Isabela

## History

### Early Life

Isabela's birth name is Naishe. She was born in Rivain to Madam Hari, a notorious thief and charlatan, and an unknown father who was described as "large, hairy, and good with his hands" by her mother. When she became a pirate, the first ship's captain she served under began to call her "Isabela," his "little beauty," as a joke and she eventually adopted the name as her pseudonym.

Madam Hari was a thief and charlatan who had infamously posed as a Rivaini seer to help a village in the Rivaini interior in exchange for coin. When she got bored, she would leave the village to steal from other people or con them into buying mystical charms like the Rivaini Fertility Talisman. These trips could last weeks, and Hari would often take her daughter with her to help. The young Isabela took to dishonesty quickly. But Madam Hari grew disillusioned with the life of a fraud and eventually she converted to the Qun to give meaning to her life. She sold Isabela into marriage with a business associate of the Antivan Crows, Luis, when she refused to convert. While Isabela offers numerous interpretations of the bargain her mother struck when she was given away, she is noted as having told Varric Tethras once that her mother gave her away in exchange for nothing more than the promise that she would be looked after. Luis took her to Antiva City and they were married three weeks later, just shy of Isabela's nineteenth birthday.

As a result, Isabela has a poor opinion of her mother. When romanced, she will say to Hawke, "At least your mother loved you. Not everyone can say that." Similarly, if she is present while speaking to Arianni when beginning the Wayward Son quest, she will comment that Feynriel is lucky to have a caring mother.

Luis was a rich man, buying Isabela many fine things and hiring a tutor to teach her to read and write, but the marriage was loveless and she was treated as his "plaything." Though Isabela enjoyed the first few months of her life with Luis, she quickly became bored, and then angry when it became clear she was expected to act as "befitted the lady of the house". After a year, Isabela began to deliberately antagonize him, thinking he'd let her go. Around this time, she met Zevran Arainai in Antiva City, and promptly started an affair, based mostly on physical attraction and a desire to test her boundaries with Luis. Zevran also taught her the basics of knife combat.

Realizing that his young wife was out of control, Luis resolved to get rid of her. According to his journal, he planned to "lend" her to certain business acquaintances who had expressed an interest. He was assassinated in his bed a week later by Zevran. Isabela provides differing accounts of the exact circumstances of his assassination to different parties. If Isabela is romanced by Hawke she claims that she did not have Luis killed, although she was grateful for his death regardless, however she later claims to Varric that she directly ordered his assassination. The Antivan Crows keep their records secret, and so the identity of the person who wished Luis dead has never been revealed. Though it is unclear whether Isabela contracted the assassination, she helped Zevran accomplish his task by giving him the location of the key to Luis' room.

On the same night, she left the house with nothing but two daggers (given by Zevran, who carried seven on his person) and a sack full of jewelry she used to bribe sailors into helping her commandeer the *Siren's Call*, her husband's ship. They sailed to Llomerryn, where the sailors abandoned her. A day later, Isabela used her untested knife skills to duel a man she has only referred to as the Jackdaw, betting that if she could best him in single combat, he would have to help her hire a crew and find a job. Isabela won the duel, though she's unsure whether the Jackdaw let her win out of pity. She found herself a new crew and a new captain (as she knew she would be unable to captain her own ship and wanted to learn under someone who could). She later killed the captain over an insult and took back control of the *Siren's Call*. There are rumors that she and the Jackdaw started a passionate love affair, though he disappeared never to be seen again a year after they met.

After she became a pirate, Isabela became extremely promiscuous, and soon became a raider—the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Eastern Seas." By the time she landed in Kirkwall, she had been a captain for approximately 10 years.

## Involvement

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:

1. Isabela-Warden
2. Isabela-Warden-Leliana
3. Isabela-Warden-Zevran
4. Isabela-Warden-Alistair (female Warden only)
5. 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:

Alistair approves (+2) if he joins.
Leliana approves (+4) if she joins and the Warden is female.
Zevran approves (+7) if Isabela's invitation for him to join is accepted.
Zevran disapproves (-3) if Isabela's invitation for him to join is denied
***Note:** There is no cutscene for this activity. The screen will fade to black and the game will pick back up with a very brief bit of playful post-sex banter.*

Once the Duelist specialization has been learned from her, Isabela will have no further dialogue or interactions.

### *Dragon Age II*

> “Isabela is the pirate scourge of two coastlines, four nations, and countless tavern floors. She's equally skilled with dagger and insult, and it's hard to know which cuts deeper. It's rare to see her in one place for long, but with her ship reduced to timbers, Isabela's had to content herself with whatever bounty Kirkwall has to offer. And that means no end of headaches for the rich and foolish, and no end of amusement for her. She's as desired as she is feared, which is to say, a lot and often. Fall on her blade, or at her feet—a win is a win, in her book. Shipwrecked, hounded, Isabela hasn't decided if she's cornered yet. She's having too much fun.”
>
>

*See also: Isabela (short story)* ***Note:** The story takes place after the events of Dragon Age: Origins and just prior to Dragon Age II.*
#### Act 1

***Note:** Although she is involved in the major conflict of Act 2, it is entirely possible to not recruit or even meet Isabela, though Varric will still mention her during party banter.*

Isabela is first encountered in a Lowtown tavern named the Hanged Man, brawling with Lucky and his cohorts. If Hawke talks to her after the fight, she asks them to back her up in a duel she's arranged with Hayder, a man she worked with in Antiva and enforcer of the crime lord Castillon, who's been looking for her all over the city. If Hawke agrees, they accompany Isabela to Hightown at night, where they are ambushed by Hayder's men. They then track Hayder himself to the Chantry and kill him.

Isabela reveals that she worked as a smuggler, transporting lyrium, jewels and criminals. She fell out of favor with Castillon, an Antivan merchant with ties to the Felicisima Armada, after she freed the "cargo" of 200 Blight refugees he'd hired her to transport. It is never revealed where she was intended to deliver these slaves, only that Kirkwall was not her destination. Castillon ordered her to retrieve a valuable relic to pay him back for the loss of his slaves, but she lost it in the storm that wrecked her ship on the reefs near Kirkwall. Isabela is confident that getting the relic for Castillon will get him off her back.

#### Act 2

It's possible that Isabela will permanently leave the party at the end of the quest To Catch a Thief, during which she enlists Hawke's help in retrieving the Qunari relic called the Tome of Koslun from another thief called Wall-Eyed Sam. During the quest, Isabela reveals that she stole the tome from the Orlesians, who were attempting to return it to the Qunari. While fleeing a pursuing Qunari dreadnought, both it and Isabela's ship were caught in a storm and shipwrecked, thus explaining the Qunari's and Isabela's current predicaments.

After Hawke and Isabela track Wall-Eyed Sam to the Dark Foundry, Isabela runs away to chase him, leaving the rest of the party alone to plow through Tevinter mages and Qunari led by a Sten. After leaving the building, Hawke finds Isabela's Letter on Wall-Eyed Sam's body. It says that she made off with the Tome of Koslun and is planning to leave Kirkwall. If romanced, or with a high enough friendship or rivalry, she will return at the end of the same act to deliver the relic to the Qunari, saying that Hawke's influence was what made her come back. At this point, Hawke can deliver her to the Qunari for punishment, and to prevent further assault on the city, or choose to duel the Arishok for her life. Defeating the Arishok will cause Isabela to rejoin the party with the option to continue her romance. If given to the Qunari, she will never return in-game, though Varric hints at the start of Act 3 that she may have eluded the Qunari and escaped.

#### Act 3

If Isabela returns in Act 3, her last companion quest No Rest for the Wicked involves her plot to lure Castillon into a trap to get him to stop hunting her and give her his ship. Hawke can allow Isabela to proceed with the deal or force her hand by attacking Castillon, thus killing the slaver.

If asked for her opinion of Anders' actions in The Last Straw, Isabela states that she thinks it was a "bold plan". Isabela sides with Hawke regardless of whether they side with the templars or the mages but will sarcastically mock the righteousness of their actions if Hawke chooses to side with the templars. When the party members say their last words to Hawke before the final battle, Isabela reaffirms her loyalty to them.

#### Fate

Like most of Hawke's companions, Isabela may either remain with Hawke for the whole game, or leave the party at an approval-related crisis point—though in Isabela's case, the question is not whether she will leave the party, as she always does, but rather whether she will return to it, and whether Hawke will take her back once she does. In order for her to return to the party at the climax of Act 2, she must have a Friendship or Rivalry score of fifty or greater, and her final Act 2 companion quest must be completed. If romanced, she will return even if Questioning Beliefs was not completed. On this path, Isabela will either stay permanently at (a successfully romanced) Hawke's side, or disperse to an unknown fate after the epilogue like Hawke's other companions.
If Isabela leaves with the Tome, she makes it to Ostwick, and then continues her old life of piracy. If she is given to the Qunari, Varric says that he heard she escaped the Qunari with the book two days later by jumping into the ocean, but he says he does not know if this is true or not.

### *Dragon Age: The Silent Grove*

***The plot follows BioWare's own canon**, meaning that Alistair is king of Ferelden in the comic's story.*

Isabela accompanies Varric and King Alistair to Antiva City, where they infiltrate the headquarters of the Antivan Crows. After meeting Prince Claudio Valisti, a former "business partner" of Isabela's late husband, Isabela warns Alistair to not trust a word Claudio says.

Isabela assists in infiltrating Velabanchel, and, along with Varric, holds off the Antivan Crows while Alistair goes after his target.

Isabela captains the ship she and her companions use to escape Velabanchel, later navigating through the Tellari swamps. She is the first to attempt to defend Alistair from an attack from Yavana's high dragon.

While leaving the swamps following their meeting with Yavana in the Silent Grove, Isabela is pierced by an arrow. Claudio Valisti turns out to be the culprit, and kidnaps Alistair in exchange for Isabela and Varric's lives. Isabela swears to hunt Claudio down and kill him.
After retreating to the Silent Grove, Isabela demands that Yavana save Alistair. The witch replies that it is not her concern, but Varric bargains with her. Yavana places a mysterious enchantment on the pair, healing Isabela's wound. The two then storm Claudio's camp. Isabela engages Claudio in a duel. Claudio insists that Isabela was not good enough for her late husband, Luis, and that she is trying to seduce Alistair to become queen of Ferelden. He also says that she was dragged out of the gutter because of her marriage, and that Luis lavished her with wine and silks, and after bedding him and whispering kind words in his ear for many nights she had him assassinated. Claudio bests Isabela, and is about to deliver the killing blow when she cuts off his hand, slits his throat and stabs him through the heart.

### *Dragon Age: Those Who Speak*

***The plot follows BioWare's own canon**, meaning that Alistair is king of Ferelden in the comic's story.*

Isabela is the narrator of *Dragon Age: Those Who Speak*. She accompanies Alistair in his hunt for Aurelian Titus as a hired hand and a confidante.

They travel to Qarinus and attend a ball, where she meets a person she appears to be familiar with, Lord Devon. Isabela seems to have a long-lasting hatred for him. Devon is surprised that she is still alive. In a conversation "eye-to-eye" he mentions that Isabela owes him and threatens to reveal to Alistair what happened on the Venefication Sea. She intimidates him into silence by drawing her dagger. Finally, Aurelian Titus arrives. Alistair confronts him, but he flees, leaving his minions to fight for him. The last of them eventually wounds Devon. Isabela knocks Devon's assailant unconscious to the floor, but as he is muttering thanks she stabs him in the chest. She tells her companions that he was killed by Titus's man.

Varric tricks the location of Aurelian's home on Seheron from a captured cultist, and Isabela orders her crew to sail to the island. She keeps the crew terrified by telling them scary stories about horn-headed fanatics. As they approach Sehereon, they are attacked by two Qunari dreadnoughts.

The trio are captured by the Qunari and are moved to a Qunari war camp, Akhaaz. Isabela is kept in a cell separately from Varric and Alistair. She is interrogated by Rasaan, a tamassran who asks Isabela what the meaning of her name is. Isabela reveals that her first captain called her "little beauty" as his idea of a joke. Then Rasaan asks her what happened to him and Isabela answers that she killed him. She also admits that even if she made many mistakes in her life, she doesn't feel any guilt. When the tamassran asks more questions, Isabela has an outburst in anger, causing Rasaan to strike her and tell her that mistakes can be corrected before leaving the cell.

Rasaan eventually returns to Isabela's cell and repeatedly demands that she tell her her true name. She threatens Isabela with qamek, but Isabela still refuses to reveal anything. After Rasaan tries to gently persuade Isabela by saying she may know what happened to her mother, Isabela begins to open up about her past.

She reveals that her mother was a Qunari convert who sold Isabela to Luis because she refused to convert. Eventually, Isabela found herself deep in debt to the Felicisima Armada, and resorted to slave trafficking in order to pay off her debts.

One day, the Orlesian navy cornered their ships in the Venefication Sea. Lord Devon had packed the holds too tightly and Isabela failed to outmaneuver the Orlesians. Fearing capture, they threw the chained slaves overboard to drown. Isabela swore then that she would never traffic slaves again. Rasaan comforts Isabela, but when she still refuses to reveal her name, Rasaan strikes her again and attempts to force her face into the qamek. This would in effect make her viddath-bas rather than viddathari, as conversion to the Qun would be involuntary for Isabela.

Isabela overpowers Rasaan and escapes her cell. Isabela eventually locates the cell where Alistair and Varric are held. She releases them, telling them to escape, while she goes to rescue her crew. In the end, Isabela finds her crew and tells them about the dangers of trying to escape and asks them to choose whether they want to stay or come with her. Her crew decides to come with her.

However, before she has a chance to open up the cells, Rasaan appears. She says that the other Qunari thought she'd try to escape but she knew her better. The enraged Rasaan doesn't care about converting Isabela anymore, believing that the only solution is her death. In the fierce battle that ensues, Rasaan is eventually defeated. Isabela holds her dagger to Rasaan's throat, ready to kill. She then tells her that her birth name was Naishe but it isn't anymore. She then drives the dagger into the ground, deliberately missing Rasaan's head, thus showing that she had no intention of killing her.

At the same time, Alistair duels Sten (now the Arishok) and defeats him. Alistair refuses to kill him and instead offers him to work together against Titus, an offer which Sten accepts. Accompanied by two Qunari dreadnoughts, Isabela, Alistair, Varric, Sten and her crew set sail once more in her restored pirate ship towards Titus' stronghold in Seheron.
On board the ship, Isabela again reaffirms her determination to help Alistair with his mission.

### *Dragon Age: Until We Sleep*

***The plot follows BioWare's own canon**, meaning that Alistair is king of Ferelden in the comic's story.*

Qunari dreadnoughts attack Aurelian Titus' fortress and Varric infiltrates the building while Isabela and Alistair assault the fortress directly with the Qunari. Prior to this, Sten/the Arishok tells Alistair and Isabela the Qunari version of the myth of King Calenhad, and how he made a deal with a mysterious witch to drink dragon blood to become a Reaver and create Ferelden.

Varric's attempt to free King Maric from the Magrallen causes everyone to be pulled into the Fade. Isabela is found trapped in a nightmare created by magister Aurelian Titus in the Fade, where she is a Qunari and no longer remembers her true past. Varric and Maevaris Tilani find her but she doesn't recognize them as anyone but bassra and attacks them. Eventually Titus finds them and summons demons to kill them all. The trio all escape and once safe, Varric tries to remind her of who she really is and that this Qunari facade is not who she wants to be. Although she initially believes it would be easier to submit to others' expectations, she is eventually convinced that she does not want to be defined by others; thus making peace with her doubts and trials and also becoming content with her self perception and dignity as a hero. The trio then heads off in search of Alistair. They find Alistair with the real Maric in the Fade and together convince King Maric to aid them in killing Aurelian Titus. Isabela rejoins Alistair and Varric to attack Titus and distract him long enough to allow Maevaris and Maric to kill him. After escaping the Fade, she is present when Alistair shatters the Magrallen, killing Maric. Afterwards she asks Varric if Alistair made the right decision, to which he replies that he doesn't know.
Afterwards, Isabela leaves her ship, her destination unknown.

### *Dragon Age: Inquisition*

*If Isabela was recruited:*

The Inquisitor can ask Varric Tethras about her fate. Varric states that she went back to the Raiders of the Waking Sea and is calling herself an admiral. Varric admits he isn't sure if she actually has a position of authority within the Raiders or if it's just another self-styled title.

*If Isabela was romanced:*

Later upon asking Hawke why they are alone, they state that they and Isabela never really believed in being tied down and so she understood when they had to go into hiding. Hawke still plans to reunite with her someday. If Hawke survives the encounter with the Nightmare demon, Varric comments that Isabela will follow them to Weisshaupt whether Hawke likes it or not.
Isabela reaches an agreement with the Inquisition, serving as one of their field agents on a number of raids across Ferelden and Orlais.

## Physical Description

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.

## Personality

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.

## Relationships

However, like Fenris, Isabela will not move into the Hawke Estate.

**Keeping the Isabela Romance:** Isabela is usually the first romance to become available, thus, if a player wishes to keep her as the primary love interest, they may encounter certain challenges. Generally speaking, if another companion is romanced and moves in with Hawke, the move automatically breaks off all other romances, including Isabela (who will never move in). However, that does NOT mean it is safe to romance other characters as long as they don't move in. It is confirmed (1.04) that simply sleeping with Merrill can (and likely will) break off the romance with Isabela. In other words, even if you sleep with Merrill and immediately break it off at the first possible opportunity (right after sex), you will most likely have terminated the Isabela romance regardless. In such a case, you can and likely will end up without either romance. But if you want to sleep with Merrill and afterwards romance Isabela, the solution is to simply not speak to Isabela in Act 2 until you had sex with Merrill and broke the romance afterwards.

In Act 2, talk to her in the Hanged Man and choose all the possible flirt options for both quests. The quests will be available from the start of the Act, and afterwards she will approach Hawke in their estate. If Hawke chooses to engage in the romance scene, she will be reluctant to bring love into their relationship. Isabela will state that they were merely "rutting" and that her "curiosity is sated" and will ask if Hawke intended something more. Hawke then has two dialogue options: "Why not?" and "Of course not." The first opens up an option to continue the romance, and Isabela will then reveal the circumstances of her past: her mother sold her into marriage to her husband for a goat and some coins against her will. She was forced to remain with him until Zevran assassinated him, allowing her to take over the ship and become captain herself. Isabela will also reveal that she has only truly loved someone once, a man of unknown name, but she fled after he asked for her hand and broke his heart in the end. Though she will seem annoyed at Hawke for questioning her, she will walk away with +10 friendship if she is asked (or +10 rivalry, if the romance is based on rivalry).

***Note:** Isabela should be questioned about love ("Why not?") in order to get the Romantic achievement. In some circumstances, failing to do so by selecting "Of course not" locks Hawke and Isabela in a quasi-romance where other characters will remark on their relationship, but the achievement will not be gained and later romance scenes may not occur. It is also possible that Isabela may not show up to comfort Hawke after All That Remains. When romanced, it is possible that Isabela's outfit change will not occur. For a solution see the Bugs section.*

If Isabela is romancing Hawke she will return at the end of Act 2 with the Tome of Koslun. If Hawke kills the Arishok rather than let him take her, she will argue with Hawke and leave Kirkwall, telling the Champion "I didn't do it for them. I did it for you. It was always about you."  Isabela spends some time away from Kirkwall, returning just before the start of Act 3. She feels that returning the relic to the Qunari was a foolish decision and partially blames Hawke for getting her in more trouble with Castillon. After her quest No Rest for the Wicked is finished, she offers Hawke a position on her new ship, admitted if someone like Hawke was on board her old one, she would likely never have crashed. She then admits nervously she thinks she is falling for Hawke and asks if Hawke feels the same way, which the Champion can accept or deny.

If Hawke has engaged in a rivalry romance and told her to keep the ship, she will admit regretting doing so. If she was not allowed to have it, she'll say that she is happy that Castillon is gone, and that she feels good about avenging the people he wronged. She then will say she is willing to change "for you", if she is given some time. The rest of the dialogue is the same as the friendship romance.

### Fenris

They take up a physical relationship, but there appear to be no emotions involved.

## Possessions

* **Ship in a Bottle**
* **Rivaini Talisman**

## Trivia

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."