"Ok stop! Both of you!" Elissa said. She stared at Shayle gesturing for the golem to back up. "The anvil could help the dwarves and all of Thedas. With you as a guardian, you can make sure nothing bad happens. You have the experience to check." She let that sink in a little. "You have been sealed away a long time, a lot has changed. Also forgetting even more"
Thrasher was trying to figure how the hell the golem was even here. I mean, she was not in the party a few weeks ago. No memory of the creature at all really. He finally noticed the weird rod attached to Elissa's hip.
In the time they were apart, she must have picked it up somewhere. But that still didn't explain how the golem was with them. Sending a message to Norad, he had the Operator check on the others.
Norad: They are not to far from your current position. Rerouting them to your location. I am getting some weird readings from the place. Something is up with that Anvil. See if you can get closer to it. On second thought.. don't get close to it just yet.
Thrasher knew enough that their were control rods to help keep the golems pacified. But those should have all been destroyed. Staring at it to long, he was interrupted before he could properly analyze it.
*Boom!* A small explosion went off to the top right. Icy and a few others could be seen in the hole. they looked well enough but Icy had an uneasy look on her face. Grimacing in pain from the air itself and not an actual wound. She created an ice slide for her and the troops to get down.
Seeing an armored force go down an ice slide was something else. Slightly intimidating but also funny with some of them trying to keep balance.
Landing, they checked over themselves before moving towards Thrasher. Who was looking at the Anvil once more trying to figure what was so off about it.
"Hmmm.." Thrasher rubbed his chin finding it really odd it was resisting him somehow. Then the Infinity Stone in his sternum started to tingle a little. Which shouldn't be happening really. 'If an Infinity Stone arrived here somehow, that just means this place is super boned.'
Norad: Something odd is happening deep below you. At least a few miles down to the west a little. Whatever it is, it does not belong here. No way the readings should be like this. I think... somebody put something here.
As Branka, Elissa, and Shayla argued, Thrasher moved over to the Anvil. If he could a sample of it, his D.G. cells could break it down a little. Hopefully giving some insight. Or at least an upgrade.
*Boom!* Another explosion rang. This time from the side. Bethany and the former Silent Sisters came out. With quite a few Dwarves. Members from the Legion of the Damned. What they were doing together was a talk for later.
"Thrasher!" Alistair called out. Tracker was right behind in a sprint to keep up. Not far behind the two, the others jogged at a brisk pace to keep up. "Do not touch that!" His shouting caused the others to take notice.
Elissa had turned to them, revealing the actual rod to Branka and her party.
Branka's eyes lit up in interest in what she could do with that. The Anvil and another item of Caridin would go a long way to understanding things. Before a scuffle could even unfold, Shayle ripped the anvil up with monstrous strength.
Considering she was a golem and didn't have to worry about muscle strain might have something to with the ease it was done. That and she was determined to destroy the thing. Thrasher was to pre-occupied to catch sight of the yellow glow that passed through the golem.
A glow he would recognize given enough time to catch it. But more pressing matters were unfolding.
*Bwwwoooomm!* The anvil hummed almost like a machine in a way. The lyrium it was connected to reacting violently to the forceful action. Thrasher felt a small sense of dread spike deep in his chest.
Parts of the ground started floating up. Burst of white light erupted all over the place. The messed up cavern was already falling apart, now it seemed to be accelerating just a bit.
Actually not just a bit. Cracks ran through the walls and the sides. A few more golems covered in the rock and shackles could be seen. These golems had one thing different about them, each had a dark orange piece of lyrium in their chests.
"My lifes work.." Branka mumbled. The heartbroken look in the Dwarf was more than enough to gain some sypathy from those who didn't even like her. ".. we had it.. and now..."
"What the ever living fuck did you do!?" Thrasher yelled at the golem. She just ripped apart something that could have turned the tide of war. Let alone what other goodies it could possibly have. The ground started to spit in large sections next. "You have got to be kidding me!?"
System: Willpower Check 33 Pass
In each crack, large deposits of lyrium could be seen. Not just strike it rich big. Enough to cause an unending war inside Thedas for templars, Mages, and Drug cartels. Not wanting to be vaporized to nothing his forces gathered close to him.
Branka, in shock from the anvil, stood stock still. But Oghren had enough wits grab her and yell at the members of his former house to follow. Everyone gathered around Thrasher since running was not an option.
"This looks really bad..." Bethany mumbled out. "..that is way more lyrium than I thought existed." Slowly her eyes lit up with magic out of control. "I do not feel so good."
A problem for undisciplined mages was this, they never received the training to deal with lyrium effectively. Learn how to stave off the lure of power. As well as corruption. The good news though, her exposure to D.G. cells kept the corruption away.
THe bad news, the ork spores wouldn't prevent the desire of power from growing.
*Brrrpp!* A purple wave of magic pulsed from Thrasher. He was going to use Mass Teleport but the lyrium wouldn't allow that to happen. It reacted badly causing the veins in his body to almost shrivel up.
"Kuff!" Thrasher coughed up blood that burned away with some of his flesh. Not discouraged, he switched mental gears to get the job done. "Everything I got then!" Expending his spell slots but one, he used Matter Manipulation to encase them in a cocoon.
The cocoon was made of the strongest metal he knew from the war and what the enemy used in the final moments. The black dome was anything but perfect. Thrasher still couldn't replicate it to perfection.
But a replica should have enough in it right?
The cavern started exploding up top oddly enough. Large sections falling down revealing more lyrium deposits. As Thrasher went to work creating additional layers of the dome, Wynne made sure they had air with the help of the others.
The little magic Marian acquired help enough to make sure they were at least comfortable. Amongst the panic, everything turned deathly silent. Then ripples traveled as the lyrium detonated. Spreading far and wide through the Deep Roads.
Not just Orzamar felt the tremors for a moment. Orlais, Tevinter, and the Qunari felt it. What happened today wouldn't be felt truly until it was to late.
Despite the Dome holding, those inside felt they were floating somehow. The ground that was beneath them before was gone. As well as all the magma that surrounded the area. Currently, in free fall, Thrasher felt things were going to get worse before better.
"Icy... make it soft inside! I am losing control." Thrasher's skin started peeling. The lyrium was running rampant through his body. If not for the Weird Boy class, he would have burned away into nothing. Which would have been very bad for those nearby. " I can not slow the descent anymore!"
*Shatter!* The black dome broke apart all over. Leaving just a few places for them all to stand on. Which was only held togethor by Thrasher keeping it that way. He refused to let them get scattered. Which generally happens when people fell down a hole.
Icy started weaving a spell to help. Flakes of snow started appearing around them. A problem occurred however, it started to melt from the heat. Morrigan and Wynne joined in to help as best they could.
Bethany, feeling to out of it to assist did the next best thing. She created arcane barriers around those who were far away. Pulling her arms into a hug around her body, those on the far edges were pulled in closer.
"I hate the Deep Roads!" Leliana grumbled. She never felt so helpless as she did now. Looking to the side, Shredder looked to be just as bothered as they fell. "What do you think is at the bottom?"
"Something... unnatural." Shredder eyes squinted. Years of training defintely alerting him that they were heading into trouble. "Luckily we have a lot of forces to fight with." His eyes passed over the countless ork humans. 'We have been here to long. Enough loot and enough weapons have been obtained. Securing this place will not be easy.'
The time spent falling felt almost endless. But it finally ended. Very abruptly for that matter.
System: Constitution Check 45 Fail Willpower Check 45 Fail Arcane Check 40 Fail
.
Waking up in a bad situation-
.
Thrasher woke up first, then Tracker. Followed by Icy and the few Nob ranked Ork Humans. Then Leliana, Shredder and the rest. Elissa looked pretty good. But Sten looked bad. So did a bunch of the ork humans.
If not for their physiology, they might have been worse off actually. The armor worked against them in this case a little.
Seeing they were ok, Thrasher gave them a few words to check the area once they got it togethor.
"Bethany!" Marian cried out shaking her sister. Bethany was out cold. Slightly shivering a little. "Is she ok?!" She was panicking and rightly so considering.
"She is fine. Just exhausted is all." Thrasher ran his hand over her body once. "She will be right as rain in a few days, so will the others." As he towered over her, Thrasher couldn't marvel how strong she turned in such a short time. "We should be proud, the pain she must have felt had to be intense."
"Yeah.. we should." Marian said lowly. She picked her sister up, holding her close to her body. "More than proud."
Icy moved over to Thrasher very quickly. Her stride catching the others' attention. She placed her hands against his back exuding a little bit of ice magic. Thrasher had arcane burns all along his backside. The amount of pain had to be excruciating.
"Just hold still." Icy had a panicked look in her eyes. Seeing pieces of lyrium lodged in his back she wanted to rip it out. Little purple lines travelled in his body, wrapping around the lyrium pieces. "You need surgery, Thrasher."
"Not in the cards for now." Thrasher said. He didnt fight her treatment considering the shit hurt like hell. The D.G. cells working away at eating the lyrium. But so much damage to his body caused the programming to prioritize that instead. "My magic feels off. Do a little treatment then help the others. Something is really bad down here."
Oghren moved to Thrasher. A troubled look on his face.
"Branka... the Legion of the Damned, members of my House, are not in shape to fight." The red head dwarf said grimly. "How did we go from hot to cold like this?" His question caught a few of them by surprise.
The cavern was cold where they were. A very cool sensation compared to before that made Thrasher's skin crawl slightly.
System: Lunatic Quest: Survive the Deep Roads. User has stumbled upon the entrance of the Archdemon and one of its nests. Death is currently almost guaranteed. For each Follower, Companion that falls, User experience will drop. For each Follower, Companion that survives, increase in loyalty. Rewards: Map of the Deep Roads. Failure: Standing in Thedas plummets to 0.
"Get everyone that is able to fight to the forefront.." Thrasher ordered sternly. The golem Shayle gave him a quick look before turning away. The fact it survived did not go unnoticed by a lot of them. "..have them push ahead nonstop. We need to get out of here now."
The ork human Nobs reorganized at once. Members of the Legion of the damned closed ranks to one side as they moved. The other members from the different groups closed ranks on the opposite side moving. The injured moved in the middle. Carrying those who couldn't move to well on their shoulders or just dragging them if need by.