The Qunari were plotting to remove the leadership of all powers in the south so they could invade and transform Orlais and Ferelden and the Free Marches into their own. Magic had run rampant down there for far too long and the issue needed to be resolved. The Qun had spoken.
To top it off, the mark on Iselia's hand was setting her arm aflame and she was certain it was trying to kill her. It seemed to have been aggravated by all of this elven magic they were coming across in the eluvians and she wanted nothing more than to chop her arm off and get rid of the mark forever.
In a fit of rage she had left her advisors to argue about their situation and was heading into the eluvian — again! — to find the qunari Vidasalla and try and stop this invasion, all by herself if she had to.
She didn't have to, though. Her best friends were happy to come with her... and then mentioned that Leliana had told them about her hand.
Already feeling guilty that she had shouted at her advisors just moments ago, she calmed herself and told her group that she was glad to have known them. She wasn't so sure she was going to make it back after this one, not with her hand how it was.
This new eluvian that was open to them led them onto the battlements of a fortress absolutely littered with broken eluvians. The qunari must have been gathering and studying these things for quite some time. It was a wonder Morrigan had been able to find one at all!
Qunari were patrolling the battlements and they quickly swept through them... urgently, for Iselia's mark was now hurting her in the midst of battle. It was just typical. She and Cullen finally marry, and now she was going to die... because of the mark of all things.
Struggling through the pain, they took down more qunari then opened a very well-locked door.
Inside, they fought through more qunari and found various books and scrolls and correspondence — including a letter from Josephine, asking the qunari why they were being hostile. A crumpled letter written in response denied any knowledge of an attack on the south or gaatlok being delivered to any palaces.
The qunari were lying about their obvious involvement.
Further into the keep, they discovered a dragon being held... was this why their operation was called Dragon's Breath — just what were they going to do with that creature!?
Suddenly the Viddasala appeared, with Iron Bull in tow.
He had known all along and had been lying through his teeth when questioned at the Winter Palace. No wonder he had offered to come with her to "speak with his superiors himself." He would've left her vulnerable!
Iron Bull alongside another score of qunari raced at Iselia and her group. Incensed that he would attack her after all these years and already enraged by the mark on her hand, she took him down first, and then his fellow qunari.
Then, she raced into the dragon chamber and released the beast. Smiling as it took down several qunari of its own as it flew out the doors.
There would be no more dragon's breath gathered from this dragon.
Chasing after the qunari and the Viddasala, Iselia was thwarted by an entire regiment of qunari as the Viddasala approached another eluvian.
Before she entered the mirror, she proclaimed that elven magic had already destroyed the world once and now it was destroying it again. The Inquisition were working with agents of Fen'harel, and that could not be allowed.
Iselia told her that she didn't know what the hell she was talking about, and the the qunari revealed: Solas was an agent of Fen'harel. Solas was the one who had given the elven orb to Corypheus, who had shown her how to use the anchor, who had led them to Skyhold and who had pushed the dying qunari into the Winter Palace to instigate war.
The Viddasala left, calling over her shoulder not to worry, that Iselia would likely be dead not long after Solas died too.
The qunari vanished through the mirror.
Iselia turned to her people. Solas. At this moment, she didn't care what he was — he could heal her hand! Surely! He had done it before and he could do it again. They had to find him before the qunari did. And before she perished.
They hurried through the eluvian and the mark on her hand instantly exploded, half killing her and damaging all of her group. It was becoming unpredictable now, releasing pent up energy whenever it wanted.
They needed to find Solas quickly.
They fought through so many qunari, all the while her hand was trying to kill her. She started using herself as a walking bomb, deliberately throwing herself into the enemy so that if the mark released its energy it would take down the qunari around her as well.
At least it was useful for one thing.
Finally, they stepped through the millionth eluvian and Iselia was surrounded by qunari, frozen in place in mid-battle just as she had seen at one of the elven towers earlier.
Solas must've done it; he must be nearby.
She hurried around the statues. The Vidasalla yelled in the distance, then she heard Solas' voice too.
And then she witnessed as Solas froze the Viddasala in place with a mere flash of his eyes.
Running over to him, the mark on her hand exploded once again and he turned to face her. Compassionately, he waved a hand over the anchor and silenced it for the moment so they could speak.
He was no agent of Fen'harel; he was Fen'harel. The Dread Wolf.
He had banished the old elven gods, he had created the veil to separate the fade from the waking world, he was the reason the elves had lost their immortality, he had ruined the ancient world... but had he not, the old elven gods would surely have destroyed the entire world.
Now he sought to make reparations. To make things right again. To return the world to the elves. Even if that meant destroying the world as they currently knew it.
The mark flared back into life.
Solas told her that the mark would kill her eventually. He would be able to slow it, to save her for the time being, but it would eventually overwhelm her.
Turning away from her, he told her to live well... while the time yet remains... and walked away.
Days later, the Exalted Council continued. Iselia had her hand amputated in hopes that would remove the mark's danger, but who knew with strange magic like that.
While the Council talks were in procession, again, she waltzed in and declared the Inquisition disbanded.
It was as Solas said. She would live well while the time yet remained... if something called her back to duty in the future, then so be it, but for now she was going to enjoy the life she had left.
The End!
And that marks the end of my massive three-month-long Dragon Age playthrough. xD
Hopefully Dreadwolf will be out sooner rather than later and I can write daily posts about that, too. Haha! 😁 I'm looking forward to experiencing what seems likely to be a qunari war, while Solas tries to destroy the world.
Hopefully the next game has more NPC personality and better voice actors who don't sound like they're reading off a piece of paper. Seriously. I hated the dialogue in Inquisition. Walk up to random NPC. "Can I help you?" "Yeah, this." "Okay. Goodbye." It was done so poorly.
Anyway. I will not collapse into a massive rant. I hope someone out there actually enjoyed this big-ass series! Cheers! 😊
Until next time! 🐲⚔️
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 