The mass of flesh they were traveling across was accompanied by writhing tendrils and several egg sacks that seemed to squirm more from their presence. At the end of the path was the Mother herself, a human broodmother.
They had no time to prepare the others for the monstrosity they would lay their eyes upon, as Nathanial stops in disgust, "What is that?"
"This is the Mother, surely. A disgusting thing of evil and hate." Justice drawing his blade ready to jump into battle.
Velanna was quick to draw her staff, "Creators preserve us! I have never seen such foulness!"
Anders stepped back, "They just get bigger and uglier, don't they?"
Sigrun was holding her nose, "By the ancestors! Do all broodmothers smell this bad?"
Oghren looked her up and down, "That's a lot of nipples."
The Mother started to stir, black puss and tears running down her pale white flesh, tentacles writhing as spider like limbs stretched and twitched behind her back. "Now the pieces fall into place! The Grey Warden comes, the instrument of the Father! Oh, and the Father, he is but a shadow! Oh, how my children protect me! How they love me!"
The Architect appeared next to Theron as a magic projection, "I have told you many times, Mother. I am not the Father! I am simply the Architect."
Her blackened arm waved off his statement, "It does not change what you are! You took away that beautiful music! Left us with nothing!"
"It was a mistake to free you. It has left you with madness. I am truly sorry."
There wasn't really much more to say that hadn't already been discussed before. Theron drawing his daggers as he shifted stance for battle, "What's done is done. The mother is a horror and must die."
The Mother waved a finger to the Warden Commander, "Ah, but perhaps the Warden would like to hear how it was that the Father began the Blight? You want the source of the archdemon, the one who brought all our kind to the surface? Here he is!" pointing at him as the Architect lowered his head.
Anders snickered, "Ouch. Score one for the Mother, huh?"
"What? Then…he began the Blight?" Nathanial was starting to have doubts about his support.
Justice was tempted to just slash at the image of the Architect, "I was correct. All of these creatures are irredeemably fiends!"
Sigrun sneered at the Architect, "We should never have trusted any darkspawn."
Velanna was in disbelief, "But, there must be some kind of explanation!"
Oghren huffed, "Well, paint me green and call me a turnip."
Shadow looked to Deesh, but she did not say a word, simply continuing to look on and watch the Mother's movements.
"Ah. There it is then. Unfortunate." The Architect turned to Theron, "I did find the Old God, Urthemiel. But I did not wish another Blight. I attempted my Joining ritual. My hope was that this would free all darkspawn, unravel the curse from its source. Alas, I was unlucky."
Theron almost regretted agreeing to help the Architect now, but a deal was a deal and it's not like they could track the Architect down now. "Do you even think about the repercussions of your actions?"
The Architect was quick to retort, knowing he'd have to defend his actions, "Is it not the way of the Grey Wardens to do what must be done, in the name of combating the Blight? The Blight is a menace, both for your people and for mine. To end it requires sacrifice and risk."
The Mother interrupted this little squabble, "And how lonely the Father was. How terrible to be the outcast, the outsider! He claims he wishes the darkspawn to be free. What he truly wants is to correct them!"
"However, you feel about what I have done, the Mother is mad. She cannot be allowed to—"
"Begone, shadow!" With the wave of her hand, the Mother forced the Architect's magic projection to disappear, "You cannot harm the Mother any more than you already have!" The Mother glanced to the Wardens, "And now the hero is alone. Oh, the Mother knows your ways. You will not let her be, no…not after what she's done. So, it must end, it all must come crashing down. Perhaps we will hear the song again when we die. Oh, let it come! Let it come!" In a gruesome display the Mother's face split down the middle, mandible like needles stretched out from her mouth as a horrible, shrilled scream thundered out.
A number of tendrils shot out from the ground as they attempted to smash the Wardens. Justice blocked one with his sword, pushing back as Deesh and Oghren rushed ahead. The Mother's giant tendrils blocked any kind of maneuverability, forcing the group into a frontal assault. Even if they could, the Mother was positioned so she was surrounded by water too deep for most to effectively attack from.
Not long after Deesh and Oghren tried rushing toward the Mother, holes emerged before them as more of her Children started to scuffle out of them. Even more Children appeared in the back as well, surrounding the group to push them closer together and away from Mother.
Deesh kicked one of the Children back, quickly screaming, "Mul…Qah Diiv!" The ethereal dragon horns and spines appeared on her form as she followed with another shout, "Mid…Vur Shaan!"
Oghren took advantage of this empowering spell, swiftly swinging his axe around and cutting down the Children in front of the Mother clearing a path for the others. Justice took longer swings with Deesh's speed boost enchantment, slashing at both tendril and darkspawn.
The Mother wasn't just using her tendrils to attack, starting to cast a spell as a large glyph appeared beneath Anders and Velanna instantly shutting down their spells at the same time draining their mana. Nathanial fired three arrows into a tendril to pin it to the ground. "What happened?"
Anders slapped one of the Children away with his staff, "Well, either we somehow blew all our magic on a misfired spell, or we're dealing with a magical broodmother. I do hope it's the first."
Velanna also had to knock back a few of the Children that were getting too close, "Can you not joke at a time like this! Our positions and this room don't exactly give us the opportunity to maneuver out of this field." Velanna held one of the crystals from the towers, "This is so annoying," the crystal shattered as a pulse released that stunned all of the Children and some of the Mother's tendrils.
Sigrun ran in first, jumping onto the Mother's many breasts and started to stab into them. The Mother tried grabbing her, but Deesh managed to pull Sigrun off before that. "Not yet. We need to wear her down before we go in."
Just as Deesh was saying that a massive magic circle started forming underneath them, or rather centered around the Mother. Deesh really pulled back now seeing the crystal in Anders' hand light up as the flames erupted around the Mother. The Mother screamed in rage as her tendrils slammed the ground everywhere. A few Children were crushed, but more continued to crawl up from the ground. The Children now started consuming their fallen brethren, growing, and changing to the horrible creatures on spindly spider-like legs.
Shadow threw out a small purple orb that expanded out and started to warp around the Children in the area until they were turned to particles. "Shouldn't there only be enough of these things to fill those sacs? Where are these ones coming from?"
Nathanial shoved an arrow into the face of a darkspawn, "Do you really want to know?"
Shadow kicked a grub hard enough to send it flying, shooting it as it crashed into another of the Children, "Maybe. If we know we might be able to stop them from coming out."
Deesh pinned one under foot, stabbing it, "Then stop complaining and stick to the strategy!"
Theron sidestepped, slashing one across the face, "We can't do anything until the mages hit back hard."
Velanna crushed the face of a darkspawn with her staff, "If this stupid dispel could go away so we can restore our energy…" Not too long after she complained the spell underneath them started dissipating.
As soon as the spell fully dispelled Anders and Velanna quickly downed a few lyrium potions so they can start casting again. Shadow jumped back, kicking another grub away, "Think we can speed this magic up a bit?"
Once they emptied their potions, the two mages quickly started casting spells, nothing too fancy or powerful but enough to start providing support before they were overwhelmed. Some of the Mother's Children were avoiding combat, for now, starting to cannibalize their fallen siblings and growing into those horrendous evolved forms.
Shadow shoved her weapon into the mouth of one of the new abominations and blasted away at its innards exploded out of its backside leaving her open to another creature to stab and slash at her back. Justice cut down the horrible creature that slew Shadow before her little 'spirit' revived her, "This is like Corta's thrall room. They just don't let up."
Anders blasted a group away with fire, "And what did you do to survive that encounter?"
"Run like hell and hope the exploding lanterns didn't kill us." The weapon she was using disappeared from her hands, immediately replaced with a new one that blasted several holes into a grub that got close. "Yeah, teach ya to not to close less you want to be turned into swiss."
Deesh was pushing the front, trying to break through the Mother's personal defenses as she cast spell after spell while slashing away at her tendrils. Oghren and Sigrun were also hacking away at the tentacles that were trying to grab Deesh leaving Theron openings to fire his arrows before having to draw his blades to defend himself.
Nathanial bashed a grub's face with his bow, "We're about to be overrun!"
"Not for long!" Anders used another crystal, unleashing a wave of energy that dazed many of the darkspawn and even a few of Mother's tentacles. "Now for a really kicker of a spell."
Velanna ignored him, sending a wave of roots out to crush the stunned darkspawn. Deesh also optimized on this opening, climbing upon the Mother's many bosoms, and started stabbing away before jumping from her clawed hands.
Oghren jumped at her, slamming his axe into her flabby giant breast near the bottom. Laughing as he pushed back, "Can't say I'd ever imagine I'd be hacking at a bust like this!"
Sigrun threw an axe at the Mother, though it was blocked by one of her tendrils, still looked painful. "Just please don't say any kind of breast jokes. It's bad enough fighting it as is."
Theron fired two arrows into the Mother's arm, though she didn't seem to be affected as she soon ripped them out and snapping them. It kept her busy while Theron pulled out a rod that resummoned the Architect's image. The Architect then cast a massive fire spell beneath the Mother as she screamed in agony.
Deesh quickly put her weapons away, adding to the flames with her magic and shout, "Yol Toor Shul!" The fire quickly intensified around the Mother as she started to flail her thicker tendrils erratically. Deesh's flame breathe and the Architect's spell both ended long before her actual fire spells yielded, stopping only to avoid being crushed by a swinging tentacle.
The Mother was charred and seared yet still had fight in her. Her face split open again, bellowing another earsplitting wail that caused everyone except for her larvae to stagger. Shadow was the first to recover, quickly firing her weapon at the closest grubs to the team while ignoring the ones closest to herself.
Two jumped her as they started to rip and tear into her torso. Shadow didn't care. While her free hand started glowing purple more of the disgusting Children started to try and grab a bite, Shadow pulled the purple light to her chest and shattered it, causing a chain of several small explosion to occur, vaporizing herself and the Children piled on top of her.
Her little Ghost zoomed over the area and emitted that strange light that brought Shadow back to life once more from nothing, "Really starting to wish my fireteam was here. So annoying! Dying this may times in a strike is the job of a Titan!" Her palm immediately started to glow the same dark purple again, swiveling in place as she unleashed the energy into the face of a jumping grub causing it to disintegrate into particles.
With this thinning of the brood, Nathanial started to fire his remaining arrows into the Mother every opportunity he found. She was starting to stagger now, making careless mistakes as the forward team continued to hack away at her. With this new shift in the battle the Mother was now on the defensive as she was focused more on trying to keep the frontline squad away from herself.
The Mother was desperate now, her reinforcements have nearly been depleted, her mass and enrooted tendrils prevent her from retreating, and now she was slowly burning alive. She had to end this quickly so she could recover and replenish her horde.
Unfortunately for her that possibility long since escaped her reach. A massive bolt of lightning came crashing down on top of the Mother. Oghren rushed in and jumped up to chop off her left arm. Deesh rushed in and blocked her right arm, holding it back as Theron rushed in with blades at his sides. The Mother tried to slash at him with her remaining arm only for Deesh to charge in with her shield and block her leaving the darkspawn wide open.
Theron thrusted his sword into the Mother's open maw. The Mother thrashed about, screaming with the sword in her throat in a final desperate attempt to save herself and rip the blade out. Theron swiftly followed up with his second blade shoved through her forehead finally putting an end to the nightmare. It was possible the sword jammed in her mouth would have led to the Mother's eventual death, though the second blade was more as a mercy to end her suffering and stop the flailing tendrils. Not that she deserved it in the minds of many there.
After Theron retrieved his blades Deesh set the Mother ablaze once more, letting the fires consume the corpse as they swiftly departed the desolate wasteland. The Mother's Children lost any reason to throw themselves at them, burrowing deeper underground.
Shadow kicked a pebble down into one of the tunnels, "Hope those things get wiped out down there."
Oghren huffed, "Probably end up eating each other or something like that if we're lucky. Those Disciples probably end up killing each other fighting for control."
"Or the Architect will deal with them. Violently or otherwise." Deesh finished setting the massive corpse ablaze, content that they wouldn't have to come back again any time soon if ever.
The darkspawn had scattered, the force gathered by the Mother have gone deeper underground. And true to the Architect's word, the darkspawn presence within the Deep Roads has become scarcer. The dwarves of Orzammar used this time of unprecedented calm in the Deep Roads to push back and reclaim more of their lost territory, including Kal'Hirol. The dwarves even sent a formal invitation to the Warden Commander for his effort in clearing out Kal'Hirol along with finding historical evidence of the people's last stand and their induction into the Legion of the Dead.
The siege of Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep proved to many in the territory the value of having their Grey Warden protectors. The valiant soldiers of the Keep proved their mettle throughout the region, saving many farmlands and earning the nickname of the Silver Order thanks to the silverite armor crafted by Master Wade. Among the soldiers one of the most distinguished members was the farmer turned reluctant thief Alec, spared by Theron, and conscripted in order to serve for his crime. Alec fervently helped his fellow farmers as his comrades helped to protect the trade routes.
The citizens of Amaranthine were overjoyed by the efforts of the Wardens to save them and their city. With the Vigil's soldiers spread throughout the territory during the darkspawn assault the damage was surprisingly kept to a minimum. Deesh had concerns regarding the territory eventually relying on the Keep's soldiers to protect them rather than its guards or army, though if it would be good or not in the future was another matter entirely.
Deesh and Justice continued to avoid one another on the way back to the Keep, though it only seemed to get worse now. Fortunately, Deesh was not one to seek a confrontation, staying out of the spirit's path. Things never came to a head between them thankfully.
Surprising everyone, in one of Ogrhren's more sober moments, he asked Theron to remind him after they partied to start writing his letter to his family. Just as agreed upon, he even volunteered to help proofread it when he was ready to send it.
Nathanial distinguished himself from his father among the soldiers at Vigil's Keep. The trust he earned among the men helped to show how the Howe family had not completely fallen from grace. Velanna continued to contribute to the Wardens while also trying to search for any information about her sister since they were on good terms with the Architect after all. Anders toyed with the idea of leaving the Wardens while Sigirun attempted to go off on her Calling early only for Theron to find tasks to keep her busy.
Barely a week after the death of the Mother that dark whispers echoed throughout the territory after the suicide of Bann Esmerelle. It didn't take much insight for those in the know to realize that Esmerelle was the ringleader behind the conspiring nobles. With most of her cohorts slain, Esmerelle's own paranoia drove her to the breaking point and believing death to be preferable over being captured and stripped of her position.
Knowing Theron was going to be busy with recruiting and training new Wardens and running the territory, Deesh planned to occupy her time observing and 'training' the Keep's soldiers for the inevitable spy infiltrators. Shadow took a more traditional role of instructor, helping more with patrol patterns and tactical maneuvering. She even 'helped' the soldiers noticed a sneaking Deesh from time to time, though she never too sure if she was disrupting the lizard's lessons or aiding them.
Now that all of the obvious threats seemed to have finally passed, Deesh seemed to be more distant with everything around her. Deesh was never one to share herself with others, nor was she planning to share anything beyond what little has been learned. Beyond her obvious desire to return home, she seemed more anxious than hopeful about what is to come.
