Side quest: A Father's Name
Characters involved: Finn Caldansen, Gyda Myrdotten, Master of the Hunt
A woman prepares bodies for sky burial at Stone-Bear Hold. Caldan Enversen's body should receive special rites; however, his son failed to complete them. As guests of the hold, the Inquisition may present the required offering as a gift.
(This quest can be initiated either by speaking with Gyda Myrdotten or Finn Caldansen. Speaking to Finn is optional, as the quest can be completed by handing the offering directly to the Master of the Hunt.)
(If you approach Finn before speaking with Svarah.)
Finn: You're the Inquisitor, aren't you? I shouldn't keep you from meeting the thane.
(If you approach Finn after speaking with Svarah.)
Finn: Inquisitor, I'm honored by your visit. I'm Finn Cal... um, Finn Caldansen. Forgive me if I don't stand to greet you properly.
Investigate: You're injured? [2]
General: You seem troubled. [3] (If you haven’t spoken to Gyda Myrdotten and didn’t learn that she is prepering Caldan Enversen’s body for a funeral. Otherwise, this option disappears.)
General: You can't complete the rites. [4] (Becomes available after speaking with Gyda Myrdotten.)
[2] Investigate: You're injured?
PC: How were you injured?
Finn: A storm blew up a few months back. The worst we've seen in a while. I was helping to secure the fishing boats. Einar nearly fell in. I caught him, but the current caught me. My leg got crushed against the rocks. It hasn't set properly. [Back to 1]
(Side note: Einar is one of the Avvar fishers who can be found near the boathouse by the lake.)
[3] General: You seem troubled.
PC: You seem troubled. Is it your injury?
Finn: In part. Gyda Myrdotten prepares my father's body for sky burial.
Vivienne: You have my condolences.
Cole: Hurt and harrowed. Knotted and nameless. Can't be him, could never be him. But who am I?
Finn (in response to Cole): How did—yes.
(Continued.) Finn: (Sighs.) I knew it would be soon. I just... I miss him. [Back to 1]
[4] General: You can't complete the rites.
PC: I know about your father's burial—and the offering.
Finn: I tried. I dragged myself out of this cursed bed, but the pain… I collapsed. The huntmaster found me and dragged me back. Said we didn't need another dead man. [5]
[5] Subsequent dialogue options:
General: I'll find the offering. [6]
General: Is this worth dying for? [7]
General: You're lucky he found you. [8]
[6] General: I'll find the offering.
PC: I'm told I can make the offering as a gift for the hold. I'll try to do so for your father.
Finn: He won't be my father much longer. [Go to 9 or 10, depending on whether you’ve learned what losing one’s name means to the Avvar.]
[9] PC: What do you mean? [Go to 11]
[10] PC: The loss of your name…
Finn: It doesn't matter. [Go to 13]
[7] General: Is this worth dying for?
PC: If your father were still here, would he not agree?
Finn: He won't be my father much longer but... yes. [Go to 9 or 10, depending on whether you’ve learned what losing one’s name means to the Avvar.]
[9] PC: What do you mean? [Go to 11]
[10] PC: The loss of your name…
Finn: It doesn't matter. [Go to 13]
[8] General: You're lucky he found you.
PC: You're lucky he found you before that was the case. [Go to 11 or 12, depending on whether you’ve learned what losing one’s name means to the Avvar.]
[11] Finn: I can't make the offering. When the sky burial's complete, I'll lose the right to bear my father's name.
Sera: Wait, so he does this or he's the wrong kind of elf?
PC (in response to Sera): What?
Sera: Never mind. You help.
(Side note: this reaction from Sera can occur either when speaking with Finn or the Master of the Hunt about the loss of a name, whichever conversation happens first.)
[12] PC: I know it means the loss of your name, but… [13]
[13] Finn: Whether or not he's my father, I still love him. I would not see his soul severed from the earth, if it's meant to return. If you can make a gift of the offering... there's no way I could repay you. [Back to 1]
Finn: Lady keep you. [Exits the conversation]
(Speak with Gyda Myrdotten and the Master of the Hunt if you haven’t already.)
(Talk to Gyda about Caldan’s funeral.)
Gyda: Be welcome, Inquisitor, though I fear I've time for little more than a greeting. I must prepare these souls for their greater journey—particularly those who depart without the reverence due. Their way is often hardest. [14]
Investigate: What are the proper rites? [15]
General: Is there a problem? [16]
General: Caldan’s son is injured. [17] (Becomes available after following the dialogue branch [16] “Is there a problem?”, provided that you already spoke to Finn.)
[15] Investigate: What are the proper rites?
PC: I'm not familiar with Avvar funerals. May I ask what proper rites entail?
Gyda: When the time comes, we are given sky burials. For most, the body is laid out, and prayers given. When the birds come, they carry the soul to the Lady of the Skies. The body, unneeded, is gone. [Go to 19 or back to 14]
[19] Special: You said “for most.”
Gyda: Some souls—such as Caldan's—are chosen to return. The augur reads the signs at birth. It is a rare honor. In order to return, an offering is made to Korth the Mountain-Father and buried beneath the body. A piece of the soul thus remains, allowing the rest to return to this world and be reborn. [Back to 14]
[16] General: Is there a problem?
PC: Will someone not be given proper rites?
Gyda: Caldan Enversen is one of the few whose soul may return. Blood-kin must make an offering to the huntmaster, who prepares it. Or so it should be. Caldan's son, Finn, has failed in this duty. But then... there's you.
Gyda: You're a guest of our hold. A gift from you cannot be refused—even an offering for Caldan. I cannot dictate the nature of a gift, but if my suggestion appeals to you, speak to the huntmaster. [Back to 14]
[17] General: Caldan’s son is injured.
PC: Caldan's son is injured. It's not his fault he can't make the offering.
Gyda: As disappointing as that may be, it is not my place to ignore the gods' laws on a whim. I honor them—in word and spirit, Inquisitor. [Go to 20 or back to 14]
[20] Special: You offered an alternative.
PC: You suggested a way around tradition by letting me make the offering?
Gyda: The spirits have seen Finn fail. To undo it may be to undo their will. A gift from another does not bear this weight. Caldan's soul could travel easily. [Back to 14]
Gyda: Lady keep you. [Exits the conversation]
(Talk to the Master of the Hunt about Caldan’s funeral.)
General: About Caldan’s offering… [21]
[21] General: About Caldan’s offering…
PC: I spoke to the woman preparing bodies for funeral. She said I might make an offering. For Caldan.
Master of the Hunt: How would... as a gift! Sly woman. In that case, I'll accept an offering from the hand that gives it. Tradition says the offering's made to Korth. Only creatures who touch the gods' realm will do. I'll mark where some were last spotted. It'd be an unmatched gift, lowlander. I still pity Caldan's son though... losing his father's name. [Go to 22]
Master of the Hunt: Finn failed to complete the rites. That'll see him disowned when the burial's complete.
Sera: Wait, so he does this or he's the wrong kind of elf?
PC (in response to Sera): What?
Sera: Never mind. You help.
Master of the Hunt: He's fatherless whether you do this or not, Inquisitor. Seeing it done will give him some peace, I imagine.
(Search for the Fade-touched creatures in the Basin.)
(After killing one of the Fade-touched beasts.)
PC: One of the animals the huntmaster described.
Dorian: Strange creature—not like others we've seen. Apart from wanting to eat us. Fascinating. I suspect it came into contact with the Fade.
Cole: It's not like the others. It touched something larger, left itself pale.
Solas: A unique animal. Certainly unlike others in the Basin. It often traveled where the Veil is thin. Many creatures avoid such places.
Vivienne: A unique animal. Unlike others we've encountered. Many creatures avoid places where the Veil is thin. I suspect this was an exception.
(If no companion makes a comment.)
PC: This creature... it's different from others in the Basin.
(After killing the three Fade-touched beasts needed for the offering.)
PC: This should be enough for the offering.
Sera: So give it to the hold and make Finn's life shit, or give it to Finn. We help him. Not asking. Do it.
Blackwall: Caldan's son has lost enough. We shouldn't allow him to lose his name. Give it to Finn.
Varric: The huntmaster said he'd accept a gift from the hand that gave it—let Finn do it.
Iron Bull: No one said a gift to the hold had to include everyone. Could be a gift for someone's son.
Cole: The hold is a place, but also the people in it. Like Finn. If he gave the offering, he will hurt, but less.
Vivienne: We've been permitted to bend tradition. It may be best to tread carefully.
Dorian: Bending the rules further than what's already allowed? Not to sound unkind, but we don't want to upset the hold.
Cassandra: Kind though that may be, it bends the laws of their tradition. It's... something to consider.
Solas: A generous thought that bends the laws of their tradition. Whether the Avvar—or their spirits—would see that as an act of kindness or disrespect is hard to say.
(Return to the Hold when you killed three Fade-touched beasts. You can hand the offering to Finn or to the Master of the Hunt.)
(If you decide to hand the offering to the Master of the Hunt.)
General: I have the offering.
General: I have the offering.
PC: I have the offering for Caldan Enversen.
Master of the Hunt: I'll see it properly prepared and sent to Gyda. She'll be making the final preparations soon, I imagine.
Vivienne: In times of crisis, too many die without proper rites or prayers. This was kindly done, my dear.
Blackwall: Won't be easy on the son. He's lost more than he should.
Master of the Hun: Finn Caldansen's a good lad. His father was always proud of him. Still would be.
(If you decide to hand the offering to Finn.)
General: Here. Take the offering.
General: Here. Take the offering.
PC: Here—an offering for your father. From you.
Finn: Inquisitor, I can't.
PC: Consider my gift to the hold a gift to you. Though perhaps don't spread that around.
Finn: But the huntmaster—
PC: Said he'd accept an offering from the hand that gave it.
Finn: I... I don't know what to say.
Cole: Say the words he would want: "Fly to the Lady in peace, and come back soon."
Varric: Just take care of yourself.
Sera: Say what they want, and you can belong. But maybe when you figure that threatening you was shit, come look for a Jenny.
(If the offering was given to Finn.)
Gyda: I'm told our huntmaster prepares an offering from Finn Caldansen. Nothing more's been said. I will only thank you for paying hospitality to an invalid. I must complete the preparations. A strange turn of events may not make Caldan's journey any easier. The gods measure both outcome and the actions—or deceptions—behind it.
(If the offering was given directly to the Master of the Hunt.)
Gyda: I understand our huntmaster prepares Caldan Enversen's offering as we speak. This gift is beyond worth. You have my thanks, Inquisitor. I must complete the preparations.
(If you reapproach Finn after handing the offering directly to the Master of the Hunt.)
Finn: The offering will be prepared for burial. My father... no, I'm only Finn. Still, I rest easy knowing Caldan's soul will journey well. Thank you, Inquisitor.
(If you reapproach Finn after handing the offering to him.)
Finn: Inquisitor, you're always welcome in my home.
(If you reapproach Finn after freeing Hakkon.)
Finn: You killed Hakkon Wintersbreath? The hold breathes easier now.
(If you reapproach Finn after receiving the legend-mark.)
Finn: "First-Thaw." You'll be remembered in our legends now. Not many lowlanders are.
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