Isabela

Isabela is the captain of the pirate ship Siren's Call. She can teach the Duelist specialization to the Warden in Dragon Age: Origins, and is an optional companion as well as a romance option for either male or female Hawke in Dragon Age II. Isabela is also a playable character in Dragon Age: Inquisition's multiplayer.
== Background ==
== Involvement ==
=== Dragon Age: Origins ===
Isabela can be found at The Pearl along with her first mate Casavir. She is seen arguing with three other men. When a fight breaks out soon afterwards, she defeats the group of men due to her superior dueling skills. Her ship is staying in Denerim to let her men fill up on supplies and other "pleasures". If brought along, Zevran, who met her in Antiva, introduces her as the "Queen of the Eastern Seas and the sharpest blade in Llomerryn."
There are two options to convince Isabela to teach the Duelist specialization: beat her at Wicked Grace, a game of cards, or "get to know each other better" by following her to bed.
To beat Isabela in the card game, the Warden will have to be dexterous enough to catch her cheating or subtle enough to cheat. If Zevran or Leliana are in the party, they can also help the Warden win, but will only offer assistance if their approval is high enough.
For Isabela to take the Warden up on their offer to get to know her better, the Warden will have to be persuasive (Coercion * 25 + Cunning bonus must be at least 75, so three points in coercion by itself will do the trick regardless of cunning). If the Warden is in a romance (love) with Morrigan, an unhardened Leliana or an unhardened Alistair, then the Warden's romance partner publicly disapproves if present and Isabela will not go to bed with the Warden. However, if either Leliana or Alistair are not only in a love-relationship with the Warden but have also been "hardened" following their personal quests, then they actually join in the fun for a threesome (or possibly a foursome) and their approval increases. If Zevran is in the party, Isabela invites him as well (regardless of his relationship status with the Warden). If the Warden accepts, Zevran's approval increases. However, Zevran declines the offer if Alistair is included. The following combinations are thus possible:
#Isabela-Warden
#Isabela-Warden-Leliana
#Isabela-Warden-Zevran
#Isabela-Warden-Alistair (female Warden only)
#Isabela-Warden-Leliana-Zevran
Reactions and approval
* If Leliana has been flirted with but has not been hardened by the time Isabela is spoken to, she gets jealous and asks, "What about us?", which will cause Isabela to take back her offer to sleep with the Warden.
* If the Warden is female but not in a relationship with Alistair, he wonders if he's dreaming, and then says that he's going to jump in the ocean. This doesn't occur if Leliana or Zevran joins in. If unhardened Alistair is in a relationship with the Warden, he disapproves of the Warden flirting with Isabela and denies the offer to join in. The Warden cannot bed Isabela in this scenario.
* Morrigan is not nearly as open-minded about Isabela as the other romanceable companions. She strongly disapproves if Isabela is bedded and tells the Warden to rinse off the stench after they are done "rolling around in the gutter". If the Warden is romantically involved with Morrigan a different dialogue occurs. Morrigan gets furious and states that she will not touch the Warden again if he goes through with it. The Warden will not be allowed to bed Isabela in this case. (The only way then is to make sure she is not in the party.)
* (If the Warden is female and Oghren is in the party, he will faint if the Warden and Leliana go to bed with Isabela.)
Inviting a companion to bed with Isabela nets the following approval changes:
: if he joins.
: if she joins and the Warden is female.
: if Isabela's invitation for him to join is accepted.
: if Isabela's invitation for him to join is denied
Once the Duelist specialization has been learned from her, Isabela will have no further dialogue or interactions.
=== Dragon Age II ===
{{SpoilerDA2|
=== Dragon Age: The Silent Grove ===
=== Dragon Age: Those Who Speak ===
=== Dragon Age: Until We Sleep ===
=== Dragon Age: Inquisition ===
== Quests ==
Act 1
:
:
Act 2
:
:
:
: (gift)
:
Act 3
:
:
:
: (gift)
Mark of the Assassin
:
:
== Friendship and rivalry ==
Isabela values fun, freedom and getting ahead; she responds well to sarcasm. Jokes, flirting and a Hawke who solves problems in particularly clever and devious ways will delight her. She also approves if Hawke is slightly selfish in dealing with other people, trying to squeeze a little extra money out of them.
Getting involved in other people's business tends to annoy Isabela, so helping a character just for the sake of helping and not asking for a reward will often earn her ire. She also generally disapproves of rules and authority and attempts by Hawke to enforce rules on other people (especially her).
Another thing to note is that in some cases, Isabela will also respond well to Hawke's decision to not get involved at all in matters of no immediate concern to Hawke or their companions. Butting in to personal discussions, disagreements, and the like will sometimes irk Isabela. This is especially true with people Hawke has never met before.
== Romance ==
== Gifts ==
: - found in a chest during the quest Blackpowder Courtesy in Act 2 when traveling through the smuggler's caves (in a chest near some stairs).
: - found in Act 3 in the Disused Passage at the Docks.
== Statistics ==
=== Dragon Age II ===
==== Initial talents ====
:
Available talent trees	Initially selected talents
 	
 	
 	 
 	
 	
(specialization) 	
==== Initial equipment ====
:
Weapons	 
Armor 	Threads of the Eastern Seas
==== Armor upgrades ====
Upgrades to Isabela's armor, Threads of the Eastern Seas, can be found at the following locations:
: (Act 2) – available at Robes by Jean Luc in Hightown. Extra rune slot.
: (Act 2) – available at Apparel Shop (Tailor) in Lowtown. +(0.25 * DEF(LVL)) defense.
: (Act 2) – found at the Lost End Foundry in Lowtown during the To Catch a Thief quest, in a crate in one of the upstairs rooms. +2% critical chance. 
: (Act 3) – found in a Mountain Cave during the A Murder of Crows quest, on a skeleton near the entrance. Extra rune slot.
If Isabela is romanced, she will update her outfit with a black corset, added goldwork embroidery to the bottom hem of her sash, a red scarf around her right bicep, and replaces the leather pauldron on her left shoulder with a metal one.
==== Restricted weapons ====
: – requires Rogue Item Pack II
: – requires Mark of the Assassin
==== Restricted accessories ====
: – requires Rogue Item Pack
: – requires Mark of the Assassin
=== Dragon Age: Inquisition ===
==== Initial talents ====
:
==== Initial equipment ====
:
Weapons	
Armor 	
==== Restricted armors ====
:
== Quotes ==
=== Dragon Age: Origins ===
* "Be off with you now, and be glad I only took from you your gold! Heh. Fools..."
=== Dragon Age II ===
* "Sailing is like sex. Do it wrong, and it'll make you sick. But do it right, and there's no feeling in the world like it."
* "And then Isabela went to the chantry, and saw that it was boring. Canticle of Isabela, stanza one, verse one."
* "When you get right down to it, we're not responsible for anyone but ourselves. You can choose to be free, or you can choose to be saddled with all the world's problems."
* "I like big boats, I cannot lie."
* "Don't bet anything you're not prepared to lose."
* "You see, sweetness, men are only good for one thing. Women are good for six."
* "Shit. What have you gotten yourself into this time, Isabela?"
=== Dragon Age Inquisition Multiplayer ===
* "Could you please not talk, I have the worst hangover."
* "This is like that time Merrill cooked mushrooms for dinner." (on being rendered unconscious)
* "Where's my lady battering ram when I need her." (Interacting with a Warrior Wall barrier, referencing Aveline)
== Codex entries ==
:
:
:
:
== Note texts ==
:
== Trivia ==
* Isabela was written by Sheryl Chee for Dragon Age II, but David Gaider wrote Isabela for The Silent Grove comic series. 
* Mika Simmons does not voice Isabela in Dragon Age II as she did in Origins; this is to reduce confusion, as she also voiced Anora in Origins.
* According to David Gaider, Isabela always had dark skin. Gaider says the promo art of her being pale is a marketing error. In Origins, she is actually dark skinned, but the lighting of the game makes her pale. This can be checked by putting her model into the DA Toolset and seeing it without the Pearl's bad lighting.
* If Isabela isn't recruited during Act 1, the game will continue normally. The only difference is that the player will not find out what relic was stolen from the Qunari. 
* In Dragon Age II, she will remember her sexual encounter with the Warden, or lack thereof, at the Pearl in Dragon Age: Origins.
* If you take Isabela into the Deep Roads she may comment nervously on how she "really doesn't like tight spaces", implying that she is claustrophobic.
* Upon meeting King Alistair in the Viscount's Keep, Alistair will say that Isabela looks different, to which Isabela will respond "Don't we all." This is probably an in-game joke referring to the changes in character appearance between the games. If imported from Origins where Alistair is exiled or selecting the "No Compromise" backstory, Alistair will be found intoxicated in The Hanged Man, where Isabela and Alistair will not recognize each other. She will say he's been ranting about being the "Prince of Ferelden" all day and he will say she sounds like Morrigan.
* When imagining a single note scent for Isabela, Sheryl Chee likened her to "spice trade, chocolate mousse and unearthed."
* The general similarity between aspects of Duncan's armor and that of Isabela appears to be indicative of a Rivaini style of armor.
* Official reports from various countries report that Isabela spent a total of seven months and twenty-one days in numerous jails in port cities around Thedas over the course of ten years.
* Isabela has "extensive body piercings."
* Isabela once engaged in a drinking game in which contestants were to consume drinks according to how many enemies they had. During the contest, a man died, probably of alcohol poisoning.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 157
== Bugs ==
* In the recruiting quest Fools Rush In, if the player loots the corpses before instructed, it is impossible to recruit Isabela.
* Every time you go to the Qunari Compound with Isabela she will disappear with an "excuse". However, if you speak to her while she is talking, she stops what she's saying and stays with you in the Qunari Compound.
* If Hawke has slept with Isabela and pursues a romance with Merrill, it will put the former's romance in a sort of a "ghost" state making impossible for the Merrill's romance to be completed. This means that the romance dialogues of Isabela still play properly, but in certain situations the game won't acknowledge the fact that it's still active (like making the threesome with Zevran impossible, missing companion interactions, endgame outcomes, etc.). 
** This bug can be fixed by using the console commands "runscript zz_app_debug" or "runscript zz_isa_debug" and adjusting Isabela's romance flag to "Active". This has been tested only with the Zevran threesome dialogue which it fixes, but has not been tested with any other situations and it may break other things.
* If Isabela is romanced, her outfit may not properly update to the newer version. Using the Maker's Sigh potion from the Black Emporium to respec her skills will update her outfit; picking up any armor upgrades for her also seems to work. 
** It has been reported that her romance outfit can also be triggered by pressing the "Escape" key right after the bed scene.
* It is possible that Varric will say that she stayed with the Champion, indicating that she was romanced, even if another companion was romanced. This may happen even if she has left the party.
* Varric will mention Isabela on the docks during the Rise of the Qunari quest regardless of whether of not she was recruited in Act 1.
* Occasionally, Isabela will turn completely white apart from her face before the final battle in Act 3.
* If the Tome is given to Isabela, it is sometimes possible for you to have a scene with her in the Hawke Estate. This can be triggered by speaking to Dog.
* If the Legacy DLC is installed, and you sleep with Isabela but do not pursue a romance, she may still receive her romance armor.
* If Isabela's approval rating is not high enough that she returns to give the Tome of Koslun to the Arishok, she will of course be gone from the party permanently. However, sometimes the game will glitch in such a way that, even though she has left and her friendship was not maxed, Hawke nevertheless has the "Isabela Has Your Back" benefit in the Hawke ability tree, and Isabela's "Threads of the Eastern Seas" outfit remains on the list of armor which can be enchanted with runes. (Confirmed for PS3, unsure about other platforms.)
== Gallery ==
Isabela Face Toolset.PNG|Isabela's Head Morph in DA:O Toolset
Wicked Grace.jpg|Isabela playing Wicked Grace at the Pearl in Dragon Age: Origins.
Isabela.png|Isabela at the Hanged Man tavern in Kirkwall.
Isabela - Destiny trailer.jpg|Isabela, as she appears in the "Destiny"-trailer.
Wallpaper Dragon Age 2 Hawke and Isabela.jpg|Isabela with Hawke.
Dragon Age Those Who Speak 2.jpg|Cover for Dragon Age: Those Who Speak #2.
Isabella.png|Dragon Age II loading screen style fresco of Isabela.
dragonslayer.jpg|Promotional image of Isabela for the Dragonslayer expansion
isabela wotv2.png|Concept art of Isabela in Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2
Promotional Captain Isabela.jpg|Artwork of Captain Isabela in Heroes of Dragon Age
Qunari Isabela HoDA.jpg|Artwork of Isabela as a Qunari in Heroes of Dragon Age
Qunari Isabela HoDA tier.jpg|Artwork of Qunari Isabela's tier progression in Heroes of Dragon Age
Isabela HoDA.jpg|Tier progression of Isabela in Heroes of Dragon Age
Keep Isabela Romance.jpg|Isabela's romance tile in Dragon Age Keep
== References ==
Category:Characters
Category:Dragon Age: Origins characters
Category:Dragon Age II characters
Category:Dragon Age Legends characters
Category:Dragon Age: The Silent Grove characters
Category:Dragon Age: Those Who Speak characters
Category:Dragon Age: Until We Sleep characters
Category:Heroes of Dragon Age characters
Category:Dragon Age: Inquisition
Category:Dragon Age: Inquisition multiplayer playable characters
Category:Humans
Category:Rivaini
Category:Rogues
Category:Duelists
Category:Raiders of the Waking Sea
Category:Slavers
Category:Companions
Category:Dragon Age II companions
Category:Love interests
Category:Dragon Age Legends companions
Category:Inquisition members
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