Chapter 6
The Deep Roads
"Odd to find a templar so far down in the Deep Roads... all alone and surrounded by the qunari," Riona Hawke remarked, as the group of five fanned out to circle the stunned looking inhabitant of the secluded campsite.
"Please... please, don't hurt me!" the templar looked at them pleadingly, speaking in a tortured voice. "I don't care whether you serve Fen'Harel or not, if you're here to stop the qunari, then you will want to hear me out! And you need to stop them... what the Viddasala intends is madness!"
"What's a Viddasala?" Bethany wondered, having never heard the name, not from the Iron Bull, nor from the qunari in Kirkwall.
"I don't really know myself, but she's in charge of the qunari operation," the templar spoke, looking a little relieved that the strangers were more interested in asking questions than stabbing him to death. "I heard that she's with those Ben-Hassrath... one of the top spies. But that's all I know about her rank. The qunari don't tell me much... to them, I am still an outsider."
"Yet again someone suspects us of working for Fen'Harel," Celene noted, glancing at the templar. "Explain your words, my good man."
"I, uh... the Viddasala just said that we are being attacked by agents of Fen’Harel, and the qunari here accept her word as a fact," the templar shrugged, staring straight at Celene and not recognizing her without the mask, or perhaps his brain simply did not allow for the possibility that the empress of Orlais would be for some reason adventuring in the Deep Roads. "We've had these agents causing trouble all over the Crossroads. Sabotage, making spirits attack us... the Viddasala is very angry about the delays it has caused."
Not a single agent then... interesting, though perhaps this Viddasala doesn't truly know what is going on, Bethany thought to herself, then deciding to steer the conversation away from the whole Fen'Harel line since it appeared to be making Celene more than a little suspicious. "Tell us more about yourself. How did you come to be down here with the qunari?" she asked.
"My name is Jerran. Sir Jerran, once," the ex-templar sighed. "I was a templar in Kirkwall, until I joined the Qun. In fact," he suddenly hesitated, making a tentative step towards Riona. "Do my eyes deceive me, or… are you truly Champion Hawke, the woman who drove the qunari out of Kirkwall?"
"My part in those events is greatly exaggerated, but yes, I am Riona Hawke, and yes, some still insist on calling me Champion," Riona smirked.
"I for one was glad that you found a solution that allowed the qunari to leave without an even greater bloodshed," Jerran spoke, sounding relieved. "I would have hated to take up arms against you, Champion. I would hate to do that today... although I imagine that would be a shamefully short encounter."
"I don't think you need to worry about fighting us," Riona shrugged. "I recall the qunari in Kirkwall were having some success with converting people to Qun, but I didn't expect it to echo even to this day almost a decade later. We found a diary of some elf who was also converted in Kirkwall and came here with the qunari."
"Ah yes... they say she died in a poorly calculated gaatlok explosion a few days ago," Jerran remarked, looking regretful. "Back then, in those dark days, the qunari seemed to offer an escape from the madness and chaos that had gripped the city. They were like the eye of the storm. And until I was assigned to the Viddasala and her mission, I never regretted my decision to join the Qun."
"This is where you tell us what the Viddasala is planning," Briala gave the man a sharp nod, keeping a hand on the hilt of her dagger as an encouragement.
"This place is a lyrium mining and processing center," Jerran began to elaborate.
"Everyone with eyes can see that, tell us something we don't know," the elven spy glared at the suddenly once again nervous looking templar.
"The qunari are mining lyrium for…" Jerran spoke, then hesitating and turning to look at Riona. "You were in Kirkwall. You must have had some encounters with the saarebas."
"I would have been happy to never hear that name again," Riona winced. "They were incredibly frustrating opponents."
"Even as a templar, I've never seen anything like the power that a saarebas can unleash," Jerran spoke fearfully. As he was talking, Bethany shot a glance at Merrill and noticed a faint smirk on the elven mage's lips, Merrill not appearing a single bit intimidated by the mention of the deadly qunari mages. "And now Viddasala is feeding them lyrium, a lot of lyrium."
"So, I guessed it correctly," Celene remarked, though without appearing smug about it. "But with their explosive powder, I do wonder why they even need to make their mages more powerful. They didn't need them to destroy the Winter Palace."
"It does seem like a strange plan for the qunari," Bethany remarked. "As I recall, they were particularly distrusting of their mages," she said, image of the Saarebas they had once escorted through Darktown at the behest of the treacherous Sister Petrice coming back to her, the unfortunate qunari having had his lips sewn together just because the other qunari had been so terrified of him casting a spell to ensnare them. "Why would they be feeding lyrium to them?"
"It's all a part of some plan she calls 'Dragon's Breath'," Jerran explained with a shrug. "There's more to the plan than giving lyrium to the saarebas, but I couldn't find out what it was. The others disliked when I started to ask too many questions."
"Understandable," Riona nodded, giving the templar a firm stare. "Now, about your role here. We didn't see any dwarves assisting the qunari workers. Would I be correct in assuming that you are here because of your expertise with lyrium?"
"That is true, Champion," the ex-templar admitted nervously. "They wanted me to teach them everything I knew about lyrium, where it comes from, everything it can do, how we put it to use... I knew enough from my time with the Templar Order to get them started, but they quickly figured out more and far exceeded my knowledge of lyrium. I don't know how, but their minds operate unlike ours."
"But even if you could teach them about lyrium, you couldn't teach them how to mine it," Bethany argued. "From what we have been told, exposure to raw lyrium kills anyone who tries to mine it, other than the dwarves."
"True enough... and it killed them at first, many of them. It was distressing to observe," the former templar sighed. "But the qunari possess discipline matched only by the Tranquil. They're exceptionally quick learners and they somehow figured out a solution. They found a way to use gaatlok to mine lyrium so they don't have to touch its raw form."
"This is not good news even if we manage to stop the qunari here," Empress Celene stated, looking more than a little unnerved. "If they have obtained knowledge of how to mine lyrium, they will be able to simply start their operation elsewhere. They will be free from the supply chain by the dwarven thaigs that the rest of the surface nations are literally enslaved to."
"You're not going to like the goal of the Viddasala's plan then," Jerran spoke, looking uncomfortable. "She said that her plan would 'save the South', which could only mean one thing... an invasion."
"The South needs no saving, definitely not by the qunari!" Celene snapped angrily, appearing outraged at the mere thought. "Ever since the defeat of Corypheus, the South has seen peace and recovery. We will not allow these qunari invaders to ruin it!"
"I agree that the timing of this invasion seems all wrong," Riona nodded in agreement. "But the qunari are zealots and ideologues. Their reasoning is sometimes so strange and alien that we cannot even comprehend it."
"Regardless of the 'whys', we have a qunari operation that needs to be stopped," Briala reminded everyone. "The question remains on how to best do it."
"If I may..." Jerran spoke up timidly. "The qunari have caches of those round casks of gaatlok scattered all through the mine. If you could get the primers from the central supply room, you could prime the gaatlok and detonate it. That might do enough damage to the mine to trigger a collapse."
"The validity of this plan depends on whether we can escape the mine before the gaatlok detonates," Briala frowned, casting a worried glance over at Celene.
"How do we know it would be enough to actually destroy the mine?" Riona asked. "I mean, the qunari blast the rock with it all the time while mining, right?"
"Controlled explosions in small quantities," Jerran explained. "But even that sometimes triggers a partial collapse," he added, turning around and pointing behind him at the wall of the cavern where the group of five women could see that in many places the rocks had become dislodged and given way to cascading streams of water, crashing into the seemingly bottomless crevice and working to slowly fill it and create an impressive underground lake.
"Very well, but how do we use these primers, and how do we ensure that they go off at the right time when we are already back in safety?" Briala frowned, still not impressed by the plan. "I don’t know, but this plan just appears too optimistic to me. We don't want to pick up those primers and then start wondering about how to use them."
"Briala is correct," Riona had to admit eventually. "This is too dangerous… and nobody here knows how to use those primers, yes?" she asked, giving Jerran a long stare, but the timid ex-templar could only fearfully shake his head. "I've heard too many stories about people messing with gaatlok and blowing themselves up because they had no idea what they were doing."
"Well… maybe there is another way," Bethany mused thoughtfully, walking up to the edge of the former templar's campsite and carefully observing the qunari lyrium mine spreading directly before them. "I think that if we could place the casks of gaatlok in strategic places… such as there, there, there… and perhaps also there…" she said, pointing at each location in turn. "Then we could actually hit them with our magic from safety over here. That would trigger them to explode better than any primer."
"I suppose it's not impossible," Riona admitted, standing next to her sister and already starting to memorize the best locations where to place the gaatlok casks. "We would have to sneak over there and then subtly move those casks to where we need them to be, all the while making sure that the qunari don't notice what we're doing. That might prove more than a little problematic. If they notice us, and I fear that they will, it's going to be very difficult and dangerous to move the casks at the same time as we fight them."
"Then what do you propose?" Bethany asked.
"I propose that we try regardless," Riona shrugged. "I mean, I suppose I could use my magic to get over there and move the casks all by myself, but…"
"No way, those are much too heavy for you to move by yourself," Bethany shook her head vehemently. "Besides, what if they notice you and attack, making fleeing impossible? We would be in no position to help you. No, I like this plan even less. Let's just go ahead with my idea."
"I concur," Celene nodded. "We should attempt Lady Bethany's plan."
"I would feel much better if you were to remain here in the safety of the campsite," Briala told her lover, though something in her voice suggested that she already knew her suggestion would be left ignored, Celene huffing and not even dignifying it with a reply.
Having advised Jerran on how to reach the eluvian back to the Crossroads, the group of five wasted no more time in moving on from the former templar's campsite, and after enduring another irritating deepstalker ambush in the next chamber eventually found themselves on the lower walkways that led across the chasm to the other side of the mine where the qunari had moved their operations to.
The first group of qunari they came across were guarding the solidly built dwarven bridge leading across the chasm, a trio of burly spearmen blocking their path. On their own, Briala and Celene might have been able to sneak past them, but the three mages were considerably less adept at remaining stealthy and thus had no chance to make it past the alert guards unseen. There were stacked casks of gaatlok on the bridge next to the guards, making their task considerably trickier as the mages had to be more careful in how they utilized their craft. In the end, Bethany's pull of the abyss spell proved to be the winner as a precise placement of her magic dragged the three spearmen away from the gaatlok casks and allowed Riona and Merrill to let loose with their magic, leaving only one of the qunari warriors for Briala and Celene to finish off, Bethany catching herself marveling at just how composed and natural the empress appeared while slitting the throat of the qunari spearman, finding it hard to link this ruthless assassin with bard training with the elegant, charming ruler of Orlais, dominating the courtrooms of Val Royeaux and Halamshiral.
"So far so good," the empress commented, wiping her enchanted blade clean before sliding it into its sheath. "They do not appear to have caught wind of our scuffle with the guards."
"It's rather hard to overhear anything in this place," Riona replied, looking up the stairs leading further into the mine, half-expecting more qunari to come charging down, but the stairway remained empty. "The sound of crashing water, the gaatlok explosions, hammering away at the rocks… I'm not surprised they haven’t noticed a thing."
"I must say it's very convenient that the gaatlok is already out here on the bridge," Bethany remarked, having glanced back across the chasm to the ledge where the former templar had made his camp. "If we can knock it out, the qunari won't be able to give chase. The only problem is that the gaatlok casks are on the wrong side of the bridge and can't be seen from the ledge, but that should be easily remedied."
"Let's just move quickly," Briala nodded in agreement, the five of them then quickly dragging the explosive casks to the other side of the bridge, where they were well visible from the ledge. "And now onwards, before they have noticed us," she added, the group of five quickly ascending the stairs and proceeding further into the mine, a veritable maze of dark tunnels, the five having to move slowly and carefully, Briala walking at the front and probing one step ahead at a time, the mages not daring to light Veilfire that would immediately attract attention from the qunari.
Further ahead, the tunnels eventually led them out onto one of the qunari mining platforms, crammed with mining equipment and raw produce as well as more gaatlok casks, however, this platform was not visible from the ledge and thus of no interest to them. Fortunately, for some reason there were no qunari currently working on this platform, so the group of five decided to take a little breather to ponder their options going forward.
"I'm not so keen on moving back into the tunnels," Riona remarked, glancing at the dark hole leading back to where they had emerged from. "Wandering them in darkness is a recipe for disaster. If only there was another way forward."
"There might be, Champion," Celene replied, smirking as the others turned to her with questioning stares. "It might be a bit of a scramble, but if you feel up to it, we could try that path," she pointed at a frighteningly narrow ledge formed from the tops of the hexagonal basalt columns, creating a serpentine path around the outer edge of the mine.
"Umm… that might prove interesting," Bethany gulped, not being particularly fond of heights, but mostly fearing for Merrill considering how many times the elven mage had nearly made life threatening missteps on their previous adventures. "Still, I'm willing to try, as long as Merrill feels confident about it."
"I think I can just about manage," the elf gave her a soft smile before walking up to the wall of basalt columns and gracefully scaling the first smaller column, taking her up to a slightly more level ledge from which she proceeded to ascend the row of basalt columns with enchanting elegance, leaving Bethany staring at the elf with her mouth agape, not having previously seen Merrill moving with such grace and confidence. "See, it's not all that hard," Merrill commented as she waited for the others to catch up with her, Briala and Celene moving with confident purpose, the Hawke siblings taking much more care and making sure not to stare down into the chasm, blue glow of lyrium veins rising up from it.
While carefully scaling the rising basalt columns around the mine, the group came upon yet another mining platform that was currently not in operation, but still had the casks of gaatlok lying around next to it. Having noticed that this platform was in range from the former templar's campsite, Merrill together with Briala and Celene jumped from the ledge onto the platform to rearrange the gaatlok casks so that they would be easier to hit with their spells from the other side, then jumping back to the ledge while the two Hawke sisters waited for them to finish their task, trying to catch their breaths and hoping that their hearts pounding in their chests would calm down at least slightly.
"Look," Bethany spoke up soon after they had resumed the exhausting climb up the ledge, pointing ahead at another massive stone bridge, connecting to a part of the complex that they hadn't even been aware of when gazing at it earlier, unable to see it from their vantage point. "I wonder if it could lead to the central supply Jerran mentioned," the younger of the sisters mused.
"The ledge will lead us right up the bridge, so I guess we will find out soon," Briala remarked, continuing to scale the basalt columns at the front of the group.
True to the elven spy's words, they reached the top of the ledge soon after, a small platform from which the only path forward was to step onto the bridge and right into the view of a qunari patrol, emerging from the dark passageways crisscrossing the mine. Before the group of infiltrators had any chance to strike, cries of alarm went out and another group of guards charged them from the other side of the bridge, half a dozen armed qunari soldiers likely responsible for protection of the central supply.
"Mind the gaatlok," Bethany warned as she once again used her force magic to drag the onrushing qunari away from the explosive casks, Riona smashing them with the Fist of the Maker while Celene and Briala released precision shots from their crossbows, then fading from sight only to reappear moments later to stab the surviving qunari defenders in the back and eliminate them. Meanwhile, Merrill had annihilated the patrol all by herself, the elven mage resorting to her frighteningly powerful spell that combined her nature magic with blood magic, summoning the thorny blood vines that strangled the qunari warriors and rapidly bled them out, leaving behind only pale and lifeless husks.
With no more incoming defenders in sight, the group were about to proceed further across the bridge and into the central supply itself, when Empress Celene pointed at one of the dead who had fallen prey to Riona's magic, having had their skull smashed against the heavy stone tiles of the bridge. "This one is an elf," the empress sighed. "I cannot help but think that every time an elf or a human willingly joins the Qun, it is like a mark of failure on our civilization."
"I don't think they find as many converts in Orlais as they found in Kirkwall, if that is any consolation, Your Highness," Bethany replied politely.
"Wait," Merrill stopped suddenly, looking down at the dead elf. "I remember this one. He belonged to my old clan… clan Sabrae. I cannot recall the boy's name, but he was one of Master Ilen's apprentices."
"I'm sorry, Merrill," Riona spoke, even if the elven mage appeared completely unaffected by this trip down the memory lane.
"We all make our own choices. He made his," Merrill shrugged, dropping to her knees to remove a torn notebook from the dead elf's leathers, flipping it open to read the final entries. "'They say the agent of Fen'Harel caused trouble in the Crossroads. I wish I knew. I wish whoever fights in the name of the old wolf was around to fight when the darkspawn took my clan.' Typical Dalish," the elven mage snapped with a look of disgust on her face. "Oh, woe is us. Why didn't someone show up to save us? All they know is how to wallow in their victimhood and reminisce about the past all of which is a lie anyway."
"Ouch… that is very harsh, Merrill," Bethany winced, not that she found anything inaccurate per se about her old friend's statement. "Anything else of interest in there?" she pointed at the notebook.
"Just embarrassing praise for the Qun as his answer to everything," Merrill snorted, about to throw the notebook away, but then catching something on the next page and resuming reading, stopping to elaborate only at the insistent stares of the others. "Well, he was just wondering about the elven statues down here, as were we. I suppose the question of why not let the dwarves mine lyrium is a valid one, since it would have been so much safer to let them do it. My old clan mate was theorizing that perhaps the elves had to come down here because they were at war with the dwarves, cutting them off from lyrium supply."
"History books speak nothing of a war between elves and dwarves," Celene appeared confused at that.
"Obviously not," Merrill smirked irreverently. "But now I also recall a story Keeper Marethari told us, about the dwarves fearing the sun because of Elgar'nan's fire. Was it perhaps a metaphor for the elves of Arlathan driving the dwarves underground? It seems possible now. At some point in history, Elgar'nan was nothing more than a powerful archmage with impressive control over fire spells from the elemental school of magic."
"I wonder if there's anything about such a conflict in the records of the Shaperate," Bethany mused.
"Not after it was so thoroughly destroyed in the Orzammar riots, First Enchanter," Celene reminded her of the currently nebulous situation in the great dwarven thaig.
"I don't like staying exposed out here on the bridge for too long," Briala spoke, looking around worriedly. "Shall we move on?"
"Just a moment," Merrill raised her hand, stopping Briala. She walked up to the railing of the wide bridge and stared across the chasm. "I can just about see the templar's camp from here. Shall we arrange the blackpowder to destroy the bridge?"
"I could never hit the casks all the way from there, Merrill," Bethany shook her head.
"Nor could I," Riona nodded. "I don't think anyone can."
"I will welcome this opportunity to prove you wrong, if you would only help me move the casks," Merrill shrugged, the others exchanging uncertain stares before spending a few minutes to bring the casks over to one of the pillars by the railing, Bethany and Riona both wondering just how Merrill intended to hit a target they could barely even see across the vast distance.
At Briala's further insistence, the group then quickly crossed the bridge to enter the central supply, a proper dwarven structure carved into the cliff face, but oddly enough the interior of it appeared elven, more of the howling wolf guardian statues scattered throughout the great hall, the floor of which was decorated with clearly elven mosaic tiles. This almost makes it look as if the elves drove the dwarves out of this mine during some sort of a conflict, and then added their own touches to make the place feel like their own, Bethany thought to herself, but had to cut short her exploration of the hall and any further musings, as a crackling ball of lightning suddenly landed in the middle of the group of five, about to explode.
Recognizing one of the signature spells of the saarebas, Bethany immediately cast arcane barriers on the group, mentally bracing herself for a world of pain, when she noticed Merrill simply waving her staff with a bored expression on her face, and the crackling ball of lightning was sent hurtling across the floor of the hall back towards an onrushing group of qunari led by a massive shock trooper, the lightning ball exploding in their midst and decimating the enemy.
"I didn't know you can do that!" Bethany gave Merrill a look of awe at that, the elven mage grinning broadly from the reaction.
"Stop your fawning, Beth, we still have more qunari to deal with," Riona admonished her younger sister, even if she had to admit that Merrill's magic was highly impressive.
"Not a problem," Merrill shrugged, glancing over at where the qunari shock trooper was slowly getting back up to his feet, roaring for more reinforcements that arrived moments later to join their leader. The arc of red chain lightning, however, made short work of this group as well, and this time the shock trooper failed to get up for more punishment.
"Don't forget the Saarebas," Riona shouted a warning at her sister, both turning to launch dispelling magic at the wily qunari mage, disappearing and then reappearing again, hiding behind the many pillars in the central supply hall. With the protective barrier of the Saarebas removed, however, Briala and Celene emerged with their daggers at the ready, burying them in the ox-man's hide-like skin and causing blood to spatter across the decorative tiles. Still, the enemy mage was not quite done yet and a powerful mind blast spell knocked the two assailants aside and left them dazed. The Saarebas was about to launch a more powerful spell at the empress and her lover, when Merrill decided to intervene, this time with a simpler stonefist spell, but considering that the arcane barriers of the Saarebas had been removed, it still had a devastating effect, picking the qunari mage up and slamming him hard against a pillar. Before he had recovered, a blast of ice left the tip of the Hawke's Key and Bethany's spell froze the qunari to the pillar. Riona followed up with a similar ice blast, further encasing the Saarebas in ice and leaving him completely helpless and incapable of moving.
"Should we… I don't know, finish him off?" Bethany asked hesitantly as she watched the enemy mage struggling against the bonds of ice.
"I'm not going to bother," Briala shrugged, having shaken off the effects of the Saarebas' spell, Celene also appearing to have recovered. "I mean, we plan to collapse the mine, so he's going to be dead anyway, no reason to get our hands dirty," she said, glancing across the hall, her gaze stopping at a makeshift table at the end of the hall, between two piles of casks of the explosive gaatlok. "What do we have here?" she asked, walking up to the table and picking up several items, thin and intricate metallic tubes. "Could these be the gaatlok primers our templar friend told us about? Perhaps I might still be able to figure out how to use them."
"I'm fine with that, if you make sure none of us explode together with the gaatlok," Bethany chuckled, watching how Merrill also walked up to the makeshift table, but the elven mage's gaze was not focused on the gaatlok primers but rather on an ancient looking tome next to them. "Merrill? What is it?"
"This tome… I recognize it," Merrill replied in a hoarse voice. "I know from where the qunari would have taken it… no, no, this is terrible! They should have never breached Vir Dirthara!"
"What is this Vir Dirthara, Merrill?" Bethany asked softly.
"It is… a sacred place. A place of learning," Merrill replied stonily before carefully picking up the tome and wrapping it in a piece of protective cloth before shoving it into her bags. "They sought to steal the knowledge of the Elvhen about the wonders of magic… I would die before I see them succeed!"
"Hopefully it won't come to that, Merrill," Riona spoke up, looking a little concerned at Merrill's outburst. "And at least we have learned where to go next after we are done here."
"Yes… I will cleanse Vir Dirthara from the qunari filth if it's the last thing I do," Merrill nodded, both Hawke sisters taking an involuntary step back at the expression of outrage twisting their elven friend's beautiful face into a terrifying snarl. "Let us collapse this mine. Vir Dirthara… the Shattered Library awaits us. Hopefully the Viddasala herself will meet us there. I cannot wait for her to face the full force of an elf’s wrath."
