The West Brecilian Forest is the first section of the Brecilian Forest that the Warden enters. This part features several streams crossing the pathways, and is where the Grand Oak lives. It can only be entered after approaching the Dalish Elf clans for the Nature of the Beast quest.
Involvement[]
Map of the area
Swiftrunner[]
The party will encounter Swiftrunner and two werewolves on an island located to the north-east.
- If you can Persuade you may be able to convince them that you mean them no harm. He will tell you that they hate Zathrian and to leave the forest.
- If you can Persuade or Intimidate you may be able to convince them that you don’t want to fight but you can’t leave, or that you’re not going anywhere; they leave.
- Otherwise you say there is no reason to fight, or you fight them (see below).
- If you can Intimidate you may be able to convince them to leave.
- If you say there is no reason to fight then they leave.
- Otherwise you will have to fight them. Once one of them reaches 50% Health they break off the battle and leave (so you don’t gain any XP from killing them).
No matter the choice, the following is granted:
- 100 XP
Abandoned campsite[]
There is an "abandoned" campsite near The Grand Oak. This campsite is a trap, an illusion set up by a Greater Shade. The party's actions upon entering the area can increase or decrease their ability to stay awake and defend themselves. If the party's resistance falls to -6, the entire party will fall unconscious (and suffer an injury afterward), except for the character with the highest willpower, who must fight the Shade. The safest course of action here is to attempt to leave as soon as the party start to feel the Shade's magic, right after the first cutscene. The Shade will then have to show itself when the party are still strong enough to resist its magic. Lingering in the campsite will inevitably result in the party losing their strength.
The party's resistance changes are listed in detail at Abandoned Campsite.
Strategy[]
Wynne may use Vessel of the Spirit at the start of the fight. It is unknown whether that causes an exception to, or is the effect of an exception to, the sleep effect. The spell would seem to allow Wynne to resist sleeping when she would not have on her own merits, i.e., her Willpower. The lack of a stun for Wynne to suffer may mean there is a different spell by the same name in the game, or that the indicator was just a visual lie, perhaps meant to clarify the resistance.
If you have the Grand Oak’s Branch or the Mad Hermit’s Werewolf Pelt then the Shade’s illusion will dissipate as it attacks and all party members awake.
This encounter is significantly easier if a Spirit Healer Mage has learned Revival, as it can be used to revive any party members that have fallen "asleep," allowing your entire party to make quick work of the Shade.
Anyone that was put to sleep now has an Injury.
The encounter yields Dalish Gloves (gift) and Dusk Ring.
Characters[]
- Deygan
- The Grand Oak
- Panowen - appears after completing the Nature of the Beast questline
- Swiftrunner
Quests[]
Nature of the Beast- The Mage's Treasure
- Sign of Safe Passage
- Wounded in the Forest
- Places of Power
- Rare Ironbark
Hostile creatures[]
- Wolves
- Bears
- Black Bear (Normal)
- Great Bear (Lieutenant)
Enemies[]
- Werewolves
- Darkspawn
- Ghouls
- Blight Wolf (Normal)
- Sylvans
- Wild sylvan (Normal)
- Wild sylvan (Lieutenant)
- Demons
- Greater shade (Lieutenant)
- Mercenaries (appear during the Sign of Safe Passage questline)
- Denerim Mercenary (Critter)
- Denerim Mercenary (Normal)
- Denerim Mercenary (Lieutenant)
- Denerim Mercenary Leader (Lieutenant)
Gravestone[]
- Undead
- Revenant (Rank#Boss)
- Fanged Skeleton (Lieutenant)
- Skeleton archers (Normal)
- Skeleton mage (Normal)
Grand Oak Clearing[]
- Sylvans
- Grand Oak (Boss) (conditional)
- Darkspawn
- Ogre Alpha (Boss)
- Genlocks (Normal)
- Hurlock (Normal)
Resources[]
Notable items[]
Deygan's Boots - source: Deygan.
Deygan's Dal'Thanu - source: Deygan.
Ironbark - source: Fallen Tree.
Magister's Cinch - source: Corpse.
Silver Cord - source: drop Ogre.
Dusk Ring - source: Chest (after defeating the Greater Shade).
Companion Gifts[]
Andraste's Grace (2)
Painted Skyball - source: Rubble.
Ox Bone - source: Rubble.
Dalish Gloves - source: Chest (after defeating the Greater Shade).
Containers[]
- Corpse (Ferelden, Normal) - near the Great Bear.
- Corpse (Special) - contains Magister's Cinch.
- Rubble (Special) - contains Painted Skyball and Ox Bone.
- Skeleton (Ferelden, Normal)
Camp containers[]
- Chest (Generic, Boss) - contains Dusk Ring.
- Chest (Special) - contains Dalish Gloves.
- Pile of Bones (Generic, Critter)
- Pile of Bones (Elven, Critter)
- Pile of Bones (Elven, Normal)
Special objects[]
- Landmark Tree - used to activate Mabari Dominance.
- Mystical Site of Power - used during the Places of Power questline.
- Ancient Tombstones - activated as part of The Mage's Treasure questline.
Trivia[]
- The abandoned camp is a possible reference to the Codex entry: Cautionary Tales for the Adventurous
Bugs[]
- There is an occasional glitch with the group of darkspawn, where if the character doesn't interact with them, they stop and stand around as NPCs. The Warden may not interact or fight them like this.
- A Ranger with a summoned pet can run into Game Over upon sleeping at the Abandoned Campsite, likely due to the game picking the pet as the non-KO'd companion.