The Fall of Weisshaupt was a major event of the Sixth Blight, that took place circa 9:52 Dragon.
Background[]
When Varric Tethras, a former member of the Inquisition tasked with the mission to stop Solas, also known as the rebel elven god Fen'Harel, learned that Solas was performing a ritual to allegedly destroy the Veil (an objetive Solas was attempting to accomplish for at least a decade since the events at the Exalted Council) in Tevinter, he gathered a team that included Rook and Lace Harding, and tracked Solas down to Arlathan Forest with the help of the detective Neve Gallus, in order to stop the ritual. Unlike what the team originally believed, Solas' ritual wasn't about destroying the Veil, but instead to transfer the last surviving Evanuris, Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, to a more secure prison. When the ritual was disrupted, both elven gods managed to escape while trapping Solas in the prison at the same time. It was soon noticed that both elven gods were blighted.
After taking control of the blight and modifying it for her own purposes, Ghilan'nain modified most of the existing darkspawn into new mutated, never before seen variants, and assembled a huge horde as her new army to conquer Thedas. She also managed to awaken her dragon thrall, Razikale, and free her from her prison in the Deep Roads, and even return to her most of her cunning, making Razikale more dangerous than any Archdemon from past Blights. All of these preparations allowed Ghilan'nain set the stage for her next objective: the destruction of the Grey Wardens.
Prelude[]
Rumors of the darkspawn horde invading the Anderfels began to circulate some time after Ghilan'nain attacked the cities of Minrathous and Treviso, with some people even saying there were sightings of an Archdemon leading the horde.[1] Things grew so dire that First Warden Jowin Glastrum recalled all Grey Wardens back to Weisshaupt, including the Southern Wardens.[2] The Veilguard learned about the attack when Warden Davrin notified Rook about it. Although Davrin wasn't summoned back to the fortress, because of his partnership with Rook (and, if Rook is a Warden, they weren't summoned either because of their differences with the First Warden),[1] Davrin still had some contacts within the Grey Wardens who warned him about this crisis.
After consulting with the now imprisoned Solas about the nature of the Archdemons and their relationship to the elven gods, and knowing that the Grey Wardens weren't prepared yet to deal with the elven gods, Rook decides to mobilize the Veilguard to help the Grey Wardens and hopefully kill one of the gods, using the Crossroads to access an eluvian the Grey Wardens had been given by the Dalish, that was kept in the vault of the fortress. Rook's plan was to rendezvous with their Grey Warden contacts, Evka Ivo and her husband Antoine, but things were more complicated that what they had anticipated.
Early Battle[]
Ghilan'nain in cloud form, looming over Weishaupt Fortress during the siege
By the time the Veilguard arrived at Weisshaupt, the fortress was already breached. The new darkspawn variants had infiltrated into Weisshaupt by climbing its walls. Led by Ghilan'nain herself and her Archdemon, Razikale, the darkspawn attack was relentless, and the battle had devolved into one of attrition with many Grey Wardens killed during the initial assault, among them Commander Janos, who died holding the line so most of the civilian inhabitants of Weisshaupt could flee.[3]
Because the darkspawn destroyed the wall where the eluvian was leaning, the Veilguard got divided into two teams and each team had to infiltrate the fortress on their own. To complicate things, the eluvian was not kept in the storage vault, as they initially believed, but in a different chamber, forcing the Veilguard to fight the darkspawn horde while trying to get into the fortress. The team led by Rook found Mila, the daughter of one the blacksmiths working for the Wardens, who helped them to reach the war room, where Evka and Antoine were stationed. While fighting their way to the war room, they spotted Ghilan'nain, turned into a cloud, who was taunting the Grey Wardens while Razikale led the attack on the defenders.
When Rook's team arrived at the war room, things were desperate, with Evka advocating for a tactical retreat to the dragon trap (an ancient artifact created to deal with Archdemons, but never used) while the First Warden insisted in ordering a full-on attack against the horde. When the First Warden asked for someone to call back Commander Janos to rally the defenders, Rook came in and reported the commander's death. Blaming Rook for having unleashed the Blight, the First Warden ordered Rook to be apprehended by the Wardens.
Realizing that the First Warden was suffering the effects of his Calling, Rook managed to convince him that this was no normal Blight, and that the real enemy was not the Archdemon but Ghilan'nain. After Razikale blast the war room with her fire breath, the First Warden apologized to Rook and directs them to the dragon trap, while ordering the Grey Wardens to cover Rook and their team.
Seeing no way to reason with him, Rook punched the First Warden, knocking him out. With the First Warden out of the equation, the leadership of the Grey Wardens defaults to Evka Ivo. After Razikale blast the war room with her fire breath, Evka directs Rook to the dragon trap, while ordering the Grey Wardens to cover Rook and their team.
Later Battle[]
With the support of the Grey Wardens, Rook and their team fought their way trough wave after wave of darkspawn, but the Archdemon had blighted most of the fortress, and the blight eruptions allowed the darkspawn to replenish their numbers astoundingly quick. Soon, the east battlements were overrun and the outer walls were destroyed. With their way to the dragon trap blocked, Davrin directed Rook to the library, as it was close to the dragon trap. To reach the library they had to go trough the barracks, that were overrun by darkspawn, however. While fighting their way to the library, Rook's team was assisted by Evka and Antoine, as well as the second Veilguard team, that had managed to infiltrate Weisshaupt despite the odds. They also had to deal with an specially powerful modified darkspawn known as "The Relentless Wall."
Even the First Warden took to the battlefield to assist Rook, but he was taken down by a blight tentacle and presumed dead.
After they left the barracks, Rook's team was almost crushed by blight tendrils if not for the timely intervention of Mila, who helped them to reach to the library. While the doors were closed and Rook and their team were ready to make their last stand against a horde of ghouls, the second Veilguard team opened the doors, rescuing Rook's team and allowing them into the library. There, Holden, Mila's father, sealed the door and confirmed to the them that the dragon trap was still operative.
Evka Ivo reunited with the Veilguard at the library. With the First Warden presumed death, it was her duty now to rally the remaining Grey Wardens.
Evka Ivo reunited with the Veilguard at the library. She asked Rook to hurry up with the plan while the Grey Wardens still listened to her.
While the second Veilguard team helped Holden to retrieve the eluvian, securing a way to escape Weisshaupt, Rook's team continued with their original mission to lure Razikale to the dragon trap.
Fight Against Razikale[]
After reaching the dragon trap, Rook managed to lure Ghilan'nain's attention by showing her Solas' lyrium dagger, making her sent Razikale to try to retrieve it. The ruse worked and the dragon trap was activated, severely crippling the Archdemon.
When Davrin was about to perform the ultimate sacrifice to kill the Archdemon, the First Warden showed up and asked him to stand back. The First Warden then asked Rook to allow him to kill the Archdemon and atone for his mistakes.
When Davrin was about to perform the ultimate sacrifice to kill the Archdemon, the First Warden showed up and ordered him to stand down. The First Warden then demanded the honor and the glory of being the one who killed the Archdemon.
When the First Warden was about to kill the Archdemon, Ghilan'nain intervened at the last second and (allegedly) killed the First Warden, using his tainted blood to blight Razikale, turning her into a "true" Archdemon. The fight was long and hard, and Ghilan'nain further enhanced Razikale during the battle, using the blight to give her two extra heads. The darkspawn also rallied to defend their goddess with all their might. Despite the odds, the Veilguard eventually managed to defeat Razikale.
Conclusion[]
After Davrin killed Razikale, her soul returned to Ghilan'nain, rendering her mortal again. Lucanis Dellamorte used Solas' lyrium dagger to try to kill the elven goddess, but failed when he missed to hit a vital point. Enraged at the lost of her Archdemon and her immortality, Ghilan'nain summoned a giant tide of blight, engulfing the whole of Weisshaupt, forcing the surviving Grey Wardens and the Veilguard to flee the ancient fortress.
Aftermath[]
Though the Veilguard was able to accomplish a strategic victory with the death of the Archdemon Razikale, thus rendering Ghilan'nain mortal, the battle would result in a major tactical victory for the Evanuris - it saw the destruction of the almost 1200-year-old fortress headquarters of the Grey Wardens and the near-annihilation of the entire Grey Warden order, with the survivors being evacuated to Lavendel in the Hossberg Wetlands.
The effects of the fall of Weisshaupt were also felt in Southern Thedas. As most of the Grey Wardens had left the South to help the Northern Wardens to deal with the darkspawn horde, and with no guarantee of any future Grey Warden help now that the Order was nearly wiped out, the South was left undefended against a second darkspawn horde that appeared in Ferelden.[2]
See Also[]
- The Siege of Weisshaupt
- Codex entry: From Davrin's Journal: The Worst Has Happened
- Missive: Message from the Front: The Fall of Weisshaupt
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 According to A Change on the Wind
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 According to Missive: Message from the Front: The Fall of Weisshaupt
- ↑ According to a report sent to the Veilguard by Evka Ivo after the battle.
| 9:00 Dragon 1994 TE 8399 FA |
Fereldan Rebellion (8:44–9:02) · Fifth Blight (9:30–31) · Siege of Castle Cousland (9:30) · Battle of Ostagar (9:30) · Fereldan Civil War (9:30–31) · Battle of Denerim (9:31) · Amaranthine conflict (9:31) · Battle of Vigil's Keep (9:31) · Assault on Amaranthine (9:31) · Siege of Vigil's Keep (9:31) · First Battle of Kirkwall (9:34) · Kirkwall Rebellion (9:37) · Mage-Templar War (9:37–9:41) · War of the Lions (9:40–9:41) · The Breach (9:41) · Modern Inquisition (9:41–44?) · War against the Elder One (9:41–42) · Siege of Haven (9:41) · Siege of Adamant Fortress (9:41) · Battle of the Arbor Wilds (9:42) · Exalted Council (9:44) · Antaam Rebellion (9:44–52?) · Sixth Blight (9:52?) · Fall of Weisshaupt (9:52?) | 9:99 Dragon 2093 TE 8498 FA |
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