic: You have plants.
Rook: So you have plants. Greenery’s nice, isn’t it?
Harding: Green? Most of these are dead. Figures. Maybe I’ll clear them out. It’ll give me something to do. I hate sitting around. We shouldn’t be sitting around.
4 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Harding: We were going to go back through the eluvian, right? Let’s start with that. As soon as we can.
Rook: You know you can take some time to just—
Harding: Now you sound like Varric. Varric and I started this and I can’t stop. Not now. Don’t ask me to. So come get me when you’re ready to go, all right?
Scene ends.
The Singing Blade
Isatunoll
This conversation is not available after completing Sea of Blood or The Smuggled Relic Case.
Harding: “…toldar isatunoll vedun gar valos atredum. But “valos atredum” is nothing like “isatunoll.”
Rook: “Isatunoll.” I remember. After you touched the dagger. “The prayer, the proclamation. Isatunoll.” W-what exactly are you proclaiming?
Harding: They don’t remember. No one remembers. We don’t even know what we lost.
Dialogue options:
- Flirt: You’re cute when you’re focused. [1]
- Affable: Am I interrupting? [2]
- Sarcastic: You lost me. [3]
- Stoic: Start making sense. [4]
1 - Flirt: You’re cute when you’re focused.
Rook: You’re not hearing a word I’m saying, are you?
Harding: Uh-huh.
Rook: You know you’re adorable, right?
Harding: Sure, whatever you think is best.
Rook: (Laughs)
Harding: Hmm? What? What’s happened?
Rook: I said, “You’re adorable.”
Harding: You’re poking fun at me.
Dialogue options:
5 - Never!
Rook: I would never poke fun. I respect you too much.
Harding: Is that so?
Rook: A hundred percent. So what’s “isatunoll”?
6 - A little.
Rook: Maybe a little. Not that you’re not adorable. Anyway. Is everything okay?
Harding: Oh, yeah. There’s just a lot to go through.
Rook: So what’s “isatunoll”?
2 - Affable: Am I interrupting?
Rook: You’re busy. I shouldn’t interrupt.
Harding: No no, wait. Sorry. Please stay. We can talk. About the Stone, about “isatunoll.” Maybe explaining it to someone else will help get my thoughts in order.
Rook: So what is it? What does it mean?
3 - Sarcastic: You lost me.
Rook: Harding? Are you in there?
Harding: I’m sorry, what?
Rook: Uh, what does “isatunoll” actually mean?
4 - Stoic: Start making sense.
Rook: What? What did you lose again?
Harding: “Isatunoll.”
Rook: Yes, but what is it?
7 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Dwarf Rook:
Harding: When I say “isatunoll,” does it mean anything to you? Does it stir anything in you?
Rook: No…?
Harding: And you’re a dwarf. So that’s interesting.
Harding: Isatunoll is an affirmation. A statement of existence. Of… of being. It means “I am here.” But… no, not “I.” “I” is singular. But it isn’t “we,” either. “We” is multiple, but also separate…
Rook: What?
Harding: Isatunoll is the eternal hymn that encompasses all time. All spaces. I am. We are. This. And that. Here. There. Now. And forever.
Dialogue options:
- Affable: I like that you’re excited. [8]
+ Harding Approves - Sarcastic: Right. If you say so. [9]
- Stoic: This isn’t helping. [10]
8 - Affable: I like that you’re excited.
Rook: What’s important is that you’re happy.
Harding: Happy? Happy’s not it. Whole. Right, maybe.
9 - Sarcastic: Right. If you say so.
Rook: Okay. Whatever works for you.
Harding: Words aren’t enough. It’s hard to put into words something you just feel.
10 - Stoic: This isn’t helping.
Rook: How does this get us anywhere?
Harding: Right. I guess, it would be like a mage explaining how magic feels to someone who doesn’t have it.
11 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Harding: I’m certain “isatunoll” describes how we—the dwarves—once were. But none of the books say anything about it. None of the histories are right. If we forgot something so important, what else did we forget?
Rook: I don’t know.
Harding: I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to have an answer. Thanks for letting me babble, by the way.
Rook: Anytime. That’s what I’m here for.
+ Harding Approves
The Inquisition
Rook: Did I see you writing a message to the Inquisition? What’s that about?
Harding: You know Varric and I were part of the Inquisition, right? I’m trying to get news about the South. But Charter hasn’t replied to any of my messages. I’m trying not to worry about what’s happening there but… No, it’s probably fine. Charter’s just busy. She’s always busy.
Rook: Charter. Who’s that?
Harding: She’s the Inquisition’s spymaster.
| Inquisition disbanded | Inquisition turned into arm of the Chantry |
|---|---|
| Harding: Or she would be if there was still an Inquisition. I suppose she just works for the Inquisitor now. | Harding: Well, no. I guess now that the Inquisition answers to the Chantry, that makes her Divine Victoria’s spymaster. |
Dialogue options:
- Investigate: The Inquisition’s presence… [1]
- Affable: We could use her help. [2]
- Sarcastic: Should I be worried? [3]
- Stoic: What does she want? [4]
1 - Investigate: The Inquisition’s presence…
Rook: I haven’t heard much about the Inquisition in years.
Harding: Oh, that’s intentional. When the Breach was open, we needed a large group to stop southern Thedas from falling into chaos.
Harding: It’s changed in the years since. We’re a smaller force, working underground to keep an eye on things going on in the world.
2 - Affable: We could use her help.
Rook: Why isn’t she here? We could use a hand.
Harding: Charter entrusted the search for Solas to Varric. To us. The world’s large, and she’s got many things to deal with.
3 - Sarcastic: Should I be worried?
Rook: A spymaster? She… doesn’t know things about me, does she? Do I need to worry?
Harding: Charter probably knows everything about you. Oh, but she’s not going to use it against you! I mean, if you behave.
4 - Stoic: What does she want?
Rook: Does your spymaster expect something from us? I don’t work for the Inquisition.
Harding: I know that. And Charter knows that. But there are still people in the organization invested in knowing how things are going. With Solas. Especially.
5 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Rook: So, how long were you with the Inquisition? Ten years?
Harding: Something like that. Why?
Rook: You must know the Inquisitor.
Harding: Well, yeah. We worked together. I wasn’t part of the Inquisitor’s inner circle though. I spent more time with the ordinary people. The ones you didn’t hear about.
Dialogue options:
- Special: Ordinary people? [6]
+ Harding Approves - Special: And the inner circle? [7]
+ Harding Approves - Special: What about the advisors? [8]
+ Harding Approves - Do you miss the Inquisition? [9]
6 - Special: Ordinary people?
Rook: So tell me about these ordinary Inquisition members I haven’t heard about.
Harding: The Inquisition hired hundreds. And most of them weren’t magisters or Ben-Hassrath or the Left Hand of the Divine. There were scouts and stable hands. Carpenters and cooks and quartermasters. Even two dedicated pastry chefs. Most of them volunteered, like me. We wanted to help, in whatever small way we could.
Dialogue options:
10 - Affable: It wasn’t small.
Rook: You helped people. That’s not small.
Harding: It sure felt like it sometimes. I’d sit with Rector and Falkner, and we’d watch the important people with their important business rushing by.
11 - Sarcastic: Pastry chefs?
Rook: I’m sure those pastries were a great help.
Harding: My ma likes to say that sometimes the pie is for eating, and sometimes it’s for crying into. It doesn’t even need to be pie. Rector liked cake, and Falkner loved soup. But food was always a comfort.
12 - Stoic: I remember the chaos.
Grey Warden Veil Jumper Other Rook: I’ve heard stories about the rifts, and the Grey Wardens being misled by Corypheus. Rook: I’ve heard stories. Some of the older Veil Jumpers remember dealing with rifts. Rook: It wasn’t as bad where I was, but I remember the demon-spitting sky holes. Harding: Nothing like demon-spitting sky holes to bring people together, huh? I made friends—Rector, Falkner, others.
13 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Rook: Rector? Falkner?
Harding: Leliana gave all her agents pseudonyms.
Rook: Right. Like Charter.
Harding: Well, Charter’s Charter. But when the other two and I were together, we were just Lace, Wilbur, and Katja.
7 - Special: And the inner circle?
Rook: But you did know people from the Inquisitor’s inner circle, didn’t you?
Harding: I knew them, sure. But those early days, all I wanted was to prove myself and not get in anyone’s way. Some of them were more approachable than others.
Worldstate dependent dialogue:
Harding: Most of the time I just watched them from afar. Listened to their snippets of conversation as they walked by.
Harding: Sera was a puppy with a new toy. A hundred new toys. Fun, if you can handle the mess. She was really the only one who could make Rainier—well, Blackwall then—let down his guard. Otherwise he kept to himself and stuck to the stables. We’d talk when I visited the horses. And there was Cole, of course.
Rook: The spirit boy?
Harding: Yep. I was just sitting on the walls one day, and he asked if he could join my game.
Rook: Like, a card game?
Harding: Nah, just good old people-watching. Must’ve seemed like a game to him, somehow. We’d pick strangers out of the crowd and try to say something about them. Like: “She heard the joke yesterday, and she’s still trying not to laugh.” Or one of Cole’s: “His eyes remind her of the ones beneath her bed.”
Return to worldstate choice.Dialogue options:
14 - Affable: What?
Rook: I… I have so many questions.
Harding: Believe me, I did, too.
Rook: Cole didn’t elaborate?
Harding: I think I prefer the mystery, don’t you?
15 - Sarcastic: Eyes? Under the bed?
Rook: Who stores eyes under their bed? I’m partial to a nice wall display, myself.
Harding: Well, that’s one interpretation that never occurred to me. Thanks.
Rook: You’re welcome.
16 - Stoic: Creepy.
Rook: Okay, that’s just a creepy thing to say.
Harding: Cole was like that. Weird, wonderful, and occasionally a little bit creepy.
17 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Rook: Wasn’t Cole an empath? He must’ve been great at this game.
Harding: Ah, but the rule was, you couldn’t say anything you actually knew. He got it in the end. I… think.
Rook: So you didn’t ask him if you guessed right?
Harding: Being right wasn’t the point. Making a habit of seeing people was. I think he liked that. “It’s why you don’t miss.”
8 - Special: What about the advisors?
Rook: And the Inquisitor’s advisors? What about them?
Worldstate dependent dialogue:
Harding: I wouldn’t say I was close to any of them. The spymaster, Leliana, was aloof. Commander Cullen and I were both from Ferelden, so we got along. Ambassador Montilyet is my favorite, though. She’s lovely.
Harding: Of all of them, I’d say Josephine is my favorite. She’s lovely. She still sends me a box of handmade sweets from Val Royeaux, every year on my nameday. Cullen and I got along, too, but he was always busy. He would have bad days from lyrium withdrawal sometimes, and I would share the tea that my ma sent. He’s from Ferelden, too. Maybe it reminded him of home.
Rook: What about Leliana? I heard she’s… intense.
Harding: I think she likes to cultivate that reputation. She’s not nearly as terrifying as she sounds. I passed her in the great hall one day, and she suddenly turned and asked me if I wanted a nug.
| Dwarf Rook | Non-Dwarf Rook |
|---|---|
| Rook: What, like, for lunch? If I had a copper for every time someone’s asked me if I eat nug…Harding: Leliana wouldn’t joke like that! No, she just bred them. As pets. | Rook: A nug? Those small pink rodent things? What for?Harding: She loved them and made a hobby of breeding them as pets. |
Rook: So, did you take the nug?
Harding: No! What am I going to do with a nug?
| Dwarf Rook |
|---|
| Harding: Do not say “Eat it.” |
9 - Do you miss the Inquisition?
Rook: Do you miss it? The Inquisition, I mean.
Harding: It’s hard to miss an organization. They’re only as good as their people, don’t you think? But I do miss my friends. We write to each other, but it’s not the same. And the Inquisition is different from what we’ve built here. Not better or worse, just different. It’s special when you’re among people working towards the same goal.
18 - Scene continues.
Rook: Not everyone. There was Solas. What did you really think of him? Back then?
Harding: Lonely. He always seemed lonely. It’s hard not to be when you hold yourself above everyone else.
Dialogue options:
19 - I feel sorry for him.
Rook: As smart as he’s supposed to be, there’s just some things he doesn’t get. At all.
Harding: Maybe one day he will. Maybe if you help him.
20 - He’s a jerk.
Rook: You mean it’s hard not to be lonely when you’re a pompous ass?
Harding: Something like that.
Rook: You can say it, you know. Try it out. “Solas is a pompous ass.”
Harding: Maybe he is, but I can still feel sorry for him, can’t I?
21 - He has a crusade.
Rook: He might be lonely, but I doubt he cares. He’s single-minded. Nothing else matters besides his crusade.
Harding: Because it’s the only thing he’s had. My ma used to say a caged dog forgets there’s grass outside.
22 - Scene continues.
Return to previous tree.Harding: Anyway, I’m sure something out there’s on fire and here I am, rambling about the past. I should let you go. Talk later?
Regrets of the Dread Wolf