Dragon Age: Origins Dwarven Noble Preview

IGN continues their Dragon Age: Origins coverage by bringing us a closer look at the game’s Dwarven Noble origin story.

The situation at the start of the game is that you’re about to be commissioned to lead the army, and there’s a great feast to mark the occasion. The following morning you are to lead the armies into battle against the darkspawn that infest the underworld. It doesn’t take too long before the maneuvering begins, though. Outside of the palace, you can encounter a scholar arguing with a noble upset about the former’s research into a certain ancestor. You can decide the argument, and the possibilities are extreme, from telling the noble to kill the scholar, to telling the noble to shove off, to ordering your Second to dispose of the noble. I chose the latter, a decision that impressed the scholar because it displayed I had the requisite amount of ruthlessness and cunning required for someone of my rank. Assassination is apparently a dwarven hobby.

Once that’s done, you encounter a couple of dwarven ladies eager to please the son of a king; you can choose between them, or arrange for both of them to show up in your quarters after the feast. After that, you hit some trouble, as your older brother shows up and tries to boss you around. He doesn’t like you because you’re more popular than him, which wouldn’t be a problem except in dwarven society the throne isn’t inherited; the king is elected by an assembly of the nobles. A lot of weight is given to the royal bloodline, but it isn’t unusual for an elder sibling to get passed over for a younger one.