During Hawke's expedition to the Deep Roads in Act 1, the party comes across the lyrium idol on an altar inside a room within the Primeval Thaig. Composed on an unknown type of lyrium glowing red, the dwarves of the Primeval Thaig seemed to worship it. After inspecting the idol, Hawke throws it to Bartrand who then locks them in the chamber with no apparent way out.

In Act 2, during Varric's companion quest, it is revealed that the idol turned Bartrand insane. He began hearing voices and made his servants drink lyrium so that they could hear them too. Bartrand told Hawke that he sold the idol, but didn't say to whom, only saying, "She glittered like the sun, but her heart was cold as ice."

In Act 3, during the quest The Last Straw, Knight-Commander Meredith is revealed to have been the one to have bought the idol. She reshaped it to be her sword, and, as happened to Bartrand, it drove her insane as well. Meredith began to become increasingly paranoid, accusing all the mages in the Circle of using blood magic and going as far as to lock all mages in their quarters, execute all apostates and make Tranquil any mage who put a toe out of line. It also gave her unnatural powers such as the ability to animate the statues in the Gallows, and even limited flight capabilities.