Archive of the Crows is a stronghold and repository in Antiva City. The Antivan Crows keep their contracts, blackmail files, secret histories and recipes in the archive. The archive is a Dragon's Créche; a building filled with cunning traps designed to kill intruders. Such buildings take decades to construct and began as vanity projects for wealthy dwarven families.
Dragon's créche traps
As a Dragon's Créche, the archive features numerous traps apparently familiar to seasoned trap-detectors, as well as an alarm system.
- Tooth of the Serpent: When a rigged floor tile is activated darts, presumably poisoned, are ejected. Massive blades are also released to impale the victim.
- Falling Mountain: A floor mechanism with an unknown function, either dropping the floor out from under the victim or causing objects to fall on them.
- Poison Wind: A tripwire mechanism.
- Fire Fountain: A hidden jet which shoots flames at the victim.
- Wheel of Liquid Pain: Unknown function; a variation on a Storm Age design.
- Thief's Folly: A trap which appears engineered to poison a victim using a false jeweled spider as enticement.
Involvement
Alistair, Varric and Isabela kill the guards outside the building and break inside in search of proof of the crows' involvement in King Maric's disappearance. While Alistair is reading old manuscripts, Varric and Isabela disarm various traps. However, they unwittingly set off the alarm, and Prince Claudio Valisti arrives, accompanied by other Crows. After a brief conversation with Alistair, Claudio lets the adventurers go without pursuit.