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Background

You'll receive this quest from Varric at the conclusion of the quest A Business Discussion.


Walkthrough

Varric will tell you that his Deep Roads expedition is currently lacking a good entrance into the Deep Roads, and he'll ask you to find one. To that end, he'll suggest that you track down the Grey Warden living in Kirkwall, since Grey Wardens frequently travel through the Deep Roads when hunting darkspawn. Varric won't know where the warden is staying, but he'll speculate that Lirene (of Lirene's Fereldan Imports in Lowtown) might have an idea.

When you talk to Lirene, no matter what you say to her, she'll reveal that the Grey Warden, a mage named Anders, has a clinic in Darktown. However, if you're friendly with Lirene and tell her that you mean Anders no harm, then you'll gain friendship points with Bethany, Carver, and Varric. If you instead threaten Lirene, then you'll gain rivalry points with Varric.

Outside Lirene's shop, you'll be stopped by a group of angry refugees. If you let Bethany or Carver talk to them, then they'll leave you alone, and you'll gain friendship with your sibling. Anything else you say will cause the refugees to attack you. If you're aggressive with the refugees, then you'll also gain rivalry with Aveline, Bethany and Carver.

When you talk to Anders in Darktown, he'll make you a deal. If you help him free his friend Karl from the Kirkwall Circle, then he'll show you his maps to the Deep Roads. No matter what you say to him, you'll end up agreeing to this deal, and Anders will tell you that he's planning to meet with Karl in the Chantry tonight. All you'll need to do is show up for the meeting and make sure that Karl escapes safely.

Inside the Chantry, you'll learn that it's too late for Karl -- the templars already made him tranquil, and they only allowed him into the Chantry as bait for Anders. You'll then have to fight the templars, including a templar lieutenant, but you'll have Anders on your side in "Justice mode." After the battle, Karl will lose his tranquility for a few moments, and he'll ask Anders to kill him. No matter what you recommend, Anders will comply.

Note: If Bethany is with you, then you'll receive friendship with her if you recommend that Anders should kill Karl. Otherwise you'll receive rivalry.

Afterwards, you'll automatically return to Anders' clinic in Darktown. Anders will describe how he merged with a Spirit of Justice (which will make more sense if you played Awakening), and he'll become available as a companion. Between the battle in the Chantry and the completion of the quest, you'll also earn somewhere between 600 and 900 xp.

Note: If you quickly loot the templar lieutenant before you're transported to Darktown, then you'll find Sir Alrik's Letter on his corpse, and picking it up will give you the "letters and notes" codex entry for Templar Letter.