Archdemon

Archdemons are the Old Gods manifested in the form of powerful and terrifying dragons and tainted by darkspawn.
== Background ==
Archdemons possess an intelligence far beyond the average dragon and are purely evil creatures.Dragon Age (tabletop RPG), Core Rulebook, p. 293 Most of the time, the darkspawn are organized as a simple hive-mind, concerned only with expanding the horde. They rarely appear on the surface, except in raids and small invasions. Similarly, the Archdemon rarely fights on the surface during Blights unless direct intervention is necessary, though through the hive-mind, the Archdemon communicates with and commands the entire horde whether in their presence or not, usually sending its orders to the emissaries"Emissary". Official BioWare site. Retrieved January 28, 2012. or powerful hurlock generals;The Archdemon talks directly with the Hurlock vanguard in The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC Grey Wardens often "hear" the Archdemon in their dreams, veteran Wardens even claiming to understand parts of the Archdemon's speech.According to dialogue with Alistair in Dragon Age: Origins
A Blight begins when the darkspawn find and taint an Old God, who then unites them into a great horde and unleashes them onto the surface in both smaller groupings and large armies. The tainted Old God is now referred to as an Archdemon and a Blight will not end until it is destroyed. Without an Archdemon to command them, the darkspawn flee back underground. After a period of time, they search for another Old God to turn into an Archdemon and thus starting the cycle again.
Prior to the beginning of the Dragon Age there had been four previous Blights, each led by an Archdemon, Dumat, Zazikel, Toth and Andoral, respectively.
Since the dwarves managed to fend off the darkspawn invasion after the First Blight, no Archdemon has led a Blight against them. Instead, the dwarves consider the Blight to be something of a respite, as all darkspawn activity is focused on the surface.
== Involvement ==
=== Dragon Age: Origins ===
=== The Darkspawn Chronicles ===
== Archdemon Prisons ==
A few of the high-ranking Grey Wardens know the locations of each of the Archdemon prisons; however, they are deep underground and cannot easily be accessed by the Wardens without cutting through thousands of darkspawn. Even the Wardens who hold the knowledge of the Archdemon prisons are not necessarily aware of how this information has been acquired.Dragon Age: The Calling, Chapter 10. Bregan, former Commander of the Grey in Orlais, knows the location of the prisons.
According to a report sent by Kardol of the Legion of the Dead to Orzammar's Shaperate, he accidentally discovered a cavern beneath the Heidrun Turning which was accessible via tunnels dug by darkspawn claws. The cavern smells foul and claw marks are ripped into the rock. There are also several darkspawn corpses dried out with their heads pressed against the stone, as if they were praying. Furthermore, the darkspawn could not follow the Legionnaires inside the empty cavern but the Legionnaires also started feeling numb and dizzy. Kardol believes this was a prison of an Archdemon, its echo still lasts to this day.
Beneath the Shimmer Stone Mine there is a dwarven thaig which the Wardens believe to contain another Archdemon Prison, they were guided to it by listening to the Calling.Note: Ancient Warden Logbook
However in both locations the ground is notably extremely weak and prone to cave-ins. In both cases the Legionnaires and the Wardens lost men as a result of this.
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== See also ==
:Archdemon (strategy)
== References ==
Category:Creatures
Category:Dragon Age: Origins creatures
Category:Darkspawn
Category:Archdemons
Category:Dragons
Category:Old Gods
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