Darkspawn

"You have to bear witness and understand why it is so important to stop them. The Joining, the Calling...it's all worthwhile if it holds back the darkspawn. Once you understand what they are."

- Sekah, Warden-Recruit from the Hossberg Circle of Magi



The darkspawn, known as night-gangers among the Avvar, are a race of humanoid tainted creatures that mostly dwell in the underground of Thedas. When the darkspawn uncover one of the Old Gods, they expose it to the taint, changing it into an Archdemon, which then leads them in an attack against the surface world called a Blight. The darkspawn are perhaps the single greatest threat to all of Thedas; they are bloodthirsty, exceptionally numerous and willing to indiscriminately kill or corrupt all in their path.

Chantry version
According to the Chantry, they were created when the magisters of the Tevinter Imperium opened a portal into the Golden City, tainting the realm of the Maker with their corruption and returning as the first darkspawn, their evil transfiguring them into the monsters they became.

While underground, they grew in number and dug deeper and deeper into the earth until they found the resting place of the Old God Dumat, where he had been imprisoned. Freed from his prison and warped by the taint the darkspawn bore, Dumat became the first of the archdemons and led the darkspawn to lay waste to the world in what would become known as the First Blight.

Dwarven version
The dwarves give little credit to Chantry beliefs, but they themselves have no known origin story for the darkspawn. As far as the dwarves are concerned, the darkspawn simply appeared underground. The darkspawn hordes that invaded the Deep Roads ended up crippling the dwarven empire, leaving only Orzammar and Kal-Sharok, the latter of which was completely isolated from the outside world until recently.

Tevinter version
According to Dorian Pavus and Fenris, magisters deny their involvement in starting the Blight. They claim the darkspawn have always existed and the magisters have no connection to them. Slaves are not regaled with a Tevinter version of the Chant of Light, so Fenris could not confirm if there is an official Imperial Chantry stance beyond typical Tevinter opinion.

History
With the fall of the Golden City and the beginning of the First Blight in -395 Ancient (800 TE), a dark age descended onto Thedas as the darkspawn rampaged across the continent, destroying everything in their path. The Tevinter Imperium suffered greatly, as it weakened greatly and fracturing under the strain of the invasion, while the subterranean empire of the dwarves was laid waste, with only their four major kingdoms Orzammar, Gundaar, Hormak and Kal-Sharok surviving. After nearly a century of hopeless, unending war, the Order of the Grey Wardens was established at Weisshaupt Fortress in -305 Ancient (890 TE), and proved instrumental in the defeat of the Archdemon Dumat at the Battle of the Silent Plains. The darkspawn invasion had been beaten, but the darkspawn would retreat underground to rebuild and recover.

Over the centuries, four more Blights would occur, the latest occurring in 9:30 Dragon. Each time, the Blight would be stopped with heavy losses, with the darkspawn destroying entire cities or even kingdoms before being beaten back by the nations of Thedas and the Grey Wardens. With the exception of Anderfels, darkspawn appearances on the surface most frequently promote fears of a Blight, however this does not occur until an Archdemon is awakened by the darkspawn. Without the Archdemon leading them, darkspawn hordes are much smaller and less effective in the raids they often launch, but are still dangerous. However that's not the case in the underground, as the dwarves are constantly fighting a losing battle against the darkspawn for more than a millennium. This resulted in the underground of Thedas being entirely controlled by the darkspawn with the exception of what remains of the kingdoms of Orzammar and Kal-Sharok, but some thaigs have been recently reclaimed.

Physiology and reproduction
Darkspawn are described as pale creatures with strange blackness bleeding out of their eyes and mouths. Black ichor flows in their bodies. Darkspawn do not need to eat as the taint sustains them, however they can eat for reasons other than dietary. Furthermore, the taint provides quick healing from wounds which also explains the absence of healing skills among the darkspawn. This healing even allows the re-creation of lost body parts after some time. The darkspawn have good vision in the darkness that is, however, impaired in the sunlight the darkspawn despise. Even during the Blights, when the sun is hidden by ominous clouds as a result of blight magic, the darkspawn are still weaker and more timid by daylight than they are at night.

Hierarchy
The newborn darkspawn will inevitably fight amongst themselves and try to kill each other, possibly by instinct. This serves to weed out the weaker darkspawn. Occasionally one young darkspawn will be so much more powerful than the rest that it kills the entire brood. This darkspawn is called an alpha. They are generally taller, stronger, or much more intelligent than the rest of their kind and wear better armor.

Accordingly, an even more powerful alpha that manages to slay other alphas gains the extremely rare omega rank. Only one omega-ranked darkspawn was ever fought directly, during a random encounter.

Emissaries are highly intelligent darkspawn that draw on the power of the taint to cast spells. They act as "shamans" or spiritual leaders to the darkspawn. Emissary alphas are the most powerful of the magic wielding darkspawn.

Mature darkspawn continue to disfavor each other and tend to group together with their own kind (genlocks with genlocks etc) even when travelling in force.

During a Blight only an Archdemon can command the entire darkspawn horde. Alphas serve as the commanders and generals of the darkspawn, while omegas are "second-in-command" to the Archdemon. The strongest alphas and omegas receive direct orders from the Archdemon itself. Emissaries ensure that darkspawn follow the Archdemon's will and that alphas serve the Archdemon's interests and not their own.

Without a Blight, the darkspawn remain underground except for raids. When there isn't an Archdemon to direct the darkspawn, the "chain of command" within the communal mind of the darkspawn breaks down, with individual alphas and omegas assuming a sort of leadership position as "tyrants", splitting the horde amongst themselves and fighting for dominance. Emissaries ensure that darkspawn search for the Archdemons outside of a Blight.

Communication and sapience
Common knowledge is that the average darkspawn can barely be considered sapient and possesses no intelligence beyond a simple animal cunning. Yet they should not be underestimated. Darkspawn are capable of coordinated action. Shrieks and genlock rogues excel at ambushing and attacking the unwary, and darkspawn have been known to make use of manmade objects like ballistae to combat outsiders. Darkspawn seem to show little fear, and though they will retreat if they begin to lose a fight without an Archdemon guiding them, they will never surrender to their foes and will continue fighting even if countless numbers of their brethren have been slain.

The darkspawn rank and file do not possess any language beyond hissing, roars and grunts. Despite this, they communicate well with one another, and some can be heard laughing cruelly as they attack and slay their foes. All darkspawn are connected through the taint, functioning as a hive-mind. They can even sense Grey Wardens just as the latter sense them. Emissaries and at least some alphas are capable of speech. Thus, emissaries occasionally taunt or deliver ultimatums to their foes. . The Archdemons are also known to communicate with other races.

When not already under the thrall of an Archdemon, and when not engaged in raids (either on each other or other sentients), the darkspawn relentlessly search for the sleeping Old Gods, drawn by what they hear as the "song" of the dragons. This need seems to override nearly anything else; the darkspawn will search without rest for an Old God for centuries if need be. Darkspawn worship them even in their absence. They constructing strange and macabre idols, banners, and totems from bone, leather, and even flesh, dedicated to their masters and convert statues into their representations. One of the former Archdemon prisons was filled with darkspawn corpses who died praying to their god.

Culture and technology
The darkspawn have very little resembling a recognizable form of culture. They do not have names. Nor do they build homes. A darkspawn nest is an underground chamber overgrown with organic strands, full of black tendrils and sacs of corrupted flesh. Yet darkspawn possess a certain limited crafting expertise. It is primarily related to the production of crude armor and weaponry, as well as primitive fortifications from the remnants of dwarven supplies found in the Deep Roads. Darkspawn can't swim and don't have ships.

Darkspawn and other races
Darkspawn exist solely for one purpose - war against all sentient beings in Thedas. As a rule, they are completely hostile to outsiders. Anyone caught venturing underground will be attacked, and anything caught in their path during a raid or a Blight will be mercilessly slaughtered. Surrendering to darkspawn is generally foolish; even if they spare a prisoner's life, they will still drag them back to the Deep Roads.

Those who come in contact with darkspawn will eventually contract the blight disease and either perish outright or turn into ghouls. Once the taint progresses enough, the darkspawn recognize them as their own kind and ghouls can sense darkspawn. Such people often show signs of insanity and usually work for the darkspawn in order to craft their weapons and armor,. Males are devoured and tortured for entertainment once their effective labor is used up, while females are turned into broodmothers.

Darkspawn possess a deep hatred of dwarves, and constantly wage war with them outside of the Blights; this has led many subterranean dwarves to view Blights as a grand and peaceful time, as they are the only occasion when the darkspawn empty the Deep Roads and cease attacking them.

Unique darkspawn

 * The Architect
 * Corypheus

Trivia

 * In The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC, the player assumes the role of a Hurlock vanguard in an alternate storyline in which the Warden died during their Joining.
 * While little is known about darkspawn physiology, if Isabela is in Hawke's party during the quest Fool's Gold in Dragon Age II she will say, "The darkspawn smashed the chest. Fine! But did they have to piss on it too?," implying that darkspawn apparently still retain some normal biological processes. Additionally Anders will say "Bloody darkspawn shit on everything they touch," but he may be speaking metaphorically given his angry tone. He also claims that darkspawn don't eat, the taints sustains them living.
 * The Darkspawn race and origins bear similarities to the origin of Orcs in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. As the Old Gods tried to usurp Heaven, the Ainur Morgoth and his followers tried to usurp Valinor; they were cast out to Arda, where they corrupted many living things to serve them; the Old Gods were cast down to Thedas, and the Taint they brought corrupted many. Without Morgoth or his servants leading them, Orcs tend to remain underground, and often war with Dwarves, as do the Darkspawn without Archdemons.
 * Crows instinctively fear and avoid Blighted lands
 * A classified collection of studies on the darkspawn called The Blighted Codex is held safely in the Imperial Library in Minrathous and is available only to members of the Magisterium.