Summary
- Barkspawn from Dragon Age: Origins may have fathered another heroic hound named Ostagar.
- Barkspawn can die near the beginning of Origins, but this isn’t a very popular choice.
- A codex entry from The Veilguard may indicate that Barkspawn canonically survives the events of Origins.
Anyone who’s played Dragon Age: Origins remembers Barkspawn (or Dog), a faithful mabari war hound that can be recruited in several ways near the beginning of the game, depending on your character’s origin and other circumstances. As it turns out, Barkspawn is referenced in a codex entry in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, meaning he may have canonically survived the events of Origins and beyond.
Most players end up recruiting Barkspawn as the game gives you several opportunities to do so and… who doesn’t love a dog? If you play as a Human Noble then Barkspawn will join you during your origin and remain with you for the remainder of the game. However, other origins will have to cure Barkspawn of the taint in Ostagar and recruit them during one of the two opportunities presented after completing that quest. There’s also the very callous possibility that you can mercy kill Barkspawn instead of curing him. Interestingly, you can actually recruit a different mabari in the Return to Ostagar expansion if you passed up on recruiting Barkspawn. Is this new mabari also Barkspawn? That’s far too multiversal a question to answer in this article, unfortunately.
Once recruited, Barkspawn cannot perish during the events of Origins. He’s not a particularly strong companion but can be an acceptable crowd control-focused off-tank if one wishes to incorporate him into the party. After the events of Origins, Barkspawn is sent to Denerim to repopulate the mabari population, meaning he doesn’t accompany the Warden to Amaranthine during Awakening. He rejoins the player for Witch Hunt, with his fate afterwards unknown. Presumably, he followed the Warden on their quest to cure the Calling.
A Dog Named Ostagar
Barkspawn is then referenced in a codex entry from The Veilguard where he may have fathered another heroic mabari named Ostagar. This offspring is obviously named for the ruins where Barkspawn battled the darkspawn scourge. The codex, titled A Dog Named Ostagar, reads as follows:
He was a scrawny thing. The last left in his litter. The man swore he was descended from the heroic mabari of Ostagar, the fearless dogs who saw the Fifth Blight. But I couldn’t have a dog. After that loss in the Deep Roads, what was left of my life was something I’d face alone.
That night, there was a fire. I hauled buckets with the rest of the villagers and we doused the flames. I found that scrawny puppy. I couldn’t find the man anywhere. I tried to shoo the pup, but two days out of the village and he came tumbling into my camp. I called him Ostagar and said he could stay “for now.”
I meant to find him a place to stay—a farm, a quiet village, maybe some noble’s villa. But Ostagar never wanted to remain behind. “For now” turned into months and then a year and then I couldn’t imagine life without him.
I thought we’d only be in Weisshaupt a week. Then came the darkspawn army, the Archdemon, that god… Ostagar and I ran through the falling towers, and clawed our way through the horde. Then, for the first time in three years, Ostagar wasn’t at my side. I was alone.
When the wall collapsed and smoke filled the room, I pictured Ostagar running. Maybe he’d gotten away. He could escape from Weisshaupt and find that farm I should’ve left him on in the first place. If I was alone, it would be okay if Ostagar was safe.
I heard a darkspawn snarl, then fall silent. I was dragged from the wreckage, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to be—and Ostagar was there wagging his tail.
Evka and Antoine told me there’s trouble all over Thedas. They asked if I’d go to Ferelden and send reports. I’ll show Ostagar the ruins he’s named for. I don’t know if he’s related to those Fifth Blight mabari, but to me, he’s the best of them.
– from Warden Norrie’s journal.
This codex entry is found near a bedroll in Lavendel, in the Hossberg Wetlands. Unfortunately for Ostagar and perhaps for Barkspawn, much of Thedas was wiped out by the Sixth Blight, leaving the fate of these brave mabari unknown.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in the fantasy RPG series from BioWare formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, it focuses on red lyrium and Solas, the aforementioned Dread Wolf.