The Trial of Crows

The Trial of Crows is a quest received from Master Ignacio and performed on behalf of the Antivan Crows. The Crows are seeking to turn a new enemy into a new friend.

Acquisition[]

This quest is only available after first encountering Zevran Arainai (regardless of what you choose to do with him).

There are several ways to acquire this quest:

The Warden can speak with the Messenger, who is located just past the chantry and in front of Mages' Collective Liaison in the Denerim Market District. It is also possible to begin this quest by stealing the letter from him.
After speaking with Ignacio, if you attempt to leave the Denerim Market District area the Messenger will catch up with you and give you a message. After speaking with the boy, a quest will be added pointing you to a back-room in the Gnawed Noble Tavern, where you'll meet Ignacio.
Go and look at the poster located on the wall near the Elven Alienage gate. Then as you leave the area the Messenger catches you and tells you to go to the Gnawed Noble Tavern.
If all else fails, try talking to the messenger boy manually near the mage's collective bag.

Bug! It is possible to acquire this quest before you encounter Zevran by speaking with the Messenger Boy during Steal Master Tilver's key sub-quest as part of the Crime Wave quest line. The boy is involved in that quest, however initiating a dialogue with him, will also activate The Trial of Crows quest too.

It is possible to refuse to work for the Crows, in which case Ignacio will leave peacefully and will not be available to give any of the quests, or to kill Ignacio who has mercenaries concealed about the room. In accepting Master Ignacio's quest, you will lose (-1) approval from Wynne.

Walkthrough[]

The First Test[]

The player is asked to kill a man called Paedan in The Pearl, Denerim's brothel. The player will first, however, have to find a Grey Warden poster, since that is the only way to collect the password needed. A poster can be found near the Denerim Alienage gate, in the Market District. In the Pearl, after speaking with Sanga and then knocking on the locked door, it is revealed that Paedan is actually working for Rendon Howe, trying to kill all Grey Warden loyalists, and attacks the Warden alongside Shaevra, Tennant and Jarvy.

Note: Killing Paedan unlocks the door to the room east of the entrance of The Pearl.

After killing Paedan and his accomplices, the Warden can return to Ignacio to claim his reward. Note that it is possible to kill Paedan before actually accepting the quest. If this is the case, you can just speak to Ignacio again to claim your reward. Regardless of whether you killed Paedan before accepting the quest or not, the "reward" is only two new assassination scrolls located in the chest behind Ignacio.

Note: It's possible to kill Paedan even before starting this quest. If done so, Master Ignacio will be embarrassed and will offer payment straight away

Bug! The updated quest says you received a reward for killing Paedan but you don't get any items, coin, or XP from Ignacio.

These open up two new quests for you to complete for him.

Mercenary Hunt[]

This part requires you to go to the Kadan-Fe mercenary hideout where you will encounter a band of Qunari mercenaries. Once all these are killed, the Warden may return to Ignacio for a reward.

Bug! It is possible that Ignacio may not respond accordingly should the Kadan-Fe mercenaries have been killed, as part of the second task, in which case revisit the mercenary camp and leave from the second exit.

An Audience with the Ambassador[]

The Warden is asked to kill Ambassador Gainley, who can be found in his quarters in Orzammar Royal Palace. The Ambassador will attack the Warden on sight. After the battle, and the Ambassador is dead, the Warden may return to Ignacio for his reward. Unlike the first two assassinations, which are rather straightforward, accessing Gainley may involve completing a number of tasks, depending on how much of the Orzammar portion of the game is completed.

To achieve this task, the main quest A Paragon of Her Kind must at least be started in Orzammar, and then there are several options to deal with Ambassador Gainley:

If the Warden completes a task for Prince Bhelen Aeducan, either publicly or covertly, then they are granted access to that part of the palace.
If the Warden works only for Lord Harrowmont, then access to the suite is impossible until Lord Harrowmont becomes king.
If A Paragon of Her Kind has already been completed, and a new king chosen, simply go back to the Royal Palace and kill the Ambassador.

Bug! Ignacio may not respond after you complete the quest and return to him, making his reward inaccessible as well as the rest of the quest line.

The Ransom[]

Once the previous two tasks have been completed, "The Ransom" can be started.

See Ransom Drop Location for the map and more details.

Ignacio informs the Warden that Arl Howe's minion Captain Chase has kidnapped a boy, and is holding him for ransom. The boy's father's agents (really Crows in disguise), would like to have your backup during the exchange. The exchange will take place in the Ransom Drop location, and will quickly go bad, resulting in all of Howe's men attacking you. It appears, however, that Howe was expecting the betrayal, and his men have not brought the boy. After killing Howe's men, the Warden may return to Ignacio for a reward. Ignacio states that the exchange was phony from the start: the Crows had already rescued the boy, and were only going through the motions of an exchange for an opportunity to assassinate the men involved with the kidnapping.

Result[]

Trial of Crows Bann — The noble in the Landsmeet

After completion of the Kadan-Fe contract, Ignacio will reward you with Coarse Cut Gauntlets.
After completion of the Ambassador Gainley contract, Ignacio will reward you with Precision-Geared Recurve.
After completion of all assassination quests:
- Ignacio will reward you with a pair of gloves called Red Jenny Seekers.
- Cesar will now provide his "special stock" to the Warden.
- The Warden also has an option to kill Ignacio. Doing so will cause Cesar to leave, but you will get a Crow Dagger off of Ignacio's corpse.
- At the Landsmeet an unidentifed noble will support you in the voting, claiming that the Warden helped him in a 'family matter', implying he is the father of the child rescued from Howe.

Bug! In Dragon Age Keep, by selecting the option in which Ignacio has been killed, it is erroneously assumed that the Warden has completed this quest even though he can be attacked and killed without even starting this quest.

Notes[]

This quest can be completed even after killing Arl Howe while saving the Queen.
Once the Warden finishes all quests, Ignacio says that the Crows will no longer accept any new contracts on the Warden, but he warns that Taliesen, Zevran's friend, still has a contract on the Warden. However this proves to be untrue, as when using an imported save to Awakening, the Crows will still involve themselves in the attempt on the Warden's life, and the epilogue states that they steal Vigilance, if it was constructed.