summation
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The Barkspawn from Dragon Age: Origins may have spawned another heroic hound named Ostagar.
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Barkspawn can die at the beginning of Origins, but this isn't a very popular choice.
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A codex entry in The Veilguard may indicate that Barkspawn canonically survived the events of Origins.
Anyone who has played Dragon Age: Origins will remember the Barkspawn (or Dog), the loyal Mabari war hounds who can be recruited in a variety of ways at the beginning of the game, depending on the character's origins and other circumstances. As it turns out, Barkspawn is mentioned in the codex entry for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, meaning he may have canonically survived the events of Origins and beyond.
Most players will eventually recruit a Barkspawn, as the game offers several opportunities to do so. Who doesn't love dogs? If you play as a Human Noble, the Barkspawn will join you during your origin period and stay with you for the rest of the game. However, Other Origins requires you to cure Ostagar's tainted Barkspawn and recruit them from one of two opportunities provided after completing that quest. There's also the very chilling possibility that you could mercy kill the Barkspawn instead of healing it. Interestingly, if you've given up on recruiting Barkspawn, you can actually recruit other Mabari in the Return to Ostagar expansion. Are these new Mabari also Barkspawn? Unfortunately, these are too many questions to answer in this article.
Once recruited, Barkspawn cannot be destroyed during the Origins event. He's not a particularly powerful companion, but if you want to include him in your party, he can be taken as an off-tank focused on crowd control. After the events of Origins, Barkspawn were sent to Denerim to repopulate the Mabari population. That means he doesn't accompany the Warden as Amaranthine during Awakening. He rejoins the player for the witch hunt, with his subsequent fate unknown. Perhaps he followed the Warden to cure Su Ming.
A dog named Ostagar
Barkspawn is mentioned in the codex entry for The Veilguard and may be the father of another heroic Mabari named Ostagar. This offspring is apparently named after the ruins where Barkspawn fought the darkspawn scourge. A codex titled A Dog Named Ostagar states:
He was a skinny man. There was one last thing left in his trash. The man swore that he was a descendant of the heroic Mabari of Ostagar, brave dogs who witnessed the Fifth Apocalypse. But I couldn't have a dog. After that loss at Deep Roads, what was left of my life was something I had to face alone.
That night, a fire broke out. I, along with the rest of the village, took a bucket and started a fire. I found that scrawny puppy. I couldn't find him anywhere. I tried to chase the puppy away, but two days after leaving town, the puppy rolled into my camp. I told him he could call Ostagar and stay “for the time being.”
I tried to find him a place to stay. A farm, a quiet village, maybe a nobleman's villa. But Ostagar never wanted to be left behind. “Now” turned into months, then a year, and I couldn’t imagine life without him.
I thought we would only be in Weisshaupt for a week. Then came the army of darkspawn, the Archdemon, his God… Ostagar and I ran through the collapsing tower and made our way through the horde. Then, for the first time in three years, Ostagar was not with me. I was alone.
As the walls collapsed and smoke filled the room, I imagined Ostagar running. Maybe he ran away. He was able to escape from Weisshaupt and find the farm I should have left to him in the first place. If I were alone, I would be fine as long as Ostagar was safe.
The darkspawn growled, then fell silent. I was pulled from the wreckage, but I wasn't sure I wanted to be. And Ostagar was there wagging his tail.
Evka and Antoine said there was trouble throughout Thedas. They asked me if I would go to Ferelden and send them a report. I will show Ostagar the ruins that bear his name. I don't know if he's related to Fifth Blight Mabari, but to me he's the best of them all.
– From Director Nori’s journal.
This codex entry is found near Lavendel's bed in the Hossberg Wetlands. Unfortunately for Ostagar, and perhaps the Barkspawn, most of Thedas was wiped out by the Sixth Blight, and the fate of these brave Mabari is unknown.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in BioWare's fantasy RPG series, previously known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, the game focuses on the aforementioned direwolves Red Lyrium and Solas.
