Sand and Ruin, The Tomb of Fairel - Dragon Age Inquisition Guide - IGN (2024)

Sand and Ruin is automatically triggered after arriving at Skyhold the first time. It's advanced by running a mission from the war table. The mission will cost 20 power, and will unlock the Hissing Wastes. Unlike most “unlock” missions, the quest doesn't simply resolve after the mission is run; you'll need to go to Hissing Wastes to advance it. There, you'll trigger The Tomb of Fairel side quest. Because both quests advance each other and take you to the same places, you can do them in tandem.

After being briefed by Harding, you'll need to go to the northwest. It's a long trip: you can shut down a couple rifts, claim a couple quarries, and claim a camp by the time you get there. The screenshot below shows the first Venatori camp relative to where you start.

A few Venatori agents are in the camp. Take them down, then look for a book that lies near a table by a tent. It sits near (but not on) an exclamation mark that marks a quest. Read the book to update both quests.

The next Venatori camp is located to the east. However, part of the canyon is in your way; it may be best to fast travel to Logging Camp, then go northeast around the canyon. After you clear the enemies and establish the Sand Crags Camp, you'll find a note on a table nearby. Relative to the compass, this note lies between two exclamation marks, but is not marked by either. Read it to advance Sand and Ruin.

After you read the paper, descend into the marked tomb nearby. You'll head down some stairs, then enter through a couple narrow open doorways before you enter the tomb proper.

Nightmare difficulty

Inside the tomb, you'll see four pillars, each with an inscription. Near one of the pillars is a book lying in the open on a table. Read it to advance The Tomb of Fairel.

On the back of each pillar is a Veilfire Brazier. You must light them in a specific order, else some enemies will spawn in. Based on the inscriptions of the same pillar, the proper order to light the Braziers is:

1. This is the tale of Fairel, Paragon among Paragons, father of two sons,
2. who, against their father's wishes, fought from foolish words and foolish pride.
3. For pride these halls were made—to honor a father's deeds, and grieve his loss.
4. And for the loss these halls were made, to honor a brother mourned.

When you light all four braziers in the proper order, the door to the next room will open. You can loot the box there to update The Tomb of Fairel.

Exit back to the surface, then go northeast to find and establish the Mountain Fortress Camp. Exit the camp to the northwest while keeping your eyes north. You'll find a natural ramp of sand that leads up toward the mountain. The screenshot below shows the path's location in the trail of the player marker.

Once you're up there, you can claim the Stone Over Sky landmark. From the landmark, face west and you'll see some stone pillars marking another, thin path as it winds up and right.

Go up that path, which stops at a wooden scaffolding. A ladder leads down to more scaffolding, and more ladders, and so on. Descend all the way, and you'll find the next Venatori camp to the east. Clear it, then establish your own (the Sunstop Mountain Camp). Two books lie in the open on a table just north of the center of the camp. Read them both to update both quests.

Upon reading the books, The Tomb of Fairel gains a significant milestone. You're tasked to find five Fairel Key Fragments, one each in five tombs, but you should already have one. It was found in the Four Pillars Tomb, inside the main box. The rest of the quest will follow suit, but first, we need to resolve Sand and Ruin.

Exit your new Sunstop Mountain Camp to the east; you'll find a thin gravel path that winds toward a search area in that direction.

The final Venatori camp is large and nestled within some rocks near the middle of the search area. Wooden palisade walls act as a maze, but a linear one that winds through the entire camp. It ends at an enemy called the Overseer, and in his room will be a book sitting in the open on a table. The screenshot below shows the exact location of it.

Once you read it, Sand and Ruin will resolve, so you can now focus on finishing The Tomb of Fairel. You'll have to visit four more tombs, and throughout your travels for these quests, it's likely that one or two are marked on your map (in addition to the one with the four pillars). Each tomb features its own puzzle, and you'll collect one Fairel Key Fragment from each. You can take them in any order.

Fast travel back to the Mountain Fortress camp, then exit it to the northeast. You'll find a gravel path that ascends to the northeast for a while before circling back south on top of the cliff. Kill the Venatori agents up there, then descend into the marked tomb.

In the first room, you'll find a lit Veilfire Brazier. Interact with it to light a torch and carry with you for the entire exploration. The way forward starts along the west wall, and you can light two more braziers that surround an open doorway. Through that, you'll encounter a long, linear hall that spirals downward with steps.

In the next open room, if you're still carrying your torch, you can find a rune along the northern wall. It doesn't lead to any quests, but you'll gain a schematic if you read it. Descend the ladders in the center of the room to continue.

At the bottom, the way forward lies along the southern wall. You'll be in another room with four pillars, each with an inscription, and each with an adjoining Veilfire Brazier. Like before, you'll need to light them in a particular order:

1. The sun burned above oceans of sand,
2. but in the sand was Stone, strong and true.
3. Fairel hewed the Stone, and built—as great as thaig in the deep.
4. And with his sons' help, he ensured the thaig prospered and grew.

The door will open on the south wall, allowing you to enter a room with a pot which contains another Fairel Key Fragment.

Fast travel back to the Sand Crags Camp, then leave it going straight west. When you reach the canyon, you can safely descend rock by rock; always look before you leap! Note that if you're mounted, you can just jump off since you won't take damage upon landing.

The tomb has an open doorway along the west rocky wall of the canyon. One Veilfire Brazier lights it. Take the torch, then enter.

Unlike other tombs, this one has a few spiders inside, so you'll have a simple fight. Clear the way, then proceed forward. The tomb is tiny, with the way forward along the western wall.

The next room is another four-pillar room. The order is:

1. After many years Fairel, greatest of Paragons, could not bear life's burden.
2. And with the burden growing, he called his sons to his bedside.
3. He bade each son swear he would take care of his brother,
4. and the brothers swore, and mourned when their father returned to the Stone.

The door will open along the west wall, and you'll claim your third fragment from a chest.

The next tomb is a little tough to find since there are no indications on the map that you need to go there, nor is there much near it to give you an excuse to check it out early. Fast travel to the Logging Camp, then go south by southeast. Check out the screenshot below to pinpoint its location.

This tomb works a little differently than the others. This one resides above ground; the “tomb” marked on the map is actually the final room that contains the key fragment and other treasure. All the stones, inscriptions, and Veilfire Braziers are above ground surrounding The Empty Square landmark spot on the map. The braziers are not located on the same little pillar of the stone inscriptions, but slightly beside them. They are located in the cardinal directions, and the proper order is:

1. (South) Fairel's sons built monuments to their father, locking away his great works,
2. (East) and worked together, for a time, side by side. Each ruled half the thaig,
3. (North) but each ruled differently. They argued, and heated words made the brothers duel,
4. (West) and where one brother fell, the other raised bloodied axe in hand, alone.

One more to go, and it's far to the northwest. Travel to the Sunstone Mountain Camp, then head northwest. On the map, you'll see a camp and a couple rifts to close. Remember to stay mounted so you can jump off the high cliff without taking damage from the landing. Claim the camp, which is the Statue Camp, to resupply.

From the Statue Camp, go north while keeping your eye on your compass until you see the landmark icon appear. Circle right when you find it, and you'll have to approach it from the north. Note that the landmark icon disappears after it's claimed, unlike the standard black X's that usually appear.

The landmark sits on wooden scaffolding. After you claim it, you can descend via stairs to enter the tomb. You'll need to kill some spiders on the way.

More spiders and some lurkers wait in the tomb, but they generally attack you one or two at a time and won't pose a threat. Light the braziers in the first room to open a door along the east wall, and you'll enter the room with four pillars. The proper order is:

1. Fairel, Paragon, fled from the strife his brilliance created,
2. the strife that destroyed thaigs, sundered houses, from weapons that clan used against clan.
3. His own clan and his two sons followed Fairel to the pitiless surface,
4. the surface where they would hide from the war that took their home.

Enter the door in the eastern wall to loot the final key fragment.

Now that you have all five fragments, your character will automatically assemble them into the key. Fast travel back to Sand Grags Camp, but consider your gear. Where you're going, you may fight Sandy Howler, a Level 20 fire-elemental high dragon. If you want to take her on, be sure to have Fire Resistance Tonics and ice-based weapons on you. If you don't want to take her on, you can still go through with The Tomb of Fairel quest, but you'll have to move carefully when you get there.

Once you're ready, exit the camp due east. It's a long trip, but it won't take long if you're mounted.

When you arrive to that spot, you'll see two large dwarven statues flanking a gap in the rocks.

Continue through that gap; you may need to dismount, especially since there may be a couple lurkers inside. Once you're through the rocks, you'll be on a gravel path that curves left for a moment, then curves right while descending. The path leads to the aforementioned Sandy Howler dragon, but she's asleep when you find her. As long as you don't attack her first, she'll stay asleep and you can go around her peacefully.

At the far east end past her, you'll find another door to another tomb, this one specifically called Tomb of Fairel. When you enter, you'll have one empty room, then a second room in the back. It contains a pot that you can loot if you have all the key fragments. Open it and loot it, and this long quest will finally resolve.

After you loot it, one of your companions may mention that they smell fires being started somewhere. This is a bluff; exiting the tomb won't bring any unexpected surprises.

Nightmare difficulty