Disciple Alphas (Horde of Urthemiel Tier 3): image - Dragon Age: Total War mod for Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms

Disciples are a very different kind of darkspawn, recently "awakened" Hurlocks capable of speech, free will and tactical thinking on the scale of humans. The Disciples are not a natural breed of darkspawn, having artificially been created by the Architect during the ancient Darkspawn Magister's studies of the Taint. By making darkspawn ingest the blood of a Grey Warden, the Architect discovered they would gain immunity to the Call of the Old Gods. This newfound liberty caused these darkspawn to develop their own personalities, and make their own choices, some have even learned how to curtail their violent tendencies and become wanderers seeking interaction and even friendship with those dwelling on the surface. Although freed from the Calling, they are still intertwined with darkspawn hive-senses by virtue of their tainted blood, still capable of detecting and being detected by their brothers, this factor, amongst many others, makes them able to influence and command lesser darkspawn that obey their orders with a mixture of fear and reverence. It is, however, when the Disciples are gathered into a single until that their might becomes abundantly clear. Wielding unique and very strong armour, well-made weapons, and posessing a level of organization beyond that of other darkspawn, Disciple Alphas are the most powerful force the Darkspawn can muster short of the Archdemon and it's endless legions, marching into battle with massive tower shields and a wide assortment of weapons chosen by each as a weapon of choice. Although their reasons for remaining with the Horde varies, it is known that many of these powerful darkspawn long to hear the Song once again, ruing their new freedom and turning against their "liberator" the Architect by serving the Archdemon.