As promised, here's some additional information about the transition to Kirkwall!


April 1-20: Restoration

On April 1/Cloudreach 1, the Inquisition will send a team to deal with the red lyrium infestation in the Gallows and other things that must be resolved prior to the entire group's arrival. There should be something that anyone can do to do to help, including those who can't actually be around red lyrium: carpentry and labor on the docks, negotiating contracts for food with local merchants, etc. One of the tasks during this time will also be tearing down, melting, and recasting the bronze slave statuary in the Gallows; what form the new statues take will be chosen by those who participate in the plot. And during this event, the Gallows will essentially be haunted, in a way we hope you can make as fun or as scary as you'd like.

OOC, this will be an open log for anyone who wants to participate. IC, characters won't have a choice; volunteers will be accepted but others will be ordered or told to go regardless of their preference. So if you'd like to play but your character would never volunteer, you're in luck! If you'd prefer for your character to remain in Skyhold a little longer, you can say your character was one of the lucky ones not yet asked to make the trip.

At this time, all participating characters will be sleeping in one of two places: on the ships that brought them to Kirkwall, which will be anchored at a safe distance from the Gallows in the harbor so characters can row in to work without risking constant prolonged exposure, or in a space provided for their use on the docks. For more information on why they can't immediately buy a mansion, see Housing below.

April 20-30: Move-In

By this time, the Gallows themselves will be safe to live and work in, for the most part. Large personal belongings and important materials/artifacts/animals from Skyhold won't arrive until this time. Characters who weren't assisting with the initial move-in efforts will begin arriving as well. There will be more left to do, including dealing with the herb garden-turned-Fade-touched-jungle, exploring the nooks and crannies of the fortress to evaluate the damage to the Veil and to make sure there are no literal skeletons left in any closets, and deciding what to do about the slave murals in the courtyards.

April 30: Deadline

By April/Cloudreach 30, all PCs will have relocated to Kirkwall. The whole of Thedas is still yours to explore, but Kirkwall will be your character's "permanent address"—where they can be found between assignments and quests—from this point onward.


Kirkwall is a city-state in the Free Marches, located just north of Ferelden and currently led by a provisional viscount, Bran Cavin. The city is built into a cliffy, mountainous bay on the Waking Sea, neighbored to the west by the Planasene Forest and to the east by the Vinmark Mountains.

The Inquisition is moving forces into the city for several reasons. The reports of those who returned from the "dark future" will have demonstrated that the north cannot be ignored. Politically, the Inquisition needs to reach out to Nevarra and Par Vollen. The success of the future's pirates in standing against the Imperium has sparked interest in negotiating with them or developing an independent naval presence. Kirkwall, specifically, is in close proximity to both Corypheus' old prison and the place where red lyrium was first discovered and used. It's also a place of highly symbolic importance—a former slave city and the site of the first bloody rebellion leading to the Mage-Templar War.

As it's currently both struggling to rebuild itself and staring down the possibility of invasion by a neighboring city-state, Kirkwall is also one of the only places in the north that's actually willing to welcome an external military force. However, the Inquisition isn't being granted permanent use of the Gallows—yet. The Inquisition's presence will be considered part of a temporary effort to assist with red lyrium contamination and rebuilding efforts, until it's proven itself to be a reliable ally rather than potential invader.

Local Demographics & Atmosphere

Kirkwall’s locals are primarily human, with an elven alienage and a notable dwarven presence that’s mostly merchants and Carta members. A few Tal-Vashoth mercenaries who remained behind after the Qunari withdrew still remain in the city, usually working as mercenaries or bodyguards. A small Templar presence remains, consisting only of those who didn’t leave to fight the rebel mages when the war broke out and who felt a duty to remain and help restore the damaged city even with no Circle to guard—in short, they’re mostly the good ones. The very few mages who didn't flee the city are keeping their heads down.

The local populace is wary of foreigners and outsiders. How much so varies by person. There may be shopkeepers who will bar elves or Qunari or mages or rifters from entry, landlords who refuse to rent property to them, and people who avoid them in the street; there will be many, many others who are wary or prone to impertinent questions but otherwise behave themselves; and there will be a few hippies who are vocal about thinking everyone ought to get along. Some Kirkwallers will be glad for the Inquisition’s presence, while others may envision a power grab similar to Meredith’s. Very few people will be inclined to vigilante violence or public harassment, and very few people will be moved to overjoyed tears by the Inquisition’s assistance. Most will fall somewhere between those two extremes.

The majority of people will be a little racist if only in an ignorant way, a little suspicious of the Inquisition, and a lot wary of unfettered magic. But your characters will be able to live normally—as long as their "normal living" is relatively respectful of the locals' concerns—without being run down by angry mobs.

The Gallows

The Gallows is a charmingly-named fortress built onto an island at the center of the harbor. At present, it’s uninhabitable due to being infested with red lyrium. The veil there was thin even before the red lyrium infestation, so now it’s basically tissue paper. And there’s extensive structural damage. And so much dust and so many cobwebs. Probably a couple corpses. Despite this, the Inquisition will be occupying and operating out of the Gallows, for two reasons.

First, no one else wants it. Even once the lyrium is gone, no one will want it. The fortress has a horrible history that looms large in everyone's minds. It’s the only large structure in Kirkwall that the Provisional Viscount can give away to outsiders without an outcry from the locals. Second, the symbolism of the Gallows being restored and operated by a group that includes both mages and Templars, Chantry loyalists and heretics, people of all races and those weirdo possibly-demons from the Fade all working together, etc., could do a lot to improve both the Inquisition’s reputation and Kirkwall’s. Transforming the fortress into something hopeful and positive would be a major accomplishment, if no one fucks it up.

After the initial move-in and clean-up plot, the Gallows will be (as) safe (as your average fortress in Thedas, so not 100%) for everyone to live and work in on a daily basis. More information about housing is provided below, including your future non-Gallows options. Working at the Gallows, however, will rarely be optional. One benefit of an island fortress is that no one who isn’t authorized will be able to wander through stealing or spying, and taking sensitive information or Inquisition-owned artifacts off the island to work on in a tavern or private home won’t usually be permitted.


We know there have been a lot of questions and concerns about what the PC housing situation will be in Kirkwall and that a lot of you are excited to begin making plans. While there's a lot of information about the setting shift still to come, we wanted to get you some basic housing guidelines now so that you can begin planning accordingly.

During Move-In

During the move-in process (April 1 - April 20), characters will be housed in one of two places. The first option is on the ships that brought them, which will be anchored at a safe distance in the harbor. Characters will sleep in hammocks below or above deck, depending on the weather. The second option is the former Qunari compound, which the Inquisition will be converting into storage space. Characters opposed to sleeping on the ships will be allowed to bed down there if they choose.

We understand that your characters might not enjoy this, but that's part of the fun! This is a chance to make your character get dirty or sore, sleep near someone they would otherwise avoid, or play around with short tempers caused by close quarters and poor conditions.

Afterwards

Once the Inquisition has completed its initial restoration of the Gallows it will begin moving personnel into the fortress itself. From April 20 on, characters will have two choices of where to live: in the Gallows or on the docks.

The Gallows: The Gallows is a large complex that fills the entire island, but the primary fortress is made up of three towers. The largest central one is taken up primarily by the library and work spaces, and once restored by the Inquisition will be used for offices, laboratories, and work spaces, with a roost for the griffons at the top. The two side towers will remain residences. The towers hold a range of options, from the apprentice dorms—which sleep a couple dozen in rows of bunks—to rooms suitable for smaller groups and even some designed to be private spaces for Senior Enchanters and high-ranking Templars. Because the Gallows was built to hold significantly more people than the Inquisition is currently sending, it will be possible for everyone who wants a private space to have one. In addition to living space, the towers also include large kitchens, communal dining halls, and baths. And gardens. If your character wants to sleep in a tree, there will be trees on-site.

The Docks: The Inquisition will be granted use of land on the docks across the harbor from the Gallows, including the old Qunari compound, which will be converted into stables and storage, and two adjacent warehouses. One of these warehouses will have barracks/bunkbed-style living in its large central area, while its side rooms will be divided into thin-walled rooms meant for two to four people each. The facilities won't be as nice as those that will be found in the Gallows once it's clean, but characters who can't or won't live in the Gallows will be allowed to live here instead.

Living Elsewhere

Living outside the Gallows and Docks areas will be an option only after the Inquisition has demonstrated its good will and good behavior. Viscount Bran is being cautious, especially in the wake of the city's history of occupation and the Inquisition's recent meddling in Orlesian politics, and he doesn't want to be the man who handed the city over to a group of religious fanatics and demons. So one condition of allowing access to the Gallows is that the Inquisition must presently confine itself and its allies to the land that's been granted for its (nominally temporary) use. Appearing to move into the city on a permanent basis or occupying other facilities/land will not go over well.

But this won't last forever. It's a test, a sort of probationary period, and it isn't likely to last more than a few months. We'll open the option of private housing up beginning June 1, unless there are IC developments in the meantime that make that unrealistic, like a group of characters going to Viscount's Keep and peeing on Bran's desk. Barring that kind of unforeseen development, characters who want to rent homes or move into caves will be able do so once the Inquisition has the city's permission to maintain its presence there indefinitely.

If your character is from Kirkwall and already has a claim to property there, this rule still applies to them. Their home or land may have been occupied by someone else or damaged or sold in their absence—whatever problem you'd prefer to use to justify their inability to move back—and it must take them until at least Justinian 1 to have the problem resolved.

Our OOC reason for this—other than that it's just what makes sense IC, rather than Inquisition members immediately buying houses and hanging up curtains on arrival—is to facilitate RP and new CR, especially for characters who would ICly disappear into the woods if they were allowed to even though their players would prefer that they actually be around people to talk to. But, again, it's not forever.


This is just a brief overview of a subject we'll be explaining in more detail later, but in the future, the Inquisition's activities in Kirkwall will be split into divisions, each of which will house a number of more specific projects.

Both IC and OOC, each character will be assigned to one of four Divisions: Forces, Diplomacy, Scouting (which includes spies), and Research. Divisions will be large catch-all departments that indicate your character's general role within the Inquisition and what chain of command they report to. Each division will also have a list of mundane, day-to-day tasks, so you'll know what your character may be doing in between missions. We hope this will help everyone feel more grounded and aware of what their characters are doing on a daily basis, since no one is being paid to only do the cool stuff and otherwise just chill. You'll be asked to choose your characters' Divisions during the April move-in period.

After the move, there will be additional changes and opportunities, including both new IC leadership positions and an assortment of cross-divisional plot-related projects characters may be assigned or volunteer to focus their work on. As promised, we'll be using the move to Kirkwall as a way to let PCs take on bigger IC leadership roles. We're really excited about this, but since we don't want to overload you with information right now and there are still some things to hammer out, we'll be announcing the details later.