Kal'Hirol

Kal'Hirol is a great thaig of the dwarves and long known as a center of learning for the smith caste. It is named after Paragon Hirol. It is situated beneath the Arling of Amaranthine in Ferelden.

History

Its workshops are where Paragon Hirol conceived his famous improvements to golem resilience and power, and where Hirol's favorite student developed a method for storing refined lyrium that is still used centuries after their conception. These breakthroughs brought Kal'Hirol great prosperity; its passageways are said to have glittered with gold and silver.

This didn't last long however as it fell to the darkspawn during or shortly afterwards the First Blight.^[1] As the dwarves of Kal'Hirol were evacuating the thaig, they forgot five hundred casteless who were left behind. Dailan, feeling that the guard would fail to delay the horde enough, proposed to the casteless that they join with him in the suicidal battle, and suggested they prove that they are not worthless as the dwarven society claimed. Despite opposition amongst some of the casteless, approximately two hundred volunteered for the duty. It is not known what happened to the others though at least a few attempted to find a route to the surface.

Involvement

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

The Warden-Commander successfully ventures into the great thaig in order to eliminate the broodmothers which reside in its lower levels as well as learn more about the darkspawn civil war. There it is uncovered that two hundred casteless dwarves were the last defence of the fortress in order to give enough time for the rest of the population of Kal'Hirol to escape in Orzammar's safety.

In the epilogue, it is mentioned that Kal'Hirol is cleared of darkspawn, and eventually the dwarves of Orzammar attempt to reclaim it. House Helmi ultimately leads a host of dwarves to clear the Deep Roads between Orzammar and Kal'Hirol, and though the losses were great, they are ultimately successful in 9:31 Dragon.