A Whole Lot of Silence and Trousers - Things to Do in Lothering, When it's Dead.

DRAGON AGE ORIGINS [DAO] STORY - LOTHERING
Content - Child Abandonment, Conjectured Cannibalism, Objectivists, Grumpopotomi, Bronson Pinchot

The thing about Lothering is that it's mostly just a place to get your bearings, Leliana and Sten, before you take those things to choice-of-four trainwrecks in progress:
REDCLIFFE - your persepctive ally is poisoned, his son is possessed and the dead are attacking every night.
CIRCLE OF MAGI - Blood magic and abominations ahoy!
ORZAMMAR - Prince Satan-dwarf and Lord Conserva-dwarf are fighting over the crown that Prince Satan-dwarf killed his dad and siblings to get at.
FOREST - The elves are getting bit by werewolves?  Ok, this one is a little weak
With all of that going down, you might be forgiven for wanting to light out of Lothering as fast as you can.  But the other thing about Lothering is that the moment you roll out the darkspawn roll in, and kill everyone.  So here, since it's New Year's Eve,* and super lists are a thing on the internets, are things you can do in Lothering.

1. Collect Sten.  Not that you need all the fighters they give you, and he's the grumpiest grumpasaurus in the grump brigade.  But he has no horns, which, as you will later find out, is pretty unique among Qunari.  Don't ask about Qunari, though.  No one but Sten knows about them and STEN IS NOT HERE TO EDUCATE YOUR BAS ASS.

2. Troll Chanter Devins.  That never gets old.  A Chanter says what?

3. Talk to the Chasind doomsayer.  That's not a cultural title or anything.  He's just a Chasind (that's local swamp folk) who looks like Balki Bartokamos and speaks of DOOOOOOM!  I think you can fight or intimidate him.  Sooney was nice and then inspired the other people to maybe do something brave before they all died.  She left before that could shake out.

4. Threaten the Revered Mother!  +5 Reputation with Morrigan never felt so satisfying.  Trust me, most of the time you have to be a much bigger shitheel to get her approval.

5. Troll the ginger moppet who's lost his mother.  Actually, I gave him some money and then went looking for his mom.  She's been killed by bears.  I assume that the money I gave the kid became something he ate and, in good time a little more meat on his bones when the darkspawn roast him alive.  It's the circle of life. people.

6. Don't give money to the elves who got robbed.  Sooney was given three different shades of telling them to eff off and one option where she could tell them she killed the bandits who robbed them (she didn't).  I have a feeling I sent that family to their deaths.

7. Trolling Morrigan by talking to the Templars.  They have freaky eyes in their helmets.

8. Finding Bodan and Sandal, who will tell you they aren't traveling with you, but will then immediately show up in your camp every time you make it.

9. Negotiate a trade dispute between a war profiteer and a Chantry Sister.  Annoy Morrigan if you do anything other than throw your unstinting support behind the guy offering you a handful of silver coins.

10. Spend all your money buying crap from the war profiteer before you realize the guy in the tavern has better stuff.

11.  Wonder why you decided to let the religious maniac come along.

12.  Wonder why you let grumpopotomus out of his cage.

13. Wonder why you let Morrigan follow you.  Realize that the reason for #13 is so you can listen to Morrigan troll Alistair and Leliana, and the reason for #11 and  #12 is so they can troll Morrigan.

14. Make normal traps for a local lady, not any of those poison traps.

15.  Find out the Qun doesn't like women fighting.**  And that Qunari are as obtuse as Objectivists, though the Qun is collective.  Imagine the heads of Objectivist exploding.  Perhaps when Qunari hit said heads with axes.***

16. Get mobbed by spiders and spend the entire fight in webs while your friends do... who knows what.

17. Get mauled by bears, such that only Morrigan remains standing.  Flee the bears, run into town, realize the bears are still aggroing you.  Consider trying to lead them into the Chantry and then barring the door from the outside.  +5 Reputation with bears.

18.  Tell the leader of the Templars you're Wardens.  Get told by the leader of the Templars that you didn't just tell him that.

19. Fantasize about how much better the later games in the series look and control.

20.  Be a dick to the Redcliffe knight and tell him that his friend is dead only after you've pumped him for information about the Urn of Sacred Ashes, because you know he'll leave the moment he knows.

* I prefer New Years to Christmas in most respects, since it's more elective and less obligatory, as well as more friends and less family.  Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but they're mostly teetotalers out of necessity or inclination, and I am kind of not.

** They are okay with transfolk, though!  Also with people boinking who they want to boink as long as they only have kids when and where and with whom they are told.  Non-binary folk, though, are right out.

*** -5 Reputation with Ayn Rand, which makes a very, very low number for me, since I cannot, in any way, be described as "angular."