Nathaniel Howe/Dialogue

Awakening companions

Nathaniel Howe's dialogue contains a list of the conversations that Nathaniel Howe shares with the other companions, in which they discuss each other's backgrounds, and their reactions to the game's events.

Nathaniel's remarks

• (Upon switching to him as the active character) "Why does it feel like I'm being dragged around by unseen forces?" "Ready." "Nathaniel here." "Waiting." "Hm?" "Yes?"
• (Upon being selected if approval isn't high enough) "Oh go soak your head!" "What?!" "What? You want me to fetch you a glass of water?" "What now?" "Ugh…"
• (In combat) "Never a dull moment!"
• (Upon being selected during combat) "Speak, and it will be done!" "Here!" "What is my task?" "What needs killing?" "I’m at your command."
• (When deselecting him from party lineup) "Andraste's blood!"
• (When someone fails to pick a lock) "I think I can help with that."

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• (Entering the Avvar Crypt for the first time) "My mother always forbade us from playing in the cellars. Now I know why."
• (Upon entering Amaranthine) "They used to display the heads of traitors over that gate. I suppose my father is lucky his didn't end up there."
• (When entering the Amaranthine market) "There was an old lady here who used to sell apples as big as my head. I think she was a witch."
• (On the bridge in Knotwood Hills) "I fell down a flight of stairs once. They looked much like this particular set of stairs."
• (Upon seeing the Children for the first time) "Interesting. A new form of darkspawn?"
• (Upon finding the secret passage in Kal'Hirol) "This is a little too convenient, isn't it? I hope it isn't another trap."
• (When walking inside Kal'Hirol Main Hall) "Ugh! I think the wall just slimed me!"
• (When nearing large lyrium container in Kal'Hirol Trade Quarter) "This is that substance, lyrium, isn't it? I've never seen so much of it in one place."
• (Kal'Hirol Lower Reaches, in the long hallway) "Is anyone else afraid of what we'll find at the end of this corridor?"
• (Kal'Hirol's Lower Reaches, near the broodmother pit) "Those...those, er...tentacles. They can't get to us up here, can they?"
• (When entering the Wending Wood upon seeing the wreaked caravan) "It's no wonder Mervis sounded desperate. The guild must be losing a great deal of money."
• (At an overlook in the Wending Wood, near the suspicious camp.) "I'd forgotten how lovely the Wending Wood could be. I traveled the trade routes as a child, with my father."
• (At burial pit in the Wending Wood) "These bodies were brought here. You can see drag marks—here and here. Someone was trying to...hide them."
• (Initial remark when entering the Blackmarsh) "They say this marsh was once inhabited, until one day everyone disappeared."
• (Past the old sign upon entering the Blackmarsh) "(Nervous humming)"
• (When nearing the dragon bone head in the Blackmarsh) "When I was a child, I visited a traveling fair that had an entire dragon skeleton on exhibition."
• (Near a Veil Tear in the Blackmarsh) "What is that? It looks like...something ghostly, almost like the Fade."
• (After killing the Children a second time) "We have seen these darkspawn before."
• (Near ruined house in the Blackmarsh) "I hear that one day the Blackmarsh was thriving, and the next everyone was just...gone."
• (First entering the Blackmarsh Undying) "I'd like to know who this "Mother" is, and why she worked so hard to entrap us."
• (On the path toward the village in The Blackmarsh Undying) "This...this must be what the village was like, before it was forgotten."
• (Approaching the coffins in the first room of the Shadowy Crypt) "Ugh. That's not right!"
• (On the bridge after the first tower in Drake's Fall) "That's a striking vista. The Mother sure knows how to choose a lair."

Nathaniel and Anders

• Anders: So you're a Howe?
• Nathaniel: Do you have a point, Mage?
• Anders: Hey, I'm fond of the Howes! I'm also fond of the Whys, the Whos and the Whats.
• Nathaniel: How clever.
• Anders: (Laughs) It's shameful how long it took me to come up with that.

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• Anders: You know, Nathaniel, you're just like me.
• Nathaniel: Am I, now?
• Anders: Everyone hates your family for something terrible they did, even though you weren't involved!
• Nathaniel: I hope you have a point, Anders.
• Anders: It's like you're a mage! If there were more Howes, they'd lock all of you up in a tower to protect everyone else!
• Nathaniel: A thrilling analogy.

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• Nathaniel: I've thought about what you said, Anders. The comparison between my family and mages. It's idiotic. I am not about to transform into an abomination simply for being a Howe.
• Anders: I didn't say it was a perfect analogy...
• Nathaniel: Being a Howe also does not allow me to control your mind.
• Anders: Kind of missing my point, aren't you?
• Nathaniel: I am not a fan of over-simplifications.
• Anders: Fine, fine. Your loss.

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• Nathaniel: You don't always wear robes, do you?
• Anders: Not when I'm naked I don't.
• Nathaniel: I mean when you run from the Circle. Robes would make you easy to spot.
• Anders: So does the "I'm a mage!" sign around my neck. I like to make it easy for the templars.
• Nathaniel: Ah, so that's how it's going to be.

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• Nathaniel: You seem rather attached to that cat, Anders.
• Anders: It's more that he is rather attached to me. Isn't that right, Ser Pounce-a-lot?
• Ser Pounce-a-lot: (Meow!)
• Nathaniel: Isn't that name a little... ridiculous?
• Anders: What do you think I should call him? Frederick?
• Nathaniel: There are worse names, I suppose...

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• Nathaniel: How do the templars always find you, Anders?
• Anders: Incredibly angry, that's how they find me.
• Nathaniel: There must be some trick to it, surely.
• Anders: They began recruiting women. The male templars never stopped to ask for directions.
• Nathaniel: You're impossible to talk to.
• Anders: I do my best!

Nathaniel and Justice

• Justice: So you are a thief?
• Nathaniel: Who, me? Not by profession, my friend.
• Justice: And yet you were imprisoned for attempted theft.
• Nathaniel: Of things which belonged to my family, and which were taken from us unjustly.
• Justice: A likely tale.

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• Justice: You have not paid for your crime yet, mortal.
• Nathaniel: Still stewing over that, are you?
• Justice: You have been freed, but you have not offered penance.
• Nathaniel: Isn't being forced to listen to you, penance enough?

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• Nathaniel: Do you do anything besides ponder what is just and unjust?
• Justice: It is not all I do. It does, however, define my being.
• Nathaniel: So you were born just? A little, self-righteous baby of justice crawling around the Fade?
• Justice: I was not born. I simply am.

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• Nathaniel: Will you ever need to switch bodies, Justice?
• Justice: I did not even wish to possess this one. Why would I switch to another?
• Nathaniel: You might need to. Unless you wish to look even more obviously like a corpse.
• Justice: I...would prefer not to think of it.

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• Justice: This... thing you spoke of. Switching bodies.
• Nathaniel: Not a favorite topic of yours, I take it?
• Justice: Would such a thing be permitted? Would it not be considered... abominable?
• Nathaniel: If they're dead, it's not as if they need the body, Justice.
• Justice: But I can still feel the man who once lived. I know his life, his... It is not just a body.
• Nathaniel: That's...good, isn't it? I'd rather you felt that way.
• Justice: Perhaps you are right.

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• Nathaniel: What if you found a living body to possess?
• Justice: Even if I knew how, I would not possess the living. Such is an act for demons.
• Nathaniel: What if the person were willing?
• Justice: Why would a mortal ever allow such a thing?
• Nathaniel: For life. For love. Perhaps together, you can do what they cannot do alone. If you gave instead of taking, I would consider you no demon.
• Justice: It is...something to consider. Thank you, Nathaniel.

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• Nathaniel: What happens when this body of yours...expires?
• Justice: How long does such a process take?
• Nathaniel: I don't know. Can you still walk around once you're simply bones?
• Justice: So I'm led to believe, yes.
• Nathaniel: That is incredibly disturbing.

Nathaniel and Oghren

• Oghren: The whole "quiet and stoic" thing must get you a lot of action, huh?
• Nathaniel: I take it you are an admirer, Oghren?
• Oghren: What? No! No, well not unless--no!
• Nathaniel: Good. Then I needn't worry about getting too drunk at camp.
• Oghren: Heh. Okay, I like you. Just not in that way.

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• Nathaniel: My brother used to drink like you do, dwarf.
• Oghren: Fun fellow to have around then, your brother?
• Nathaniel: He could find his fun almost anywhere. And then he would vomit on your shoes.
• Oghren: Ah, good times.

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• Nathaniel: Have you ever thought of returning to Orzammar?
• Oghren: Not sure I can. Technically, I'm a surface dwarf, now.
• Nathaniel: Why "technically?" You don't know for certain?
• Oghren: It's not like they send you a letter. "Congratulations! You have been ejected from the warrior caste!"
• Nathaniel: Do you care?
• Oghren: Sometimes. Then I drink more and it goes away.

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• Nathaniel: Allow me to say, ser dwarf, that you are a frightening force on the battlefield.
• Oghren: Is this a joke? I only let loose that time because I was surprised...
• Nathaniel: No, it... it was a compliment.
• Oghren: I don't get many of those.
• Nathaniel: I don't see why. Your skills are--
• Oghren: (Belches)
• Nathaniel: Okay, yes. I think I do see why.

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• Oghren: You're Rendon Howe's little blighter.
• Nathaniel: That's one way of putting it.
• Oghren: They talked about you in the army. Fergus Cousland said you wouldn't have the stones to show your face again. But you proved him wrong. I respect that.
• Nathaniel: You do?
• Oghren: Yeah. Throw caution to the wind, run headlong into danger, and sod the consequences -- that's the only way to live.
• Nathaniel: Thanks... I think.
• Oghren: Yep. Don't you give a piss what the others think. Oghren's got your back.

(Alternate line of "They talked about you in the army" if the Warden-Commander is Orlesian)

• Oghren: You've certainly got stones, coming back here after your family was disgraced. I respect that.

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• Nathaniel: Were you there when my father was killed?
• Oghren: (Sigh) Don't go digging in the dust for things laid to rest. It does no one any good.
• Nathaniel: Whatever people say about him, he was still my father. And I just want to know if he... if he suffered.
• Oghren: I'm not the person to ask.
• Nathaniel: (Sigh) Very well, Oghren. Evade the question.

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Note: Dialogue varies depending on whether or not The Howe Family quest has been completed

• Oghren: You know, when your father took over the Arl of Denerim's palace, he moved his bedroom next to the dungeon.
• Nathaniel: What are you talking about?
• Oghren: Sounds like someone liked to nip down for a bit of torture before bedtime.
• Nathaniel: Why are you telling me this?/Delilah did say that Father had begun indulging his darker side...
• Oghren: Everyone needs daddy issues. Just trying to help.

Nathaniel and Sigrun

• Nathaniel: I've watched you fight, Sigrun. The Legion of the Dead trains its people well.
• Sigrun: Oh, they taught me a few tricks, but I was fighting long before then.
• Nathaniel: Oh? You fought in Orzammar's army?
• Sigrun: Fighting for scraps of food. For a place to sleep. For survival.
• Nathaniel: Oh, I... I didn't mean...
• Sigrun: It's all right. You're a noble.

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• Nathaniel: Sigrun, I understand how difficult surviving poverty can be. When I came back from the Free Marches, I had nothing. No money, no family--nothing.
• Sigrun: I'm sorry. I didn't know that.
• Nathaniel: You have my respect for surviving what you did.
• Sigrun: I didn't survive. Legion of the Dead, remember?
• Nathaniel: ...oh.

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• Sigrun: Cheer up; no one loves a grump.
• Nathaniel: For a dead woman you're remarkably perky.
• Sigrun: I could be less perky if you like. 'The darkness of the Deep Roads is seeped into my soul. The world is dead, my heart is black. Alas. Woe. Woe!'
• Nathaniel: Let's stick to perky.

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• Nathaniel: How do you stand living under all that rock?
• Sigrun: I don't understand. We just do.
• Nathaniel: Orzammar is under a mountain. Just thinking about the crushing weight of a mountain overhead makes me shudder.
• Sigrun: Surfacers live in buildings. If a building falls on you, it will make you just as dead.
• Nathaniel: Thanks for the reminder.

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• Nathaniel: You don't think you're actually dead, do you?
• Sigrun: Me? Not actually dead, no. Symbolically dead, perhaps.
• Nathaniel: And what is the difference?
• Sigrun: Several pints of blood.

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• Nathaniel: That part of Orzammar--Dust Town, it's called? Is it really as I've heard?
• Sigrun: I've no idea. What have you heard?
• Nathaniel: That it's like a really terrible slum. Or an alienage.
• Sigrun: Oh, no, no. I've seen an alienage. It was rather nice.
• Nathaniel: I'm beginning to feel very fortunate.
• Sigrun: Isn't perspective wonderful? You'd think people who are so tall would have more of it.

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• Sigrun: I found something under my bed at the keep. Something tells me it's yours.
• Nathaniel: Miss Maggie! I remember her. She's not mine--she belonged to my sister, Delilah. Miss Maggie was her favourite doll.
• Sigrun: Miss Maggie appears to be missing her arms.
• Nathaniel: Delilah and I had a fight. Then I ripped off Maggie's arms and hid them in places where Delilah would find them later.
• Sigrun: What a sweetheart you were.

Nathaniel and Velanna

• Nathaniel: Your glares suggest that you do not care for my presence.
• Velanna: I am simply wondering how your kind can call yourselves "nobles." It seems ironic.
• Nathaniel: We like irony. And it rolls off the tongue better than "oppressors."
• Velanna: Ah, so you're a funny human.
• Nathaniel: Not I. I wouldn't dare lighten your mood, my lady.
• Velanna: (Grunts)

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• Nathaniel: Still with the deadly looks, my lady?
• Velanna: "My lady" is such a human thing to call someone.
• Nathaniel: It is a term of respect. You think it's human to be respectful?
• Velanna: Now you're mocking me.
• Nathaniel: I think you're a lovely woman, and due some respect. So I call you a lady.
• Velanna: Well... stop it!

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• Velanna: So you not only gave up on killing the Grey Warden who murdered your father, you actually joined the order.
• Nathaniel: Are you trying to pick a fight, Velanna? Baiting me like this is juvenile.
• Velanna: I just wanted to know how you felt.
• Nathaniel: How do you feel knowing you murdered all those people because you were too arrogant to check your facts?
• Velanna: Warm and fuzzy.
• Nathaniel: You're a terrible person. And your ears are clownish.
• Velanna: What? Who's juvenile now?

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• Velanna: I may have misjudged you a little.
• Nathaniel: Just a little?
• Velanna: I sometimes paint all humans with the same brush.
• Nathaniel: As long as it's such a pretty brush, I don't mind.
• Velanna: I'm sure I don't know what that means.
• Nathaniel: It means your apology is appreciated, my lady.
• Velanna: Well, then. Good.

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• Velanna: When you were talking about the pretty brush, did you mean... me?
• Nathaniel: (Chuckles) It can't be the first time someone's said you're pretty.
• Velanna: And if it is?
• Nathaniel: Then you must not talk to many people.
• Velanna: Most people aren't worth talking to.

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• Nathaniel: You believe that your ancestors used to be immortal.
• Velanna: I don't "believe" it. It's true.
• Nathaniel: How do you know?
• Velanna: Why would the elders lie?
• Nathaniel: Why indeed?

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• Velanna: So you don't believe the elves were immortal.
• Nathaniel: When did I say that?
• Velanna: You asked me if I believed that my ancestors were once immortal.
• Nathaniel: And where in that question was it implied that I believed otherwise?
• Velanna: Then you do believe the elves were immortal.
• Nathaniel: I didn't say that either.
• Velanna: You...are...exasperating.

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• Nathaniel: So you have a sister? A younger sister?
• Velanna: That is no secret. I've mentioned her several times now.
• Nathaniel: For the longest time, I thought my sister was dead. When we were children, she put beetles in my blankets. She would laugh to hear me shriek.
• Velanna: Seranni liked to put sap in my hair. She also pushed me into an icy river. Twice.
• Nathaniel: Ouch.
• Velanna: Hmm. Yes. Why did I want to rescue her, again?