#augur's apprentice

Side quest: In Exile

Characters involved: Sigrid Gulsdotten, Augur.

Sigrid Gulsdotten exiled herself from Stone-Bear Hold. Though Sigrid refuses to explain why, it may still be possible to discover the reason.

Part 1: Approach Sigrid.

Sigrid: No, no, no! I cannot have guests, lowlanders. Even those who don't hail from the hold. [1]

[1] Dialogue options:

General: What are you doing here? [2]

General: Goodbye. [3]

[2] General: What are you doing here?

PC: Who are you? And why are you out here?

Sigrid: If I tell you, will you leave me be?

Party comments:

Blackwall: There's a first time for everything.

Sigrid: (Sighs.) I am Sigrid Gulsdotten, augur's apprentice. I exiled myself from Stone-Bear Hold.

PC: You exiled yourself?

Sigrid: Aye, I did. And my tongue will say no more on that. [Exits the conversation]

[3] General: Goodbye.

PC: I’ll be on my way.

Sigrid: Goodbye. [Exits the conversation]

Part 2: Learn more about Sigrid from someone in the hold.

(Talk to Augur about Sigrid’s self-exile. He’ll point you to the ritual site.)

[4] Dialogue options:

General: I met an exile in the woods. [5]

[5] General: I met an exile in the woods.

PC: I met a mage in the woods who said she used to be an "augur's apprentice."

Augur: Sigrid Gulsdotten? She left the hold when I told her she must release her teacher.

PC: Aren't you her teacher?

Augur: She might have heeded me if I were. (Laughs.) Or perhaps not. It's time the spirit in her was free.

Party comments:

Cassandra : She’s an abomination?

Dorian: She's possessed, and you do nothing?

(If no companion makes a comment) PC: She's possessed? An abomination?

Augur: Every mage in the hold is made one with the gods until they're strong enough. I thought Sigrid strong enough. Exile was her own notion. [6]

[6] Special: Why did Sigrid exile herself?

PC: Why did Sigrid go into exile?

Augur: Sigrid built an altar by the shore for her rite of thanks-giving. A ritual to part her from her teacher. Sigrid claims her offering was spurned by the gods. The spirit remains with her, and she's taken to exile.

Part 3: Investigate the ritual site.

PC: This is the place the augur said that mage, Sigrid, tried and failed to release her spirit. It looks like the tools for her ritual are still here.

(Interact with the points of evidence.)

[7] A skinned bird, and a... (Sniffs.) ...bundle of incense?

Party comments:

Iron Bull: Ritual offerings. But if this mage did the ritual, why are the offerings still here?

Blackwall: Offerings for a ritual. Why haven't they been used?

Cassandra: Offerings for this mage's ritual. Why are they still here?

PC: Good question.

(If no companion makes a comment.) PC: If these were offerings for a ritual, why haven't they been used?

[8] PC: What are these marks? (I wasn’t able to trigger this point of evidence in-game, but these dialogue lines are connected to this questline.)

Party comments:

Sera: Arrows. Someone's target, right?

Varric: Missed shots. I think some hunter was just using this tree for target practice.

Cole: Little nicks. A hunter practicing with a bow. He pretended it was a bear.

PC: Probably not important, then.

(If no companion makes a comment.) PC: Here's an old arrowhead. Someone used this tree as target practice.

[9] PC: Scorch marks. Left by magic?

Party comments:

Dorian: I think it's excess energy, from stopping a spell mid-cast.

Solas: Residual magic. Someone was casting a spell, and was interrupted. Or stopped.

Vivienne: Aetheric feedback. It happens from time to time if one stops a spell mid-incantation.

PC: Maybe Sigrid never completed this ritual.

(If no companion makes a comment, or if the Inquisitor is a mage themselves.) PC: Scorch marks. Left by some kind of interrupted spell. Perhaps the ritual was never completed?

[10] PC: A vial of lyrium.

Party comments:

Dorian: If you don't know what you're doing, it takes a lot of energy to banish a spirit.

Solas: If a mage was performing a ritual to part with a spirit, she may have needed to replenish her strength.

Vivienne: An inexperienced mage might use up a good deal of energy banishing a spirit.

PC: Then why is the vial still full?

(If no companion makes a comment.) PC: It's still full. If this mage was performing a spirit banishment, why didn't she use it?

[11] PC: The grass is trampled down here. A fight?

Party comments:

Blackwall: No, I see tracks. An animal slept here for the night.

Iron Bull: No, see the hoof-prints? Just an animal passing through.

Cassandra: I do not think so. There are tracks. It was likely a hart.

PC: Probably not important, then.

(If no companion makes a comment.) PC: No, I see hoof-prints. Just an animal going by.

Part 4: Confront Sigrid.

Sigrid: You returned. [12]

[12] Dialogue options:

General: I learned why you're exiled. [13]

[13] General: I learned why you're exiled.

PC: The augur told me why you're here.

Sigrid: That... that chatter jay! What business is it of his to tell that to a lowlander? [14]

[14] General: Tell me about this ritual.

PC: About the ritual you were performing, Sigrid...

Sigrid: (Sighs.) I had to burn a proper offering, then let my guiding spirit free. I made the offering. The gods did not accept. [15]

[15] Special: I found your offering. Intact.

PC: I found a bird and incense by the altar. They weren't burnt at all.

Sigrid: I... I'd brought more than I needed. When I fled, I left everything. [16]

[16] Special: Even the lyrium?

PC: You would've needed to take the lyrium at the start of the ritual, not the end.

Sigrid: Aye? And so?

PC: The vial I found was full.

Sigrid: Do you accuse me, stranger? [17]

[17] Subsequent dialogue options:

Mage: I'm a mage. Maybe I can help. [18]

General: I think you're in trouble. [19]

General: You tell me. [20]

General: You're a terrible liar. [21]

[18] Mage: I'm a mage. Maybe I can help.

PC: I'd just like to help another mage, if you need it.

Sigrid: Will you understand? I hear lowlander mages see the gods differently. [22]

[19] General: I think you're in trouble.

PC: Perhaps it would be easier to confess what happened to a stranger than to your people.

Sigrid: So even a stranger senses my shame. [22]

[20] General: You tell me.

PC: What I saw doesn't make sense. Like you never did the ritual at all.

Sigrid: So even a stranger senses my shame. [22]

[21] General: You're a terrible liar.

PC: I may be a stranger, but you're obviously not telling the truth.

Sigrid: (Sighs.) Then the hold will find out, whether I wish it or not. [22]

[22] Sigrid: I made no offering. I prepared, I began the spell to release the spirit here, with me…

PC: And?

Sigrid: I could not do it! I have no close companions in the hold! No kin! I cannot lose my only friend. [23]

[23] Subsequent dialogue options:

Investigate: It means that much to you? [24]

General: It must be hard. [25]

General: What does the spirit want? [26]

General: Your spirit-bond is unnatural. [27]

[24] Investigate: It means that much to you?

PC: You're friends with this... spirit?

Sigrid: It has taught me with patience and kindness since I was a child, frightened of the fire I could suddenly call down.

Party comments:

Cole: It loves you, too. It will stay if you want it.

Sigrid: I know. But I was oath-sworn to release it when the time came. I do not want to lose the one who loves me.

(Alternatively)

Solas: A great comfort. But you are no longer a child.

Sigrid: Some mages need the help of a god all their lives.

Solas: Very well. Perhaps, however, ask yourself if it is help you need, or companionship.

(Alternatively, if no companion makes a comment.)

Sigrid: The gods change, the gods can die, and yet… I do not want to lose the one who loves me.

[Back to 23]

[25] General: It must be hard.

PC: It would be hard to let go of such a unique friendship.

Sigrid: It is. Yet I swore an oath. [28]

[26] General: What does the spirit want?

PC: So how does your "teacher" feel about this? Does it... he want to stay?

Sigrid: He would, if I asked. The gods that teach the spirit-touched are kind. [28]

[27] General: Your spirit-bond is unnatural.

PC: You're bonded with something inhuman and you don't want it gone?

Sigrid: To be worthy of help from the gods is a great gift. [28]

[28] Sigrid: (Sighs.) I think the augur knew. All this time, he knew I never cast the ritual. It is not right to stay in pity. I will confess to him. [29]

[29] Dialogue options:

General: Or you could become my agent. [30]

General: That’s a good idea. [31]

[30] General: Or you could become my agent.

PC: The Inquisition could use a mage with a unique perspective. You and your spirit certainly qualify.

Sigrid: You want me to pledge my staff to your "Inquisition"? Even bound to a spirit?

PC: Your people consider it a gift. I'm sure you can handle yourself.

Party comments:

Varric: The abomination thing didn't work out so well for Kirkwall.

Sera: That makes no.... Bad idea. Just... bad.

Vivienne: If she cannot, Inquisitor, the consequences are yours to bear.

Iron Bull: (Indistinct muttering.) Avvar... (Indistinct muttering.) ...spirits, just as bad.

Cassandra: Inquisitor! She is an abomination.

Cole: It's good to have a home where you can feel yourself.

Sigrid: (Sighs.) It must be a punishment from the gods: to serve a lowlander for my oath-breaking. It fits my shame. I'll find your camps and join you. [Exits the conversation]

[31] General: That’s a good idea.

PC: It's for the best. Maybe the augur will help you release your... spirit-friend.

Sigrid: I do not need his help. I would... I would ask for his advice. Farewell, lowlander. [Exits the conversation]

(Return to the augur after completing “In Exile” and recruiting Sigrid into the Inquisition.)

Augur: So Sigrid Gulsdotten will come out of exile to join your Inquisition.

PC: Do you object?

Augur: It would be good for Sigrid to see what lies beyond the hold. Under the Inquisition's protection. The lowlands treat mages... differently than the Avvar.

(Return to the augur after completing “In Exile” and telling Sigrid to talk to the augur.)

Augur: I had a visit from Sigrid Gulsdotten. She had much to tell me.

PC: Will you separate her from her spirit?

Augur: Only she may fulfill that oath... but together we will seek guidance from the other gods.

~~