HUNGRY DESERTER

Walkthrough

A hungry deserter is being held in a cage (Ostagar M1, 10). The prisoner will beg for food and water and will explain that the nearby guard has some. If Alistair has previously been found and is in the party when speaking with the prisoner, then this quest can influence his approval. Down the road approval can be very important with how the character reacts with you or could potentially be a romance option. Alternatively, the quest can be completed before speaking with Alistair to avoid any impact on approval.

The Warden can then:

  1. Kill the prisoner without asking for any more details, generating Alistair disapproves (-5).

  2. Help the prisoner without asking for any more details, generating Alistair approves (+2).

  3. Ask why the prisoner is locked up.

  4. Ask why the party should help.

The prisoner will offer the Key to Mages' Chest in return for help and explain that he stole it from a mage in the camp by getting him drunk, and was later caught wandering around the camp at night and locked up as it was assumed he was trying to desert. He swallowed the key, and it has since "come back into his possession."

To obtain the food and water from the guard, The Warden can:

  1. Persuade the guard to forgo his lunch (requires 1 rank of Coercion).

  2. Steal the food and water from the guard (requires Stealing).

  3. Buy the food and water for 10.

To obtain the Key to Mages' Chest, The Warden can

  1. Obtain food and water from the guard, generating Alistair approves (+1).

  2. Kill the prisoner, generating Alistair disapproves (-5) and netting 100XP.

  3. Steal the key from the prisoner.

The key opens the chest by the Magi Encampment, next to the tranquil mage. It cannot be used until returning to Ostagar after completing the Tainted Blood and The Grey Wardens' Cache quests in the Korcari Wilds. At that point, the tranquil mage will have moved: prior to this, attempting to open the chest will only prompt him to object.