Crime Wave – Dragon Age: Origins Quest

This guide will walk you through the “Crime Wave” quest in Dragon Age: Origins. We will go through all the steps to complete this mission.

Map

Legend

1. Slim Couldry
2. Market Stalls
3. Wonders of Thedas
4. Mages’ Collective Liaison
5. Gnawed Noble Tavern
6. Warehouse

Background

If your main character has the Stealing skill or the Stealth talent, then a fence named Slim Couldry (#1) will show up in the Denerim Market District and give you this quest.

Crime Wave

Couldry will offer to tell you about several marks in Denerim that you can rob for profit. You’ll just have to pay him some money for the tips. If you have the Stealing skill, then you’ll be able to learn about the pickpocketing and the stealth marks (by telling Couldry “I want to know about it all”), but if you only have the Stealth talent, then you’ll only be able to learn about the stealth marks. The marks are described below.

Pickpocketing Marks:

• Lady’s maid (50 silvers). You’ll find her at the market stalls (#2), near Cesar. If you pickpocket her then you’ll receive a Pouch of Gems, which you’ll be able to sell for 1 sovereign.
• Ser Nancine (1 sovereign). You’ll find her in the back of the Wonders of Thedas shop (#3). You’ll have multiple ways of robbing her. If your pickpocketing skill is good enough, then you can use that. Otherwise, if you talk to her, then you’ll get all sorts of options for relieving her of her sword, including through the use of coercion, herbalism, and poison-making. If you want to, you can also “diagnose” her illness, and sell her some “medicine” for it, and earn anywhere from 5 silvers to 2 sovereigns for your efforts (although, as of version 1.02, you won’t actually receive any money). If you’re feeling particularly nasty, then you can also kill her with poison. Regardless, if you’re successful, then you’ll end up with Ser Nancine’s Ornamental Sword, which you’ll be able to sell for 2 sovereigns and 50 silvers.
  • Note: If you steal Nancine’s sword through dialogue, then you’ll also be able to pickpocket it from her, and end up with two swords.
• Master Tilver (3 sovereigns). You’ll find him next to the Mages’ Collective liaison (#4), flanked by a pair of guards. The guards won’t allow you to approach Tilver, but you can talk your way past them, sneak past them, or pay the nearby messenger 10 silvers to distract them. Regardless, when you rob Tilver, you’ll gain a Silversmith’s Key, which you’ll be able to use to unlock a pair of chests at the market stalls (#2). Inside the chests you’ll find gems and valuables worth about 8 sovereigns.
• Seneschal (6 sovereigns). Once the Landsmeet has been called, Couldry will tell you that Loghain’s seneschal is currently in town, in the Gnawed Noble Tavern (#5), and that he has Teyrn Loghain’s Crown with him. When you enter the tavern, you’ll find the seneschal on the western side, in the common room with the Blackstone Irregulars liaison. You’ll have three ways to get the crown from him:
  • You can just walk into the room and fight the seneschal and his guards, and then pick up the crown from his corpse. (This is the path you’ll end up following for most cases if you try to talk to the guards at the door, or if you try to sneak to the seneschal.)
  • You can intimidate the guards into leaving, and then intimidate the seneschal into giving you the crown. If you get the crown from the seneschal through dialogue, then you’ll also be able to steal it from him, and end up with two crowns.
  • You can talk to one of the waitresses near the bar, and ask her to “pamper” the guards (possibly costing you 3 sovereigns), or serve the guards a potent liquor (costing you 5 sovereigns), or poison the guards (if your main character knows about poisons). These options should distract or incapacitate the guards, but the options are a little bit buggy, and you’ll probably end up fighting the guards instead.

Regardless of how you acquire the crown, you’ll be able to sell it for 12 sovereigns. Nobody will comment if you kill the guards rather than rob them.

Burglary Marks:

• Sophie’s room (1 sovereign). You’ll find her room in the Gnawed Noble Tavern (#5). Sophie will have a guard out front, but the guard won’t notice if you pick the lock and rob Sophie blind. Stealth isn’t necessary. Inside the room you’ll find 2 sovereigns and more. If you robbed Sophie before talking to Slim, then he’ll reimburse you the fee.
• Arl Howe’s warehouse (4 sovereigns). You’ll find the warehouse in the southern part of the district (#6). When you go inside, you’ll get attacked by several thugs, including two “yellow” thug leaders. The battle with the thugs can be difficult, and there isn’t any way to avoid it. We’d recommend that you take out the crossbowmen first, and then deal with the leaders last. After dispatching the thugs, when you loot the three locked chests in the warehouse, you’ll find six Silver Bars, which you’ll be able to sell for 9 sovereigns.
• Bann Franderel’s Estate (10 sovereigns). Once the Landsmeet has been called, Couldry will tell you about Bann Franderel, “one of the richest men in the entire kingdom,” and how he’s planning to display his treasures at a party next week. Couldry will then give you a key that will allow you to bypass the magical wards at the estate, and so all you’ll need to do is sneak past the guards.
  • You’ll find the estate at a location marked “Bann of West Hill’s Estate” on the Denerim map. The estate will be deserted, but when you get to the treasure room, you’ll discover that it’s empty except for a wooden crate, and then a bunch of soldiers and traps will appear in the rooms behind you, and you’ll either need to fight or sneak your way out.
  • Note: To leave the estate, you’ll need to click on a grate in the floor near where you started.
  • When you return to Couldry, he’ll be embarrassed that he sent you into a trap, and he’ll refund your money. He’ll then leave the city for a while.
• Bann Franderel’s Estate, Part 2. After completing the Landsmeet, Couldry will return to his spot in the Denerim Market District, and he’ll give you a free tip to make up for the mistake he made last time. He’ll tell you that Bann Franderel has the Tears of Andraste in his “real” vault, which can be found through a secret door in his wine cellar, and he’ll encourage you to steal it as payback for the trap Franderel set for you.
  • When you return to Bann Franderel’s estate, you’ll enter through a chimney, and you’ll find yourself on the eastern side of the south wing. You’ll then need to head west to reach the wine cellar with the secret door. There are two ways you can get there:
    • You can sneak past the guards. As long as you stay stealthed (and your non-stealthed party members stay out of the way), the guards won’t detect you, even if you walk right up to them or open a door beside them. We’ve done this with a character with only two ranks of stealth, so you don’t need to be especially skilled to make it through the estate.
    • Note: During your trip, if you enter the dining hall, then you’ll find a drink table that you can poison. Unfortunately, as of version 1.03, this sequence won’t accomplish anything (a servant might deliver the poison, but nothing will happen to the guards who drink it).
    • You can barge your way through the estate and kill all of the guards you encounter, including a “yellow” mercenary captain and a “yellow” captain of the guard. You’ll get more xp for completing the trek this way.

In the room just before the treasure room, you’ll encounter a pair of “yellow” golems. If you step on any of the pressure plates in the room, then the golems will come to life and attack you, and the room will fill with an acid fog. In the treasure room itself, you’ll find the Tears of Andraste, an Exalted Maul, and more. After taking the Tears, you’ll just need to head to one of the exits in the estate (either the chimney you used to get in this time or the grate you used last time) to complete your burglary.

Note: If you killed your way through the estate, then picking up the Tears will cause more guards, including another “yellow” captain of the guard, to spawn in the room beyond the wine cellar.

When you return to Couldry, you’ll have to decide what to do with the Tears. You can give them to Couldry to give to the Chantry, you can give them to the Chantry yourself, or you can keep them. None of these options will affect anything, and you won’t be able to do anything with the Tears. However, if the Tears end up with the Chantry, then Couldry will reward you with 10 sovereigns and 250 xp (plus 350 xp extra if you sneaked through the estate). Otherwise you won’t receive anything.