And so the journey to the Deep Roads began. The week down saw high spirits and a sense of comradery formed between the party members.

Sandal would go from group to group 'Visiting'. His reaction to Fenris both amused and confused the elf and his companions. The Enchanter Dwarf reached out and touched Fenris' Lyrium markings and declared "Enchantment Elf"

Jacqueline had to cover her mouth to hide her laughter as Fenris' look was unguarded and bemused. The markings flaring only added to Sandal's amusement to see the "Enchantment" work.

Sandal would then refer to Fenris as "Enchanted Elf" as did several others who seemed too intimidated to get to know the elf better. He tolerated it in stride knowing there were far worse things he could be known as or for.

After a week things began to change. Bartrand, who the entire time had been acting odd, paranoid, and twitchy became even more paranoid and twitchy. He growled at the oddest things and especially at his brother.

Varric, as usual, took things in stride. Though he was proving even he had a limit. This was reflected in his spending more time with the Hawke Sisters and Fenris. Even Sandal's company was preferred to Bartrand. Though it seemed all hell broke loose once a cave in happened.

Of course, Bartrand started demanding the impossible of his crew. Then it appeared Sandal had gone missing and who knew what they didn't know had also gone wrong.

Hawke and company decided for the good of everyoen's sanity they would scout around the rock slide while also trying to find Sandal.

The group was meticulous after each encounter. They cleaned and dressed their wounds quickly to avoid getting any Darkspawn blood in them, using potions to close them when available. Anything to avoid getting the Blight.

Fighting Darkspawn and giant spiders were still preferable to Bartrand's growing ire and impatience.

Suddenly they were there... in the new Thaig and it seemed everyone went in all directions at once.

Hawke and her little band were drawn to the darker, more dangerous parts of the Thaig. That was when things went straigt to the abyss.

Seems Bartrand had counted on his brother and friends to g to the more complex areas and shadowed them. Hoping to take credit for some of the findings because Hawke and company were ever moving forward through the tunnels.

Not that it affected Varric or Jacqueline as partners they were guaranteed a share of the overall profits and didn't have workers to pay in the end.

The Thaig kept Fenris on edge more than usual. The odd red glow of the lyrium around them caused his markings to itch almost as if they were writhing or humming to get away from the ominous stuff. He would often rub at the markings to try and alleviate the constant hum from them.

Bethany was fascinated with the world they had discovered, so different from their own. Varric even joked that maybe she was a better Dwarf than he was for it. She was always darting into rooms to see how each varied from the next.

As the Veins of red Lyrium became more frequent and pronounced, it lit their way with an eerie blood red glow. It gave Hawke and ominous sense of dread. Even Bethany's enthusiasm became more cautious.

They came to a chamber that had a sense of purpose and significance to it. On a dais in the middle of the room sat a small statue of some sort. An idol of red lyrium with a strange twisting form.

The Madness of Bartrand became known here when the approached the group, his eyes focused only on the idol, as if that were all he were truly seeing.

"The location of this Thaig alone is worth a fortune, I have no intentions of splitting this three ways. Sorry Brother," Bartrand said as he carried the idol out of the room. The red of the lyrium around them reflecting ominously as he closed the large, ancient door and barred it from the outside.

It took a few heartbeats for the group to reach the door in time to hear the bar drop with a sound of finality as it slid into place, locking them in the forgotten Thaig and the dreaded Deep Roads.

"When I get my hands on that nug humping son of a bitch, Sorry Mother, I am going to kill him!" Varric spat as he pounded ineffectively at the door.

Bethany placed her hand on Varric's shoulder. "First, we have to get out of here," she said to him optimistically as Fenris was looking closely at the door, as if he could find a way to force it open.

"Varric, you forget we have Anders' maps. There were several entrances from around Kirkwall to get here, its just a matter of choosing the closest one and going," Jacqueline reminded them as she put a hand on Fenris' arm to halt his search.