The Deep Roads

Lore & Background

Centuries later, the Deep Roads remain a festering wound in Thedas. The darkspawn, creatures born of the Old Gods' corruption, have claimed these tunnels as their nursery and hunting grounds. They constantly breed in the darkness, swarming upward to attack surface settlements whenever the Blight returns or when they breach the seals. While some brave dwarves still venture down for salvage or glory, most view the Deep Roads with a mixture of reverence and dread, knowing that within those depths lies the source of their people's greatest tragedy.

Reader's Guide

The Deep Roads serve as the primary source of conflict regarding the Blight in Thedas. They are not merely a setting but an active antagonist, constantly threatening surface civilizations with darkspawn invasions. In the story of Dragon Age, these tunnels often act as the stage for critical quests where heroes must brave impossible odds to stop a growing threat or retrieve ancient artifacts. For dwarves specifically, they represent a lost paradise and a grave, driving many to seek redemption through descent. Understanding the Deep Roads is essential to grasping the cycle of the Blight. They are the breeding ground for the darkspawn and the hiding place of the Old Gods, making them the focal point of any effort to end a corruption or prevent the next one.

Did You Know?

• The deep tunnels are so vast that some dwarven cities within them were never fully mapped by surface dwellers.
• Darkspawn do not eat in the traditional sense; they consume flesh and stone, often driven mad by their nature.
• Many of the ancient dwarven statues found on the surface were originally carved to guard entrances to these roads.
• The Deep Roads are connected to the Fade through specific rifts created by the corruption of the Old Gods.