Left to rot in an ancient thaig by Varric's own brother, Lyria and her group were forced to go deeper into this strange place in order to hopefully find an escape route back to the surface.
Unfortunately their path was leading further underground. While there didn't seem to be any darkspawn at all this deep underground, there were a lot of shades and the vibrations of old magic. Just what had this place been?
Further down they came across creatures they had never seen or heard of before! Stone creatures made from the very rock around them, yet gifted with life. Even Varric was horrified at these creatures. Just what were they?
They followed the tunnels the only way they could and hoped to find an exit on the other side. Surely there was more than one passage into this place, they just had to find it.
After going through countless tunnels and fighting off countless shades and strange rock-beings, one of them stormed its way over to her and spoke. It demanded her to stop fighting; that these Profane would no longer attack them without its permission.
Apparently the Profane had existed down there for millennia, feeding upon the lyrium until all they knew was the hunger for more, and that it would not see its feast ended.
Anders proclaimed it a demon and Lyria agreed.
It did not care what they thought of it; if they listened to it and left it alone so it could continue to feed in peace, it would help them escape this wretched place.
Lyria didn't even hesitate. "No." she said.
They fought the demon and all of its rocky friends then fled deeper into the thaig.
Only to come across the mother of all rocky creatures.
It was a massive rock construct that had clearly been feeding on the red lyrium for some time. It's entire body glowed a bright red and every so often it would shoot dangerous beams of red light from its self, forcing them to hide behind pillars during the fight.
Eventually, after a hard battle, the thing shattered into a billion pieces as it fell across the ground... and at last, Lyria was able to see what had been behind it.
Treasure. More gold and jewels and fancy armour than she had ever thought possible. There was also a key — hopefully to a door that would get them the hell out of here!
Thankfully the door it unlocked seemed to take them back upwards instead of further down, and within hours they found themselves back on the more familiar path of the deep roads rather than the darkness of ancient thaigs.
Varric guessed it would take them maybe five days to reach the surface, if they hurried. Lyria wanted nothing more than to hurry! She was over this place and never wanted to return.
After a few days of travel and only darkspawn to contend with, no more shades or strange rocky creatures, the dwarvish roads continued and continued and it definitely felt as though they should be able to find an exit soon.
But then Carver stopped them. He was feelling ill and needed to rest, for just a moment.
Lyria said that if he was sick then she wouldn't mind if they stopped for camp and a short rest, but then he collapsed.
Horrified, Lyria ran over to him and helped him up... and that's when Anders interjected. He was sorry, but Carver had been infected by the darkspawn blight. He was going to die.
Lyria didn't much like her brother and his terrible-at-times attitude, but she loved him and didn't want him to die! Was there nothing Anders could do? He was a healer!
There was nothing... but, the maps to these deep roads he had given them. He had stolen them from the Wardens who had been planning their own expedition down here. If they found the Wardens, they could recruit Carver into their ranks, and he might just survive.
That was enough information for Lyria. She asked Anders to help find the Wardens so Carver could be saved.
Anders led them through several tunnels and roads, somehow sensing the other Wardens with his own Grey Warden abilities, then they stumbled right into a massive pack of darkspawn.
When the last darkspawn fell, a small group of men appeared. Anders greeted the leader of the group, Stroud.
Stroud was surprised to see Anders down here in the deep roads. Didn't Anders tell them that he was done fighting these creatures? But Anders said that he had been searching for them... then gestured to Lyria and Carver.
Stroud at first refused to take Carver. Becoming a Grey Warden was no cure for the blight; it was a calling. But Lyria convinced him that Carver was a fine warrior and he'd be a fool to refuse him, and Anders said that if the boy was going to die anyway, at least give him a chance.
Finally Stroud agreed and took Carver, saying to say goodbyes now because it was likely Lyria would never see her brother again, regardless of whether he survived.
Carver's last words as Stroud took him away... were for Lyria to take care of their mother.
Mother.
She was going to be so upset. She had begged Carver not to go and Lyria had failed her, again.
After several days of silent travel, they arrived back in Kirkwall. Both Lyria and Varric had a fortune sitting in their pockets, ready to sell to the highest bidder, enough to set them up for life, but all Varric could think about was his brother and all Lyria could think about was her own.
She was back in Kirkwall now... she had to tell her mother what had happened.
Lyria walked through the door of Gamlen's house, alone... and her mother's face fell as Lyria told her Carver would not be coming back. Collapsing upon the floor, her mother wept.
This was not the homecoming that was meant to be. And it was all Lyria's fault.
Until next time! 🐲⚔️
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 