(RECAP) ELISSA: This Treaty obliges Orzammar to aid me
GUARD: Orzammar has no king.
You are free to enter Orzammar, Grey Warden.
Though I don't know what help you will find.
(RECAP) SHAPER CZIBOR: A Paragon is a dwarf whose accomplishments change Orzammar so much
that the Assembly recognises they've been born blessed.
They are venerated as living Ancestors
and found a new noble House, forever bearing their name.
There is one Paragon of this generation.
A woman named Branka.
She was born a Smith, but her inventions caught the Assembly's eye.
(RECAP) ELISSA: Who's Oghren?
DWARF: Oghren's a drunken wretch.
hounding people to lead some suicidal rescue mission after Branka.
(RECAP) OGHREN: I figured you'd be the one, you know?
Who could help me find Branka.
I guess you're just like all the rest.
Your boss - he's like the rest of 'em.
I know he's been poking around, trying to find things out about her...
what she's looking for...until your boss really commits to lookin'
you're getting nothing but smoke out of ol' Oghren.
(RECAP) HARROWMONT: Do you know anything of the Paragon Branka?
Two years ago, she took her entire house into the Deep Roads on a mad quest to uncover ancient secrets.
Were she to return and endorse someone for the throne
the Assembly would be honour-bound to accept her wishes.
ELISSA: If it will get you to the throne, I will find Branka.
HARROWMONT: My men traced Branka's disappearance to an ancient crossroads
known as Caradin's Cross. I can provide a map to lead you there.
(busy marketplace chatter)
ELISSA: You said something earlier about mages...
STEN: We have no mages such as you do.
We have beasts in the shape of men, who perform tricks.
ELISSA: Magic is more than tricks.
STEN: True. I suppose it is also horror and perversion.
ELISSA: Don't you think that view is a little harsh?
STEN: As the fish stranded by the tide knows the air
or a drowning man knows the sea, so does a mage know magic.
ELISSA: Knowledge is not as deadly as ignorance.
STEN: Knowledge is one half of wisdom.
but there are many things that can only be known too late.
Pashaara.
Are we going to fight the darkspawn, or chatter until they grow bored and leave?
WYNNE: Is there something you need?
ELISSA: Why didn't you want to stay at the Tower?
WYNNE: The Circle is in good hands.
Irving knows what to do, and he doesn't need me underfoot.
For now, I will support those who battle the darkspawn.
I do feel I left things unfinished in Ostagar.
There is so much left to do.
And I would be part of it.
ELISSA: But, you left the children...
WYNNE: Yes, I did leave them.
But if the Blight is not stopped, all of them will face suffering greater than what was seen in the Tower.
The Grey Wardens - all *two* of you - need all the help you can get.
I will see this through to the bitter end. And after that
if I am still left standing, then I will return to the Circle.
ELISSA: I'm sure you'll be able to return, if you so choose.
WYNNE: Perhaps.
ELISSA: I'm told you killed your former master...
SHALE: Did I not already tell it that I do not remember doing such?
I remember having a master...
My memories of what happened to him
are...vague.
ELISSA: Vague...?
But not non-existant?
SHALE: Clever. And true. (sighs)
Oh...very well.
Let me see what I can recall...
My former master enjoyed experimenting upon me.
I remember that much.
There was...tinkering with spells, and the crystals
he was very eager to alter my function, I think.
ELISSA: What sorts of 'experiments'?
SHALE: Bah! I am no mage.
And he did not explain himself to me.
Anymore than *it* would explain itself to a sword.
He possessed my control rod.
And back then, it would have prevented me from doing *anything* he did not command me to.
No matter how I might have wished to.
So what happened? I am unsure.
He was experimenting, and then...nothing.
ELISSA: So he hit the 'kill me' button by accident?
SHALE: Ho, ho, ho.
It does like to laugh, does it?
But who knows? I may have such a thing.
And then he was gone. I was standing where I was in the village, and I could no longer move.
Villagers came, poked and prodded me in fear
and then realised they could neither move me nor destroy me.
And so they simply left me.
And in time I forgot I hadn't stood there all along.
ELISSA: But.... you *wanted* to kill him, right?
SHALE: Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes.
Very much so.
So many years I'd had to leap to that little toadstool's every command!
'Get this, pick up that, put it down, pick it up again!'
The gall!
At first, I hoped he'd decided to simply leave me there paralysed.
An acceptable trade-off.
After years passed, I simply stopped caring.
ELISSA:...sounds like you had a good rest.
SHALE: I think I was ready to move on.
Another few years and the moss would have covered my face.
And then where would I have been?
Whatever the mage did, *seemed* to render the control rod useless.
For which I should be thankful, yes?
And provided it doesn't decide to copy his experiments
- not that I would allow it -
It has nothing to fear from me.
Much.
ELISSA: Sounds good to me!
SHALE: The things that it fights - and it fights things often -
that is a different story.
Let us get back to the walking and the fighting.
My stone is beginning to itch again.
FILDA: I'm sorry.
Did you have an offering for the Ancestors?
Although, I can't imagine your ancestors reside in the Stone...
ELISSA: What were you praying for?
FILDA: My name is Filda, widow of Teruck of the Smith caste.
I pray here every day for my son Ruck.
I only wish I knew whether I should be asking for his safe return
or for the Ancestors to accept his soul.
ELISSA: What happened to him?
FILDA: It was five years ago.
He was only a youngster...
He joined a Deep Roads excursion, the only Smith to go with the Warriors, to repair their arms
He was so proud. They got...separated, somehow.
When they came home, he wasn't with them.
ELISSA: Did anyone go after him?
FILDA: The captains don't want to lose anyone searching for stray men.
Too many were taken by darkspawn that way.
ELISSA: We shouldn't abandon him.
I'll look for him, if you want?
FILDA: How? There is no way, except to brave the Deep Roads yourself.
ELISSA: Actually, I'm on my way there right now.
FILDA: Alone?
But that's unheard of...
No-one risks the Deep Roads without a full company backing them.
But perhaps that explains why one of your kind has come to Orzammar today...
If you'd look for my son - if you'd even find his bones...
you'd have my eternal gratitude.
WYNNE: Take heart, good widow Filda.
We'll do our best.
FILDA: Please, find me as soon as you return.
OGHREN: (heavy panting)
OGHREN: There you are!
I thought I'd spoken to a Grey Warden.
But for some reason, I chalked it up to the drink.
I know you're down here to look for Branka
and...I need to ask a favour.
ELISSA: You're Oghren, right?
OGHREN: You remembered, heh.
I'm sodding touched.
I guess now that Ser upright-and-honest thinks that my Branka's still alive
you're not so quick to say I'm crazy, huh?
But they haven't found Branka herself.
And that means whatever they've got
it's not enough if you don't know what she was looking for.
If we pool our knowledge, we stand a chance of finding Branka.
Otherwise, good sodding luck.
ELISSA: It sounds like we have a deal.
OGHREN: You should know that Branka was looking for the Anchor of the Void.
The secret to building golems, which was lost centuries ago.
The Smith Caradin built it.
And with it, Orzammar had a hundred years of peace
while it was protected by the golems forged on the Anvil.
As far as anyone knows, the Anvil was built in the old Ortan Thaig
Branka planned to start looking there.
If she could ever find it.
All she knew was that it was past Caradin's Cross.
No-one's seen that Thaig for five hundred years.
ELISSA: Harrowmont gave me a map, I can get to Caradin's Cross.
OGHREN: If we're going, let's get moving.
Branka's not gonna sodding find herself.
DWARF: What's this, a human?
We make these towns tall enough for humans..?
I'm sorry.
But I cannot allow you past the front lines without a Deshyr's permission.
OGHREN: Open your eyes, man!
This Grey Warden is on a quest to find your Paragon!
Do I have to take your stinking head off?
ELISSA: What Oghren is *trying* to say, is that we have permission.
DWARF: Oghren could have been a Deshyr for House Branka.
Suppose he's the next best thing in both skill *and* arrogance!
You may pass.
I'd offer more assistance, but my command post is here.
All of Orzammar relies on us
to hold this line.
ELISSA: Are darkspawn the only danger in these tunnels?
DWARF: 'Course not!
Down here you're bound to run into giant spiders, deepstalkers, and other vermin.
ELISSA: Deepstalkers?
DWARF: Ugly beasts, they are.
Walk on two legs, but they have the head of a worm and hunt in packs.
Watch out.
They're not afraid to take on a group their own size
ELISSA: Are there no dwarves past this point?
DWARF: A few outposts.
Legion of the Dead mostly, fools that they are
Some scavenger types too.
ELISSA: Legion of the Dead?
DWARF: It's an independent company of soldiers.
They accept no command but their own.
Anyone who can bear arms can join, no matter his crimes.
Heh, or sanity.
They hold a funeral when they join, and swear their only goal is a glorious death.
ELISSA: I should go.
DWARF: Best of luck!
(theme music plays)
OGHREN: Caradin's Cross.
I can't believe Harrowmont actually tracked this place down.
This used to be one of the biggest crossroads in the old Empire.
You could get anywhere from here
including Ortan Thaig.
ELISSA: See any sign of Branka yet?
OGHREN: Not a one.
But trust me, we will once we're on the path to the old Ortan Thaig.
She was going to Caradin's home.
ELISSA: What's so important about Ortan Thaig?
OGHREN: It's the home of Caradin.
The Paragon who made the Anvil.
He was an Ortan before he founded his own House
and even then he spent most of his time in their Thaig.
Branka figured it was the best guess for where the Anvil was located.
ELISSA: Do you know anything else about the Anvil?
OGHREN: No-one but Caradin knew any more than it had some kind of Stone-blessed power
Every golem who ever ranged across the Empire
was hammered on the steel of that Anvil.
but no-one ever knew exactly how they were made.
but Branka was sure she could find out.
ELISSA: So you know where to go from here?
OGHREN: Aye.
Branka dug up some maps of the ancient Empire.
It's a little tough to tell with so much of it collapsed now
but near as I can figure, we're on the right path to Ortan Thaig.
ELISSA: Great! Let's go.
OGHREN: I've been waiting for someone to say that for two sodding years.
DWARF: Well, look what we have here.
A couple of Harrowmont's little lackeys.
Let's show 'em who's king!
(yelling)
OGHREN: You know, I've seen a golem or two in my time
we have them in Orzammar
SHALE: It is indeed wise in the ways of the golem.
It deserves a medal.
OGRHEN: Thing is, I don't remember anyone ever mentioning about them having memory problems.
SHALE: Perhaps *they're* not the ones with the memory problems.
OGHREN: I talked to a golem, once.
It didn't have anything interesting to say, but its memory? Sharp.
It could tell you what you were wearing at the Barnack Festival ten years ago.
SHALE: Probably vomit and flies and little else, if I were to guess.
OGHREN: Course, if someone simply *claimed* to have lost their memory
that would avoid some awkward questions....
SHALE: Is it still talking?
It is not drinking, so it must be.
OGHREN: Fine, fine. You go on, and *don't* answer me.
You'll screw up sooner or later...
(darkspawn growling)
MORRIGAN: It's your time to die!
OGRHEN: By the tits of my Ancestors
Ortan Thaig.
I never thought I'd see this place in the flesh.
I can see Branka all over this place.
She always took chips from the walls at regular intervals when she was in a new tunnel
Check their composition.
If she was still here though, she'd have sentries out by now.
ELISSA: What can you tell me about these ruins?
OGHREN: This was Caradin's home Thaig.
He was an Ortan before he got raised to Paragon.
Even stayed here when he could have had his own House.
I guess he didn't want to move his people to Bownammar.
ELISSA: What's 'Bownammar'?
OGHREN: The City of the Dead.
Caradin built it to honour the Legion of the Dead
but it was more like a sodding mausoleum than anything.
'Course, that was all before he built the Anvil.
After that, he was the city's pet genius
until he angered the king and fell into disfavour.
ELISSA: So there was a city here?
OGHREN: No.
No, there *was* a Thaig here.
The Ortan Thaig.
Bownammar's north and west of here.
But, that's not important
or at least I hope it isn't.
The ity of the Dead is known as The Dead Trenches since the darkspawn conquered it
Much of the Legion was destroyed when the fortress fell.
ELISSA: What if Branka and everyone died?
OGHREN: Well, aren't you a sodding bright spot today?
If everyone was dead, there'd be evidence of a major battle, wouldn't there?
Three hundred or so dwarves don't just *fade away*.
ELISSA: Let's get going.
OGHREN: Couldn't have said it better myself.
MORRIGAN: That is a most offensive odour!
OGHREN: And you're looking at me?
MORRIGAN: Should I be looking elsewhere?
Have you forgotten about the fish you stored in your backpack, perhaps?
OGHREN: I was saving it!
Won't be ready for the lye for at least another day...
MORRIGAN: Even the Chasind did not have such disgusting habits
and they consumed the flesh of the dead.
OGHREN: Fine, fine.
I'll soak it in the lye now...
Have it your way...Miss Squeamish...
MORRIGAN: That's not what I...oh, no, nevermind. Just get it over with. Quickly.
DWARF: (strangled yelling)
RUCK: There's nothing for you here! It's mine!
I've claimed it!
ELISSA: Who are you?
RUCK: You've come to take my claim!
You surfacers are all alike!
Thieving scoundrels!
Well I found it first!
OGHREN: Bah...he's a bloody scavenger.
Good as sodding gone,
RUCK: Be gone, you! You'll bring the Dark Ones back, you will!
They'll crunch your bones...
OGHREN: Word has it you can only survive down here by eating the darkspawn, dead.
ELISSA: Darkspawn blood is poison, men have died from drinking it!
RUCK: It burns when it goes down. It burns!
It's my claim - not yours!
Crunch your bones!
RUCK: Go away, this is mine!
Only I gets to plunder its riches!
ELISSA: I just want to talk to you.
RUCK: No - no talking! You leave my territory!
ELISSA: I'm not here to steal anything, I promise.
RUCK: Pretty eyes...pretty hair...
Smells like the steam of burning water...
Blue as the deepest rock...
So the pretty lady won't take anything from Ruck...?
You won't take Ruck's shiny worms and pretty rocks?
ELISSA: I just want to talk.
I won't take anything.
RUCK: Oh. Ruck not mind that. Maybe.
ELISSA: So your name is Ruck?
RUCK: Ruck not pretty name...
Not pretty like lady.
Ruck is small...and ugly...twisted...
ELISSA: I think I met your mother...
Is her name Filda?
RUCK: No, no-no-no-no - no Filda! No mother!
No warm blanket and stew and pillow and soft words!
Ruck doesn't deserve good memories!
No no no no no no no!
ELISSA: How did you end up here?
RUCK: She did not know...not what I did...
I was very, very-very-very angry, then someone was dead!
and then they wanted to send Ruck to the mines
if I went to the mines - she would know!
Everyone would know!
So I came here, instead...
Once you eat, once you takes in the darkness
you not miss the light so much...
You know, do you not?
Ruck sees, oh yes
He sees the darkness inside you
ELISSA: I am a Grey Warden, it's not the same.
RUCK: Grey like the stone, guiding against the darkness...
Beautiful like waterfalls, under the lichen
ELISSA: How did you survive here?
RUCK: When the dark ones were here, I kept to the shadows
They don't look in the shadows, not if you're quiet!
Not if you eat their flesh...then the dark ones
they think you're one of them - they leave you alone!
but now they're gone.
ELISSA: Do you know where the dark ones went?
I think they went south...pretty lady...
Far, far to the south
That is where the dark master calls them with his beautiful voice...
so much joy when he awoke!
OGHREN: Hmmm..he's talking about the Archdemon, huh?
RUCK: After the dark master awoke
He called his children and they all went
I wanted to go too
and gaze upon his beauty
ELISSA: Where is the dark master now - do you know?
He stopped calling...I wish I could go see him, but Ruck...no, no -
no, Ruck is a coward!
ELISSA: When did you arrive here?
RUCK: Too long ago.
I must think...five years? six?
Ruck no longer remembers the smells and sights of the city
ELISSA: That's such a long time!
You poor dear!
RUCK: The pretty lady understands...
She knows how Ruck feels, she does!
ELISSA: Did you find anything *unusual* at this camp?
RUCK: Bits of things. But only bits!
The growlers...they took almost everything!
They take things of steel and things of paper
They takes the shinies, and the words!
OGHREN: Paper and words?
That sounds like someone was taking notes...
You think Branka camped here?
They bring to the great nest - the nest they makes for the eggs
They puts the shinies inside they do!
OGHREN: Enjoy your tainted mud
you poor sodding Duster.
RUCK: Is not so bad...
The dark and the burning keeps Ruck warm...
Warm like mother's arms...
OGHREN: Get away from me you sodding freak!
Look at him, he's like a...pale mudworm
He should have been sent to the mines.
Instead he chose *this*.
I'd put him out of his misery.
ELISSA: We'll leave him for now.
OGHREN: Looks like that bonepicker's living in Branka's old camp.
Did you see the marks on the floor?
There were a lot of people and fires there, once.
Those must be Branka's papers *he* said were taken by the spiders.
Nothing that fragile would be left from the Thaig.
ELISSA: This looks like Branka's journal.
Oghren - listen to this:
'We found evidence today that the Anvil of the Void was not built in the Ortan Thaig.'
'We will go south, to the Dead Trenches.'
'The Anvil is somewhere beyond.'
'My soldiers tell me I am mad
that the Dead Trenches are crawling with darkspawn
that we will surely die before we find the Anvil, if we find it.'
'I leave this here, in case they're right.'
'If I die in the Trenches, perhaps someone can yet walk past my corpse and retrieve the Anvil.'
'For if it remains lost, so do we all.'
'If I have not returned, and Oghren yet lives, tell him...'
'No, what I have to say should be for his ears alone.'
'This is my farewell.'
OGHREN: Branka was thinking about me!
I knew she still cared!
Old softie.
Looks like the Dead Trenches is our next stop then.
They say the darkspawn nest there. Whole herds of 'em.
But if that's where Branka went, then that's where I'm going.
(Archdemon roars)
(Dwarves yelling)
DWARF: Let them believe they hold us here! When the throne is settled
we'll beat them to their vile birthing grounds!
DWARF: Atras vala, Grey Warden.
I've never seen one of your kind in the Deep Roads.
ELISSA: You know I'm a Grey Warden?
DWARF: I recognise a fighter of darkspawn.
It marks.
It's why we in the Legion of the Dead abandon our lives, so we can face them without fear.
It's a sacrifice I understand Grey Wardens are familiar with.
What do you want here, Warden?
ELISSA: I need to find Paragon Branka.
DWARF: Who put this dull idea in your head?
We've got other things to worry about in Orzammar.
Ah. Now I see.
The deep lords in the Assembly can't make up their minds, so the pretenders need added influence.
I get that right?
ELISSA: That's about it.
You have anything useful to add?
DWARF: Warden, you've got your work cut out for you.
Paragon Branka is dead, everyone with sense knows it.
Past our line, the darkspawn kill *everything*.
ELISSA: Why hold back?
DWARF: I'd gladly lead an assault through the Dead Trenches
but without an ass on the throne, we have no orders.
I won't take fools gold from a pretender.
You want to go digging blind? You go right ahead.
ELISSA: Tell me more about the Legion of the Dead.
DWARF: We die in the eyes of our brothers so we can fight without fear.
It offers redemption for the promise of the greatest sacrifice.
That's all you need to know.
To say more invites...judgement.
Or worse, imitation.
ELISSA: Ever heard of the Anvil of the Void?
DWARF: Like Dusters have heard of respect.
Never seen it.
And if it exists, it wasn't meant for me.
But if you're looking for paragons, you may as well look for the Anvil.
And endless lyrium.
ELISSA: You should be more concerned about the coming Blight.
DWARF: Why?
The other kingdoms only care when the darkspawn march in the light.
But they're always here.
Always pushing.
Your nightmare is my everyday.
Our resolve gives you a rest between Blights.
A surge on the surface would give us a break.
When the time comes, I'll care for a good dwarven reason - sod the rest.
ELISSA: I'm leaving.
DWARF: Let us know if you find any Paragons...
You're as likely to find a dozen, as one.
And Warden - watch yourself.
Drunks make poor allies.
DWARF: Well Grey Warden, I'll give you credit for backbone.
Dug a line through the 'spawn.
Still no sense in your head, but you've got skill.
Good luck, Grey Warden.
???: First day they come, and catch everyone.
???: Second day they beat us, and eat some for meat.
???: Fifth day they return, and then it's another girl's turn...
???: Sixth day her screams we hear in our dreams.
???: Seventh day she grew, as in her mouth they spew...
???: Eighth day we hated as she is violated.
???: Ninth day she grins...and devours her kin.
???: Now she does feast...as *she's* become the beast.
HESPITH: What is this, a human?
Bland and unlikely.
Feeding time brings only kin and clan.
I am cruel to myself.
You are a dream of stranger's faces and open doors.
ELISSA: Is this darkspawn corruption? It looks...different?
HESPITH: Corruption?
The men did that.
Their wounds festered, and their minds...left.
They are like dogs, marched ahead - the first to die.
Not us! Not me.
Not Laryn.
We are not cut - we are fed.
Friends, and flesh, and blood
and bile, and...and...
All I could do was wish Laryn went first.
I wished it upon her so that...I would be spared.
But I had to watch.
I...had to see the change.
How do you endure that?
How did Branka endure?
ELISSA: What *change*? What are they doing?
HESPITH: What they are allowed to do.
What they think they must.
And Branka! Her lover, and...
I could not turn her.
Forgive her. No - she cannot be forgiven.
Not for what she did.
Not for what she has become.
ELISSA: When did you last see her?
No more than a few breaths.
But longer than an eon.
It was...long enough.
Long enough to miss her.
To love her, again.
To hate her more than ever.
No.
I swore not to speak of it.
Not to think of it!
La, la, la, la, la....
I will not hear any more about Branka.
ELISSA: I can end this!
Tell me what I need to know!
DWARF: End this?
I am full of them - only a step from Laryn.
I dream I am away - but real safety?
That means accepting. And I will not
- I will not become what I have seen!
Not Laryn, not Branka!
(offscreen) HESPITH: She became obsessed.
That is the word, but it is not strong enough.
Blessed Stone, there was nothing left in her.
but the Anvil.
(offscreen) HESPITH: We tried to escape
but they found us.
they took us all.
turned us
The men, they'd kill...they're merciful...
the women...they want.
They want to touch - to mould
To change until you are filled with them
(offscreen) HESPITH: They took Laryn.
They made her eat the others...
our friends.
She tore off her husband's face.
And while she ate, she grew.
She swelled, and turned grey...
And she smelled like them.
They remade her in their image
Then *she* made more of them...
Broodmother.
(roaring)
HESPITH: That's where they come from.
That's why they hate us.
That's why they need us.
That's why they take us.
That's why they feed us.
But the true abomination...
is not that it occurred...
...but that it was allowed.
Branka.
My love...
The Stone has punished me, friend.
I am dying of something...
worse than death.
Betrayal.
OGHREN: If Branka is anywhere, this has to be it.
She will not be unprepared.
(rocks crashing behind them)
OGHREN: What was that?
BRANKA: Let me be blunt with you.
After all this time, my tolerance for social graces is fairly limited.
That doesn't bother you, I hope?
OGHREN: Well shave my back and call me an elf!
Branka?!
By the Stone I barely recognised you!
BRANKA: Oghren.
It figures you'd eventually find your way here.
Hopefully you can find your way back more easily.
And how shall I address you?
Hired sword of the latest lordling to come looking for me?
Or just the only one who didn't mind Oghren's ale-breath.
OGHREN: Be respectful woman - you're talking to a Grey Warden!
BRANKA: Ah. So an important errand boy, then.
I suppose something serious has happened. Is Endrin dead?
That seems most likely.
He was on the old and wheezy side...
ELISSA: He is dead, yes.
And the Assembly is deadlocked.
BRANKA: Then what is your involvement in this?
Why would a surfacer be interested in Dwarven politics?
You must have a patron.
A highly placed patron.
And they must want something in particular...
Now, what might that be?
I don't care if the Assembly puts a drunken monkey on the throne.
Because our protector, our great invention
the thing that once made our armies the envy of the world
is lost to the very darkspawn it should be fighting!
The Anvil of the Void!
The means by which the Ancients forged their army of golems
and held off the first archdemon ever to rise.
It's here - so close I can taste it!
ELISSA: Sounds like you could use some help.
BRANKA: And you assume after all my efforts, you'll be able to waltz in and seize the Anvil without a hitch?
How typically arrogant.
The Anvil lies on the other side of a gauntlet of traps designed by Caradin himself.
My people and I have given body and soul to unlocking its secrets.
This is what's important!
This has lasting meaning!
If I succeed, the Dwarven people benefit!
Kings, politics - all that is transitory.
I've given up everything, and would sacrifice anything to get the Anvil of the Void.
ELISSA: You're obsessed!
That must be why Caradin sealed it away.
BRANKA: I will not give up.
His legacy lies just inside
The sum of all his knowledge, and I will have it.
There's only one way out, Warden.
Forward.
Through Caradin's maze, and out to where the Anvil waits.
OGHREN: What has this place done to you!
I remember marrying a girl you could talk to for one minute
and see her brilliance!
BRANKA: I am your Paragon.
(offscreen) BRANKA: I needed people to test Caradin's traps.
There's now way to get through it except for trial and error.
They were all mine, pledged to be my House
and they didn't want to help - they tried to leave me!
Even my Hespith!
but even she couldn't understand that when you reach for greatness
there are sacrifices - as many sacrifices as are needed!
(offscreen) BRANKA: She shouldn't have gone. She was pledged to me.
She swore she'd do whatever it took to find the Anvil.
There was no other choice!
Most of them were dying of the Taint already...
But some...some already were...transforming
I knew what they would become.
They would be an endless supply of fresh darkspawn
to test the traps! They could still serve me, let me find the Anvil!
(offscreen) BRANKA: You have no idea how they carried on.
Holding my hand and begging to die.
They had pledged me their loyalty!
They had no right to fight me.
They say your Order is renowned for its wits, as well as its brawn.
Perhaps you'll do better than my poor clansmen.
There's something about this place...
It makes people despair.
CARADIN: My name is Caradin.
Once, longer ago than I care to think
I was a Paragon to the Dwarves of Orzammar.
SHALE: Caradin?
The Paragon Smith?
Alive?
CARADIN: Ah! There is a voice I recognise.
Shale, of the House of Cadash.
Step forward.
SHALE: You...know my name.
Is it you that forged me, then?
Is it you that gave me my name?
CARADIN: Have you forgotten, then?
Ah.
It has been so long...
I made you into the golem you are now, Shale
but before that, you were a dwarf.
Just as I was.
The finest warrior to serve King Valtor
And the only woman to volunteer.
SHALE: The only...woman?!
A dwarf?!
CARADIN: I laid you on the Anvil of the Void, in this very room.
I put you into the form you now possess.
SHALE: The Anvil of the Void...
That is what we seek.
CARADIN: If you seek the Anvil, then you must care about my story.
Or be doomed to relive it.
ELISSA: You made the Anvil, I take it?
CARADIN: Though I made many things in my time
I rose to fame and earned my status
based on a single item.
the Anvil of the Void.
It allowed me to forge a man of steel, or stone.
As flexible and clever as any soldier.
As an army, they were invincible.
But I told no-one the cost.
No mere Smith, however skilled
has the power to create life.
To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere.
ELISSA: It's a dire shortcut.
Was it worth it?
CARADIN: So said my king.
I had only intended to use volunteers.
But he was not satisfied.
And soon a river of blood flowed out of this place.
Finally it was too much.
I refused, and so Valtor had me put on the Anvil next.
ELISSA: What now?
Do you want revenge?
CARADIN: Not revenge.
The blow of the hammer opened my eyes.
My apprentices knew enough to make me as I am.
But not enough to fashion a control rod.
I retained my mind.
You were amongst the most loyal, Shale.
You remained at my side throughout.
And at the end, I sent you away out of mercy.
SHALE: I...do not...remember...
CARADIN: We have remained entombed here ever since.
And I have sought a way to destroy the anvil.
Alas
I cannot do it myself.
No golem can touch it.
BRANKA: No! The Anvil is mine!
No-one will take it from me!
CARADIN: Shale, you fought to destroy the Anvil once!
Do not allow it to fall into unthinking hands again!
SHALE: You speak of things I do not remember - you say we fought
Did you use our control rods to command us to do so?
CARADIN: I destroyed the rods.
Perhaps my apprentices eventually learned to replace the rods!
I do not know.
But if so, then all they need is the Anvil to make all the slaves they need!
You! Please! Help me destroy the Anvil!
Do not let it enslave more souls than it already has!
ELISSA: You were a Paragon - I'll help if you support a new king.
BRANKA: Don't listen! He's been trapped here for a thousand years
stewing in his own madness.
Help *me* claim the Anvil, and you will have an army like you've never seen!
OGHREN: Branka, you mad bleeding nug-tail!
Does this thing mean so much to you that you can't even see what you've lost to get it?
BRANKA: Look around.
Is this what our Empire should look like?
A crumbling tunnel filled with darkspawn spew?
The Anvil will let us take back our glory!
ELISSA: The Anvil enslaves living souls!
It must be destroyed!
SHALE: So it fights with Caradin?
Good. That seems right.
MORRIGAN: Have you no desire to discover this Anvil's potential?
It is a marvel - a tool of creation!
You could rival the Maker himself with this instrument.
If you destroy the Anvil, I swear you will regret it.
ELISSA: And how would *you* like to become a golem?
MORRIGAN: You would not dare!
ELISSA: Wouldn't I? If I cared only for power?
MORRIGAN: I would rather not find out.
Fine.
Destroy it, if it pleases you.
CARADIN: Thank you, stranger.
Your compassion shames me.
BRANKA: Bah! You're not the only Master Smith here, Caradin!
Golems obey me!
Attack!
CARADIN: A control rod? But - my friend! You must help me - I cannot stop her alone!
CARADIN: Another life lost because of my invention.
I wish no mention of it has made it into history.
OGHREN: Yeah, you ain't kidding.
Stupid woman.
Always knew the Anvil would kill her.
SHALE: How is it the woman was not able to disable me as she did you, Caradin?
CARADIN: I do not know.
Have you been altered?
SHALE: I once had a pathetic little mage of a master.
He did...something...to me. Experiemented on me, and then I killed him.
And it rendered me paralysed.
CARADIN: Hmm. Perhaps he was bringing forth old memories?
And caused you to remember the time when you fought at my side.
The paralysis you speak of always resulted when the master perished.
As for your free will, you were always a strong woman, Shale.
I am pleased to see you remain such.
SHALE: I don't know what to say.
...thank you.
CARADIN: Ah...do not thank me.
All of this...this is my doing.
My legacy.
But at least it ends here.
I thank you for standing with me, stranger.
The Anvil waits there for you to shatter it.
MORRIGAN: (laughs) Yes, excellent idea! Just destroy it now, after all this.
CARADIN: Is there any boon I can grant you for your aid?
A final favour before I am freed from my burden?
ELISSA: I need a Paragon's support to settle an election.
CARADIN: For the aid you've given me, I shall put hammer to steel one last time.
And give you a crown for the king of your choice.
CARADIN: There, it is done.
Give it to whom you will.
I do not wish to hear their names, or anything more of them.
I have already lived far beyond my time.
I have no place here.
ELISSA: I will destroy the Anvil, as agreed.
CARADIN: That would please me, human.
CARADIN: You have my eternal thanks, stranger.
Atrust nal tunsha.
May you always find your way in the dark.
ELISSA: Oghren - what is this, can you tell?
OGHREN: (mutters)...Names.
Long list of dwarves.
Hold on...
'We honour who have made this sacrifice...
let their names be remembered.'
Fart me a lullaby!
It's a memorial! Of all the dwarves who became golems.
Has to be.
If there was some way of getting this back to the Shaperate in Orzammar
I bet they'd brown their trousers!
And pay good gold for it.
Hm. Probably both.
ELISSA: Shale, do you recognise this at all?
SHALE: No...?
Perhaps it thinks I should?
If there is some way to make a copy of these runes, I am willing to study them.
Perhaps there is something to be gleaned from them? I know not.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét