This section isn't really a puzzle, per se, but apparently lots of people don't know how to get through this area, so I made a real quick walkthrough for it (and no, "quick" does not mean incomplete :op ). Anyway, before we get started, I want to make a note of something. While you're wandering around in The Fade, you'll come across many interactive objects called Lyrium Veins. The first time you touch one, it'll unlock a codex entry on lyrium. However, touching them also restores all of your HP/MP/stamina, so keep that in mind if you ever find yourself in trouble while running around in The Fade. *Note: For some reason, I don't know if it's my game or cause I'm playing on Hard mode, but I can't heal in combat in the Fade in hard mode. Health potions, lyrium veins, Devour... only thing that works is magic for some reason. So make sure you keep an eye on your HP in case this happens to you. Easy and Normal modes worked fine.

Well, OK, the only incomplete part of this walkthrough is that I won't summarise the dialogue or tell you what happens for each dialogue choice. None of that really matters, as far as I can tell anyway, besides giving you information on the situation. Anyway. So, you've just spawned here in The Fade. Go ahead and run forward. You'll pass a weird shiny thing on your right. There are going to be a lot of these types of things around here but you can't do anything with them for now. Just past the shiny thing is... Duncan!? Um... OK... Talk to him to find out that apparently the darkspawn are now all dead for the rest of forever. That... doesn't make much sense. Well, here you want to make Duncan mad, and the way to make him mad is to contradict him on everything he says and just not give in to this whole sudden peace thing, so however you decide to go about that in the dialogue options is up to you. Eventually he'll get pissed off that all you seem to want is war and fighting, and attacks you. Please note that there are also two Warden archer-types behind you, so don't ignore them (also, apparently sometimes one is a mage). However, everything in The Fade has only a fraction of the HP they have in the real world, so even fake-Duncan goes down after only a couple of hits. Once all three enemies are dead, a weird-looking thing appears near where fake-Duncan was, called a Fade Pedestal. Fade Pedestals take you to the "world map" of The Fade, but you can't get to all of the different areas from the get-go.

As soon as you approach Niall you get sucked into a conversation with him. You don't really have to talk to him (I mean, honestly, what am I here for?), but a summary of what he says is this: This is the realm of that Sloth Demon you talked to before ending up here. His realm is divided up into lots of different islands, and he lives on the center one. However, most of the islands are guarded by a demon allied with the sloth demon, and you can only reach the sloth demon if you kill off the guardian demons. He also mentions that he can't seem to find his way off of this one island, and that maybe your party members are on one of the islands (hint: they are). And yeah, some of this info you can only get if you choose certain dialogue choices, and some of it is expanded upon by another NPC you'll meet soon enough but both that NPC and Niall say the same basic things. Niall also mentions something about a mouse. Well, go past Niall to find a weird purple-filled doorway of sorts called a Fade Portal. Go through it to immediately get attacked by a demon. Once it's dead, a mouse comes up and talks to you. I guess this is the mouse Niall was talking about (and no, I don't know if this is Mouse from the mage origin story, but it wouldn't really make much sense if it was, considering what happens at the end of your Harrowing. But why would there be two mice in The Fade...? Ah, whatever). Regardless of who this mouse may or may not be, he tells you that the mouse holes lead to new areas, gives you his power (i.e., the ability to take on the form of a mouse), and then dissolves into The Fade.

Stealth is a rogue thing which apparently is akin to invisibility, however the mouse form's stealth doesn't seem to actually work in normal mode. In easy mode you actually can run by enemies without them seeing you at all. Or maybe I was just unlucky. Also, please note that you can't really fight anything in this mode, so it's really solely for the purpose of entering mouse holes. Click on the mouse form in your new menu thingy and enter the mouse hole. On the other side, un-mouse (click on the mouse form button again), defeat the lesser demon, check the Disturbing Statue for a codex entry, and enter the Fade Portal (which I'm just gonna call portals from now on because I'm lazy. And Fade Pedestals will just be pedestals). You'll soon see another shiny thing here in the form of a door, but again you can't use anything shiny yet. There are three demons in this area, but they are far enough apart that you should be able to regen between each one if needed. Go through the portal behind the last demon to return to where Niall is. Approaching him draws you into yet another mandatory convo, but you don't really need to answer any of his questions. Once you're done with him, use the pedestal behind him (yes, it works now) and choose Darkspawn Invasion on The Fade world map.

Ignore the mouse hole for now and use the door. You'll soon come across a door you can't open, labeled Massive Door if you try to interact with it. These Massive Doors, like the shiny stuff, are things you can't use yet, so ignore all of the Massive Doors you find for now. Clear the entire area up until you find a river of fire blocking the path (Niall mentioned something about rivers of fire, which is odd since he can't even get here). Clearing areas before using doors/mouseholes/etc. is a good policy to have here in The Fade because not only is EXP a good thing but if you didn't get my "things you can't use YET" hint, I'll tell you now that you'll be coming back to most of these areas several times, and it makes it a lot easier if you just kill all of the enemies you can on your first time through an area. Oh, and in case you couldn't tell, these fire rivers will kill you if you touch them, so don't for now, k? Head back to the first room in this area and use the mousehole.

Go forward and take the mousehole on your left (there's nothing you can use on the other side of the other mousehole right now). Un-mouse quickly as soon as you spawn and defeat the enemies (and yes, I did just use "mouse" as a verb). The doors leading south lead to the fire river we just encountered a minute ago, so take the other door (nearest where you spawned). In this room, the door is blocked by fire, so use the mousehole. In the next room, defeat the enemies and use the next mousehole.

Upon spawning, un-mouse quickly so you can save the Templar Spirit from the darkspawn. You HAVE to save him, this is not optional. This guy's kinda crazy, but he still gives you a new form and then disappears. Please note that each new form you get tends to move the other forms around on your little form submenu instead of just inserting itself into an empty slot there. I'm only mentioning this because one time I killed myself because I clicked on one of the forms and hadn't realised that the form I meant to click on was no longer in that slot and went *splud.* And then was really cranky cause I hadn't saved in awhile. ^>__<^;; Anyway, moving on!

There's another Massive Door in the back, and to the right of that is another weird shiny thing. Like I said before, you can only interact with shiny stuff when in Spirit Form, so go ahead and use that form now. Touch the shiny thing to get a permanent +1 to willpower. Un-spirit and use the regular door (it's near the mousehole). Continue forward til you open a door to a flaming room. Stay out of the room and let the baddies come to you. There are more enemies inside. The next door is blocked by fire, so go back to where the Templar Spirit was. Use the mousehole, then the next mousehole, follow the path til you find yet another mousehole, then use the mousehole I mentioned earlier that we'd be using "later" (later being now). It's the mousehole on the left (or, if you're looking at your compass, it's on the right). Once on the other side, un-mouse and use spirit form to get a +1 cunning from the shiny thing. Head back through the mousehole, into the mousehole straight ahead, and use the pedestal to return to Niall's island (The Raw Fade).

Use the pedestal and go to Weisshaupt Fortress (island at the top). Grab the +1 willpower from the shiny thing, and go back. Use spirit form to enter the shiny door behind Niall. Say hello to guardian demon #1, Yevena! Yevena likes long walks in The Fade, and devouring souls. Please give a nice cold welcome to our first bachelorette with Winter's Grasp! No, seriously. Cast Winter's Grasp on her, then Crushing Prison, and then cast Regeneration on yourself and un-spirit to beat up her minions. There's a lyrium vein nearby in case you need it. Switch back to spirit form to cast Winter's Grasp again but don't spend too long in spirit form so she doesn't kill you with her physical attacks. It just makes things easier if you can beat on her while she's frozen. After she's dead (which shouldn't take too long) check the nearby Twisted Structure for a codex entry and the shiny thing for a +1 willpower. Head back through the shiny door.

Use the portal behind Niall (not the pedestal), use the mousehole, go through the portal, then go into spirit form to get through the door. Do not un-spirit here, as the few enemies in this area only use magic. Plus, there's a shiny thing in here that gives you +1 dexterity. Return to Niall's area (back through the spirit door, head right, go through the portal (the one to the north at the end of the path)), use the pedestal, and go to Burning Tower.

Take the mousehole to get a +1 cunning, then go back through the mousehole. Take the regular door into the hallway and enter the first room on the right. Stay in the left part of the room so the enemies come to you. Once they are dead, go back into the hallway, enter the second room, and go through the door on the left. Kill the bad guys, then go through the door at the top of the stairs. Please avoid any fire you see, cause, again, they will one-shot you. Go right, north, right towards the mousehole, but don't go into mouse form yet cause some dogs will attack you near the hole. After they're dead, use the mousehole, un-mouse, destroy the demon, then beat up the templar (there's a lyrium vein on the north side of the room in case you need it). This templar's also kinda crazy, but also gives you a new form.

Take the door to the south and use burning man to get through the areas around here. Take a right and use spirit form to get through the door for a +1 constitution and a +1 cunning. Return to the previous area and head south through the door. Go all the way down the hallway and use the pedestal to get to Mage Asunder.

Take the mousehole closest to the pedestal. Check the bookcase for a codex entry, and grab the spirit form +1 strength thing. Back in the previous room take the regular door, then change into spirit form before approaching the next door because there are mages inside. Stay in spirit form for the next room as well. There's a +1 magic in here after you kill off the mages, and another codex entry in a bookcase. Make sure your spirit form's spells have recharged before you enter the third room, although the mages in this room don't seem to like eachother much and are just as liable to attack eachother as attack you. The next room has physical attackers, so don't use spirit form. Change to burning man for the next room, which also helps out a lot vs the rage demons in here (just use physical attacks on them though, since they're immune to burning man's fire spells). Continue into the next room and feel free to use fireball on the mages. Yeah, sure, fireball tends to blow up everything in the vincinity, including you, but since you're already on fire it doesn't actually hurt you (it still knocks you over though). Whee! Stay as burning man and continue into the next room. More splodey for the mages! (the funny part is, these guys also tend to use fireball, so they blow themselves up, with full damage, and you get off scott-free. Haha, stupid mages!) However, all of the flames everywhere from the fireball spam makes it kinda hard to see where the enemies are... A book in the back of the east side of the room provides another codex entry. There's another massive door over there too, but it only leads back to the first room in this area, so who cares. Take the door up the stairs.

DO NOT use fireball in here since it'd probably kill the guy you're supposed to learn your last form from. Just use physicals on the chantry chicks, then run around the room while the stone golems chase you. If they're not chasing you, you're gonna have to change tactics, but if they are chasing you, just keep running around the room in circles, cause the Cursed Dreamer should be able to kill them off on his own if you do this. Just try not to get hit by them cause it hurts. A lot. (yes, even if you are a warrior) After you save him, the Cursed Dreamer thanks you and gives you your final form.

Go through the door up the stairs to the south. Use spirit form to Winter's Grasp and Crushing Prison the Mage, then switch to Golem asap to take out the Mage Pupil and Stone Golem. A note towards the back has another codex entry, and a pile of books near where you came in has yet another. Use golem to get through the locked door in this area. Burning man is best for the enemies behind this door. Down the hallway hang a left and use golem to take out the golem that'll appear on your right. Head north and right, burning man then golem for the enemies in this room, grab the codex entry in the back, then head back outside. In the hallway, head all the way south then left. This room contains three golems, so switch to golem and just run around the room when you need to recharge your skills so they can't hit you. If you've only got one left and he's about half-dead, feel free to switch to spirit form and use crushing prison to keep him from getting too close. There's another codex entry in here, and a +1 strength.

Back outside, head all the way west, then a bit north and enter the room on your left. There's another codex entry in here, and a +1 to willpower. Back outside, go all the way south and bust through the door. The things inside use Fireball, so counter with Burning Man. Use the spirit door, but be ready to cast Crushing Prison on the stone golem as soon as you zone. Grab the dexterity +1 and use the mouse hole. Quickly switch to golem as there are two in here. Grab the +1 cunning and bust through the door. There's another +1 dexterity and a +1 constitution in here. Head back through the mousehole, and back through the spirit door. Go south into the next room. The demon in here really takes a beating if you use golem form. ... haha, usually when this sort of thing happens, I type NEXT! And... my char just said the exact same thing. ^<__<^;; I'm in tune with my character. Anyway. Two down, three guardians to go! Use the pedestal and head back to Darkspawn Invasion.

Head south south south, and almost near the very beginning where we first entered this area however long ago is one of those Massive Doors. Bust it up! Grab the +1 strength and head back to where we just zoned into this area. Bust up the door leading north. You might want to stay in golem form just cause of the sheer number of darkspawn in here. Bust through the door on the other side to find... an ogre. Well, at least we've got golem form! Tossing in some spells from spirit form while the ogre is stunned helps quite a bit as well, then switch back to golem so the ogre's physical attacks don't destroy you. Use the pedestal to go back to The Burning Tower.

Break down the door to the north and then stay in burning man, not just for the flames in front of the door but for the burning templars behind the next door. Feel free to run back into the room we zoned into if you get mobbed, since not only is there a lyrium vein in there but running away helps break up the mob (50,000 shield bashes in a row are annoying). If you're playing on Hard or Nightmare, you'll want to use golem instead if you're not in the fire. Continue on to find another boss, who also uses fire magic, so stay as burning man. After the boss is dead, grab the +1 strength and use the pedestal to go to the far right point you just unlocked (named simply "A Nightmare," which is not to be confused with "The Templar's Nightmare").

OK look guys, I'm not about to bring every single possible ally through this place, so I'll just make really quick notes for the ones I did bring. I will try to get as many allies listed here as possible, but I never use Oghren for anything, and I always do the Orzammar stuff last, so I doubt he'll ever show up here. And yeah, I know that not all of the islands that your party members are on have been unlocked at this point in the walkthrough but meh. I don't want to keep interrupting the flow so I'm putting them all here. Also, after the fight on each A Nightmare island, don't talk to your party member or else you'll just keep triggering the cinematic that plays when you first approached them. Just wait after the fight and eventually another cinematic will trigger, in which that party member is released from their island.

For Wynne, you need to first convince her that this isn't real, which is pretty easy. You don't even need the (Persuade) options to do so, just don't be a dick about it. After that you have to convince her to fight her apprentices. These guys do use fireball, so you might wanna use burning man for that.

Alistair is a bit more complicated. You don't want to make him angry (i.e., don't go around accusing Goldana and the kids of being demons) or else he'll get cranky and stop talking to you. Just be kinda... neutral but in a "we kinda sorta have to leave" type of way, not a "I'll leave you here" or "We are leaving now, they are all demons!" type of way. If you get the "Try to remember why we're here" or "What do you remember before this?" type of dialogue options choose it. Afterward, just use golem form. Yeah, the AoE golem attacks hit Alistair, but he'll live through them, whereas the enemies won't. Don't forget about the two archers behind you though.

Morrigan isn't taken in by this nonsense in the Fade, but instead has taken to bickering with the fake Flemeth with about the same zeal as she does with the real one. I guess Morrigan just thrives on conflict, even if it's with something she knows isn't real. Don't worry though. Even though you have to fight the fake Flemeth, she really is quite a terrible impersonation of the real Flemeth, and dies quite quickly. Haha...

Morrigan: Yay, it is dea-- wait, what's... UGH, NOT AGAIN! A;SKJFA;DSLKJ!! *poof*

For Zevran... er... what, is he into BDSM now? I'm... just gonna go stand over here now. What? Oh, I have to save him? I mean, I like Zevran, but this is just a little weird... oh fine! Basically be his friend and you'll get an explanation as to what this insanity is all about. This was apparently his initiation into the Crows (although why both of these guys are Dalish elves is beyond me), but since he already is one go ahead and remind him of that fact. When you do, you'll have to fight the demonic illusions. They're not difficult at all. After they're dead, Zevran poofs away.

For Leliana... er... what do you mean "Who are you?" *kicks Leliana in the head* Ask her what the hell she's doing and remind her that you're friends. Also any option that reminds her of why she left the Chantry (i.e., her vision that made her join your party) and of her beliefs (i.e., the Maker will come back and he loves everybody) will help her remember. At that point you can be as confrontation towards the demon as possible. Beat it up and move on.

OK, now that that's over, let's finish this. Head to The Templar's Nightmare.

A book near the pedestal contains a codex entry. Use the door and head into the hallway. I highly suggest just sticking with golem for clearing the three rooms. Just be aware that the abominations explode. ^>__<^;; There's a codex entry in the first room in the hallway. Use the mouse hole in the same room to fight a blight wolf and get a +1 dexterity. Use the mouse hole in the last room (the one next to the portal) to fight an ogre and an abomination (which also explodes, and doesn't show up right away but he's there). Use burning man and head into the hallway and clear the second room, then golem for the third. Go through the spirit door, then quickly switch back to golem. Break through the door at the other end of this small section, then use the portal after you defeat the enemies in the last room. OK, well... for this room in hard mode I had a bit of trouble but it was actually a lot easier after I opened the door with Hurl from as far away as possible, then switched back to my normal form and just shot each enemy to death (starting with the skeleton) from two rooms away using a bow and arrow. ^<__<^;; They didn't even hit me once. By the way, use Burning Man before you go through the portal.

So suddenly the whole room is on fire, which is why I had you use Burning Man before coming here. Go through the door, destroy the abominations, and enter the next room. Use golem for this room, then enter the last room, where the final guardian decides that she wants to play tag. ^O__o^;; Well... go into mouse form and chase her! Apparently she has ADHD, cause she abandons the game in the very next room. Switch to spirit form, Winter's Grasp, Crushing Prison, Burning Man's Fireball, then finish her off in golem form with Hurl and Quake. Easy as demon pie. Grab the +1 cunning and use the pedestal to get out of here. You can go rescue the rest of your party now. After that, time for the last area!

The sloth demon's Fade form is a lot less horror show than the one back in the Tower. Also, your other party members show up for the demon-bashing. However, Sloth has many forms. Use golem for the first, then burning man for the second. After that, just use golem for the rest, and remember to use lyrium veins as needed. (apparently it is five forms in Hard Mode? For the last two just being yourself works well enough) If you've got Morrigan with you and she's got Cone of Cold, that and her Winter's Grasp are pretty helpful here. Try to keep as many of your party members as possible as ranged fighters, especially for the first couple of forms. After Sloth is dead, you wake up back in the Tower. The End.