Thaig



"Thaig" is a dwarven term for their settlements and cities within the Deep Roads. Thaigs are often named after, and in some cases founded by, Paragons. Hewn from the rock of the Deep Roads itself, the physical structure of thaigs can last ages, even if many of them have been abandoned or destroyed by darkspawn raids, their inhabitants killed or fled.

One of the first thaigs was the Primeval Thaig, excavated many years before the first Blight, but it is so old (over ten thousand years) that it seems to have been forgotten by dwarven history. A thaig named "First Thaig" is also mentioned in dwarven history, but, according to codex entries, the Primeval Thaig is considered much older.

The dwarven kingdoms originally consisted of twelve large thaigs and numerous smaller thaigs spanning the length and breadth of Thedas, but most have fallen. There are only two large thaigs still inhabited, Kal-Sharok and Orzammar, the founding sister cities of the dwarven race.

Inhabited Thaigs

 * Kal-Sharok: Kal-Sharok lies beneath the Hunterhorn Mountains between Orlais and the Anderfels.
 * Orzammar: Orzammar lies beneath the Frostback Mountains in Ferelden.

Lost Thaigs
Several thaigs were lost to the darkspawn during the Blights and in the years between. Some of these have been explored by the Warden and Hawke in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II but the majority are known only by codex entries.


 * "Abandoned"
 * Aeducan: The ancestral thaig of the ruling Aeducan royal family and site of activity in Dragon Age: Origins.
 * Amgarrak: A site of activity in Golems of Amgarrak.
 * Fortress of Bownammar, now the Dead Trenches: Once the home of the Paragon Caridin and a site of activity in Dragon Age: Origins.
 * Cadash: Once a sanctuary for elven refugees from Arlathan and a site of activity in Dragon Age: Origins.
 * Darmallon: According to legend, the gold and silver veins of Darmallon ran so deep they made the entire city sparkle. The glittering city of Darmallon was located below western Thedas.
 * Gundaar: In the 1155th year of the Tevinter Imperium, High King Threestone declared it lost to the darkspawn, along with Kal-Sharok. During the reign of King Endrin Aeducan it was learned that Kal-Sharok survived and endures, albeit with intense animosity toward Orzammar for abandoning the city.
 * Heidrun Amrun, a member of the Legion of the Dead, has written about an encounter deep in an old mineshaft beneath the thaig, down which he and his men had chased an Emissary. Their fight awoke an ancient rock wraith, which killed the darkspawn and collapsed the tunnel.
 * Hormak: One of the thaigs lost in the 1155th year of the Tevinter Imperium.
 * Kal'Hirol: Once a center of smithing knowledge and a site of activity in the Dragon Age: Origins expansion Awakening.
 * Kal'Barosh: The thaig was lost during the First Blight.
 * Kobaliman: An expedition was organized to recover the thaig, but only one survivor, Captain Roshen, came back.
 * Kul-Baras: According to Codex entry: Longbow of the Avvars, this was the dwarven fortress the Architect used as base of operation during the events of the Calling.
 * Ortan: This thaig was a site of activity in both the novel The Stolen Throne and in Dragon Age: Origins.
 * Primeval
 * Revann: In 5:10 Exalted, the explorer Faruma Helmi found a strange scrawling by unknown hands on a wall there, mentioning the profane, indicating that such creatures lingered in the thaig.
 * Valdasine
 * Varen: The thaig was lost during the First Blight.
 * Zygmunt: The Shaper of Orzammar can trace his lineage directly to House Zygmunt from this thaig, which was lost 13 generations ago.

Thaigs of Unknown Status

 * Rousten