A Brewing Conspiracy

A Brewing Conspiracy is a side quest in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. There are rumors about a conspiracy to kill the Warden-Commander. You can decide to investigate the matter or do nothing and take your chances.
== Acquisition ==
The lords and ladies of Amaranthine have come to Vigil's Keep to offer their oaths of fealty to the new arl, but some may not be so sincere about their intentions.
At the beginning of Oaths of Fealty, if you persuade the nobles that their cause is one (requires expert Coercion), you have the option to talk to Ser Tamra. She will tell you about the letters she intercepted that suggest there is a conspiracy. Otherwise, Anders will tell you he overheard ominous whispering amongst a group of nobles.
== Walkthrough ==
After hearing of the conspiracy, return to Seneschal Varel and discuss the matter. Varel informs the Warden-Commander that the right of high justice is theirs and treachery is a capital offense. If the Warden-Commander inquires further, Varel will present several options:
* Find an infamous character called the Dark Wolf in the City of Amaranthine. If you did the side quests for Crime Wave in Dragon Age: Origins, you will remember that Slim Couldry told you the nobles were calling you the Dark Wolf.
* You can "invite" a member of each noble family to stay for an indefinite amount of time (i.e. taking them hostage). If anybody moves against you, you have them executed.
* Do nothing and let the conspirators set their trap.
* You can also tell the Seneschal right away that you want to do nothing and not ask him about the different possibilites to handle the matter. This will prevent you from ever contacting the Dark Wolf and therefore ultimately leads to the side quest And You, Esmerelle?. If you let the Seneschal present the various options and then decide to do nothing, you can still change your mind later and choose the Dark Wolf option, after the messenger contacts you in Amaranthine. 
* Initially, Varel will also suggest using some soldiers to spy on the nobility, however he is confident that this won't be successful and thus it's not a real option.
=== Dark Wolf option ===
If you asked the Seneschal about the Dark Wolf, even if you decided to do nothing afterwards, then shortly before passing through the city gate in Amaranthine a cutscene is triggered and a city guard explains to the Warden-Commander that she was paid to deliver a letter from a knight called Ser Wolf of Rivain. If the Warden-Commander asks about the knight, the city guard explains that he had a closed helm obscuring his face, and has no other information but that he acted suspicious.
The suspicious guard can be found in front of the second gate in Amaranthine at the north end of the city. The Dark Wolf requires a payment of 50 in order to reveal the location of the conspirators, which will take some time. At this point enter any building and then return to the suspicious guard. He tells the Warden-Commander that it was not easy, but he knows where they meet. A new location appears on the world map named Old Stark's Farm. Travel there and kill the conspirators. You may attempt to take the Dark Wolf into custody before or after he discovers the conspiracy, which will result in a fight, or permit him to leave peacefully. There is no downside to killing the Dark Wolf. 
=== Hostage option ===
If you choose this option, the conspirators won't move against you and the quest is immediately marked as complete.
=== "Do nothing" option ===
If you do not get the information from the Dark Wolf and/or do not go to Old Stark's Farm to kill the conspirators, then when you return to Vigil's Keep after finishing the second main quest, there will be a peasant revolution, presumably incited by the conspirators. Afterwards, when you enter the keep, the questline will be concluded by And You, Esmerelle?. Doing nothing is the best option as you do not have to pay the Dark Wolf 50 gold and still get to fight the conspirators for loot and xp, and there are no consequences for allowing the throne room fight to occur (other than missing out on a potential case in court)
== Notes ==
* There are a number of Amaranthine nobles who may join the conspiracy based on the past actions and the origin of the Warden-Commander.
* If you don't talk to Anders or Ser Tamra about the conspiracy at the fealty ceremony, the quest won't trigger, but you will still be ambushed by the conspirators in the throne room as part of the And You, Esmerelle? quest.
*All three options result in different epilogue slides.
== Bugs ==
* If you kill Lady Liza Packton before the A Day In Court quest, she will still appear at a trial over land.
* Even if you complete the quest with a different option, the Dark Wolf will still appear when you first visit Amaranthine and request payment to gather information. However, he will vanish once you leave the area whether you talked to him or not.
Category:Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening side quests
Category:Vigil's Keep side quests
de:Eine drohende Verschwörung