[MEMORY WRITE-UP] The Deep Roads Expedition

[eluvianathema]

Hawke and co. have spent a good amount of time gathering coin and maps so that they can be part of an expedition into the Deep Roads, sponsored by Varric's surly brother, Bartrand. The Deep Roads are a grand network of enormous underground tunnels that once belonged to the dwarven empire, spanning the length and breadth of Thedas. Although these subterranean highways are largely abandoned to the Darkspawn, they are popular sites for expeditions, as there are still artifacts and treasures from ages past still remaining there. In particular, Hawke and Bethany wish to join Bartrand's troupe because the maps reveal a path to a thaig (a cavern in the Deep Roads) that has never before been breached, and in theory there is enough treasure there for them to pay off their debts and regain their family's title. Bartrand reluctantly agrees to splitting the rewards between him, Varric, and Hawke.

After a bunch of odd jobs and tracking down Anders (who has the maps to the Deep Roads, as he was a Grey Warden), the crew is ready to go. But before they can set off, Leandra, Hawke and Bethany's mother, approaches. She asks Hawke not to bring Bethany with her, because she fears something terrible will happen to Bethany down there. Hawke reassures her mother that everything will be fine and that Bethany can take care of herself. They set off, but that moment casts something of an omen on the party.

The troupe travels into the Deep Roads, and unfortunately not long after they find their way in, they discover that the path on the maps is closed by a collapse. Hawke and co. must find a way around, which not only means fighting darkspawn and other nasty monsters, but one of the dwarves who joined the expedition--a generally cheery merchant named Bodahn--is extremely fretful. His son, a rune enchantment savant named Sandal, has gone missing. Bodahn is worried that Sandal may have wandered off into a dangerous part of the Deep Roads, and begs Hawke and co. to find him. Hawke agrees, and the party sets off.

CUE MONTAGE OF FIGHTING DARKSPAWN, GIANT SPIDERS, DRAGONLINGS, AND OGRES. The Deep Roads are full of extremely nasty creatures, but they are no match for us. ALSO WE FIGHT A DRAGON. It's awesome.

Eventually, Hawke and co. come across a shocking scene: dozens of darkspawn corpses lying around, with a nonchalant and untouched Sandal standing in the middle. Bewildered, Hawke asks Sandal--who can normally only ever say "enchantment?", "hello", and a handful of other words--how in the world this happened. Cheerfully, Sandal answers, "Not enchantment!" and hands her a powerful rune. The party bring Sandal back to Bodahn, who is so grateful to Hawke that he vows to serve her family in order to repay the debt of saving his son's life.

Hawke is generally kind of O_oa about what just happened, but doesn't question it. Moving on!!

After Hawke and co. find another path through the Deep Roads, they stumble upon the thaig in question, and it is... odd. There are lyrium deposits everywhere, which is not unheard of in the Deep Roads, but the lyrium here is all red, whereas lyrium is normally a bright blue. (Lyrium, by the way, is a a valuable but dangerous mineral that is used by both Mages and Templars, but it can cause terrible side effects. Lyrium addiction is very common, and becoming lyrium-addled just as much) Bartrand orders everyone to search the thaig for anything valuable. Hawke and co. end up finding a room where there is an idol carved out of pure red lyrium, and it practically oozes strange magic energy. Varric figures that alone will be enough to pay for the cost of the expedition, so he tosses the idol to Bartrand, who agrees.

Bartrand then seals Hawke and co., which includes his own brother, inside the thaig so that they can rot there forever. Varric, pounding on the door to the outside, demands to know why Bartrand would betray his own kin for this. Bartrand just laughs, cruelly, and mocks Varric for thinking he would ever split the treasure rewards between the three of them. Varric curses Bartrand, and the party is trapped. They begin to search for another way out, and on the way they find more monsters, these ones even more bizarre than any they've ever seen. Eventually, they stumble upon the source of their existence: a hunger demon.

The demon calmly approaches Hawke and offers her a deal--there's a rock wraith up ahead that has been giving the demon trouble, and the demon wants Hawke to kill it. In exchange, the demon will tell Hawke the location of a key that will allow them to leave the Deep Roads and get back to the surface. Half the party tells Hawke this is a bad idea--deals with demons rarely go well. Merrill doesn't think it's that bad of an idea, as they're stuck here forever if they can't find a way out, and staying in the Deep Roads by itself can be dangerous. Hawke does think that the demon is lying to them, which is fair, but asks Merrill if she can take care of it.

Merrill still thinks they could use the demon's information, but she does appreciate that Hawke trusts her to deal with demons. Merrill uses blood magic to weaken the demon, which angers it and makes it attack the party. They take care of it easily, and continue on to find the aforementioned rock wraith, which is... large and very strong and kind of badass. It's a difficult fight, but they finally win, despite some blood loss and broken bones. They also find a TON of treasure, which will be more than enough for Hawke to regain her family's prestige.

However, it becomes clear soon enough that something has happened to Bethany. She starts acting odd, and there's a peculiar tint to her skin, and pretty soon she can't even walk. She starts to mumble incoherently, her eyes turning a dark shade of blue, like the veins in her skin are all popping out at once. Hawke rushes to her side, and, to everyone's horror, Anders recognizes that Bethany has the Taint. The Taint is a physical corruption spread by the darkspawn that can drive a person mad, kill them, or worse--turn them into ghouls. The only way to "survive" the Taint is to become a Grey Warden and survive the Joining ritual. To become a Grey Warden, however, means living a life constantly fighting darkspawn, constantly fighting off the spread of the Taint and impending madness, and waiting for a painful death.

But it's the only option they have if they want to save Bethany. So Hawke pleads with Anders to find the Grey Wardens in the Deep Roads, and they take Bethany there. The Grey Wardens agree to take Bethany, but they warn Hawke--she may never see her sister again. Becoming a Grey Warden doesn't save your life... it just prolongs your death. With the hope that the Taint doesn't kill Bethany before her time, the party bids her farewell and leaves the Deep Roads.

Hawke and co. arrive back in Kirkwall after a long and arduous journey, and the loss of both of Hawke's siblings weighs on her, although she keeps her head up as much as she can. Unsurprisingly, Bartrand is nowhere to be found--a wise move, as Varric plans for revenge as soon as the opportunity arises. Hawke brings the news of what happened to Bethany to Leandra, who is inconsolable for a time.

However, the treasure they found in the Deep Roads was indeed enough to pay off debts, restore Hawke's family's honor, and buy some new equipment for everyone. It's a hollow victory, but they'll take it. Merrill feels for Hawke and Leandra, and wonders if Bethany survived, and how she's doing. But she soon finds that she has other things to focus on...

A year passes.


LEARNED
+ Info on the Deep Roads, lyrium, dwarves, darkspawn, and the Grey Wardens.
+ This is the first memory where Merrill will actually remember using blood magic, when she weakened the demon.
+ Hawke :( Bethany :(
+ Hopefully... things... turn out... alright...???