The fifth main quest of the Dragon Age: Origins video-game. The story follows the player and Alistair's role in the Battle of Ostagar as the ones tasked to light a beacon at the top of the Tower of Ishal, but the battle ends up a complete disaster due to a timely betrayal.
The Battle of Ostagar
The battle begins. An army of darkspawn comes pouring out of the southern Ferelden forest, and charges toward King Cailan's army and Duncan's Grey Warden's that have set up a front line in the valley below Ostagar fortress. As Cailan's and Duncan's forces battle it out in the valley against the bulk of the darkspawn army, the player and Alistair (and a Dog if you're a Human Noble) make their way over to the Tower of Ishal. However, they're informed by a guard at the entrance that the Tower's been taken over by darkspawn that managed to dig up into the Tower's lower chambers. With the help of one of of the army's mages, the player and Alistair fight their way through the darkspawn up to the top of the Tower of Ishal. Once they reach the top, the player and Alistair battle it out with a darkspawn ogre that's blocking them from lighting the beacon, and manage to kill it.
Once the right moment comes where Cailan and Duncan signal for Loghain's flank attack, the player and Alistair proceed to light the Tower of Ishal beacon. Loghain spots the lit beacon, but instead of ordering his forces to attack, he betrays Cailan by ordering his men to retreat. The result is Loghain and his army quitting the field and departing from Ostagar. Without reinforcements, the darkspawn go about massacring the forces in the valley, and Cailan ends up being killed by an ogre. Duncan manages to get revenge on the ogre that killed the King, but he's too injured to fight any further, and the Grey Wardens are killed off by the darkspawn. The last thing Duncan sees is the lit Tower of Ishal beacon; unable to understand why Loghain's forces didn't come. Duncan is then killed on the battlefield as well.
At that same time, a group of darkspawn charge into the top floor of the Tower of Ishal to kill the player and Alistair. The player ends up getting knocked out after being struck by an arrow, which left Alistair to fend for himself. Alistair manages to win the battle, but he's left a bloody mess, and is on the verge of falling unconscious. He remains conscious long enough to check on the player hoping that the latter's still alive before falling unconscious as well. Meanwhile, the Battle of Ostagar is completely lost as the darkspawn are seen roaming all throughout, and killing the last few Ferelden stragglers. A dragon then flies in and blows open the roof of the Tower of Ishal. Landing on the Tower's top floor, the dragon shapeshifts into human form, and is revealed to be Morrigan's mother. She checks on the player and Alistair to confirm if they're still alive, and seeing that they are, she transforms back into a dragon in order to carry the two of them away from Ostagar.
Ferelden's Last Two Grey Wardens
The player wakes up inside the home of Morrigan and her mother back in the Korcari Wilds. Morrigan appears to check on the player having been the one that bandaged up the latter's wounds, and then asks if the player remembers being rescued by a dragon. The last thing the player remembers was being overwhelmed by darkspawn at the top of the Tower of Ishal, which Morrigan reveals that it was her mother that rescued the player and Alistair. She also reveals Loghain's treachery, and that the Battle of Ostagar ended as a complete loss for Ferelden with King Cailan's and Duncan's forces being massacred to the darkspawn, which Morrigan adds that Alistair didn't take such news well. Morrigan assures the player that Alistair's safe, and is currently outside the house. She then informs the player that her mother wishes to speak to them once the player's awake.
Exiting the house, the player finds Morrigan's mother alongside Alistair. The latter of which has been worried about the player's survival. Alistair's relieved to see that the player's alive, which the player thanks the old woman's rescue for that. In return, Alistair's forced to admit that they'd be dead had it not been for a timely rescue from a witch. Said witch then properly introduces herself as Flemeth, which is actually just a nickname that the Chasind folk who originally came across her started calling her as, but she has since accepted it as her name. Having heard the name of Flemeth before written in past legends, Alistair realizes that Daveth was right this whole time that the one before them is the fabled Witch of the Wilds. The player then gets to the main issue asking why Flemeth bothered saving them, which she answers that it would have put them all in a bad position had all the Grey Wardens died off since there needs to be someone to deal with the darkspawn. That it was always the Grey Warden's duty to unite the land to deal with the Blight.
The player notes how they're in a bad situation since the Grey Wardens, aside from the two of them, have already been massacred, which Flemeth warns the player that looking at it with such a negative perspective will mean that they've already lost. Alistair gets angry pointing out that they were doing their job by facing the darkspawn alongside King Cailan's army, which is why he doesn't understand why Loghain would betray them. Flemeth answers that there's many dark mysteries to the human heart, which she theorizes that Loghain probably doesn't see how much of the true threat the evil behind the Blight actually is that he thinks he can outmaneuver it. Alistair's quick to realize that the evil Flemeth's referring to is the archdemon leader, which the player asks about it. Flemeth explains of how their Maker cast down the Old Gods of the ancient Tevinter Imperium to sleep in prisons deep beneath the surface. That an archdemon is an awakened Old God; fearsome and immortal beings that have been tainted by darkspawn, and now leads the darkspawn to claim the surface world. The player asks if Flemeth will help deal with the Blight, but she answers that she's just an old woman that lives in the Korcari Wilds. Thus, she would be no help to them.
The Plan to Create an Army
Alistair then chimes in by bringing up the overall issue. That despite Loghain thinking that the darkspawn are a minor threat, they need to warn the people of Ferelden that this isn't the case. Flemeth questions how the player and Alistair will get the people to believe them, which Alistair points out that Loghain betraying the King can't be ignored. That Eamon, the Arl of Redcliffe, would call for Loghain to be executed if he was to find out what happened at Ostagar. The player asks about Arl Eamon, which Alistair explains that along with being King Cailan's uncle, Eamon didn't send any forces to Ostagar, so he still has all his men if they were to go to him for reinforcements. Overall, Alistair sees going to Redcliffe as their best bet to appeal for help. Especially since Arl Eamon is a good man, and is respected in the Landsmeet (a meeting in Denerim amongst Ferelden's nobles to discuss the kingdom's future). Flemeth and the player seem on board, but Alistair remains unconvinced that Eamon's Redcliffe forces would be enough to face the Blight.
The player asks about allies, but Alistair points out that it would take too long to get in contact with Grey Wardens from other kingdoms. That Ferelden's in such a desperate situation that they need allies now and fast. Giving them a hint, Flemeth reminds them of how they have more resources than they think, which gives Alistair hope knowing that she's referring to the scroll treaties. Alistair explains to the player that the treaties were deals that the Grey Wardens made with the people of Ferelden, such as with its dwarves, mages, and elves, where they're obligated to help fight a Blight if they were called upon by the Grey Wardens. Along with Arl Eamon's Redcliffe forces, Flemeth points out that this is starting to sound like the very army that will replace the one that was destroyed at Ostagar. Alistair questions if they're really capable of being the ones that build up the new army, which the player answers that they have to be since they're Grey Wardens.
Morrigan Joins
Seeing that the player and Alistair are now ready to be true Grey Wardens, Flemeth offers Morrigan's services to them, insisting they can use her help. Morrigan is clearly against the idea, but Flemeth won't hear it knowing that Morrigan's been itching for years to depart from the Korcari Wilds, and that her knowledge of the surrounding forests will help the player and Alistair avoid the surrounding darkspawn that are pouring in from Ostagar. Flemeth asks that the player and Alistair accept Morrigan into their group as repayment for saving their lives, which the player accepts, but Alistair notes that Morrigan being an apostate mage will have the Chantry templar after them while they're trying to raise the army. However, Alistair accepts to go along with it when Flemeth reminds him that she saved his life. Morrigan remains unconvinced, but Flemeth assures her that she must help the Grey Wardens stop the Blight, cause if they fail, the darkspawn will destroy Ferelden along with the other kingdoms.
Finally accepting to go along with it, Morrigan goes back to the house to gathers her things. Afterwards, despite Alistair still not liking it, Morrigan's ready to guide the player and Alistair through the Korcari Wilds, which she suggests to go to a village north of their current position called Lothering. This northern village being where they can go about learning what is happening with the kingdom, and to determine their best course of action from there. Morrigan then bids her mother farewell as she departs with the player and Alistair to head north towards Lothering.
Loghain Takes Control of Ferelden
Simultaneously in Ferelden's capital city of Denerim, Loghain presents his own version of what happened at Ostagar to the nation's nobility; having placed the blame for the disaster squarely on the Grey Wardens. Standing alongside him is his daughter, Queen Anora, who is also King Cailan's widow. She watches at Loghain advises the people that they must rebuild from their losses at Ostagar, and that they need to refrain from taking advantage of their weakened position as they need to unite to defeat the darkspawn. One of the nobles, Bann Teagan, steps forward questioning Loghain's motives. The latter of which named himself Regent of Ferelden, and is now ordering everyone to unite under his banner. This move is met with outrage by the nobility, most of whom look down on Loghain as an upjumped commoner (though he is a war hero and veteran of Ferelden's war for independence from Orlais, he is a farmer's son and has no legitimate claim to the throne). Thus, they see his taking of the Regency as a blatant grab for power, and his dismissal of their concerns sow the seeds of civil war.
Teagan points out that Loghain's retreat from the Ostagar battlefield was highly questionable, which enrages the crowd in agreement. In return, Loghain calls them out that all his actions have been for the sake of Ferelden's independence. Thus, he's still not betrayed his role in protecting the throne. However, Teagan continues to argue with Loghain; refusing to follow Loghain's orders just because the latter demands it. In return, Loghain threatens that he will not go easy on those who threaten Ferelden, even its own people, and then leaves the area. Teagan and the other nobles begin to leave as well, which the watching Anora tries to get Teagan to see reason. However, Teagan warns her that Loghain's actions are risking civil war, and that things wouldn't have reached this point had Arl Eamon been here. Anora tries to convince him that her father's just trying to do what's best, but Teagan calls her out asking if that's also what Loghain did when he left her husband to die at Ostagar, which leave her unable to say anything back, and Teagan returns to walking away.
Recruiting a Dog
If the player isn't of Human Noble origin, an encounter with darkspawn occurs along the road to Lothering. The player, Alistair, and Morrigan come across a Mabari Hound running towards them, which it starts barking at the group to warn them ahead of time of an approaching group of darkspawn. Sure enough, the darkspawn appear moments after. The player's group and the dog then proceed to defeat the darkspawn enemies. Afterwards, the Mabari Hound appears to have taken a liking to the player, which Alistair mentions that the dog appears to have chosen the player as its owner since Mabari Hounds are known to "imprint" on individuals that they've taken a liking to. While Morrigan remains disinterested in having a dog follow them around, Alistair figures that this particular Mabari Hound must be the same one that the player helped and bonded with at Ostagar. The player agrees to adopt the Mabari Hound, and the group continues on their way towards Lothering.
