Is it just me or is the quest partially incoherent? I'm pretty sure I'm close to the end because I've been asked to make a decision as to who I will back. But the game and the characters within seem to already know things that weren't clear to me, and I'm not sure if I just wasn't paying attention or if they're really not supposed to be clear.
What I think I know:
- Our players: Celine, Gaspard, Briala
- First, Celine's occult advisor. There's a note in the Grand Library referring to a "Lady M" as the only person Celine can trust. There's also a list of descendants from one of Orlais' previous emperors; Celine, Gaspard and the third woman whose name escapes me but is in Celine's coterie are all on the list.
- Next to the library is a room that takes a Halla sculpture; opening it reveals two dead people and a note from Gaspard, ostensibly for Celine, saying Briala is the real threat and she has some crazy weapon (figuratively or literally). I assume Celine never got this message. Based on the Halla key, I also assume Briala murdered the negotiators (which only just came to mind now--I had the chance to tell Celine's ladies this but at the time I didn't think I had evidence of WHO was responsible).
- The occult advisor, who we originally targeted as a potential assassin, is Morrigan; she gave us a key off a supposed Venatori agent and asked us to help investigate. That key leads to the servants' quarters.
- Speaking of which, Briala has agents at the Winter Palace, but they've been heading into the servants' quarters to investigate something--and then never coming back out.
- Investigating the quarters, you find a ton of dead elves and a bunch of Venatori agents. You kill a bunch of them, and then Briala shows up. By this point, everyone is convinced Gaspard is working with the Venatori. Briala tries to broker an informal deal. I said sure, maybe.
- Back to the ballroom, and now it's time to talk to your crew. Everyone here also seems convinced Gaspard is working with the Venatori; your character says she found Venatori agents and Gaspard's dagger (she did? where? how come I didn't know about it?). But Cullen says it actually doesn't matter WHO is in charge, as long as someone is; Corypheus wants chaos, and having a strong leader will somehow prevent this.
- At this point, I have the option to pick: Celine, Gaspard, Briala, or no one. Having not yet figured out that Briala is responsible for the murdered negotiators, I pick Briala, thinking that she opposes Gaspard based on what she said to me earlier. Cullen then says Briala would have to be the puppeteer for GASPARD.
So here's what I don't get: Gaspard is working with the Venatori. Briala is up to some nefarious stuff herself, and is at the very least unlikely to negotiate in good faith. Neither of these things sound like good ideas. Having told all of this to my crew, everyone jumps immediately to a plan where I blackmail both Briala and Gaspard so that Briala can hold the reins of power and Gaspard can act as figurehead. But GASPARD IS WORKING WITH THE VENATORI and no one thinks this is a bad thing. Even stranger, Leliana is all for Briala because I guess she likes elves? Because there's precious little justification otherwise, my stupid decision to back Briala aside.
Did I miss something? Like, are there entire plot points I simply bypassed because I missed a mission trigger? I still have a few apparent missions like "Speak to Ambassador Briala" and I did leave Celine's ladies in the dark regarding evidence I supposedly had to give them. Basically, none of this makes any sense to me and I feel a lot less sure than when I had to decide who to make the ruler of Ferelden in DA:O, which was itself kind of a shaky decision.
