Dragon Age II
=== Setting ===
Set in the mythical world of Thedas, Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, who fled the nation of Ferelden during the events of Dragon Age: Origins and traveled across the Waking Sea to the Free Marches and the city of Kirkwall as a refugee. Within the span of a decade, Hawke would rise in power and influence to become the legendary "Champion of Kirkwall", and the center of events that change the course of Thedas. The story unfolds through flashbacks from the perspective of Varric, one of Hawke's companions who relates the Champion's "true story" to Cassandra Pentaghast, his interrogator. The story is told in three acts; a gap of almost three years separates each act from the subsequent one. Dragon Age II has a linear frame narrative, mainly based on the protagonist's choices. Although the player has a great influence on how the story develops, the game's main plot remains unaltered until the very last quest where the player must choose one of the two endings.
=== Plot ===
The story begins with Varric Tethras, a former partner of Hawke, the "Champion Of Kirkwall", being brought in for questioning. He is interrogated by Cassandra Pentaghast, a member of the Seekers, an offshoot of the Templars, who are trying to determine how Hawke started a war between the Mages and Templars. Varric begins to tell her the story, telling her that while he does not know where the Champion is, he can tell her the whole truth behind how the war started.
The game starts shortly after the outbreak of the Fifth Blight with the Hawke family escaping their home village of Lothering in Ferelden with the vanguard of the darkspawn horde in pursuit (chronologically this occurs a few days after the Battle of Ostagar). Soon however, they are forced to fight the overwhelming threat alongside a Templar, Wesley, and his wife, Aveline. Although one of Hawke's siblings is killed (if Hawke is a mage it is Bethany, and if Hawke is a warrior or rogue it is Carver), the skirmish ends with the intervention of Flemeth, a witch who can assume the form of a dragon. After promising to complete a task for Flemeth and giving the fatally injured Wesley a coup de grace, she helps the party escape to Kirkwall, a city across the sea where they hope to find refuge. Upon arriving in Kirkwall however, the party finds itself outside the city gates, which are overwhelmed by Fereldan refugees. The group is forced to call upon their Uncle Gamlen Amell, who no longer holds the fortune and estate that used to be held by the Amell family. Therefore, Hawke sees no choice but to enter the service of either a mercenary band or a smuggler group. The group Hawke chooses then pays the bribe that the Hawke family needs to enter the city, and they take up residence in Gamlen's small dilapidated house in Lowtown.
After a year of service for one of the two groups, an opportunity of prosperity presents itself: The dwarf brothers Bartrand and Varric Tethras are planning a treasure hunting expedition into the perilous region of the Deep Roads, taking advantage of the Fifth Blight's recent end and the consequent reduction of Darkspawn in the Deep Roads. The expedition is expected to be extremely risky but very rewarding. Bartrand refuses to hire any more warriors; Varric, however, reveals that they desperately lack enough funding and knowledge of the region. Therefore, he approaches Hawke and proposes a partnership in exchange for the fulfillment of the two requirements. As such, Hawke embarks on an adventurous quest to earn the needed capital and enlist the aid of Anders, a rogue mage and former Grey Warden who possesses the knowledge they need about The Deep Roads.
The Deep Roads expedition proves both a financial success and a tragedy: Hawke's party survives the perilous expedition and the proceeds make Hawke famous and wealthy, enabling him/her to relocate to a mansion in Hightown. However, both Varric and Hawke lose one of their siblings: During the expedition, a very powerful magical idol made of red lyrium causes Bartrand to go permanently insane. Consequently, he betrays Hawke and Varric, stranding them at the mercy of a merciless horde of the Darkspawn and a very powerful magical Rock Wraith. Depending on the player's choices, Hawke's sibling (Carver or Bethany) is either killed by the Darkspawn taint, conscripted into the Grey Wardens, or is forced to leave the family to join the Templars or the Circle, respectively.
Three years later, Hawke is summoned by the Viscount of Kirkwall to help resolve a political situation that the foreign military forces of the Qunari have caused. The Qunari, who were shipwrecked in Kirkwall three years before, neither obey the laws of Kirkwall nor seem willing to leave in the foreseeable future. While Hawke investigates the reason for their presence (which they are unwilling to supply), the tension between the Qunari and the inhabitants of Kirkwall escalates. An anti-Qunari faction attempts to instigate a war to purge the Qunari from the city, while dissidents and criminals join the Qunari to evade law enforcement. Personal tragedy also strikes Hawke when their mother Leandra is abducted by a blood mage serial killer preying on Kirkwall's women; Hawke finds and kills the murderer, but too late to save Leandra. Hawke vows to find out the identity of the serial killer's accomplice, "O". Eventually, as Hawke discovers the reason for the Qunari presence (the search for a coveted artifact that was stolen from them), the tension reaches such a height that the Qunari decide to attack Kirkwall and execute the Viscount. Hawke's party successfully retakes Kirkwall and (if the player chooses) eliminates the Qunari leader. For his/her actions, Hawke is declared the Champion of Kirkwall.
After another three years, Kirkwall still lacks a Viscount due to the tyrannical rule of Knight-Commander Meredith and the Templars of Kirkwall. Meredith turns Kirkwall into a police state that she rules with an iron fist, her Chantry superiors either unable or unwilling to rein in her brutal excesses. Meredith is challenged by First Enchanter Orsino, the head of the Circle of Magic in Kirkwall, who tries to topple Meredith's leadership with public support. While the main duty of the Templars is to enforce justice amongst the mages in Kirkwall and to prevent the practice of blood magic (a forbidden branch of magic), they practically cause the opposite through their heavy-handed and oppressive treatment of the innocent, extensive use of torture, unlawful infliction of the Rite of Tranquility upon mages (which effectively lobotomizes the inflicted person by cutting off their connection to the Fade), as well as their own decadence and corruption. Time and again, the clash between the Templars and the mages becomes violent and forces Hawke to intervene, especially when a group of anti-Meredith rebels kidnap one of Hawke's family/friends and hold him or her hostage, after which Hawke distances him/herself from the conflict to avoid any more harm to his/her family.
Eventually, Anders decides to force the Templars' hand and, with or without Hawke's help (albeit unknowingly), orchestrates a massive explosion that levels the Kirkwall Chantry and kills Grand Cleric Elthina, to whom the Templars bear allegiance. This act triggers the final decisive battle between the mages and the Templars across the city, in which the player must pick a side. Regardless of the side Hawke chooses, he/she ends up killing Orsino, who is surmised to have been "O", the shadowy accomplice of the man responsible for Leandra's death; Orsino reveals that he has, in desperation, succumbed to using blood magic, turning into a demonic abomination that Hawke and party must slay. Reaching the Gallows, the main courtyard and former prison of Kirkwall, Hawke confronts Meredith, who he/she must also kill (even if Hawke sides with the Templars), as the Knight-Commander admits to buying the red lyrium idol from Bartrand, which has corrupted her mind and has convinced her to go through a mass extermination of mages. After she is killed, a Templar-aligned Hawke is elected Viscount, and he/she reluctantly accepts the position to keep Kirkwall from being torn apart even more, while a mage-aligned Hawke is allowed to leave Kirkwall unharmed and unwittingly becomes the de facto leader of the mage rebellion.
As he concludes his story, Varric reveals that Hawke's companions eventually drift apart and Hawke either disappears during his/her time as Viscount, or leaves Kirkwall soon after killing Meredith (if Hawke had a love interest, that person leaves along with Hawke). It is also revealed that the Seekers are actually a group tasked with monitoring the Templars, the Circles of Magi all over Thedas have followed Kirkwall's example and rebelled, and that the Templars have broken away with the Chantry to fight the Circles. Satisfied, Cassandra tells Varric that she believes Hawke is the only person capable of stopping the fighting, and lets him go when she realizes Varric does not know his/her whereabouts. Outside, she meets with fellow Seeker Leliana, and they both agree that either Hawke or the Warden must be found in order to stop the coming war.
revenge