“In the cloister, away from the fuss and the flurry of the cities, I found peace. And in that stillness, I could hear the Maker.”
Leliana is an Orlesian bard who came to the village of Lothering and became a Lay Sister of the Chantry. Leliana is a possible companion to the Warden, as well as a romance option for either gender in Dragon Age: Origins. She can also teach the bard specialization.
Leliana is also the protagonist of Leliana's Song DLC.
Background
Leliana was born in Orlais, and though she is culturally Orlesian, her mother was Fereldan and so she considers herself as such. Leliana's mother was a servant of Lady Cecilie, an Orlesian noble. Following the Fereldan victory in the Rebellion, Leliana and her mother followed Lady Cecilie back to Orlais. Cecilie raised Leliana after her mother's death, and in her care Leliana learned much about the royal court and Orlesian culture.
In time she entered the Grand Game and entered training under Marjolaine, a master bard and highly skilled player of the Game. Leliana fell in love with Marjolaine, for whom she ran errands and became a merciless killer and thief. However, her mentor took advantage of her lover's infatuation and framed Leliana for espionage, a crime punishable by death. Captured and beaten, Leliana was imprisoned. After escaping, Leliana uncovered the full extent of Marjolaine's treachery and fled Orlais, marked as a traitor.
Cast adrift, Leliana crossed the border into her ancestral homeland of Ferelden, eventually ending up in the village of Lothering. To atone for her sins, Leliana joined the chantry there as a Lay Sister, becoming intensely religious.
Involvement
Dragon Age: Origins
Leliana first encounters the Warden at the Dane's Refuge tavern in Lothering. When the Warden is set upon by soldiers loyal to Loghain Mac Tir, Leliana assists the Warden in the skirmish. Following the fight, she explains that the Maker had sent her a vision which meant that she must aid the Warden in their quest to end the Blight. Despite the Chantry's claim that the Maker does not communicate directly with individuals, Leliana is firm in her belief. This causes Alistair to suspect she was mentally unstable, while Morrigan also doubted her sanity.
To her great delight, Leliana is accepted into the Warden's party and sets out with them from Lothering, having previously obtained permission from her Revered Mother to do so.
The Urn of Sacred Ashes
During the quest to recover the fabled Sacred Ashes of Andraste, the Guardian of the Ashes states that the Maker only ever spoke to one mortal, Andraste, and accuses Leliana of inventing her vision. He proposes that she fabricated the tale for attention as she feared her life would become dull in the Chantry when compared to the thrill of a bard's life. Affronted, Leliana makes a flustered denial of the Guardian's accusation.Leliana's Past
Following much discussion with the Warden of her life as a bard, Marjolaine sends assassins to murder Leliana. Upon defeat, the assassins reveal that Marjolaine is in Denerim. Leliana and the Warden thus set out to find her former mentor.
After breaking into her house and killing her guards, Leliana confronts Marjolaine. Knowing that if she was spared, Marjolaine would continue to pursue her for the rest of her days, Leliana kills her old lover, encouraged by the Warden to do so.
After this event, Leliana's personality becomes much more pragmatic, no longer objecting as vocally to the more morally grey choices her companions make.
Epilogue
Leliana is present at the coronation of the new monarch of Ferelden following the death of Urthemiel and the end of the Blight.
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Leliana sends a love letter to the Warden-Commander wishing them luck in eradicating the darkspawn threat in Amaranthine.
Following the conclusion of the Amaranthine Conflict, some rumors state that the Warden-Commander was spotted in Denerim with their love and never again returned to Vigil's Keep.
Leliana's Song
A younger Leliana, during the events of the DLC
Marjolaine and Leliana, along with Tug and Sketch, arrive on a secret mission to Denerim. Marjolaine gives Leliana different assignments to carry out, which she completes with ease and signals Marjolaine to let her know that her tasks were complete.
Afterwards, Marjolaine informs Leliana that she had another assignment: to plant incriminating documents at the Arl of Denerim's Estate. Leliana infiltrateds the estate along with Tug and Sketch, witnesses Marjolaine flirt with Harwen Raleigh, and plants the documents in the master's bedroom. Her curiosity gets the better of her, however, and upon taking a closer look at the documents, discovered that they bear the seals of the Orlesian military.
Upon returning to their hideout, Leliana confronts Marjolaine about this apparent treason and she agrees to go back to the estate and retrieve the documents. The alarm is raised, however and Leliana is forced to fight her way out. Upon escaping, Marjolaine betrayed Leliana and her companions, stabbing her lover and leaving them to the mercy of Raleigh's guards. Utterly broken, Leliana almost gives in to despair when an unseen benefactor provides her with the means to escape from her cell.
Leliana eventually finds and freed Sketch but discovers that Tug had been tortured to death. Another freed prisoner, Silas Corthwaite, decides to accompany them to seek vengeance against Raleigh.
After escaping, the band are brought to Lothering by Leliana's benefactor, who reveals herself as Revered Mother Dorothea. Dorothea explains that Marjolaine's documents stolen from her and asks Leliana to retrieve them. Leliana and her companions chase after Marjolaine and Raleigh and finally corner them at the coast. After neutralizing Raleigh, Leliana once again confronts Marjolaine, but does not kill her.
Leliana returns the documents to Dorothea and joins the Chantry as a lay sister, having found faith in her ordeal.
Dragon Age II
Leliana meeting with Cassandra Pentaghast
Leliana was appointed Left Hand of the Divine by Reverend Mother Dorothea, who had been elected Divine Justinia V. The Divine dispatches Leliana to Kirkwall under the pseudonym of "Sister Nightingale", in order to assess whether an Exalted March against the city would be necessary to suppress the conflict between templars and mages. While tracking down a shadowy apostate group known as "Resolutionists", she encounters Hawke and Prince Sebastian Vael in the Viscount's Keep, and asks them to convince Grand Cleric Elthina to flee Kirkwall and seek shelter in the Grand Cathedral of Val Royeaux at the Divine's invitation.
Mark of the Assassin
Leliana attends a party at Chateau Haine as a guest of Duke Prosper de Montfort. During the event, she encounters Tallis, a Qunari agent of the Ben-Hassrath and former associate of Leliana's.
Epilogue
Following Cassandra Pentaghast's interrogation of Varric Tethras, she informs the Seeker that she had tried and failed to locate the missing Warden-Commander of Amaranthine and gain their aid in stopping the Mage-Templar War.
Dragon Age: Asunder
Leliana continued to serve Divine Justinia V in seeking a solution to the ongoing conflict following the Kirkwall Rebellion.
She encounters Knight Captain Evangeline at a ball held for the Divine and is also present when Rhys, Wynne, Pharamond and Adrian are granted an audience with Justinia upon their return from Adamant Fortress. She restrains Lord Seeker Lambert, preventing him from attacking Rhys.
Leliana participates in the raid on the White Spire in order to free the captured mages, and it is her presence that reveals to Lord Seeker Lambert that Divine Justinia is conspiring against the Templar Order.
She later sings at the funeral of Wynne.
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire
Leliana, in the capacity of the Divine's representative, meets with Empress Celene I at the University of Orlais to discuss the continued mage-templar tensions. Although she attempts to maintain anonymity, Celene reveals her knowledge of both Leliana and Justinia's identities and past exploits. The empress goes on to demand that the Divine make an official statement on the mage-templar conflict within three weeks, or she will be unable to restrain the overeager nobles at her court from interfering. Leliana agrees to take this proposal to Justinia.
Leliana later delivers to Celene the Divine's price for helping to quell conflict between mages and templars: the empress must end the elven revolt in Halamshiral. By doing so Celene would demonstrate the same control over her own affairs that she had demanded of the Divine. Given her adventures alongside elves in the past, Leliana regrets the repressive tactics employed against the elven population, but bids Celene good luck before leaving.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Leliana, the spymaster of the Inquisition.
Leliana joins the Inquisition and leads the clandestine division responsible for espionage and assassination, providing an effective alternative when diplomacy fails. Her focus in the Inquisition's War Table is "Secrets."
At a certain point, Leliana is sent on a mission to deal with a group of Venatori and their leader, Alexius, at Redcliffe Castle. She is taken captive there and tortured, which leaves her traumatized and cold. As the Inquisitor enters the room, Leliana takes advantage of her interrogator's distraction to snap his neck with her legs.[1] Leliana murders Alexius' son, Felix, and helps to delay approaching Venatori reinforcements to buy the Inquisitor time.[1]
Leliana brings her old friend, the Antivan noblewoman Lady Josephine Montilyet into the Inquisition.[2]
When the Inquisitor takes control of the fortress of Skyhold, Leliana will spend her free time in the rookery, making it a new home.[3]
Romance
- See Leliana/Romance for a detailed walkthrough on romancing her.
- See Romance: Love Triangles for information regarding simultaneous romances involving both Leliana and another companion.
Leliana in an intimate moment
The Warden's first opportunity to kiss her occurs when her approval reaches "Adore" (71 or higher) and the Warden is not already in a romance with another party member. She starts a conversation in camp with the opening sentence "I enjoy the nights at camp. The night always seems more peaceful, to me. Safer." Nevertheless she isn't interested in a fling and will only bed the Warden once she's fallen in love with them. She will not fall in love with the Warden until her quest has been completed and her approval rating has reached 91 or higher. To increase her approval, talk to her a lot, listen to what she tells you, be supportive, avoid criticizing her when she talks about the Maker, give her gifts that are personally meaningful to her, do good deeds while she is in the party, and avoid evil acts (or at least avoid having Leliana in the party when performing them).
Although it isn't clearly a romantic advance on the Warden's part, asking "She was special to you, wasn't she?" starts a romance when talking about what happened with Marjolaine during Leliana's personal quest. This happens regardless of what dialogue choices you make after that, even if you don't ask about her current romantic interests. Take care not to select this option if you only want to be friends.
Gifts
Leliana prefers gifts with "Andraste" in their name, as well as other symbols of the Chantry. The white flowers called Andraste's Grace work particularly well. She loves shoes, too. Leliana can also be given a pet nug from the Idle Dwarf in Dust Town. It will stay with her throughout the game.
Name Notes Description
Andraste's Grace
A small white wildflower, commonly known as Andraste's Grace.Blue Satin ShoesLocated: Old TegrinPowder blue satin shoes with long ribbons that circle the ankle. Gold lace trim and dangling gold charms shaped like puppies add the finishing touches.Bronze Symbol of AndrasteLocated: Lothering chantryA small bronze plate with the symbol of a flame stamped into it.Chantry AmuletLocated: Circle TowerThis amulet is similar to the ones worn by members of the Chantry. The carving on the amulet depicts Andraste's undying flame.Etched Silver SymbolLocated: Ortan ThaigA simple holy symbol, made of etched silver.Golden Symbol of AndrasteSold by Legnar in Orzammar Commons.An elegant gold disk suspended from a ribbon that bears the mark of Andraste's flame.Cute NugAcquired from the Idle Dwarf in Dust Town. It can be gifted to Leliana.The nug's nose twitches as it stares at the world with clear inquisitive eyes. It seems to enjoy being stroked.Silver Sword of MercyLocated: Old TegrinAn ornate silver amulet in the shape of a Sword.Steel Symbol of AndrasteLocated: Genitivi's HomeThis holy symbol is crafted from polished steel and has a severe look to it.
Initial statistics
Dragon Age: Origins
Attributes
Relative attribute weightings on auto-level:
| Strength | Dexterity | Willpower | Magic | Cunning | Constitution |
| 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
Specialization
Skills
Improved Stealing 
Expert Stealing (level 8) 
Master Stealing (level 12)
Poison-Making
Improved Combat Training 
Expert Combat Training (level 10)
Talents (PC)
| Bard |  Song of Valor  Distraction (level 8)  Song of Courage (level 11)
| |
| Rogue | Dirty Fighting |  Dirty Fighting  Below the Belt (level 6)
|
| Deft Hands |  Deft Hands  Improved Tools  Mechanical Expertise (level 12)
| |
| Archery | Pinning Shot |  Pinning Shot  Crippling Shot (level 9)
|
| Rapid Shot |  Rapid Shot  Shattering Shot (level 7)  Suppressing Fire (level 10)
| |
Equipment
| Weapons |  Enchanted Dagger
|
| Clothing |  Chantry Robe
|
| Armor |  Leather Boots
|
| Accessories |  Seeker's Circle
|
Leliana's Song
Leliana starts at level 10.
Attributes
(1 available point)
| Strength | Dexterity | Willpower | Magic | Cunning | Constitution |
| 20 | 26 | 18 | 14 | 18 | 10 |
Specialization
Skills
(no available points)
Expert Stealing Poison-Making Expert Combat Training
Younger Leliana dual wielding
Talents
(2 available points)
| Bard | Song of Valor
|
| Rogue | Dirty Fighting  Combat Movement  Coup De Grace Below the Belt Deft Hands Improved Tools
|
| Dual Weapon |  Dual-Weapon Training
|
| Archery | Pinning Shot Rapid Shot
|
Equipment
| Weapons |  Royeaux One and Two Orlesian Purse-Cutter  Mont-de-glace Strand
|
| Armor |  Lambskin Gauntlets  Buckle-Over Leather High Court Shoe
|
Restricted gear
Dragon Age: Origins
Marjolaine's Recurve
Seeker's Circle
Plot skills
As you befriend Leliana and gain her approval, she will gain the following additional skills:
Name Benefit Requirement Inspired: Minor Cunning
+1 cunning 25% approval Inspired: Moderate Cunning
+2 cunning 50% approval Inspired: Major Cunning
+4 cunning 75% approval Inspired: Massive Cunning
+6 cunning 90% approval
Quotes
Concept art
- Main article: Leliana/Dialogue
Dragon Age: Origins
- (Sacred Ashes trailer) "The righteous stand before the darkness, and the Maker shall guide their hand."
- "I came to Ferelden and the Chantry because I was being hunted, in Orlais. I walked where the Maker led me and... He has rewarded me for my faith. I found you."
- "There were many lovely young initiates in the Lothering cloister—all of them chaste and virtuous. Ah, it added to their mystique."
- (after fighting herself during "The Gauntlet") "Did you see the cruelty on my...on her face? Is that really what I am?"
- (When confronted with floor puzzle) "Oh, this looks fun! I bet we'll have to work together and join hands and sing a happy song to get across!"
- "Look at what that woman's wearing! Is she drunk or does she just have bad taste?"
- "Try not to look too incompetent. It's embarrassing."
- "(Chuckle) Oh, look! My bruises form a pretty pattern!"
Leliana's Song
- (About 'The Game') "The only way out of this game is to kill or be killed."
- (Prologue) "Do you want to know a secret? This tale of foolish people long ago... I know what happened, and what is true... but I don't know how it should end. Let me tell it one more time, and perhaps together, we will see."
- (Epilogue) "Do you want to know a secret? That moment, I keep, because even now, I don't know what ending serves best. But being able to choose, That is the truth of this story. The rest, it changes with the audience. All things change... when they find purpose."
The Masked Empire
- "The elves are the children of the Maker, just as we are, and just as deserving of His grace."
- "I have... been comrades-in-arms with elves. I would not see them harmed."
Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Interrogator: "You will break."
- Leliana: "I will die first. Or you will."
- Interrogator: "There's no use to this defiance, little bird. There's no one left for you to protect."
- Leliana: "You're wasting your breath."
- "Though darkness closes, I am shielded by flame. Andraste, guide me. Maker, take me to your side!"[1]
- "I want the world back."[1]
- "Anger is stronger than any pain."
Trivia
- Leliana looks like Sharwyn from Neverwinter Nights, they both are bards and redheads and their personalities are similar. She also bears a resemblance to Imoen from Baldur's Gate.
- In her BioWare's character file, Leliana's appearance is described as: "Red hair, pale, slender."[4]
- Leliana is one of the three companions who appear in the Sacred Ashes trailer. Her CGI model in the trailer is based on adult model Alexandra "Alleykatze" Stein.[5]
- When imagining a single-note scent for Leliana, Sheryl Chee likened her to "sugared roses, incense and candy floss."[6]
- If Leliana is given the Cute Nug, she will name it Schmooples. (To see this while in the party camp, hold down tab on the version or left trigger on the console versions to note all names in the vicinity.)
- If Leliana's approval is high enough, it is possible that she will hum a little melody when the player takes control of her.
- If Leliana is hardened, she will be clad in armor during the coronation; however, if she remains unhardened, she will simply wear a dress.
- Statistically, Leliana is the most commonly-picked romance option in Origins.[7]
- If you talk to Bethany Hawke in the chantry in Dragon Age II, she will say, "I miss the Lothering chantry. Sister Leliana told the best stories."
- If you talk to Aveline in the chantry in Dragon Age II, she will comment about feeling uncomfortable around chantry sisters due to a "red-haired trickster in Lothering."
- Leliana's aliases include "Sister Nightingale". [8]
- Despite an Orlesian accent, Leliana's features are strikingly Fereldan and reflect her heritage.[9]
- As the Left Hand of the Divine, Leliana is considered the "sinister" agent of the Divine working in the shadows, a counterpoint to Cassandra's more knightly position as the Right Hand. When diplomacy or military might fail, she steps in on behalf of the Chantry and the Inquisition.[10]
Bugs
- One important dialogue option that leads to Leliana's background quest can be lost if you get her approval too high without talking to her. Therefore, do not simply shower Leliana with gifts—talk to her and make sure you choose "I heard that in Orlais, minstrels are often spies" when that option appears. As her approval increases further, you can no longer ask about it. Leliana's background quest requires her to first tell you a lie about her background, and then feel bad and come clean on it. If the question about spies disappears from the dialogue options before you ask it, you will never learn of Leliana's past and you will not get the quest to seek out her former bard master, Marjolaine. Using Feastday Gifts and Pranks is also a useful way to deal with this problem for those still encountering it.
- A female human noble Warden who does not engage in a romance with Leliana and becomes Alistair's queen during the Landsmeet can still get a heartbroken speech from her back at camp on the topic if her approval rating is high. Oddly, it is possible to squeeze a few more approval points out of this dialogue if you are regretful about having to "end it" with Leliana, even if you were never in a romance with her to begin with.
- Similarly, a male human noble who is arranged to marry Anora will also receive the heartbroken speech from Leliana even if they weren’t in a romantic relationship.
- If you give Leliana lots of gifts and have her at 100 approval, in Orzammar's Proving Grounds, when you are in the championship battle and are almost finished, Leliana will blurt out, "Oh thanks, that's wonderful!" as though she has been given a gift.
- When Leliana asks the elven magi Warden about living in the Alienage, there is no option to say that you don't remember the Alienage. This occurs even if you have already established that you remember nothing in the origin story.
- Leliana has blue eyes, yet when she has blood all over herself her eyes turn a greenish colour.
- In Leliana's Song, if you put a point in Coup De Grace, it will vanish when Leliana levels up.
- If an Awakening or Witch Hunt (instead of Origins) save game is imported in Dragon Age II, the game will not acknowledge active romance between Leliana and the Warden (and she will not refer to the Warden as "dear to her heart"). This is because the unmodded DA2 checks imported approval ratings instead of romance flags to determine Origins romance, and while the flags are imported properly, neither Awakening, nor the DLC campaigns keep the approval ratings of absent party members. An unofficial fix exists to address this problem. It has also been fixed as of patch 1.03.
Gallery
See also
Codex entry: A Letter From Leliana
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Dragon Age: Inquisition E3 Demo Part 2
- ↑ Josephine's Character Profile
- ↑ The Bioware Forum.
- ↑ Dragon Age: Origins Resource File: leliana.chr
- ↑ The Girls of Dragon Age: Origins
- ↑ Sheryl Chee's Twitter
- ↑ Gaider, David (31 March 2014). On Character Popularity. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
- ↑ Mentioned in The Exiled Prince DLC and used in Heroes of Dragon Age
- ↑ Dragon Age: The Masked Empire, p. 111.
- ↑ Leliana's Character Profile
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