Disclaimer: I don't own HP or DA.


Harry caught up with the others and found Shale and the mind controlled Ogre flanking Oghren in the vanguard of their little group, the most warlike of them ready to charge into battle yet again. For just a moment, he wondered how much further it would be before they could finally finish this part of the quest and return to Orzammar- which was likely to be a long trip as well. Maybe without quite as much combat, assuming the darkspawn hadn't flooded back into the territory they had previously cleared.

His musings were broken by the sound of a large metal boundary slamming behind them, blocking the path they had come down. Of course, Harry had magic that could fix this, but a voice grabbed his attention.

"Let me be blunt with you. After all this time, my tolerance for social graces is fairly limited." It was a female dwarf in heavy armor standing on a raised section of rock off to their right, and if there was any question of her identity-

"Branka!" Oghren shouted out.

"Oghren. It figures you would eventually find your way here," she replied. "Hopefully you can find your way back more easily."

"Excuse me," Harry said as he pushed his way to the front, wand out. "Imperio!"

"What..." Branka growled as she fought the curse. "What... sort of magic... is this?"

Harry focused and pushed with his will, wanting to get this over with. After what he had seen and learned from Hespith, he had no patience for dealing with such a heartless monster.

But her obsession had sharpened Branka's will as well. She struggled to resist, grumbling as she grit her teeth. "I... will not..."

Harry pushed back, taking a step forward as he spoke. "If not for Oghren, I would just as soon slay you as ask any questions. What you have done is pure evil."

"They were mine!" Branka dropped to a knee, sweat dripping from her brow. "They swore to follow me! They had no right to disobey, to question me!"

"I know a terrible curse that causes unimaginable pain," Harry replied in a firm voice. "So much pain that you would fall and beg after just a few seconds. So much pain that it would drive most people mad within a few minutes of exposure. So much pain... and I do not know if I have ever seen anyone that deserved it as much as you."

"Harry-" Sirius stepped next to him. "I'd rather just kill her than resort to torture."

"We need her," Morrigan offered. "The dwarves back in Orzammar require a Paragon to break their deadlock."

Harry glared at the dwarf and pushed again, and this time her resistance fell away. She stumbled over and then looked up. "What do you want of me? We are so close to the Anvil. The thing that once made our armies, a tool that could bring back our glory."

"The Anvil can't save the dwarves," Harry replied. "How many of them died- or worse- on your crusade?"

"The clan was mine to do with as I pleased," she answered in a monotone.

"Do you even know the Anvil is here?" Morrigan asked.

"It lies on the other side of a gauntlet of traps, designed by Caridin himself," Branka explained. "My people have given body and soul to unlocking its secrets. It's so close I can taste it!"

"Perhaps we should see if we can acquire it," Morrigan suggested. "If it is powerful enough to create golems, it would be foolish to cast it aside."

"Your magic could be the key I lacked," Branka stated.

"What has this place done to you?" Oghren demanded. "I remember marrying a girl you could talk to for one minute and you could see her brilliance. Are you really so lost to madness?"

"Obsession is a terrible thing to behold," Wynne said. "It can drive the greatest people to do terrible things."

"She's right," Leliana added. "I'm sorry, Oghren, but your wife has gone too far down this path to be forgiven."

"I know that," he grumbled. "Let's just get this over with."

Now that he had control, Harry used his wand to levitate Branka over to join them on their path. "What weapons and magical items do you have?"

She revealed her mace and shield that she used to defend herself as well as a stash of several golem control rods. Harry allowed her to keep her own personal arms but took the control rods and stashed them away. Then he turned to everyone else. "Do the rest of you wish to see if we can find the Anvil of the Void before we leave?"

"We've already come so far," Leliana began. "Perhaps we should go a bit further, and if things are not too dangerous, see what we find at the end of this road."

"The Anvil may be too dangerous to allow it to remain here," Wynne suggested. "Whether or not anyone ever uses it again, it would be terrible if the darkspawn somehow could gain control of it."

"I would like to see if we can find any answers about my kind," Shale said. "This place feels vaguely familiar to me."

"Alright, then let's keep going," Harry agreed. "For now, at least."

The next large cave they came to had clearly once been a campsite of Branka's clan- there were still a couple of tents standing, although most were torn and covered in blood. There were several corpses here and there, of both dwarves and darkspawn, and the place reeked of decay.

Leliana choked out, "I have never smelled anything so foul."

Harry motioned to Sirius. "Bubblehead charms for everyone."

"Good idea," his godfather nodded as he cast one on himself and then the bard.

"I read about that spell," Morrigan added as she pulled out the yew wand. "Now seems like a good time to try it."

"Go ahead," Harry replied as he cast the spell upon himself. "I'll watch and make sure you get it right."

She scoffed and waved the wand over her head. "Don't underestimate me."

He grinned, pleased that she had done it correctly and amused that she was still so prickly. "One can never be too careful." Harry then cast the spell over Oghren as well and turned to Shale. "I don't suppose golems have a sense of smell, do they?"

"Why would we need one?" Shale asked.

"Many animals use it for sensing predators, tracking down prey, checking to see if food and water are safe-"

"None of which applies to golems," it answered with a snort. "As if anything could treat me as prey? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Well, it can help me find where our enemies are," Sirius said as he tapped his nose. "Especially when I turn into Padfoot. Although, I don't think I'll be doing that around here."

"I doubt that would be pleasant, even with the charm," Harry chuckled.

"What about Branka?" Oghren asked.

"She's responsible for all this death; she can deal with it."

The female dwarf didn't seem to care- or perhaps she had merely gotten used to the stench after however long she had been there. Instead, she spoke up. "Darkspawn are likely nearby."

"Get ready for another battle," Harry said. He rubbed his head for a moment- technically he was controlling three people at the moment, although the Ogre was barely more sentient than something like a dog.

"They're coming!" Leliana called out as she pointed to the far side of the cave.

"Get to the barrier!" Wynne suggested.

Not far from them there was a makeshift wall that they could likely use. Harry followed most of them there as he sent the Ogre to the fore, Oghren and Shale already headed to intercept the genlocks and hurlocks that were bearing down on them. For a moment, he considered forcing Branka to join them, but he didn't want to waste the focus of directing her when he knew his energy might be needed to help in the battle.

Sirius still had a couple of lions that he had transfigured out of stone that ran into the fray alongside the rest of their more melee oriented companions. and between them all, it left the spellcasters and the archer to be more cautious where they aimed their attacks.

Whether or not Morrigan meant to chill Oghren with her Cone of Cold would probably be best not to question unless they were in private. Harry would just have to chalk it up as an accident.

Meanwhile, he mostly watched the far tunnel from where the darkspawn came and kept his eyes open for any enemy magic users. When one appeared, Harry quickly apparated behind it and felled the thing with a killing curse before returning to the barrier where his friends were.

There were few missile weapons among the darkspawn, and those who fought up close were no match for Shale or the Ogre. Oghren, despite his stature, was also a highly skilled warrior, so Harry spent the next few minutes mostly keeping an eye on things until yet another Ogre appeared.

"Sirius! Do you think you can control that one?" Harry pointed out the large beast and Sirius nodded.

"Imperio!"

A few seconds later, the last group of darkspawn was finished off by the second enormous monster as they were unprepared for the mind control spell.

That was another thing that Harry would have to keep in mind for the future- from what he had learned, the only magic that could do something similar in this world was Blood Magic, and hence that was part of its dark reputation. But he'd be a fool not to realize how useful it could be, especially against merciless foes like the darkspawn.

"We're clear!" Oghren bellowed out once the fighting was over.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Aye," the dwarf nodded. "Let's keep moving."

"Agreed," Shale said as the golem stomped towards the far tunnel.

Harry and the others followed them, and he kept an eye on Branka as they marched off.


Several minutes later, they came to a doorway set into the rough stone wall of the caverns.

"Be ready for traps," Leliana called out to the golem in the front.

Shale chuckled and pushed open the door. Inside there was a green hazy mist in the air.

Harry turned and prodded Branka.

"Poisonous gas," she said.

He sighed and cast the bubblehead charm over her.

Once he got closer to the door, Harry saw several golems waiting inside as well. One of them began to move and turned to look at them. "Shale? Why are you here with these mortals?"

"Looking for answers," Shale replied.

"And the Anvil?"

"Perhaps," Shale shrugged. "This place is familiar to me, although I cannot say why."

"It has been centuries since you were among us," the other golem said.

"Long has your journey been to return," another golem said as it slowly walked towards them. "But why do those beasts not fight you?"

"The little mages use magic to force them to fight alongside us," Shale sighed. "Making things far too easy, if you ask me. But then, they are quite a bit squishier, so I suppose the humans do need to show more caution."

"We can't all be nigh invulnerable walking tanks," Harry chuckled as he stepped forward. "Greetings."

"Greetings, little one." The first golem stepped closer and looked down at him. "There is something different about you. Power? Or Death?"

"Perhaps both," he shrugged. "I come in peace though."

"We shall see."

The second golem spoke up. "We should take them to Caridin. He would want to speak with Shale."

The first golem pondered for a moment before nodding. "I will lead them there. You remain here with the others to protect against darkspawn." It turned back to Harry and pointed at the Ogres. "You will have no need of those things as allies. Please destroy them before we go on."

Harry agreed and led the two Ogres further off with Sirius beside him.

"Killing curse?" his godfather asked.

"I'll try it on the one you're controlling first," Harry replied. "Avada Kedavra!"

The green spell struck the Ogre in the chest, shoving it backwards and leaving a scorch mark, but it still stood.

"I was afraid of that," he muttered.

"Why didn't it work?" Sirius asked.

"The darkspawn are kept alive by the Taint that flows through them," he explained. "They may not have enough of an equivalent to a soul in order to 'kill' them the way most living things do."

"But it worked on that one earlier-"

"The Genlock Emissary," Morrigan interjected. "It is thought that the darkspawn that are capable of using the Taint for magical purposes have something more animating them than the others do."

"It could be related to lyrium," Wynne suggested.

"Most magical things are," Leliana laughed softly.

"True," Wynne replied. "With the darkspawn being creatures that mostly live underground, it seems likely that they would have access to lyrium, and perhaps, there is a way for some of them to use it."

"Or become infused with it," Harry said.

"So, how should we kill these things?" Sirius asked.

"Let me get out the Sword of Gryffindor. The basilisk venom will kill anything."

Some of the others left him to his grisly work, although Shale stayed beside him. "It couldn't kill a golem though."

"Probably not, but you aren't exactly alive like most organic creatures," Harry replied as he slashed the first Ogre and took a couple of steps back. "But, I could theoretically kill you. Not that I want to, of course."

"You think your magic is that powerful?" the golem asked.

"You may have a weakness that you don't realize," Harry answered.

"Such as?"

"You do have a soul," he replied.

"Should I be offended that you think I am like you puny, little mortals?" Shale laughed.

"I didn't mean it as an offense," Harry said. Once the first Ogre had fallen from the venom, he walked over to the second and slashed it as well.

"I should hope not, little mage."

They rejoined the others a moment later and the first golem led them through the poison mist filled room and out a door on the other side. A long tunnel followed that eventually ended at another doorway and another room filled with several golem guardians.

"Seldrek, why do you leave your post?" one of the golems asked.

"I lead Shale and these mortals to speak with Caridin."

"Be warned then," the golem replied as it motioned with its hand towards the rest of them. "The mortals will have to bow before the Apparatus, or it may attack them anyway."

"I remember."

Harry stepped up next to their guide. "Seldrek- that's your name?"

"It is," the golem replied as it strode through the chamber and down another tunnel. "It was the name I was given hundreds of years ago."

"Are all golems so old?"

"None have been created in many years," Seldrek replied. "To know more, you will need to speak with Caridin."

"Very well."


Soon they came to cavern with glowing blue veins of lyrium right on the surface of the ceiling and high up in the walls, and extending down from the ceiling was a massive stone pillar with four carved faces on the bottom, facing each of the cardinal directions and with eyes eerily gleaming from the magical ore as well.

Harry wondered for a moment about the nature of lyrium- something he would have to research more in the future, when the fate of the world wasn't quite so dire.

"The Spirit Apparatus," Seldrek said as he came to a stop and raised one arm to halt the rest of them. "One of Caridin's greatest feats- our ancestors can return from the Stone to protect the Anvil of the Void from those who would abuse its power. Your group must show humility and honor before you can proceed."

"I understand," Harry nodded as he stepped forward and knelt. The others joined him, although he had to force Branka to kneel and Morrigan scowled at the necessity of it.

"Ancestors preserve us," Oghren whispered. "My stone sense has never been that strong, but even I can feel something in this place."

"In a way, it reminds me of the thin places in the Veil that I've felt before, only in reverse," Harry replied.

"Reverse? What do you mean?" Leliana asked.

"Dwarves don't dream, and I assume that means they don't- or rather can't- touch the Fade the way humans and I would assume elves do," he answered.

"That is why there are no dwarven mages," Wynne agreed.

"I wonder if it is due to their connection to lyrium," Harry motioned to the glowing ceiling. "The Stone is so important to them, and what makes it unique?"

"Lyrium," Morrigan added. "And yet, lyrium also allows mages to use more magic and access greater power, so why would it not do so for dwarves?"

"Perhaps because dwarves' relation to lyrium is fundamentally different."

"We come from the Stone," Oghren grumbled.

"I never thought that was meant so literally," Branka stated.

"Well, if the ancient, nigh-immortal dragons that the Tevinters supposedly worshipped thousands of years ago can be buried deep underground for centuries," Morrigan began, "who knows what other mysteries may dwell in dark, forgotten places?"

"Indeed," Seldrek said. "I believe your passage will now be permitted. Come, I will take you to Caridin."

They stood up at that moment, Harry and Wynne rubbing their knees as they did so, and then the group followed their golem guide beyond the Apparatus to one last doorway.

Beyond it lay a cavern with lyrium once again exposed, this time with plenty of it coming up out of the ground as well as growing in the walls and ceiling, and lava falls from further off in the distance, as well as a river of it below the rise at the far end of the rocky floor.

Several more golems waited there, with one particularly tall one that was much more intricately carved and looking more like a sort of stone robot, its head and body much more angular and inhuman. It began to introduce itself right away.

"My name is Caridin. Once, longer ago than I care to think, I was a Paragon to the dwarves of Orzammar." Its voice echoed from deep within what looked like a helmet rather than a face.

"Caridin?" Shale spoke up. "The Paragon smith? Alive?"

"Ah! There is a voice I recognize," Caridin said. "Shayle of the House of Cadash, step forward."

"You... know my name? Is it you that forged me then? Is it you that gave me my name?"

"Have you forgotten then? It has been so long," Caridin sighed. "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?" the disbelief was clear in its- her- voice.

"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," Shale replied.

"If you seek the Anvil, then you must care about my story, or be doomed to relive it," Caridin said. "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."

"A life to bring life," Harry said.

"Indeed," Caridin replied. "No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life. To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere."

"Blood Magic?" Wynne asked.

"The darkspawn were pressing in," Caridin answered. "Originally, I took only 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."

"And now you guard it against others who would use it?" Sirius asked.

"My eyes were opened," the golem explained. "My apprentices knew enough to make me as I am, but not enough to fashion a control rod. I retained my mind. 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."

"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 do so."

"No!" Branka spoke up, and Harry noticed her struggling against the Imperius Curse. "The Anvil... is mine!"

He turned back to her and raised his left hand, channeling the hidden Elder Wand into his magic and forcing her to kneel. "Your madness and obsession end here. For what you have done to your clan, the hideous fates you gave them, I sentence you to death. Oghren, make your farewell while you still can."

"By the Stone, woman, is it never enough with you?" he grumbled as he looked down at his long lost wife. "Maybe everyone was right, and I should have given you up for dead just as they had."

"You cannot take it from me," she hissed. "I am your wife... your Paragon."

"The woman I loved died a long time ago," Oghren replied. "I was just too blind to see it."

The dwarf turned away and spoke to Harry as he passed. "Do what you will, just don't make me watch it."

Harry placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll make it quick."

Oghren nodded.

"Avada Kedavra!"

There was a moment of silence before Caridin spoke again.

"I am sorry for your loss, young one," the golem sighed. "There have been far too many who have died because of my creation. The First Blight made us desperate, and our desperation led to so much unnecessary blood being spilled."

"The First Blight?" Leliana asked.

"I created the Anvil in the year 940, by the Tevinter calendar," he replied. "Within a decade, I became as you now see me."

"That was more than a thousand years ago!" the bard gasped.

"Then perhaps you can see how weary I am, and for how long I have waited to find someone who could end our vigil."

"I could help you," Harry said. "But I need your help first."

"You would bargain, when all I ask is that you save others from becoming slaves?"

"It is the beginning of the Fifth Blight," he replied. "And as you said, that sort of turmoil makes people desperate. I am doing all I can to limit the death and destruction, and for that purpose I need a Paragon to deliver me Orzammar's aid."

"How many kings have we had, and how many of them have been blinded by greed and power?" Caridin sighed.

"Far too many, I'm sure," Harry agreed. "But how many that live now can we save if I have your aid?"

"Destroy the Anvil of the Void, and I will march with you to war. One last time."

"I thank you for your sacrifice," Harry said. "Allow me to inspect it and see how best to undo your creation."

"Very well." Caridin stood aside and revealed the Anvil sitting at the far end of the cavernous room.

Morrigan hurried after Harry as he went to investigate it. "You are giving up such a powerful device when it could aid us- think for a moment before you do so."

"Would you like Caridin to turn you into such a thing?" he asked quietly.

"No, but-"

"I understand your curiosity about ancient magic like this, but some things are better forgotten."

"How can you say such nonsense?" Morrigan glared at him.

"I told you, in my world there were bombs capable of wiping entire cities out in a flash," Harry replied. "Do you wish that I had the knowledge of how to create such things? Because I am glad to think that I may never see something that horrific ever again."

"That isn't the same," she argued. "Caridin himself said they used volunteers at first. We could do so again-"

"And again, someone would come and demand that power for themselves," Harry countered. "Then, someone would have to stand ever vigilant against such abuses, and the cycle would continue."

Morrigan sighed. "It is such a pity to lose something so unique from the world."

"Unique things can still be terrible," Harry replied.

He stopped once he came within a few feet of the Anvil and then he slowly walked around it. The metal was something like a dark gold in color, but it too glowed with numerous lines of lyrium all weaved throughout it. It was beautiful, but even without using any spells, he could feel the power and blood that had gone into it- both its creation and what had come afterwards.

"Do you mind if I watch?" Wynne asked as she joined them.

"That's fine," Harry murmured as he circled it again, trying to see a pattern in the lyrium.

"How are you going to destroy it?"

"Not with mere violence," he replied with a chuckle. "That may work, but it also would leave traces that could be dangerous."

"So, what then?" Morrigan asked.

Harry reached into his mokeskin pouch and found an old set of glasses. He closed his eyes before he put them on, but he still winced once he opened his eyes.

"What are those for?"

He blinked a couple of times as he got used to the magic before he answered her question. "When I was young, I had vision problems that required me to wear these. Eventually, I had a surgery done to correct the problem-"

"Not magic?" Morrigan wondered.

"Magic did not have a way to correct my vision," he responded. "But, if the surgery had gone poorly, magic could have restored my eyes to their original state, thus making the possible failure of the surgery of no great concern. Now, however, I can use these glasses because I had them enchanted to see other things beyond regular sight."

"Such as?" Wynne prompted.

"Such as the enchantments within this Anvil," he waved towards the powerful artifact but looked away from it almost immediately. "The problem with using them is that this thing is nearly blinding due to all the magic involved. The cave looks brighter too- lyrium is very potent."

"What can you tell then?" Morrigan asked.

"Give me a few minutes to study the Anvil without blinding myself," he sighed as he hunched down and squinted. There really was so much magic, but thankfully after a couple of minutes of study, he realized there were only so many elements in play that he would be able to disenchant it without too many problems.

Hopefully.

"Metal, lyrium, blood and soul," he muttered to himself.

"All to be expected," Morrigan added.

"Physical aspects often are."

"Souls are physical?" Wynne asked.

"That depends upon who you ask, I suppose," he replied as he shuffled around the sides of it and kept watching for changes. "Dementors would have said yes, and my experiences with those foul creatures colors my point of view. Will and sacrifice though- they are much more ephemeral things, touched with our minds but not our hands."

"Blood sacrifice is physical though," Wynne countered. "That is one of the many reasons why Blood Magic is so feared."

"It was not merely their blood the dwarves sacrificed when they became golems," he answered. "It was their mortality, and quite possibly, their connection to the Stone, whatever that may entail."

"Becoming immortal is hardly a sacrifice," Morrigan scoffed.

"I pray you never find out how wrong you are," he said. "Give me a few moments of peace, please."

Both witches did as he asked and backed off while he traced his fingertips over the surface of the Anvil. Unseen to normal eyes, there were bits of red and black magic that reached up to his hands, returning his caress.

"Like calls to like."

Morrigan kept her eyes locked upon Harry's form as he moved, but Wynne frowned in concern.

"What was made must be unmade."

The magic of the metal was foreign to him, but recognizable. The last- the bit that glowed the brightest- came from the lyrium itself, and that made Harry all the more curious about it. Something very unique to this world, he had to assume, unless the goblins held many more secrets than humans had ever guessed back home.

"Unmade?"

Morrigan's voice brought his attention to her, and he smiled as he saw the way her magic stirred and changed- she was every bit as chaotic as Wynne was orderly, and the fact that she was a shapechanger was reflected in his vision.

"Long ago, there was a legendary sorcerer named Merlin," he remembered some of the old myths. "He was supposedly the greatest magic user who ever lived, and the tales about him varied, but one of the more common ones spoke of his 'Charm of Making' that could do great things. That spell was lost to the ages, but legends of it remained long after his death.

"And from those legends, someone took inspiration." Harry stood up and stretched, his back popping nicely as he reached into his pouch for one of the many, many spellbooks he had collected over the years. Thankfully, his memory could still pick out the correct one, an old grimoire from the seventeenth century. "Thus, we have the Charm of Unmaking. A spell to undo the most powerful of enchantments. I only wish I had learned it when I was much younger- it could have saved me a lot of time and effort."

He shook his head and read the passage with the spell twice over before he put the book away. Then he drew his wand and began to chant:

"an cruthú seo a chur ar ais ina bhuneilimintí"

He waved his wand around the Anvil, slowly walking in a circle around it.

"an cruthú seo a chur ar ais ina bhuneilimintí"

As he made a second pass, he could see the magic from the Anvil again reaching out towards him, like tendrils grasping for his hand.

"an cruthú seo a chur ar ais ina bhuneilimintí"

He could tell the spell was having an effect, but he may need to add one final ingredient. Transferring his wand to his left hand, Harry pulled out a knife.

"an cruthú seo a chur ar ais ina bhuneilimintí"

And with that, he sliced open his palm and let his blood drip onto the top of the Anvil of the Void.

"an cruthú seo a chur ar ais ina bhuneilimintí"

Drip, drip, drip... the tendrils of magic he could see through his enchanted lenses stopped reaching for his hand and instead touched upon the blood he spilled.

"an cruthú seo a chur ar ais ina bhuneilimintí"

Finally, in a burst of light, the Anvil absorbed it all- blood, spell, will, and sorrow- and it began to dissolve.

The metal melted and seeped back into the stone; the lyrium that was left behind looked tainted, much darker and riddled with impurities compared to that which he had seen throughout the massive chamber, so Harry vanished it. Only then did he use his wand to heal his wound.

Caridin came stomping over to them as Harry put his enchanted glasses away. "You have done it. Finally. Thank you, my friend."

"I'm glad to have been able to help."

"I will honor our bargain," Caridin said.

"We all will," Seldrek, the golem who had guided them there added. "You will have our aid to destroy the darkspawn."

And with that, one last march of the golems came from the Deep Roads, headed towards Orzammar and the surface.


Author's Note: In spite of how things played out in the game, I made several changes- the biggest one being the fate of the golems.

In the game, you only get golem allies for the war by siding with Branka, and the golems are clearly slaves to her will via golem control rods. This is pretty clearly the more evil choice, which is actually kind of surprising because from what I've seen, usually the 'good guy' path in games tend to have equal or better rewards than going down the evil path.

I also wrote out the 'crown' scene because Caridin says that no golem can touch the Anvil of the Void minutes before he does so when he forges the crown. Plus, the damn thing was so gaudy.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter & your holiday season is going well. Till next time!