The third main quest of the Dragon Age: Origins video-game that comes in two parts. The story follows the player, Alistair, and two other potential Grey Warden recruits being sent on a mission into the Korcari Wilds to gather up vials of darkspawn blood for their Joining into the Grey Wardens, and to locate some old recruitment treaties that were left behind at an abandoned Grey Warden outpost.
The Korcari Wilds
The player, Alistair, and the two other new recruits, Daveth and Jory, arrive before Duncan to begin preparations for the Joining ritual. Duncan provides the three recruits their mission, which is to complete two tasks in the nearby Korcari Wilds. The first task being to collect three vials of darkspawn blood for the Joining as one vial is needed for each of them. For the second task, Duncan goes over how there's an abandoned Grey Warden archive outpost within the Korcari Wilds, and that a huge discovery was made about it recently. That there's still some magically sealed scrolls there made up of old treaties that would compel certain organizations to render aid to the Grey Wardens during a Blight, which Duncan sees as an opportunity to remind past allies of their commitments to the forgotten Grey Wardens. Thus, Duncan orders Alistair to go along with the recruits to retrieve these scrolls. The group is then sent off to the Korcari Wilds.
Making their way through the Korcari Wilds, the player's group comes across a lone surviving soldier, who after getting bandaged up warns the player and company that his entire company was killed by the darkspawn. The soldier then heads back to Ostagar, which Jory begins to worry about the number of darkspawn that seem to have invaded the forest and managed to take out an entire group of soldiers. However, the player and Alistair reassure him, especially with Alistair being the senior of the group, and they continue on. During the search through the forest, the player and company could stumble upon the corpses of two missionaries, Jogby and his father, Rigby. They had with them a lockbox that has to be returned to the mother, Jetta, who can be found in Redcliffe Village. Eventually, the player and company manage to collect the three vials of darkspawn blood amongst those that they kill along the journey, and eventually, they come across the mentioned Grey Warden outpost. However, they discover that the old treaty scrolls that were stored away within the outpost's special chest are no longer there.
Suddenly, the player's group is met by Morrigan, a young witch that was prowling the outpost site. Morrigan questions why a group of four young men have invaded so far into her forest territory, which Alistair remains on-guard due to her potentially being Chasind (an old tribe of barbarians). However, Daveth points out what Morrigan actually is, a Witch of the Wilds, which Morrigan doesn't deny. The player and Morrigan introduce themselves, which Morrigan takes an educated guess that the player's group is here at the abandoned outpost for the special scrolls. Alistair accuses her of stealing them, and asks that she hands them back as they're Grey Warden property. However, Morrigan reveals that it wasn't her that took the scrolls, but her mother, which she offers to take the group to her. Despite Daveth's worry, and how odd the current situation is, the player and Alistair agree that they need to retrieve the scroll treaties. Thus, they all follow behind Morrigan to go and meet with her mother.
Morrigan leads the player's group to the small house within the Korcari Wilds that her mother resides. Her mother, a powerful sorceress who appears as an old woman, is seen outside as if expecting their arrival, which Daveth points out that just like Morrigan, her mother must be a dangerous Witch of the Wilds. The player gets to the point of their arrival that the old woman has something that they need, which Morrigan's mother gets the gist that they're here for the scroll treaties. However, she assures the player's group that she was just performing the role of safe-keeping the scrolls as it turns out that the seal that was protecting the scrolls had already worn off long ago. Morrigan's mother then hands the scrolls over, but also informs the player and company that the Grey Wardens need to be warned that the Blight's danger is even greater than they think. However, she refuses to elaborate further, and asks for Morrigan to guide the player's group back out of the Korcari Wilds, which she complies to.
The Joining
Thanks to Morrigan guiding them out of the Korcari Wilds, the player, Alistair, Jory, and Daveth return to Ostagar, which Morrigan then returns to the forest. The player's group then returns to Duncan, who's informed by the recruits and Alistair that they've retrieved the darkspawn vials and scroll treaties. Duncan's also told about the two Witches of the Wilds that had possession of the scrolls, but hearing that they might just be apostate mages hiding from the Chantry, he sets it aside since getting the scrolls back is all that matters. Now set to begin the Joining, Duncan provides a final warning that there's a huge price to pay to become a Grey Warden. However, the three recruits agree to see it through, which Duncan asks for Alistair to lead them to Ostagar's old temple.
At the Ostagar temple, the player, Alistair, Jory, and Daveth remain on standby for Duncan to arrive. Not liking how many tests there are, Jory starts to second guess himself about becoming a Grey Warden while thinking about how his pregnant wife back in Highever is waiting for him. However, Daveth remains ready to fight for the Grey Wardens having now seen first-hand how dangerous the darkspawn are, and the need to stop the Blight. Shortly after, Duncan arrives with a goblet, and explains the Joining. That the Grey Wardens were founded during the First Blight when humanity was on the verge of annihilation, which they had to drink darkspawn blood in order for their bodies to master the taint. Hearing that they will be drinking darkspawn blood shocks Jory as Duncan points out that doing so is what acts as the source of power for a Grey Warden. Alistair adds that those who survive the Joining obtain the following: immunity to the taint, the ability to sense nearby darkspawn, and the ability to slay archdemons as they can't be killed except by those who were tainted by darkspawn blood. However, Grey Wardens also receive a rudimentary connection into the darkspawn hive mind that come in the form of dreams.
Duncan adds further warning that the Joining ritual can potentially kill the drinker as it is highly poisonous, which is why the Joining has to be kept a secret. The Joining ritual then begins as Alistair is the one who recites the opening words of the Joining. Daveth is the first to step forward being handed the goblet of darkspawn blood from Duncan, and proceeds to drink it. Hearing a voice in his head, Daveth begins to stumble around in pain, and his eyes go completely white. However, he's unable to make it through the ritual, and ends up falling over in death, much to Jory's shock. Duncan asks for Jory to step forward next, but Jory draws his sword against Duncan having decided out of fear that becoming a Grey Warden's not worth it anymore. In return, Duncan draws his own sword, and proceeds to kill Jory since the latter knows too much about the Joining. Finally, it's the player's turn. Drinking the goblet of darkspawn blood, the player experiences the same thing as Daveth. The archdemon is seen when the player's eyes go white, which the player then falls unconscious. In the end, the player is the only recruit that managed to survive and become a Grey Warden.
Upon waking up, Duncan officially welcomes the player into the Grey Wardens. Alistair mentions that only one died during his own Joining, but that what he saw regarding that death was horrible, and that he's just glad that for this Joining, at least one (the player) made it out of it alive. Checking how their new Grey Warden is holding up, the player mentions to Duncan and Alistair the dream he saw, which Duncan assures him that such a case is normal to dream of things related to the darkspawn once one becomes a Grey Warden. Alistair then brings up how after becoming a Grey Warden, the survivors put their blood into a pendent to serve as a reminder of those that didn't make it through the Joining. With the Joining now over, Duncan, the player, and Alistair head off to meet with King Cailan for the Ostagar war council.
