The Urn of Sacred Ashes is a story quest in Dragon Age: Origins. You can get it after completing the quest "Earl Redcliffe" or at the very beginning of the game in Lorraine, talking to a knight in the church. According to the plot of the task, it is necessary to find the ashes of Andraste, who is able to heal Earl Eamon.
Quest start
The passage of the urns of sacred dust begins in Denerim. After receiving a quest from a knight in Lorraine or from Isolde and Tegan in Redcliff, you need to go to the market area in the city and find Brother Jenitivi's house there. Once inside, talk to Veilon and say that you are looking for a urn of sacred dust to cure Earl Eamon. Waylon will send you to Calenhad Lake. If you use cunning and intimidation, then Waylon will attack you, not wanting to reveal his secret.
Explore all the rooms in the Jenitivi house and find his studies, which will talk about the Vault - the possible whereabouts of Jenitivi’s brother. You can immediately go there or check out the place mentioned by Waylon - the "Spoiled Princess" tavern near Lake Kalenhad. In the tavern you need to talk with the innkeeper, and at the exit you are attacked by several cultists.
Shelter
The Urn of Sacred Ashes quest in Dragon Age: Origins takes you to the Vault. Arriving there, you will find yourself near the settlement. Go ahead and talk to the guard. He will not give any valuable information and send your character to talk with Eric. Now you can go into the house, collect valuable objects from the chests and explore the altar. When you leave home, a large group of cultists will attack your team. They are mostly peasants, and dealing with them is not difficult. After you finish the battle, you can explore the rest of the settlement or head up to the church. Further enemies will be much stronger. Destroy enemy magicians in the first place.
When you get to the church and go inside, you can talk to Eric, but the battle will begin almost immediately after the greeting. Try to attack Eric first so that he does not have time to read many spells. Having dealt with the magician and his guard, take the medallion of the cultist from the corpse of Eric. Then click on the wall in the northwestern part of the room. Behind her you will find Brother Jenitivi. A dialogue with him can end in two ways. You will either convince Brother Jenitivi that you can handle it yourself, and he should return home to Denerim, or you will agree to his help to get into the temple.
Temple
Further on the quest "Urn of the Sacred Ashes" in Dragon Age, you go to the ruined temple. Upon entering it, take a few steps forward. If Brother Jenitivi 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, the cultists will attack your squad. Clear the largest area before heading further.
There are four corridors in this location that are worth exploring. In the southwest corner you will find the corpse of a traveler 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.
Move carefully along these corridors, as there are plenty of cultists and traps. Having finished with the enemies, go to the western part of the map and find the key in the chest. Having taken 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 key and search the chest in the room. There must be a key that opens the northern gate.
Return to the main hall and head north. On the way you will meet a magician who is best destroyed from a distance. Entering the room behind the mage, be prepared that you will be ambushed by the Ghosts of Ashes. After defeating them, climb the stairs and click on the brazier.
Move further north, fighting off cultists and ghosts until you reach the entrance to the caves. You will be taken to the Wirmling Lair. Now your goal is to break through the enemies into the northwest cave. On the way you will meet both numerous wirmlings and cultists. Also, if you turn into different tunnels, you will come across small dragons.
Cultist offer
In the northwest cave, you will meet Colgrim, the leader of the cultists. You can immediately attack them or listen to what Kolgrim will say. If you decide to kill the cultist leader, remember to pick up 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 to fight with. Dealing with it is quite difficult. To defeat, warriors must distract the dragon, and archers and magicians inflict damage from a long distance. It is also important to have a lot of healing potions. In case of victory, you will receive dragon scales, which in the future will be needed for one of the side quests, and several powerful items. If it seems to you that you do not master the dragon, then it is not necessary to call him, you can simply continue the main quest.
If you accept the offer of Colgrim to destroy the urn of the sacred ashes by mixing the dust with the blood of a dragon, the most kindhearted of your companions will not be happy about this. If these companions remained in the camp during the assignment, they would want to leave the squad, but they could be convinced. Do not forget to mention the earl Eamon in your conversation with the cult leader, so that you will be given a handful of ashes to complete the quest “Urn of the Sacred Ashes” in Dragon Age. After dialogue with Kolgrim, you will receive a bottle of dragon blood. Then follow the road running next to Kolgrim and you will be taken to the top of the mountain.
Trials of faith
Going further along the location, you will find yourself in the Labyrinth. Regardless of whether you help the cultists or not, you have to go through this part of the quest. Walk a few steps and talk to the Sentinel. No matter how you answer his questions, because from him you only need to learn about the four tests. Tell the Guard that you are ready to start the test, and give an answer to a personal question.
In the first test, you have to talk with eight ghosts. If you answer their questions correctly, they will turn into fog and become part of the key. The wrong answer will turn them into Ghosts of Ashes to fight with. You can specifically give the wrong answers to get more experience, and the correct answers are shown in the picture below.
Destroying the ghosts or answering their questions, you can go into the next room. Talk to the ghost of a familiar character from your hero’s past. Next, go to the next zone, where you will need to fight with the ghosts-doppelgangers of your team.
After winning the battle, go to the next room. Here you will find a door at the other end of the abyss and pressure plates that activate fragments of the bridge. Your goal is to get to the door with one of the squad members. To do this, you need to constantly move the characters on the plates. How to do this is shown in the screenshots.
The fourth test is very easy to complete. Just go to the altar and agree to remove the equipment. After that, you can easily go through the wall of fire in front of you. Wait for the Guard to appear and congratulate you on completing the trials.
Quest end
After completing the tests, you can finally go to the urn of the sacred dust and take a handful of ashes. Then return to Radcliffe to heal Earl Eamon. Do not forget to return later to Jenitivi’s brother for the award.
If you decide to help the cultists destroy the urn of the sacred ashes after you take a little ash for the earl, then your kind companions, the Sentinel and a couple of Ash Phantoms will attack you. After the battle, go to Colgrim to get a reward.