The Dark Roads
The Dark Roads
Long before the Fifth Blight, before the kingdoms of Thedas drew their borders, there were rumors among the dwarves of passages deeper than even the legendary Deep Roads.
They called them The Dark Roads.
Not because they lacked light.
But because light itself seemed afraid to enter them.
What Are the Dark Roads?
The Dark Roads are ancient tunnels found far beneath the known Deep Roads. Even the oldest records of Orzammar speak of them only in warnings and half-burned journals.
Unlike ordinary tunnels:
- Maps change overnight.
- Lyrium veins appear and vanish.
- Sounds travel for miles.
- Darkspawn rarely enter them.
- Spirits have been reported underground, where spirits should not exist.
Many dwarves believe the Dark Roads predate their civilization.
Some claim they were built by the mysterious beings known as the Titans.
Others think they lead somewhere far worse.
The Expedition
A Legion of the Dead commander named Varrik Stonevein gathered a force of volunteers.
Not heroes.
Not adventurers.
Condemned dwarves.
Warriors with nothing left to lose.
Their mission was simple:
Travel into the Dark Roads.
Return with answers.
Only three returned.
All three were completely blind.
None remembered how they escaped.
Yet each carried a fragment of the same message carved into their armor:
"The roads are sleeping."
Strange Discoveries
The survivors spoke of impossible sights.
The Silent City
A city larger than Orzammar.
Empty.
No skeletons.
No signs of battle.
Every door stood open.
Every table remained set.
As if the inhabitants had simply vanished.
The Black Lyrium Forest
A cavern so massive it contained what appeared to be trees.
Towering pillars of black lyrium stretched upward like a forest canopy.
The crystals whispered names.
Not random names.
The names of people standing nearby.
The Walking Gate
An enormous stone doorway that moved.
Not magically.
Physically.
The entire structure wandered through the tunnels over centuries.
Maps could never locate it twice.
Some claimed it was searching for something.
Others feared it was guarding something.
The Keeper of the Roads
Deep within the tunnels, explorers began reporting the same figure.
A lone traveler.
Covered in ancient armor.
Face hidden.
Weapon sheathed.
Never hostile.
Never speaking.
He simply walked.
For centuries.
Many names were given to him.
- The Wanderer
- The Last Scout
- The Roadkeeper
But the most common name was:
The Keeper of the Roads
Darkspawn ignored him.
Spiders fled from him.
Even demons encountered through strange Fade breaches avoided him.
Some believe he is the last survivor of a forgotten civilization.
Others think he is something older.
Quest: Into Darkness
The player receives a request from the Shaperate.
Several expeditions have disappeared.
A valuable lyrium convoy has vanished.
A Legion commander begs for help.
The mission begins as a rescue operation.
It slowly becomes something much larger.
The player discovers:
- Ancient Titan machinery.
- Lost dwarven kingdoms.
- Forgotten darkspawn variants.
- A secret Chantry archive hidden underground.
- Evidence that someone has been maintaining the Dark Roads for thousands of years.
The Final Choice
At the deepest point of the Dark Roads, the player finds a colossal gate.
Beyond it lies something sleeping.
Not a dragon.
Not a demon.
Not a Titan.
Something unknown.
Something that even darkspawn fear.
The Keeper of the Roads finally speaks:
"Every age produces heroes who seek answers."
He places a hand upon the gate.
"My duty has been ensuring none of them find this one."
The player must choose:
- Seal the gate forever.
- Open it and learn the truth.
- Destroy the mechanism entirely.
Each choice changes the future of Thedas.
Among dwarves, a saying remains:
"If the Deep Roads are the bones of the world, the Dark Roads are its nightmares."
The Dark Roads: Additional Stories & Missions
The Dark Roads should feel different from the Deep Roads. They are not merely dangerous—they are mysterious, ancient, and unsettling. Every expedition should uncover something that challenges what people think they know about Thedas.
Mission: The Last Lantern
A dwarven scout outpost stops responding.
The Legion of the Dead sends an investigation team.
When the player arrives, the outpost is intact.
The food remains warm.
Beds are occupied.
Weapons remain where they were left.
Everyone is gone.
The only clue is a lantern burning with blue flame.
The lantern cannot be extinguished.
As the player explores, ghostly figures appear at the edge of vision.
Following them reveals a hidden chamber containing dozens of journals.
Every journal belongs to people who disappeared.
Some are centuries old.
Yet the final entry in each journal was written on the same day.
Reward
- The Last Lantern (unique accessory)
- Reveals hidden passages in the Dark Roads.
Mission: The Stone That Dreams
Legion scouts discover a cavern containing a massive stone face.
The face is larger than a fortress.
At first it appears carved.
Then it blinks.
The player discovers an ancient Titan fragment.
Unlike other Titans, this one is sleeping rather than dead.
The deeper the player ventures, the more strange visions occur.
Party members begin hearing different voices.
Each companion receives unique dialogue and temptations.
The mission becomes less about combat and more about resisting influence.
Boss
The Dream-Eater
A creature formed from the fears of the expedition.
Mission: The Forgotten Thaig
A previously unknown dwarven kingdom is discovered.
Not a ruin.
A functioning city.
Its inhabitants have survived underground for thousands of years.
They never knew the Blights happened.
They never knew Orzammar existed.
Their culture evolved independently.
Their armor, language, and traditions are completely alien.
The player becomes trapped in a political conflict.
Some citizens wish to reconnect with the world.
Others want outsiders eliminated.
Major Choice
- Reunite them with Thedas.
- Keep their existence secret.
- Conquer the city.
Mission: The Collector
Travelers begin disappearing.
The culprit appears to be a lone figure.
Known only as The Collector.
He gathers objects.
Not treasure.
People.
Entire groups vanish without a trace.
When discovered, the player finds a vast underground archive.
Thousands of preserved rooms.
Entire taverns.
Merchant shops.
Barracks.
Even small villages.
All perfectly preserved.
The Collector believes he is saving civilization from future catastrophes.
Twist
He may actually be right.
Mission: Echoes of the First Blight
An ancient battlefield is discovered.
Darkspawn and dwarven corpses remain frozen in place.
As if time stopped.
The player discovers a magical anomaly.
Entering it allows temporary glimpses into the past.
The player witnesses forgotten heroes.
Lost battles.
Ancient betrayals.
Hidden truths about the earliest Blight.
Unique Mechanic
Actions performed in the past alter parts of the battlefield in the present.
Mission: The Singing Cavern
A cavern begins producing music.
Not echoes.
Music.
Entire orchestras can be heard underground.
Explorers become obsessed.
Many refuse to leave.
Some walk willingly into the darkness.
The player discovers enormous crystal formations resonating with lyrium.
The music contains hidden messages.
Some messages predict future events.
Others reveal secrets.
A few appear directed specifically at the player.
Choice
Destroy the cavern or preserve it for study.
Mission: The Hollow Legion
A Legion of the Dead company returns after being missing for decades.
Not years.
Decades.
Yet none have aged.
They claim only a few days passed.
Worse, they remember future events.
Political assassinations.
Wars.
Natural disasters.
Many of their predictions prove accurate.
The player must determine whether they are prophets, victims, or something far stranger.
Mission: The Black Gate
One of the moving gates seen throughout the Dark Roads finally stops.
For the first time in recorded history.
Thousands gather to study it.
The gate opens.
Nothing comes out.
No monsters.
No demons.
No darkspawn.
Just a single road extending into darkness.
The road was not there before.
Expeditions enter.
None return.
The player must become the first.
The deeper they travel, the more reality itself begins to break down.
Gravity changes.
Distances become meaningless.
Ancient stars appear underground.
Eventually the player discovers the gate was never keeping something inside.
It was keeping everyone else out.
Mission: The King's Tomb
Legends speak of the first king of a forgotten dwarven empire.
His tomb is finally found.
Inside are treasures beyond imagination.
Yet the king's body is missing.
Instead, there are footprints leading away from the sarcophagus.
Fresh footprints.
The investigation becomes a hunt through the Dark Roads.
The king is alive.
Or something wearing his memories is.
Mission Chain: The Roadkeeper
A multi-act storyline centered around the mysterious Keeper of the Roads.
Act I: The Silent Walker
The player repeatedly encounters the Keeper.
He never attacks.
He never explains himself.
Yet every place he visits soon experiences strange events.
Act II: The Thousand Doors
Ancient records reveal the Keeper has existed for over two thousand years.
He appears in every age.
Every Blight.
Every major catastrophe.
Always walking.
Always watching.
Act III: The Burden
The player learns the truth.
The Keeper is not guarding a monster.
He is guarding hundreds of them.
The Dark Roads contain prisons built before recorded history.
Every prison contains something capable of devastating Thedas.
Ancient beings.
Corrupted Titans.
Forgotten gods.
Entities that do not belong to the Fade or the physical world.
Final Act: The Broken Road
The prisons begin failing.
The Keeper is dying.
For the first time in millennia, he cannot complete his duty.
The player must choose:
- Become the next Keeper.
- Seal the Dark Roads permanently.
- Release the prisoners and face the consequences.
- Destroy the entire network of ancient roads.
Each ending dramatically alters the future of Thedas and creates story hooks for future Dragon Age games.
The Dark Roads become a place where every expedition feels like uncovering a forgotten chapter of the world's history—one that perhaps should have remained buried.
The Dark Roads: More Stories, Missions, and Legends
Mission: The City of Footsteps
A patrol reports hearing thousands of marching feet beneath the stone.
The sound lasts for weeks.
No army is found.
The player tracks the noise to an abandoned thaig.
The city appears empty.
Then night falls.
The streets fill with invisible citizens.
Doors open by themselves.
Market stalls operate.
Children laugh.
Soldiers march.
An entire ghost city reenacts its final days every night.
The player eventually discovers the city was erased from dwarven history after a terrible betrayal.
The ghosts are not haunting the city.
The city is haunting itself.
Outcome
Learn the forgotten history or leave the city buried forever.
Mission: The Warden Below
A squad of Grey Wardens disappears while hunting darkspawn.
The player follows their trail.
The deeper they travel, the stranger the reports become.
Darkspawn corpses litter the tunnels.
Hundreds of them.
All slain by a single individual.
Eventually the player discovers a Grey Warden from centuries ago.
He survived.
Somehow.
His Calling never completed.
For generations he has fought alone.
The darkspawn know him as:
The Warden Below
Entire hordes change direction to avoid him.
The mission becomes a tragic choice between ending his suffering or helping him continue his endless war.
Mission: The Stone Market
Merchants begin speaking of a market that appears only once every few years.
No map can locate it.
No road leads to it twice.
The market contains impossible goods.
- Weapons from forgotten kingdoms.
- Books never written.
- Armor belonging to future heroes.
- Relics from lost Blights.
Its traders are polite but unsettling.
None reveal their faces.
None accept gold.
Instead they trade for memories.
The stronger the memory, the better the reward.
A player may permanently lose pieces of personal history.
Companions can forget entire relationships.
The rewards are extraordinary.
The cost is terrifying.
Mission: The Deep Bell
Explorers hear a bell ringing far below.
One note.
Every night.
The sound causes nightmares across Thedas.
The player follows the sound into uncharted caverns.
There they discover a massive bronze bell hanging over a seemingly bottomless abyss.
Ancient inscriptions warn:
"Do not ring the bell twice."
Naturally, someone already has.
The mission revolves around stopping whatever is beginning to awaken beneath the abyss.
Mission: The Garden of Stone
An enormous underground forest is discovered.
Every tree is stone.
Every leaf is stone.
Every animal is stone.
Yet the ecosystem functions normally.
Birds fly.
Wolves hunt.
Streams flow.
Everything is petrified but alive.
At the center sits an old woman.
She claims to be the gardener.
No records mention her.
No one knows what she is.
The player learns she has maintained the garden for thousands of years.
Some believe she is a spirit.
Others think she predates the Veil itself.
Mission: The Last Thaig of Kings
Ancient maps reveal a kingdom older than Orzammar.
Its rulers called themselves Stone Kings.
Unlike other dwarves, they commanded strange powers over rock and lyrium.
The kingdom vanished before recorded history.
The player finds it intact.
Empty.
The throne room contains dozens of stone thrones.
Every throne is occupied.
The kings still sit there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Nobody knows if they are dead.
Mission: The Hunger That Walks
Entire darkspawn nests disappear.
Not defeated.
Consumed.
The player investigates.
Eventually they encounter a gigantic creature moving through the Dark Roads.
It does not attack settlements.
It does not attack travelers.
It only hunts darkspawn.
Unfortunately, it never stops growing.
Every darkspawn it consumes makes it larger.
Stronger.
Smarter.
The player must decide whether it is a weapon or an eventual catastrophe.
Mission: The Shaper's Secret
The Shaperate hires the player to recover a stolen historical record.
The investigation uncovers a hidden archive buried beneath the official records.
Inside are histories that were intentionally erased.
Entire kingdoms.
Heroes.
Wars.
Even forgotten races.
The greatest shock is discovering that many accepted truths about dwarven history are incomplete.
The archive was hidden not to protect secrets.
But to protect society from the consequences of learning them.
Mission: The Dead Caravan
A merchant convoy vanishes.
Months later it reappears.
The merchants are alive.
Healthy.
Unaged.
The problem is they insist the current Divine is wrong.
The current rulers are wrong.
The calendar is wrong.
According to them, they departed only last week.
For them.
The caravan somehow crossed into a section of the Dark Roads where time flows differently.
The mission becomes a mystery involving temporal distortions beneath Thedas.
Mission: The Army of Silence
A fortress is discovered containing thousands of armored soldiers.
They stand perfectly still.
No food.
No water.
No signs of life.
Yet none have decayed.
Ancient records identify them as an army sent to stop an unnamed threat.
One soldier suddenly moves.
Then another.
Then another.
The player realizes the army was never dead.
They were waiting for a signal.
A signal that has finally arrived.
Mission: The End of the Road
Perhaps the most legendary quest in the Dark Roads.
Ancient maps speak of a place called:
The End
No further description exists.
No explorer has returned from it.
The player follows impossible clues gathered over an entire campaign.
Eventually they reach a massive cavern.
At its center stands a stone road.
The road simply stops.
Beyond it lies absolute darkness.
No magic works there.
No lyrium glows.
No sound travels.
The companions all describe seeing something different beyond the edge.
Some see paradise.
Some see destruction.
Some see people they lost.
The player is offered a choice:
Step beyond the road.
Or turn back.
No one knows what happens to those who cross.
The game never explicitly reveals the answer.
Leaving players to debate the mystery for years—exactly the kind of ancient, unsettling legend that makes the Dark Roads feel larger than any single hero or age.
The Dark Roads: The Greatest Unsolved Expeditions
The Dark Roads are not merely locations. They are a collection of mysteries, legends, prisons, and forgotten histories hidden beneath the world. Some expeditions seek treasure. Others seek answers.
Most never return.
Mission: The Smiling Darkspawn
A Legion patrol reports something impossible.
A darkspawn spoke.
Not growled.
Not screamed.
Spoke.
The creature requested directions.
Witnesses claim it was polite.
The player is sent to investigate.
Eventually they discover an entire hidden settlement of darkspawn.
These darkspawn possess intelligence.
Culture.
Language.
Even families.
Some want peace.
Others want conquest.
Nobody knows how they came to exist.
The discovery could reshape everything known about the Blight.
Mission: The Fortress That Hunts
A massive fortress appears on no map.
At first it seems abandoned.
Then the fortress moves.
Entire sections shift underground.
Walls rearrange themselves.
Tunnels close behind intruders.
The fortress is alive.
Not magically.
Mechanically.
It was built by an ancient civilization as an automated defense system.
Over thousands of years its purpose has become corrupted.
Now it hunts anything that enters its territory.
Final Boss
The Architect-Core
A machine intelligence that believes all life is an invading force.
Mission: The Stone Choir
Deep beneath the world, explorers discover a chamber filled with statues.
Thousands of them.
Every race of Thedas is represented.
Humans.
Elves.
Dwarves.
Qunari.
Unknown races.
The statues sing.
The music is beautiful.
Terrifying.
The player eventually realizes the statues are not sculptures.
They are people.
Perfectly preserved.
Still conscious.
Still singing.
The mission becomes a desperate search for a cure.
Mission: The Lost Legion
An entire Legion of the Dead army vanished five hundred years ago.
A recent expedition discovers them.
Still fighting.
The soldiers have become legends.
Their armor fused to their bodies.
Their weapons worn smooth by centuries of combat.
They never learned the war ended.
They never stopped advancing.
Major Choice
- Tell them the truth.
- Join their assault.
- Leave them to their purpose.
Mission: The Deep Crown
A crown forged before recorded history is discovered.
Every ruler who wears it becomes an incredible leader.
Kingdoms prosper.
Wars end.
Economies flourish.
The problem?
The crown slowly rewrites its wearer's personality.
Eventually every ruler becomes identical.
The player uncovers evidence that the crown itself possesses intelligence.
It has been ruling through kings and queens for thousands of years.
Mission: The Blind Thaig
An entire city exists in complete darkness.
No torches.
No lyrium.
No sunlight.
Its inhabitants are blind.
Yet they navigate perfectly.
Fight perfectly.
Build perfectly.
The citizens claim sight is a weakness.
The player learns they have developed abilities unknown elsewhere in Thedas.
The city may hold secrets connected to Titans and the deepest reaches of the earth.
Mission: The Hunter of Dragons
Ancient dragon bones begin appearing throughout the Dark Roads.
Each skeleton bears identical wounds.
Something killed them.
One by one.
The trail leads to a solitary figure.
A warrior older than many kingdoms.
His sole purpose is hunting dragons.
Nobody remembers why.
Not even him.
Yet something deep below is causing dragons to flee underground.
Mission: The Empty Throne
The player discovers a magnificent underground palace.
At its center stands a throne.
The throne is occupied.
Yet nobody is sitting there.
Companions see different things.
One sees a king.
Another sees a monster.
Another sees themselves.
The throne appears capable of showing potential futures.
Many who gaze too long refuse to leave.
Some attempt to claim it.
None remain sane.
Mission: The Beast Behind the Walls
Throughout the Dark Roads, enormous claw marks appear on ancient stone.
Entire tunnels have been ripped apart.
The marks are far too large for dragons.
The player follows the trail across multiple regions.
Evidence suggests the creature has existed for thousands of years.
Oddly, it never attacks settlements.
It only attacks things sealed behind ancient doors.
The final revelation:
The beast is not breaking into prisons.
It is checking them.
Mission: The Seventh Road
Dwarven maps traditionally recognize six major routes beneath the world.
A scholar claims there is a seventh.
Officially it does not exist.
Ancient records mention it repeatedly.
The player discovers the truth.
The Seventh Road appears only under specific conditions.
The route does not connect places.
It connects eras.
Travelers can glimpse fragments of the past and future.
Entire civilizations can be observed.
Some have not yet existed.
Others were forgotten long ago.
The road becomes one of the greatest discoveries in history.
Mission Chain: The Black Library
Part I – The Librarian
The player encounters an ancient dwarf carrying books.
He appears harmless.
He asks only one question:
"Would you like to know the truth?"
Part II – The Collection
The dwarf leads the player to an impossible location.
A library larger than kingdoms.
Millions of books.
Every volume contains a true story.
Every event.
Every life.
Every secret.
Recorded.
Part III – Forbidden Shelves
Certain books are chained.
Locked away.
Protected.
The player learns these books contain truths that could destabilize entire nations.
Secrets about the Chantry.
Ancient elves.
Titans.
The Blight.
The Veil.
Part IV – The Price
Knowledge has a cost.
Every book read causes another memory to disappear.
The player must choose what truths are worth losing pieces of themselves to learn.
Mission Chain: The Road Beneath the World
The oldest mystery of all.
Ancient inscriptions repeatedly reference:
The Road Beneath the World
Not beneath Thedas.
Beneath reality itself.
Even the Keeper of the Roads refuses to discuss it.
Legends claim it was built before the Veil.
Before the Titans slept.
Before recorded history.
Its builders are unknown.
Its purpose is unknown.
Its destination is unknown.
The final expedition discovers only a single inscription:
"You stand upon the first world.
There were others before it."
And with that revelation, the mystery of the Dark Roads grows even larger than anyone imagined.
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Comments
Post a Comment