RACE: Human (?)
BORN: Late in the Black Age
NATIONALITY: [REDACTED] (accent can be placed in the Hunterhorn Mountains)
CLASS: Mage (spirit healer, a little bit of blood mage)
THE PILGRIM'S TRUE ORIGINS WERE lost in legend long ago. Some say he was a remnant of a nation that fell to Tevinter rule. Others say he was a Tevinter altus who entered self-imposed exile. Still others say he was never a man at all but a spirit walking in human guise. What tales are told of him depends largely on the politics of the time, but they generally agree on three points: that one should be hospitable to strangers, charitable to those in need, and respectful of graves. Whether The Pilgrim is example of these virtues or the punishment for forsaking them is for the unwary to discover. Though he has traveled far and wide as the need arises, he has wandered primarily in the region of the Hunterhorn Mountains, accompanied by the "dog" Compassion, bringing healing and mercy to those who would otherwise be forgotten.
The Pilgrim is a random encounter shortly after leaving Lothering. The party will come on him shielding a group of refugees from darkspawn and providing healing once the danger has passed. He came to Ferelden on his own business but expresses a determination to relieve people's suffering as he goes. He can be recruited immediately. Though combat is not his preference, he supports the party with powerful healing and buffs. He always favors peace and mercy when peace is not possible. Meaning not only will he heal allies but enemies when the fight is over and he will refuse to kill. No amount of argument will change his mind, though it may convince him it's best if you all part ways.
A chance encounter on the road to Orzammar reveals a different side. A year ago, a group of glory-seeking mercenaries tracked him down in far western Nevarra and were guaranteed an easy victory as The Pilgrim was already incapacitated at the time. The Pilgrim's young apprentice, who he had trained since he was only a boy, sacrificed himself to lead them away. The mercenaries were run out of Nevarra for tomb-robbing shortly after and fled to Ferelden. Hunting them is the business that brought him south. When he finds on the road to Orzammar, all his characteristic gentleness is forgotten to terrify the mercenary into revealing her comrades' whereabouts. Compassion interrupts before he can break her mind entirely.
The Pilgrim can be questioned and will tell the whole story. He will not ask for help, nor will he give a clear answer if it is offered. Rather he will disappear while the rest of the party is occupied, leaving only Compassion magically bound behind. Compassion reveals it is not a dog but a spirit inhabiting a dog's form. It will ask that The Pilgrim be stopped before he forgets himself in his grief. Compassion may be free, left behind, or attacked.
The Pilgrim may then be tracked to a cabin in the woods a few miles from Gherlen's Pass where the rest of the mercenaries are holed up. The party arrives just as The Pilgrim initiates his attack and are dragged into the fight. In the end, the mercenaries will be on the ground screaming in terror of visions he's conjured. The party can choose to remind him of the principles he's held to for so long (guaranteed success if Compassion is present, guaranteed failure if Compassion was attacked). Or can they choose to encourage his rage, either by encouraging him to kill the mercenaries quickly or stepping aside so he may proceed with the torment.
Mechanically speaking, reminding him of his principles leads to boosted healing + buffs and he remains an engaged member of the party. He will also be present for Awakening. Encouraging his rage causes the party to lose access to his healing + buffs, instead giving access to an arsenal of mostly AOE-focused entropy spells. He will not be present for Awakening.
If he was urged toward mercy during DA:O, he will linger in Ferelden throughout the Thaw Hunt. He is not available as a companion during this game but is an NPC based out of Vigil's Keep providing free healing to all in the region. (Vigil's Keep is not the only place to encounter him but the most reliable. He'll pop up in predictable places like Amaranthine or less predictable like the Blackmarsh or the Dragonbone Wastes.) He provides a series of fetch quests for reagents to create healing poultices and the like, rewarding the HoF with beneficial potions or long-term buffs.
Regardless of whether The Pilgrim was present for Awakening, he remained in Ferelden for approximately a year after the Fifth Blight before moving north again. He first took ship to Kirkwall, arriving between Acts I and II. He is not a companion but can be found on the Storm Coast, Sundermount, Darktown (especially Anders' clinic), or Lowtown (specifically at night). He is doing what good he can, healing those who need it most, but is only passing through on his way back to the Hunterhorns.
Though at home in the Hunterhorns, The Pilgrim has always gone where he is needed most. The outbreak of the Mage-Templar War brings him south once more to perform what mercies he can. Leliana will make mention of someone matching his description working in eastern Orlais where people suffer not only from the Mage-Templar War but the War of the Lions. However, she will be unable to reliably pin him down. Funnily enough, he is the one who finds them, albeit by accident. He came upon the survivors of Haven whilst traveling through the Frostbacks and offered healing + support. He can be recruited permanently as a companion along with Compassion. (That it is, in truth, a spirit will not remain secret for long. Especially not if Cole was recruited.)
It will soon be noted that The Pilgrim avoids interacting with the Anchor to a conspicuous extent and proximity to rifts places an immense strain to him. Other mages of the Inner Circle will remark on an indecipherably intricate weave of magicks laid over him at all times. Dorian in particular may note similarities with neromantic magic he's studied.
None of the aforementioned is explained before he receives a letter from Pikria, a former apprentice, informing the bones of Anointed Medoma have been stolen. As it turns out, a group hoping to reform the Empty Ones cult have taken advantage of the chaos to steal the remains of six anointed for use in a ritual they believe will hasten the Maker's ordained end of the world. The Empty Ones will be confronted first in the Western Approach, then the far southern Hinterlands. Both confrontations will turn up two sets of anointed remains as well as various writings. (Anointed Medoma's remains are still missing.) Aside from information on the Empty Ones' beliefs + activities, of particular interest is the information on Anointed Medoma and her foster father, Avtandil, who the cult believes may be the true key. Though not canonized by any Chantry, he has been considered locally anointed for literal ages. The Pilgrim is peculiarly opinionated about the whole matter.
The third site is near Redcliffe where the Empty Ones have set up an ambush. Their leader calls The Pilgrim out as Avtandil and attempts to convince him to join them, citing the losses he's suffered and how even after centuries of healing the world still bleeds. The Pilgrim rejects him utterly and says that it is because the world bleeds that it must be healed, not forsaken. Oddly, he does not deny the name Avtandil. In the end, the last two sets of remains are recovered — The Pilgrim handles Medoma's with a care that can only be personal — along with further documents, including one asserting that The Pilgrim must be Avtandil somehow surviving down the centuries.
When confronted, The Pilgrim will confirm the suspicion. When Avtandil died centuries ago, it was because he died. He somehow rose again a week later and has thus persisted down the centuries as The Pilgrim, using a complex weave of magicks to sustain his body. If questioned whether he is really Avtandil or merely a spirit who believes it is possessing his corpse, he asserts that he is who he is and declines probing into the matter. The Inquisitor may choose to attack him, run him out of the Inquisition, or keep him on as a party member.
DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD.
The Pilgrim is not a member of the Veilguard per se but an ally. Or rather he's not a member who can be taken out on quests. He joins the group via the Inquisitor after the attacks on Minrathous + Treviso. He works out of the infirmary in the Lighthouse, supporting the Veilguard as needed while also using the Crossroads to help those in the greatest need across Thedas. He coordinates with a network of healers similarly acting as lights in the dark.
