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Quest
Depths of Depravity

Location:

End:

Appearances:

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening

Depths of Depravity is the main and the final quest in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening where the Warden-Commander must defeat the Mother to end the darkspawn incursion.

Walkthrough Edit

Dragonbone Wastes Edit

The Dragonbone Wastes are inhabited by Children, Genlocks, Genlock emissarys, Hurlock Alphas, a Disciple, an Armored Ogre and a High dragon. The path is more-or-less linear therefore it is difficult to get lost. At some point on the right there is a pile of bones that contains Fadewalker. Further down the path on the left, there is another fiery dragon skull. Behind that there is a codex note: Codex entry: Drake's Fall. The High Dragon is the final encounter before entering Drake's Fall. There is also a pile of bones where Quicksilver is located.

Drake's Fall Edit

Crystals of the ImperiumEdit

Main article: Crystals of the Imperium

Entering the door will take the Warden-Commander to Drake's Fall where the quest Crystals of the Imperium is acquired. If Velanna is present, her sister Seranni will appear followed by a cinematic conversation. The path is linear with only minor deviations to collect crystals for the quest from various chests and fleshpods. The crystals are placed at the bottom of each of the three towers on the way to the Nest. Placing crystals at each tower grants a special ability for the end fight against The Mother. The three towers are as follows:

Healing (Even revives slain party members)
Area of Effect Stun (equivalent to Mind Blast)
Flame Blast (single target)

A fourth tower is available should you side with the Architect in the next cinematic sequence (see below).

The ArchitectEdit

During the descent towards the Nest, the Warden-Commander encounters the Architect and Utha. The Architect will apologize for the incident at the Silverite Mine, explaining the necessity of Grey Warden blood in preventing the Calling, and requests the Warden's assistance in killing the Mother. He explains that he himself is unable to challenge the Mother directly because of magical wards and the Children guarding her. If you accept the Architect's offer, the final tower, the Architect's Pyre ability, which calls down a rain of fire, is granted.

The alternative option is to kill both the Architect and the Mother. Killing the Architect will yield the Robes of the Architect and the Belt of the Architect. His Grey Warden ally, Utha, has to be slain as well and will yield the Doge's Dodger. Choosing to side with the Architect may require persuasion checks on the companions who are present, otherwise they may become hostile.

Siding with The Architect
- Justice disapproves (-5) with persuasion. Otherwise he becomes hostile. Depending on coercion, potentially Justice approves (+2) .
- Sigrun disapproves (-10) with persuasion. Otherwise she becomes hostile.
- Anders disapproves (-5)
- Oghren approves (+2)
- Velanna approves (+2)

Killing The Architect
- Nathaniel disapproves (-3)
- Oghren disapproves (-3)
- Velanna disapproves (-3)

If you do not force an explanation from The Architect and instead choose the dialogue options that lead directly to a fight, then your party members do not contribute to the conversation and there will be no approval loss from Velanna, Oghren or Nathaniel.

Should the Warden-Commander slay any of the party members, they can be replaced, and the party continues through Drake's Fall. However, the slain party members' gear may not appear completely. Of note, there is a fleshpod that contains the Vestments of Urthemiel on the final descent to the Nest.

Bug! If you have a Ranger in your party and you approach the meeting with the Architect with a summoned pet in tow, this can cause a severe problem if you choose to fight him: after the dialogue ends, your party will be placed outside the chamber on the bridge and cannot get back in due the magical barrier. So be sure to unsummon your animal before meeting the Architect. It's OK to summon again once the battle begins.

The Nest Edit

For strategies, see The Mother (strategy).

The Nest is where The Mother is located and the setting for the final battle. The Architect will appear as a spectral image where further information about the last Blight can be obtained from the conversation between the two.

Bug!

(v1.04) In rare occasions it is possible that some of the children will stay alive even after The Mother dies and are visible during the final cutscene. This may cause the final cut-scene to loop indefinitely after the epilogue, children still visible in the cutscene. If you do not have the Awakening achievement, you have to kill The Mother again. (confirmed 09.18.11)

It has been noted that if you press Esc (several times, if needed) during a repeat of the final scene, you will be awarded the Awakening achievement and the end credits will begin.