Dragon Age: Deception

Dragon Age: Deception
Published by	Dark Horse Comics
Written by	Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir
Illustrators	Fernando Heinz Furukawa (artist) Sachin Teng (cover) Michael Atiyeh (colorist)
Release date	October 17, 2018 (1st issue) November 14, 2018 (2nd issue) December 12, 2018 (3rd issue)

Dragon Age: Deception is a three-part comic by BioWare and Dark Horse Comics. It is written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir and illustrated by Fernando Heinz Furukawa.

It tells the tale of Olivia Pryde, a failed actress turned con artist, as she targets the heir of a wealthy house, Calix Qintara.

Plot

“Dragon Age: Deception will weave a twisted tale about a con artist in Tevinter. The main character will be Olivia Pryde, a failed actress turned successful con artist who journeys to the city of Ventus. There she targets the heir of a wealthy house, Calix Qintara. But as Olivia gets closer to Calix, she realizes that he is not exactly who he says he is; Olivia soon recognizes that she may be in too deep, and that they may no longer be playing her game.”

Olivia Pryde is a failed actress turned con artist. She heads to the Tevinter city of Ventus, under imminent threat of invasion by the Qunari, to target Calix Qintara, the son of a reclusive magister, newly emerged from his family’s estate. She passes herself off as Magister Aramis, investigating rumors of Qintara’s collaboration with the Venatori. She tracks Calix down to a tavern but before she approaches him, she notices the presence of Ser Aaron Hawthorne, a former mark as well as a former lover, in conversation with Dorian Pavus. When she makes contact with Calix, she quickly realizes that Calix is a con artist as well. After a few attempts at sabotaging each other’s work, they agree to hold a contest: whoever can first con anything out a predetermined target will be the winner; the loser will leave town.

Olivia and Calix make a bet with each other

They settle on Francesca and Florian Invidus. While Olivia resumes her role as Magister Aramis and tells Florian that she's investigating his family, Calix attempts to flirts with Francesca. Before Olivia can seal the deal with Florian, Calix obtains a focusing gem from Francesca. Olivia exposes him as a con artist in front of the siblings, prompting Calix to do the same. They run off together when Florian and his house guards attack them, and run straight into Ser Aaron, who offers them his help in exchange for their own.

In exchange for having Dorian use his authority as a magister to get rid of Florian, Ser Aaron demands that Olivia and Calix help his associate, Vaea, obtain the floor plans to the Qintara estate. They accept, and return to the tavern to formulate a plan. They quickly realize that, as a landmark of Ventus, the Qintara estate plans are kept in the official city records. They resolve to talk their way into the records rather than break in. Calix is accosted by two Antivan Crows, who offer to help by creating a distraction if Calix retrieves a ledger for them. Olivia is initially reluctant to accept their help, but ultimately agrees if their distraction is not violent. Ser Aaron overhears this exchange, and takes it as proof that she has morals. He brings up their time together in Ferelden as further proof, pointing out that she knew Slim Couldry would give him back the pendant that she'd stolen once he realized who it belonged to.

Olivia and Calix talk their way into the city records

The next day, Olivia and Calix successfully get into the official records thanks to the Antivan Crows' effective distraction. They retrieve the floor plans as well as the ledger. Olivia has her mabari deliver the ledger to the Crows. Florian, who has vowed to make the thieves pay with their lives, recognizes the mabari and confronts the Crows as the thieves' associates. Back at the tavern, Olivia, Calix, Ser Aaron and Vaea celebrate their successful heist. Calix reveals to Olivia that he's a runaway slave, who escaped after his Venatori master was killed. Olivia decides to take him to bed, which prompts Ser Aaron to break his sobriety and order an ale. The next day, Francesca finds her brother's body and vows to make Olivia and Calix pay.

Characters

• Olivia Pryde
• Calix Qintara
• Ser Aaron Hawthorne
• Vaea
• Magister Dorian Pavus
• Florian Invidus
• Francesca Invidus
• Gaius

Locations

• Tevinter Imperium
  • Ventus

Gallery

Cover of the first issue

Cover of the second issue

Cover of the third issue

Trivia

• The comic is set after the events of Dragon Age: Knight Errant, sometime around 9:44 Dragon.