The Elven Ritual

The Elven Ritual
Location	Lower Ruins (Brecilian Ruins)
Start	Tablet
End	Fountain
Related	The Mage's Treasure
Appearances	Dragon Age: Origins

The Elven Ritual is a side quest in Dragon Age: Origins, encountered in the elven tombs of the Brecilian Ruins in the Brecilian Forest. The ritual must be completed in order to enter the Elven Burial Chamber, as part of The Mage's Treasure hunt.

Acquisition

Automatically triggered when an old earthen tablet is found in a sarcophagus.

Walkthrough

Map of the Lower Ruins

Upon reaching the first large room with a circular mosaic on the floor (of the Lower Ruins) where the ghostly elven boy is looking for his mother and after dealing with subsequent wave of skeletons, go south to a side room and retrieve A Carved Elven Tablet (and, a Fancy Scroll) inside a sarcophagus. This quest will be initiated along with a codex entry update.

Continue eastward and turn left (northward) to reach the ritual hall, where a fountain (or pool) in the middle, an altar to the side, and a locked Metal Door ahead are located. The burial chamber beyond can only be accessed by performing an ancient elven ritual.

Note: If you find the fountain/altar but do not have the Tablet in your inventory, go to your right (westward) as you leave this room and then go to the next left (in the mosaic room). Unless you get the Tablet, you are unable to complete the quest.

Bug! There is a chance the altar will not be present and you will need to load an earlier save to correct this.

Perform the ritual as described by the Tablet in this hall:

1. Take the empty earthen jug from the fountain.
2. Fill the earthen jug with water.
3. Leave the pool alone.
4. Place the filled earthen jug on top of the nearby altar.
5. Kneel before the altar and pray.
6. Examine the earthen jug on the altar.
7. Take a single sip from the water in the earthen jug.
8. Take the earthen jug.
9. Leave the altar alone.
10. Dump the remaining water from the earthen jug into the fountain.

If the Warden makes a mistake in the sequence, two shades will attack the party. However, the jug will not break, and the Warden can try again. When the ritual is completed successfully, the jug will break and the Metal Door will open, allowing entrance into the burial chamber.

Note: Attempting the ritual sequence correctly without obtaining the Tablet first results in the shades spawning during the kneeling step, since you are not really performing the correct prayer without it.

Rewards

• 500 XP

Result

Entry into the Elven Burial Chamber and retrieval of Juggernaut Plate Armor, as part of The Mage's Treasure.

Notes

• If the ritual is attempted incorrectly (without the Tablet), your quest journal will be logged completed but 'failed', and the Metal Door remains locked.
• The Warden doesn't have to enter the Elven Burial Chamber (or, complete this side quest) in order to reach the Werewolf Lair and resolve Nature of the Beast quest.

Bugs

• If you perform the ritual correctly after initial failure, the Metal Door will open, but your quest journal remains logged with the 'failed' entry.
  • (Note: This may have been fixed in a later patch. The ritual can now be performed incorrectly without spawning the two shades. Upon subsequently performing the ritual correctly, the Metal Door will open and the quest is logged as complete in the quest journal.)
• If you try to do the ritual before getting the tablet it can stop you from completing the ritual even after you get the tablet. The water will boil and turn to air when you kneel and pray.