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Background

You'll receive this quest in Act II shortly after accepting the quest Best Served Cold.


Walkthrough

When you talk to Merrill in her home in Lowtown, she'll tell you that she still can't get the eluvian to work (no matter what you decided at the end of the Act II quest Mirror Image), and she'll ask you to help her summon a demon so she can learn what she's doing wrong. If you agree to help, then you'll gain friendship points with her. If you refuse to help or ask her to meet with Keeper Marethari, then you'll gain rivalry points. Regardless of what you say, you'll accept the quest and earn 1200 xp.

On Sundermount, if you speak to Keeper Marethari at the Dalish camp, then she'll try to convince Merrill to change her mind, without luck. During this conversation, if you ask Marethari to help you repair the eluvian, then you'll gain friendship points with Merrill and rivalry points with Fenris and Sebastian. If you ask Marethari to talk some sense into Merrill, then you'll gain friendship points with Fenris and Sebastian, and rivalry points with Merrill.

To speak with Merrill's demon, you'll need to enter a cave called Pride's End at the top of Sundermount. However, when you reach the demon's prison (#1), you'll find it empty -- and then Keeper Marethari will show up. Marethari will reveal that the demon planned to use the repaired eluvian to escape its prison and kill Merrill, and that to prevent it, Marethari allowed the demon to possess her. You'll then have to fight Marethari in the form of a pride demon, along with some elven spirits.

Note: The elven spirits will disappear when you take the pride demon down to half health, so you can ignore them if you want.

At the end of the battle, Marethari will seemingly come to her senses, and she'll announce that the demon is dead. If you say "I'm glad that's over," then Marethari will stab Merrill (causing an injury), and you'll have to fight the pride demon again (but starting at about a quarter of its health). If you say "You said you had to die," then Merrill will stab Marethari. Either way, the demon will finally die, and you'll earn 1500 or more xp. You'll also find the Torch of Falon'Din and Halla Horn Buckles (an armor upgrade for Merrill) on Marethari's corpse.

After the battle, you'll automatically start up a conversation with Merrill. If you say "She was stupid," then you'll gain rivalry points with Anders, Aveline and Fenris. If you say "You weren't listening," then you'll gain friendship points with Aveline and Fenris. You'll also gain friendship or rivalry points with Merrill: if you're rivals with her, then you'll always gain rivalry points, but if you're friends, then you'll gain friendship points for calling Marethari "stupid" and rivalry points otherwise.

When you exit Pride's End, several Dalish elves will come up to you and ask you where Keeper Marethari is. You'll get three ways to respond:

• If you say "Marethari was possessed," then you'll gain friendship points with Merrill and rivalry points with Fenris.
  
  
• If you say "Stand down," then you'll gain friendship points with Aveline and Merrill, and rivalry points with Fenris.
  
  
• If you say "I'll take responsibility," then you'll gain friendship points with Aveline and Fenris, and rivalry points with Merrill.

For the first two responses, the elves outside the cave will attack you, and then you'll also have to fight the elves in the Dalish camp. These battles will earn you an extra 1000 xp, but you'll lose some useful NPCs, including Master Ilen (a shopkeeper) and Variel (who is required for the quest A Murder of Crows). If you select the last response, then the elves outside the cave will leave you in peace, and the elves in the Dalish camp will react as though nothing happened. Either way, the confrontation with the elves will complete the quest.


1 - Strange Idol


2 - Felandaris


Exits:

1. Exit to Sundermount.