Dark Fortress is a three-part comic book series set in the Dragon Age universe that concludes the story arc that began in Knight Errant and was continued in Dragon Age: Deception and Blue Wraith.
A Ragtag Bunch of Misfits consisting of the mercenaries Marius and Tessa, the Fereldan knight Ser Aaron, the expert thief Vaea, the mabari Autumn, the mage Francesca Invidus and the lyrium-enhanced warrior Fenris from Dragon Age II prepare to assault the supposedly impenetrable fortress known as Castellum Tenebris. Their mission is to prevent the creation of another lyrium-enhanced warrior similar to Fenris ... but powered by red lyrium.
The comic contains examples of following tropes:
- Back Stab: While Marius takes a hit to distract Magister Nenealeus, Vaea sneaks up on the mage from behind and finally makes use of her class feature to stab him in the neck with both daggers. The original plan was actually for Nessa to shoot Nenealeus with a crossbow, sparing Vaea the trauma, but she was taken out by the Red Wraith, forcing Vaea to break her no-killing rule.
- Bleed 'Em and Weep: Vaea kills a man for the first time in issue 3 — namely, Magister Nenealeus, as he is about to kill Marius. While she doesn't exactly cry for him, she drops her bloodied daggers and stares at his slumped over body, visibly shocked by what she has done.
- Captured Super-Entity: Upon infiltrating Castellum Tenebris, the heroes learn that the Venatori have captured a high dragon and have it chained up in the fortress' courtyard. Their intention is to use a blast of flame from the dragon as a power source in the ritual to transform Shirallas into a red lyrium-enhanced warrior.
- Chekhov's Skill: Back in Dragon Age II, Fenris is offhandedly established to speak Qunlat if taken to visit the Arishok. In issue 3, this finally pays off when he cuts a deal with the Qunari besieging Castellum Tenebrium: he opens the gate for them, they spare him and his companions (particularly Francesca, who is an active Tevinter Magister) in return.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Ser Aaron allows himself to be impaled by Shirallas in order to get the red lyrium blade away from him.
- During the War: The qunari invasion of the Tevinter Imperium is still going on during the comic, with the Antaam now setting their sights on the city of Neromenian. They also assault Castellum Tenebris after learning of the ritual taking place there.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After being forced out of Castellum Tenebris by Nenealeus, Tractus Danarius heads to the city of Neromenian and proceeds to get very drunk.
- Dysfunction Junction: Between Fenris and Marius being former slaves, Francesca dealing with the death of her father, and Ser Aaron's PTSD over the death of Cailan at Ostagar, this group could keep a lot of therapists employed for a long time. Lampshaded by Fenris in the first issue when he mentions to Marius that the group seems to have a lot of issues, only for Marius to answer with stone silence.
- The End... Or Is It?: The final page has Marius and Tessa recounting the events of the series, concluding that they have won... for now. Cue Solas spying on Danarius Jr. as he smuggles the Red Lyrium idol he took from the fleeing Marquette to the Venatori, and the final text panel: "Never The End".
- Enemy Mine: To take down Nenealeus, his Red Wraith, and his dragon, the good guys have to team up with the Qunari actively besieging them, as well as a repentant Marquette, who reveals Shirallas' Achilles' Heel to them.
- Evil Plan: The remnants of the Venatori plan to use a blade fashioned from the red lyrium idol of Dragon Age II in concert with the sarcophagus that grafted Fenris' lyrium tattoos onto his skin in order to grant immense power to Shirallas, an elven magekiller. With that power, the Venatori will then be able to crush the qunari and restore the Tevinter Imperium to its former greatness, or so they believe.
- Go Out with a Smile: Ser Aaron dies smiling, telling a Tall Tale to Vaea.
- Grand Finale: Issue 3 concludes the story arc that began all of the way back in Knight Errant: Magister Nenealeus and Shirallas/the Red Wraith are both killed, foiling the Venatori's plans. Ser Aaron dies defeating the Red Wraith, while Vaea kills for the first time and is sponsored for knighthood in Aaron's last will. Castellum Tenebris falls to the Qunari, but not before Francesca buries the Sarcophagus so deep, it will never be found, while Nenealeus' dragon is released into the wild.
- Heel–Face Turn: Marquette informs the heroes of how to defeat Shirallas, as he never really wanted to create such a monster; he was only interested in how the various red lyrium artifacts worked.
- His Quirk Lives On: Following Ser Aaron's death, Vaea continues telling his world-famous Tall Tales in his memory.
- I Gave My Word: A Qunari tries to javelin a distracted Francesca, but her commanding Karasten orders her to stand down, because he made a deal with Fenris to spare "the red-headed one". It is implied, however, that he only deigned to honor his word to an outsider because Fenris spoke Qunlat and was familiar enough with the Qunari culture to negotiate a truly binding promise from of him.
- It Gets Easier: Defied by Ser Aaron in regards to Vaea's first kill. In fact, he apologizes that she had to do it and expresses hope that killing never becomes a habit for her.
- Literal Disarming: How Ser Aaron defeats the Red Wraith. Learning that he draws his Healing Factor from his red lyrium sword, Ser Aaron lets Shirallas stab him, then chops off both of his hands, leaving him helpless on the ground for Fenris to finish off.
- Mugged for Disguise: A pair of Tractus' guards are knocked out and have their uniforms taken by Marius and Ser Aaron. An extremely drunk Tractus fails to notice his guards have been replaced.
- My Greatest Failure: Ser Aaron is still haunted by his failure to save King Cailan at the Battle of Ostagar, which kicked off the plot of Dragon Age: Origins. Aaron later clarifies to Vaea that his anguish stems from the feeling that none of his choices matter.
- Off with His Head!:
- In one panel, a qunari bisects a man's head in half.
- Fenris is the one who finishes off Shirallas by beheading him.
- Oh, Crap!: The heroes all give this reaction upon learning there is a high dragon being held captive in the fortress.
- Spoiler Cover: The cover of Issue #3 basically spoils the fact that the heroes will fail to stop the ritual and Shirallas will be transformed into a new Red Wraith.
- Storming the Castle: Literally the entire plot of the comic. Notably, a head-on assault on the fortress in question is deemed impossible for a small group, so the heroes have to find a secret entrance. The qunari also come to siege the fortress, though both groups fail to stop the villains from turning Shirallas into a red lyrium warrior.
- Tall Tale: Ser Aaron dies with a smile and a tall tale on his lips: "Did I ever tell you about the time [King Alistair] and I journeyed to the Black Marsh?" As he trails off, Vaea tells him that no, he didn't.
- Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Castellum Tenebris, which roughly translates from Latin to "dark fortress."
- Weird Weather: According to Fenris, the city of Neromenian apparently has a permanent cloud cover. It's not clear if it's a natural or artificial phenomenon.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: After killing a man running through the streets of Neromenian, a qunari warrior turns his attention to the child the man was accompanying. A Karasten stops him, however, stating the child can be re-educated.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: The heroes fail to stop Shirallas from being placed in the sarcophagus and being imbued with red lyrium markings.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Upon reaching Castellum Tenebris, Nenealeus decides that Danarius' bastard son Tractus is no longer of any use. However, the mage is apparently able to avoid being killed by escaping through a secret tunnel into the fortress.
