Chapter 73: The Halls of Kadash
Kadash Thaig was unlike any other dwarven settlement Alim had seen before.
Orzammar, Ortan Thaig, and even Bownammer had been built deep underground, as if letting the sun touch their hallowed halls would be the ultimate of blasphemy, the purest of insults.
Kadash Thaig was not that way.
Sunlight filtered through cracks in the ceiling, the lave tubes that the dwarves used for warmth made it feel like summer down here, a fact made even more true by the grass and various blooming vines the warden could see.
The darkspawn taint was here too of course, but…Kadash Thaig felt different. It reminded him a bit of the elven ruins they had seen in the Brecilian Forest. He knew it sounded crazy, but he could almost sense elvhen magic down here, but that was impossible of course.
What would elves be doing in a dwarven Thaig, besides him, Kally, Zev, and Theron of course.
As they had done dozens of times before, Leliana inspected the entrance to the Thaig for any hidden dwarven traps. Alim was concerned about her safety, but understood that he could trust her to be thorough.
The elf chuckled.
A few months ago, he would have thought nothing of sending Leliana into danger, now…the very thought tore at his soul.
Love was both a terrible, yet extremely wonderful thing.
He felt more…at peace with himself than he had felt for a long time. Many of his old insecurities seemed very distant now. Part of him wanted to track down all those girls who had rejected him the tower, to let them know that he was not some too short elf with two big ears. That he had found a lover, and that she loved him.
It might sound petty, but that was how he felt.
For the moment, he tried to push such thoughts to the side, to focus on helping Shale with her bit of…soul searching.
He knew how she felt, or at least he thought he did, returning to Lothering…it had been a bit of a shock after being gone for years.
He wished Shale an easier time than he had had.
The golem seemed more and more troubled as they drew closer to the Thaig. He found himself wondering what was going on in her head. Did any of this look familiar to her, or had the centuries robbed her of everything that Shayle of House Kadash was?
Was there anything left of the brave dwarven warrior who gave herself to Caradin and his anvil so long ago?
It seemed that they would get to find out.
IOI
"Darkspawn!"
Alim's warning galvanized the group, weapons were drawn and spells whispered.
Morrigan lashed out savagely at the foul beasts. The witch had not been a part of their first expedition into the deep roads, a fact that she was extremely grateful for.
Now the darkspawn thought to block their path, and yet again the tainted creatures had to be disciplined.
Morrigan was more than up to the task.
In fact, she had a lot of aggression to work out, and more than a bit of confusion as well.
The witch did not like confusion; she did not like it at all, twas annoying.
Damn you Alistair!
When she had first started sharing her bed with the fool, it had simply been for the sake of the plan. She needed a warden's aid for the end game, when they finally reached the Archdemon, and yes…after these many months of travel she realized that that was a possibility. Alim would see them through; they would reach the dragon, and would slay it when the time came.
The elf was too stubborn not to succeed.
Which made her task even easier, or at least…it should have.
Morrigan's fingers tightened on her staff.
Alistair had given her a gift last night, one…one that she had not truly expected, and the simple act of kindness had shaken her to her core.
Stop behaving so childishly, twas a rose, nothing more.
The witch's eyes narrowed.
If only that was all it had been.
The fool said he picked the thing back in Lothering, how it still remained in bloom was beyond her. It was not ensorcelled in any way that she could tell, and yet, it had survived far beyond the limits that any flower should possess.
He had whispered some sentimental drivel about the rose being like her, beauty hidden in the darkness of the Korcari Wilds. That he felt that she was meant to have it.
Morrigan was…was speechless.
She should have laughed at the simple gift, but instead…she…she felt touched. Twice she had pulled the rose out of her pack, examining, trying to figure out what was so special about it.
Had the fool put some kind of spell on it back in the circle tower? So that when she touched it she would feel…some…some overabundance of sentimentality?
Alistair did not seem like the type, he was a fool, and beyond such manipulation.
Surprisingly, when she had pulled it out that second time, she realized that the rose looked like it was beginning to wilt.
She felt a surge of panic, though she did not understand why. She cast her spell quickly, filling the stubborn little blossom with renewed life.
It immediately returned to his former state.
The witch had smiled slightly at her success.
The bloom would never wilt now, the enchantment should preserve it forever, in a thousand years it would still look as hardy as it did now.
The thought was extremely touching, and at the same time…horrifying.
She had barred Alistair from her bed roll after that, sighting that she needed time to study Mother's grimoire uninterrupted. He seemed to respect her choice, his chantry upbringing compelling him to be a gentleman.
His willingness to give her the space she desired vexed her even more!
What kind of man would accept such a request? Surely, he would force the issue with her; confront her with why he had been barred from her talents?
She knew that Alistair was not like that. He…he was a fool, but he was her fool.
There it was again, was there no end to this wasteful sentimentality!?
She studied Mother's grimoire. She hoped to find some way to rid herself of this weakness.
Alas the book revealed nothing, only entries involving her sisters, their preparation and training.
The book made no sense to her, why did Mother keep such records? Why were they even necessary?
Morrigan started to feel that she was missing something, something important.
She feared what would happen when she found the answers.
More darkspawn flooded the chamber, this time they even had an ogre with them.
The witch worked in tandem with Alim; she cast a spell, giving the ground the same consistency as lamp oil. Alim fired lightning into it, igniting the ground beneath the darkspawns' very feet.
The creatures wailed in agony their tainted skin charring from the flames.
The few that managed to escape were easy prey for the archers in the group. By the time the magical flames had faded, the stink of burnt darkspawn filled the chamber.
Alim let out a tired sigh.
The golem stepped forward, running its stone hand along one of the pillars.
She looked so…so…sad.
"Was this my home once? " Shale murmured, "Did I live here? I…I still cannot remember."
Normally, Morrigan would have sneered at the golem's show of weakness, but…for some reason she felt something else…
Pity.
She cursed herself for the fool she was.
Love and pity were fleeting and had no meaning.
Survival had meaning.
Power…had meaning.
It was best that she remembered that.
The future belonged only to the strong.
Alas, she feared that she would no longer be counted among their number and for that…
Morrigan was afraid.
IOI
Leliana approached a strange flowering vine, it was quite pretty.
She began to reach out.
"Don't touch it Leli."
Alim came up beside her, his ears twitched curiously.
"Is something wrong?" she asked him.
"I don't know," he said, "the plants down here seem to be resisting the taint, some magic of some type, but I could not say how it would affect you if you disturbed it. I would not wish to see you tainted, or…or whatever it might do to you."
The bard smiled, her finger lightly caressed one of his ears.
He blushed.
"Thank you dearest," she purred.
His cheeks darkened more.
Leli was a wonderful, yet frustrating woman.
He pulled her hand away, but not before giving her fingers a gentle kiss, hopefully before anyone noticed.
He knew they could not keep their…relationship secret forever, nor did he want to, but for now…it felt discretion was better.
A loud roar shook the cavern.
Alim glanced up, reaching out with his warden senses, he could feel a large number of darkspawn closing on their position, perhaps too many to face out in the open.
Fortunately the Thaig offered many options for ambush.
Leli and Zev had managed to slap together a few snares and other traps that would hamper the spawns' advance. Ali marched out with his magic, touching the strange elvhen presence that was a part of this place. The magic seemed to respond to his stormbreaker abilities, which seemed to reinforce his thoughts that this did involve the ancient elves somehow.
The warden's brow furrowed.
He might have to return to this place one day, when they weren't about to fight for their lives against the darkspawn. What was hidden here…it deserved to be explored, but that was for another day.
For now…only the battle mattered.
The archers took a position on one of the sunken buildings, the Thaigs great river had overflowed sometime in the past, washing away parts of it. Leliana, Theron, and Zev should be safe there.
The warriors formed up, shields and weapons at the ready.
Alim, Morrigan, and Wynne stood behind them.
The darkspawn charged. The ogre alpha leading them roared with fury.
Alim whispered his spell to the magic that was a part of this place.
A great tempest of lightning filled the chamber.
The darkspawn squealed.
The archers opened up on the creatures, felling many of them.
Wynne stayed back chanting under her breath, her spell bolstering the warriors as the lay into any darkspawn who emerged from the tempest.
Alim and Morrigan focused on the ogre. They sent fire and ice into the creature.
The alpha staggered back under the onslaught.
An arrow flew past Alim's ear.
He heard a gurgling cry behind him.
He drew spellbinder, expecting to see Wynne down.
What he saw was a shriek, the lanky darkspawn clawed at the arrow in its throat.
He beheaded the creature, ending its suffering.
He looked up to see Leliana giving him a cheery wave.
"You're welcome," she said.
The elf gave an amused snort.
"Focus on the battle fool!" Morrigan hissed.
Alim nodded and returned his attention to the ogre.
Leliana on Theron shifted their attention to the shrieks trying to sneak through the ruins and get behind Alim and the others. Zev meanwhile continued to pick off the hurlocks and genlocks that were trying to charge from the front.
Finally, after several attacks that would have killed one of its lesser, the ogre alpha fell. The creature's death broke the darkspawns' spirit, the remaining creatures retreated, an emissary using magic to buy time for their retreat.
The mages gasped, all three were winded.
The warriors had been lucky, a few scrapes and burns, and it seemed that the silverite potion was still working; none of them showed any sign of the taint.
This was good, for everyone.
Shale snorted and stomped on the alpha's dead body.
"Crawling with filth," she spat looking around at the Thaig, "Disgusting, I'm not sure what I even expected to find here."
Alim sheathed his sword.
"Only one way to answer that question Shale," he said, "And that is to look."
The golem huffed.
"Now it is taking lessons from the other warden now?" she scoffed, "What are you General Obvious?"
The elf chuckled.
"You got me there Shale."
"It is right however," she sighed, "So searching through the filth I must go, how charming."
She turned muttering to herself.
Alim and the others formed up, watching her back.
The Golem deserved the chance to search this place in peace, it was the least they could do.
IOI
Shale said nothing as she made her way through the ruins. Alim wasn't sure how, but the golem seemed to be leading them somewhere. A few darkspawn still harassed them, but those attacks had become…infrequent and poorly organized.
Finally, Shale came to a stop on a hill, the sun shown down proudly on it, like the statue of another dwarven paragon.
Shale stood at its feet, she was looking down at a tablet at its base.
She seemed…in awe.
"I…I remember this," she whispered, "I…I have been here before."
A large stone had reached up and touched the tablet.
Alim recognized it; it was similar to the tablet they found in Caradin's fortress, a list of the first dwarves who had become golems.
This one was clearly exclusive to Kadash Thaig however; only members of those from this thaig were listed here.
Shale brushed a stone finger over one of the names.
"Here it is," she said, "the name…her name…my name!"
Shayle of House Kadash.
In that moment…
…she remembered.
IOI
Shayle stood before tablet, beside it, one of Caradin's apprentices waited. The boy had explained what to the warriors what was being asked of them, the sacrifice they were being called upon to make.
Shayle had not hesitated, to protect her homeland; she would proudly give her life.
She was the first warrior of Kadash Thaig to agree to undergo the change.
She would become a golem.
"Daughter please," an old dwarf said, "Do not do this?"
Her blue eyes narrowed.
"The king needs warriors willing to step up, to show these monsters that they are not invincible, that they can be squished into a fine paste of hit hard enough."
Shayle smiled wickedly.
"It will be nice to be bigger than they are for a change.
An old woman embraced her, sobbing sadly.
"Daughter…you…you can't do this! Your place is here."
Shayle wiped the old woman's eyes; a sad smile came to her face.
"If not me, than whom?"
She embraced her parents one last time.
"I will make you proud," she whispered, "think well of me."
"You already have daughter," he r father said, "Go with the ancestor's blessing, and may the stone catch you if you fall my little warrior."
Shayle let out a happy sob.
"I do this for you, for all of us, and for Orzammar," she smiled warmly, "May we meet again one day."
IOI
A sound escaped the golem's throat, not…a laugh and not a sob, but something both.
Mother, Father, I…I remember you!
She remembered it all.
"I…I remember now," She whispered, "I remember Shayle, that…she…she was me."
"You remember," Leliana cried with joy, "How wonderful."
Shale…no Shayle scoffed.
"Wonderful to know that I was once a squishy creature of flesh, perhaps," the golem shook her head.
Shayle looked at her hands.
She had wanted to be bigger and that bastard Wilhelm had had her shrunk down.
Pathetic little mage, if he was here right now she would squish him again, just for making her short again.
Oh well, there was nothing she could do about that now.
Shayle was still a golem, and that was not a bad thing.
That was not a bad thing at all.
She backed away from the monument.
She would need time to think, to reflect, for now…
They still had things that they needed to accomplish.
"We do not need to brave the deep roads again," she said, "There is a door leading to the surface this way. It will save us some time, follow me."
The golem took the lead, with Alim right beside her.
He looked up at the golem.
"Did you find what you were looking for Shale?" he asked.
"That remains to be seen," she said, "We will speak of this again. I…I thank it for its willingness to do this for me."
"It was not a problem," the elf said.
A hint of a smile came to her stone lips.
"Never the less I am grateful," she said, "And please…"
The golem chuckled.
"Call me Shayle."
A/N: If you have played the Witchhunt dlc you know what Alim was sensing here. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and happy Groundhog Day everybody!
DG