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The Sword of the Beresaad is Sten's companion quest in Dragon Age: Origins.

Acquisition[]

Once Sten's approval is at least 25, he will reveal his mission to Ferelden and how he came to be locked up in Lothering. He was sent with a group of other Qunari to discover what the Blight is. His group was attacked by darkspawn, and during the battle he was rendered unconscious. When he awoke, his comrades were dead and his sword was gone. To a Qunari warrior, the sword is the soul. If he were to return to his homeland without his sword, he would be hunted and killed. Out of panic from losing his sword, Sten murdered the farming family who rescued him. Once he came to his senses again he realized that because of what he had just done, he had lost his honor, and so he chose to remain to pay for his crime. Days later he was arrested and brought to Lothering, where the Revered Mother sentenced him to die in the cage where he is found.

Walkthrough[]

  1. Offer to help Sten find his sword.
  2. Head to Lake Calenhad Docks, the last place Sten remembers having the sword.
    NPC-Scavenger Scavenging

    Scavenger location

    NPC-Scavenger

    Scavenger

  3. Confront the scavenger, near the exit to the world map of the dock area, who lets you know that he bought acquisition rights to this spot from another looter, a red-haired human, named Faryn who sells in the open market near Orzammar.
    Note: You might have to enter the Spoiled Princess and exit again in order to find the Scavenger.
  4. Travel to Frostback Mountain Pass to find Faryn and learn that he sold the sword to a dwarven mercenary named Dwyn.
    • If Sten is in the party, there are some interesting conversational options. For example: "I'd give it to him if I were you, Faryn" followed by "Where is it now?" and "If you're lying, you do know we'll be back" nets Approves (+2) / "Just kill him, Sten. We can search his belongings for it." followed by "Sten, tear his arms off." gives the same approval.
    • If he is not in the party, you have the opportunity to blackmail the looter for 3Gold.
  5. Map to Redcliffe Village and enter Dwyn's House, near the General Store. You have several choices:
    • With Sten in the party and the right dialogue choice, the mercenary will turn over the sword without fuss.
    • Intimidate the dwarf into giving up (easy with 3 points in Coercion).
    • Pay 6Gold for the sword (2Gold with a successful persuade/intimidate).
      Note: If he gives you Sten's sword, the spawned chest will say "Key required".
    • You can wait until after you've completed the battle of Redcliffe when Dwyn's house is empty to retrieve the sword. If you have already spoken to Faryn when you enter the house, the chest in the house will be open. It doesn't matter if Dwyn survives the attack.
    • Kill Dwyn and loot his corpse.
      Note: If you kill Dwyn before you receive the quest, the quest will not update after speaking to Faryn. However, the chest will still spawn and the quest can be completed.
  6. One way or another, you will get a strongbox key that opens the chest in the back of the house. Open it to find Sten's Sword (it will appear in your inventory as a gift, not a weapon).
    Note: If you get the quest before The Attack at Nightfall begins, the dwarf will hand over the sword directly (without need to visit the strongbox).
  7. Gift the sword to Sten. The quest item will be removed from your inventory and replaced by the equippable weapon – Asala.
    Note: To gain the maximum approval, choose terse dialogue options acknowledging his thanks and the importance of him helping to combat the Blight. See Sten/Approval for dialogue and approval options.

Results[]

  • Depending on your dialogue choices, Sten's approval will rise between 13–26 ps3ps3xbox360xbox360points or +16 pcpc.
  • His dialogue changes slightly after the climax in Denerim.
  • Sten will from now on refer to the Warden as kadan.
  • You may suggest that Sten can return home and he will leave the party permanently.

Rewards[]

  • Asala Asala
  • 125 XP (quest completion)
  • Sten's respect

Notes[]

  • It is not possible to do this quest after The Landsmeet.
  • Selling the sword has no consequences. It will not affect Sten's behavior or dialogues nor will it add additional Codex entries.
  • It's possible to complete this quest without ever speaking to Faryn. If the quest is obtained and the Scavenger spoken to prior to The Attack at Nightfall, then the player has the option to ask Dwyn about the sword as though they'd already confronted Faryn. Dwyn can then be convinced to hand over the sword, skipping Faryn's portion of the quest.

Trivia[]

  • A dialogue choice when talking to Faryn is "Sten, tear his arms off", a reference to the movie The Princess Bride, when Inigo says "Fezzik, tear his arms off" when questioning the Captain of the Guard about the gate key.
  • After gifting Asala to Sten, during the dialogue is one of only two times he ever seems to smile. The second is during the Battle of Denerim, where he will smile if you leave him in charge of the gates.

Bugs[]

  • It is possible to get the key from Dwyn (through intimidation or Sten's presence) before speaking to Faryn. However, the chest will not spawn appropriately. Head back to Frostback pass to speak to Faryn and follow the walkthrough from step 4.
  • It is possible that the box will spawn but is not clickable, although you received the key. This seems to happen if you persuaded Faryn to lower his price for the information on the sword. You can resolve this just as the other bug: simply travel back to Faryn and choose another dialogue option as they will still appear.
  • It is possible that after talking to Faryn the journal will not update the conversation and you will not be able to talk to Dwyn to receive the sword. Go to Dwyn's house and speak with him once about the battle of Redcliffe, then speak with him again after the first dialogue concludes. The new conversation string should appear (it does not happen every time, it simply stays broken).
  • This also happens if you complete the Landsmeet quest before you talk to the scavenger. When you arrive to Redcliffe, both the castle and the village are attacked by the darkspawn and no houses remain to find Dwyn and the sword.
  • pcpc After selecting "Name your price" option followed by "Six? That's crazy!" the conversation with Dwyn glitches and persuasion check determines what end result you get, skipping most of the dialogue.
  • He disappears if spoken to and the sword is not mentioned. The other characters will not mention anything about the sword if this happens but you can make him reappear after you agree to help Oghren find his old flame, Felsi.
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