The Righteous Path

The Righteous Path is one of three main plot lines in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

Wending Wood
The Wending Wood is inhabited by Bandits, Wild sylvan, Charred Sylvan, Shriek, spiders and wolves.

When you enter the Wending Woods there will be a cinematic sequence showing some bandits rummaging through a wagon, who will spot you and run away. At this point you will be given the quest Trading Troubles if you did not pick it up from Mervis. On a crate nearby there is a note containing Codex entry: Orders to the Militia. As you explore the area there will be a wooden bridge. Crossing the bridge will trigger a cinematic where a scared militiaman is running away from an elf, Velanna. She gives you a warning before disappearing. In an encampment with four shallow graves, there are weapons strewn about the place implicating the humans in the Dalish elves' demise. Further into the wood, you meet a dying militiaman who explains the situation about Velanna. Velanna is burning all the caravans that pass through the wood, falsely believing that humans, and not darkspawn, were responsible for her sister's disappearance. Eventually you pursue and convince Velanna that you will aid her in the search for her sister.

Other points of interest in the Wending Wood include: a dead scholar with the Codex entry: A Scholar's Journal, which leads to the puzzle Wending Wood Stone Puzzle; close to the puzzle you will find The Old One who drops Heartwood for the quest Heart of the Forest; there are also statues for the quest Maferath's Monuments; the Brothers of Stone; Ines the Botanist is also located here; the granite deposit is located here; and scattered about the place are the silks for The Merchant's Goods.

Silverite Mine
It is recommended to save the game before entering the mine and removing all equipped items because of a bug (see Bugs section).

The Warden Commander First Encounters The Architect in the Wending Wood's Silverite Mine. After convincing Velanna to join the party, the entrance to the Silverite Mine will become unlocked. Be aware,Velanna does not have to be in the party, though for story related reasons, it makes sense to have her around. Additionally, if you talk to her after completing the Silverite Mine without her in the active party, she will join the party as a required member until you leave the Wending Woods.

Immediately on the stairs there is a Codex entry: A Miner's Letter. When the Warden steps onto the centre of the big circle on the floor, a cutscene will trigger in which The Architect will make an appearance, and puts the party to sleep. The Warden stirs long enough to hear the Architect apologize for what it is about to do, and then he/she falls unconscious again. Shortly afterwards, the party will wake up in a jail cell without any equipment (all your equipment, potions and the rest of inventory should be gone now; if some parts are still present - something is wrong, see Bugs section below). Velanna's sister, Seranni, will open the cell door and may give you the key to The Architect's chests in his room if a successful persuasion attempt is made. Also, no matter what conversation thread you choose, you will get a +2 approval from Velanna after talking to her sister.

As the party leaves the cell 3 darkspawn appear from the Architect's Lab, one of whom holds the jail cell key. Heading into the Architect's Lab will yield: Codex entry: The Architect's Journal and Codex entry: The Architect's Notes and also a small puzzle with two control levers that are used to clear the gas from the chest below. The puzzle is simple: pull the left lever once, then pull the right lever, then pull the left lever, then the right lever one last time. This clears the magical ward from the cell door paving the way to the chest containing Dragonspite and the Blackblade Tunic.

The exit is in the opposite direction to the Architect's Lab. As the party exits through the double doors, the next room contains a statue in the center and a ballista on the left. Using the ballista will topple the statue on top of most of the darkspawn below. Through the next set of double doors, on the right is a Secret Door where the Blackblade Helm is located. The next room contains the first Experimental subject who will be wearing one of the party's gear. Kill the subject and the dragonling reinforcements to reclaim the gear.

In the next room on the right there is a dying warden Keenan, who grants the quest Last Wishes. Further through the mine there will be another room with a large amount of darkspawn and another Experimental Subject wearing a party member's gear. In this room you also find the Spyglass on a soldier's corpse.

Further down the mine, amongst some darkspawn and dragonlings are the last two Experimental Subjects here. There will also be a silverite deposit for the quest Elemental Requirements. Straight ahead and to the left is the Hurlock Dragon-Tamer with the Leg-Crusher maul who maimed Keenan, and also the Fresh Dragon Egg for the quest Worked to the Bone.

Heading back out the way you came there is a lyrium deposit for more Lyrium Sand for the quest Bombs Away! Further continuing into the mine, the next encounter is with a darkspawn necromancer, some skeletons, another Drake, and a large group of darkspawn. At some point the Warden will come across the the Architect's room with a chest that Seranni's key will fit into. This chest contains the Ring of Discipline. The desk contains a letter: Codex entry: A Letter from the Architect.

In the next room through the double doors are some stairs with Armaas at the top. He is a merchant who can be recruited for the quest Trade Must Flow. Returning to the mine is impossible, so it is wise to recruit him now. There is a chest next to Armaas which should have the rest of the party's gear such as potions, injury kits, etc. You can sell your excess items to Armaas should you have too much after getting your stuff back. You can even get a discount from him if your persuasion is high enough.

Heading through the next two sets of double doors will lead to the final battle of the Silverite Mine. As you enter, two Dragon thralls will confront you. After defeating the dragons, Velanna will ask to join the Grey Wardens and should you choose to allow her, you will get the quest Velanna's Joining.

Now go back to Mervis in Amaranthine to complete the subquest Trading Troubles.

Result

 * The Righteous Path is concluded.
 * Trade continues through the Wending Wood.
 * Velanna may be inducted into the Grey Wardens.
 * The Architect is revealed.
 * Armaas may be recruited to trade at the keep.
 * Justice disapproves of Velanna escaping justice by joining the Grey Wardens.
 * Oghren disapproves when you first recruit Velanna (before you go into the mines)
 * Anders approves when you allow Velanna to become a Grey Warden
 * Sigrun approves when you allow Velanna to become a Grey Warden

Other concurrent quests
There are also a few other quests here that can be started, continued or completed at the same time.


 * Brothers of Stone
 * Ines the Botanist
 * The Merchant's Goods
 * Maferath's Monuments
 * From the Living Wood
 * Last Wishes
 * Heart of the Forest
 * Velanna's Joining
 * Bombs Away!
 * Elemental Requirements
 * What is Built Endures
 * Trade Must Flow

Notable items
*see notes

Bugs

 * Some conditions may cause the main character's equipment to vanish completely after being captured by the Architect in the Silverite Mine. This could happen if the Experimental subject, who will be wearing your equipment, does not satisfy the requirements to wear your gear. You will know if the bug has occurred because the Warden will wake up in prison naked while the rest of the party will be in commoner clothing and if your non-equipped inventory is still present. The only possible fix is to reload to a previous savegame and remove all your wearable gear before the Architect puts you to sleep. Your gear will be waiting in the chest beside Armaas.
 * In particular, if a character is an Arcane Warrior using the passive ability of Combat Magic to wear gear, the Experimental subject may not be able to. The Experimental subject appears to be automatically leveled and need not have the same exact spells as the player. In this case, simply removing the gear that requires Combat Magic should avoid the bug.


 * If Velanna is not in the party during the Silverite Mine quest, a number of anomalies can occur. It is recommended that she be present during this part of the quest.
 * Possible bug with spawning the Blackblade Armor pieces. Gloves and boots may not be appearing in the mine as intended.
 * After battle with dragons it is possible to initiate dialog with The Architect. This will result in restarting cutscene where you arrive to the mines and losing your gear again without any way to get it back.
 * There is a chance that after entering mines all unequipped items will remains. No negative effect noticed.
 * If you're playing as a male Warden and were wearing Morrigan's Ring when you were 'taken', the ring will not be on the subject that has the rest of your gear (though it will be in the 'loot' chest with your miscellaneous items). This may be because the ring is restricted to you - yet Nathaniel's subject will still wield his grandfather's bow, and Oghren's will wear his 'belt'.