The Long Road (Origins)

The Long Road is a scripted encounter in Dragon Age: Origins.

Background[]

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.

This encounter will only occur after the cutscene where Arl Howe and Loghain hire Zevran Arainai to kill the Warden—which occurs after completing one of the main questlines. When the party arrives, a woman approaches and asks for help; however, when the Warden follows her, it turns out to be an ambush. Zevran and several other assassins move into position, and the woman is revealed to be a mage.

Characters

Traveler
Zevran Arainai

Enemies

Assassins

Assassin (5) (Rogue, Ranged)
Traveler (2) (Warrior, Melee)
Traveler (2) (Rogue, Melee)
Traveler (Mage)
Zevran Arainai (Rogue, Melee)

Enemy Skills

Mark of Death - Zevran only.

Strategy

Try to take out the mage traveler first, to negate the great damage from her spells. There are numerous traps set up along the inclines, making it difficult to approach the crossbowmen on the hills. Ranged attacks can be helpful to take them out from the clearing.

Once all the enemies are defeated, you will be able to interrogate Zevran, and have the option of recruiting him as a companion if you accept his offer. Otherwise, you can simply kill him in the field or let him go.

Note: If Zevran is recruited, all the traps in the area will disappear.

Approval

If the Warden decides to recruit Zevran, this triggers the following approval changes from companions:

Leliana approves (+2)
Morrigan disapproves (-3)
Alistair disapproves (-5) (he can be persuaded down to -3, but depending on your response it could get as high as -10 if you choose the line about "picking up cast-offs")
Oghren disapproves (-5)

No changes for Shale, Wynne and Sten.

You can avoid approval changes with other party members, both positive and negative, by making the offer to let Zevran join you in return for his life (as opposed to letting him propose the same). To make this happen, follow this dialogue path: "I'm done asking questions" -> "You tried to kill me!" -> "Yes. Actually, I can." -> "Never mind that. I want you to serve me." -> "Do you want to live or not?" The party member selection screen will pop up without approval changes. Be careful to avoid conversation choices that lead to Zevran offering to serve you, since that cancels out this option.

Resources[]

Deathroot

Special objects[]

Leghold Trap (4) - steel claw, medium difficulty, 40 XP granted per trap detected and disarmed.
Tripwire (2) - 20 XP granted per tripwire detected and disarmed.

Codex entries[]

Codex entry: Friends of Red Jenny