Chapter 21: Claiming Amgarrak

My twenty-second birthday came and went. I spent more and more time in the Assembly with Bhelen at my side. Rumors had spread throughout the city after my return from Heidrun Thaig. It was no secret that I had been screaming the entire time, there was no way to hide it or mask it. I worked a great deal to reassure everyone that I was fine, and promised to explain everything eventually. Surprisingly, there was so much concern for my health and safety that the citizens petitioned the Assembly to have me surrounded by guards nearly every waking moment.

I was used to having guards around me, but it was getting to the point where I couldn't even stray from my path to check in on a shop, or say hello to anyone. I had to remind the guards several times that I was always happy to speak to any of Orzammar's citizens if I had the time. They were zealous in their duty, which I appreciated, but the frustration it could cause me occasionally was genuine.

On the bright side, such was my reputation now that anything that might seem like a political power grab was reported to me by my budding spy network. It was how I'd discovered that House Dace had finally figured out the location of Amgarrak, a dwarven thaig which was more of a research center whose location was never really revealed. This prompted me to pay House Dace a visit before they sent anyone out to claim the area.

Guards had run ahead to announce my arrival even though I hadn't actually bothered to make an appointment. I found that I no longer needed to. Most everyone was happy to receive me at any moment. By the time I arrived at House Dace, its ruling family stood outside to receive me. Ronus, the House patron, and his sons Mandar, Brogan, and Jerrik were grouped together in traditional fashion at the front door to their home.

I dismounted from my bronto a few yards away from the men, then approached and offered them a polite curtsy. I was the visitor, and etiquette dictated that I be the first to greet them, "Lord Dace. It is a pleasure to see you once again. Your sons seem as fit and capable as ever."

Ronus bowed low, followed by his sons, "Paragon Orodum, you honor House Dace with your visit. To what do we owe such a visit? I don't suppose you've come to court one of my lads?"

We shared a laugh, though I noticed at least two of his sons seemed surprised by the suggestion. It was no secret that nobles had been trying to find a way to put their sons in front of me in the hope that I might fall for them ever since Frandlin's death two years prior. Honestly, I was surprised they had waited so long to start the attempts.

"Handsome as they might be," I replied tactfully, "I'm here on business. However, it's business your sons are familiar with. So I was hoping we could all sit down to some lunch and go over some things."

"My Lady, nothing would please me more," Ronus replied and bade me come into his home. He turned and walked through the door while his eldest son, Jerrik, hooked his arm around mine congenialy to escort me inside.

I was led to a respectably lavish dining hall where Ronus insisted I sit at the head of his table. I politely refused, but accepted the seat to his right where Jerrik would normally sit. Jerrik pulled my chair out for me, then slid it back in as I took my seat. He was playing the devoted gentleman to perfection.

As everyone was getting seated, I smiled at Ronus, "How is your father, Anwer?"

Ronus sighed, "On the decline, I'm afraid, My Lady. Like your father, he's getting on in his years and he cannot always see to his remaining duties."

"Is he not here today?" I queried.

"No, My Lady," Jerrik answered in his father's stead. "Grandfather is visiting House Helmi to speak on trade matters."

"I'll have to find a way to make up for not seeing him, then," I added a bit of disappointment to my tone. "He was always so kind to me when I was growing up, and he never failed to teach me an interesting fact whenever we would speak."

Ronus chuckled, "My father has always been one to appreciate good trivia."

We continued idle chit-chat until after the meal. As we sipped our wine, I turned to Jerrik and smiled, broaching the reason for my visit, "I understand you've rediscovered Amgarrak Thaig, Jerrik."

This seemed to take all of the men by surprise, but Jerrik just nodded his confirmation, "We have, My Lady. It was an exciting and lucky discovery. Rumors of what the thaig held are rather fantastic in nature."

I beamed, "The golems, you mean?"

"Yes!" Jerrik said excitedly. "Supposedly, it is the site where Paragon Caradin's research was brought to in order to reproduce the secret for creating golems."

I nodded, as that was as much as what I expected him to know, "It's true, his research was brought there. But you don't need to go to Amgarrak to discover how golems were made. I can tell you how it was done."

They all looked at each other, stunned by the revelation.

"My Lady," Ronus fumbled, "If this is true, then why have you not given this knowledge back to our people? The golems could turn the tide against the darkspawn."

I sighed and sipped my wine as I wondered how best to answer that question, "Because the creation of golems requires the life of a dwarf. For every golem that was ever created, a dwarf's soul was used to animate it."

Mandar nearly choked, "Wait, so that means Lady Cadash really was a dwarf at some point?"

I nodded sadly, "It's true. She and many others volunteered their lives to become golems and help save the dwarves. However, many more were murdered and forced to become golems. It's because of this that control rods were created. Control rods rob the golems of their sentience and make them no more than slaves to those wielding the rods."

"There's no such information recorded in the shaperate concerning this," Jerrik mumbled.

"No," I looked at him, "there wouldn't be, would there? If our people knew that the noble caste murdered thousands of dwarves, turned them into golems, and enslaved them, do you think they would have let that stand?"

"A fair point…" Jerrik conceded. "If you already know how the golems were created, and you know Amgarrak holds those secrets, why come to us? Was it to stop us from revealing this information?"

"Not at all," I confessed. "The researchers at Amgarrak failed to duplicate Caradin's research. In fact, they tried to use spirits from the Fade and only succeeded in creating monstrosities. No, I'm here today to offer your family a deal."

This seemed to set Ronus into a less favorable mood, "Princess? Are you going to bribe us not to go to Amgarrak?"

I tittered with laughter and shook my head, "Not at all. No. What I'm offering to do is to pay you to lead me and my people to Amgarrak so that I can remove the dangers from the area and make it safe to repopulate. You will allow me and mine to secure the thaig, and I will petition the Assembly to name House Dace as the ruling family of Amgarrak as thanks."

Jonus' sons seemed elated at the proposal, but Jonus himself was skeptical, "So, you wish to pay us to lead you to Amgarrak, allow you clear the place out for us, then name us as its head family? Forgive me for my cynicism, My Lady, but how does any of that benefit you?"

Before I could answer, my reputation spoke for me through Mandar, "Father, don't you see? Paragon Orodum is doing what she has always done. When one of the lost thaigs has been found, she's mounted an expedition to clear it of darkspawn and promoted those who aided in its reclamation to govern it. She's only doing what's best for our people, as she has always done."

"I'm offering to pay you because your family already invested in a small expedition to find the thaig," I built upon Mandar's answer. "I want to compensate you for the time you've already put in as a way to thank you for your diligent effort. I ask that my people be given the role of ridding the thaig of any threats because the threats there are magical in nature, and I'm afraid of what might happen if warriors not used to combating such things should run afoul of them."

Jonus considered the explanations carefully. He'd always been a sly one, "And once the thaig is safe, you will petition the Assembly to grant House Dace governorship over it?"

"In fact, I will insist that you have a force of dwarves ready to move in as soon as we're finished so that I can inform the Assembly that House Dace is going above and beyond their duty by securing the thaig for whoever is chosen to govern it."

A chuckle escaped Jonus, "And since the Assembly will wish to avoid any scrambling and grasping for power, they will take your petition and the desire to see the matter settled quickly, and declare that since House Dace is already holding the thaig, we should go ahead and govern it. Brilliant, Princess."

I bowed my head, "Kind of you to say so, but I'm sure it's no more than anything you wouldn't have thought of."

"I think you overestimate most everyone," Jonus laughed. "So, if I understand you correctly, you prefer that any members of House Dace we send to aid you simply wait until you've cleared out the thaig? You don't wish for their aid?"

I shook my head, "No. Not because I don't have faith in House Dace's warriors. There are simply dangers in Amgarrak that need to be dealt with in a specific way. I would prefer to keep your people safe while we deal with the dangers. I trust you don't object to this."

"Not at all," Jonus assured me. "However, if word got back that House Dace did not aid in the reclamation, it would cause a scandal."

"I can assure you that none of my people will see it that way," I smiled. "We've been fighting monsters for the past twelve years now. In the end, we've grown rather accustomed to it, and my warriors would prefer to keep things simple. I admit that I do tend to indulge their wishes when I can."

"This deal seems too good to be true, if you don't mind me saying so," Brogan replied. His tone was skeptical, but he was coming around.

"I'm not sure what else I can say to convince you," I shrugged. "I don't have anything to gain beyond a new thaig for our people to reclaim. That's my only concern. House Dace stands to gain governorship over the thaig."

"Brogan, Paragon Orodum is offering us more than our family could have hoped for even if we had managed to scrap some information from the thaig," Ronus reeled in his son. When Brogan sat back and signaled that he'd cease voicing any more skepticism, Ronus smiled at me, "House Dace will be happy to show you the way, Princess. If you prefer we wait for your people to handle things, then that's exactly what we'll do."

I bowed my head thankfully, "Excellent. I will add that there will be some dangerous materials in the thaig that we'll be placing in containers and transporting out so that we can properly dispose of them. They won't leave any residual effects, but if we didn't remove them they would prove deadly. I hope you won't mind that we take our time to do this as well?"

Uranus shook his head, "Not at all. In fact, it simply tells me that you have everyone's best interest in mind if you're willing to take on that additional risk to make the thaig safe."

I nodded, "Thank you, Lord Dace. Now, may I ask when the soonest your people will be able to leave?"

The question seemed to catch Ronus off a bit. Expeditions typically took some time to plan, "Well, if your people will be providing the bulk of transportation and guards, and we're simply providing directions, I'd say we could be ready by tomorrow."

"Why don't you take a week to prepare?" I suggested. "Discuss things with your family and the details with the families under your patronage. Some will need to remain in Orzammar to represent House Dace, both for business and in the Assembly. The rest can pack up and join us while on the trip so that you can immediately begin moving into the thaig and preparing it for larger occupation by those who choose to join you there."

Ronus considered the advice before nodding in agreement, "As always, Princess, you offer excellent advice. Very well, then, we will prepare to leave one week from today.

I stood and offered Ronus a curtsy, "Then I look forward to traveling with you."

Ronus and his sons stood with me and bowed. I left House Dace to their preparations while House Orodum busied ourselves with our own special preparations. What I had told Ronus was true; the research into Caradin's method into creating golems had failed in Amgarrak, they had succeeded in creating monstrosities which even now swarmed the ruins of the old thaig. Those monstrosities weren't why I wanted to go to Amgarrak, but they were excellent cover to spirit away the true treasure of the thaig.

A week later, House Dace and House Orodum met at the entrance to the Deep Roads. Jerrik had been chosen to remain behind in Orzammar as House Dace's representative; a choice I had manipulated slightly by making a house call to his grandfather since he hadn't been home during the initial meeting. Jerrik had the most information about the thaig, it's true, but that information could have possibly given him enough information to cause issues with my plans. So I had suggested to Anwer that Jerrik's intelligence and cunning mind would be best put to use in representing House Dace in the Assembly. With the decision made, It would be years before Jerrik could even visit the thaig, and by then, I would already have covered up anything that would go missing.

The trip to Amgarrok went smoothly. There wasn't a darkspawn in sight. Apparently my threat had been taken to heart, and Seven was making sure that the darkspawn kept a wide berth from the dwarven controlled portions of the Deep Roads; either that, or he was planning something devious. The trip took us through Cadash Thaig, and I convinced Shale to join us in the effort to help us with the golems that we would have to deal with.

We had House Dace hold their position when we were about a mile out from Amgarrak. Once they were set, we continued on and pushed into the abandoned research thaig.

"I still do not understand why it needs me to deal with golems," Shale complained. "Surely it is capable of managing something on it's own."

I tossed Shale a sly smirk, "Are you saying that you're no match for a fleshy princess?"
"Not if the princess in question is it," Shale admitted. "I have seen what it can do to stone with but a wave of it's hand. As a creature of stone, I must admit that the possibility is rather terrifying."

"Well, I think we're good enough friends that you should have no fear of me," I chuckled. "And, hopefully, we will be able to get you some like minded company while we're here."

"Now it has made me curious," Shale mused.

We moved through Amgarrak slowly, careful of darkspawn, but I wasn't sensing any. What I was sensing, however, were hundreds of small creatures. It had to be the Harvesters. However, they were no threat to us thanks to my newly acquired Titan powers. I reached out through the stone and ensnared them one by one. It was like picking flowers in a spring meadow. They didn't know I was coming and couldn't stop me if they wanted to. I pushed them through the stone and into small cages that Orodum soldiers had set up before we entered. We'd brought all of our cavalry and just as many carts to stack the cages on. The Harvesters were an excellent bonus to this trip, but they weren't the objective.

It took some time to find what I was looking for, but when we did find it, everyone gasped. The lyrium well. A sphere of stone wrapped with thick, metal bands which were infused with lyrium crystals and runes.

"What is it?" Shale asked, clearly awestruck.

"It's a lyrium well," I explained as I approached the well's containment area. I reached out and let my fingers glide along its surface. "A brilliant device which can shift certain areas, or partial areas within its influence, into different dimensions of the Fade. You can lock areas off, or even allow entrance, based on which dimension they attune themselves to by using pedestals in the area. It's an ingenious method of defense."

Faren approached it and hummed in thought, "Defense is one thing, but its ability to facilitate offensive maneuvers shouldn't be underestimated."

I looked back at Faren and smirked, "Getting ideas, are you?"

"Only thanks to your foresight to come here and learn about these things," Faren bowed his head.

I chuckled and reached out to tap a finger under his chin so he would lift his head, "Take credit when you deserve to, Faren."

Faren almost seemed to blush, "As you say, My Lady."

I nodded and turned to look back at the lyrium well, "I'm going to need to study this for a bit to make sure that everything won't come down on top of us if we turn them off."

"Why would they?" Faren asked.

"It's a dwarven creation," I laughed. "We always build things so that we can collapse the ceiling down on top of it just in case we need to stop an enemy from taking it."

"Fair enough…" he sighed and turned to the group of guards who'd accompanied us. "Set up a perimeter. We'll give our Lady all the time she needs to decipher Amgarrak's secrets."

The soldiers spread out close to the entrance, though there was no need. I couldn't sense anything around us for miles save for House Dace's people, and some wild spiders, nugs, brontos, and crawlers. I didn't tell them that, though. It's not my place to tell them not to perform their duty.

I studied the well for nearly two hours. In that time I tapped into June's spirit, using it to help me discern the method that went into its crafting. I could see each piece and how they fit together. I read the magic and how it was infused into the lyrium to create the effects of accessing partial dimensions of the Fade. It astounded me that the well could transport others partially into the Fade while still keeping them safe from spirits and demons. It was true that the occasional spirit or demon might find its way in, but one or two wasn't a concern.

"I've got it," I announced, exhausted.

Faren approached me and gave me a concerned expression, "Are you alright, My Lady? Why don't you take a few minutes to rest."

I gave Faren a reassuring smile, "It's just mental fatigue. Once we finish a few more things, I promise to take a nice nap as we head home."

"I'll hold you to that," he huffed.

I reached out my hand and deactivated the lyrium well. Luckily, there was a safe method to deactivate it which wouldn't trigger a destruction sequence. Another act of will had the well swallowed up by the stone and moved swiftly to the men outside of Amgarrak where they would crate it up. I did the same for the other wells and pedestals. With those taken care of and deactivated, the whole of Amgarrak was open to us without having to step through dimensions.

"Now we need to see what we can do about the golems," I sighed. The Titan's powers weren't exactly strenuous to wield, but I was still getting used to the nuance. And it didn't help that whenever I tapped into June's spirit, I was overwhelmed with ideas and information.

"Yes, the golems," Shale almost spat. "Do they not have names of their own?"

"If they did," I responded quickly, "I would have called them by their names. But for now, we'll need to simply call them golems until we can manage to figure out their names. Sort of like how you still call me 'it'."

Shale paused and gave a low rumble, "I do know its name."

"Then perhaps you would kindly begin to call me by my name, Lady Cadash," I added a bit of snark to my voice.

"I… will try," she replied hesitantly.

I couldn't blame Shale for her habits. She understood that she had been a dwarf, but she'd been a golem for centuries, and for a good amount of that time she'd been under the influence of a control rod. She thought of herself more as a golem than a dwarf, and considered dwarves and other creatures of flesh to be things more so than people.

"That will have to do," I smiled and led everyone out.

We took our time searching the thaig until we found a room full of golems standing along the length of its walls. I remembered that there were triggers in the floor that would activate the golems to attack, so I insisted everyone wait at the entrance.

I moved to the closest golem and stared up at it, "Now… who are you?"

Golems were essentially just stone statues with crafted joints and the soul of a dwarf fused into it to give it the ability to move on its own. These were runic golems; upgraded with lyrium runes to give them elemental defenses. If this were the case, then perhaps…

I partially shifted into the Fade using my combat magic and could see the soul of the dwarf melded into the golem. I took a moment to consider how it appeared, then looked back at Shale. Shale's soul seemed more intact, where the other golems seemed to flicker and twist. I had to imagine this had something to do with the connections to the control rods.

June's whispers directed my thoughts and senses to find the connection the golems had to Amgarrak's systems. I summoned my mana to me and cast a directed counterspell.

With the golem's control connection to Amgarrak severed, each golem lurched forward. Some caught themselves from falling, others fell flat, while some simply dropped to their knees. I had to dodge back as the one in front of me fell to one knee.

Faren and the others nearly sprinted in but I held a hand out to stop them. I wanted the golems to have a few moments to collect themselves.

I reached out and cupped the golem's cheek, "Are you alright? Can you think clearly now?"

"Where… where am I?" the golem rumbled.

"You're in Amgarrak Thaig," I answered softly. "You're safe now."

The golem stood to look around and assess the situation.

"When you're all ready, please come to me," I called out to the others. "I will answer any questions you might have."

It took a few minutes for all of the golems to orient themselves and gather around.

They all had questions but I raised my hands to quiet them down, "First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Paragon Merida Orodum, Princess of Orzammar. I came here to free you and other golems from the control magic that has kept you all from being able to be free. Is anyone feeling overly disoriented?"

No one answered, but one of them spoke, "You call yourself a paragon and a princess of Orzammar. Since when did Orzammar have a princess?"

My expression was one of pity and understanding, "You've had your minds taken from you for so long. Suffice it to say, you've been under the control of magic for hundreds of years now. When the thigh fell, only two remained; Orzammar and Kal-Sharok. Orzammar is now the capitol of the remaining dwarven thaigs, and its rulers are the royal family. My family is Aeducan, but I was named a Paragon some years ago."

The golems gasped and spoke among themselves, wondering how it could have been hundreds of years.

"I understand that you might have trouble believing me," I conceded. "However, I have someone here who can vouch for my words. Lady Shale Cadash, would you please come here?"

Shale moved from the entrance to approach the golems, "The Paragon speaks the truth. We have been controlled for hundreds of years. The Paragon is seeking to break that control and give us back our minds."

"Why?" one of the golems asked. "What do you gain from this?"

"Nothing," I responded, but motioned to Shale. "I simply want to do what's right by my people. In fact, I would only ask that you take up residence in Cadash Thaig so that you can assist Lady Cadash in its management."

To her credit, Shale actually managed a bow, "Cadash Thaig is where golems where dwarves volunteered to become golems. We have a monument to their courage. If you join me there, we shall make the thaig a place where golems can thrive."

There was a commotion among the golems about how they all used to be dwarves and the prospect of going to Cadash Thaig.

"I understand that this is a lot to consider so soon after being freed from the control magic," I assured them. "What I propose is this; you follow us as we free the other golems in the thaig. You can help us as we assist them with reorienting themselves. Once we're finished, you can decide what you would like to do. There are members from House Dace who will be coming in to occupy Amgarrak Thaig once we're done. You can choose to stay here, join Lady Cadash in Cadash Thaig, or choose any of the other retaken thaigs to live in. There's also Orzammar. I'd be happy to host you in House Orodum until you're prepared to make a decision."

That seemed to placate the golems. It took us a few more hours to locate and free the rest of the golems. Like everything else in this world, it was much larger than the games showed. In the end, most of the golems decided to go with Shale to Cadash Thaig while some of them chose to go with me to Orzammar. As we exited the thaig, the House Orodum soldiers had all of the Harvesters in boxes stacked onto the carts and strapped down tight. We left the thaig and met up with House Dace. I stopped and dismounted to speak with Ronus.

"My Paragon," he addressed me, "I trust the thaig is now safe to occupy?"

I gave a firm nod, "It is! We've boxed up the creatures that were inside and we'll dispose of them safely before we return to Orzammar."

Ronus gazed over the carts and then looked over the golems, "You did not have any golems when you left us here, My Lady. Have you taken them from Amgarrak? Should we not be able to keep them?"

"Do you remember how I told you golems were made, Lord Dace?" I asked pointedly.

"I do, My Lady."

"Those golems were being controlled by defensive magic systems," I explained carefully. "If you had gone in and begun exploring the thaig, they would have activated and begun slaughtering anyone in the area. There were no control rods. So I broke the control magic keeping them in place. They have their minds again, like they were supposed to have had for centuries now. They have chosen to leave."

"And where will they go?" Ronus asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"You're asking if I convinced them to join me," I stated bluntly.

"I did not mean to imply…" he floundered.

"I understand," I reassured him. "I gave them the choice to choose where they would go. Most have chosen to accompany Lady Cadash, while a few have chosen to stay with me in Orzammar until they decide where to finally settle down."

"I suppose it makes sense for them not to wish to stay in a place where they were enslaved," Ronus conceded. "And I would imagine they would prefer to be with someone of their own kind or the person who freed them. However, if they wish to return to Amgarrak, please let them know that they will be welcomed with a respected position. Their sacrifice should be honored."

"Indeed so," I agreed. "I will pass along your invitation. I should also let you know that whatever magic was powering the forge in Amgarrak has been spent or gone missing. I assume the mages that helped create it somehow managed to take it back. I think I understand what powered it to work the way it did, so I'll be trying to replicate it. Once it's finished, I will have it brought here so that you can take full advantage of the thaig's systems."

Ronus bowed deeply, "I would be grateful, Princess. As always, your consideration and generosity is to be commended.

I simply smiled and bowed my head in thanks. I obviously wasn't going to tell him that I was the one who took the lyrium well and its pedestals. If I believed he wouldn't try to exploit them for an advantage over myself or the other thaigs, I might have left them in place while I studied them. However, the Dace's had a reputation for hardline negotiations, and I didn't want to bother with that. Better for him to believe I had recreated the system and give it to him so he would be grateful, than to have him withhold the pieces for personal gain.

"Not at all, Lord Dace," I insisted. "I'm simply happy to help my fellow dwarves. And if figuring out how the forge was properly powered will aid in Amgarrak's production, then I will see it done."

"I look forward to it," he bowed. "Now, I suppose I should coordinate my House to begin occupying the thaig. I'm sure there's quite a bit of work to be done."

"Good luck, Lord Dace," I replied with a smile. "If you need anything, let House Orodum know. We will do what we can to help."

We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. We traveled back to Cadash Thaig and remained there for a few days. Shale assisted the newly freed golems into acclimating to their new home. After nearly a week, I made an announcement that seemed to make everyone happy. Since we were already on the road, we'd be stopping by Ortan Thaig and pushing further into the Deep Roads from there. It was time we brought Caradin back into the dwarven fold.