After their long trek through the Deep Roads, Caelyra and her companions had at last found the Paragon Branka.
Branka was brusque, unpleasant, unwilling to talk, and seemed displeased to see her husband. But at least she wasn't another broodmother. She demanded to know why they were there, why they were looking for her, then mocked the dwarven politics that had brought them here.
She didn't care if a drunken monkey was king of Orzammar; she needed the Anvil of the Void.
Apparently the old Paragon Caridin had placed traps around the Anvil. She deliberately twisted the women of her house to become broodmothers so that she would have an endless supply of darkspawn to break the traps. She was truly despicable.
Oghren suggested they just help with these traps and perhaps Branka could then go back to Orzammar... and become herself once more.
Caelyra didn't see any other choice. They needed a damned dwarven king and this was the only way to get one.
There were indeed many traps to fight through. And so many, many golems. Caelyra was glad she chose to bring Shale with her for these fights. Golem against golems. Oghren wasn't too bad a fighter either, considering his drunkenness.
They fought through poisonous gas traps, soul traps, and even a great lyrium-constructed head that spat dwarven spirits at them to fight in its stead. Each time they dispatched of a spirit, they had to slam a nearby anvil which shattered the lyrium-head into a thousand pieces.
After taking care of the head that spat spirits at them, they wandered through another tunnel and then emerged into a large cavern complete with lava falls. Golems circled the entire cavern and in the centre stood a golem made of steel instead of stone.
It greeted them. It was the old Paragon Caridin.
Caridin allowed them the history of the Anvil of the Void. That he had created it, and that every golem it had ever borne was given life from a volunteer dwarf. At first it was just volunteers, but then the king of the time demanded near everyone be turned into golems. Criminals, political rivals, everyone... he then turned to Shale...
Shale had been one of his bravest volunteers, and the only woman who had ever volunteered.
Shale was surprised to discover that she had been a dwarf, a woman dwarf. She didn't remember any of this. It had been so long she only really remembered being with the mage in Honnleath.
Caridin pleaded with them to destroy the anvil. The cost of creating golems was too high. He would destroy it if he could but it couldn't be touched be a golem — it must be destroyed and never used again.
Branka suddenly jumped into the cavern where she had been eavesdropping. No! They could not destroy the Anvil. She needed it. Orzammar would have the finest golem army ever and they needed to help her claim it!
Caelyra didn't think it was right. She agreed with Caridin. It needed to be destroyed before it claimed any more lives.
Oghren begged Caelyra to reconsider. They could just give Branka the anvil and she would calm down and be normal again, surely. Caelyra would not buckle. No. They would be destroying it.
Screaming with rage, Branka atacked. She managed to control several of the golems in the cavern and bid them to fight for her.
Branka, for all of her golems and strength, could not best Caelyra or her companions. Oghren swooped in with his great axe, closed his eyes, and killed her himself.
With Branka dead, they still needed a Paragon's word to name the next king of Orzammar. Caelyra asked Caridin to be that Paragon.
Agreeing, he set hammer to anvil and forged a crown, and told her to give it to the king of her choosing. Now, if she could please destroy the anvil...
Caelyra slowly walked over to the Anvil of the Void and gazed upon it for a long moment. It was certainly an impressive construction. Picking up the hammer, she took a deep breath... and shattered the anvil in two.
As it shattered a bright flash filled the cavern, and Caridin breathed a sigh of relief. He thanked Caelyra... then threw himself into the river of molten lava below.
They needed to get back to Orzammar. It had to have been a couple of weeks they had spent deep within these darkspawn-infested tunnels. It could not be believed that they were dead.
They hurried back through the tunnels, tunnels that were much more silent than they had been the first time they passed through, and soon set foot back in Orzammar.
The Assembly was in process as they arrived, with yet another argument being shouted around the room. Caelyra barged in and interrupted the proceedings.
Oghren told the Assembly of what had been witnessed. That they had worked with the Paragon Caridin to destroy the Anvil of the Void and that before he took his own life, he had forged a crown to sit upon the head of Orzammar's next king.
Harrowmont was skeptical. He considered Caelyra to be Bhelen's hired lackey and could not trust anything that came from the pair. However, the assembled gazed upon the crown and determined it to be of Paragon make, complete with House Ortan's seal.
Who did Caelyra choose to be king? Bhelen, of course. Harrowmont had sent so many would-be murderers after her, she would never have chosen him.
Orzammar had its king at last and, as promised, the first thing he did was promise her every able-bodied dwarf to fight with them against the darkspawn and the blight.
About time. Now all she had to do was convince the elves and then deal with the more human politics she was already keenly instructed in. Why couldn't they just all unite as one against these monsters? There would be no room for politics if they were all dead.
Caelyra and her companions left the dwarven palace and ran into the Legion soldier who had watched them break the darkspawn line across that bridge in the Dead Trenches. He was stunned that she had actually accomplished her goal and lived to tell the tale.
He offered her the Legion's support in fighting the darkspawn, too. Caelyra would take it.
Grateful to be finishing up in this dark inner-mountain city, Caelyra swept through the city one last time and made sure she had left no loose ends.
Walking out the front gates of Orzammar, Caelyra breathed in the fresh air. It sure was good to see sunlight again, after so many weeks trapped beneath the deep roads.
Relishing in the cool mountain breeze, they took their time leaving the mountains and eventually found their way back to the Mage Tower. There they asked the First Enchanter if Dagna could study with them, and of course, he said yes.
Dagna was so happy and overjoyed to hear the news that she would be allowed to study with the mages. She hurriedly left Orzammar before her parents could find out and stop her.
Next the group went to Redcliffe village and found Dwyn, the dwarf who had purchased Sten's sword. He was irritated that he had been sold a sword that belonged to a living giant, and sold it back to them for 2 gold.
Sten was pleased to have his sword back. He could now return to his homeland whole and with his blade in his hand. But first they needed to answer the question of the blight. He promised to stay with Caelyra until the blight had been dealt with.
That night, back at camp, Caelyra fell into a restless sleep. Her dreams, as always these days, were filled with darkspawn and whispering voices... but this time, the archdemon appeared.
It flew around her dreamscape then roared, seeming to look directly at her.
She was startled awake.
As Caelyra leapt upright, Alistair did too. They had both shared the same dream. The archdemon had looked at them both. It knew they were there. What did it mean?
Suddenly, the camp was set upon by a pack of darkspawn.
Everyone snapped to attention and fought the threat that was upon them until every last darkspawn was dead. But it was clear that their camp was no longer safe. The archdemon knew where they were and was sending the darkspawn to them. This could become a nightly occurrence for all they knew!
They needed to garner the aid of the elves, quickly, and take the fight to them.
Until next time! ⚔️🐲
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 