Codex text
The pleasure Cassius takes in dissecting the beasts is repugnant. A genlock was on the operating table today. The man actually giggled as he put the knife to the monster's chest and black blood pooled from the incision.
"I wonder what sound it'd make if it were still alive," he mused, pulling back the flaps of thick, pale skin.
"I don't know. Gargling?"
If Cassius caught my tone, he ignored it and continued gabbing. "So much muscle. And look at the hands! They're almost twice the size of the feet! Fetch me a jar."
I obeyed, then stood back, covering my mouth to avoid the splatter, as he removed each appendage.
He separated the head last and held it up to candlelight. "The broodmother that spawned this creature was once a dwarf. What I would give to study one. Another jar, please."
As Cassius dropped the head inside the glass container, I swear I saw the putrid eyes blink. I don't know how much more I can stomach.
—An excerpt from The Blighted Codex, a classified collection of studies on the darkspawn, held safely in the Imperial Library in Minrathous, available only to members of the Magisterium
