The Urn of Sacred Ashes is a story quest in Dragon Age: Origins. You can get it after completing the Earl of Radcliffe quest or even at the very beginning of the game in Lorraine by talking to the knight in the church. According to the plot of the task, you need to find the ashes of Andraste, which is able to heal Earl Eamon.
Quest start
The Urn of Sacred Ashes walkthrough begins in Denerim. After receiving a quest from a knight in Lorraine or from Iseult and Tegan in Redcliffe, you need to go to the market area in the city and find the house of Brother Genitivi there. Once inside, talk to Waylon and say that you are looking for an urn of sacred ashes to cure Arl Eamon. Waylon will send you to Calenhad Lake. If you use ste alth and intimidation, Waylon will attack you, not wanting to reveal his secret.
Explore all the rooms in Genitivi's house and find his studies, which will talk about the Sanctuary - the possible location of Genitivi's brother. You can go there right away or check the place mentionedWaylon, - the inn "Spoiled Princess" near Lake Calenhad. In the tavern you need to talk to the innkeeper, and on the way out you will be attacked by several cultists.
Shelter
The "Urn of Sacred Ashes" quest in Dragon Age: Origins will take you to the Sanctuary. Arriving there, you will find yourself next to the settlement. Go forward and talk to the guard. He won't give any valuable information and will send your character to talk to Eric. Now you can go into the house, collect valuable items from the chests and explore the altar. When you leave the house, your team will be attacked by a large group of cultists. They are mostly peasants, and it will not be difficult to deal with them. Once the fight is over, you can explore the rest of the settlement or head up to the church. Further enemies will be much stronger. Destroy enemy mages first.
When you get to the church and go inside, you can talk to Eric, but almost immediately after the greeting, the battle will begin. Try to attack Eric first so that he doesn't have time to cast a lot of spells. After dealing with the magician and his guards, take the cultist's medallion from Eric's corpse. Then click on the wall in the northwestern part of the room. Behind it you will find Brother Genitivi. The dialogue with him can end in two ways. You will either convince Brother Genitivi that you can handle it yourself and that he should return home to Denerim, or you will agree to his help to infiltrate the temple.
Temple
More on the quest"Urn of Sacred Ashes" in Dragon Age you go to the ruined temple. Once inside, take a few steps forward. If Brother Genitivi is in your group, he will immediately open the main gate. Without it, you will have to open the gate yourself. When you enter the main hall, your squad will be attacked by cultists. Clear the largest area before moving on.
There are four corridors in this location that are worth exploring. In the southwest corner you will find a traveler's corpse and a small room with cultists. In the southeast corner there will be a locked door and a library with many valuable documents. The northwest corridor is connected to the northeast and will lead you back to the main hall.
Travel carefully through these corridors as they are full of cultists and traps. After finishing with the enemies, go to the western part of the map and find the key in the chest. After taking the key, return to the main hall, where new cultists will be waiting for you. After destroying them, go to the southeast rooms. Open the locked door with the obtained key and search the chest in the room. There should be a key that opens the north gate.
Go back to the main hall and head north. On the way you will meet a mage who is best destroyed from a distance. As you enter the room behind the mage, be prepared to be ambushed by the Ash Ghosts. After defeating them, go up the stairs and click on the brazier.
Move further north, fighting off cultists and ghosts until you reachentrance to the caves. You will enter the Lair of the Wyrmlings. Now your goal is to fight your way through the enemies to the northwestern cave. Along the way, you will meet both numerous wyrmlings and cultists. Also, if you turn into different tunnels, you will run into small dragons.
Cultist offer
In the northwestern cave you will meet Kolgrim, the leader of the cultists. You can attack them right away or listen to what Kolgrim has to say. If you decide to kill the leader of the cultists, don't forget to take the horn from his corpse.
After that, you can go further and exit the caves to the top of the mountain. Here you can use the horn by clicking on it in the inventory. However, be prepared for the fact that the horn will summon a huge dragon that you will have to fight. Dealing with it is quite difficult. To win, warriors must distract the dragon, while archers and mages deal damage from a long distance. It is also important to have a lot of healing potions with you. If you win, you will receive a dragon scale, which you will need later for one of the side quests, and several powerful items. If it seems to you that you will not master the dragon, then it is not necessary to summon it, you can simply continue the main quest.
If you accept Kolgrim's offer to destroy the urn of sacred ashes by mixing the ashes with the dragon's blood, then the kindest of your companions will not be happy about this. If these companions remained in the camp during the mission, then they will want to leave the party, but they can be persuaded. Don't forget to mention in the conversationwith the leader of the cultists about Earl Eamon, so that they give you a handful of ashes to complete the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest in Dragon Age. After the dialogue with Kolgrim, you will receive a vial of dragon's blood. Then take the road that runs near Kolgrim and you will reach the top of the mountain.
Tests of Faith
Going further along the location, you will enter the Labyrinth. Whether you're helping the cultists or not, you'll have to complete this part of the quest. Walk up a couple of steps and talk to the Guardian. It doesn't matter how you answer his questions, because you only need to learn from him about the four trials. Tell the Guardian that you are ready to start the trials and answer a personal question.
In the first test you have to talk to eight ghosts. If you answer their questions correctly, they will turn into mist and become part of the key. A wrong answer will turn them into Ash Ghosts, which must be fought. You can deliberately give wrong answers to get more experience, and the correct answers are shown in the picture below.
After destroying the ghosts or answering their questions, you can go to the next room. Talk to the ghost of a familiar character from your hero's past. Next, head to the next area, where you will need to fight your team's ghost ghosts.
After winning the battle, go to the next room. Here you will find a door at the other end of the chasm and pressure plates that activate bridge fragments. Your goal is to reach the door with onefrom the members of the squad. To do this, you need to constantly move the characters across the plates. How to do this is shown in the screenshots.
The fourth test is very easy to complete. Just walk up to the altar and agree to take off your gear. After that, you can easily walk through the wall of fire in front of you. Wait for the Guardian to appear and congratulate you on completing the trials.
End of quest
After the tests are over, you can finally go to the urn of sacred ashes and take a handful of ashes. Then return to Radcliffe to heal Earl Eamon. Be sure to return to Brother Genitivi later for your reward.
If you decide to help the cultists destroy the urn of sacred ashes, after taking some ashes for the arl, you will be attacked by your kind-hearted companions, the Guardian and a couple of Ash Ghosts. After the battle, go to Kolgrim to receive your reward.
