Soundtrack:

Glory to the Brave ~ Sprint Music

"I can't believe Bhelen actually tracked this place down," Oghren said once we reached Craidin's Cross. "This used to be one of the biggest crossroads in the old empire. You could get anywhere from here. Including Ortan Thaig."

"So you know where to go from here?" I asked.

"Aye. Branka dug up some maps of the ancient empire. It's a little tough to tell with so much of it collapsed now but near as I can figure we're on the right path to Ortan Thaig."

"What is so important about Ortan Thaig?"

"It's the home of Caridin, the Paragon who made the Anvil. He was an Ortan before he founded his own house and even then he spent most of his time in their thaig. Branka figured it was the best guess for where the Anvil was located."

"Do you know anything else about the Anvil?"

"No one but Caridin ever really knew more than that it had some kind of Stone-blessed power. Every golem who ever ranged across the empire was hammered on the steel of that Anvil but no one ever knew exactly how they were made. But Branka was sure she could find out."

"Then let's go."

"I've been waiting for someone to say that for two sodding years."

We followed the path without any incidents, save a very odd conversation between Oghren and Alistair.

"So, uh, what do you do with her legs?" Oghren asked. What kind of question was that?

"Who's legs?"

"Her legs. That's the problem with Dwarven legs. They're useless as an accessory."

Dear Creators! Who was I feeding to a Darkspawn?

"I didn't do anything with them. I don't know what—"

"Ah, say no more. Just got 'em outta the way and went about your business. Good on you, son."

"Umm, thanks?"

I turned and looked at Oghren.

"What?"

I shook my head and we continued on.

We came upon several dead Darkspawn, which meant someone had been there. Perhaps recently. We took a tunnel. Which had a few Darkspawn and I was able to see Oghren's skill with that axe of his. He let his rage go and it added to his strength. I believed he would be a great ally if he decided to join us. And also made me glad he was on our side. After they were dead, we continued through the tunnel and were surprised by Shrieks that came out of nowhere. Now a Shriek is a tainted creature, a step up from a ghoul, I think. While ghouls retain their original form, Shrieks take on a more grotesque form. It's hard to explain what they look like and I really can't do it justice. But they were easy to kill.

"What the Maker was that?" Zevran asked.

"Shrieks," Alistair said. "Short story is they're tainted and do the bidding of the Darkspawn."

"Let's go before any more show up," I said.

The tunnel lead to another section of the Deep Roads where we were ambushed by Darkspawn. We cut them down and walked down the path towards more waiting. We killed them and went through another tunnel that lead to yet another section of Caridin's Cross.

"This looks like the right way out. It won't be long before we reach Ortan Thaig," Oghren said.

~~~

"By the tits of my Ancestors!" Oghren exclaimed when we reached the ruins of the thaig. I raised a brow at him. "Ortan Thaig. I never thought I'd see this place in the flesh. I can see Branka all over this place. She always took chips from the walls at regular intervals when she was in a new tunnel. Check their composition. If she were still here, though, she'd have sentries out by now."

"What do you know about these ruins?" I asked.

"Aside from being Caridin's home thaig? He was an Ortan before he became a Paragon. Even stayed here when he could have had his own house. I guess he didn't want to move his people to Bownammar."

"Bownammar?"

"The city of the dead. Caridin built it to honor the Legion of the Dead but it was more like a sodding mausoleum than anything. Of course, that was before he built the Anvil. After that, he was the city's pet genius until he angered the king and fell into disfavor." I wondered what he did to anger the king but time was short and we needed to find Branka.

"Let's move on."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

We moved deeper into the ruins.

"Ah, Wynne...," Oghren said. "Care to partake of Oghren's fine homebrew? It's the drink of the gods."

I smiled to myself.

"Mm, ale, is it?" Wynne replied. "And I hope it's brewed hygienically?"

Zevran and Leliana snickered.

"Of course! I may not know clean from a beggar's ass when it comes to most things but I don't mess around with my ale."

"Very well. Let's have a taste."

"You may regret that," Zevran said.

Wynne ignored him and had a taste of the ale he carried in a bag at his side.

"Well? Well? What do you think?"

"I think you shouldn't be trying to get one of our Mages drunk," I said.

Oghren grunted.

"Very nice," Wynne said.

"You like it? Well, I never..."

"Attractive amber color. Nutty flavor, slightly sweet, just a hint of toastiness."

Alistair chuckled.

"There's some spice to it... I'm finding it hard to place..."

"Yes? Yes?"

"Is it... cloves?"

"Cloves! By the Stone! You're a lady after my own heart. If I weren't buckled into this armor, I'd take you round the corner and... well, you know."

"Dear Maker!" Alistair cried.

I saw the mischievous smile on the old Mage's face. "Give me more ale?"

I laughed out loud. Zevran doubled over with laughter. Leliana's face turned a deep red and Morrigan chuckled. Sten was as stony-faced as he always was.

We entered a tunnel and found a few spiders. Personally, I was getting tired of seeing spiders everywhere we went. The Tower and the Wilds were the only two places I hadn't come across them. After defeating them we went on to find Darkspawn, an ogre and several spiders attacking each other. We stayed back allowing them to kill each other. Until a couple of the spiders came towards us. We fought them off and continued on our way. We came to a vast hall and as we walked through, we saw a Dwarf dart away and into a tunnel.

"Who was that?" I wondered aloud before we followed him and found him a few feet in the tunnel.

"There's nothing for you here!" the Dwarf cried. "It's mine! I've claimed it!"

"Who are you? What are you doing down here?" I asked.

"You've come to take my claim! You surfacers are all alike. Thieving scoundrels!"

I raised a brow. I could sense the taint in him.

"Well, I found it first!"

"Bah!" Oghren said. "He's a bloody scavenger. Good as sodding gone."

"Begone you!" the Dwarf cried. "You'll bring the dark ones back, you will! They'll crunch your bones!"

"Word has it you can only survive down here by eating the Darkspawn dead."

"Eww," Leliana said.

"Darkspawn blood is poison," I said, remembering the vile taste of it the night of my Joining. "Men have died from drinking it." Good men. Like Daveth. The thought of the impish rogue saddened me. Yes, I missed him even though I hadn't known him very long before his death.

"No kidding," Alistair muttered. Tristan had nearly died from swallowing it before I had come to Ostagar.

"It burns when it goes down! It burns!" This Dwarf was tainted. And it had driven him mad. "It's my claim, not yours! Crunch your bones!" He ran down the tunnel and we followed cautiously. He ran to what had looked to be a campsite, long abandoned. "Go away! This is mine! Only I gets to plunder its riches!"

"Is this Branka's campsite?" I asked.

"It's mine! I'm the one who found it. I drove out the crawlers. Now it's mine!"

"Was this campsite here when you found it?"

"Everything was here. Everything the crawlers did not already take! Rocks and tents and worms! It's all mine!"

"I'm not here to steal anything. I promise."

"Pretty lady... pretty eyes, pretty hair... smells like the stream of burning water, blue as the deepest rock... So... the pretty lady won't take anything from Ruck? You won't take Ruck's shiny worms and pretty rocks?"

"I just want to talk. I won't take anything."

"Oh. Ruck not mind that, maybe..."

"I have a few questions for you."

"I will answer your questions, pretty lady. Anything you wish."

"When did you arrive here?"

"Too long ago. I must think... five years? Six? Ruck no longer remembers the smells and sights of the city."

"How did you survive here?"

"When the dark ones were here, I kept to the shadows. They don't look in the shadows, not if you're quiet. Not if you eat their flesh." Yuck. "Then the dark ones think you're one of them. They leave you alone. But now they're gone." Eat a Darkspawn and of course, they would think you were one of them. The taint was good for that. Although I was clueless on how the taint worked with the Wardens.

"Do you know where the dark ones went?"

"I thinks they went south, pretty lady. Far, far to the south. That is where the dark master calls them with his beautiful voice. So much joy when he awoke!"

"He's talking about the Archdemon, huh?" Oghren asked.

I nodded.

"After the dark master awoke, he called his children and they all went. I wanted to go, too, and gaze upon his beauty."

"Where is the dark master now? Do you know?"

"He stopped calling. I wish I could go see him but Ruck, no, no, Ruck- Ruck is a coward."

"But there are still giant spiders here, correct?"

"The crawlers. They used to eat the smallest dark ones. Now the crawlers go hungry."

"Did you find anything unusual here?"

"Bits of things but only bits. The crawlers took almost everything. They takes things of steel and things of paper. They takes the shinies and the words."

"Paper and words?" Oghren asked. "That sounds like someone was taking notes. Do you think Branka camped here?"

"They bring them to the great nest, the nest they makes for the eggs. They puts the shinies inside, they do."

"We should go," I said.

"Enjoy your tainted mud, you poor sodding duster," Oghren said.

"It's not so bad. The dark and the burning keeps Ruck warm... warm like Mother's arms."

"Look at him," Oghren shook his head. "He's like a pale mud worm. He should've been sent to the mines. Instead, he chose this. I'd put him out of his misery."

"As much as I hate to agree," Alistair said. "Oghren's right. The taint will only get worse."

I wondered if Tamlen hadn't died quickly, if he would have gone mad like this. If I would have. I would want someone to end it for me. I wouldn't want to live like this.

"You're right," I agreed. Death would be much better than this.

"Sodding right, I'm right," Oghren said. "Now do it quick so we can get back to business."

Ruck screamed. "The pretty lady is treacherous! Don't hurt Ruck! No!"

I reached for my belt knife but Zevran had snuck behind him and ended it, sinking his own knife into Ruck's heart. "You shouldn't have been the one to do it," he said. "That's what I'm here for, no?"

"I thought killing tainted creatures was the Wardens' jobs," Morrigan said.

"Shut up," Alistair said.

"Let's go," I said before anything else was said.

We left the camp.

"Looks like that bone-picker was living in Branka's old camp," Oghren said. "Did you see the marks on the floor? There were a lot of people and fires there once. Those must have been Branka's papers he said was taken by the spiders. Nothing that fragile would be left from the thaig."

We emerged from the tunnel and went towards a bridge over an underwater river. On the other side of the bridge was yet another tunnel. As we followed the tunnel, it felt as if we were going deeper within the earth. At the end of this tunnel, we found another bridge. As we crossed the bridge, we came to another vast hall. We split up, but stayed within earshot of each other, to search for clues of Branka. I came across a journal and leafed through it, surprised to see it was written in the Common Tongue. Then I saw something that caught my eye and called to the others.

"Listen to this," I said when the others gathered. "'We found evidence today that the Anvil of the Void was not built in Ortan Thaig. We will go south, to the Dead Trenches. The Anvil is somewhere beyond. My soldiers tell me I am mad, that the Dead Trenches are crawling with Darkspawn, that we will surely die before we find the Anvil... If we find it. I leave this here in case they are right. If I die in the Trenches, perhaps someone can yet walk past my corpse and retrieve the Anvil. For if it remains lost, so do we all. If I have not returned and Oghren yet lives, tell him... No, what I have to say should be for his ears alone. This is my farewell.'."

"Branka was thinking about me?" Oghren said, amazed. "I knew she still cared! Old softy. Looks like the Dead Trenches is our next stop, then."

"So looking forward to that," Alistair said dryly.

"They say the Darkspawn nest there. Whole herds of 'em. But if that's where Branka went, then that's where I'm going."

We headed to the Dead Trenches.