The Sword of the Beresaad

This guide will walk you through the “The Sword of the Beresaad” quest in Dragon Age: Origins. We will go through all the steps to complete this mission.

Background

Once you’ve gained enough approval with Sten, he’ll finally tell you the story of how he got locked up in a cage in Lothering. He’ll tell you that he and seven of his qunari brothers were attacked by darkspawn near Lake Calenhad. Only Sten survived, but when he awoke in the house of the farmers who rescued him, he was without his sword — a sword personalized to him, representing his bravery on the battlefield — and he panicked, killing the farmers. Learning this story will trigger the quest.

To help Sten out, you’ll need to track down his lost sword. If you travel to the Lake Calenhad Docks, then you’ll find a scavenger there near the entrance. When you ask him about the sword, he’ll tell you that another scavenger named Faryn might have taken it, and that you should be able to meet up with him in Orzammar.

You’ll run into Faryn outside of Orzammar at the Frostback Mountain Pass. After a little bit of encouragement, Faryn will reveal that he had the sword, but that he sold it to Dwyn in Redcliffe. If Sten isn’t in your party for this conversation, then you’ll be able to collect 3 sovereigns from Faryn by agreeing not to tell Sten who stole his sword from him. If Sten is in your party, then he won’t really seem to care what Faryn did.

When you reach Dwyn in Redcliffe, you’ll have two ways to get the sword from him: you can purchase it from him for 6 (or 2) sovereigns, or you can intimidate him into giving it to you for free. Either way, Dwyn will give you the key to the chest in the back room of his house, where you’ll find Sten’s Sword. If Dwyn is dead, then you’ll still find the sword in the chest, but you won’t need the key to open it.

When you give the sword to Sten, you’ll receive a good chunk of approval from him, plus 100 xp. The gift sword will then turn into the two-handed greatsword Asala, which you might want to equip on Sten, depending on where you are in the game. Sten won’t comment if you decide to sell the sword instead.