I Hope We See Kal-Sharok And Its Strange Dwarves In Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Kal-Sharok has been a subject of curiosity for the Dragon Age community ever since the ‘second’ Dwarven city was mentioned in Dragon Age: Origins.

Almost a millennium before the beginning of Origins, Kal-Sharok was believed to have been overrun by Darkspawn during the First Blight. However, a couple of years before the events of Origins, the Dwarves of Orzammar discover that Kal-Sharok had survived all of these years with no contact or support from the capital. The relationship between the two cities is frosty as Orzammar wants Kal-Sharok to re-submit to its royal authority.

Kal-Sharok was mostly an afterthought for players because most of the series takes place in southern Thedas, and Kal-Sharok is located under the Tevinter Imperium. In fact, Kal-Sharok was once bustling and wealthy because of its trade with Minrathous. The location of Kal-Sharok is now more relevant considering Dragon Age: The Veilguard takes place in northern Thedas.

As the original plan for Dragon Age: The Veilguard (then known as Dreadwolf) seemed to have the entirety of the game set in the Tevinter Imperium, Dragon Age: Inquisition fleshed out the lore of this area in preparation. Another location that got some love in the background of Inquisition was Kal-Sharok, which had a war table quest associated with it.

However, most of what we know of Kal-Sharok comes from the World of Thedas guidebook. The Dwarves of Kal-Sharok had to take desperate measures to survive in isolation from Orzammar, and as a result, were physically changed and ‘tainted’ in some way. We’ve never seen anyone from Kal-Sharok, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Darkspawn taint has played a role in their degradation.

Perhaps the Dwarves of Kal-Sharok came to an agreement with the Darkspawn, though I imagine The Architect would have mentioned this inter-species cooperation in Awakening. We saw in the anthology novel Tevinter Nights that horrific combination creatures were being created in the remains of Hormak (another ancient Dwarven city) by an unknown entity. Side note, I hope BioWare hasn’t put any of these in the game. I’m arachnophobic, I don’t want to fight a Hurlock with spider legs. I really don’t want to see what that looks like with 2024 graphics. I could certainly see the Dwarves of Kal-Sharok involved in some kind of plot line about the evolution of the Darkspawn threat.

There’s also the Ambassadoria: subterranean Dwarven embassies found in every Tevinter city. These embassies are aligned with Orzammar, but I could certainly see the Kal-Sharok Dwarves maintaining a presence here. The proximity of Kal-Sharok to Minrathous means we’ll almost definitely get to meet one of these altered Dwarves, even if we don’t get to set foot in the thaig itself.

As Orzammar is located beneath Ferelden, Dragon Age players haven’t had the opportunity to interact with the Kingdom since Origins. We’ve primarily been interacting with surface Dwarves, like Varric Tethras and Lace Harding. The introduction of Kal-Sharok Dwarves is an opportunity for BioWare to put the spotlight back on the ruthless history, lifestyle and politics of underground Dwarves.

Next

Former Dragon Age Writer Says She Wrote Lucanis To Be A ‘Bisexual Disaster’

We’ve found the hot mess of the group.