Amaranthine Conflict (9:31 Dragon)

The Amaranthine Conflict occurred in the lands of Amaranthine a few months after the events of the Fifth Blight in 9:31 Dragon. In essence, it could be considered part of the Thaw and merely a continuation of the Blight. The war was fought between the forces of the Architect and the Mother, both intelligent darkspawn with ideological differences.

The Grey Wardens became involved in the war when the Architect sent an emissary to negotiate with the Grey Wardens. Mistrust and misunderstandings led to the massacre of the Orlesian Grey Warden contingent stationed at Vigil's Keep and also the Architect's emissary.

Hostilities occurred at the ancient dwarven fortress of Kal'Hirol, where broodmothers belonging to the Mother's faction were stationed. The fortress was assaulted by darkspawn belonging to the Architect's faction and also a team of Grey Wardens hostile to all darkspawn factions. Other engagements occurred at the Blackmarsh and the Wending Wood.

A major invasion force was launched by the Mother to simultaneously destroy Vigil's Keep and Amaranthine. The force was destroyed at great cost to the defenders.

Soon after, the Warden-Commander initiated a strike mission to destroy the Mother. The war ended with the death of the Mother who was stationed at Drake's Fall.

Background
With the destruction of Urthemiel officially ending the Fifth Blight, it was assumed that the remnants of the darkspawn horde that survived the Battle of Denerim were now merely disorganised stragglers continuing a futile resistance. Darkspawn had long been generalised as animalistic savages devoid of any intelligence or direction without an Archdemon's guidance, but the emergence of talking Disciples and of the Architect changed this view of the darkspawn.

The Architect was a unique darkspawn, with no discernable subspecies or connection to the Taint. Born outside of the darkspawn hive mind, he had immunity against the Call of the Old Gods that drew the darkspawn to them. The Architect was an emissary with the ability to speak coherently and also, a first for the darkspawn, a visionary; lamenting the vast casualties on both sides that a Blight always brought before it ended, he sought to bring peace between the other races and the darkspawn, and was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goal.

In time his studies produced an unprecedented result: by drinking the blood of Grey Wardens, the darkspawn could gain resistance to the Taint and consequently think for themselves. This resulted in the creation of a new kind of darkspawn - the Disciples, who could form opinions, strategize and better command control of their unconverted brethren. Some Disciples were grateful to the Architect, but for others losing the bliss of the Call and the Taint was too much.

Things came to a head when the Architect freed a once-human broodmother who deeply resented losing her connection to the Taint and the Call, as well as the loss of the Archdemon's "Song". Assuming the title "the Mother", she began producing another new species of darkspawn - the horrific Children. Having gathered an army of unconverted darkspawn, the Mother decided to resume attacking the surface and wipe out both the Architect and the Grey Wardens. Realising the threat the Mother posed to both the surface and himself, the Architect gathered an army of his own. The Disciples however, were free to choose their own side. Reformists who agreed with the Architect sided with him, while traditionalists who resented being cut off from the Old Gods sided with the Mother. Before long the two armies began to clash, and the arling of Amaranthine was caught in the middle.

Grey Warden involvement
The Grey Wardens of Ferelden, after being exiled from Ferelden in 7:5 Storm until 9:10 Dragon and decimated at the Battle of Ostagar during the Fifth Blight, were slowly rebuilding in the aftermath. The fortress of Vigil's Keep and Amaranthine was given to the Grey Wardens as compensation for Arl Rendon Howe's betrayal. A contingent of Orlesian Wardens and auxiliary troops would later arrive to bolster the garrison at Vigil's Keep.

The Grey Wardens were essentially caught in the middle of the darkspawn civil war. The Architect's plan required Grey Warden blood, causing him to send the Withered in an attempt to gain an alliance with the Wardens. The Mother, however, knew the importance of the Wardens to the Architect. Seeking to undo the Architect's work out of hate for robbing her and the other awakened darkspawn in her faction of the bliss of the Old Gods' call, and also to have revenge upon the Archdemon's murderers, the Mother sought to destroy the order completely. The Architect, however, knew that the Warden-Commander possessed the power to defeat the Mother, and, refusing to give up on the Wardens, he sent his forces to hinder and if possible stop operations being conducted by the Mother's forces.

After meeting the Architect, uncovering evidence of the Mother's plan, and halting the Mother's army, the Warden-Commander of Vigil's Keep personally tracked the Mother to her lair and killed her, ending the conflict.

Assault on Vigil's Keep
The Withered and a contingent of darkspawn troops were sent by the Architect to negotiate an alliance with the Grey Wardens at Vigil's Keep. Presumably they entered through the Deep Roads below the basement of the keep. Since the Warden-Commander was not present at the beginning of the assault, Varel, commander of the defensive forces, ordered an immediate attack upon the darkspawn.

This conflict ended up as a massacre with no apparent explanation (though the Architect later explained that he had sent the Withered to ask for aid from the Grey Wardens, not considering they might regard the darkspawn's approach as an attack, and that misunderstanding might have led to the ensuing carnage). Captain Garevel's predecessor and all Orlesian Wardens were slaughtered, except for those not present at the keep, while all darkspawn including the Withered were slaughtered by the returning Warden-Commander and their companions.

Attacks at Wending Wood
The Architect's darkspawn troops slaughtered Dalish elves camping in the Wending Wood. The Seeker, the Architect's agent, went beyond his orders of kidnapping Dalish elves and planted evidence implicating humans were involved in the slaughter. The elves' leader Velanna believed humans had performed the slaughter and kidnapped her sister, and thus sent sylvans to attack every human who came into the woods. The Warden-Commander of Ferelden traveled there to investigate and this investigation uncovered the truth of the conflict between Velanna and the humans. After resolving the conflict, the Warden-Commander and their allies pursue the darkspawn culprits to the local Silverite Mine. There the commander walked into a magical trap and was abducted by the Architect and imprisoned, but later escaped with Seranni's help. The Warden-Commander then proceeded to cut their way through darkspawn troops and the Architect's ghoul lab experiments and Dragon thralls in their escape from the mines. After watching the Wardens butcher its thralls, the Architect's magic brought down part of the mine to prevent further pursuit, and escaped with Utha and Seranni.

Battle at Kal'Hirol
Kal'Hirol was the location of several broodmothers belonging to the Mother's faction. The Architect invaded the fortress of Kal'Hirol in an apparent attempt to destroy these broodmothers.

The fortress's defence was commanded by the Lost and was protected by Hurlocks, Genlocks and Children, with additional Stone golems at the darkspawn emissaries' command. A single Inferno golem protected the Lower Reaches along with the Lost.

The invading forces of the Architect consisted of lightly armed Hurlocks, led by an unnamed Disciple, and were heavily outnumbered as the Grey Wardens arrived.

A legionnaire scouting party was wiped out, except for one member, Sigrun, before the arrival of the Commander of the Grey. The Grey Warden team arrived due to the intelligence report received from Captain Garevel and remained neutral during the engagement. The Commander of the Grey killed everything on the way to the broodmothers, before killing the broodmothers by dropping a lyrium well onto the nest.

Investigating the Blackmarsh
An Orlesian Grey Warden, Kristoff, went to the Blackmarsh to investigate a rumor about darkspawn. He killed some darkspawn, but was overwhelmed and executed by their leader, the First. Because Kristoff didn't return, The Warden-Commander went looking for him. Kristoff's disappearance was used as bait to lure the Warden-Commander into a trap orchestrated by The Mother. Unbeknownst to the First, the magic used to seal the Warden-Commander in the Fade had also sealed him and his forces in as well. Both the Wardens and the First were trapped in the Fade and both eventually became involved in a conflict between a Spirit of Justice and the Baroness. After the Warden-Commander defeats the First, the Baroness uses Blood magic to sacrifice the First and use the power accumulated to return to Thedas. The Pride demon possessing the Baroness and other demons also left the Fade through Fade tears. The tears in the Veil were repaired and the demons were all exterminated by the Warden-Commander and the spirit of Justice. Justice however was also expelled from the Fade and due to the Baroness' machinations, was also trapped in the dead body of Kristoff.

Assault on Amaranthine
The Mother launched a preemptive attack on the City of Amaranthine while simultaneously advancing on the Wardens' stronghold at Vigil's Keep. The city came under attack from the standard darkspawn infantry as well as heavily-armoured ogres. Constable Aidan was charged with the city's defense.

The Commander of the Grey initially went to the defense of the city and wiped out the attacking party. However, the Architect sent The Messenger to warn the commander of the incoming attack on Vigil's Keep. This knowledge of the surprise attack on Vigil's Keep may have changed the Warden-Commander's mind to stay in the city.

If the Warden-Commander remained to defend the city, while recuperating at the temporary base of operations at the Chantry of our Lady Redeemer, the Herald's army caught up to engage the Warden. Within the city, the Herald engaged in a form of guerilla warfare operating from the smuggling tunnels beneath the city. The Herald and his forces were routed in the battle.

Siege of Vigil's Keep
Vigil's Keep came under simultaneous attack from the Mother's force. The keep may have been forced to withstand the onslaught on its own or the Warden-Commander may have chosen to return from Amaranthine to personally oversee the keep's defences.

Battle at Drake's Fall
The Grey Wardens led by the Warden-Commander entered Drake's Fall to destroy the commander of the hostile darkspawn force, the Mother.

During their descent, the Wardens re-activated three old Tevinter towers with powerful magic stored within. The Architect met the Warden-Commander face to face for the second time, and explained his intentions and reasons for experimenting on the Wardens during their last meeting. After talking about his inverted Joining ritual and explaining the attack on Vigil's Keep, as well as other events including the Mother's origins, he made the Commander an offer: in exchange for his help fighting the Mother, the Architect would be allowed to leave with his followers to continue his work. The other Wardens had differing opinions on fighting or agreeing with the Architect, but ultimately it was the Warden-Commander's decision.

Regardless, the Wardens reached the Mother's Lair and after a long and grueling fight, the Commander killed her.

Results
The Mother was slain and the darkspawn threat was lessened.

What became of the Architect and his plans is unknown. His death is a possibility as is the possibility that he was released to continue his work in nullifying the Calling.

All remaining darkspawn returned to the Deep Roads. If the Architect survived, the Deep Roads become quieter than ever and the Grey Wardens from other nations unsuccessfully searched for the Architect after they learned that it was spared.

City of Amaranthine
If the Warden chose to defend the City of Amaranthine, reconstruction of the city took a year.

Vigil's Keep

 * If Vigil's Keep survived the siege, reconstruction took five years.
 * Possible emergence of the Silver Order.