- For information on the related quest, see A Paragon of Her Kind.
The Anvil of the Void was a device used by the dwarves to create golems during the First Blight. It was forged by a dwarf of House Ortan named Caridin around -255 Ancient (940 TE). According to historians it was constructed in the Ortan Thaig.[1]
Caridin was made Paragon for his achievement. In -248 Ancient (947 TE), at the height of the battle against the darkspawn, Caridin vanished, and the Anvil of the Void's location was lost, seemingly forever.[2]
Background[]
The Anvil was the key to forging golems. However, Caridin knew he could not make a living creature out of non-living materials. He realized that to create a golem, a life had to be taken from elsewhere to power it.
Caridin offered the chance to be reforged as a golem to warriors wanting to defend their homeland. Shayle of House Cadash was one of the first, and the only woman, to volunteer.
Eventually, there were no more volunteers, and the darkspawn threat remained pressing. Valtor, the High King of Orzammar at the time, began having prisoners and his political enemies forcibly turned into golems. Finally, after six years of constant output it became too much, and Caridin refused to cooperate. He was transformed into a steel golem for his defiance. However, his apprentices lacked the skill to forge a control rod to manipulate him, and Caridin retained his free will and mind. He sealed the Anvil away in the Deep Roads, beyond the reach of Orzammar.[3]
For more than a millennium Caridin entombed himself with the Anvil, unable to destroy it. No golem is able to touch it and since Caridin was a golem himself, neither can he. All Caridin could do was lay out traps through out the Dead Trenches to prevent anybody from finding it.
Involvement[]
The Warden can destroy the Anvil or retrieve it (which is available only by siding with Branka) and use the new golems to protect Orzammar and also use them against the Fifth Blight as part of the quest A Paragon of Her Kind.
Upon the Anvil, a crown will also be forged by either Caridin or Branka for the new king of Orzammar.
Gallery[]
References[]
- โ Mentioned by Oghren before he joins the party at the beginning of the third task in A Paragon of Her Kind quest line.
- โ Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 1, pp. 32-33
- โ Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, p. 91
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