Prosper de Montfort

“If anyone is to do any slaying, it will be me.”

Duke Prosper de Montfort is an Orlesian noble belonging to the Monfort Family of Orlais.

Background

Prosper is a high-ranking Orlesian nobleman, inheritor to the dynasty of Ser Gaston de Montfort, who rose to prominence during the Fourth Blight. He is a cousin of Empress Celene I's mother^[1] and a close personal friend of Celene; he has a son, Cyril.

Prosper spends most of his time outside of Orlais on business or vacation, styling himself as a duke. He is known for throwing very extravagant parties, and regularly hosting wyvern hunts in his mountain estate in the western Free Marches, Chateau Haine, which his ancestor acquired after the Fourth Blight.

He also appears to be fluent in Qunlat.

Involvement

Dragon Age: II

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

Prosper is encountered in Mark of the Assassin. According to Tallis, he holds the "Heart of the Many", supposedly a gem which he has no right to possess. Tallis enlists Hawke's aid to infiltrate Prosper's home, the Château Haine, and steal the Heart of the Many.

Hawke and company arrive at the Château, having apparently accepted Prosper's previous invitation to the Champion of Kirkwall. After slaying a wyvern during a hunt, Prosper welcomes the Champion into his home. But as Hawke and Tallis infiltrate his vault, it is revealed that Prosper knew who the latter was the whole time and has the two imprisoned. As Tallis explains to Hawke, there never was a jewel. She was in fact after a Tal-Vashoth named Salit, who was going to sell confidential information about the Qunari to Prosper.

After the two break out of their cell and if Hawke and company attempt to escape right through the Chateau, Prosper will bar their escape as he summons a brigade of chevaliers and harlequins to fight them and seals the Chateau. He then leaves the Chateau, ordering his Chasind bodyguard, Cahir, to deal with the interlopers.

Prosper then meets with Salit, expressing his regret for agreeing to spare Tallis and Hawke and insists they get their exchange over with. Instead of the blackpowder formula, dreadnaught plans, or a map of Qunanadar, however, Salit gives Prosper a list of names, detailing the various Qunari agents in Thedas, which Prosper fails to see the significance of and is angered by the seemingly useless offer. As he is confronted by Hawke, he unknowingly passes the list to a disguised Tallis. After all parties exchange words, Prosper fires a green substance at Salit that attracts his wyvern mount Leopold, who kills him. In the ensuring battle, Hawke manages to trip Leopold while Prosper is riding him in mid-charge, sending the wyvern over the cliff and Prosper clinging to the edge for dear life. He promises that Empress Celene would burn Kirkwall to the ground in revenge for his death. Regardless of Hawke's response, Prosper is sent falling to his death. However, his threats are futile, as it would become scandalous if it became public knowledge that he was dealing with Tal-Vashoth, possibly on the Empress' orders.

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire.

Prosper appears in flashbacks and recollections during the events of Dragon Age: The Masked Empire. It is revealed that he, along with Lady Mantillon, assisted Celene in her plans to take the Imperial throne. Prosper was particularly moved by the assassination of his cousin, Celene's mother. Prosper wept openly while promising Celene and her father, Prince Reynaud, any support he could offer. Prosper also apparently accompanied Prince Reynaud personally when he assassinated Lady Calienne, who was responsible for the murder of Celene's mother. Later he was called away by Emperor Florian himself, seemingly as a means to deny Celene Prosper's support.

Trivia

After the wyvern hunt, Duke Prosper talks about how hunting a wyvern is "a terrible risk. But the prize..." This is a reference to a line from Mass Effect 2, during a female Shepard's romance path with Jacob.