Fort Drakon

Fort Drakon is an ancient fortress that predates the city of Denerim. The location of Fort Drakon was originally an outpost of the Tevinter Imperium. The Imperium's mages built a tower rising out of a mountain to symbolize its power. The city of Denerim was built around the tower, and after the Imperium lost control of the region, it passed through the control of different teyrns who ruled the area. Fort Drakon eventually settled under the command of the arl of Denerim. The current arl, Rendon Howe, now uses the fortress as a dungeon where the torture of prisoners often occurs.

Involvement
Fort Drakon may be visited twice.

First Visit to Fort Drakon
When rescuing Queen Anora, the Warden will be encountered by a very large contingent of guards, and can choose to surrender to Ser Cauthrien, or attempt to defeat the guards and escape. If they choose to surrender, the Warden, along with Alistair (if he is in the party) are taken as prisoners to Fort Drakon. They can either escape themselves or be rescued by two of their companions. Note: It should be pointed out that the confrontation with Ser Cauthrien is an extremely difficult boss battle requiring very good tactics on the part of the player; some may not be able to win the encounter. An autosave occurs right before the unavoidable encounter, and the player may have to choose to surrender if unable to kill all the guards and Ser Cauthrien.

Once released from or escaping from your imprisonment, you have the option to release the individual in the cell beside you. This doesn't seem to have negative effects with the approval ratings of any party members.

Overview
When choosing to be rescued by two party members, there are three "checkpoints" that the player will have to go through - confronting the two door guards, speaking to the Captain to allow entry into the Fort itself and getting past Guard Tanna to the jail cells beyond. Once past Guard Tanna, the player will have to fight the rest of the way back to the Warden (and Alistair, if he was captured as well). Their success depends on which companion is allowed to take the lead in each of these three encounters. If the player fails at either the door guards or speaking to the Captain, a fight ensues. If the player chooses two companions who are unable to lure Guard Tanna away from her post (for example, Alistair and Oghren), one of the ballistae in the room can be used to create a diversion as an alternative.
 * Alistair: Will be able to bluff his way past all but Guard Tanna.
 * Dog: Will be able to bluff his way past all but Guard Tanna.
 * Leliana: Will be able to bluff her way past all three checkpoints.
 * Morrigan: Will be able to bluff the first two checkpoints unless her companion is Dog, Leliana or Wynne and she is the one doing the talking. She will, however, be able to get Guard Tanna to move aside.
 * Oghren: Will be unable to bluff his way past any of the checkpoints unless partnered with Zevran. If he is partnered with Dog, and is doing the talking, he will be able to get past the door guards but not the Captain.
 * Shale: Shale is not an option to participate in your rescue. It is assumed that (for the same reason she was not allowed to help with the rescue of Anora) her presence is too conspicuous as a known consort of the Warden. And that she's a golem.
 * Sten: Will be unable to bluff his way past the first two checkpoints, regardless of who he is partnered with. If he is partnered with Dog and is doing the talking, he will be able to get past the door guards but not the Captain. He will, however, be able to get Guard Tanna to move aside.
 * Wynne: Will be able to bluff her way past all three checkpoints unless her companion is Dog.
 * Zevran: Will be able to bluff his way past all three checkpoints.

Companion Tactics
Alistair : Alistair's tactic is to claim he has an unspecified delivery to make, unless partnered with Dog and then he will claim to be delivering a Mabari hound to the kennels.

Dog : Dog is a master of manipulation (something that Morrigan notes in one of the cut scenes in Camp) and if allowed to take the lead will bark or fake an illness that neither the guards nor Captain want to deal with. There is no option for him to attempt to bluff past Guard Tanna.

Leliana : Leliana's tactic is to claim delivery of kitchen scraps and bones for the kennel, unless partnered with Dog and then she will claim to be delivering a Mabari hound to the kennels.

Morrigan : Morrigan's tactic is to claim that she has a delivery from the Crafter's Guildhall for the Fort. If partnered with Dog, she will instead claim to be delivering a dog to the kennel, which fails miserably.

Oghren : Oghren will at first attempt to bluff using the same tactics as his other companions (a delivery), but quickly gives this up in favor of fighting his way into the Fort instead. Choosing Oghren for the release also gains you a +7 approval from him. His dwarven charms are, however, completely lost on Guard Tanna.

Sten : Sten will not lie or attempt to walk into the prison covertly - allowing Sten to speak at all ruins the illusion and you will be forced to battle every soldier you encounter in the main passageway including the Captain. Even partnering Sten with silver tongued Zevran will result in failure. If Sten is teamed up with Dog, Dog will fake and illness in order to trick the guards.

Wynne : Wynne will claim to be delivering scarves knitted by the Women's Auxiliary of Denerim for the soldiers of the fort.

Zevran : Zevran will claim delivery of items of an 'intimate' nature (a statement made even more humorous if he is accompanied by any of the three female companions, as it seems to be implied that they are what is being delivered).

Unique Group Compositions

 * Leliana, Morrigan and Wynne: If the player chooses to partner any two of the three women together (Leliana/Morrigan, Leliana/Wynne or Morrigan/Wynne) for the rescue, it will result in them walking up to the guards dressed as Chantry priests supposedly there to 'minister to the condemed'. The guards at first refuse, but relent after Wynne begins praying for the Maker to forgive them, asking that he please not afflict them with boils and other ailments. If you choose to have Morrigan speak instead, she makes a completely unconvincing priestess and nobody buys it. The scenario is the same if Leliana is selected to speak instead of Wynne.
 * Oghren, Sten and Zevran: If the player chooses to partner Oghren with either of the other two men (Oghren/Sten or Oghren/Zevran but not Sten/Zevran) for the rescue, it makes for a very funny cut scene as they try to talk their way into the prison dressed as circus performers there to boost morale. The only successful combination is Oghren and Zevran - and only because Zevran promises that Oghren will keep his pants on during his performance.

Potential Glitch
Due to the frozen position glitch existing in the Xbox 360 version of this game, it is possible that if both the player and Alistair are arrested and sent to Fort Drakon, that the player will become frozen in place if the choice is made for a rescue. This will make it very difficult or impossible to continue the quest from that point.

&gt;As a workaround, close the door from INSIDE the cell using L2/LT and open it again. it should trigger the cutscene.

Second Visit to Fort Drake
The second visit is unavoidable. At the climax, in order to defeat the Archdemon, the Warden must get atop the fortress and confront it there, after its attention is drawn by Riordan. Inside the Fort the Warden will eventually come across Sandal right before they face the Archdemon. He is standing alone, surrounded by dozens of dead Darkspawn. If asked by the player what happened, he will respond only with "enchantment!", giving no further explanation as to why he is in the fortress or surrounded by Darkspawn corpses. Regardless, the player will be able to buy and sell anything from "Sandal's Store", or have enchantments done before the final battle of the game.