The Keening Blade

Chapter 23: Tomb Raiders of Amaranthine

Their errands were completed. They had their information, and there was no reason they could not manage to return to the Vigil by nightfall. Anders had obligingly healed Oghren's aching legs, and the dwarf was ready to face more hours on horseback.

Anders, to be sure, was restless. He wanted to make a circuit of the Market District, clearly looking for someone. When questioned by Maude, he replied, somewhat evasively, "I know people in Amaranthine."

"Which people?" she persisted.

He dropped his voice. "Apostates, mostly."

"Oh, good. Maybe they'd like to be conscripted."

Morrigan snickered. Loghain said, "We can walk down the other side of Keep Street. Once. I'd prefer not to be harassed by Templars any more than absolutely necessary."

"We really need to have something special made for you, Anders," Maude considered. "If you won't wear armor, how about specially designed battle robes with lots of griffons on them? If the Templars know you're a Grey Warden, they won't make such awful pests of themselves."

Loghain said dryly, "They could be in any garish color you prefer."

"Well, excuse me," Anders sulked, "if I'm still young enough to have some interest in fashion."

"You could have a really neat winged helmet like Morrigan's, anyway," Maude considered, "with all those little dangly bits mages like. And that reminds me, Oghren, we need to find you a proper Grey Warden helmet. Maybe one of the Orlesians' helmets would fit you."

"Naw," Oghren shook his head. "Already tried them all. Damned bunch of pinheads."

Loghain smiled, at peace with the world. He had forgotten the dwarf's amusing way with words. It made up for the smell, most of the time.

Maude and Morrigan picked up a few things from the merchants, and Loghain was stopped by a representative of the Merchants' Guild, concerned about problems on the Pilgrims' Path. Smaller trade caravans were simply not getting through the stretch that ran through the Wending Wood. In the past, this road had been one of the safest and best patrolled in Ferelden, but recently even the militia had had trouble. Loghain made the man no promises, but said he would raise the issue with the Arlessa. Anders kept looking about him, as if expecting to see someone.

The ride back to the Vigil was uneventful, other than meeting a band of incredibly stupid bandits. That was a brief adventure, however, and within a few hours they were back at the ancient fortress of the Howes. They rode into the inner courtyard, and Topaz came barreling toward them barking, happy to see her new friend Ranger. Loghain had saved a bit of smoked sausage from their meal in Amaranthine, and fed it to the dog. She was still sad, but snapped up the snack readily enough, and even granted him the liberty of scratching her ears.

"Good girl, Topaz," he murmured. She looked up at him with huge, intelligent brown eyes. Mabaris really were a gift of the Maker. She brushed against his legs, keeping pace with them, as they returned to the keep.

The Vigil was already looking much improved. Both brother and sister had been hard at work, After a good meal, the dwarf engineer Voldrik informed them that the way was almost clear through the dungeons to the lower tunnels. As it was a priority, Loghain decided they would tackle that problem as soon as they could…tomorrow. Even Wardens needed sleep food and sleep...

Loghain awakened to a sweet, wet kiss. Blinking, he found himself staring into a pair of brown eyes. They were not Maude's. Topaz was standing by the bed, resting her muzzle on the blanket.

"Good girl," he croaked sleepily, automatically fumbling out a hand to scratch the perked-up ears. Ranger got up and stood beside his friend, panting expectantly.

"What do they want?" Maude asked, still curled up against him.

"What do dogs always want?"

She slid off the bed on her side, and opened the door. "Go," she told them, waving them out. "Go raid the kitchens and make someone let you outside. We'll be down for breakfast later, and we'll throw sticks and kill darkspawn."

Ranger barked happily, and the dogs were off on the hunt.

Maude crawled back into bed, and pounced on Loghain. He admitted later that he had not put up much of a fight.

Once again, Nathaniel Howe volunteered to go with them. He had been useful before, and they were Howe dungeons, after all, so he tagged along, bow in hand, scowl on face.

The lower dungeons were cave-like, and bore many traces of the ancient days of the Vigil's Keep. Almost immediately they found the remains of what had once been a shrine to Korth the Mountain Father. Maude was intrigued, and poked about, finding a little gilded image of the god: stylized, broad-shouldered, square-headed. She and Nathaniel went into a long, boring discussion of ancient mythology. Boring for Loghain and Oghren, though everyone else was fascinated—even Morrigan, who thought the ancient gods far more amusing than the Maker and his dreary bride Andraste.

It was not long before they made contact with darkspawn. Quite a few of them, in fact, lurking in nooks and crannies along the old tunnels. As they moved down, the tunnels were getting larger and easier to traverse. It was not long before the walls grew straight and the floor smooth, and the carving bore indisputable signs of dwarven work. These were not the Deep Roads themselves, but they were definitely offshoots of them.

They met more resistance the farther they traveled, and finally…

"Well!" Maude went on, pink with excitement, eager to tell the Arlessa all about it. "Then we went down another fifty feet—and I do mean down—and there we were in the Deep Roads!"

"So the Deep Roads really do connect with our dungeons?" Delilah asked, very alarmed at the very idea.

"Oh, they do! But not to worry—Master Voldrik said that this huge mechanism we found there was a nearly complete dwarven barrier door. That's the sort of thing the dwarves have to protect Orzammar. He and has men are working on it. He said it wouldn't take long, and then you'll have decades—probably even a hundred years—of security. So we did find the single point of contact, and it will be cut off when Voldrik is done. He also suggested that the Vigil needs some serious work done on its defenses."

Nathaniel looked at Delilah, and she looked back at him. Both of them appeared very harassed. Delilah said, "He's been after me about that too, but I have twenty places to put every penny. I just can't justify the eighty sovereigns he wants. Especially when traders can't get through the Wending Wood and pay the usual tolls and taxes. If it weren't for that…" she sighed. "But you are finished in the dungeons?"

"Not quite," Loghain said dryly, raising his brows at Nathaniel.

"We think that something we roused in the lowest dungeons escaped—a sort of demon," Nathaniel confessed to Delilah. "The mages say it's lurking in the crypt. They warded it in with magic, so it can't escape, but they say it's dangerous. We'll have to go there and clear it out."

"Oh, Nathaniel!"

"It's going to be so interesting," said Maude. "We might find all sorts of things in the crypts."

"All sorts of unpleasant things," Loghain agreed. He wished that young Howe were not so insistent about going with them. Where there were tombs, there would also be treasure, and Maude would be at her most light-fingered.

Morrigan muttered, "'Tis not a demon. 'Tis a wraith, and its name is The Dark Thaurge." Anders patted her shoulder comfortingly. Mundanes were very sloppy about identifying magical entities.

They took the dogs, too. Loghain was a little concerned about exposing Topaz to the terrors of demon-fighting, but she was a mabari of Ferelden, and she had her pride. She did not wish to stay behind and protect Arlessa Delilah, which she knew was another way of saying she was not a true warrior. She whined and complained, and Ranger barked and growled, until Loghain shouted, "Enough!" and then felt like a dog himself when they cowered away.

And so, it was quite a war party that set off to cleanse the crypt of Vigil's Keep. Once unlocked, they discovered a number of interesting things. There was an upper crypt, and down another flight of stairs was an even more ancient, lower one.

"I can see why your mother didn't want us playing in here," Maude admitted to Howe. He nodded absently, looking about him with wide eyes at the ancient history of his family, spread out before him. The old barbarian chieftains had been immured in stone sarcophagi. Only after the conversation to Andrasteanism had cremation become the civilized manner of disposing of the dead. It was disgusting, Loghain thought, the whole idea of a human body being allowed to rot in a box...

Rendon Howe had stored some items in the upper crypt. Maude, at least, was sure that it was he who had hidden away the fine old bow that had belonged to Nathaniel's grandfather. She found it, noticed the family arms carved into it, and gave it to Nathaniel, who was quite moved. She meanwhile palmed a number of things, while pretending to read inscriptions.

After some time, stroking the smooth surface of the bow, and thinking to himself, young Howe mentioned the former owner of it.

"My grandfather was a Grey Warden. He felt he had a vocation for it, and he left his family behind to go abroad. Of course in those days there were no Grey Wardens in Ferelden. No one heard of him again."

Loghain grimaced. Probably dead in the Joining, he imagined. Delilah had told him the story some months ago, but it still troubled him. He could sympathize with Rendon Howe's resentment of the Wardens.

Maude was more sympathetic. "I know. Mother told me when I was quite young. Fergus and I were playing Wardens-and-Darkspawn one day, and your family was coming to visit. Mother explained why such a game might be tactless, and that we must never bring up the subject. She was always good about explaining the reasons for things."

Howe nodded wordlessly, probably not daring to say anything about the Couslands. Just as well. Loghain really and truly could not wait to get out of this castle. The longer they lingered, the more likely a horrendous explosion would occur. He whispered to Maude, "And who were you? The Wardens or the Darkspawn?"

She grinned, and made a horrible growling noise, rolling her eyes. The dogs stared at her. She laughed.

Morrigan was bored with the family reminiscences, having no family of her own to speak of. "I believe The Dark Thaurge is waiting."

They emerged victorious, of course, not too much later. Topaz was ready to be praised and petted, and Ranger was ready for more concrete rewards in the form of tasty treats. Maude was going on to Nathaniel about the fascinating Avvar lords, whose remains had been possessed by the wraith.

"And they wore helmets just like the ones Grey Wardens wear!" she exulted. "That was so neat!"

"It is a very archaic design," Howe agreed. "They might have been ancestors of mine!"

"I'm sure they were," Maude agreed, "but don't be upset with them. That wasn't really them attacking you, but the nasty wraith animating bits of their bodies. It happens." She was very pleased herself with some of the grave goods she had uncovered, and took a surreptitious peek at them. Morrigan and Anders, admirably composed, discussed the history of the Avvar barbarians with their descendant.

They had expected Delilah to be awaiting them, along with her seneschal and some guards. Instead, the entrance through the dungeons was deserted. Mystified, they returned to the keep, and found that Delilah had been called away to receive a deputation of her vassals. Very discontented vassals, at that.

None of them—not even Nathaniel—bothered to change in order to meet the visitors. They all stalked together into the Throne Room. Heads turned at their appearance, and there were a few girly screams, not all of which issued from girlish throats.

Nathaniel immediately took his place, standing by his sister where she sat on the High Seat. The Wardens stayed at the back of the hall, glowering, sneering, smirking, beaming, or scratching an ear, according to their various natures.

"And we should finger our weapons in a threatening manner," Maude whispered. "That's the part I really like!"

"Who's the dressed-up cow with the stick up her arse?" Oghren wondered.

"Lower your voice," Loghain ground out. There was no doubt who the dwarf meant, since he was pointing at a woman who was far more opulently gowned and jeweled than the Arlessa herself. "That's Bann Esmerelle Hargrove, the ruler of the city of Amaranthine, and the Arlessa's most powerful—and dangerous—vassal."

"She was one of Rendon Howe's tarts," Maude whispered. "That's how she got to be a bann in the first place." She made a face at Loghain. "I know! I know! There was more to it than that."

Oghren grunted, unimpressed. "She looks like someone who'd take on old Rendon."

"'Tis remarkable how quickly they arrived after the danger had passed," Morrigan remarked.

"Probably here to leech a supper off the Arlessa," Anders shrugged. "Mind you, I'm awfully glad that pastry cook of hers survived."

Of course, it was impossible that nothing would be said of Loghain's arrival. There had been rumors of his deeds, and now he was here, and all these people wanted to greet him. Amaranthine was the one corner of Ferelden in which he had never ceased to be personally popular. Delilah presented him to the lords and ladies assembled as the Dragonslayer of Ferelden and Warden-Commander of the Grey. There was quite a bit of cheering. He could hardly blame these people for preferring him to the Orlesians who had so spectacularly failed to defend this arling.

There was talk and mingling, and a number of the vassals approached Loghain, wanting to get him aside and go over Delilah's head, so to speak, in obtaining protection for their lands. Maude busily worked the floor, chatting up old friends of her father's. Loghain overheard her assure Lord Eddlebreck that they were going west tomorrow to have a look at the darkspawn depredations on the farm lands of the Feravel Plains. It was not a complete lie: they would be skirting the Feravel Plains on their way to the Knotwood Hills.

There was additional concern about trouble on the Pilgrims' Path. Some militiamen had found a caravan burned and the traders slaughtered only the day before. The nobles thought it was the Dalish, causing trouble again.

"Well, I can deal with the Dalish," Maude declared. "I've dealt with them in the past and got them to join in fighting the darkspawn. I wonder why they haven't gone south to their new territory."

A well-dressed lady complained bitterly. "No one can understand those creatures. Domesticated knife-ears are bad enough, but the wild ones are worse!"

Maude granted her a brilliant, false smile, the meaning of which Loghain understood completely. Maude liked elves, for some reason, and always got on well with them. If she had had her way, that Zevran of hers would be with them at this very moment, and a fellow Grey Warden. It was an irritating thought, but even more irritating was the recollection of days long past when he had got on well with elves himself, and had organized the Night Elves to fight the Orlesians. What had happened to his old elven comrades? Perhaps it was better not to know…

There was Bann Esmerelle, slinking his way. He should try to be polite to the woman, at least. She had been a faithful vassal to Howe, certainly, and by extension to himself. Maude might dislike her, but Loghain knew that she was the woman that Rendon Howe had wanted to marry, long ago when the two of them were young. At the time, she was the daughter of a younger son of a dispossessed bann, and her family had lived meagerly on the little plot of land grudged them by the Orlesians. Rendon had had no expectations of the arling at the time, and the two of them had simply been too poor to make a go of it—especially since their families had very different plans for them. The Howes had married Rendon to a Marcher noblewoman with a huge dowry, but the marriage had never warmed up. At least he had got three children out of it.

Esmerelle had had an even harder life. During the Rebellion, her family had virtually sold her to an Orlesian chevalier to curry favor. There had been a single child of the marriage, who had died young. The Orlesian had abused Esmerelle, and finally died under mysterious circumstances. After he was out of the way, she rallied the people on her husband's stolen holdings to Maric's side, and had herself fought bravely. Rendon trusted her like no one else, and had obtained Bryce Cousland's support in appointing her Bann of Amaranthine City. She had never remarried. Her relationship with Rendon was an open secret: she was not his only mistress, but she was the one he respected. Loghain supposed she must miss the man, even if no one else did.

She bowed. "Warden-Commander Loghain."

"Bann Esmerelle."

"May I say how relieved I am to see you here. The arling is in utter chaos. Dear Delilah and her brother are doing their best, of course, but being young and inexperienced in such trying times…you understand me. I heard you were in the city yesterday. I was surprised that you did not come to call."

He grimaced. "I apologize, but we were pressed for time. We could not even stay the night, since we had to return to the Vigil to finish securing it."

"You are indispensable, once again."

Did she imagine he was going to try to stage a coup? Was she tacitly offering her help? "I am simply doing my duty."

"As you always do," she said smoothly. "Word has come that the Queen is expecting a child. That is very happy news. To have the succession secured…and so swiftly. You yourself must be very pleased."

"I am, of course."

"And I heard that a marriage was arranged between you…" her narrowed eyes drifted across the room to Maude "…and young Maude Cousland. My felicitations, of course. A true patriot does everything possible to reconcile opposing factions. Sacrifices must sometimes be made, and they are deeply appreciated by those who can comprehend them."

"My wife and I are united in our determination to root out the darkspawn plague from this country."

"I am glad to hear it, for a plague it certainly is."

The woman obviously was of the opinion that he had been hard done by, and he wondered if she thought he would unburden his complaints to her. If she did, she would be disappointed. Maude should join him, and show the bann that they were a couple, and not just a political alliance.

But Maude had stopped quite still, standing off to his left, and her eyes were on Bann Esmerelle. Something terrible passed over her face, and then the cloud lifted. She smiled radiantly, coming to Loghain's side.

"Bann Esmerelle! How delightful to see you! You look extremely well."

The older woman was good: oh, she was good. She glanced quickly at Maude in her filthy armor, as if looking for something she could compliment in return, and then pointedly did not do so. Instead, she smirked.

"Warden. I was offering my respects to your Commander for his services and sacrifices."

Maude's gaze turned glassy. "I appreciate them, too. Especially all his wonderful services to me. My favorite is when he-"

With a muttered excuse, Loghain walked her hastily away.

A number of the guests had to be put up for the night, and their arrival caused some unwelcome confusion and considerable noise. Maude was in an odd mood, obviously disturbed by the presence of so many people who had ties to Rendon Howe. She did not want to come to bed, but stayed up reading by the light of a single candle, the window open. As Loghain was drifting off to sleep, she slipped from the room, muttering something about birch beer…

He slept heavily and well, and awakened at daybreak. Maude was sitting in front her mirror, clothed only in rosy dawn and playing with a necklace: a huge teardrop pearl, attached to a diamond and ruby pendant, hanging from an intricate gold chain.

"That's nice," he croaked, waking up. The dogs left admiring Maude, and came over to say good morning. He paid them a bit of attention, and sat up slowly. They needed to get moving soon, if they were traveling to the Knotwood Hills today.

"It is, isn't it?" she agreed. The pearl was remarkable. Loghain was sure he had seen that necklace before…

…around Bann Esmerelle's neck last night…

"Maker's Breath!" he shouted. "You didn't kill her, did you?" The dogs, startled, jumped and yipped.

Maude rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't kill her, the tawdry bitch, though that would have been very enjoyable. I simply located her room, and then went out through our window, found her window, found the necklace, and brought it back." She turned and narrowed her eyes at Loghain, offering him a look at the jewel. "If you will examine it closely, you will see that it is mine."

Loghain took it, and then looked at the back of the pendant, where she was tapping her finger. The crest of Highever, two branches that might be a laurel wreath or a pair of wings, was engraved deeply into the gold, along with the initials E.C.

She raised her brows at him. He sighed. "Your mother's."

"Mother wore it at dinner the night she was murdered. Bann Esmerelle thought it so amusing to parade her trophy in front of me. She can whistle for it if she wants it back. In fact, if she mentions it, I shall kill her. Gruesomely. Rendon gave her this, obviously. I wonder if he bothered to wipe off the blood before Esmerelle offered him her heart-felt gratitude."

Loghain got up and began dressing. "We're leaving early," he declared. "We're leaving before anyone else is awake. If you must wear that, wear it under your clothes until we're well away from the Keep."

"If you like." Her mood was much improved. She tugged on a shirt, dropped the pearl pendant under it, and cheerfully began to discuss the upcoming journey to the Knotwood Hills.

"I don't know if we want to take Topaz today," she said. "If we expose her to the darkspawn, she may die, or she may become a mabari Warden, and not be able to have puppies!"

Loghain was very happy about the bond he was establishing with Topaz, and did not like the idea of interrupting that, but there was also something in what Maude said.

"Eventually we'll have to take her, but how about this? We'll see if we can get at least one litter from her first. We'll hope she goes into heat soon."

"I'm sure Ranger would be delighted if she went into heat soon."

"Maybe we can take her with us when we look into what's going on in the Wending Wood."

"All right. There are some darkspawn there, unquestionably. But if the attacks are Dalish in origin, it might be interesting for her."

They took their twelve men-at-arms with them, to guard the horses they must leave behind, and to take word to the Vigil if disaster struck. All the men had bows or pikes with them, and were told to avoid physical contact with the darkspawn as far as possible. They were sound men, and Loghain felt he could rely on them..

Topaz nearly cried real tears at being left behind, but Loghain comforted her, and assured her that they would be together just as soon as her wounds were completely healed. She was too important to made sick by darkspawn dirt getting into them. She watched him, her collar held firmly by the seneschal, the entire time he rode away from the Vigil, and he steeled himself not to look behind, or she would undoubtedly break free and chase after him. Ranger did not approve of leaving her behind, and trotted ahead, ignoring all humans for the moment.

Nathaniel Howe could not be kept on a leash, however. He was up as early as they, and rode with them, leading a small company of his own.

"My personal guard," he told Loghain, "and all picked for their skill with a bow. I've also had some of those poisons made up that the other Wardens said were effective against darkspawn. I learned to make some of the stronger Crow poisons when I was in the Free Marches. Kristoff said they worked well."

"True enough," Loghain agreed, as they cantered west on the North Road. "Target the magic users first, and then the alphas. You can tell them by the helmets. And if you see any more of those damned talking things, kill them as fast as you can, but try to take note of what they say."

"Talking darkspawn," Nathaniel mused. "No one's ever heard of the creatures. After all these ages, where have they come from?"

It was a Warden secret, he supposed, so Loghain did not tell the young man what he knew of them. And what did he know of them, other than the bare fact of their existence? Some freak of nature among the darkspawn, calling itself the Architect, might be their progenitor, but nothing was certain. Other than the fact that they all needed to die.

Maude grimaced, looking around her as if smelling the air. Ranger growled. In another moment, the other Wardens sensed the creatures up ahead.

It was a freehold, just off the road, and it was overrun with the creatures. The family lay dead, while the monsters capered about, cutting them up. Loghain organized his forces quickly, and took up a bow himself, While the mages caught the creatures in broad storm spell, the archers managed two volleys before the creatures began running at them.

Maude smirked at Loghain. "Do you want to live forever?" She kicked her horse hard, and charged the alpha, her sword out and ready.

They fought, he supposed, as they had always fought. The archers and pikemen were a tremendous help. One of the men was badly injured by a hex, and another dangerously wounded by a lucky shot from a genlock's bow. Considering the size of the party, they had done very well.

To the soldiers' disappointment, the farm was found too Tainted for safe camping. Instead, they relied on Nathaniel's knowledge of the area, and on Loghain's map of Amaranthine to find a suitable spot. Tomorrow they would be in the Knotwood Hills, and there would be many more darkspawn.

Those idiot hunters had not adequately described the hole in the earth of the Knotwood Hills. It was enormous: as if one of the hills had turned inside out and then collapsed into a bottomless pit. A rickety bridge stretched across the chasm, and then even more rickety steps led down and turned, and down again.

"Obviously, the horses can go no farther," said Morrigan.

Oghren grunted and echoed her, "Obviously. My guess is that a section of the Deep Roads fell in. Must have been built too close to the surface."

"Do you remember...?" Morrigan began, her fair brow creased with memory. "Avernus told us of an entrance to the Deep Roads in the Knotwood Hills, but said it had been sealed before his time. This must be it."

Loghain made his dispositions quickly. "Lord Nathaniel, stay here with your men and guard this opening. Post your archers so you can shoot any darkspawn attempting to break out. We shall leave our horses with you. Keep a good watch, since it may be that there are other places where the pit can be access. I shall take my own men down into the pit with me, but leave them at the opening."

By the time they crossed the bridge, they could see the crude totems of the darkspawn, and sense the faint scratchiness that told that they were…not very near, but within a fairly short distance.

Anders muttered, "We're going down into that. Right. 'Oooh, it's an unstable, crumbling chasm. Let's go play in it!'"

The guardsmen were tense and alert, trying not to strain the wretched wooden framework of the staircases with excess weight. When they reached the bottom, a cave loomed before them. A pack of deepstalkers darted out of it, squealing furiously, and were promptly shot down. Maude moved forward with Ranger, and peered in.

"Oh, well, that's interesting, but not terribly surprising. Dwarven stonework ahead. It's an entrance to the Deep Roads, all right."

Her eyes were caught by something dangling from a stone. "A rabbit's foot on a leather thong. Perhaps an amulet belonging to one of our hunters?"

Loghain told the guardsmen. "Stay here, and guard the opening. You—Pancris, is it? Go up and tell Lord Nathaniel that we found an entrance to the Deep Roads. He should make camp. We shall be there for some time."

They moved in, while the guardsmen looked upon them as if they never expected to see them again. Ranger sniffed the air in the passage, and lowered his muzzle.

Light from the out-of-doors flooded the remains of the wide and handsomely carved passage. With every step the sensation of darkspawn grew stronger. After about a quarter mile, they heard the faintest sounds of steel clashing on steel. Ranger cocked his ears and lifted his head.

"A fight!" Maude cried. "Come on!"

Past the ancient pillars, they found themselves in a great and spacious chamber. At the far end a half-dozen hurlocks were crowded around a single small victim, obviously a dwarf. The biggest of them was dragging the prisoner by a leg, when the captive kicked free and brandished an axe, defying them all.

Maude shrieked a wordless battlecry, already charging the darkspawn. Oghren bellowed a bass counterpoint, and Loghain targeted the alpha. The mages' spell were already bringing down some of the darkspawn by the time the others could cross swords.

The dwarf had put up a gallant fight, and when the last darkspawn was dead on the stones, Loghain turned to have a look at him.

Her. The tattooed face under the horned helmet was delicate. Some might even call the dwarf girl…cute. Maude was beaming at her, while Anders bent over her in concern.

"Wow," said the dwarf girl. "For a minute I thought I really was going to join the Legion of the Dead."

"Are you all right?" Anders asked.

Further examination revealed some cracked ribs, which were soon put right. Introductions followed: brief and to the point. Oghren leered admiringly, and the girl rolled her eyes.

Her name was Sigrun, and she was indeed from the Legion of the Dead. The last survivor, in fact, of her unit, which had been exploring the Deep Roads in the direction of the ancient dwarven thaig of Kal'Hirol. The Legion had also heard rumors of a darkspawn breeding ground here. They had stormed the entrance to the thaig, and had found all the brilliantly engineered defenses directed against them. They were surprised, and then slaughtered. Sigrun had seen some of the other women dragged off.

"Nice talking to you," she concluded, "but I really have to get back. Darkspawn, you know…"

Maude nodded, obviously well-disposed toward Sigrun. Not surprising. The dwarf girl had an endearingly daffy air that reminded Loghain irresistibly of the woman in his life.

"We're Grey Wardens. Why don't you join us?"

A pause. "Join? Do you mean, "fight with us for safety in numbers, " or do you mean "join the Grey Wardens."? Can I even do that? I already belong to the Legion of the Dead."

"Both," Maude said. "For now the safety-in-numbers thing, because I think you'll find it much nicer than being killed instantly, but why not join the Grey Wardens? You can be the first to be both Legion of the Dead and a Warden. That's pretty neat."

Sigrun admitted that it was all perfectly true, and fell in with their party. Ranger wanted to sniff at her first, and the dwarf girl was a bit alarmed at the size of the dog. Ranger, satisfied, gave a "whuff" to explain that he now knew this person for pack, and would not rip out her throat by accident.

Strange tendrils of red spongy matter stretched across the end of the passage, where steep stones stairs led down. Maude kicked at some of it with the toe of her boot, and she and Morrigan looked at each other with expressions of disgust. Oghren spat.

"Crap." Maude nodded to Sigrun. "Your rumors were true. There's a Broodmother around here somewhere. Look at this."

Loghain felt his hair lift just the slightest at the word. He could remember a nightmare creature from that vivid Fade vision. He could almost recall an unbearable stench, an unbelievable sight…

"What is this?"

"It's her. It's part of the Broodmother. She may be miles away, but she puts out this matter, and when it's concentrated enough it forms a sac for her cute little baby darkspawn. Morrigan knows to burn the sacs when she sees them."

They went on, and found another legionnaire, this one dying. They went on and found darkspawn, and shortly thereafter an infestation of what could only be described as—

"-Worms with legs," Maude declared, picking her way around a dead one. "This can't be good. I mean…they are darkspawn. I can feel that they're darkspawn."

"They smell like darkspawn," agreed Anders, "only worse."

"Eggs," Morrigan observed, studying the strange objects they had issued from. "Eggs, of a sort. 'Tis most disturbing." She took care to burn them, and burn anything resembling them, and everything in the general vicinity.

There followed hours of touring a Tainted, haunted, and darkspawn-ridden thaig. Phantoms of doomed dwarves and mindless darkspawn fought eternal battles in the narrow passages. Children cried for their mothers, and bewildered dwarves faced death in every possible way. The desolate exchanges were repeated, over and over again. It became gradually clear what had happened here.

Sigrun whispered, "So they just left the casteless behind. Everyone else fled, and no one even bothered to tell the dusters that the darkspawn were coming."

That was not entirely true. One of the phantoms was a warrior named Dailan, who had attempted to rally the casteless and defend the fleeing citizens of Kal'Hirol. It was a brave gesture: brave, honorable, and doomed. Even Loghain flinched at the memory of the dwarf being crushed to death by an armored ogre.

Kal'Hirol had been been quite a large thaig, and had held special meaning for the Smith Caste. Many of the dwarves' greatest inventions had come out of Kal'Hirol. Very importantly, lyrium had been mined there.

Anders was quite excited about the tubs of raw lyrium they found. He threw all out the loot he had collected up to then, and hastily filled a bag with lyrium. If they succeeded in cleaning out this thaig, even temporarily, they should come back for the rest. This one tub of lyrium would supply the Grey Wardens for decades.

There were roars ahead, and the sounds of battle. From the top of a tall staircase, they witnessed a fight between the darkspawn. One of the factions' leaders shouted out commands in words. And he was not the only talking darkspawn they met.

"The Uglies and the Ugliers," Maude dismissed the warring bands. "What do you suppose they're fighting about? Religion? Or politics?"

"Maybe this is like a darkspawn sporting event," Anders suggested, smirking. "Some of them wear purple bits, and some red. The winners get to carry the losers' heads on the end of pikes."

"Like a Proving?" Oghren said, taking it almost seriously. "They do have team events. Maybe they're fighting because that's what they do. Maybe they don't need a reason to kill each other."

They followed the pull of the darkspawn down a passage that resembled nothing so much as a meat tunnel. The red matter was all about them: spongy, moist, and stinking. More of the crawling things emerged from the big, misshapen eggs.

They went up blind tunnels; they found a large and ancient tomb, filled with riches; they found—to Maude's ecstatic delight—the thaig's treasury, which consisted of five very large painted receptacles, bursting with gold, jewels, fine armor, and precious rarities.

"I didn't even have to pick the locks," Maude wondered aloud. "Those old dwarven lords were confident!"

Loghain was astounded at the wealth before them. There was far too much treasure to gather today. They could manage only a fraction of it, and Loghain insisted that Maude take nothing but a little gold and a few of the best jewels. She did not like leaving such wonders for the darkspawn, but understood.

"We'll come back later," she decided. "With a wagon. A big wagon. Come on, Sigrun! Don't be shy! You'll want lots of coin on the surface."

Everyone exclaimed over the things they found. Oghren admired a particularly glorious suit of armor, but the straps were decayed, and the suit itself would take a bit of work to fit him. It, too, was left "for later."

Loghain carefully counted out enough gold to equal eighty Ferelden sovereigns, and filled his money belt and pouch with it. If they were going to be staying at Vigil's Keep for any length of time, it would be prudent for it to be as well-fortified as possible. Maude was surprised to see him so unusually intent on the loot, and then caught on to what he was doing.

"Oh—that's for Delilah. That's awfully nice of you." Her tone suggested that she was not entirely pleased. "Of course she has an entire arling and all its taxes, and we only have what we can win by force of arms, but if you feel we owe them some sort of rent…"

"Eighty sovereigns is only a fraction of what is here, and I wouldn't want to be in the Vigil as it is during a massed attack by the darkspawn."

"I suppose not."

In addition to the wonderful loot, the treasury was the cleanest place they had found in the thaig. None of the pulpy tendrils had explored it. It was simply stone, and rather dusty from neglect. It was the best place possible to rest and have a quick, welcome meal.

Afterward, they tried to find their way along the moist, unwholesome tunnels. Somewhere up ahead, Loghain could sense something powerful: something Tainted and terrible. Down again, and through another sickeningly narrow passage, they came upon a long, straight hall, with light at the end of it, and loud voices and the sound of rushing water echoing in a hissing confusion.

A hoarse, unnatural voice roared out, "The Architect sends many, but does not come himself! He is a coward!"

Cautiously, the Wardens moved to the mouth of the tunnel. Before them was a huge chamber, water flowing down in channels to drains on the floor. A huge skylight set into the ceiling gave welcome illumination. Two of the talking darkspawn had confronted each other. Nearby was an enormous golem, made not of stone but of red, glowing metal. The golem knocked down one of the disputants, and lifted him up in a mighty, remorseless grasp.

The other darkspawn—a mage, from his staff- mocked his captive—his voice a loud and raucous croak.

"We will send a message to the Architect! We will let him know that the Mother will tear him apart!"

The golem responded to the implicit command. It took the wriggling darkspawn's upper half in one hand and his lower in the other, and tore him in two.

It was pretty impressive. Loghain thought about a stealth attack from the corridor, but it was too late: the darkspawn had seen them.

"Who are you? You are no darkspawn! We will destroy all the enemies of the Mother!" Before he could signal an attack, Maude broke in, her lovely voice awed and enchanting.

"You have a mother? How wonderful! She must be beautiful and powerful! How wonderful to have a mother! Tell us about her!"

The darkspawn paused, hideous maw open, and then blinked, rather nonplussed.

Maude stepped forward, her eyes on the creature. Loghain longed to grab her back, but instead regarded the golem intently. Oghren and Sigrun shifted their axes in their hands. Morrigan nodded imperceptibly, ready to freeze the monstrous golem at its first hostile movement. Anders was watching the darkspawn mage.

Maude said, her voice thrumming with persuasion, "The Architect is our enemy. Do tell us of the Mother. Perhaps we, too, can serve her." Seeing the baffled creature's hesitation, she purred. "Shouldn't everyone serve the Mother?"

"It is true," croaked the revolting creature, staring at Maude. "You are a female. You can serve the Mother. Our army grows greater all the time! The Mother will destroy the Architect!"

"I'm so glad! We all hate the Architect, don't we?"

Slow nods from the party, their eyes fixed on the bizarre scene before them.

"So…" Maude crooned, putting every ounce of power she had into her voice. "Tell me about the Mother! I long to hear about her!"

"The Mother…" the thing hesitated. "The Mother is the Mother. She is wise and beautiful. All of us come from the Mother. She guides us and gives us life. We protect and obey her."

"Just as you should!" Maude approved. Loghain longed to cover his ears. Her voice was driving him mad. "You are a worthy son! What is your name?"

"I am called The Lost," the creature answered. "I am high amongst those who serve the Mother."

"Of course you are! I can see that you are very powerful. The Architect wishes to harm the Mother? How horrible! He must be destroyed!"

"Yes," the befuddled creature agreed, staring at Maude. "The Architect must be destroyed, but he is a coward."

Maude declared, "Well, then, he must be sought out where he has hidden himself. He is a fool to try to hide from the Mother. She must know where he is!"

"Yes, the Mother knows, but the Architect is cunning. He hides himself in the old mines, but the Mother is vigilant. When he comes, she will kill him!"

"The old mines? Where are these mines? We shall go and kill him, and the Mother will be happy."

"No." the creature slowly shook his head. "You will stay and serve the Mother here. You will spawn many powerful warriors for the Mother…"

Loghain twitched. He had heard just about enough of this, but Maude, nothing daunted, was still talking. Her voice dropped in pitch, and became even more beguiling.

"Is the Mother here? May I see her? Could you bring me before her? She must be wonderful!"

"The Mother is not here. She is in her Nest, where she can be protected."

"How can you be sure she is safe? What if something happened? Perhaps the Architect has tricked you, and while you are here, he is attacking her! Where is the Nest? We must go to her at once!"

Genuinely alarmed, The Lost looked about him in confusion, unsure what he should do.

"The Nest is safe. The dragon protects it. The tower is old and strong. You will come with me to the breeding place. These others- "

Loghain roared, "Now!"

Before he had even finished the word, spells shot from the mages' staffs, locking darkspawn and golem in place. Maude's sword and dagger were in her hand, envenomed and razor sharp. Ranger knocked The Lost's legs out from under him, and Maude leaped on the creature, ripping his staff from his hand; carving through his massive neck.

Axes and magic worked slowly but inexorably on the golem. Loghain had to look for vulnerable places on the armored carapace. It was slow work, and the mages took turns freezing the creature, since even a single blow from one of those massive hands would be fatal.

When at last the enchanted fire was extinguished, and the golem lay still, Oghren paced back and forth, eyeing the thing critically.

"That metal has got to be good for something. Sod it, it looks expensive!"

"Maybe a smith can make use of it," Loghain agreed. "Maker knows it's hard enough. We'll take it with us...another time. Move out!"

They moved out, boots echoing in the cavernous space. Morrigan shook her head at Maude in mock reproof. "I have truly seen everything now. You were flirting with that darkspawn!"

"I was not!" Maude said crossly. "I was interrogating it: at great personal risk, I might add. The things I do for my country!"

"You were flirting!" Morrigan smiled darkly. "The Lost was quite charmed by you."

Sickened, Anders groaned, "Could we please never talk about that ever again? Please? That would be wonderful. Thanks a bunch."

"Me too," Sigrun said meekly. "Even I've had better propositions than 'come with me to the breeding place.'"

Oghren chuckled to himself. "She wiped the floor with that one, too…"

"Quiet!" Loghain ordered. He couldn't quite believe what he had seen. He certainly never wanted to see it again. "We must be fairly close to the breeding ground."

It was not far away at all. The Lost had been in command of its defense, apparently. Another long straight passage led out of the big, sunlit chamber: a path into darkness. A horrible stink filled the air, carried by a chill draft out of the very earth. It was rank and vile. It screamed out things too abominable to know; things that no one should witness or experience: a mix of Taint, bile, blood, and excrement. Beyond these things, there was more: A perverted reek of despair and violation; of a place where sanity and humanity were stripped away, and degraded monsters were made…

"Beware of the tentacles!" Maude whispered.

"Tentacles?" Anders' voice was unusually high.

"Tentacles. Freeze them," Morrigan murmured. "They are annoying, but not that dangerous, if you keep them paralyzed or frozen."

Not long after, a handful of those tentacles thrust up out of the ground like an angry forest. The thick, meaty appendages lashed at them, but they were stilled and hacked at. Several more sprouted up along their way, making their journey a slow one. Another big cavern opened up ahead, and the reek grew thicker and more unbearable. Moans, shrieks, and wails rose up from a deep pit looming before their feet.

They fought their way through the last tentacles, and Loghain winced, trying not to breath the befouled air: not wanting to make it part of himself. Maude went to the brink of the pit, and stood there silently. Loghain joined her and looked over the rim. He wished later that he had not.

None of them lingered long before the sight. There were three fully-transformed Broodmothers in the pit, unspeakably grotesque: but they were not alone. Other women had been dragged down there, and were half-buried under mobs of darkspawn: darkspawn who squirmed and bucked and howled and grunted.

Sigrun dashed away, but it was Oghren, trying to comfort her, who vomited more violently. Anders grasped a white-faced Morrigan firmly by the arm, and they went off to a corner by themselves, casting a series of rejuvenation spells on each other.

Maude cocked her head, her face a blank. "We'd better kill everything down there. Right now."

"Right now," Loghain agreed. Everything was very slow and dreamlike.

"We should seal any exits, so nothing can escape."

"I'm on it."

They did that, working quickly. From the ceiling an ancient lyrium bomb was suspended, used to shatter and melt substances that did not respond to conventional forges.

"Of course it'll still work," Oghren told them, annoyed at his own queasiness. "It's lyrium. The stuff lasts forever."

Nothing was left to chance. When the chains holding the bomb were broken, they ran for cover. Even with both hands over his eyes, Loghain could see the brilliant blue-white flash, and sense that for a split second the entire building had minutely expanded. In the unearthly stillness following the blast, Morrigan cast an Inferno spell to cleanse the pit of anything there that had survived, and Anders cast a storm spell that would have fried anything that survived the fire. Then the rest of them threw flasks of poison on the remains, pleased to see a green mist settle there, Nothing was moving. Even better, nothing was recognizable, and the terrifying reek was gone, replaced by the more ordinary stench of roasted flesh.

"Well," Maude remarked. "I think we deserve every bit of treasure in this Maker-forsaken hellhole for dealing with that. Maybe every bit of treasure in all Thedas."

Anders said softly, "Some of those women were still alive."

"Yes," Maude shot back. "Some of them were still alive. Some might even have still had their minds. Every one of them was Tainted. Even if we had managed to get in there and manage to kill the darkspawn and three-three!-Broodmothers without killing the women, the best we could do is heal them and see if the Joining would save them. Most, probably not, and you would just have prolonged their agony. I really can't imagine what mental shape anyone would be in who lived through that. Anyway, I really don't see how we could have killed three Broodmothers without killing everyone else. All I can say is if I'm ever in that position, I hope my friends will have the decency to kill me quickly. The important thing, of course, is to make sure it never happens."

Morrigan was tense and silent, and apparently agreed completely with Maude. She shook her head quickly at Anders, when he tried to talk about it with her.

This mission accomplished, and the Legion avenged, Sigrun was persuaded to come with them to the surface. Loghain could see that Maude was eager to recruit her for the Wardens. The dwarf was an excellent fighter with a very good attitude. Sigrun did not much care for Oghren's leers, but Maude cut that off early, asking Oghren if he had written to his wife yet, and the exact date the baby was due. They made their way back to the mouth of the cave, hoping that their escort had not given up on them and gone home, taking the horses.

"But we need to come back," Maude insisted, in a low voice. "We need to come back and clear out all those treasure chests! We'll bring a very big wagon!"

Loghain asked her. "So you don't begrudge Arlessa Delilah that eighty sovereigns?"

Maude scowled. "Maybe she'll consider it a loan and pay us back later."

"With interest!" Anders added, working hard at being cheerful.

Maude shook her head in shocked reproof. "Charging interest isn't done amongst the nobility. I would never charge her interest." Then she laughed wildly. "I might demand her first-born child in return, of course! There are precedents."

"No doubt," Loghain muttered. "Everyone can see you were raised as a noble."

On the way out, Maude whispered to Loghain. "We'll need to find a map of Amaranthine that shows all the mines."

Loghain nodded. He had thought about that, too. "I'm sure there must be one at Vigil's Keep."

"And we need to look for old Tevinter ruins, too. This Mother creature is in an old Tower, that thing said. It must be fairly isolated, or the neighbors would be complaining. Most likely she's in the dungeons or a cave under the ruins. And a dragon guards it. Has anyone seen a dragon in Amaranthine? I should think that would be fairly big news. And then there is the whole issue of the Mother herself..."

"Another darkspawn leader. Probably the source of those vile worms. At least we have a name for the Architect's rival."

Maude blew out a breath. "The Mother? You do understand what that implies, don't you? A sentient, thinking, talking Broodmother?"

"That's..."

"-Just about the worse thing I ever heard of, too. How could that happen? It will be a mercy to put the creature down. I like being merciful."

Their own men were glad to see them, of course, and when they climbed to the stop of the staircase and rejoined Lord Nathaniel and his guards, it seemed that those men were at least relieved.

Adjusting to the surface was not easy for Sigrun. She was bewildered by the open air, by the sun, by the green grass, the green leaves, the flowers. She asked questions like an eager toddler, wanting to know everything. Loghain wondered if she was still somewhat in shock from the events of the day. Maude was willing to take the girl up on her horse with her, but Sigrun stared in disbelief at the horses, and opted to march with the foot soldiers. Loghain caught glimpses of her, kicking with fascination as the soil, plucking the odd weed, pestering the man next to her with questions and observations. She might be a stranger in a strange land, but she did not seem to find it an unpleasant land. Perhaps anything must seem better than the Deep Roads.

Meanwhile, there was much to tell Lord Nathaniel.

"It was a breeding ground, just as we thought," Maude informed him airily, as they headed east, back along the road. "But it's not anymore. We killed all the Broodmothers and their young."

Howe looked apprehensive. "There are female darkspawn?"

"In a manner of speaking," Loghain said evasively. "They were destroyed, as were all the darkspawn in the ancient dwarven thaig we discovered. Best not to spread that news around, or we'll have all sorts of people poking about down there. It's still not safe. When time permits, we need to close that hole up, too, and to do that we need to make sure we've found all the exits. We found two, but there may be more." He owed it to Howe to tell him something of the truth. "We also found a few of the talking darkspawn. They appear to be conducting something of a civil war against each other."

"Good," Nathaniel grunted. "Let them kill each other off."

"That would be nice," Maude agreed, "but I don't think that's going to happen. Somehow the darkspawn have found themselves leaders, and I'm quite sure one of those leaders will eventually look our way. So yes, we need to send the engineers here to close off the entrances, and I think Delilah really, really needs those improvements to the Vigil."

Nathaniel said stiffly, "Easy for you to say." He went back to the subject that interested him, and began plaguing Loghain with more questions about Broodmothers.

"Were any of the attackers at the Vigil these females? These Broodmothers?"

"No." He did not want to think about the things he had seen in the pit...

Maude leaned around Loghain and smirked at Howe. "If you really must know, I'll tell you, just so you can have nightmares about it. Darkspawn are all male. They reproduce by kidnapping women of other races, torturing and gang-raping them until they're thoroughly Tainted and impregnated. The women transform into enormous, mindless monsters that pop out more darkspawn. So if you've heard reports of women, whether human, elven, or dwarven, disappearing without a trace, it might well be that they were stolen by the darkspawn and taken below. They never come above ground again because they have no legs anymore. Females don't need legs to bear offspring. So there. Now you know about Broodmothers."

Howe was silent for the rest of the day.

By the time they had returned to Vigil's Keep, the noble visitors had all gone home—or fled to the safety of Amaranthine. The Wardens made their report to the Arlessa, and Loghain gave her the gold he had collected for her. Delilah was stunned by the eighty sovereigns, and insisted that she could not possibly accept it.

"It was booty taken from the darkspawn," Loghain assured her, "and I know you put the safety of your vassals before false pride."

Delilah gazed on him with damp, enormous eyes for such a long time that Maude began fidgeting. In the end the Arlessa accepted the money with graceful thanks.

They walked up the stairs together. Morrigan was chuckling.

"Nothing whatever was said about paying it back. The Arlessa apparently regards it as a gift."

Loghain gave Maude a sly glance out of the corner of his eye. "Arlessa Delilah was raised as a noble, too."

Maude nodded; not pleased, but resigned to it. An unholy barking arose from the direction of their quarters. As soon as they walked in, Topaz yipped and whined and wriggled on the floor, displaying how perfectly ecstatic she was at Loghain's return. He gave her the remains of his jerky and a good long belly rub. Ranger touched noses with Topaz in approval of her. He trotted to his corner, flopping wearily onto his blanket. Maude demanded a bath from the servants, and then laughed at a brief note left for her by Bann Esmerelle. Loghain took it from her, and frowned over the words.

I know it was you.

"She's a vengeful woman," Loghain said. "She'll make trouble for you, if she can." Topaz wondered why the petting had stopped, and put a heavy paw on her human's arm to make it start again. He complied automatically.

Maude was amused. "But that will be complicated by the fact that she does not want to make trouble for you. And while I will not go so far as to paraphrase Oghren, and claim that I 'piss on trouble'—because that would be very uncouth and quite messy—I really do think I am more than equal to anything a Bann Esmerelle sort of person could send my way." Her mouth quirked, and she stroked Loghain's jaw delicately with her fingertips. "Loghain. After what I've done, and what I've seen... I've killed dragons. I've killed Broodmothers. I've killed ogres. I've killed demons. I killed Rendon Howe. Esmerelle is an idiot to challenge me. Really. An. Idiot. She would be wise to make herself very small and go hide in a hole somewhere, because if she or any of her stooges raise a weapon to me, she's dead. And I think that would be rather nice, actually, because then Delilah could nominate Nathaniel for city Bann, and he'd be so very diligent and conscientious, and would probably have an elegant doublet made in dark blue velvet with sleeves puffed and slashed with silver. I like the idea of Bann Nathaniel…"

Notes: Yes: in the next chapter, Maude will remember something else that Avernus told them.

Thanks so my reviewers: nekoninja123, Kira Kyuuketsuki, Guile, Anime-StarWars-fan-zach, Judy, Jenna53, muitve, Zute, Lehni, Starkaster, callalili, Enaid Aderyn, wisecracknmama, Shakespira, wayfaringpanda, and Amhran Comhrac