Notes

Darkspawn:

History:
With the fall of the Golden City and the beginning of the First Blight in -395 Ancient, a dark age descended onto Thedas as the darkspawn rampaged across the continent, destroying everything in their path. The Tevinter Imperium suffered greatly, becoming severely weakened and fractured under the strain of the invasion, while the subterranean empire of the dwarves was laid waste, with only their four major kingdoms Orzammar, Gundaar, Hormak and Kal-Sharok surviving. After nearly a century of hopeless, unending war, the Order of the Grey Wardens was established at Weisshaupt Fortress in -305 Ancient, and proved instrumental in the defeat of the Archdemon Dumat at the Battle of the Silent Plains. The darkspawn invasion had been beaten, but the darkspawn would retreat underground to rebuild and recover.

Ancient Grey Warden records revealed that in the wake of the First Blight, Grey Wardens discovered that some darkspawn could think and speak; and also commanded portions of the darkspawn horde even after the Archdemon's death. A few could wield magic with the skill of a Tevinter magister, and the Wardens greatly feared them.
Over the centuries, four more Blights would occur, the latest occurring in 9:30 Dragon. Each time, the Blight would be stopped with heavy losses, with the darkspawn destroying entire cities or even kingdoms before being beaten back by the nations of Thedas and the Grey Wardens. With the exception of Anderfels, darkspawn appearances on the surface most frequently promote fears of a Blight, however this does not occur until an Archdemon is awakened by the darkspawn. Without an Archdemon leading them, darkspawn hordes are much smaller and less effective in the raids they often launch, but are still dangerous. However, that is not the case in the underground, as the dwarves have been constantly fighting a losing battle against the darkspawn for more than a millennium. This has resulted in the underground of Thedas being almost entirely controlled by darkspawn with the exception of what remains of the kingdoms of Orzammar and Kal-Sharok. Some thaigs have been recently reclaimed, but at heavy costs to the dwarves.
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Hierarchy:

Newborn darkspawn will inevitably fight amongst themselves and try to kill each other, possibly by instinct. This serves to weed out the weaker darkspawn. Occasionally one young darkspawn will be so much more powerful than the rest that it kills the entire brood. This darkspawn is called an alpha. They are generally taller, stronger and much more intelligent than the rest of their kind.[19][20] They also wear better armor.

Accordingly, an even more powerful alpha that manages to slay other alphas gains the extremely rare omega rank. Only one omega-ranked darkspawn was ever fought directly, during a random encounter.

Emissaries are highly intelligent darkspawn that draw on the power of the taint to cast spells. They act as "shamans" or spiritual leaders to the darkspawn. Emissary alphas are the most powerful of the magic wielding darkspawn.

Mature darkspawn continue to disfavor each other and tend to group together with their own kind (genlocks with genlocks, etc.) even when traveling in force.[19]

During a Blight only an Archdemon can command the entire darkspawn horde. Alphas serve as the commanders and generals of the darkspawn[19][21], while omegas are "second-in-command" to the Archdemon. The strongest alphas and omegas receive direct orders from the Archdemon itself.[22] Emissaries ensure that darkspawn follow the Archdemon's will and that alphas serve the Archdemon's interests and not their own.[19]

Without a Blight, the darkspawn remain underground except for raids. When there isn't an Archdemon to direct the darkspawn, the "chain of command" within the communal mind of the darkspawn breaks down, with individual alphas and omegas assuming a sort of leadership position as "tyrants", splitting the horde amongst themselves and fighting for dominance.[20] Emissaries ensure that darkspawn search for the Archdemons outside of a Blight.
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Darkspawn and other races:

Darkspawn exist solely for one purpose: war against all sentient beings in Thedas. As a rule, they are completely hostile to outsiders. Anything caught venturing underground will be attacked, and anything caught in their path during a raid or a Blight will be mercilessly slaughtered. Surrendering to darkspawn is generally foolish; even if they spare a prisoner's life, they will still drag them back to the Deep Roads.

Those who come in contact with darkspawn will eventually contract the blight disease and either perish outright or turn into ghouls. Once the taint progresses enough, the darkspawn recognize them as their own kind and ghouls can sense darkspawn. Such people often show signs of insanity and usually work for the darkspawn in order to craft their weapons and armor.

Male prisnors are devoured and tortured for entertainment once their effective labour is used up, while the females are turned into broodmothers.
Darkspawn constantly wage war with the dwarves outside of the Blights (except the First Blight); this has led many subterranean dwarves to view Blights as a grand and peaceful time, as these are the only occasions when the darkspawn empty the Deep Roads and cease attacking them.