Not long after defeating Corypheus and closing the Breach for good, the Inquisition received word from a professor of the University of Orlais named Bram Kenric. Ken had potentially found the resting place of the last Inquisitor in a relatively wild area to the south called Frostback Basin. A dragon hunter named Ameridan, my predecessor had disappeared under mysterious circumstances centuries ago. The professor needed help pushing further into the basin, due to the usual crop of carnivorous animals and hostile locals, and correctly guessed that the Inquisition would be particularly interested in assisting him. The main source of trouble was a tribe of Avvar called the Jaws of Hakkon, who had been attacking scouts, troops and researchers alike. So, naturally, it was up to me and my companions to be the pointy end of the spear and lead the way. Upon arrival, this potentially unpleasant task was made far more tolerable by several things: first, Scout Harding had come along on the trip and was actually going to stick around, rather than immediately disappear after I’d arrived, like she normally did. And second, about 100 yards outside of our camp, I found an Ocularum. That’s the official name of the magic-skull things that reveal the shards of some magical thing that opened the sealed doors in the Forbidden Oasis. I’d already opened all the doors there by finding all the shards, so I wasn’t sure what these new ones would be used for, but all that mattered was that I had more RaMOs to collect. It also became apparent that closing the big hole in the sky hadn’t fixed all of the small ones, as there were a few stray Fade rifts hanging around that needed to be dealt with, as well.
Despite my penchant for getting sidetracked, there was an actual mission at hand. My forces had already started skirmishing with the Jaws of Hakkon, but it was my job to punch through so Kenric and his researchers could safely go about their business. My first fight with the Jaws made one thing very clear: they really didn’t like me for some reason. Like I mentioned, they were killing pretty much anybody they came across, but they went out of their way to try and get rid of me in particular. Unfortunately for them, tougher things than them had tried and failed at that already. They were a sturdy bunch, it took a lot of hacking and blasting to put them down, but not a huge threat overall. My companions and I forged ahead, securing the area and establishing footholds throughout Frostback Basin. And by “footholds,” I mean “treehouses.” Because instead of making camps on the ground like normal, we made giant treehouses. I have never been happier with the engineers of the Inquisition. Not only are they fun for me, they make Scout Harding adorably nervous. Not because she’s afraid of heights, of course, because I said I wouldn’t tell anyone that.
There is no part of this that I do not love.
Eventually we made it to Stone-Bear Hold, a village of more hospitable Avvar led by Thane Svarah Sun-Hair. She granted us safety as guests and told us about the Jaws of Hakkon, that their hold had been destroyed by the Fifth Blight and they had turned to exclusive worship of Hakkon Wintersbreath, the Avvar god of war and winter. Also, like the Inquisition, the current group was not the first to operate under that name. And, naturally, there were problems around the village that a glowy-handed elf could solve. I was happy to help, as not only did it scratch my inquisiting itch, I got to learn about the Avvar in ways other than how best to kill stupid ones. The most pressing issue was the disappearance of a bear. Since I’m guessing that means nothing to most people reading this, I will elaborate. Avvar settlements have animals called Hold-Beasts that are very important culturally and spiritually. So, if one goes missing, like Stone-Bear Hold’s resident grizzly, Storvacker, had when I arrived, it’s a major problem. Such a problem that Sunny couldn’t assist the Inquisition in getting rid of the Jaws. Apparently the interlopers had worn out their welcome with Stone-Bear Hold, but the Thane was hamstrung by Storvacker’s absence and the ill omens it represented. Of course, she was perfectly okay with us wiping out any Jaws we found outside her hold in the meantime. In other words, business as usual.
And let me tell you, business is booming. I’m open for business. Business of giving them the business.
We followed Storvacker’s trail further into Frostback Basin, where we encountered a swamp. Despite also being full of angry Avvar, this one was far more pleasant than… That Place, though that’s not exactly a difficult benchmark. It was less thunderstorms and walking dead, more mist and big, thorny trees. We did find Storvacker, trapped in an ancient jail cell. No prizes for guessing who locked her in there. No, no, Cory’s dead, remember? The Jaws were planning to sacrifice her to appease Hakkon, a juicy tidbit I couldn’t wait to share with Thane Sun-Hair after I put a stop to it. Before that, however, there were a few other errands to run, along with a step along the path that had brought us to the basin in the first place. Kenric thought that an island in nearby Cloudcap Lake held a connection to my predecessor, Ameridan. As his progress had been halted, it was up to me to explore the area. There, amongst a host of spirits, I found one that was, or at least represented, Telana, Ameridan’s companion and love. She told us that Ameridan had traveled to the basin to slay a dragon on orders from Drakon, the first Emperor of Orlais. Upon returning to Sunny, another piece of the puzzle fell into place. She told us that the Jaws had actually planned on binding Hakkon to Storvacker, combining animal and spirit into a terrible beast that would help the Jaws invade the rest of Thedas. This rare event had also happened centuries ago, in the time of the first Inquisition. That was what had brought Ameridan to Frostback Basin all those years ago, a preternaturally powerful god-dragon flanked by Avvar preparing to sweep into Orlais. And the new Jaws were trying to make it happen again. And the Inquisition had shown up to stop them again. Because time is a flat circle, apparently. Partly because of that, I also knew at this point that this whole adventure was going to end with another dragon fight. But, capturing Storvacker had broken the Jaws’ already tenuous peace with Stone-Bear Hold, meaning Sunny was free to join the fight. Our next step was to follow Ameridan’s trail upriver, ending up at an old Tevinter fort the Jaws had occupied. Since research would be relatively hard to conduct with a bunch of angry Avvar trying to kill my scholars, a quick sweep of the area was required before Harding brought Ken to the site. After breaking through a magically sealed door, we found a shrine dedicated in equal parts to Andraste and the elven gods, and, less curiously but more crucially, critical information that led us to our next destination.
An elf, a dwarf, and a human walk into a shrine…
