Editing The Deep Roads Expedition (section) | Dragon Age Wiki

=== The Primeval Thaig ===
After the cutscene with Bartrand, Hawke and company arrive at an undiscovered [[thaig]], the [[Primeval Thaig]], which Hawke must explore. 

Despite serving as a moment's rest, the party does not heal any injuries obtained in the upper Deep Roads, so use Injury Kits if necessary and purchase additional healing items from [[Bodahn]] if needed. Use the Enchantment Apparatus to enchant the Rune of Frost into a weapon, preferably [[Bianca (crossbow)|Bianca]] or [[Stone's Breath]] if the former already has one, and the player can talk to Bodahn to receive thanks for saving Sandal.

Beyond Bartrand's camp is a passage to the northwest where the party battles a number of shades and a stone golem. The confined space favors the golem, so retreat back to the camp to have more room to spread out. Claim the deposit of [[Orichalcum]] before entering the Primeval Thaig proper.

[[File:DR-Notsplittingthatthreeways.jpg|thumb|250px|"I'm not splitting that three ways."]]

Beyond that point, the party enters the Primeval Thaig, where they discover a pure [[lyrium idol]]. Bartrand, unwilling to share the profits of the expedition, takes the idol and locks them in the thaig. 

The party needs to find a way out and decides to start with the opposite door. The small room to the east just after entering the crypt contains 4 chests of random loot, but be prepared for a fight upon entering. The party will face a stone golem and 8 shades initially, with several more shades spawning after killing the first wave. It is possible to defeat them without much trouble even on Nightmare difficulty by retreating to the lyrium idol chamber. Drop out of combat between batches of shades to recover rather than taking them all on in one sitting.

The long, narrow, level halls of the thaig are perfect for a ranged party, as the enemies are mostly melee and the intact architecture means they have no line-of-sight breakers. There are also doors at critical junctures the party can use against the enemies. After proceeding through some hallways slaying shades, the party will come upon a room with two staircases leading down. Holding position here allows the shades to be funneled to the hallway and killed like their predecessors. At the bottom of this chamber the party encounters [[profane]]s, which are immune to electricity on Nightmare difficulty. The next hallway combines shades and profanes into encounters, with one immune to the other's vulnerability, making the collaborations somewhat annoying if you were relying on electricity to damage shades or spirit to damage profanes. In the next chamber you'll fight more profanes until stopped by a [[hunger demon]] in the form of a profane. It offers a deal: stop killing the profanes (he feeds off their hunger), kill a [[rock wraith]] up ahead, and he will tell Hawke the location of a key to a locked door that leads to higher tunnels. 

Hawke accepts the deal:
* {{Approval2|Anders|-15}}
* {{Approval2|Aveline|-5}}
* {{Approval2|Fenris|-5}}

Hawke refuses the deal:
* {{Approval2|Anders|+10}}
* {{Approval2|Aveline|+5}} 
* {{Approval2|Merrill|-10}}

Asking [[Merrill]] to kill the demon ('''[[Dialogue wheel (Dragon Age II)|Call on companion]]''') results in '''no change'''.

[[File:Rock demon.jpg|thumb|250px|The rock demon who makes Hawke an offer]]

Refusing its deal (or asking [[Merrill]] to kill it if in the party - she attacks it but doesn't damage it) results in a battle with it and more [[shade]]s, [[profane]]s, and an [[abomination]] (arises from the former rock demon). Warriors have a [[Dialogue wheel (Dragon Age II)|special choice]] in which Hawke refuses the deal in a unique way. This results in no approval change, the same as if Merrill tried to kill it.

{{Note|If you're interested in maximizing your experience and profits, refusing the deal results in more enemies to kill (22 vs. 7) and about 200 more experience points. Even if you refuse you can retreat to the previous hallway and close the door, killing them from far back as they drag themselves inside. All that's left after such a tactic is the abomination.}}

One final hallway with shades and profanes, as well as a corpse with 2 healing, mana, and stamina potions and an auto-save, if the option is enabled. Take this time to create manual saves, optimize the party's equipment, mend any injuries, and adjust Tactics and Behavior if necessary.

Head up the stairs to enter what Varric calls the "Vault" and battle the [[Ancient rock wraith]], the final boss of Act 1. Keep the party moving to avoid its massively-powerful melee attacks and hit it from range. At certain points in the fight when it has lost enough health, the wraith will disappear and respawn in the center of the four pillars and emit red radiation which damages all party members, regardless of range. This damage is rather severe, but can be avoided by having the party hide behind one of the four pillars, away from the rock wraith. After this attack, the creature's armor will collapse and it raise profanes to protect it, however this is its most vulnerable point. After enough time has passed, the armor reassembles and the wraith picks up new attacks. For more detailed information on defeating it on higher difficulties, consult the [[Ancient rock wraith (strategy)]].

{{Note|Drawing out the fight so that the wraith continues to summon profanes can leave many corpses to check for random items. Equipping gear that improves item or coin drops is useful here.}}

[[File:DR-Ohthatcantbegood.jpg|thumb|250px|The Ancient Rock Wraith]]

The rock wraith is worth 10468 XP at Level 12. The number of Profanes slain has no effect on this total. After the rock wraith is defeated, there is a cutscene where the party walks forward to a stash of treasure chests, one of which contains the key to let them out of the crypt.

{{Note|You might want to go back to where you fought the rock wraith to pick up loot that it dropped before leaving the area.}}

If Hawke made a deal with the demon, it will appear before they lay claim to the treasure, telling them to take only the key and leave the rest. Hawke has several options at this point:

* {{Approval2|Varric|+10}} if Hawke lets Varric kill the demon ("[[Dialogue wheel (Dragon Age II)|Call on companion]]"), leading to a fight with only its followers.
* Attack the demon, leading to combat with it and its minions.
* Hawke tells the demon that they only want the key, in which case it summons minions and attacks you anyway.
* Tell the demon to back off as a special choice if Hawke's personality is aggressive. If not, it attacks anyway.

When the party exits the Ancient Crypt, you will get a cutscene featuring discussion with Varric showing that you are back at the original campsite. They then head for Kirkwall the way they got down.

==== Bethany or Carver ====
Should Hawke have Bethany or Carver in the party, there is an extended cutscene in which their sibling collapses due to symptoms of the [[Blight]] corruption. Regardless of any dialogue option selected, the sibling will die. However, if [[Anders]] is in the party, he will propose that Hawke search for a [[Grey Wardens|Grey Warden]], [[Stroud]]. Doing so will allow the sibling to survive.

If Hawke takes Carver to the Grey Wardens:
* {{Approval2|Anders|+5}}
* {{Approval2|Varric|+5}}
* {{Approval2|Carver|+5}}

If Hawke takes Bethany to the Grey Wardens:
* {{Approval2|Anders|+5}}
* {{Approval2|Varric|+5}}

If accepted the party will start looking for the Wardens and will have to fight more darkspawn. Make sure to loot them before they are all taken out because you won't be able to do that afterwards. Once the darkspawn are taken out, the Grey Warden [[Stroud]] and his party will arrive and exchange a few words with Anders. Stroud will initially be reluctant to allow Bethany or Carver to attempt the [[Joining]] but he is easily convinced.

{{Note|You will lose all equipment held by either party member, so be sure to take any equipment you'd like to keep from them before leaving.}}

If Hawke makes a diplomatic or humorous response to Stroud:
* {{Approval2|Varric|+5}}

If Hawke makes an aggressive response to Stroud:
* {{Approval2|Varric|-5}}

Should Hawke have left their sibling at home instead, Bethany will have been discovered by the [[Templar Order|templars]] while Hawke was away, with Knight-Captain [[Cullen]] personally escorting her to the Gallows. Carver will have joined the templars, either to spite their [[mage]] sibling or in an attempt to step out of their shadow.

No matter what, Hawke's remaining sibling is removed from their day-to-day lives. Act 1 of Varric's tale of the Champion concludes as Leandra collapses on the floor, lamenting what has happened.