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“All people with power never fail to abuse it, even those with good intentions.”


Velanna is a Dalish elf mage and a potential companion in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

Background

Velanna was a quiet child who struggled to understand social interaction, and spent her time obsessively studying Elven history. This was in sharp contrast to her sister Seranni, who was two years her junior. Seranni was a cheerful and popular child who often attempted to include Velanna when she played with her friends. Velanna always failed to understand both the point of playing games and how to interact with her peers, and faced constant rejection.

Seranni's friends eventually stopped allowing Velanna to play with them. Velanna was devastated at the rejection, and she began to delve deeper and deeper into her studies. Her magic manifested when she was nine years old. She had long dreamed of being a mage, as she thought it would tie her further to the ancient elves, and when she finally produced a single flame in her hand, she immediately brought it to Keeper Ilshae and proclaimed that she would be the Keeper's First. Ilshae was impressed by Velanna's boldness and agreed. Ilshae nurtured Velanna's love of Elven history and in-time became like a second mother to her.[1]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.


When some humans attempted to burn Velanna's clan out of the woods to prevent them from reaching their farms, Velanna was outraged and demanded revenge for their murder attempt, but Ilshae forbade it. Velanna called the Keeper a coward and was exiled. She left to seek vengeance on the humans with a handful of other elves and her sister, Seranni. The elves were attacked and killed, save Velanna herself and Seranni, who was seemingly taken captive. Believing the human merchant caravans traveling between the capital of the Arling of Amaranthine and Denerim to be responsible for the deaths of her comrades, Velanna begins using her magic to assault the caravans and their guards.


Involvement

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.


The Warden-Commander and the Grey Wardens first encounter Velanna in the Wending Wood when they set out to protect the arlings' trade routes as part of The Righteous Path. Velanna has been murdering humans who cross her path in an attempt to terrorize the nearby villages. When the Warden-Commander explains their objective, Velanna agrees to stand aside to allow the Wardens to eliminate the darkspawn. The Warden-Commander learns from a wounded Militiaman who has become a ghoul that it was actually the darkspawn who took Seranni and killed the other elves. Velanna suspects the Wardens of treachery and unleashes a pack of Sylvans on them. After slaying the Sylvans, the Warden-Commander corners Velanna at her campsite next to the cairns of her comrades. The Warden-Commander may slay Velanna for her deeds or reveal the Darkspawn's role in abducting her sister.

Once fully appraised of the situation, Velanna asks the Warden-Commander to join them in hunting down the darkspawn responsible for her sister's abduction in hopes of rescuing her. Together they track the darkspawn to the nearby Silverite Mine where they are captured by the Architect and imprisoned in its laboratory. Velanna and the Wardens are freed from their cell by Seranni, now infected with the darkspawn taint, before she mysteriously vanishes. Together the party slay the gathered darkspawn; however before they can kill it, the Architect escapes to the Deep Roads collapsing the passage behind it. Realizing that only Grey Warden training will grant her the abilities to track down the Architect and thus have any hope of rescuing her sister, Velanna offers to pledge herself to the order, in exchange for their unique powers. Velanna subsequently survives the Joining and becomes a full fledged Grey Warden.

Once her approval becomes high enough, Velanna will encounter a group of Dalish hunters from her clan, led by Maren. Velanna learns from them that Ilshae has passed on and this prompts Velanna to later reveal the circumstances that led to her leaving her clan to the Warden-Commander.

If Velanna is among the Warden squadron that attacks Drake's Fall, Seranni will be encountered one more time. Seranni and Velanna briefly discuss the similarities between the Architect's darkspawn and the Dalish before Seranni vanishes again, leaving Velanna bewildered.

Epilogue

Note: In Awakening, epilogue slides are also affected by whether or not the relevant companion quests were completed and how high companion approvals were raised.
  • If left to defend Vigil's Keep, and the Warden-Commander chooses to save the City of Amaranthine, the surviving defenders watch in horror as a section of stone collapses upon her. When the rubble is later cleared, no body is found. Velanna is just gone. This occurs even if the walls are never breached.
  • If the Warden chooses to save Vigil's Keep, Velanna survives, though she does not return to her clan. Thanks to her friendship with the Warden Commander, she may eventually change her views on humankind. In the wake of the defeat of the Mother, when darkspawn stragglers attempt to attack a human village, Velanna single-handedly defends them.
  • If the Warden takes Velanna along and allies with the Architect against the Mother, Velanna will remain with the Wardens, but years later, on an expedition in the Deep Roads, Velanna takes off on her own after saying she had seen Seranni in the shadows. The other Wardens searched for her, but she was truly gone. Taking Velanna along during the final mission is not necessary; she might still have this even if she was not there when the Architect was spared.
  • If the Warden chooses to kill the Architect and Velanna survives the attack on Vigil's Keep (either because the Warden chose to save the Keep or was with Velanna when saving Amaranthine), she never sees her sister again. She partly blames the Commander for this, as she believes the Architect would have released her sister had they allied themselves with him, and this forever remains a source of friction between the two.


Quests

Velanna's Joining Velanna's Joining
Velanna's Exile Velanna's Exile

Gifts

Velanna favors items of elven heritage and objects that are of her favorite color—green. Special dialogue can be obtained through befriending her and giving her a blank journal.

Name Notes Description

Blank Journal
Blank Journal
A fine leather binding surrounds crisp, wordless pages.
Carved Greenstone
Carved Greenstone
Located: Kal'Hirol - Treasury in the trade quarter
Delicate greenstone engraved with eye-catching swirls.
Discarded Journal
Discarded Journal
Located: City of Amaranthine - Village
In this old journal, an elf who lived in Amaranthine writes about the hardships of daily life and the unrealized hopes of his people.
Elven Runestone
Elven Runestone
Located: Vigil's Keep- Deep roads Gem Mine
A flat stone bearing an elven rune.
Elven Trinket
Elven Trinket
Found in the Wending Wood
A carved ironbark trinket inlaid with silver and suspended from a leather cord.
Ornate Silver Bowl
Ornate Silver Bowl
Located: Blackmarsh
This antique bowl is embossed with graceful representations of elven halla.
Shiny Malachite
Shiny Malachite
A smooth piece of malachite, polished until glossy.

Statistics

Initial specialization

Keeper Keeper

Initial skills

Improved Herbalism Improved HerbalismImproved Combat Tactics Improved Combat Tactics

Initial spells

Arcane Arcane Bolt Arcane Bolt
Keeper One With Nature One With Nature
Primal Flame Blast Flame BlastFlaming Weapons Flaming WeaponsFireball FireballInferno InfernoRock Armor Rock ArmorStonefist Stonefist
Creation Heal Heal
Spirit Walking Bomb Walking BombMind Blast Mind Blast
Entropy Vulnerability Hex Vulnerability HexAffliction Hex Affliction HexMisdirection Hex Misdirection HexDrain Life Drain LifeDeath Magic Death MagicCurse of Mortality Curse of Mortality

Initial equipment

Weapons Heart of the Forest Heart of the Forest
Clothing Skins of the Keeper Skins of the Keeper
Armor Pocketed Searing Gloves Pocketed Searing GlovesImperial Weavers Imperial Weavers
Accessories Earthen Cinch Earthen CinchHalla Horn Halla HornKeeper's Charm Keeper's CharmRing of Study Ring of Study

Restricted gear

Keeper's Charm Keeper's Charm

Plot skills

As you befriend Velanna and gain her approval, she will gain the following additional skills:
Name Benefit Requirement
Inspired: Minor Magic Inspired: Minor Magic +1 magic 25% approval
Inspired: Moderate Magic Inspired: Moderate Magic +2 magic 50% approval
Inspired: Major Magic Inspired: Major Magic +4 magic 75% approval
Inspired: Massive Magic Inspired: Massive Magic +6 magic 90% approval
Note: These bonuses are non-cumulative, i.e. the total bonus is +6, not +13.

Dialogue points

NewVelanna

Velanna

Below are the spots where you can initiate dialogue with Velanna. On the PC, it can be hard to find the correct spot to click; make sure to hit "tab" and rotate the camera if it's not letting you click on it.

Quotes

Main article: Velanna/Dialogue
  • "You killed my friends and the merchants kidnapped my sister... They brought this on themselves just as you have!"
  • (About Andraste) "I should hate her, but I don't. I can respect a woman who fights for freedom and justice."
  • "Funny isn't it? Andraste fought a tyrannical empire, only to have her followers become one themselves."
  • "Stories connect us to our past. They shape a people in profound ways."
  • "I'm right here, you slack-jawed oafs! At least have the courtesy to speak when I pass by."

Dialogue

(When talking about Keenan)

  • Velanna: "'He wanted to make the world a better place'? What an insipid line. Is that really supposed to make her feel better about his death?"
  • Warden: "I'm not with her!"

Codex entries

Codex entry: Velanna Codex entry: Velanna

Notes

Trivia

  • Velanna's favorite color is green.
  • The writers originally were not sure if Anders would be the Awakening character coming over to Dragon Age II and merging with Justice—for a while it was intended to be Velanna.[2]
  • Anders makes a possible reference to Velanna whilst at the Dalish camp during Dragon Age II, stating how his experiences with Dalish women in the past have been crazy. He may potentially be referring to the Warden-Commander, if they were of also of Dalish origin and female.
  • When Velanna is recruited, she is wearing a Ring of Study, however it is unknown how this came into her possession.
  • Velanna's vallaslin is unique to her and Seranni.
  • Writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir once considered a very different direction for Dragon Age: Blue Wraith. In these preliminary plans, the plot involved the group tracking down someone who was replicating Fenris' origins to recreate elven immortality, as Fenris himself hadn't aged a day since getting his markings. It would be revealed that the tests were being done by Velanna, with the assistance of her lover Sigrun, whose Calling had come and was trying to avoid death. Velanna would eventually see the error of her ways and go into the Deep Roads to die, while Sigrun would join the group until her Calling came. DeFilippis however clarified that he was doubtful whether he could have truly gone ahead with turning Velanna into an outright villain however well-intentioned, and stated that he was glad the idea never came to fruition.[3] This idea was never taken beyond the planning stages, and was never pitched to either Dark Horse Comics or BioWare.[4][5]

Bugs

  • Proceeding to complete the Silverite Mine without Velanna in the party will cause the plotline to be broken resulting in all sorts of strange behavior such as Velanna becoming a permanent member of the teamxbox360xbox360 (see below for solution) and waking up back in the cell without the key when attempting to leave the mines.
  • xbox360xbox360 In addition to the bug where Velanna becomes locked to the party, it is also possible to have a full party and have her as an extra. Meaning you can have 5 party members but you cannot control her, the only fix to this bug is to restart the game (exit to the dashboard and go back). This also glitches the game—npcs with no body, white loading screen and blood appears as a red box on dead bodies.
  • xbox360xbox360 It is possible to have Velanna undergo The Joining and become a Grey Warden prior to completing the Silverite Mine and still get the dialogue where she asks to become a Grey Warden. This also clears the bug where she is locked to the team.
  • If Anders and Velanna are in the party simultaneously, Anders will sometimes initiate the same small talk lines multiple times with Velanna: "Have I ever told you that I find tattoos on women..."
  • pcpcxbox360xbox360 It is possible to get Velanna's approval to +100 by giving her a gift when she first joins your party. In order to not get the +100 approval bug with any of the characters, you need to do the "Blight Orfans Notis Bord" quests or Chanter's Board quests, that give (dis)approval to a character, only after you recruit that character. For example, if you do the From the Living Wood quest (which normally gives -1 approval to Velanna) before actually recruiting Velanna, that will get you the +100 approval bug with Velanna. Same goes for the quests for the "Blight Orfans". If you do quests that give (dis)approval to Justice or Sigrun before recruiting them, that will lead to the bug with them.
  • For an elven mage Warden, her dialogue appears not to take the player's race into consideration. she consistently describes the Warden as human ("humans are all the same"), and Sigrun still informs Velanna that she is the first elf she has met, despite meeting the Warden earlier. This appears exclusive to mages, however, as Velanna gives the Warden a more friendly welcome if the Warden is of Dalish or City Elf origin.
  • pcpcps3ps3xbox360xbox360 While exploring the Wending Wood it is possible to accidentally trigger the conversation with the dying soldier at the Makeshift Lean-To by standing too far to the north of the very beginning portion of the map by the destroyed caravans. If this happens prior to your first meeting with Velanna it will break the plotline and make it impossible for you to trigger the second meeting and therefore prevents you from adding her as a party member.
  • pcpc If you kill Velanna instead of recruiting her and choose to defend Amaranthine you will get a codex entry saying she died at Vigil's Keep.

Gallery

References

  1. Dragon Age logo - new Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, pp. 122-123
  2. Tumblr icon David GaiderAnswering questions: on Anders . Tumblr.
  3. Unofficial BSN. https://bsn.boards.net/post/1365095/thread
  4. Tumblr icon Christina Weir, Nunzio DeFilippis. "Okay, just for clarity's sake..." . Tumblr.
  5. Tumblr icon Christina Weir, Nunzio DeFilippis. "As mentioned in response..." . Tumblr.
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