Summary
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Barkspawn from Dragon Age: Origins may have spawned another heroic dog named Ostagar.
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Barkspawn can die near the beginning of Origins, but this is not a very popular choice.
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A codex entry from The Veilguard may indicate that Barkspawn canonically survive the events of Origins.
Anyone who has played Dragon Age: Origins remembers the Barkspawn (or Dog), a faithful mabari war dog that can be recruited in several ways near the beginning of the game, depending on your character's origin and other circumstances. It turns out that Barkspawn is referenced in a codex entry in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, meaning he may have survived the events of Origins and beyond.
Most players end up recruiting Barkspawn because the game gives you multiple opportunities to do so and… who doesn't love a dog? If you play as a Human Noble, Barkspawn will join you during your origin and stay with you for the rest of the game. However, other origins must cure the Barkspawn from the taint in Ostagar and recruit them under one of the two opportunities presented after completing that mission. There is also the very emotional possibility that you can mercy kill the Barkspawn instead of curing him. Interestingly, you can actually recruit another mabari in the Return to Ostagar expansion if you missed recruiting the Barkspawn. Is this new mabari also Barkspawn? It's far too multifaceted a question to answer in this article, unfortunately.
Once recruited, Barkspawn cannot perish during Events in Origins. He is not a very strong companion but can be an acceptable crowd control focused off-tank if you want to include him in the party. After the events of Origins, Barkspawn is sent to Denerim to repopulate the mabari population, meaning he does not accompany the Warden to Amaranthine during the Awakening. He joins the player for the Witch Hunt, with his fate afterwards unknown. Presumably he accompanied the Warden on their quest to cure the summoning.
A dog named Ostagar
Barkspawn is then referenced in a codex entry from The Veilguard where he may have given birth to another heroic mabari named Ostagar. This offspring is apparently named after the ruins where the Barkspawn fought the scourge of the darkspawn. The codex, entitled A Dog Named Ostagar, reads as follows:
He was a skinny thing. The last one left in his litter. The man swore that he was descended from the heroic mabari of Ostagar, the fearless dogs who saw the fifth breach. But I couldn't have a dog. After that loss in Deep Roads, what was left of my life was something I would face alone.
That night there was a fire. I pulled buckets with the rest of the villagers and we put out the flames. I found that skinny puppy. I couldn't find the man anywhere. I tried to shoot the puppy, but two days outside the village he came tumbling into my camp. I called him Ostagar and said he could stay “for now.”
I thought of finding a place for him to live — a farm, a quiet village, perhaps some noble villa. But Ostagar never wanted to stay. “For now” turned into months and then a year and then I couldn't imagine life without him.
I thought we would only be in Weisshaupt for 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 was not by my side. I was alone.
As the wall collapsed and smoke filled the room, I imagined Ostagar running. Maybe he had gotten away. He was able to escape Weisshaupt and find that farm I should have left him at in the first place. If I was alone, it would be okay if Ostagar was safe.
I heard a snarling darkspawn and then silence. 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 is trouble all over Thedas. They asked if I would go to Ferelden and send reports. I will show Ostagar the ruins he is named after. I don't know if he's related to those Fifth Blight mabarians, but to me he's the best of them.
– from warden Norrie's journal.
This codex entry is found near a bedroll in Lavender, in the Hossberg Wetlands. Unfortunately for the Ostagar and perhaps for the Barkspawn, much of Thedas was wiped out by the Sixth Plague, leaving the fate of these brave mabaris unknown.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the highly anticipated 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.
