The tunnel's roof was lined with lyrium as it led to a massive chamber with magma falls and two columns of golems. And just off to the side on an elevated ledge was the Anvil connected to the lyrium veins. However before they could reach it the large steel golem moved toward them. "My name is Caridin. Once, long ago than I care to think, I was a Paragon to the dwarves of Orzammar."
Shale was the most surprised to hear the golem's claim. "Caridin? The Paragon smith? Alive?"
Caridin turned to Shale, "Ah, there is a voice I recognize. Shayle of the House of Cadash, step forward."
"You…know my name?" The golem hesitantly moved toward the larger steel golem, "Is it you that forged me, then? Is it you that gave me my name?"
"Have you forgotten, then?" Caridin turned away, looking to his own hand, "It has been so long." Caridin then placed his hand on Shale's arm, careful not to crush any of the crystals, "I made you into the golem you are now, Shayle, but before that you were a dwarf…just as I was. The finest warrior to serve King Valtor, and the only woman to volunteer."
"The only…woman? A dwarf?"
Zevern laughed, "I knew it! Only a woman can be so feisty and still hit like a trebuchet. Just like a few women I know," his eyes dancing toward Deesh though he quickly looked away when she started to flex her fingers and bear her teeth at him.
Caridin turned to the Anvil, "I laid you on the Anvil of the Void, here in this very room, and put you into the form you now possess."
"The Anvil of the Void…that is what we seek."
"If you seek the Anvil, then you must care about my story, or be doomed to relive it."
Deesh stepped forward, "Then tells us your tale, Caridin. I doubt even the Shaperate know all its truths."
A fact Caridin knew well enough to be true. "Though I made many things in my time, I rose to fame and earned my status based on a single item: the Anvil of the Void. It allowed me to forge a man of steel or stone, as flexible and clever as any soldier. As an army, they were invincible. But I told no one the cost. No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life. To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere."
Neria was obviously disgusted by the thought, "Sounds like blood magic. A dangerous road."
Caridin clenched his mighty steel fist, "The darkspawn were pressing in." He then looked to a giant stone golem statue that was holding two pillars and a plaque in between, "Originally I only took volunteers, the bravest of souls willing to trade their very lives for the chance to defend their homeland. But King Valtor became greedy. He began to force men… casteless and criminals… his political enemies… all of them were to be given to the Anvil. It took feeling the hammer's blow myself to realize the height of my crimes."
Deesh had been observing the golems in the room, most were not very responsive or active. But it was Faren who said aloud, "Well. Sounds like you earned this fate."
Caridin though didn't seem to disagree, "Aye. Trapped forever in my own creation. A fitting punishment, I suppose. My apprentices knew enough to make me as I am, but not enough to fashion a control rod. I retained my mind." He then looked back to Shale, "You were amongst the most loyal, Shayle. You remained at my side throughout, and at the end I sent you away out of mercy."
"I…do not remember," struggling, wanting to remember anything from before losing it all.
"We have remained entombed here ever since, and I have sought a way to destroy the Anvil. Alas, I cannot do it myself. No golem can touch it."
Before more could be discussed Branka came rushing in, at the tail end of their discussion. "No! The Anvil is mine! No one will take it from me!"
Caridin then pleaded with them, "Shayle…you fought to destroy the Anvil once! Do not allow it to fall into unthinking hands again!"
"You speak of things I do not remember. You say we fought…did you use our control rods to command us to do so?" wanting to know if it was by force or choice.
"I destroyed the rods! Perhaps my apprentices eventually learned to replace the rods, I do not know, but if so, then all they need is the Anvil to make all the slaves they need!" Caridin looked to the others, "You! Please…help me destroy the Anvil! Do not let it enslave more than it already has!"
Branka would not let them respond, "Don't listen! He's been trapped here for a thousand years, stewing in his own madness. Help me claim the Anvil, and you will have an army like you've never seen!"
Oghren didn't want to fight either side at this point. "Branka, you mad, bleeding nug-tail. Does this thing mean so much to you that you can't even see what you've lost to get it?"
Branka opened her arms wide, "Look around. Is this what our empire should look like? A crumbling tunnel filled with darkspawn spume? The Anvil will let us take back our glory!"
Deesh looked away, knowing she was far from the best of them to decide this one. Neria quickly offered her support, "The Anvil enslaves living souls! It must be destroyed."
Daylen agreed, "Right, this abomination of a creation can't be allowed to exist."
Theron readied for a fight, "We elvhen have suffered slavery. We vowed never to submit, nor should we allow it upon others. I will not allow the Anvil to entomb another soul again."
Kallian was ready, "So lay down your arms Branka. You're out numbered."
Faren didn't seem to care either way. "We just need a Paragon. You or the golem will do."
Shale seemed glad, "So it fights with Caridin then? Good. That seems right."
Morrigan however tried to stop them, "Have you no desire to discover this Anvil's potential? It is a marvel, a tool of creation!"
To which Wynne disagreed, "Even the best of tools may be misused. This is a thing of blood magic, of destruction!"
"Sometimes creation involves the destruction of one thing to make way for another. 'Tis a law of nature that death is the parent to life. If you destroy the Anvil, I swear you will regret it."
Zevran even seemed to be agreeing with the witch. "Living souls suffer all the time. Peasants working the land are trapped, but we do not go about destroying farmland, do we?"
Alistair was quick to retort, "Farmers don't toil in the fields for all eternity. That's hardly a valid comparison!"
"It just seems a waste to destroy the Anvil," Zevran's eye gleaming toward the Anvil, "given what it could do."
Deesh was quick to respond to both of them, "So then the two of you are volunteering to become the newest generation of golems?"
Morrigan sneered, "You would not dare!"
Zevran knew better than to anger Deesh, "Now let's not be unreasonable. You wouldn't do that, surely."
Deesh grinned, "Come now. The first mage and elven golems would be a sight to see. Think of all the new feats you'd both be capable of doing in your new bodies. Leading armies into the face of death every day until you're either crushed to rubble or forgotten in a pit somewhere."
Zevran was the first to give in, "All right, all right. Perhaps destroying it is a good idea."
"I would rather not find out. Fine, destroy it if it pleases you." Morrigan glared, though it was being shot toward Theron who didn't say anything to her.
"Thank you, strangers. Your compassion shames me."
Branka would not give up now, "No! You will not take it! Not while I still live!"
"Branka! Don't throw your life away for this!" Oghren's pleas were falling on deaf ears, and he knew it. He looked to the others, "Just give her the blasted thing! She's confused…maybe once she calms down, we can talk to her!"
Deesh pushed forward, ready to confront Branka, "Her obsession has already consumed her. The woman you love died with the rest of your clan."
Brnaka pulled out a cylindrical crystal rod, "Bah! You are not the only master smith here, Caridin! Golems, obey me! Attack!"
"A control rod!" The golems around them started to move, gathering around to crush them. Caridin tried moving only to find himself unable. "But…my friend, you must help me! I cannot stop her alone!" Two of the other golems however remained free, clashing with their controlled comrades.
They unfortunately had no choice but to fight now. Deesh ignored the golems, rushing for Branka personally. Leliana tried drawing one of the golems away from her with her arrows, though they didn't seem to be having the effect she wanted. That was until Oghren and Neria hit it and knocked the golem onto the floor.
Theron rushed forward as well, firing a few arrows into the head of the other golem but unable to avoid the golem's fists. He wasn't expecting it to quickly swing its arm at him and send him flying. Morrigan blasted the golem with lightning as Wynne used her healing arts to help Theron. When an opening presented itself Sten came in and sliced one of the arms off.
Much to Shale's surprise it could still move and wasn't under the compulsion of Branka's control rod. Much to Alistair and Daylen's relief. Shale moved to help defeat Branka, as the two looked to each other. "So, should we help them or one of the other golems?"
"Can you tell the difference?" One of the fighting golems knocked the head off the other as it moved to attack the frozen Caridin. "Well that answers my question." Alistair rushed in front of Caridin to stop the golem as Daylen supported him with his magic.
Kallian had dragged Zevran off to help the remaining golem that was still on their side before it was destroyed. She was relying on Jigsaw to somehow sniff out the difference, and he was able to. Jigsaw jumped onto one of the golems as his teeth started to tear chunks of rocks from it for them to distinguish.
As these battles continued, Shale and Deesh were both having a hard time breaking through Branka's defenses. Her shield was well balanced and lightweight with no visible weaknesses to exploit.
For now all she could do was wait for some support from the others. And yet there was something wrong, like something was missing. Without warning or explanation Faren had managed to sneak behind Branka and ran his dagger through her back. "Sorry ya crazy bitch." He shoved the dagger in deeper before snapping it in her and moved away. Deesh quickly followed suit to ensure her demise by running Dragonbane through her heart.
The last golem froze just in time for Zevran to cut the golem's legs. The golem Alistair and Daylen were holding back just collapsed.
With the battle over and Branka dead, Caridin was freed as he looked to the carnage and his fallen brethren, "Another life lost because of my invention. I wish no mention of it had made it into history."
After Oghren destroyed the control rod, he closed his wife's eyes, "Yeah, you ain't kidding. Stupid woman! Always knew the Anvil would kill her."
Shale however was confused, "How is it that the woman was not able to disable me as she did you, Caridin?"
"I do not know. Have you been altered?"
Shale could only think of one thing, "I once had a pathetic little mage of a master. He…did something to me. Experimented on me. And then I killed him and it rendered me paralyzed."
Caridin thought for a moment on this, "Perhaps he was bringing forth old memories? And caused you to remember the time when…you fought at my side. The paralysis you speak of always resulted when the master perished. As for your free will…you were always a strong woman, Shayle. I am pleased to see you remained such."
"I don't know what to say. Thank you." Shockingly modest for the golem who has held little regard for others in the past.
"Do not thank me. All of this…" turning to the dead, "this is my doing. My legacy. But at least it ends here. I thank you for standing with me, strangers. The Anvil waits there for you to shatter it."
Morrigan scoffed, "Yes, excellent idea. Just destroy it now, after all this."
Wynne however bowed to the steel golem, "It was good to meet you, Paragon. I intend to ensure that your warnings about the golems are heard by the Circle of Magi." Neria and Daylen joined her in the bow out of respect.
Caridin nodded to the elder mage. "Is there any boon I can grant you for your aid? A final favor before I am freed from my burden?"
Deesh looked to the depressed dwarf. "Oghren? You mate was lost because of this. It's only right for you to claim any boon."
Oghren knew what he wanted, "Don't suppose you can bring Branka back? Maybe make her a golem, like you?"
Caridin shook his head, "I would not do such a thing to her even if I could."
"Somehow I didn't think so. Then I don't want anything that would remind me of…this. Best it's just done."
Faren cut in, "But…there is the little matter about the election that still needs attending. We do need a Paragon's voice to make the Assembly move about voting in the new king…"
Caridin started to move toward the Anvil, "For the aid you've given me, I shall put hammer to steel one last time, and give you a crown for the king of your choice."
Like a true artisan, Caridin got to work forging a new crown for the future king of Orzammar. Even with his massive steel body, he worked the metal as finely as any true master smith. In the end he had crafted a very elegant crown befitting a dwarven king.
When it had cooled enough for human hands, Caridin gave the crown to Faren, "There. It is done. Give it to whom you will. I do not wish to hear their names, nor anything more of them. I have already lived far beyond my time. I have no place here."
Deesh moved toward the Anvil, "And the Anvil will be destroyed, as we agreed."
"That would please me."
Deesh took up the hammer Caridin was using earlier, and with all her might smashed it against the lyrium infused Anvil, resulting in a chain reaction with the lyrium that utterly destroyed any remnants of the Anvil of the Void.
Caridin looked at what remained, "Aye. That was my great pride, and soon enough, my shame." Caridin then moved to the edge as he looked down to the lava flow below, "You have my eternal thanks, stranger. Atrast nal tunsha… may you always find your way in the dark." Without warning Caridin leaned over and let his weight take him down into the lava where he would finally be released from his metal prison.
Faren however had occupied himself with the giant golem statue where it held a stone tablet that has been chipped with age and a great number of dwarven runes carved into its surface. "Hey Shale, this jog any of those buried memories?"
Shale looked to the tablet, "No. perhaps it thinks I should? It may have something to do with Caridin's words. Perhaps there is something to be gleaned from them, I know not."
Oghren took a look at the tablet, "Huh. Names. A long list of dwarves. Err…hold on… 'We honor those who have made this sacrifice; let their names be remembered.' Fart me a lullaby! It's a memorial…of all the dwarves who became golems! Has to be!"
Faren smiled, "Thought so. And I'm betting the Shaprate would pay quite a few gold pieces for this info."
"Probably brown some trousers, too!" Oghren laughing at his own remark.
"'Shayle of House Cadash.'" Shale wondered as it looked to the registry, "Is that who I once was? I find this difficult to believe."
Deesh was already making tracings of the entire table, "Do you have doubts over Caridin's claim?"
"No I do not doubt him, I simply…cannot remember. If I was this Shayle of House Cadash as Caridin said, there must be some evidence of my existence remaining aside from this," rubbing its stone hand over the tablet, "I must find it."
Faren was ready to go, "Well I'm sure the Shaprate could have the answers you're looking for. After they transcribe all of this. So let's get back to Orzammar."
Shale wasn't moving. "There is another way. What Caridin said, it has allowed me to remember one thing. I believe I know where Cadash Thaig is."
Kallian offered, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
"Its offer is appreciated. I will mark the location on its map. I am most curious as to what we will find."
Faren tried to stop them, "If we have forgotten, we've got an Assembly to kick in line with this crown?!"
Deesh took the crown, stashing it into her satchel, "The thaig will most likely be along the way back to Orzammar. Your future king has nothing to fear for. His throne is secured."
A/N: I personally like the revaluation version with Branka destroying the Anvil, but I can never bring myself to do it with Shale around and lose it.
