The Private Collection

The Private Collection
Location	Denerim Market District South Wing of Bann Franderel's Estate
Quest Giver	Slim Couldry
End	Slim Couldry
Previous	A Fistful of Silver
Next	The Tears of Andraste
Related	Crime Wave
Appearances	Dragon Age: Origins

The Private Collection is a side quest in Dragon Age: Origins. It is the third burglary of the Crime Wave quest line.

Acquisition

One of the richest men in the kingdom, Bann Franderel of West Hill, is organizing a grand ball in his estate in Denerim in which he will display some of his treasures such as paintings of old masters, the arnaments of King Calenhad and much more. By paying 10 to Slim Couldry a new marker named Bann of West Hill's Estate will become available for you to travel to on the map of Denerim.

If Slim Couldry offers to the Warden the pick-pocketing quest line as well, then this quest can be obtained only after the side-quest Steal the teyrn's crown is completed. Otherwise it can be initiated after The Landsmeet has begun.

Walkthrough

The south wing of Bann Franderel's Estate

During this visit only part of the estate can be explored. The Warden arrives from a trapdoor, and accesses the south wing. Along the way a room with a lever is encountered. Moving the lever does nothing during this visit.

Once the map marker (a white X) is reached, the quest log is updated. The whole thing was a trap! The area is now filled with guards and a number of traps, not to mention a couple of apostates.

Even though the quest update states that "You'll have to fight or sneak your way out now", the only option is to fight, unless at least one party member was stationed at the entrance to the area (to activate the City Map); and combat mode is not triggered (which happens when enemies come into direct line-of-sight). Otherwise, if only a rogue was used to explore the area, sneak back to the entrance. Then kill the guards closest to the area transition icon in order for the game to drop out of combat mode. The whole party may need to move into the "lever room" for this to happen.

Either way, once back at the entrance, interact with the city map door to leave. Then return to Slim and he'll apologize most profusely and return the 10 back to you.

Bugs

• There is a bug present here whereby Slim won't talk about the ambush, nor return your money. This usually happens if you pulled the lever, in the first room on your left, and didn't return it to its original position. Return to the trap and pull the lever again. Go back to Slim and he should apologize and return your money to you.
  • If pulling the lever and returning to Slim does not fix the bug, try returning to the trap and taking your entire party to the end of the trap and then back to the beginning.
  • If you have tried pulling the lever, killing all the guards, and walking through the estate to the trap room, try walking into the Denerim Alienage to "unlock" the area. Check your quest log to see if it has updated, and then return to Slim for his apology.
• The same bug can appear if choosing the mentioned method of not engaging in combat but leaving the area with one party member left at the entrance. Fighting the house guards instead would fix this.
• If you go directly back to the Party Camp via the world map then back to Denerim, Slim Couldry will be stuck in a dialogue where continuing the questline is not possible. It can be fixed by going back to Bann Franderel's Estate and then back to Denerim.