The Urn of Sacred Ashes


 * This page is about the quest 'The Urn of Sacred Ashes. For information about the sacred relic, please see Urn of Andraste.

Background
Arl Eamon of Redcliffe is dying, and the only way to save him is by finding the Urn of Andraste.You can find this quest by either finishing the Arl of Redcliffe quest, or by heading to Denerim and speaking with Brother Genitivi's apprentice.

Walkthrough
Brother Genitivi's apprentice will, with a bit of persuasion, let slip that the Village of Haven might have some clues about the Urn of Andraste. The Warden has the choice to head there immediately, or to investigate Genitivi's house further. Doing so will reveal a corpse in one of the rooms, and the Warden will be forced to kill Genitivi's apprentice.

The Village of Haven
Upon reaching Haven, The Warden will be confronted by a guard. He is not eager to let the Warden pass; he can be either persuaded to allow an exception or killed.

Note: If Sten is in the party, he will question The Warden's decision to come to Haven. If the dialogue goes badly, he will attack; defeating him will calm him down, and he can be told either to get back in line or to leave the party completely. Sten's approval goes down if he attacks, but defeating him will net the warden +10 (somebody confirm this) approval points, effectively making the exchange favorable for those who wish to gain Sten's trust.

Searching the village reveals some oddities. Head to the village store. Buy anything you need from this merchant now, because once you attempt to enter the backroom, he will turn hostile and attack. The back room holds some clues as to what is going on in Haven.

After this event, the entire village will have turned hostile, and you will need to fight your way up to the Village Chantry. There will be a short cutscene and dialog, after which the people inside the Chantry will attack. Once they are dispatched, check the back room to find Brother Genitivi. He will tell The Warden that the Urn of Andraste is located in a temple ruin in the mountains nearby. He will insist accompanying The Warden to this location.

Ruined Temple
The temple ruins have a fairly straightforward layout, although keys are required to progress. There are many Cultists in the halls.
 * See Ruined Temple for more details.

(Please expand this section with a detailed walkthrough.)

Mountainside Caverns
Not much different from the previous section of the dungeon, although this time Drakes join the Cultists. Exploring the side caverns reveals more Drakes, which can be useful for those collecting Drake Scales. At the end of this section, The Warden will come across Kolgrim. It is possible to either agree to poison Andraste's Ashes, or to just kill him on the spot. Agreeing with him and avoiding the battle does not compel you to follow through with his wishes. Note that defiling the Ashes is the only way to obtain the Reaver specialization, so avoid killing Kolgrim if you wish to unlock it.
 * See Mountainside Caverns for more details.

The Caverns lead to a wide open field with some chests by a ruined arch to the right and a gong in the middle. Hitting the gong summons a High Dragon, although this is entirely skippable. The High Dragon is a tough enemy; if the battle turns out to be too difficult, it is possible to come back and fight it at a later point.

Regardless of whether you choose to fight the Dragon or not, you will be required to continue on to the next section of the Temple.

(Please expand this section with a detailed walkthrough.)

The Gauntlet
At this point, a spiritual guardian of the Urn will decide to test The Warden's worthiness. Once the Gauntlet has been completed, the Urn of Andraste will be in sight. There are two choices:
 * See The Gauntlet for more information.
 * Taking only a pinch of the Ashes
 * Defiling the Ashes (only if you did not kill Kolgrim) -- doing so unlocks the Reaver specialization

Note: If you decide to defile the Ashes, Leliana will attack you (if she is in the party). (Does she attack at the party camp if she wasn't in the party?)

Once you have done what you came to do, you can take a shortcut from the open field (where you may or may not have fought the Dragon) back to the Ruined Temple. Brother Genitivi will be extremely excited about your findings, and declare that he will share the news with the entire world. There is no way to dissuade him from this except to kill him. (There is no actual battle, just a cut-scene of your character killing Genitivi.) Killing Genitivi lowers Alistair's approval by 3 points. (Please add other approval ratings if you know them.)