Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate!

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sign of corruption. This gilded cage is the only world you know. Found to be sensitive to magic
at a young age, you were torn from your family and grafted here as an apprentice. Now, that
apprenticeship is nearly over and all that remains is the final test: the Harrowing.

Extras
Traveler's Guide
We designed Dragon Age: Origins with the goal of creating of a world with weight and history.
A place that felt both lived in and steeped in its own past, much of it forgotten. In the following
pages, you'll go in-depth with the world of Thedas. You'll learn secrets and lore about the stout
nation of Ferelden, the excesses of Orlais, the mysterious nature of the Fade and much more.   

Of course, not everything you will read in these pages is true, in an absolute, historical sense.
Much of the world's history is shrouded from even the greatest scholars, and many of the facts
you will learn below represent the best guesses of the finest minds of the Chantry and Circle of
Magi. Still, you hold an accurate representation of the current trends in thought, philosophy,
history and religion at the time of Dragon Age: Origins.   

Whether you're an aspiring module-maker with the toolset open before you, a game master
looking for more in-depth information about the world, or simply a curious soul, welcome to the
Thedas!

—The Dragon Age: Origins Team

Thedas

Thedas is bounded to the east by the Amaranthine Ocean, to the west by the Trishan and the
Hunterhorn Mountains, to the south by the snowy wastes that lie beyond the Korcari Wilds,
and to the north by the Donarks.

The word "Thedas" is Tevinter in origin, originally used to refer to lands that bordered the
Imperium. As the Imperium lost its stranglehold on conquered nations, more and more lands
became Thedas, until finally the name came to apply to the entire continent.

The northern part of Thedas is divided amongst the Anderfels, the Tevinter Imperium, Antiva,
and Rivain, with the islands of Par Vollen and Seheron held by the Qunari just off the coast.
Central Thedas consists of the vast stretch of city-states known as the Free Marches, as well
as the nations of Nevarra and Orlais, with Ferelden to the southeast.

What lies beyond the snowy wastes of the south is a mystery. The freezing temperatures and
barren land have kept even the most intrepid cartographers at bay. Similarly, the far western
reaches of the Anderfels have never been fully explored, even by the Anders themselves. We
do not know if the dry steppes are shadowed by mountains, or if they extend all the way to a
nameless sea.
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

There must be other lands, continents, or islands, perhaps across the Amaranthine or north of
Par Vollen, for the Qunari arrived in Thedas from somewhere, but beyond that deduction we
know nothing. The idea that "the world" consists solely of the lands we know about will one day
be disproved, and no doubt much to our collective dismay.

—From In Pursuit of Knowledge:

The Travels of a Chantry Scholar,
by Brother Genitivi.

Long ago, the land of Thedas was populated only sparsely by the elves and dwarves. The
elves, immortal beings for whom time passed without consequence and who lived spread out
on the surface lands, existed in tandem with the forests and nature. The dwarves, meanwhile,
were content to live beneath the mountains in an underground kingdom that spanned all of
Thedas, shaping stone and mining the enchanted metal known as lyrium. And so both races
continued until the humans came. Where they came from is unknown, and the humans
themselves would deny that they ever came from anywhere else, but both the elves and the
dwarves claim that there was once a time when humans did not walk the land.

The elves encountered the humans first and found this upstart race of quick-lived mortals to be
too angry and too impatient. Horrified, the elves withdrew from human contact as the humans
spread quickly across Thedas. Humans formed the great Tevinter Imperium, a land ruled by
tyrannical magisters who worshipped the mysterious Old Gods, ancient dragons that,
according to legend, had once challenged the might of the Maker and thus were imprisoned by
him forever beneath the ground—and yet who still whispered in the ears of men from their
prisons and taught them forbidden knowledge. These magisters learned magic from the Old
Gods and became powerful, demanding blood sacrifices from their subjects, worship of the Old
Gods, and tribute from the dwarves and the elves. Eventually the greed of their Imperium grew
so great that they destroyed the elven homeland of Arlathan, enslaving the entire elven race
and using their usurped wealth to rule all of Thedas.

And so the Tevinter Imperium ruled until its might was challenged by the first Blight. In their
pride, the Tevinter magisters succeeded in opening a gateway into the Golden City—heaven
itself, an unreachable place within the heart of the dream realm known as the Fade. However,
humanity was never meant to walk in heaven, and with each step, these men corrupted it. It
became the Black City, and the magisters in turn became twisted and tainted by their own sin,
transformed into the darkspawn and thrown back down to Earth by the Maker. They had
become creatures that shied from the light and multiplied into terrible hordes in the
underground tunnels of the dwarves. These darkspawn sought out and found one of the Old
Gods in its underground prison and infected it with their taint, and the great dragon arose as
the first archdemon. This creature led the darkspawn horde to the surface, bringing the nations
of Thedas to their knees. The people of the Imperium turned to the other Old Gods, praying for
protection, but none was forthcoming.

Humanity was brought to the brink of destruction, and only a newly formed order known as the
Grey Wardens managed to defeat the archdemon and end the Blight. The Imperium was
greatly weakened, however, and it did not have the strength to defend itself when a great army
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of barbarians invaded from the south, led by the prophet Andraste. Andraste proclaimed that
magic should exist to serve humanity rather than rule over it. She railed against the magisters
and claimed the Old Gods were lies, insisting that the Maker was the One True God of all
humanity. Her teachings spread quickly, and much of the Imperium crumbled before her
armies. Andraste died a martyr, and around her legend grew a cult, and with it came the Chant
of Light: a chant filled with Andraste's teachings that her priests claimed must be sung from
every corner of the world until the Maker forgave humanity for his prophet's death and turned
the world into a paradise. As this cult grew, so were the Old Gods quickly forgotten and
abandoned. They had forsaken the Imperium and betrayed its people in its hour of need, and
so the old temples quickly fell by the wayside of history.

It was not long before another of the Old Gods awoke to lead the darkspawn in the Second
Blight and plunge the world into terror once again. The greatest military mind in Thedas,
Emperor Drakon of Orlais, became humanity's best defender; he pushed back the darkspawn
hordes before his armies, and as his own power grew, he spread the cult of Andraste. The cult
was known as "the Chantry," and during those dark years, it became the dominant religion
even in the old Imperium. It forbade the use of blood magic and mind control; however, the
Circle of Magi was formed to allow magic to be harnessed against the darkspawn while
ensuring that its mages were carefully watched. Between the Circle of Magi, Emperor Drakon,
and a rejuvenated order of Grey Wardens, the Second Blight was thrown back and the
dreaded archdemon that led it finally defeated.

Over the centuries to come, two more Blights would arise, threaten humanity, and be defeated.
In the last Blight, the Grey Wardens finally struck such a blow against the darkspawn that
everyone was certain that their threat was finally over. The nations of humanity prospered until
yet another race suddenly appeared and invaded the continent: the Qunari, a race of bronze
giants with an alien religion that compels them to dominate all others. In a great war, they
invaded deep into the heart of Thedas. Humanity was forced to band together to bring their
invasion to a halt and finally pushed them back.

For centuries, there has been an unsteady peace with the Qunari, allowing the nations of
Thedas to once again rebuild and prosper. Only recently have the Qunari stepped up their
battles against the remnants of the Tevinter Imperium, and their war has escalated to the point
where it threatens to once again engulf the rest of Thedas in conflict. Thus the darkspawn are
a forgotten threat, the idea that they might now resurface again after four centuries
disregarded. The Grey Wardens insist, however, that another Blight lies on the horizon. With
the Grey Warden numbers having declined greatly and humanity at large giving little credibility
to the return of such a threat, the lands of Thedas may be in store for their greatest challenge
yet.

History

The Thedas Calendar

For most good folk, the details of our calendar have little purpose. It is useful only for telling
them when the Summerday Festival will be held, when the snows are expected to begin, and
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

when the best time to harvest will be. The naming of the years are a matter for historians and
taxmen, and few could even tell you if pressed the reason that our current age is named after
dragons.

It is 9:30 Dragon Age, the 30th year of the 9th age since the first began with the crowning of
the Chantry's first Divine. Each age is exactly 100 years, with the next age being named on the
99th year of the previous. It is said that the scholars in Val Royeaux advise the Chantry of
portents that have been sighted on that 99th year, portents that are sorted and pored over for
months by the Chantry authorities until finally the Divine announces the name of the age to
come. The name is said to be an omen of what is to come, of what the people of Thedas will
face for the next 100 years.

It is interesting to note that the current age was not originally meant to be the Dragon Age.
Throughout the last months of the Blessed Age, the Chantry was fully prepared to declare the
Sun Age, named after the symbol of the Orlesian Empire that sprawled over much of southern
Thedas and controlled both Ferelden and what is today Nevarra. It was to be a celebration of
Orlesian imperial glory.

As the rebellion in Ferelden reached a head and the decisive Battle of River Dane was about
to begin, however, a peculiar event occurred: a Rampage, the rising of a dreaded high dragon,
occurred. The dragons had been thought practically extinct since the days of the Nevarran
dragon hunts, and to see this great beast rise from the Frostbacks was said to be both a
majestic and terrifying sight. As the Rampage began and the high dragon began decimating
the countryside in its search for food, the elderly Divine Faustine II abruptly declared the
Dragon Age.

Some say that the Divine did this to declare support for Orlais in the coming battle against
Ferelden, the dragon being found in the Dufayel family heraldry belonging to King Meghren of
Ferelden, the so-called Usurper King. Be that as it may, the high dragon's Rampage turned
toward the Orlesian side of the Frostback Mountains, killing hundreds and sending thousands
fleeing to the northern coast, and the Fereldan rebels won the Battle of River Dane, ultimately
securing their independence.

It is thus thought by many that the Dragon Age may, in fact, come to represent a time of violent
and dramatic change for all of Thedas. It remains to be seen whether this will be so.

—An excerpt from The Studious Theologian, by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar.

*** Thedas History Timeline ***

The history of the world is told with three calendars:

The Elven calendar: established with the formation of Arlathan. The Tevinter Imperium banned
the use of this calendar shortly after Arlathan was destroyed and the elven race enslaved.
According to the Imperial calendar, the years prior to the foundation of the empire are tracked
in negative numbers. Modern scholars outside of Tevinter recognize the existence of the
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

original elven calendar, although little more is known of the way elves marked the passage of
time beyond a few events during their time.

The Imperial calendar: established with the crowning of the first Archon and the official creation
of the Tevinter Imperium. The calendar was not created until well into the empire's reign, but it
dates from that first event. Tevinter briefly abandoned their calendar once the Chantry calendar
came into use but then resumed its use shortly after the Schism.

The Chantry calendar: dates its first year with the appointment of the Divine Justinia I and is
currently accepted as the "standard" calendar throughout most of Thedas. Unlike the previous
calendars, the Chantry calendar has "ages," which are each 100 years long. At the beginning
of each new age, Chantry scholars watch for portents—signs sent from the Maker to tell them
what the new age is to be called and thus what the character of the new age will be.

Currently, Thedas is in the 9th age of the Chantry calendar, known as the Dragon Age. It's
predicted to be an age of great destruction and upheaval. The years are marked by the age's
number, the current year in the age (1 to 100), and the age's name; therefore, the current year
is 9:30 Dragon. Anything prior to 1:1 Divine appears as a negative number and as the Ancient,
so the year prior would have been -1 Ancient.

The ages so far have been:

1st age (1–99): Divine Age

2nd age (100–199): Glory Age

3rd age (200–299): Towers Age

4th age (300–399): Black Age

5th age (400–499): Exalted Age

6th age (500–599): Steel Age

7th age (600–699): Storm Age

8th age (700–799): Blessed Age

9th age (800–present): Dragon Age

World-History Timeline Converter: By Epoch-Making Events

Elven Calendar Imperial Calendar Chantry Calendar Anchor Event

1 FA -6405 TE -7600 Ancient Founding of Arlathan
3000 FA -3405 TE -4600 Ancient First elf–dwarf contact
4500 FA -1905 TE -3100 Ancient Humans explore Thedas
6405 FA 1 TE -1195 Ancient Tevinter Imperium founded
— 1025 TE -170 Ancient The death of Andraste
— 1195 TE 1:1 Divine Chantry founded
— 1199 TE 1:5 Divine The First Blight begins
— 1481 TE 3:87 Towers The Chantry Schism
— 1614 TE 5:20 Exalted The Last Blight ends
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8430 FA 2054 TE 9:30 Dragon Present-day

Note: In the following table FA is "Foundation of Arlathan"; TE is time as counted by the

Tevinter Imperium.

*** Timeline ***

1 TE: The Tevinter Imperium is created with the crowning of the first Archon. Prior to this event,
only scattered fragments are known. It is believed that elves existed in the land first and that
humans came from elsewhere—though there are many theories about from where that might
be, and few historians agree. Some suggest that humans came from across the ocean as the
qunari did, but if so, there is no record from such a time. Humans spread across Thedas as
various tribes of people known as the Ciriane, the Planacene, the Hacian, and the Alamarri—
but it is the Tevinters, centered on the port city of Minrathous, who became ascendant.

History records that elves and humanity were hostile and that Tevinter led the way in
aggressive retaliation against the elven city of Arlathan. The elves responded by retreating
from human contact, and Tevinter thus flourished and spread. The first "dreamers" learned the
use of lyrium to enter the Fade from elven captives, and these dreamers later became the first
of the Imperium's ruling magisters.

500 TE: The western part of the Tevinter rebels form the Anderfels, mainly populated by the
Yothandi people. So, too, does the Imperium prove to have great difficulty in defeating the
Ciriane to the south. Internal strife results in many rebellions and a great deal of internal
disorder.

620–640 TE: The first civil war of the Tevinter is usually cited as when it began to decline
markedly from its Golden Age. The magisters of the various noble houses wield terrible power
but still seek more; their competition with each other leads to human sacrifice and demon
summoning becomes a regular occurrence. When two of the largest Tevinter houses do battle
to claim the Archon's throne, the Imperium is split almost in two. The resulting war left ruins
and battlefields where the magical taint continues to be felt to this day. Peace is brokered in
the Senate to prevent the dissolution of the Imperium, but the nobility continues its oppression
of the masses in an effort to achieve supremacy.

780 TE: The Anderfels are reconquered by the Tevinter Imperium.

800 TE: The first effort to free the Old Gods from their underground prisons is undertaken by
the most powerful magister lords, who open a gate to the Golden City at the heart of the Fade.
The result is catastrophic, destroying the Golden City and letting the taint into the world,
creating the first darkspawn. The Old God Dumat is freed and transformed into the first
archdemon.

The First Blight begins. The darkspawn attack en masse, concentrating at first on the
underground Deep Roads used by the dwarven kingdoms. As the dwarven kingdoms begin to
fall, the darkspawn use the Deep Roads to appear throughout the continent. All of the
Imperium is under siege and in a state of chaos. Finally, the nations of the Imperium begin to
settle in for a long war as they become accustomed to the surges of the darkspawn.
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Communication becomes difficult across the Imperium, but cooperation is paramount. The
people of Tevinter pray to the remaining Old Gods for help against Dumat, but they receive
only silence. The people's faith waning, unrest sees many temples destroyed as the Imperial
people begin to turn from the Old Gods, believing themselves betrayed. This dark period lasts
for over 200 years.

890 TE: The foundation of the Grey Wardens at Weisshaupt Fortress in the Anderfels,
dedicated to wiping out the darkspawn wherever they should rise. The organization is formed
primarily of veterans from darkspawn battles. They maintain communications within the
Imperium and strike quickly wherever the darkspawn appear, quickly erecting fortresses
everywhere and receiving tithes and supplies from all lands.

992 TE: The Grey Wardens gather the forces of men—both of the Imperium and of the Ciriane
and Rivaini—and confront Dumat at the colossal Battle of the Silent Plains in the southern
reaches of Tevinter. Dumat is ultimately destroyed and the darkspawn forces routed. Though
the darkspawn are still large in their number and still battle mankind, they are no longer
directed by Dumat's power and become scattered. The contracts ensuring the powers and
rights of the Grey Wardens date from this year.

1000 TE: Slowly, the last of the darkspawn hordes are defeated. They are forced into the Far
Steppes west of the Anderfels and into the Deep Roads. For the dwarves, the war continues
underground, but for humanity, the battle is believed to be over. Weak after centuries of
fighting, the Imperium is ripe to be attacked.

1020 TE: A massive horde of barbarians cross the Waking Sea from the south led by the
warlord Maferath and Andraste, the Betrothed of the Maker. Some records claim the
barbarians were driven north by the darkspawn, others that Andraste was bringing freedom to
the people of the Imperium who had been long oppressed by the depravities of the magisters.
Regardless of the reason, the press of the barbarians into the south is accompanied by
massive rebellions that welcome their progress. The southern Imperium begins to crumble,
and the Tevinter magisters are forced to unite to combat a threat to their power that is greater
than that of the darkspawn.

1025 TE: After the death of Andraste, the barbarian army disperses. The southern Tevinter
Imperium breaks away, forming a collection of independent city-states. Maferath's sons form
several lands such as the Kingdom of the Ciriane and the Kingdom of the Planasene. Both of
these last less than a century—the Ciriane soon become the land of Orlais while the
Planasene form into a loose confederation across the plains called the Free Marches. The land
between the Waking Sea and the Frostbacks is given to the free elves as a homeland and is
called the Dales. The Long Walk begins as elves from across the Imperium begin traveling to
the Dales largely on foot and are preyed upon by disease and robbers, causing massive
chaos. A cult devoted to Andraste's teachings spreads rapidly in the south but is largely
disorganized and is very unpopular with the temples of the Old Gods.

1040 TE: The Chant of Light is created by Andraste's disciples, collecting her tale and her
teachings into hymns. There are numerous versions of the Chant over time, with different
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interpretations of what Andraste taught about the Maker being prevalent in different regions.
These are referred to collectively as "the cults of the Maker."

1050–1120 TE: Rebellion begins in the east as the Rivaini attempt to split off from the
Imperium. The resulting campaigns to stop the rebellion distract the Imperium from its attempts
to reconquer the Free Marches and allow the south to gather its strength. Many of the eastern
cities in the Free Marches intervene on the behalf of the Rivaini, and after several losses that
culminated in the disastrous Battle of Temerin in 1117 TE, the Imperium finally abandons the
east.

1126 TE: Foundation of the Kingdom of Rivain.

1155 TE: The dwarves of Orzammar in the Frostback Mountains close the last of the Deep
Roads leading into their kingdom. Within ten years, the dwarven kingdoms of Hormak and
Gundaar have fallen to the darkspawn, leaving only Orzammar and Kal-Sharok. The dwarves
of Kal-Sharok never forgive the high king of Orzammar and cut off all contact. Kal-Sharok is
thought to be lost.

1180 TE: The cults of the Maker spread quickly in the southern lands, resulting in the building
of the first great temple in Val Royeaux, which becomes the major center of worship for the
new faith. One of its most fervent followers is the young king of Orlais, Kordillus Drakon. In
1184, Drakon begins a series of holy wars in the name of the Maker, quickly proving himself to
be one of the greatest generals in history.

1192 TE: Having conquered several neighboring city-states and forcing the submission of
others to his overlordship, Kordillus Drakon is crowned in Val Royeaux as emperor. His
ambitions to spread farther north into the Free Marches are confounded by constant pressures
from the Dales to the east, so Emperor Drakon formalizes the Maker's cult into the Chantry
and commands that missionaries be sent forth into the other lands.

1195 TE or 1:1 Divine (1st year of the 1st Divine Age): The first Divine of the Chantry, Justinia
I, is instated at Val Royeaux. The free use of magic is declared illegal in Orlais except by those
mages operating under the direct auspices of the Chantry.

1:5 Divine: Zazikel awakens and the Second Blight begins, with darkspawn slaughtering the
entire city of Nordbotten before the Grey Wardens finally get the word out. Now, rather than the
darkspawn coming primarily from the west, they come out of the mountains in all corners of the
continent. Once again, humankind is launched into a desperate battle for its survival over the
course of the next 100 years. The Tevinter Imperium abandons the Anderfels and attempts to
protect itself, a betrayal that is remembered by the Orth even to this day. The Free Marches
and Orlais are hard-pressed to defend themselves, but the Grey Wardens and the powerful
armies under the command of the brilliant Emperor Drakon make the difference. In several
engagements, including the hard-fought victory at the Battle of Cumberland in 1:16 Divine, the
Orlesians defeat several hordes of darkspawn, and numerous cities are saved. The Orlesian
Empire under Drakon's command expands quickly, as does the influence of the Chantry.
Perhaps most significantly, when the Tevinter Imperium is greatly weakened by the Sacking of
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Minrathous in 1:31 Divine, Emperor Drakon is given the opportunity to expand northward.
Instead, he chooses to swing his armies west and relieve the siege of Weisshaupt in 1:33
Divine. The Grey Wardens are impressed enough to convert to the worship of the Chantry, and
together the Grey Wardens and Drakon save the badly weakened nation of Anderfels from
destruction, bringing it to a devout worship of the Maker that continues to this day. Throughout
this entire time, the elves of the Dales remain neutral and unhelpful. When the city of
Montsimmard is nearly destroyed by the darkspawn in 1:25 Divine as the elven army watched
from nearby, the people of Orlais bristled against the elves.

1:45 Divine: Emperor Drakon perishes from old age in Val Chevin. His empire, forming the
majority of the western Free Marches and all of the Anderfels, does not survive his death. His
successor, Kordillus II, doesn't possess the political savvy of his father, and the Anderfels
declare its independence 20 years after the death of Kordillus I. Over the next 200 years, the
empire of Orlais steadily loses territory until it eventually stabilizes at its modern-day borders.
However, over the next 50 years, the Chantry continues to spread rapidly, aided by the Grey
Wardens as the Blight winds down. The Chantry spreads east into the Free Marches and
Antiva and even north into the Tevinter Empire, though there it is largely resisted, as the
Chantry stands in direct opposition to the power (albeit waning) of the sorcery-using nobility.

1:95 Divine: The last battle of the Second Blight is fought at Starkhaven, with the human army
being led by the Grey Wardens and winning a resounding victory after Zazikel is finally
destroyed and the darkspawn routed. The period that follows is known as the Rebuilding: a
time when trade, culture, and religion become paramount across most of the human lands.

1:99 Divine: The Divine Age ends, the Glory Age is named, and with it predictions of a rebirth
after the end of the terrible Blight.

2:5 Glory: Increasing hostility between elves and man result in numerous border skirmishes
between the Dales and Orlais. Finally, in 2:9 Glory, elven forces attack the Orlesian town of
Red Crossing and quickly take it over. The atrocities they are said to have been committed
there against the humans of the town and the Chantry enraged humans across the land. Orlais
immediately went to war with the Dales but was initially surprised by the ferocity of the elven
response. A quick Orlesian victory was not going to happen.

2:10 Glory: With elven forces having captured Montsimmard and marching on the doorstep of
Val Royeaux, the Chantry calls for a holy war against the elves. This becomes known as the
Exalted March of the Dales. While the elves eventually sack Val Royeaux and push well into
human lands, Halamshiral is conquered and the elves are completely crushed by 2:20 Glory.
The lands of the Dales come under Orlesian control, with elven settlements being uprooted
and worship of the elven gods forbidden. The elves are forced to either live with humankind
and under their rules or wander as homeless vagabonds.

2:15–2:45 Glory: The rise of Starkhaven prompts its king, Fyruss, to attempt to unite the Free
Marches under his banner and build his own empire. In the end, Fyruss is betrayed by his
Tevinter allies, and Starkhaven is conquered by the Tevinter Imperium until its recapture during
the First Exalted March in 2:80 Glory. Antivan cities to the north also unite under a common
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banner in 2:33 Glory to defend themselves against Fyruss's advance. By the time of his death,
Fyruss's name is equated with that of prideful folly.

2:99 Glory: The end of the Glory Age. The Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux is completed, its
two main towers visible from everywhere in the city and from miles around. The Towers Age is
named.

3:10 Towers: The Old God Toth awakens, and the Third Blight erupts in the central lands of
Thedas with darkspawn coming in greater numbers than ever before. Darkspawn swarm the
Tevinter cities of Marnas Pell and Vyrantium as well as the Orlesian cities of Arlesans and
Montsimmard. The Grey Wardens in both of these countries are able to quickly organize a
defense, and despite heavy losses in the besieged cities, the darkspawn are pushed back.
3:18 Towers: Darkspawn ravage the Free Marches, attacking cities along the Minanter River.
At first, the Orlesians and Tevinter do nothing, but constant pressure from the Grey Wardens in
Weisshaupt convinces both nations to send aid to the beleaguered city-states.

3:25 Towers: The armies of Orlais and Tevinter meet in Hunter Fell and join the Grey Wardens
in the last battle of the Third Blight. Toth is destroyed, and the darkspawn are slaughtered in
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one of the bloodiest battles in history. The darkspawn carcasses are piled into mounds as high
as 100 feet and then burned. The people of the Free Marches will not soon forget the image of
the burning darkspawn. Their goodwill is quickly crushed by the victorious armies as they
decide to occupy the territories liberated from the darkspawn. Orlais takes Nevarra, while
Tevinter takes Hunter Fell. These holdings don't last long, with Nevarra achieving
independence in 3:65 Towers and Hunter Fell breaking away from Tevinter in 3:49 Towers.

3:87 Towers: After many years of argument, the Schism splits the Chantry as the Imperial
Chantry within Tevinter elects their own Divine, a male mage, at the Minrathous Cathedral. The
Imperial Chantry had always taken a more moderate view on magic and argued that mages
should be allowed to rule so long as blood magic remained banned. They also argued that
Andraste was not of divine origin but rather was a mortal prophet with considerable magical
talent—and they argued that her ascension to the Maker's side did not make her divine, even if
she is a symbol of hope. Both these arguments did not sit well with the rest of the Chantry. As
the Val Royeaux Divine took measures to restrict the power of the Circle of Magi within
Tevinter, the Imperial Chantry took action. The Minrathous Divine is referred to as the "Black
Divine" by most, and Chantry propaganda stirs popular sentiment against Tevinter and the
Circle of Magi.

3:99 Towers: The death of the Divine Joyous II in Val Royeaux is celebrated in Minrathous and
is declared a holiday by the Imperial Divine. The Black Age is named as the Chantry calls for
retribution against the false Divine of the north.

4:40 Black–5:10 Exalted: The Chantry declare a series of four Exalted Marches to destroy the
"heathens" within the Tevinter Imperium. All four times, large armies are gathered from around
the Chantry's domains, and an assault is launched deep into Tevinter. Every time, however, the
Exalted March falls just short of its goal of conquering Minrathous. In the end, the Exalted
Marches serve simply to cement the separation between Minrathous and Val Royeaux. The
Imperial Chantry starts to form its own dogma and policies, and the groundswell of mages
fleeing from southern lands into Tevinter bolsters the empire's waning power.

5:12 Exalted: The Exalted Marches come to an end with the awakening of Andoral and the rise
of the Fourth Blight. Darkspawn appear in great numbers in the northeast and northwest of the
continent. The country of Antiva is overrun and its entire ruling family slaughtered. The
darkspawn then pour into the Free Marches and Rivain. The Blight rises in the Anderfels as
well, and the capital city of Hossberg comes under siege. Orlais and the Tevinter Imperium are
attacked by fewer numbers and are able to drive the darkspawn back into the depths of the
Deep Roads. Despite their success, Tevinter refuses to send any aid to the Free Marches or
the Anderfels, while Orlais sends only a token force.

5:20 Exalted: The Grey Warden, Garahel, leads an army of Wardens and Anders to the city of
Hossberg and breaks the siege. Garahel then gathers Wardens from Orlais and the Anderfels
and marches to Starkhaven. At Starkhaven, Garahel organizes an alliance between the minor
kings and teyrns of the Free Marches. A united army marches north, led under the banner of
the Grey Wardens. Antiva is freed from the darkspawn during the infamous battle in 5:24
Exalted at the city of Ayesleigh, where Garahel dies after defeating the archdemon Andoral in
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combat. So many darkspawn are slaughtered that it is considered certain that they will never
return. That the Blight continues to be felt underground by the dwarves of Orzammar is largely
ignored by most except the Grey Wardens. Most are eager for the war to end and for regular
trade to begin.

5:37 Exalted: The first Van Markham king of Nevarra, Tylus, is crowned after having claimed to
be a descendant of Drakon's son, killed in Cumberland. Being a hero of the recent Blight, Tylus
is able to stir nationalistic feelings in the western Free Marches against the growing power of
Orlais. He proves his military might by winning several major battles against the Orlesians,
establishing Nevarra as a new, growing power.

5:42 Exalted: With the crowning of King Calenhad in Denerim, the various warring factions of
Ferelden are at last united under a single banner. What had always been considered a land of
wild, nomadic barbarians was finally a nation in its own right, though considered primitive and
backwater by most.

5:99 Exalted: The Exalted Age ends, and with the recent assassination of Queen Madrigal of
Antiva (deep within the forest during a hunt, she is found with four steel swords plunged into
her chest, the work suspected to have been done by the mysterious Crow assassins), the
Steel Age is named.

6:30 Steel: The Qunari land in Par Vollen and conquer it quickly, though word of that does not
reach the continent until the Qunari ships begin to land en masse in Seheron and northern
Rivain in 6:32 Steel. The First Qunari War begins and lasts for most of the century. The
Qunari's initial advances are great: By 6:42 Steel, they have conquered much of the Tevinter
Imperium, Rivain, and Antiva and begin to assault the Free Marches. Only Minrathous itself
remains besieged but unconquered in the north. By 6:85 Steel, the humans have organized
themselves and pushed back hard enough that massive rebellions in Tevinter manage to free
the Imperium, and the Qunari lines begin to crumble. By 7:23 Storm, the Qunari are pushed
back to Seheron and Rivain, but they are well entrenched. The Battle of the Nocen Sea is the
largest naval engagement in history and results in a stalemate and the destruction of many of
the ships on both sides. Exhausted, an impasse begins.

7:25–7:85 Storm: The New Exalted Marches are declared repeatedly by both the Imperial
Chantry (to retake Seheron and the eastern city of Qarinus) and the Chantry (to retake Rivain).
In total, three major Exalted Marches occur with only the second in 7:52 Storm being a total
disaster (with the Qunari capturing much of Antiva). By the end of the Third New Exalted
March in 7:84 Storm, the Qunari had been pushed back to only the city of Kont-aar in northern
Rivain and Par Vollen. By the end of the last Exalted March, rebuilding all the destruction that
had been caused was considered more important than trying to dislodge the Qunari from Kont-
aar once again. A meeting between envoys of most of the human lands (except for Tevinter)
and the Qunari at Llomerryn results in the signing of the Llomerryn Accord in 7:84 Storm and
peace being declared. There is no peace between Tevinter and the Qunari, though skirmishes
are few while the Qunari pull back to Par Vollen and rebuild.
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7:99 Storm: With the end of the Storm Age, the birth of twin boys to Emperor Etienne I of Orlais
is declared an omen by the Chantry. A long period of childlessness and fears of a civil war on
the emperor's death dissipates with the onset of the Blessed Age, heralded as an age of
bounty and prosperity.

8:24 Blessed: Orlais invades and conquers Ferelden, sending a young King Brandel into
hiding. Ferelden is assimilated into the Orlesian Empire, though a rebel force led by the king
continues to hound Orlesian forces.

8:55 Blessed: War between the Qunari and the Tevinter Imperium continues as the Qunari land
on Seheron and conquer it handily within three years. Tevinter is left on its own to fight its war
with the Qunari, though the peace between the Qunari and other lands is considered shaky.
Several attempts by the Qunari to land on the continent and attack Tevinter directly are
repulsed.

8:70 Blessed: A war between Nevarra and Orlais over the control of the western hills around
Perendale results in Nevarran victory. However, Orlais proceeds to sow dissent and rebellion
among the locals in Perendale, who resent Nevarran rule.

8:99 Blessed: The previous several years have seen two dragon flights ranging out of the
Frostback and Orkney Mountains, even though it was thought that dragons had been hunted to
extinction by Nevarran dragon hunters during the Steel Age. The dragons devastate the
countrysides in Orlais and Nevarra, and all attempts to slay them end in disaster. Despite the
devastation, some see the return of dragons to Thedas as a glorious sign—Chantry scholars,
however, claim that this is the worst of omens. As the Blessed Age draws to a close, they
name the Dragon Age, saying that it will be an age of violence and upheaval.

9:00 Dragon: Led by the young King Maric, Ferelden successfully rebels and throws off
Orlesian rule. Ferelden and Orlais officially make peace in 9:20 after the ascension of Empress
Celene to the Orlesian throne.

9:12 Dragon: Thought to have been long lost to the darkspawn, the dwarven city of Kal-Sharok
in the Hunterhorn Mountains is rediscovered. The dwarves there are resentful of Orzammar
and refuse to bow to the dwarven king's authority.

9:30 Dragon: Modern-day.

Geography
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The Orkney Mountains, a rugged chain of mountains that stretches from the icy wastelands of
the southeast deep into the continent's center, dominate the southern lands of Thedas. A
smaller mountain chain called the Frostback Mountains juts between Ferelden and Orlais and
holds the dwarven city of Orzammar (thought to be the last until the rediscovery of Kal-
Sharok). The mountains define the southern border of Thedas, while the vast Tirishan forest
and the Hunterhorn Mountains define the western border, cradling between them the fertile
Orlesian Empire—the most powerful nation in Thedas and home to the Grand Cathedral of the
Chantry religion. An unbroken expanse of trees, the Tirishan is one of the wonders of the world
and is as mysterious and dangerous as the hottest of deserts.

Thedas is divided in the middle by the Waking Sea. The central lands north of the Waking Sea
are known as the Free Marches. They consist of forest and plains, and they have the best
agricultural lands on the continent. This land is covered with city-states, collectively known as
"Marchers," that have stubbornly protected their independence, and they have used their
status as the breadbasket of Thedas to become merchants without equal. Any who dare
threaten one of their cities risks losing the rights to trade with them at all.

The Arlathan Forest, once home to the only known city of the elves that was destroyed by the
Tevinter Imperium, lies just north of the Free Marches, and it forms the border between the
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Imperium and the more exotic realms of Antiva and Rivain. This ancient forest is neither as
dark as the Tirishan nor as dangerous, but its oft-plundered ruins are a sad tribute to the
culture that once was. Little of the old elves remain, and the forest is often called "the Mourning
Lands" by those who visit it, because it seems few humans can make a living there, as if the
forest itself resents their presence.

The lands of Tevinter around the Nocen Sea are quite temperate and were the first realms
inhabited by mankind. Ruins here are plentiful, dating back to a time when the Old Gods were
worshipped and the blood magic of the magisters ruled over the land. The islands of Seheron
and Par Vollen in the Boeric Ocean are junglelike and humid. They have been transformed
over centuries of control by the Qunari into bastions of military and religious efficiency.

The Anderfels, to the northwest, is the first part of a great land of dry steppes. It is a harsh land
famous for producing a rugged people resentful of their former Tevinter overlords, and it is the
true home to the Grey Wardens at Weisshaupt Fortress. The Donark Forest marks its northern
border and is a rain forest of tall trees and uncivilized freemen who have notoriously evaded
control by their southern cousins.

Nations of Thedas

*** Seheron ***

Seheron is a large island nation that had been conquered by the Tevinter Imperium long ago
and has been part of that nation until the Qunari took it 60 years ago. It is still in a state of
semiactive rebellion and is the site of repeated battles between the Imperium and the Qunari.
The presence of Tal-Vashoth—Qunari rebels who treat both their own kind and the Imperium
as enemies—in the northern portion of the island adds to the chaos. Once an old and
impressive culture with architecture dating back to the glory days of the ancient Imperium,
much of Seheron has been leveled, and those humans who are not currently under Qunari
domination feel largely abandoned by the Imperium. It should be noted that Seheron once had
a large population of elven slaves, almost all of whom have willingly converted to the Qun and
are now placed in high roles within the Qunari-occupying forces, working hard to help the
invaders stamp out the last of the resistance.

*** Orlais ***

Orlais is a wealthy and powerful nation and is the center of the Chantry. It is ambitious and
without a doubt the most powerful single human nation on the continent. Its expansion is
limited, because the city-states of the Free Marches would unite if it invaded, and Ferelden is
difficult to assault, though the Orlesian military is powerful enough that this need not deter it
completely. Orlais has a large noble class well known for its culture and extravagance, the
envy of nobility elsewhere. Their strong empress dreams of expanding their borders to
encompass the entire continent, just as the founder of Orlais, Emperor Drakon, did prior to his
death. Orlais borders on the Frostback Mountains, and they have long been allies of the
dwarves of Orzammar and the primary recipients of their mineral trade, smithing, and lyrium.

*** Avvars ***

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The Avvarian hillsmen exist in the Frostback highlands, having originally been among the
many barbarian tribes that existed in Ferelden but being one of the few that did not join the
Alamarri clans in uniting under the first Fereldan king. The Avvars are a stubbornly
independent folk who see the "lowlanders" as weak and overly civilized, traitors to the gods of
nature that all the old clans once worshipped. The Avvars were once a force that brought
considerable trouble to the lowlands through frequent raids, and it was not until Ferelden
united and many long, bitter wars were fought that the Avvars were driven back into the
mountains and forced to stay there.

Today the Avvarian hillsmen have declined considerably in power, and while they still engage
in raids on Fereldan communities (and occasionally even making their way into Orlais), they
deliberately avoid doing so with enough frequency to provoke a united effort to wipe them out.
Many Avvars believe that such a confrontation is ultimately inevitable, and their clan warriors
long for the day when they can prove themselves in battle against the lowlander bloodline that
has weakened even more than the days in which the last wars were fought. The Avvars have a
destiny to one day return to the lowlands as conquerors, or so they believe. To the lowlanders,
the Avvars are a frightening and thankfully fractious people who simply refuse to disappear for
good.

*** Antiva ***

Antiva is a nation in the warm northern climates that has become renowned for its merchants
and sailors, though not its military tradition. Its leaders (a body of argumentative merchant-
princes who have far more power than the weak monarchy) prefer to sue for peace when they
get entangled in a war, which is not often, as the nation has become equally known for its
policy of neutrality and its slippery diplomacy. Antivans are notoriously untrustworthy, though it
cannot be denied that they are excellent merchants.

Antiva was once under the thumb of the Tevinters and rebelled only after the Qunari occupied
their attention, and they despise the Tevinters utterly. While the nation is relatively prosperous
because of its trading practices, it is resource-poor. Other than its famous wines, Antiva would
have little to sustain its wealth if cut off from the rest of Thedas.

*** The Free Marches ***

The Free Marches is a collective name given to the wealthy city-states in the central part of the
continent. The "Marchers" are an independent folk who descend from tough barbarian stock,
their cities existing in a loose confederation that rarely unites on any matter (indeed, the
network of petty feuds and alliances between the cities prevents them from taking collective
action on any matter) unless one of their larger neighbors such as Tevinter or Orlais becomes
aggressive. In that event, the Marchers pull together to create a united military front that even
the greatest power cannot ignore. The Free Marches is best known as the breadbasket of
Thedas, its farms along the banks of the great Minanter River being the source of much of
Thedas's food.

*** Nevarra ***

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Originally one of the larger Free Marches city-states, Nevarra has benefited from its wealth
and position and has aggressively expanded over the last two centuries to become a power to
rival Orlais itself. The Nevarrans have always had a strong military tradition and have been
gifted with rulers (most hailing from the famous Pentaghast clan) who are often military
geniuses in their own right. They have fought with or courted several other Free Marches
states to form a powerful confederation under Pentaghast leadership and have also fought and
won a long war with Orlais for control over the mineral-rich hills to the west. The victory over
Orlais has brought Nevarra considerable prestige and wealth, though the indigenous culture of
the western lands are not fond of the Nevarran presence, and the harsh taxes they endure are
slowly forming into a rebellion—one the Orlesians are more than happy to support. While the
capital lies in the original city of Nevarra, the city of Cumberland has seen rapid growth in the
last century and has become one of the largest in Thedas, taking advantage of its position on
the Minanter River to make it a natural source of trade with the rest of the Free Marches and
beyond.

*** Anderfels ***

The Anders have been pummeled after centuries of battling the Blight; the darkspawn are a
constant menace that can appear almost anywhere at anytime, and the population lives in
constant fear and vigilance as a result. They are the hardened warriors who fight grimly
against an enemy that they cannot defeat; the rest of Thedas is remote enough that their plight
is easily ignored. Here is the last place where the Grey Wardens have retained their
importance over the centuries, though the fortress of Weisshaupt is the last bastion of their
influence. Still, the Grey Wardens are a potent military force here, and they hold political power
equal to the various barons, a power they have recently taken greater advantage of. Otherwise
the Anders are a poor people who live in a devastated land of vast, stark steppes, though their
proud culture remains, and they are likely the most pious followers of the Chantry in Thedas,
praying for a day when they are released from the clutches of the Blight.

*** Par Vollen ***

This is the original northern island nation that was invaded by the Qunari many centuries ago
when they first arrived (and retreated to when largely pushed from the continent by the Exalted
Marches). Par Vollen has been assimilated to the point that it is now a peaceful Qunari nation
with no resistance. The humans who once lived here were more primitive than elsewhere in
Thedas, building pyramids in their jungle cities and generally being isolated from the other
cultures farther south; therefore, little hue and cry went up to free them from Qunari
domination.

Now they have been part of the Qunari culture and Qun philosophy for so long that they could
not even imagine going back. For their part, the Qunari treat Par Vollen as their homeland.
Contact with their original homeland was intermittent at best across the turbulent Northern
Ocean before it finally ceased altogether two centuries ago. Several ships have been sent
home to restore contact, but they have not returned. The Qunari are here to remain and have
accepted this. While the pyramids of the original society were impressive, the Qunari have
topped that with the great domes and aqueducts of Qunandar, which is the only city of real
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importance on the island and easily a rival to the size of Cumberland. Few others have seen it,
but those who have report it to be one of the wonders of the world.

*** Rivain ***

Another front for the great war when the Qunari first arrived, the Qunari conquered Rivain and
were eventually driven back to a single city, which they held and retained when the peace
accord was signed. In the centuries since, the city of Kont-aar has existed relatively well with
the rest of Rivain; nowhere else in Thedas is there as much interaction between the two
cultures. The Rivaini, already considered a strange people by most of Thedas, have acquired
some Qunari cultural traits over the centuries—they have proven resistant to the Chantry's
teachings, and a version of the Qun has even gained a great deal of popularity, focusing more
on its spiritual aspects than its notions of societal engineering. This is enough that many
outsiders consider the Rivaini people to be heathens or even traitors.

Rivain has waned since the old war, and some elements among their people still call for Kont-
aar to be retaken. Now, however, the factions that desire peace and see trade with the Qunari
as beneficial are just as strong.

*** Tevinter ***

Tevinter is an empire that stretched across the entirety of Thedas in ancient times. What
remains is a decadent land in the north centering on Minrathous, a fabled city that was once
the jewel of the entire continent. It is governed by a magocracy, powerful wizards that spend
almost as much time engaging in elaborate Machiavellian political schemes to prove their
superiority over each other as they do ruling. The Imperial Chantry in Minrathous is a separate
entity from the main Chantry elsewhere, having split off centuries ago in a great schism over
the role of magic.

Tevinter is almost universally reviled by other nations. Its nobility is self-indulgent to the
extreme, and slavery is still practiced. The Imperium is the center of the black market, involving
smuggling (including the harboring of magical fugitives from other lands), and the slave trade
in Thedas. While the Imperium might seem in decline, it is still a powerful nation, and its
military might is considerable. Without a doubt, it would turn on the nations to the south if its
attention were not completely drawn to the constant wars in the north with the Qunari in
Seheron and Par Vollen. The Imperium has struggled against the Qunari as their most bitter
enemies since their arrival, and the rest of Thedas is happy to let them fight each other. Unlike
elsewhere, the Imperium made no peace accord with the Qunari, and none of the Qunari are
allowed peaceful travel within the Imperium.

*** Ferelden ***

Ferelden is a relatively temperate nation in the far southeast of Thedas and is populated by a
barbarian, militaristic culture that has only begun to civilize in the last few centuries. Still
considered relatively primitive and backwater by other nations, especially by the Orlesians who
controlled and occupied the Fereldan valley for over a century, the Fereldens have made great
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strides in recent years. They are a proud and independent people who resent being
considered "backwater" and are well on their way to becoming a power on the continent.

Ferelden Details

Ferelden borders Orlais to the west, with whom it continues to have a very tense relationship.
The Frostback Mountain range divides the two nations and thus prevents hostilities from being
more frequent. Orzammar, kingdom of the dwarves, rests in the Frostbacks, as do the
stubbornly independent Avvarian hillsmen. Meanwhile, the southern border of Ferelden is the
cold wetland known as the Korcari Wilds, home to the hostile Chasind tribesmen.

Official Name: the Kingdom of Ferelden (adjective: Fereldan)

Capital: Denerim (pop. 70,000)

Other Settlements: Highever (20,000), Gwaren (10,000), Lothering (500), Redcliffe (200)

Population: 1,000,000

Government: Monarchy

Religion: Chantry (90 percent)

Fereldan Society

*** Barbarian Origins ***

The Fereldan valley was originally settled by the Alamarri people, a warlike barbarian culture
that migrated from colder climes in the southern mountains (ferelden being an Alamarri word
for "fertile valley"). For countless generations, they existed as many tribes, each led by
powerful warlords known as "banns." The banns would constantly war with nearby tribes to
increase their territory and influence. Fereldan history is rife with tales of banns who would rise
to great power in their lifetimes and rule over a vast area only to have their tribe torn apart
internally upon their deaths. Culture within each tribe consisted of a worship of animist deities,
with a strong connection to the wolf in the lowland tribes. Alamarri folklore states that the wolf
was a companion to mankind, created by the gods as guide and protector against the darker
forces in the unknown world. Wolves were bred by the tribes and paired with their warriors,
and the death of an honored wolf was treated with as much respect and significance as the
death of one of their own. So, too, is the werewolf mythos tied to these beliefs. Varying legends
tell of a wolf that betrayed his human masters to evil gods in exchange for a human shape.
The resulting man-wolf attempted to live among mankind but discovered he was still a beast at
heart and ended up being exiled to the forest. Welcome in neither world, he carried a hatred
for the true men and true wolves. Regardless of how much of this tale is true, werewolves did
exist and were the bane of the Alamarri existence for many centuries until they were almost
entirely wiped out when the various tribes finally united to defeat their common foe.

The Alamarri were also forced to work together to battle the invading armies of the Tevinter
Imperium, which tried on several occasions to conquer the region. Each time, the Imperium
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was pushed back; as a result, the valley was never made as civilized as the other parts of the
continent that the Imperium conquered and assimilated. To the Alamarri, however, this was a
point of pride. They rejected the ideals of Imperial government and magic and culture, valuing
instead their independence and strength. It was among the Alamarri that the prophetess
Andraste gathered her first followers, and the tribes united under her for the first time, not to
defend themselves but to strike out into the heart of the Imperium itself—which had already
been weakened by the first Blight, thus provoking its quick collapse. Despite Ferelden being
considered a backward nation by its neighbors, Fereldan citizens will always take comfort
knowing that Andraste was one of their own and that they are the ones who destroyed the evil
magisters (though the truth is that without the elven slave rebellion, this probably would not
have succeeded).

Even so, it was not until much later in their history that the Alamarri finally united under one
leader, and even that they did not do peacefully. Alamarri independence demanded that a tribe
would need to be dragged kicking and screaming before they would bow to any kind of
overlord. The first Fereldan king managed this just 400 years ago; since then, the valley has
managed to live in relative peace and begin to catch up to its neighbors.

*** Modern Ferelden ***

The Fereldan people have come a long way from their barbarian origins in the space of a few
short centuries, though not according to outside standards. To the west, the Orlesian Empire is
the cultural hub of the entire continent; its cities are architectural marvels, its culture filled with
the finest in theater and idle entertainments for its large and refined upper class. In
comparison, Ferelden is dirty and aggressive. Strength and courage are praised more than
heritage and wealth; any man or woman worth their salt can make something of themselves,
and if one can do nothing else, the military is a perfectly suitable occupation. Nobles are
respected, even esteemed, but to the common man's eye, they are not untouchable. Their
respect must be earned, and nowhere in the world is there people as ready to rebel and
demand their due as in Ferelden. Though in Orlais serfs have always existed and indentured
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servitude is a fact of life, serfs have never existed in Ferelden and slavery is discouraged (the
existence of slaves is not illegal, but their sale within Ferelden is) and considered degrading.
Farms (called "freeholds") are worked by families who have toiled that land for generations and
who would spill blood before they would give it up to anyone, much less a nobleman. What
servants there are get paid for their services and are free to come and go as they please. Even
the elves, who live in squalor in alienages that are in far worse condition and are far more
dangerous than comparable areas in Orlais, have their freedom in Ferelden. They are not
slaves here, and while they are left to take up the worst jobs, they are paid and are considered
to have their rights. Fereldan elves are proud of this; they say they would far rather live poorly
but free than be well-treated slaves.

Signs of the old Alamarri culture are still evident as well, right beside the new. Chantries have
been built in just about every village and town. Interestingly, while cults existed among the
tribes that devoted themselves to Andraste, and though she was a revered figure who has
always been seen as being of Fereldan origin, Ferelden as a whole did not convert to official
Chantry beliefs until much later than the rest of the continent. However, signs of the old ways
are still very much present in the culture. Animist symbols adorn artwork and clothing, with old
wolf images being the most popular in the military. Tales of the old religions have become fond
folklore, cautionary stories told to children by village elders, and while the Alamarri gods may
no longer exist, the creatures featured in the stories definitely do and still have a relevance
today. Even old statues and temples still stand, though many are falling apart or have been
converted for other purposes. The old ways are disappearing, but the Chantry does not
demand their removal or promote hatred against them. This is, after all, the land where
Andraste was raised, and it would seem unreasonable to destroy those icons that Andraste no
doubt believed in (or such is the common perception). The Maker merely stands above the Old
Gods rather than suppresses them. In addition, dogs are very much present in any town or
city, from the strays that wander city streets to the hyperintelligent mabari within the Fereldan
army.

*** Life in a Fereldan City ***

Denerim is the best example of a Fereldan city, a settlement that has grown with a speed
beyond its capability of coping with it. Any given Fereldan settlement was likely once a center
for a region's people, housing a central fort or castle where the people could be gathered in
case the settlement was attacked, and the surrounding buildings made of stone and mortar
were ultimately destroyed during the common sieges. The central castle remains, and in
Denerim this has grown into a full-fledged fortress, but in recent centuries, the settlement
around the castle has grown rapidly in all directions. Most of the streets in Denerim are made
of packed dirt, with only the wealthier interior streets actually being fully cobbled, and the
buildings and streets are arranged haphazardly. At best, the buildings are arranged according
to their function—entrances to the city are lined with inns and taverns; trade markets are
surrounded by shops, warehouses, and mercantile guilds; and in-between houses are packed
practically on top of one another, leaving crooked and narrow alleys between them. Denerim's
poor quarter has many times been referred to as a veritable labyrinth, in addition to being filthy
from the dirt and mud in the roads and lacking a proper sewage system. Only in the inner core
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of the city, closer to the royal palace, are the streets cobbled and a proper sewer maintained
underneath. Here you will find the mansions and Chantries, the theaters and parks. Being
closer to the palace means one's social standing is higher than those who live closer to the city
wall. Living outside the city wall is a lower standing than those who live inside.

Such cities also tend to be considered quite anarchic by most standards. The Fereldan
penchant for freedom has grown into a laissez-faire attitude toward law enforcement and
behavior. In Denerim, the King's Patrol is intended more to defend the city and keep order
rather than to enforce the laws specifically, though it has expanded into this role over time.
Even so, while the worst offenses are quickly put down, most petty offenses are ignored, and
citizens are often left to their own devices. Petty theft is common, and guardsmen will go out of
their way only to deal with major thefts. Commerce is largely unregulated so long as taxes are
paid, and such businesses as brothels and gambling halls are not only tolerated but also
expected. The city is a noisy, boisterous place even at night, and one is likely to get beaten
and robbed if one isn't careful: one is expected to take care of oneself.

*** The Nobility ***

~ King ~

Ferelden never had a concept of a king until the infamous warrior Calenhad finally managed to
unite the lands, and rather than assuming the expected title of teyrn of Denerim, he took the
title of king, borrowed from other lands and inheriting the singular importance that the title has
in those lands. The concept of a single overlord is an unfamiliar one in Ferelden: Numerous
times throughout its history, the nation has all but split apart in civil war (the rebelliousness of
Fereldan nobility is infamous). In the days of Calenhad and his successors, civil war was more
caused by those teyrns who wished to break away from the king's rule. In modern times, it has
come to be expected that there is a king and must be one for Ferelden to survive—a very
significant shift in attitude—and civil wars are fought more to determine royal succession.
One's blood relation to the king is considered important in the issue of succession, but more
because the ability to be a strong leader is considered to be passed down in the blood. If one
is considered weak or unfit, however, blood relation to the king will not stop another noble from
standing up and challenging one's claim to the throne.

The current king of Ferelden is Cailan, the young son of Maric. Maric was a legendary figure
who claimed his kingship by winning a bloody war of independence from Orlais, primarily with
the assistance of his general and best friend, a commoner by the name of Loghain (who was
awarded the teyrnir of Gwaren). Maric's legend is considered classic by Fereldan standards,
and Loghain himself seems to epitomize the ideal that any Ferelden can rise to great heights
by the virtue of his ability. Young King Cailan, by comparison, has very big shoes to fill.

~ Teyrn ~

Plural: Teyrns

Female: Teyrna
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"Teyrn" is the traditional title claimed by those warlords who had reached a level of power that
they had other banns sworn to uphold them. Some teyrns did not keep their title for long, but
some families became powerful enough that the title was maintained and passed on to
successive generations. The contention, then, as to which teyrn was dominant became the
primary issue. Underneath the king, the teyrns of today are considered the most powerful
nobles in the kingdom. They each have numerous banns sworn to uphold them and supply
them with troops in times of war. The teyrn, in turn, is sworn to ride with his army to support the
king when called. The title is comparable to the Orlesian duke. A teyrn's land is called a
"teyrnir." There are currently two teyrns in Ferelden: Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir of Gwaren and
Teyrn Bryce Cousland of Highever. Denerim itself is considered a teyrnir, but it is controlled by
the king and his court. Most kings appoint a noble to the position of arl of Denerim. The arl is
responsible for ruling the city, while the king is responsible for ruling the country.

~ Arl ~

Plural: Arls

Female: Arlessa

Originally this title was used by trusted commanders of a teyrn, usually his sons or a favored
general. They were given command of a fortress or a piece of land that was of strategic
importance but was too far away from the teyrn to administer personally, and they were given a
title that placed them above that of a regular bann but without banns of his own to command.
After King Calenhad assumed the throne and united Ferelden, those banns with lands near the
borders or those who were of great importance (though not populated enough to be
considered a teyrn) were elevated to the rank of arl and have held the rank ever since. This
title is considered roughly equivalent to the Orlesian "count," with an arling being the same as
a "county." There are currently five arls in Ferelden: Arl Eamon Guerrein of Redcliffe, Arl
Rendon Howe of Amaranthine, Arl Gallagher Wulff of West Hills, Arl Gareth Bryland of South
Reach, and Arl Urien Kendells of Denerim.

~ Bann ~

Plural: Banns (or "Bannorn," see below)

Female: Bann

This title has existed since the early barbaric days of the Alamarri people. The term originally
referred to the chieftain of a particular tribe but has since grown into a title of respect roughly
the equivalent of the Orlesian "baron." There are a great many banns in the kingdom, and they
have varying degrees of power: Some have very large holdings of land and are considered to
be very influential, almost the equivalent of an arl or a teyrn on their own, while others are
almost little more than glorified freeholders controlling a small village and a few farms. The
central valley is filled with a great number of these small landholdings, each controlled by a
bann who is characteristically not subject to a teyrn overlord and is considered stubbornly
independent. As a region, this area is called "the Bannorn." Seeing as it's also a region where
a great deal of Ferelden's farming is done, the Bannorn wields a large amount of political
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influence, though this is only in times when they can agree on a common issue, which is not
often. Their feuds sometimes even flare up into petty wars. Usually the banns are split in their
support between the teyrns and the king on most issues. It should probably be noted that
"bann" is gender-neutral—the wife or husband of a bann is given the "lady" or "lord" honorific
but has no actual title of their own.

~ Knight ~

Plural: Knights

Female: Knight

The knight is the essential heavy fighting soldier, in this case serving directly to a bann, arl,
teyrn, or even the king. In this case, the knight gains some of the prestige of the master he
serves: A knight who serves the king is more prestigious than a knight who serves a bann with
little land. They are a tough group who value fighting ability and leadership skills above all else.
However, even the most prestigious knight is considered lower in rank than a bann and
possesses little political voice. As a group, they tend to scoff at the Orlesian ideal of the
courtier knight, and while many knights are indeed nobles (i.e., they own land that's generally
restricted to a single estate), there is no codified behavior that Fereldan knights follow. Another
difference between the Fereldan knight and the Orlesian knight is that the former are
considered foot soldiers. The only ones who ride horses (considered a mark of distinction) into
battle are those sworn to the king. Fereldan knights can be men or women, but women are
rarer and essentially are treated as men. Both share the honorific "ser" to denote knighthood.

*** The Commoner Classes ***

~ The Crafting Class ~

In the days of the barbarians, those in the tribe who were considered craftsmen—the smiths,
woodcarvers, and builders—were given a great amount of deference and in the tribe were
considered only second to the bann himself. Over time, the various crafts organized
themselves into semiformalized "houses," where information was traded between tribes, and
(in the eyes of the craftsmen) their crafthouse was considered almost a tribe in and of itself. As
the common wars between the tribes threatened this constant exchange of learning and
apprentices, the crafthouses eventually created the mandate that the bonds to one's house
surpassed the bonds to one's tribe. Naturally the banns fought this, but since any who did were
denied the services of the crafthouse, they simply had no choice but to capitulate in the end.

That sense of independence has continued: The major crafthouses of Ferelden are almost a
law unto themselves insofar as their own bailiwick is concerned. While they hold no direct
political voice, even a king would be fool to ignore them.

Two other groups are considered to be a part of this social class as well, though neither of
them actually "crafts" anything. The first is the Chantry. The priesthood in Ferelden is
considered as honored a profession as a master craftsman, and socially the class holds the
same kind of independence from local control and political deference when it comes to matters
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of religion. In other nations, however, the Chantry expects much more political influence than
they are able to wield in Ferelden. Here, the common expectation is that they are not to
influence issues not seen to directly concern them. It has been an issue of contention with the
Chantry, and they are forever attempting to increase their influence in politics and social affairs,
to varying degrees of success.

The second organization is the Traders' Crafthouse. Merchants have traditionally been thought
of in Ferelden as an untrustworthy bunch. Transactions are made with the crafters themselves
and through agents of their crafthouse when necessary. The idea of buying goods and
attempting to sell them at a profit is foreign, worthy of suspicion, and not much above thieving
or fraud. The dwarves were the first true merchants in Ferelden; to most this was acceptable,
as the dwarves were seen as the finest of craftsmen. It did not enter anyone's mind that the
dwarves probably did not make the items they brought up from Orzammar, and the dwarven
merchants did nothing to dispel the idea. The dwarves eventually established various large
trading posts in the cities at the behest of the banns (who wanted access to dwarven goods,
naturally), and they offered their services to local crafthouses. For many crafthouses, the
process of transporting and selling goods was considered more of a distraction to their true
purpose, and they welcomed the arrangement. Fereldan smiths agreed only so long as the
dwarves stopped their practice of selling superior dwarven goods at undercut prices, to which
the dwarves readily agreed. So the dwarves became the masters of the Traders Crafthouse,
which has expanded over the years to employ primarily Fereldan workers—as locals respond
better to humans behind the counter—and to partner with guilds from the Free Marches to
provide the shipping that Fereldan ports demand.
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~ Freemen ~

Beneath the Crafting Class lies the freemen, and while this social class can technically be split
into "High Freemen" (freeholders, innkeepers, tavern owners, guardsmen, and other employed
citizens) and "Low Freemen" (criminals, elves, prostitutes, and other ne'er-do-wells), they are
really the same class. Unlike in other nations such as the Orlesian Empire, there is no class of
serfs or slaves: One man is not permitted to own another, regardless of station, and all men
are essentially free. Slaves are allowed to be transported across Ferelden on their way to
Orlais or other places, but should any slave break free and demand their recognition as a
freeman, they would not be denied. The Fereldan people would never allow the slave trade to
take root, and this is indicative of Fereldan attitudes—since the earliest times of the Alamarri
tribes, they have been difficult to subjugate (as the Imperium discovered for themselves).

~ Ash Warriors ~

Since the time of Luthias, the Alamarri have maintained the dwarven warrior tradition of fighting
with a berserker's rage. The ash warriors are a pious group of mercenaries infamous even
outside Ferelden and are equally feared and respected. Although mercenaries, they do not sell
their services per se; they offer them to whichever cause they feel is just, in the name of the
Maker. It is traditional for those they aid to reward them according to their contribution (which is
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always large). King Calenhad was the first to acquire their support for the Fereldan throne, and
since his day, they have often been associated with the king (and have fought against him only
once). They rather pointedly maintain the distinction that while they often serve the throne,
they do not owe it any fealty, and they feel the same toward the Chantry: They revere the
Chantry's teachings but will often forge their own path independent of the Chantry's desires.
They are autonomous and possess strength as a group that none have yet dared to challenge.
To the average commoner, they epitomize Fereldan values, so ash warriors will often be
treated as heroes wherever they go.

As much a hero as one might be considered, however, few ever intend to join their ranks. An
ash warrior is allowed no personal glory, nor may they amass personal wealth; any wealth they
are paid or otherwise obtain is kept until their eventual death and may then be forwarded to
whomever they choose. The path of an ash warrior is considered one of honor and the
eschewing of one's former material life.

It is common for ash warriors to pair up with a dog for its entire life. They guard one another,
and when the warrior goes into combat, the armored dog fights eagerly at his side. The
howling that accompanies a charge of ash warriors is said to be both distinctive and
disturbing...as is the smell. Before going into battle, soldiers often apply a scented body paint
called "kaddis," which makes it easier for the dogs to distinguish them as allies. This leads
other armies, particularly the Orlesian Chevaliers, to look down upon the Fereldens as
"primitive, stinking dog lords," but the Fereldens are a formidable force, and they know it.

~ The Grey Wardens ~

The Grey Wardens have no real place in Fereldan society, unlike elsewhere in Thedas. Two
hundred years ago, King Arland ordered the ejection of all Grey Wardens from Ferelden.
Rumors claimed that the leader of the Fereldan Grey Wardens at the time was a member of
the royal family and had taken part in an unsuccessful coup to oust King Arland. The true
reason was kept secret, and officially it was stated that Ferelden no longer wished to tithe the
Grey Wardens. It was a low point for the organization and an act that was considered
controversial and embarrassing by Ferelden's neighbors. The Grey Wardens remained exiled
from Ferelden until King Maric, Cailan's father, assumed the throne. He invited the Grey
Wardens back into Ferelden in 9:08 Dragon and reinstated their rights and tithe. With their
fortress at Soldier's Peak in ruins, he made room for them in Denerim. Since that time, the
social position of a Grey Warden has remained vague. The tales of darkspawn and Grey
Warden heroism are old but still told. Combined with the fact that both King Maric and King
Cailan give the Grey Wardens great deference, they are treated as if they have great status.
Traditionally, however, Ferelden has held itself aloof from Grey Warden business and, with
Weisshaupt far away and the last Blight so long ago, has considered them irrelevant. So the
Grey Wardens wear a thin veneer of respectability that could easily be pierced should the
king's mood change.

~ Dogs ~
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Dogs still hold a special place in the modern Fereldan culture, just as the wolf did in the days
of the Alamarri tribes. Many dogs roam free in any given community and are, in a sense,
considered to be owned by the entire community. Feeding them is thought to be good luck,
though in reality they are still strays and live a meager existence. Other dogs are valued as
more than mere pets: They are put to work. Dog breeding is a time-honored tradition in
Ferelden, and the variety of dogs range from small and friendly lapdogs to the giant, wolflike
dogs that are trained to act as guards or even to enter into battle. The most famous of these
breeds is the mabari, extremely intelligent hounds able to understand and carry out complex
commands. In Ferelden, a man's worth is measured by the prowess of his dog, and
competitions involving them can be incredibly fierce.

Fereldan Geography
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*** Korcari Wilds ***

The Korcari Wilds are a large, cold wetland that covers the entire southern border of Ferelden
and separates the modern nation from the wandering nomadic barbarians of the tundra lands
to the far south. The Wilds have a large culture of "Wilders" (properly known as the Chasind
people, tribes who, along with the Avvar, refused to unite with the Alamarri to form Ferelden)
who are considered backward even by Fereldan standards. They think of themselves as
independent of Fereldan rulership. They are still a primitive people, living in peculiar huts that
sit on stilts to keep them above the winter ice and the summer swamps, and they are well
known for their xenophobia. They believe outsiders are fair game to cheat or rob. The Wilders
have been particularly welcoming of rogue elves into their numbers (doing nothing for their
reputation in the north) and have only one major settlement: the famous "stilt-city" of
Tombigbee, though its location is kept secret from all save the Wilders themselves.

*** Brecilian Forest ***

The Brecilian Forest lies in southeast Ferelden and is the subject of many local legends.
Brecilian is a place of darkness and horror, and most people shun the forest altogether. All
manner of creatures are rumored to inhabit the forest, from werewolves to the possessed trees
known as the wild sylvans. Traffic between the coastal city of Gwaren and the rest of Ferelden
must take the long route around the forest through the Brecilian Passage, leaving only the
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foolhardy or desperate to attempt passing through the forest itself. Only the Dalish elves are
known to regularly enter the forest, and this has led some to believe that the elves have a
connection to whatever has cursed the forest.

*** Frostback Mountains ***

The Frostback Mountains to the west hold the hardy hillsmen known as the Avvars. The Avvars
trade with the dwarves but are often at odds with the "lowlanders," having fought many wars
with the Alamarri tribes in the distant past until they were finally driven into the mountains for
good. The high mountains are also known for strange ice formations, including "ice bridges"
that allow movement between certain peaks—but only for a small length of time before the
bridges crumble into shards of ice.

*** Lake Calenhad ***

Lake Calenhad is fed from the glacier streams of the Frostback Mountains and is a beautiful
clear blue. The lake produces an abundance of fish and is perhaps most famous for the Circle
of Magi situated within a tower that sits on a single island in the north part of the lake. The
tower is a landmark easily seen for many miles around the entire countryside.

*** Denerim ***

The capital of Ferelden, the city of Denerim is built around the base of a mountain known
locally as "Dragon's Peak." The city is a warren of tunnels and steep roads connecting the
various districts. There is a large, walled alienage for the elves as well as the wealthy Palace
District that contains the royal palace and the estates of most of Ferelden's wealthy nobility;
almost all nobles who are capable of doing so maintain an estate within the city even if they
use it only when a Landsmeet is called. The oldest structure in the city is also the highest: Fort
Drakon, renamed after Emperor Kordillus Drakon, is an ancient fortress built into the side of
the mountain. At one time it was the domain of Denerim's teyrn, and the city's population could
retreat into the fort if it was threatened. Now it is a garrison for Denerim's city guard as well as
a prison.

The most famous aspect of Denerim is that it is considered the birthplace of Andraste. An area
of the Palace District is set aside as a shrine to her, one visited by a great number of pilgrims
every year.

*** Lothering ***

Lothering is a major town built along the Imperial Highway, an elevated road built by the
Tevinter magisters that once led from the northern coast down to Ostagar. The Imperial
Highway is crumbling but is still used for travel on those sections that remain intact.

*** Redcliffe ***

Castle Redcliffe is built on an island just off the coast of Lake Calenhad, connected to the
shore (and the fishing village located there) by a narrow causeway. The cliffs along the lake's
northern shores are red tinged because of the iron content in the soil, thus the name of the
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castle. The castle is of military importance, because it's shortly east of Gherlen's Pass—the
primary route through the Frostback Mountains to Orzammar and ultimately Orlais. Redcliffe is
home to the Arl Eamon Guerrein, brother-in-law to King Maric and considered one of the more
popular noblemen in the country.

*** Circle of Magi Tower ***

The Circle of Magi's tower is built on the remnants of a volcanic island in the northern part of
Lake Calenhad. The tower, once an ancient Avvar fort known as Kinloch Hold, was given over
to the mages so that they could practice their arts well away from any civilized part of the
country. The tower was once connected to the shoreline by the Imperial Highway, but the
highway has since mostly collapsed into the water, and the only way out to the tower is now by
boat. A small settlement sits on the shore, a waypoint for templars stationed at the tower and
travelers journeying to see the mages. It is unknown whether the Avvar built the initial structure
themselves or if the dwarves built it for them. It may even have been updated in subsequent
centuries.

*** Ostagar ***

Representing the farthest point of the ancient Tevinter Imperium's encroachment into the
barbarian lands of the southeast, the fortress of Ostagar was once one of the most important
defensive Imperial holdings south of the Waking Sea. It stood at the edge of the Korcari Wilds
and watched for any signs of invasion by the barbarians today known as the Chasind Wilders.
Straddling a narrow pass in the hills, the fortress needed to be bypassed for the Wilders to
reach the fertile lowlands to the north and proved to be exceedingly difficult for the Wilders to
attack because of its naturally defensible position. Like most Imperial holdings in the south,
Ostagar was abandoned after Tevinter's collapse during the First Blight. It was successfully
sacked by the Chasind Wilders and then, as the Chasind threat dwindled following the creation
of the modern Fereldan nation, fell to ruin completely.

It has remained unmanned for four centuries, though most of the walls still stand—as does the
tall Tower of Ishal, named after the great Archon that ordered its construction—and Ostagar
remains a testament to the magical power of the Imperium that created it.
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Fereldan Law

Ferelden's legal system is not incredibly complex, relying on a system of arbiters to use
common sense when it comes to judgment and sentencing. These arbiters were originally
appointed by banns to represent them in disputes and make decisions on their behalf when a
bann's land became too extensive for him to be everywhere and solve every dispute for the
people under his command. Every nobleman appointed his arbiter. A bann had men who
resolved the disputes on his land while a teyrn did the same. This led to inevitable
disagreements as arbiters conflicted each other based on the rank of whom they served as
well as the differing laws in each land. King Vortigeyrn in 4:85 Black reformed this system by
decreeing that "every man had the right to be heard by the king." After that point, all arbiters
represented the king and the king's law only. This did not go over well with the Fereldan
nobles, especially in the Bannorn, and it was not until the various lords were given the power
to collectively determine the king's law in the Landsmeet that this was deemed acceptable
practice throughout Ferelden.

Today, all arbiters represent the king and answer only to the king in the form of his seneschal
in Denerim. In the larger settlements, arbiters are able to work in one central place, and the
disputed parties come to them. This generally takes place in a hall built specifically for the
purpose. The seneschal's hall in Denerim is the central authority for the arbiters. It is a
distinctive structure that was built by the dwarves out of black granite and so has come to be
known as "the Black Hall," with the arbiters being nicknamed "blackhallers." Despite being
specific to the city, both names have spread considerably and are used for other halls and the
arbiters in general. Outside of the larger settlements, arbiters travel between towns and
villages to dispense justice periodically in the king's name. In those settlements, a sheriff is
responsible for keeping order and will keep track of which disputes must be settled by the next
scheduled arbiter. For some who face time in prison, this may mean a lengthy term inside a
cell before an arbiter has the opportunity to hear their case. It has become a common practice,
then, for a man to give up something of great value to the sheriff and be released "on his bond"
pending the arbiter's arrival. So long as he shows up when called to see the arbiter, his bond
will be returned to him. If he does not, the crime of fleeing justice is added to his original crime
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and his bond is lost for good. This bond system has spread to the cities (for those cases
involving imprisonment that may not immediately be seen by an arbiter) and to nearby Orlais
and the Free Marches. An interesting side note is the saying "my word is my bond" derives
from this system: In small communities where a man charged with a crime may be well
regarded, his oath that he shall show up when the arbiter comes is often considered enough,
and he is released without surrendering a bond. Thus the implication that one's word has a
value of its own—"my word is my bond," a typically Fereldan attitude.

*** Crime ***

The Fereldan people have a strong tradition of personal freedom, one they will uphold by
rebellion if necessary. Even nobles can be brought down to the common man's level if he steps
beyond their boundaries. This tradition extends into laws and how they are enforced.

Crimes against one's person or property, such as assault and theft, certainly exist. Along with
them, however, goes a certain expectation that one must take care of oneself. A burglary of
something valuable or a murder would definitely draw the attention of the guard, but a petty
assault or a pickpocketing would no doubt be ignored. Crimes against public property or in the
obstruction of the king's business are more serious. Crimes that dictate behavior, however, are
almost nonexistent. Only when they reach the extremes of becoming a public nuisance are the
Fereldan authorities likely to take action. Such activities such as prostitution, drinking,
gambling, and so forth are unregulated (it is worthy to note that prostitutes have tried to
organize into a "companion's crafthouse," an attempt that has met active resistance from
existing crafthouses because of the inherent elevation in status that would imply). The carrying
of weapons and armor is also unregulated.

The only thing that is regulated closely, and perhaps even unfairly, is the use of magic: Public
suspicion against magic is as strong in Ferelden now as it was in the days of Andraste's great
march into the Imperium, and the Chantry is only too glad to whip this sentiment into a frenzy
whenever any kind of magical incident occurs. Thus the Circle of Magi in Ferelden is kept far
away from any settlement, and mages who make their abilities known will soon find
themselves unwelcome just about anywhere.

*** Punishment ***

Unlike in other nations, imprisonment is not considered an ideal form of punishment in

Ferelden. For the short term it is useful, as in holding criminals until other arrangements can be
made for them, but long-term incarceration it is almost unheard of. Punishments in Ferelden
tend to be quick and immediate: execution, lashings, maimings, and fines. These punishments
are often combined with public display if it is felt that an example needs to be made, and if
imprisonment is determined to be necessary, it is almost always public imprisonment:
stockades, for instance, or hanging in a public cage until the prisoner starves to death (or is
stoned to death). Imprisonment in dungeons and such are reserved for prisoners of the
nobility: political prisoners, captured soldiers, hostages, and the like.

*** The Landsmeet ***

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During the time when Ferelden was split into its many barbaric tribes, it was determined that
some issues that affected all the banns would occasionally need to be resolved, and this
required all of them to come together. Thus the Landsmeet was created: Each bann was
guaranteed safe passage to and from the Landsmeet (originally, the location changed but
since the crowning of the first king, it has taken place exclusively in Denerim), where all the
banns could gather to air their grievances. Seldom was anything accomplished, as the idea of
giving up personal independence for the common good is not truly a Fereldan trait, but
sometimes overriding concerns brought action: for example, in the Landsmeet, the banns
fought against the occupation of the Imperium, repelled the werewolves during the Black Age,
and elected to follow Maferath and Andraste into history. Since the time of King Vortigeyrn, the
Landsmeet has become a more official body as well as a legislative one. The nobility gather to
be heard by the king and together discuss and vote on the laws that will govern the kingdom.
Technically, the Landsmeet has the power to override the king on any legal matter, though in
practice this has always relied solely on how much power the king personally wields.

The Landsmeet occurs at least once a year and recently (since King Maric) has begun to meet
once per season. Most noble families thus keep estates in Denerim to house them and their
entourages when they are in the capital. Obviously, most nobles (especially those from
faraway areas) cannot come to the capital every few months, so it is not uncommon that they
appoint a proxy to act in their stead. Normally this is a member of their family, one who opts to
remain in Denerim, but occasionally it is a trusted commander. Sometimes one's vote can even
be proxied to another noble (one whose views on things are the same as yours). The king has
the option to call an emergency Landsmeet if he wishes, and on those occasions all nobles will
make the effort to come to Denerim personally.

Fereldan Climate

Ferelden lies in the south of Thedas, and the climate is moderate with cold, snowy winters.
Ferelden in particular suffers the extremes of weather in almost every season, a fact its
durable people are quite used to and perhaps even a little proud of.

Fereldan Calendar

The current system of 12 months and 4 seasons was developed during the early years of the
Tevinter Imperium (with some influence from the elves); indeed, the primary seasonal holidays
have remained unchanged during much of the time since, the only exceptions being the widely
celebrated Chantry holidays that became almost universally used after the Second Blight.
Each month has a High Name (the original, official Imperial name used primarily by courts and
scholars) and a Low Name (the name used by commoners and merchants) and an even 30
days. The five "annums," or annual holidays, mark the official transition between seasons and
the beginning of the year; these are not the only holidays celebrated, but they are the only
ones that exist without a month of their own.

*** Calendar and Holidays ***

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Holiday—First Day: The beginning of the year, this holiday traditionally involves many visits to
one's neighbors and family (this was once to "check" to make sure everyone was alive at least
once a year in remote parts) and a town gathering to commemorate the year past (often
accompanied by much drinking and merriment).

Month 1: High Name—Verimensis; Low Name—Wintermarch

Holiday—Wintersend: Once called "Urthalis" and dedicated to Urthemial, the Old God of
beauty, this holiday has traditionally become a celebration of the Maker. It stands for the end of
winter in many lands and often coincides with tourneys and contests that conjure the Proving
Grounds in Minrathous (which always has its biggest contests on this day). In most southern
lands, this holiday has become a day of gathering for trade, theater, and (in some areas) the
arrangement of marriages.

Month 2: High Name—Pluitanis; Low Name—Guardian

Month 3: High Name—Nubulis; Low Name—Drakonis

Month 4: High Name—Eluviesta; Low Name—Cloudreach

Holiday—Summerday: Once called "Andoralis" and dedicated to Andoral, the Old God of
chains, this holiday is universally celebrated as the beginning of summer, a time for merriment
and marriages to take place. Traditionally, boys and girls who are ready to come of age
participate in a grand procession in which they cross the settlement in white tunics and gowns
and end up at the local Chantry; there they are advised on the responsibilities of adulthood.
This is considered a very holy day in Orlais.

Month 5: High Name—Molioris; Low Name—Bloomingtide

Month 6: High Name—Ferventis; Low Name—Justinian

Month 7: High Name—Solis; Low Name—Solace

Holiday—Funalis: This holiday was once dedicated to the Old God of silence, Dumat. Since
Dumat's rise during the First Blight, however, this fact has been largely ignored. Now the
holiday is invariably known as All Soul's Day and is supposed to be spent in somber
remembrance of the dead. In some northern lands, it is traditional for the population to dress
as spirits and walk the streets in parade after midnight. The Chantry has co-opted this holiday
to remember the death of Andraste, with fires that mark her burning appearing throughout the
community. Plays depicting the tale of her death are also quite common.

Month 8: High Name—Matrinalis; Low Name—August

Month 9: High Name—Parvulis; Low Name—Kingsway

Month 10: High Name—Frumentum; Low Name—Harvestmere

Holiday—Satinalia: In many places, this holiday—once dedicated to the Old Goddess of

chaos, Zazikel, but now attributed more to the Second Moon, Satina—is still accompanied by
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wild celebration. Celebrants wear masks and lose their inhibitions, and they place the town fool
as ruler for a day. In Antiva (Antiva City in particular), this festival lasts for a week or more,
followed by a week of fasting. In more pious areas, this holiday is now marked by large feasts
and gift-giving.

Month 11: High Name—Umbralis; Low Name—Firstfall

Month 12: High Name—Cassus; Low Name—Haring

Fereldan Currency

Coin Fereldan Equivalent Orlais Equivalent Exchange Rate

1 gold piece 1 sovereign 1 royal 100 silver pieces
1 silver piece 1 silver 1 crown 100 copper pieces
1 copper piece 1 bit 1 penny N/A
Fereldan Timeline

1200 TE (-2415 Ancient): The tribes of people known as the "Alamarri" cross the Frostback
Mountains and settle in the lands that would become the country of Ferelden some 3,000
years later. What drives the Alamarri across the mountains is not known, but the oldest tribal
legends mention evil forces belonging to the "Shadow Goddess," a being whose proper name
was never invoked by Alamarri scribes lest her gaze fall upon them. Some modern scholars
suggest that the Alamarri likely fled a great natural disaster—a flood caused by a large
earthquake appears the most likely cause, according to hints in the old tales, though there are
several tribes with stories that directly contradict this theory and instead point toward some
form of enemy invasion. Regardless, the Alamarri crossed the mountains from the west and
spread quickly across the Fereldan valley.

600 TE (-1815 Ancient): The Alamarri people living around what is today known as Lake
Calenhad break away from their Alamarri cousins, becoming known as the Avvar. The two
tribes war with each other for several centuries, with the Avvar eventually being pushed
westward into the foothills of the Frostbacks.

200 TE (-1415 Ancient): During this period, the Alamarri people living in the Korcari Wilds to
the south are first referred to as the Chasind in the old tales, and they invade the lands to the
north in a campaign of terror. According to the stories, the Chasind fight alongside "white
shadows" and the creatures of the wilds for a lengthy period that is disagreed upon in the old
tales. They actually conquer the Alamarri. The Alamarri rebel and slaughter the Chasind
shamans responsible for summoning the shadows and drive the Chasind back into the Wilds.
To this day, Fereldan folk carry a suspicion and hatred of the Chasind that stems from stories
related to their brutal occupation of the valley (as well as later invasions, though none of those
were as successful as this first).

500 TE (-715 Ancient): Nearing the height of its power, the Tevinter Imperium begins crossing
the Waking Sea and begins several campaigns to subjugate the barbarians in Ferelden. Three
times the Imperium comes close to succeeding, but always the Alamarri unite with the Chasind
and the Avvars and drive the Tevinter armies back. After each barbarian success, the Tevinter
would regroup and try again after several decades. In the fourth and final advance into the
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valley, the Tevinters held the western half of the valley long enough to extend the Imperial
Highway across the Waking Sea at the Eyes of Nocen and into Ferelden, eventually reaching
as far south as the Korcari Wilds. The highway allows for quick deployment of troops and
supplies from the north, and for a time it appears the Imperium will succeed in bringing
Ferelden into the fold. Several fortresses are constructed to hold off barbarian retaliation, the
most famous of these being Ostagar in the far south (built, it is believed, to watch for signs of
Chasind movement in the Wilds, and it was apparently boasted that the ruin was so reinforced
by magic that nothing could tear it down). The tales of how the barbarians defeated the
Tevinter forces after suffering many defeats are varied, with each tribe claiming responsibility
for the final victory. Regardless, certain truths are evident: The barbarian tribes united once
again and faced Tevinters who were fighting among themselves to split up the spoils of their
conquests, and one brilliant leader rose among the barbarians to defeat the undefeatable
Ostagar. As it is told, that leader died in the battle, and since so many claimants exist as to his
identity, he is commonly known only by a title: the Bane of Ostagar.

650 TE (-565 Ancient): With Ostagar defeated, the entrenched position of the Imperium begins
to collapse. By this year, the last of the Tevinter forces are forced to retreat back across the
Waking Sea. Faced with the embarrassing prospect of a united barbarian invasion from across
the Frostback Mountains, the magister governor of Ciriane (now Orlais) sues for peace and
supplies the Alamarri with great riches and several artifacts of magical power. Fortunately for
him, this immediately causes argument and squabbling among the tribes as to who should get
what share, and the entire alliance falls apart. The barbarian invasion of Ciriane never
materializes.

800 TE (-415 Ancient): The First Blight begins. The Fereldan valley is largely unaffected, but
the more civilized portions of the Tevinter Imperium are devastated. While the barbarian tribes
argue over the possibility of an invasion to take advantage of the Imperium's weakness, they
cannot agree.

860 TE (-355 Ancient): The Battle of Red Falls is fought, marking the turn of the tide against
the Alamarri and their legendary leader, Luthias (known also as "Luthias the Dwarfson"). Tales
of this time mark great struggles between the Alamarri and the mountain clans of the Avvars
led by the warrior-queen Morrighan'nan. Luthias is the first of the barbarians to be taught the
berserker battle style of the dwarves and is thought undefeatable. However, in the last of the
great clashes between the Alamarri and the Avvars, he and Morrighan'nan slay each other.
Luthias's body is rumored to have been brought to Orzammar for interment, and the Order of
the Ash Warriors begins in Luthias's honor not long after his death.

981 TE (-234 Ancient): Andraste is born a peasant commoner in the village of Luighdor (today
part of the city known as Denerim), on the eastern coast of Ferelden. She is captured by
Tevinter forces at a young age and becomes a slave.

992 TE (-223 Ancient): Dumat, the first archdemon, is destroyed by the Grey Wardens at the
Battle of the Silent Plains in southern Tevinter. The First Blight comes to an end, and the
Tevinter Imperium is in ruins.
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1010 TE (-205 Ancient): Many versions of Andraste's tale exists, and even in the Chant of Light
little is explained of what happens to Andraste during her many years as a slave. The Chant
says that she was visited by the Maker and that he charged her with a mission to bring his
teachings to his children, and he would give them the opportunity to turn away from the false
gods and from the rule of corruption and magic. Andraste's following became widespread. Her
most ardent supporter was her husband, the Alamarri teyrn known as Maferath. Maferath is
also one of the strongest proponents of invading the Imperium while they are still weak, and
over the course of a single decade (and with the strength of the Maker at his back, so the
Chant goes), he unites the barbarian tribes under his rule and Andraste's spiritual leadership.
For the first time, the barbarians have a single cause beyond their own survival.

1020 TE (-195 Ancient): Maferath collects the great barbarian horde, and with Andraste leading
the way crosses the Waking Sea to invade the Imperium. Their initial successes are many, and
they strike deep into the heart of the southern lands before they begin to meet heavy
resistance. At this time, the Imperium is weak, but they are quick to gather what forces they
have, not to mention the barbarians have never encountered the full power of the magisters
before: The horde faces battles against demons and even the very elements as it begins to
struggle. Luckily, Andraste's word begins to spread among the Tevinter subjects, and the elven
slave class joins the oppressed masses in rising up in rebellion to weaken the Tevinter from
within. The southern Tevinter begins to collapse.

1024 TE (-191 Ancient): Soon after Maferath's victory at the Battle of Valarian Fields, a battle in
which the empire's greatest army was routed, it is said that the barbarian general became
jealous of his wife's growing popularity and influence, as well as her status as the betrothed of
the Maker. Wanting to bring an end to hostilities and tighten his grip on his conquered
territories, he secretly made a pact with the Archon of Tevinter. The Archon declared a truce,
while Maferath allowed his wife to be captured by Imperial agents and subsequently publicly
burned to death in front of a large crowd at the Proving Grounds in Minrathous.

1035 TE (-180 Ancient): Maferath rules the southern Imperium for a decade until the Archon of
Tevinter declares his conversion to Andraste's beliefs and reveals Maferath's betrayal. The
barbarian hordes abandon Maferath and begin returning to Ferelden en masse, and the
southern Imperium completes its collapse into anarchy.

1050 TE (-165 Ancient): The Alamarri tribes begin a long series of internal wars as various
powerful banns step up to attempt to replace Maferath, starting with Andral, the supposed son
of Andraste. Andral manages to unite Ferelden briefly before it is proven that he is not
Andraste's son and the union falls apart. Several more "sons" of Andraste step forward, each
fracturing the valley into bitter feuds. Andraste's ashes are recovered from the Imperium by her
disciples and interred at the Silver Temple in Highever; however, after several attempts by the
sons to take them by force to lend credence to their claim, her ashes are secretly moved to an
unknown location and are lost.

1192 TE (-3 Ancient): Kordillus Drakon is crowned the emperor of Orlais. He begins his series
of holy wars to unite the Free Marches under the Orlesian banner.
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1195 TE (-1 Ancient): Under Emperor Drakon's influence, the Andrastian Chantry is officially
formed. The many cults that followed Andraste's teachings, which have spread throughout the
Free Marches, flock to the Chantry in masses.

1:5 Divine: With the awakening of Zazikel, the Second Blight begins.

1:40 Divine: The legendary warrior Hafter arises and successfully leads the Alamarri tribes
against the darkspawn horde that spills into the valley from the dwarven lands. Hafter is said to
be the descendant of legendary Dane of the Werewolves and is the greatest warrior of his
time.

1:50 Divine: Even though the Alamarri are weakened by their colossal struggle with the
darkspawn, Hafter defeats a combined invasion by the Avvars and Chasind, who hope to take
advantage of the situation. Numerous wars are fought with both tribes, ultimately driving the
Avvars deep into the Frostbacks and the Chasind back into the Wilds. The Alamarri become
the dominant force in the valley. Never again will the other tribes encroach on Alamarri lands.
For the Alamarri, Hafter's ascension as the first teyrn marks a long period of peace. He ruled
with an iron fist for over 30 years, fighting off several new advances by the darkspawn into
Ferelden before finally disappearing. It is said that the aged Hafter took the Blade of Yusaris
and his first son and sailed into the unknown east of the Amaranthine Ocean. He was not seen
again. His wife, Teyrna Isulde, ruled in his stead and won a civil war of her own to retain
Hafter's legacy.

1:95 Divine: The Second Blight ends with the Battle of Starkhaven.

2:10 Glory: The grandson of Hafter, Teyrn Caedmon, seeks to raise himself above the other
teyrns. He declares himself king of the Fereldan people and officially establishes the presence
of the Andrastian Chantry in Denerim. A civil war erupts to oppose him, and while he has great
success at first, his downfall occurs when he commits too much of his power toward the
Exalted March of the Dales in the west. In the end, the great Battle of Valmorn Hills results in
Caedmon's death. Three more claimants to the title of king emerge, including Caedmon's son,
Talemal, but all suffer quick ends as the civil war consumes the land. No more attempts to
claim the king's title are made, though the various teyrns struggle for dominance during a long
period known as the War of Crowns, named for the sudden rise of the various teyrns adorning
themselves with royal crowns even if they did not call themselves kings. Centuries later, King
Calenhad rounded up these crowns and destroyed them, though legend says some are still
hidden away.

2:20 Glory: Orlais conquers Halamshiral, ending the Exalted March of the Dales.

3:0 Towers: Flemeth is born in the village of Highever. Betrayed by her husband, Bann
Conobar, Flemeth was possessed by a powerful spirit. She became an abomination and fled
into the Korcari Wilds. There she brooded and plotted for 100 years, uniting the Chasind tribes
under her dominion. During this time, she stole men from the Alamarri tribes so she could
beget many daughters. Her daughters were twisted, horrific creatures that could kill a man with
fear. When she was ready, an army led by Flemeth's daughters—the "Witches of the Wilds"—
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emerged from the swamps and struck against the Fereldan people. All seemed lost until the
hero, Cormac, emerged. Cormac led an army of Alamarri men and Orzammar dwarves against
Flemeth's army. Many great battles resulted in the Chasind being destroyed and the witches
burned, including Flemeth, though legend claims that she and her witches still exist to this day.

3:10—3:25 Towers: Toth is awoken and the Third Blight begins. Cormac plays a major role as
he journeys north and fights alongside the Marchers against the darkspawn hordes, dying in
the final fight, the Battle of Hunter Fell.

3:87 Towers: The Schism splits the Chantry in Tevinter, causing great resentment against
magic throughout the southern lands. The Circle of Magi in Denerim is forced to abandon its
tower within the city and occupies Kinloch Hold in the center of what is today known as Lake
Calenhad.

4:0 Black: The werewolves, always present in Fereldan lore, become an epidemic. Over the
next century, they battle against humanity in the valley as they acquire the ability to assume
human form and strike at Ferelden from within. Supposedly this ability was granted to the
werewolves through deals with darker powers, just as the werewolves themselves were
created through dealings with dark gods in the early tribal days. Regardless of how they
acquired their ability, paranoia became rampant in every Fereldan city. Relative turned against
relative as the humans turned on their own, accusations against innocent people becoming
commonplace. The use of dogs as guards who could detect werewolves by their smell proves
the difference in the end, turning the tide against the werewolves, but the war to drive them out
is particularly bloody. Many tales are spawned of the battles that take place, especially the
invasion of the streets of Gwaren, where over a quarter of the city is slaughtered in a single
night. The werewolves are eventually decimated, though folklore still places them in many rural
forests throughout the valley today. Occasionally, rumors of a werewolf in a village will grow out
of hand and lead to many deaths before the truth is sorted out. Legends also claim that a race
of half-shape-shifters called "ferals" descend from that time, living quietly among humanity or
withdrawing deep into the wilds (depending on the legend).

4:80 Black: The Orlesian Empire takes advantage of Ferelden's disorganization and crosses
the Frostback Mountains to invade for the first time. The campaign lasts for three years until
the Fereldan teyrns once again unite to push the Orlesians back. The empire had hoped to
take the port of Highever and therefore switch to supplying their forces by sea rather than by
Gherlen's Pass; however, the fortress of Redcliffe held out for longer than expected, and winter
in the Frostbacks left many Orlesian forces unsupplied. By the spring of 4:84 Black, most
Orlesian troops had pulled out or been captured.

5:10 Exalted: The Grey Wardens sign treaties with the various teyrns of the land and enter
Ferelden permanently, building the fortress at Soldier's Peak as well as several small, remote
outposts (including one in the Korcari Wilds) to watch for signs of darkspawn.

5:12 Exalted: The Fourth Blight begins.

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5:42 Exalted: After long centuries of bitter warfare, the great warrior Calenhad finally defeats
the other teyrns in a series of major engagements. He has the ash warriors on his side as well
as the aid of the Circle of Magi, who craft him a suit of glittering white chain mail that was said
to make the wearer all but impervious to harm. The appearance of the Silver Knight at the
head of his troops, carrying his white-and-gold banner aloft, was said to strike fear into the
hearts of his enemies, his victories a legend that has lived on to this day. He claims the title of
king once again and is crowned by the Chantry in Denerim, and with his crowning, the nation
of Ferelden is at last united. Some tribes of the Avvars remain in the mountains and Chasind in
the Wilds, refusing to join in this new union, but technically even they are recognized as part of
the king's sovereign lands. King Calenhad brings Denerim onto the world stage, opening it up
to trade.

6:30 Steel: The First Qunari War begins.

6:50 Steel: After having raided the lowlands for many years, the Avvars combine their forces
under the great warlord Balak and sweep into the heart of the Fereldan valley in massive
numbers. The Bannorn is put to the torch, and even though the Avvars are pushed back over
the next two years, this period is one of the worst famines in Fereldan history. Memories of
Avvarian savagery keep relations between the barbarians and the Fereldan kings bitter to this
day.

7:5 Storm: King Arland passes a law exiling the Grey Wardens from Ferelden. Though the
official story is that the order was no longer worth tithing, rumors persist that the Grey Wardens
commander, formerly a member of the royal family, took part in an unsuccessful coup to oust
Arland, thus breaking the Wardens' traditional neutrality in the matter. The fortress at Soldier's
Peak is breached, and the commander and her supporters are slain, while the rest of the
Fereldan Wardens flee to Orlais. All other Grey Warden outposts in Ferelden are abandoned.
Some are taken over by local lords while others, like the one in the Korcari Wilds, are simply
left to fall to pieces.

7:25—7:85 Storm: The New Exalted Marches are fought to reclaim lands conquered by the
Qunari.

8:24 Blessed: Urged on by "the Mad Emperor" Reville, Orlais makes its second attempt to
invade Ferelden. This attempt is much more successful than the first, primarily because King
Venedrin faces treachery from among the ranks of the nobility, with several powerful banns
secretly supporting the Orlesians and working to sabotage the kingdom's defense. Redcliffe
falls, and at the Battle of Lothering, the Fereldan line completely collapses and King Venedrin
is killed when he falls off his horse. Young King Brandel is unable to inspire enough confidence
to unite the people underneath him, and for the next 20 years, the nation buckles under
constant warfare. Eventually Denerim is sacked and the empire claims victory, though King
Brandel gets away. The king and some of the teyrns become rebels, waging constant warfare
against Orlesian occupiers from the wilds of the Brecilian Forest or the foothills of the
Frostbacks. When King Brandel finally dies, Orlais crowns its "False King," the infamous tyrant
Meghren, while Brandel's daughter, "the Rebel Queen" Moira, continues the battle.
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9:00 Dragon: Maric, the wildly popular son of the Rebel Queen, dethrones the latest Orlesian
puppet king at the infamous Battle of the River Dane. He ascends to the throne of Ferelden
after four years of battle with Orlesian forces, inspiring a nationwide revolution and finally
driving the Orlesians out of Ferelden entirely. Maric's campaigns were fought alongside a
young commoner by the name of Loghain, who proves to be a military genius. Loghain is
rewarded with the teyrnir of Gwaren and becomes something of a legend, epitomizing the
Fereldan ideal of anything being attainable if one is skilled enough. Maric rebuilds the fortress
of Denerim and readmits the Grey Wardens into Ferelden. King Maric's rule is considered the
beginning of a new golden age for Ferelden.

9:20 Dragon: The young Empress Celene of Orlais makes her historic visit to Denerim, putting
aside decades of strife and resentment to sign a peace treaty. This officially ends the long war
between the two nations.

9:25 Dragon: Death of King Maric. His only son, Cailan, assumes the throne and marries the
daughter of Teyrn Loghain, Anora.

9:30 Dragon: Modern day.

Famous People in Ferelden

*** Humans ***

~ Royalty ~
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

King Cailan: Young king of Ferelden, son of King Maric and Queen Rowan. Coronated in 9:25
Dragon.

Teyrn Loghain: "Hero of the River Dane," a commoner who aided King Maric in freeing
Ferelden from Orlesian control and was rewarded with the teyrnir of Gwaren. He remains a
hero to the Fereldan people and is considered its finest general.

Queen Anora: Loghain's daughter and wife to King Cailan.

King Caedmon: Grandson of the hero Hafter, he is the first to declare himself king of Ferelden
in 2:10 Glory. Dies at the Battle of Valmorn Hills in 2:18 Glory.

King Calenhad: The first king to unite Ferelden in 5:42 Exalted. He is considered the greatest
legend in Ferelden's history and the founder of its royal bloodline.

King Maric: Hero king of Ferelden, defeated the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden and was
coronated in Denerim in 9:03 Dragon.

King Meghren: The infamous "False King" appointed by Orlais in 8:78 Blessed during its
occupation. He was executed by King Maric in 9:02 Dragon.

Queen Rowan: She is the former queen of Ferelden, wife to Maric and older sister to Arl
Eamon. Died of illness in 9:08 Dragon.

~ Denerim ~

Grand Cleric Elemena: The current leader of the Chantry in Ferelden.

Arl Urien: Arl of Denerim.

Lord Vaughan: Son of Arl Urien.

Brother Genitivi: Chantry monk of Antivan origin, archaeologist of some renown.

~ Redcliffe ~

Arl Eamon Guerrein: Arl of Redcliffe, uncle of King Cailan; one of the most powerful and
popular nobles in Ferelden.

Arlessa Isolde: Eamon's wife, of Orlesian origin.

Connor: Eamon's young heir, he is 12 years old.

Bann Teagan Guerrein: Eamon's younger brother, the bann of Rainesfere.

Murdock: Mayor of Redcliffe and commander of the town's militia.

Mother Hannah: The Revered Mother of Redcliffe's chantry.

~ Other ~
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Teyrn Bryce Cousland: Of Highever, one of the most powerful nobles in Ferelden next to the
king and Teyrn Loghain.

Arl Rendon Howe: Of Amaranthine, a vassal lord of Teyrn Cousland's.

~ Tevinter Imperium ~

Archon Darinius: The premier magister lord of the Tevinter Dynasty, founded the Imperium in
-1195 Ancient.

~ Legendary ~

Dane: Legendary hero of "Dane and the Werewolf," he was the human who led a wolfpack.

Hafter: Descendant of the hero Dane, he led the Alamarri against a horde of darkspawn during
the Second Blight in 1:40 Divine. Many Fereldan nobles claim descent from him.

Luthias: Legendary hero, the "dwarfson," the first berserker.

Flemeth: The original "Witch of the Wilds," a legendary abomination who led the Chasind
during the Towers Age. Supposedly slain by the hero Cormac.

*** Elves ***

~ Dalish ~

Zathrian: One of the eldest keepers among all the Dalish clans. He is rumored to have been
living for four centuries, having regained the legendary longevity of the ancient elves.

~ Denerim ~

Elder Valendrian: The current elder of the Denerim Alienage.

~ Gods of the Elves ~

Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance, "the All-Father," Eldest of the Sun and He Who Overthrew His
Father.

Fen'Harel: The trickster wolf-god "Dread Wolf" who, according to Elven legend, tricked the
elven gods into abandoning their people according. He is worshipped by the wilder elves.

Andruil: Goddess of the Hunt.

Dirthamen: God of Secrets and Knowledge.

Mythal: Mother of the Gods. She is the protector and is considered a figure of justice (the flip
side of vengeance).

Falon'Din: "Friend of the Dead." God of Death and Fortune, he who ferries the dead across
the spirit lands and into the Beyond.
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Ghilan'nain: Goddess of Guides and Navigation, Mother of the Halla.

June: God of the Craft.

Sylaise: Goddess of Hearth and Home.

*** Dwarves ***

~ Orzammar ~

King Endrin Aeducan: Current king of Orzammar, descendant of Endrin Stonehammer.

Coronated in 8:55 Blessed.

Prince Bhelen Aeducan: Youngest son of King Endrin.

Prince Trian Aeducan: Eldest son of King Endrin.

Paragon Branka: Only living Paragon in Orzammar. She is currently missing.

Lord Pyral Harrowmont: Popular leader of House Harrowmont.

Beraht: He is an infamous crime boss in the Orzammar slums.

~ Legendary ~

Astyth the Grey: The only female Paragon of the Warrior Caste, she cut off her own tongue to
devote herself more fanatically to the pursuit of unarmed martial excellence. An order of female
warriors follows in her path, known as the Silent Sisters.

Endrin Stonehammer: Most famous of the dwarven Paragons, he is a great king credited with
having built Stonehammer Hall.

Gherlen the Blood-Risen: A dwarven hero who returned to the Frostback Mountains after
adventuring and gained enough prestige to attempt to overthrow the king. His tale is still
honored by dwarven adventurers.

King Felbin the Mad: He was one of two dwarven kings ever voted out of office.

King Anaalar Perethin: He was assassinated in 8:50 Blessed, sparking a civil war. He was
the predecessor to the current king, Endrin Aeducan.

~ Qunari ~

Koslun: The prophet who brought the religion of the Qun to the Qunari.

*** Mages ***

~ Circle ~

First Enchanter Irving: First enchanter (the leader) of the Circle of Magi in Ferelden.

~ Chantry ~
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Andraste: The Maker's prophet and creator of the Chant. She was executed by the Tevinter
Imperium in -170 Ancient.

Kordillus Drakon: Emperor of Orlais, founded the Chantry in -15 Ancient. Began a series of
religious wars to spread the Chantry faith throughout Thedas. Considered one of the greatest
military minds in history.

Divine Justinia I: The first Divine of the Chantry.

Divine Beatrix III: The current Divine in Val Royeaux.

*** Grey Wardens ***

Duncan: Commander of the Grey Wardens, leader of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden.

People of Thedas

Race: Humans

The humans are the most numerous of the races, yet they are a divided people. Once they
were united under the great Tevinter Imperium, but the Imperium has since crumbled, and the
great noble houses that remain fight among each other for supremacy. Only during the Blights
has humanity ever united under a single banner, but today, the Blights are a distant memory,
and even the invasions by the Qunari cannot bring the nations of humanity to work together.

Race: Elves
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Elves were once a race comprised of beautiful, ethereal immortals who lived in harmony with
nature and who never changed. Whatever ancient history they possessed has since been lost,
but the following is known: When humanity came to Thedas, the elves were struck by the
rudeness and impatience of this "quickling" race of upstarts. Worse, they discovered that any
association with humans caused elves to quicken—to age and die. Horrified at this, they
withdrew before humanity's relentless expansion and avoided humans until, ultimately, the
elves were conquered and enslaved by the magic of the Tevinter Imperium.

Although eventually freed upon the Imperium's collapse, the damage was done: The elves had
lost their immortality and most of their language and history, and they blamed humanity for it.
They formed a new homeland in the Dales and attempted to rebuild their culture and worship
their pantheon of pagan gods once more. Relations with humans remained hostile, and finally
the Chantry declared an Exalted March against them. Their new homeland was conquered,
and the elves split apart. The proud elven nobility became homeless wanderers known as the
Dalish, traveling in groups and stubbornly continuing to worship their gods and maintain their
traditions while being welcome nowhere else. The other elves became bitterly resigned to their
fate and now live among mankind as "city elves"—second-class citizens, servants, and
laborers who have all but forgotten the proud folk they once were.

Elven History: Part One

Before the ages were named or numbered, our people were glorious, eternal, and never-
changing. Like the great oak tree, they were constant in their traditions, strong in their roots,
and ever-reaching for the sky.

They felt no need to rush when life was endless. They worshipped their gods for months at a
time. Decisions were made after decades of debate, and an introduction could last for years.
From time to time, our ancestors would drift into centuries-long slumber, but this was not
death, for we know they wandered the Fade in dreams.

In those ages, our people called all the land Elvhenan, which in the old language means "place
of our people." And at the center of the world stood the great city of Arlathan, a place of
knowledge and debate, where the best of the ancient elves would go to trade knowledge, greet
old friends, and settle disputes that had gone on for millennia.

But while our ancestors were caught up in the forever cycle of ages, drifting through life at
what we today would consider an intolerable pace, the world outside was changing.

The humans first arrived from the north. I know it is not something that the humans today will
accept, but all the ancient accounts of our people that can be found agree it is so: One day the
humans came from elsewhere, into a land where they had never been before. Called
"shemlen," or "quicklings," by the ancients, the humans were pitiful creatures whose lives
blinked by in an instant. When they first met with the elves, the humans were brash and
warlike, quick to anger, quicker to fight, and they had no patience for the unhurried pace of
elven diplomacy.
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But the humans brought worse things than war with them. Our ancestors proved susceptible to
human diseases, and for the first time in millennia, elves were dying of natural causes. What's
more, those elves who spent time bartering and negotiating with humans found themselves
aging, quickened by the humans' brash and impatient lives. Many believed that our gods had
judged us unworthy of eternal life and were casting us down. Our ancestors came to look upon
the humans as parasites, which I understand is the way the humans see our people in their
cities today...punishment, perhaps, for our hubris of long ago? Horrified at the prospect of
losing their way of life forever, the ancient elves immediately moved to close Elvhenan off from
the humans for fear that this "quickening" effect would crumble their civilization.

Perhaps they believed that ignoring the shemlen would make them go away. Perhaps they
assumed that two peoples could simply live in peace, remaining ignorant of each others' ways.
Perhaps they meant no insult, or perhaps they meant to start a war. We know very little of the
time that followed, only that the time of ancient Elvhenan was gone forever.

—The tale of The Fall of Arlathan, as told by Gisharel, keeper of the Ralaferin Tribe of the
Dalish elves.

Elven History: Part Two

Now you ask, "What happened to Arlathan?" Sadly, we do not know. Even the Dalish, we who
keep the ancient lore, have no record of what truly happened. All we have are accounts of the
days before the fall and a fable of the whims of the gods.

The human world was changing, even as the elves slept. Clans and tribes gave way to a
powerful empire called Tevinter, which came upon Elvhenan to conquer it. When they
breached the great city of Arlathan, our people, fearing disease and the loss of immortality the
humans would bring, chose to flee rather than to fight. With magic, demons, and even dragons
at their behest, the Tevinter Imperium marched easily through Arlathan, destroying homes,
galleries, and amphitheaters that had existed for ages. Our people were rounded up as slaves
and taken from their ancestral home, the quickening driving itself through their veins and
making them mortal. The elves called to their ancient gods, but there was no answer.

As to why the gods didn't answer, our people had only a legend. They say that Fen'Harel, the
Dread Wolf and Lord of Tricksters, approached the gods of good and evil and proposed a
truce. The gods of good would remove themselves to heaven, and the lords of evil would exile
themselves to the abyss, and neither group would ever again enter the others' lands. By the
time they realized the Dread Wolf's treachery, they had been sealed away in their respective
realms, never again to interact with the mortal world. It is a fable, to be sure, but those elves
who travel the Beyond claim that Fen'Harel still roams the world of dreams, feasting upon the
unwary as a glutton at his lunch, all the while keeping watch over the gods lest they escape
from their prisons.

Whatever the case, Arlathan had fallen at the hands of the very humans our people had once
considered naught but pests. It is said that the Tevinter magisters used their great and
destructive power to force the very ground to swallow Arlathan whole, removing it from the
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world just as it was soon to be removed from the minds and hearts of its people. All records
and artifacts lost to them forever, the whole of elven lore was trapped in the fading minds of a
people who would soon forget what it meant to be an elf.

—The tale of The Fall of Arlathan, as told by Gisharel, keeper of the Ralaferin Tribe of the
Dalish elves.

Elven History: Part Three

The humans tell tales of Andraste, and to them, she was a prophet. To our people, however,
she was an inspiration. Her rebellion against Tevinter gave our people a window through which
to see the sun, and our people reached toward it with all their strength. The rebellion was brief
but successful; the death of the prophetess did not end our fight, and we fought on for
independence even as the human Imperium began to crumble. In the end, we had won
freedom and the southern reaches of land known as the Dales.

It was a home, a new chance to gather and rebuild all that we had lost. In our centuries of
slavery, we had lost our immortality, our language, our culture, our crafts but never our sense
of belonging to each other. From across Thedas we came to the Dales. We walked on foot,
sometimes crossing thousands of miles with naught but our will to sustain us. Many of us
perished on the Long Walk, but those of us who arrived at our new home were all the more
determined.

There, in the Dales, our people revived the lost lore as best they could, and even turned to
worship the Old Gods in their ancient prison. They called their first city Halamshiral, "the end of
the journey," and founded a new nation, isolated as elves were meant to be. They created an
order called the Emerald Knights and charged them with watching the borders for trouble with
the humans.

But you already know that something went wrong. Our ancestors' worship of the old elven
gods angered the human Chantry, which constantly sent missionaries to our land. The Chantry
wanted to convert our people to their worship of the Maker, but the Dalish would not submit. In
protest, a small elven raiding party attacked the nearby human village of Red Crossing, an act
that prompted the Chantry to attack and, with their superior numbers, conquer the Dales.

We were not enslaved as we had been before, but our worship of the ancient gods was now
forbidden. We were allowed to live among the humans as second-class citizens and worship
their Maker, slowly forgetting once more the scraps of lore we had maintained through the
centuries. Those who refused were forced to wander, landless and friendless in their wagons,
across a world that told them they were unwelcome.

Two homes we elves have lost, but it is the loss of the Dales that hurt us most. When I see the
vhenadahl, the "tree of our people," that is planted in the middle of our poor alienage here in
the human city, I weep. It is a strong and mighty tree with many branches, but it bears only
bitter fruit.
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—The tale of The Rise and Fall of the Dales, as told by Sarethia, elder of the Highever
Alienage.

Elven History: Part Four

Now we wander, we last clans that refused to put aside our pride and live in the alienages set
aside for elves in human cities. We wander the lands in our aravels—the "landships" as the
shemlen call them—and proudly tattoo the symbols of our gods on our faces to pronounce to
all who see us that our beliefs are sacred, and we shall never surrender them.

We keep to ourselves. If we stay in any one place for too long, the shemlen will come and
attempt to make us leave. Some of the clans resist, but most will simply pick up the aravels
and move on once again. Our way is not to do battle with the shemlen unless we must. Our
way is to gather what bits of our culture and our language we can find, to guard them carefully
and preserve them—for the day will come when we have a homeland once again. And when
that day comes, we shall be ready. Our brethren in the shemlen cities who have forgotten, they
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will come to us on that day, and we shall teach them. They will learn the ancient magic of the
keepers, the crafts of our masters and the language of our ancestors. And we shall not make
the same mistakes again.

We are the Dalish: keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path.

We are the last of the Elvhenan, and never again shall we submit.

—The tale of The Fall of Arlathan, as told by Gisharel,

keeper of the Ralaferin Tribe of the Dalish elves.

Race: Dwarves

The Children of the Stone, dwarves are a stout, bearded race that are, on average, a little
shorter than humans but generally much broader and thicker, and they possess a
comparatively strong constitution. Sickness is almost unknown among the dwarven folk, but
their proximity to the darkspawn means their population is dwindling—the huge number of
deaths in battle, combined with the relatively low fertility means the population of dwarves has
been falling steadily for nearly a thousand years.

As a people, the dwarves tend to have a single-minded dedication that can be both their
weakness and their strength. Their ability to dedicate themselves to a cause has allowed them
to survive in conditions that would kill any other race and even develop a level of technology
that far surpasses anything else in Thedas (the dwarves use clockwork and limited steam
power, and they have a society that is just barely preindustrial). Although, their refusal to
change the traditions that have sustained them have stagnated their society into a rigid caste
system, where everything a dwarf can be or expect from life is determined at birth. The worst
victims of this system are the casteless, dwarves who have lost their legal standing in society
by committing a crime or being the descendant of criminals, or by voluntarily abandoning their
caste to live on the surface. These unfortunates are not allowed to hold any job, nor receive
any legal protections, and they scrabble out a miserable existence in pathetic shanty towns on
the outskirts of proper society.

Legends among humans say that dwarves can see in pitch-blackness. This is not really true,
and a dwarf would be the first to scoff at such tales. They possess an ability to see better in the
dark than most, but they do need some light. But dwarves have not entirely escaped the
effects of living underground. The walls of the caves where they built their city are laced with
lyrium, the magical ore that is the source of all magic in Thedas. This has given dwarves a
natural resistance to magic, which both protects them from the harmful effects of raw lyrium
and makes it impossible for them to cast spells. Dwarves who live on the surface for a long
time or who are born there appear to lose their protective immunity, though their inability to use
magic appears to persist (however, it may simply be that no surface dwarf has yet tried).

Dwarves once existed in great thaigs present under every major mountain range, their lands
connected by the Deep Roads, but the relentless onslaught of the darkspawn forced the last of
the dwarven thaigs under the Frostback Mountains to seal themselves off from the rest of their
kind just to survive. In the city of Orzammar, the last of the dwarves fight a daily battle against
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the darkspawn, a battle they will inevitably lose, as the darkspawn seem limitless in their
numbers and the dwarves are not.

In the meantime, the dwarves continue to proudly uphold their culture and engage in mining in
their vast underground city. They worship their ancestors, and every dwarf devotes his life to
the service of his caste and to achieving the same status as his ancestors through his deeds
as a warrior, a merchant, or a craftsman. They trade with the surface races, and a growing
number of dwarves have begun to live on the surface and play a key role in the survival of the
race, even if their underground brethren think them the lesser for it.

The Memories tell us that once our lands were numerous and extended far beyond the
Frostback Mountains. The thaigs were once almost beyond counting. Kal Sharok was the
capital then, home to all noble houses, and Orzammar was simply home to the Miner and
Smith castes.

It was with the coming of the Tevinter Imperium that things began to change. Paragon Garal
moved the seat of power to Orzammar to more closely oversee the trade that began with the
surface. It seemed that our people were entering a new age of prosperity. We taught such
concepts as commerce and coinage to the humans, and in return they provided us with a
wealth of things we had never possessed in the deep: grains and wood, to name two.

The Memories hold no explanations for the coming of the darkspawn, only questions. One
moment there was no such thing as a darkspawn, and the next there was. The darkspawn
poured into the Deep Roads like smoke, and the Warrior Caste struggled to hold them back.
Countless thaigs were lost in that First Blight. But as ever, in our time of need, a Paragon
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arose. Paragon Aeducan led the defenses of Orzammar, and we were saved from utter
annihilation.

The cost of victory, however, was great. The Deep Roads were sealed to hold back the
darkspawn, cutting off thaigs and whole cities forever. Only Orzammar remained, the last
bastion of an ancient empire that had once sprawled over all of the deep of Thedas. The
dwarves had been brought low, but we had survived.

—From Orzammar as a Kingdom, as told by Shaper Vortag.

Race: Qunari

The Qunari are a large and imposing race, once having been powerful barbarians that were
dominated by their berserker rages. Then came the Qun, a philosophy and religion that taught
them how to control their rages and how to live and become a superior, enlightened race. They
tamed their minds and turned their society into a model of efficiency and order in which no
deviant beliefs are allowed and all must submit to the higher authority of the Qun.

Part 1: Arrival of the Giants

While historians often site the darkspawn as the greatest single threat to Thedas, most people
outside of the dwarven lands would say they are a more remote threat than the invaders called
the Qunari. There has not been a Blight in over four centuries, after all, since the hero Garahel
defeated the archdemon at the Battle of Ayesleigh. Over 100 years later, in 6:30 Steel, the first
Qunari ships were reported off the coast of Par Vollen in the far north, marking the beginning of
a new age of warfare.

Gold-skinned giants said to hail from an eastern land across the Boeric Ocean, the Qunari are
a mystery to most people. To some, they are hated conquerors whose deadly skill at combat
and destructive technology nearly brought the civilized world to its knees. To others they are
heathens, worshippers of a strange religion who seek to spread it to "lesser" races by force.
Still to others, such as in the southern lands of Ferelden, they are a legend, strange creatures
from the far north who have been seen only on rare occasion since the peace began.

Almost before the rest of Thedas had heard of the Qunari's appearance in Par Vollen, they
were invading the mainland, striking first into Rivain and then Seheron. The defenders of those
lands were hardly a match for Qunari discipline. Their might, the likes of which our ancestors
had never seen before, brought troops to their knees. Qunari warriors in glittering steel armor
carved through the defenders with ease. History calls this the First Qunari War, but it was
mostly a one-sided bloodbath, with the Qunari advancing far into Tevinter within ten years.

It was a dark time for Thedas, with the nations of mankind being forced to once again unite
against a common enemy—this one intending not to destroy, as the darkspawn did, but to
conquer a land they saw as being in dire need of enlightenment. The Qunari proved
themselves to be the most frightening sort of opponent of all: religious zealots.
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Part 2: The Golden Masters

Stories of how the Qunari treated the lands they occupied (kabethari being the term for those
lands and supposedly meaning "those who need to be taught") are varied and difficult to verify.

Some claim that the Qunari were guilty of terrorizing the populace. They divided children from
their families and sent adults to "learning camps" for indoctrination in their religious
philosophies. Those who refused to obey were forced into indentured servitude or sent to
mines or construction camps to labor, often until they perished of sheer exhaustion or
starvation. Those who resisted were slain, instantly and without mercy. Many who obeyed their
new masters, however, claim that they were treated well and even given a large amount of
trust provided they followed the strict Qunari codes of conduct and laws.

For every tale of suffering recorded, there was another that tells of enlightenment from
something called the "Qun." This is either a philosophical code or a written text, perhaps both,
and some claim it may even be akin to the Qunari god. Unlike the Chant of Light, it governs all
aspects of Qunari life, both secular and spiritual, and the Qunari are devoted to following its
tenets strictly and without question.
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Those who recorded their interactions with the golden masters tell of mighty creatures, who
were a head taller than a man, with frighteningly calm demeanors and a sort of sparkling fire
behind their eyes. Some even said they have a certain kindness to them or a conspicuous lack
of cruelty, and one Seheran who converted reported pity for those who had not, as if the
conquerors' religion led to a sort of self-discovery. "For all my life I followed the Maker
wherever his path may lead me," he writes, "but in the faith of the Qun, I have found the means
to travel my own path. If only all my people could understand what it is the Qunari offer us."

It is said that the most complete way to wipe out a people is not with weapons but with books.
Thankfully, a world that had known and resisted four Blights would not so easily bow to a
foreign aggressor. The New Exalted Marches were about to begin.

Part 3: The New Exalted Marches

Taking their names from the Exalted Marches of the past, the New Exalted Marches were
declared by the Chantry in 7:25 Storm after nearly a century of internecine warfare throughout
northern Thedas. The Imperial Chantry in Minrathous (the only unoccupied major Tevinter city)
marched against Seheron and the occupied eastern territories of the Imperium, and the Divine
in Val Royeaux commanded her templars to lead the armies of the south into Rivain. It was the
grandest mobilization of martial power since the Fourth Blight.

The greatest advantage that the Chantry-led forces had against the Qunari was, in fact, the
Circle of Magi. For all their technology, the Qunari appeared to harbor a great hatred for all
things magical. They possessed mages, but these were little better than animals kept on
leashes, and none of the Qunari mages possessed anywhere near the skill that the Circle's
mages had. The Chantry responded with lightning and balls of fire, which proved effective
indeed.

For all the force that the Qunari armies had brought to bear on the north, they also lacked the
sheer numbers of the humans. As each year passed, the Chantry pushed farther and farther
into the Qunari lines. Dealing with those of the local populace who had converted to the Qunari
religion proved difficult, especially as some of these had lived under the Qun now for
generations. The response by many armies was simply to exterminate all those who had
converted. Officially, the Chantry denies this, claiming most converts fled north into Rivain and
Par Vollen, but the mass graves at Nocen Fields and Marnas Pell indicate otherwise. Indeed,
so many were slain at Marnas Pell that the Veil is said to be permanently sundered, the ruins
still plagued by restless corpses to this day.

Regardless of how it was done, by 7:84 Storm, the Qunari had been pushed back. Rivain was
the only human land that embraced the Qunari religion after being freed, and its rulers
attempted to barter a peace. Envoys from most human lands gathered to sign the Llomerryn
Accord, and peace was made between the Qunari and all human lands with the exception of
the Tevinter Imperium. Even there, however, the Qunari withdrew. Humanity had, with the
Maker's will, beat back the invaders and returned to its rightful place as masters of Thedas. It
is a shaky peace that has lasted to this very day.
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—All excerpts from Tales of the Destruction of Thedas, by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar.

Group: The Grey Wardens

The Grey Wardens are a renowned group of scouts and fearless warriors. This was once an
extremely large organization that dedicated itself to the destruction of the darkspawn and the
protection of all human lands. They are the most elite and feared of warriors, said to sense the
presence of darkspawn and to have greater knowledge of the tactics to fight them than anyone
else in Thedas. The nations of humanity once gladly tithed to the Grey Wardens and sent them
not only food and equipment, but also a steady stream of new recruits. Once they rode the
great white griffons overhead and arrived in glorious numbers wherever the darkspawn
threatened.

Now, however, it has been over four centuries since the last Blight, and the order has dwindled
in importance. The griffons, the very symbol of the Grey Wardens, have died out, and the
nations tithe only grudgingly and often far less than the old agreements say they should. The
Wardens number far less than they once did, and even though they are still respected and
sometimes even feared for their martial prowess, they are largely thought irrelevant in lands
where the Blights have not appeared for centuries. Only in the far-off Anderfels, where the
mighty Grey Warden fortress of Weisshaupt still stands, does the order still maintain a powerful
political presence. For the rest of Thedas, however, they are legends and little else.

Group: Templars

Often portrayed as stoic and grim, the Order of Templars was created as the martial arm of the
Chantry. Armed with the ability to dispel and resist magic in addition to their formidable combat
talents, the templars are uniquely qualified to act as both a foil for apostates—mages who
refuse to submit to the authority of the Circle—and a first line of defense against the dark
powers of blood mages and abominations.

While mages often resent the templars as symbols of the Chantry's control over magic, the
people of Thedas see them as saviors and holy warriors, champions of all that is good and
armed with enough piety to protect the world from the ravages of foul magic. In reality, the
Chantry's militant arm looks first for skilled warriors with unshakable faith in the Maker; a
flawless moral center is a secondary concern. Templars must carry out their duty with an
emotional distance, and the Order of Templars would rather have soldiers with religious fervor
and absolute loyalty than paragons of virtue who might question orders when it comes time to
make difficult choices.

The templars' power comes from the substance lyrium, a mineral believed to be the raw
element of creation. While mages use lyrium in their arcane spells and rituals, templars ingest
the primordial mineral to enhance their abilities to resist and dispel magic. Lyrium use is
regulated by the Chantry, but some templars suffer from lyrium addiction, and the mineral can
have side effects, including paranoia, obsession, and dementia. Templars knowingly submit
themselves to this "treatment" in the service of the Order and the Maker.
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It is this sense of ruthless piety that most frightens mages when they get the templars'
attention: When the templars
are sent to eliminate a possible blood mage, there is no reasoning with them, and if the
templars are prepared, the mage's magic is often useless. Driven by their faith, the templars
are one of the most feared and respected forces in Thedas.

Group: Bards

In the intrigue-filled courts of Orlais, the bard is something of a curiosity. Minstrels weave tales
of spies who masquerade as musicians and troubadours, using their position as skilled
entertainers to get close to their targets and extract secrets for their mysterious employers.
They are trained to use music to soothe hearts and cloud minds; even in combat, their abilities
to inspire allies and distract foes are legendary. Beyond their music, they are masters of dirty
fighting, stealth, and larceny. More than one battle has been won through the aid of a cunning
bard. Orlesian nobles welcome such entertainers into their homes with full knowledge that any
one of them could be a bard. In Orlais, intrigue is a deadly game, and the thrill of outwitting a
spy is a notion the Orlesian aristocracy can hardly resist. Unfortunately, when one finally
realizes that a true bard has been among them, it is usually far too late.

In other parts of the world, bards are less prominent but no less dangerous. In Ferelden, bards
once played fairs and graced the courts of banns and arls, listening for secrets that could be
used to sway the fiercely independent nobility. In the ancient Tevinter Imperium, skilled bards
find a great deal of work among the mage-led families that rule in the Senate and compete in
an age-old cutthroat game for ascendancy. Bards travel any place where secrets have value or
where knowledge is power, and everywhere they go, everyday minstrels benefit from their
mystique.

Group: Legion of the Dead

The Legion of the Dead is the most famous dwarven military unit. The Legion accepts anyone
into its ranks who is willing to declare him or herself dead, giving up all possessions and ties to
previous life. The ritual of their joining being very akin to a funeral, these warriors are, in
essence, already dead, and the rest of society treats them as if they have died. This makes
them fearless berserker warriors whose fame has extended into human lands as well. Nothing
is supposedly more terrifying than the charge of the Legion. Many convicted dwarf criminals
join the Legion rather than face exile or loss of their caste. Once in the Legion, all records of
that dwarf's past crimes or debts are erased, and the warrior is considered to have died in
heroic combat against the darkspawn.

Group: Silent Sisters

The Silent Sisters is a fighting order that exists within the dwarven warrior caste. All female
warriors are accepted without question, regardless of their castes, provided they can prove
themselves. (Certainly, not all female warriors become Silent Sisters, as they are considered
extremists even among women.) These warriors follow in the footsteps of the first female
warrior to achieve Paragon status, Astyth the Grey; like her, they cut out their tongues so they
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may devote themselves more fully and fanatically to the pursuit of unarmed martial prowess.
Every Silent Sister keeps the dagger with which she cut out her tongue, though she never uses
it as a weapon.

Group: Antivan Crows

Antivans are well known for being good at everything but fighting, so perhaps it is not
surprising that Antiva possesses the largest and most infamous guild in Thedas. The House of
Crows, as they are known locally, consists of spies, assassins, and thieves—all under the
control of a secret council that is said to be comprised of the heads of a small collection of the
wealthiest (and even royal) families in Antiva.

The Crows are almost omnipresent in their own nation and are known to appear elsewhere, all
identifiable by their unique tattoos (a tradition taken from the Rivaini; some Crows display their
tattoos proudly, while others keep them hidden). They are accepted in Antiva as a fact of life,
though the government has tried many times to stamp them out. In a way, however, the fame
of the Crows protects Antiva as well; it is often said that nations tend to avoid invading Antiva,
because while their armies might find little resistance, the leader of those armies and the man
who sent them will almost certainly turn up dead. If someone knows the Crows have targeted
him for death, he runs; however, targets rarely get far.

Group: Chasind

The Chasind Wilders have lived in the Korcari Wilds since the first wars with the Alamarri drove
them southward a millennia ago. According to their own lore, they had always been a forest-
dwelling people who adapted quickly to their new home. Game and fish were plentiful in the
wetlands, and the Chasind thrived.

For a time, they and the hill-dwelling Avvars were true threats to the northern lowlands. The
Tevinter Imperium had arrived and was hard-pressed to keep back the waves of invasions from
the south and the west. The fortress of Ostagar was built specifically to watch for Chasind
hordes venturing north of the tree line. It was not until the legendary warrior Hafter soundly
defeated the Chasind in the first half of the Divine Age that the question of their ability to
contest the lowlands was settled permanently.

Today, the Chasind are considered largely peaceful, though their ways are still primitive
compared to our own. In the Korcari Wilds, they live in strange-looking huts built on stilts or
even built into the great treetops. They paint their faces and are split into small tribes ruled by
shamans like those among the Avvars. There are many tales of these shamans having learned
their magic from the "Witches of the Wilds," witches who inspire as much terror as they do awe
and gratitude even if there is no definitive proof they exist. In particular, the tale of Flemeth, the
greatest Witch of the Wilds, is celebrated among all tribes.

While there is no way to know how many Chasind exist in the Wilds today, few travelers who
pass through the forests tell of Chasind eking out an existence even in the frozen wastelands
of the far south. One can assume that should the Chasind ever organize themselves once
more, we might have reason to fear them here in Ferelden. We ignore them at our peril.
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—From Ferelden: Folklore and History, by Sister Petrine, Chantry scholar.

Enemies: Darkspawn

"Darkspawn" is a term that collectively refers to the tainted creatures that dwell underground
and have four times spilled out to threaten the existence of all civilized races on the continent.
Normally, the darkspawn are disorganized and fight with each other, seldom being seen on the
surface except for during raids and small invasions that quickly exhaust themselves, leaving
only disease and death in their wake. Several times in history, however, the darkspawn have
uncovered one of the ancient high dragons (called "Old Gods" by the Tevinter Imperium) that
slumber in the depths of the earth. The dragon is awakened and twisted into a darkspawn
creature known as an "archdemon." The archdemon then marshals the darkspawn, pushing
them to create a horde that spills onto the surface in a great wave of violence. When this
happens, it is known as a Blight, and each of the four Blights has brought humanity to the edge
of destruction before its archdemon was defeated and the darkspawn driven back down into
their underground caverns.

During a Blight, the land around the center of the event is sucked of moisture, turning
everything dry and brown and filling the sky with roiling, black clouds that block the sun and
make the environment comfortable for the darkspawn to come forth. This wasteland spreads,
and with it spreads disease.

The last Blight ended long ago with so many darkspawn being slaughtered that it seemed
certain they could never return in great numbers. Darkspawn occasionally appear on the
surface to raid, but this occurs mostly in remote areas and rarely at that. They have become
the bogeymen who frighten the common man but often are considered more of a legend, since
few people have ever seen one. The creatures are more prevalent in the far-off Anderfels and
in dwarven Orzammar, where they are a very real and immediate threat. Outside of those
areas, the only people who give the darkspawn threat credence are the Grey Wardens, an
organization of dedicated warriors sworn to protect the human lands from darkspawn
infestation. Their organization has dwindled since the fourth Blight, however, and while they
valiantly prepare for the inevitable, they are no longer equipped to fight the legion of darkness
that will surely come.

*** The First Blight ***

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Part 1: The Second Sin

Thedas is a land filled with fierce diversity, from the assassin-princes of Antiva to the faded
griffons of the Anderfels, but in my travels, I have found one tale that unites the people of this
land. It is a story of pride and damnation, and though the telling differs, the essence of the tale
itself remains the same.

At the height of its power, the Tevinter Imperium stretched over much of Thedas, uniting the
known world under the rule of the tyrannical magisters. It is said that the magisters were given
the knowledge of blood magic by the Old Gods they worshipped, and they used this forbidden
power to cement their rule. The blood of elven slaves and humans alike ran down Imperial
altars to fuel magister greed, the tales of their excesses so horrifying that one should be most
grateful that blood magic is a practice prohibited today.
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But all that stands tall must eventually fall. Perhaps they foresaw their ruin, or perhaps their
pride knew no bounds, but whatever the reason, the magisters dared to open a magical portal
into the Golden City at the heart of the Fade. They sought to usurp the Maker's throne, long left
unattended in the Golden City after the Maker turned his back on his creations. They would
storm heaven itself with their power and become as gods. This is what the Chantry, in its oft-
exercised tendency to understate, refers to as the Second Sin.

According to most versions of the tale, the magisters did indeed reach the Golden City and
walked in the home of the Maker, where no living being before them had dared to tread. But
humanity is not meant to walk in heaven. The magisters were wicked with pride and other sins,
and their presence tainted the Golden City. What once was a perfect, holy citadel became a
twisted home of darkness and nightmares. The magisters were thrown back through their
gateway and cursed for their treachery. As the Golden City had been tainted, so were the
magisters twisted and transformed into things of darkness—the very first of the darkspawn.
The Golden City, once a shining beacon at the heart of the Fade, became the Black City, a
reminder of all that man's pride has cost.

Part 2: Dumat Rises

People today have little concept of the consequences of the Second Sin. Oh, believe me when
I say that when asked, pious, Chantry-going folk will curse the use of foul magic, spitting and
snapping their fingers, but none live today who actually remember the horror that was
unleashed so very long ago. Whatever records might have existed regrettably did not survive
the chaos and ignorance that was to follow. We have only the tales of survivors handed down
through the murky ages and the dogma of the Chantry to instruct us, and that is precious little
indeed.

I believe I am not understating it when I say that the Second Sin unleashed the bane of all life
upon Thedas. The darkspawn are more virulent than the worst plague, a heartless force of
nature that came into our world like an ill wind. We know from accounts of later Blights (as
these darkspawn invasions came to be called; never a more appropriate name has existed)
that the darkspawn spread disease and famine wherever they tread. The earth itself is
corrupted by their presence, the sky roiling with angry black clouds. I do not exaggerate, my
friends, when I say that a mass gathering of darkspawn is an omen of dread cataclysm.

It is said that those cursed magisters who became the first darkspawn scratched at the very
earth to find solace in the darkness of the dwarven Deep Roads, and there in the shadows
they multiplied. Whether by intelligent design or by some last vestige of worship in their minds,
they attempted to locate the Old Gods they had once served. They found what they sought:
Dumat—first among the Old Gods, once known as the Dragon of Silence before the Maker
imprisoned him and all his brethren beneath the earth for the First Sin—usurping the Maker's
place in mankind's heart.

The slumbering dragon awoke, freed from the Maker's prison by his twisted followers, and
became corrupted himself. Dumat was transformed into the first archdemon, his great and
terrible power given will by a rotting, unholy mind. With the darkspawn horde following, Dumat
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rose and took wing in the skies once again, bringing destruction—no, ruin—to the world the
Maker had created. The Old God had become the eye of a dark storm that would ravage the
entire world.

Part 3: The Dwarves Fall

The ancient world during the First Blight was very different from the one we know today. Aside
from the civilized rule of the Imperium, humans as a race were largely barbarous and
splintered, divided into clans and tribes and squabbling among ourselves for resources. At the
same time, deep beneath Thedas's great mountain ranges spanned a dwarven culture as
organized and advanced as ours was primitive.

As the darkspawn bubbled up to the surface from their underground lairs, mankind first
buckled and then fought back. The armies of Tevinter attempted to face down the multitudes of
twisted creatures and the horrid rotting of the land around them, but they could not be
everywhere at once. Human history remembers the First Blight as a time of terrible
devastation, and those stories are accurate, but in our arrogance, we often forget the price
paid by the dwarves in their isolated mountain kingdoms.

The dwarves faced far greater hordes than the humans as the darkspawn challenged them for
control of the underground. Despite the might and technology the dwarves brought to bear, the
savage darkspawn tore through them, first destroying the more remote thaigs before
swallowing up entire kingdoms. Think of it: an entire civilization lost in the space of decades.
Compared to the near-genocide that the dwarves faced, what we humans call the First Blight
must have seemed a mere skirmish to them. Against the darkspawn, the dwarven lands have
always taken on the brunt of the fighting and the majority of the sacrifices.

Four dwarven kingdoms finally managed to combine their might and fight back, and that
cooperation saved them. But for the rest of their lands it was too late. The darkspawn had
taken the Deep Roads, the majestic underground passages that linked the dwarven lands
throughout Thedas. The darkspawn could now attack anywhere on the surface through these
tunnels. Humanity simply was not prepared for an onslaught such as this. It was clear that the
warfare we knew would not avail us. We had to find a new way to fight.

Thus came our salvation: The Grey Wardens were born.

Part 4: Griffons Take Flight

Founded at Weisshaupt Fortress in the Anderfels, the Grey Wardens offered humanity hope in
its darkest hour. Veterans of decades of battles with the darkspawn came together, and the
best among them pledged to do whatever was necessary to stem the tide of darkness that
swept across the land. These great humans, elves, and dwarves pooled their knowledge of the
enemy and formed a united front to finally put a stop to the archdemon's rampage.

And stop it they did. Ballads are still told today of the first Grey Warden charge into the waves
of darkspawn at the city of Nordbotten, each Warden facing 10, 20 darkspawn at a time.
Squadrons of Grey Wardens mounted on their mighty griffons, soaring through the blackened
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skies and battling the terrible archdemon with spear and spell. Oh, what a sight it must have
been!

Incredibly, the Grey Wardens won that first battle. They raised their arms in victory, and
suddenly there was hope. The Grey Wardens led the lands of men and the last stalwart
defenders of the dwarven halls against the hordes of the archdemon Dumat for the next 100
years, gaining and losing ground but never backing away. They recruited whoever possessed
the skill and strength to raise their banner from all over Thedas, making no distinction between
elven slave or human nobleman. Finally, nearly two centuries after the first Old God rose from
the earth, the Grey Wardens assembled the armies of men and dwarves at the Battle of Silent
Fields. It was then that Dumat was finally slain and the First Blight ended.

The Tevinter Imperium would face a new challenge with the coming of the prophet Andraste,
and thoughts of the Blight grew distant. With their defeat, the darkspawn were considered no
longer a threat, but with the wisdom of hindsight, we all know that conceit proved to be hopeful
and foolish indeed. The task of the Grey Wardens was far from over.

—All excerpts from Tales of the Destruction of Thedas, by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar.
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Religion

History of the Chantry

Part 1: The Imperium in Flames

The First Blight devastated the Tevinter Imperium. Not only had the darkspawn ravaged the
countryside, but also Tevinter citizens had to face the fact that their own gods had turned
against them. Dumat, the Old God once known as the Dragon of Silence, had risen to silence
the world, and despite the people's frenzied pleas for help, the other Old Gods did nothing. The
people of the Imperium began to question their faith, punishing their gods for not assisting
them by murdering priests and burning temples.

In those days, even after the devastation of the First Blight, the Imperium stretched across the
known world. Fringed with barbarian tribes, the Imperium was well prepared for invasions and
attacks from without. Fitting, then, that the story of its downfall begins from within. The people
of the far northern and eastern reaches of the Imperium rose up against their powerful
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overlords in rebellion. The Tevinter magisters summoned demons to put down these small
rebellions, leaving corpses to burn as examples to all who would dare revolt. The Imperium
began to tear itself apart from within, throngs of angry and disillusioned citizens doing what
centuries of opposing armies could not. But the magisters were confident in their power, and
they could not imagine surviving a Blight only to be destroyed by their own subjects.

Even after the Blight, Tevinter commanded an army larger than that of any other organized
nation in Thedas, but that army was scattered and its morale dwindling. The ruin of Tevinter
was such that the Alamarri barbarians, who had spread their clans and holds over the
wilderness of the Fereldan Valley at the far southeast edge of the Imperium, saw weakness in
their enemy and, after an age of oppression, embarked on a campaign to free their own lands
and to bring down mighty Tevinter.

The leaders of that blessed campaign were the great barbarian warlord Maferath, and his wife,
Andraste. Their dreams and ambitions would change the world forever.

Part 2: A Prophet Born

When the prophet Andraste and her husband, Maferath, arrived at the head of their barbarian
horde, southern Tevinter was thrown into chaos. The Imperium had defended against invasions
in the past, but now they stood without the protection of their gods, their army was in tatters,
and their country was devastated by the Blight. Many felt that the timing of the invasion was
yet another of the Maker's miracles in Andraste's campaign to spread his divine word.

Andraste was more than simply the wife of a warlord; after all, she was also the betrothed of
the Maker. Enraptured by the melodic sound of her voice as she sang to the heavens for
guidance, the Maker appeared to Andraste and proposed that she come with him, leaving the
flawed world of humanity. In her wisdom, Andraste pleaded with the Maker to return to his
people and create paradise in the world of men. The Maker agreed, but he would do this only if
all the world would turn away from the worship of their false gods and accept the Maker's
divine commandments.

Armed with the knowledge of the one true god, Andraste began the Exalted March into the
weakened Imperium. One of the Maker's commandments—that magic should serve man
rather than rule over him—was salve to the souls of the downtrodden of Tevinter who lived
under the thumbs of the magisters.

Word of Andraste's Exalted March, of her miracles and military successes, spread far and
wide. Those in the Imperium who felt the Old Gods had abandoned them eagerly listened to
the words of the Maker. Those throngs of restless citizens who destroyed temples now did so
in the name of the Maker and his prophet, Andraste. As Maferath's armies conquered the lands
of southern Tevinter, so did Andraste's words conquer hearts.

It is said that the Maker smiled on the world at the Battle of Valarian Fields, in which the forces
of Maferath challenged and defeated the greatest army Tevinter could muster. The southern
reaches of the mighty Imperium now lay at the mercy of barbarians. Faith in the Maker,
bolstered by such miracles, threatened to shake apart the foundations of the Imperium. Of
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course, the human heart is more powerful than the greatest weapon, and when wounded, it is
capable of the blackest of deeds.

Part 3: Andraste Betrayed

It is said that at the Battle of Valarian Fields, Maferath stood and looked out over his armies.
He had conquered the southern reaches of the greatest empire the world had ever known and
built splintered barbarian clans into a force to be feared. With pride in his heart, he turned to
congratulate his men and found that they had turned from him.

Maferath fell to the evil of jealousy. After all that he had done, his wife was the one to receive
all the glory. He saw his wife's power and influence and became tired of his place as second
husband, below that of the Maker, and his heart swelled with fury. If he had conquered just to
have his wife wrested from him by a forgotten god and a legion of faith-hungry rabble, then
perhaps this war was not worth the trouble.

Here, history and the Chant of Light grow apart. History tells us that Maferath looked north into
the central Imperium and saw nothing but more war against a rapidly regrouping army, and he
despaired. The Chant of Light holds that Maferath chafed at his position as a secondary
husband beneath the Maker and grew jealous of the glory that Andraste received, even though
it was he who led the armies.

Maferath traveled to the Imperial capital of Minrathous to speak with the Archon Hessarian.
There he offered up his wife to the Imperium in return for a truce that would end hostilities once
and for all. The Archon, eager to put down the voice of the prophet who stirred his own people
against him, agreed. Maferath led Andraste into an ambush where she was captured by
Imperial agents, signifying an end to her Exalted March.

Crowds of loyalists stood in the central square of Minrathous to watch Andraste's execution. By
command of the Archon, she was burned at the stake in what the Imperium believed to be the
most painful punishment imaginable. According to the Chantry, however, Andraste was instead
purified and made whole by the flames, ascending to her life at her Maker's side. By all
accounts, there was only silence where her screams should have been. At the sight of the
prophet burning, the crowds were filled with a profound guilt, as if they were participating in a
great blasphemy. So moving was the moment that the Archon himself drew his sword and
thrust it into the prophet's heart, ending her torment and leaving those assembled to consider
the weight of what they had seen.

Whereas the execution of Andraste was meant to be a symbol of defeat for the faith of the
Maker, in truth, it all but sealed the fate of the worship of the Old Gods and paved the way for
the spread of the Maker's chant.

Part 4: The Birth of the Chantry

The crowds present at the death of Andraste were right to feel despair. It is believed that the
prophet's execution angered the Maker, and he turned his back on humanity once more,
leaving the people of Thedas to suffer in the dark.
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In these dark times, mankind scrambled for a light, any light. Some found comfort in demonic
cults that promised power and riches in return for worship. Others prayed to the Old Gods for
forgiveness, begging the great dragons to return to the world. Still others fell so low as to
worship the darkspawn, forming vile cults dedicated to the exaltation of evil in its purest form. It
is said that the world wept as its people begged for a savior that would not come.

Andraste's followers, however, did not abandon her teachings after her death. The cult of
Andraste rescued her sacred ashes from the courtyard in Minrathous after her execution,
stealing them away to a secret temple. The location of that temple has long been lost, but the
ashes of Andraste served as a symbol of the enduring nature of the faith in the Maker, that
humanity could earn the Maker's forgiveness despite its grievous insult to him.

With time, the cult of Andraste spread and grew, and the Chant of Light took form. The Chant
told the tale of Andraste and Maferath, their rise and fall, and it took flight in the hearts of the
people. Spread this Chant to the four corners of Thedas, it was said, and it would gain the
Maker's attention at last. As the Chant of Light was spread, the cult of Andraste became known
as the Andrastian Chantry.

The early Chantry was a thing of both might and right. An early scribe described it as "the
gleaming sight of iron blades with the warming sound of holy song." Those who converted to
the Chantry's beliefs found it their mission to spread Andraste's word. Thus did the Exalted
March begin anew, the Chant of Light spreading across the world—by force, if necessary.

There were many converts, including powerful people in the Imperium and in the city-states of
what is now known as Orlais. Such was the power of the Maker's word that the young King
Drakon undertook a series of Exalted Marches meant to unite the city-states and create an
empire solely dedicated to the Maker's will. The Orlesian Empire became the seat of the
Chantry's power, the Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux the source of the movement that birthed
the organized Chantry as we know it today. Drakon, now Emperor Drakon I, created the Circle
of Magi, the Order of Templars, and the holy office of the Divine. Many within the Chantry
consider him to be as revered a figure as Andraste herself.

The modern Chantry is a thing of reverence and beauty, but it is also a house of necessity,
protecting Thedas from powerful forces that would do it harm. Where the Grey Wardens
protect the world from Blight, the Chantry protects mankind from itself. Most of all, the Chantry
works to earn the Maker's forgiveness, so that one day he will return and transform the world
into the paradise it was always meant to be.

—All excerpts from Tales of the Destruction of Thedas by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar.

Chantry Dogma

The Chantry focuses on several main messages:

Magic is a sin of pride—the magisters of the Imperium believed that they were greater than the
Maker, and this is what destroyed the Golden City and unleashed the darkspawn upon the
world. The darkspawn are mankind's sin made flesh.
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Magic should exist to serve mankind and never rule over him. This is the guiding principle
behind the Circle of Magi.

Andraste was the betrothed of the Maker and the one who convinced the Maker to return to
mankind after turning his back on them for worshipping the Old Gods. Andraste's betrayal was
what drove him away again, and mankind must regain his favor because of that great sin.

To earn the Maker's forgiveness, the Chant must be spread to all four corners of the world.
Then the Maker will finally hear mankind's call and return. Once the Maker returns to the world,
he will make it a paradise. Until then, he watches over mankind, and only those who are
worthy will be chosen to stand by his side along with Andraste.

The Chantry is urged by its own dogma to proselytize—forcefully, if need be. The Chantry is
very much a militaristic organization and has needed its armed templars to exert control over
magical corruption and to root out the heresies that were very common throughout the first
centuries of its existence. The teachings of Andraste had many followers prior to the Chantry's
official creation, and in many places those teachings took on slightly different forms—different
interpretations on the role of magic and on exactly what were the crimes of mankind against
the Maker and how (if at all) mankind could earn his forgiveness. These heresies had to be
crushed if the Chant was to be one united song. So, too, did the Chantry need to battle
different faiths such as the remaining worship of the Old Gods and the pagan beliefs of the
elves.

Chantry Structure

The Divine is the titular head of the Chantry, although since the Schism split the Imperial
Chantry into its own faction, there are now, in fact, two Divines at any one time. One Divine,
informally called the White Divine, is a woman housed in the Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux.
The other, known as the Black Divine, is a man housed in the Argent Spire in Minrathous.

Neither Divine recognizes the existence of the other, and the informal names are considered
sacrilegious. Regardless of gender, a Divine is addressed as "Most Holy" or "Your Perfection."
Beneath the rank of Divine is the grand cleric. Each grand cleric presides over numerous
chantries and represents the highest religious authority for their region. They travel to Val
Royeaux when the College of Clerics convenes but otherwise remain where they are assigned.
All grand clerics are addressed as "Your Grace."

Beneath the grand cleric is the mother (or, in the Imperial Chantry, the father). If a mother is in
charge of a particular chantry, "revered" is appended to her title. These are the priests
responsible for administering to the spiritual well-being of their flock. A mother or Revered
Mother is addressed as "Your Reverence."

Brothers and sisters form the rank and file of the Chantry and consist of three main groups:
affirmed, initiates, and clerics. Affirmed are the lay-brethren of the Chantry, those regular folk
who have turned to the Chantry for succor. Often they are people who have led a difficult or
irreligious life and have chosen to go into seclusion, or even orphans and similar unfortunates
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who were raised into the Chantry life. The affirmed take care of the Chantry and are in turn
afforded a life of quiet contemplation, no questions asked.

Only those folk who take vows become initiates. These are men and women in training,
whether in academic knowledge or the martial skills of a warrior. All initiates receive an
academic education, although only those who seek to become templars learn how to fight in
addition.

Clerics are the true academics of the Chantry, those men and women who have dedicated
themselves to the pursuit of knowledge. They are often found in Chantry archives, sages
presiding over libraries of books and arcane knowledge. The most senior of these clerics,
placed in charge of such archives, are given the title "elder," although such a rank is still
beneath that of mother. All other brothers and sisters are addressed simply by noting their title
before their name, such as "Brother Genitivi."

Early Religion in Thedas

The Chantry maintains that the Maker was responsible for the creation of all life and the world
from his throne in the Golden City within the heart of the Fade. The Maker has always existed,
and the fact that the races of the world once worshipped false gods is why the Maker
abandoned them to their fate long ago. It is said that the spirits of the Fade were the Maker's
first creations and were flawed and thus cast out from the Maker's grace. These spirits were
jealous of the living and whispered to them in their dreams, telling them that they were the true
gods and that the living should bow down before them. And the living did so, summoning these
spirits through the Veil into our world and worshiping them as idols that walked among them.

These were the Old Gods, spirits powerful enough that it is said they took the form of dragons.
Giant, winged gods that ruled over the land. According to the Chantry, their worship was the
Original Sin. The Old Gods angered the Maker by claiming to be the creators of the world,
lying to the living and supplanting the Maker's true place. When the Maker furiously abandoned
the Fade and his ungrateful creations, he cursed those Old Gods who existed in the world of
the living, imprisoning them in tombs deep beneath the earth where they would slumber
eternally. Thus were the living left to their fate with neither the Maker to watch over them nor
the Old Gods to fly overhead.

The Old Gods

Dumat: the Dragon of Silence Zazikel: the Dragon of Chaos Toth: the Dragon of Fire Andoral:
the Dragon of Chains Urthemial: the Dragon of Beauty Razikale: the Dragon of Mystery
Lusacan: the Dragon of Night

Scholars assume that the Old Gods must indeed have been real at one point, but most agree
that they were likely actual dragons—ancient high dragons of a magnitude not known today,
and impressive enough to frighten ancient peoples into worshipping them. Some even claim
that these dragons slumber as a form of hibernation, not as a result of the Maker's wrath.
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Regardless of the truth, legend maintains that even from their underground prisons, the Old
Gods were able to whisper into the minds of men. The Archon Thalsian, first of the magisters
who claimed to have contacted the Old God Dumat, used the blood magic Dumat taught him to
attain incredible power in Tevinter and declare himself the ruler of an empire. In return, he
established the first temples worshipping the Old Gods, and the dragons became equated
everywhere with Imperial power. Thalsian also created the magister ruling class that has
existed to this day, his own pupils forming the noble houses that have ruled over Tevinter for
millennia. Mages of the Imperial Chantry today claim it is more likely that blood magic was
learned from the elves of Arlathan, but truly there is no direct evidence of either stance being
true.

To date, four of the Old Gods are said to have risen as corrupted archdemons: Dumat, the first
and most powerful, was slain at the Battle of Silent Fields. Zazikel fell at the Battle of
Starkhaven; Toth died at the Battle of Hunter Fell; and Andoral was felled by Garahel, the
legendary Grey Warden, at the Battle of Ayesleigh. The archdemons have been identified only
after years of argument among scholars, and to this day it is unclear whether the archdemons
were truly Old Gods and not simply dragons. All that is known is that the darkspawn hunt for
them deep underground. If they are truly the Old Gods, as many scholars believe, then we
have only three Blights remaining. When all the Old Gods have risen and been slain, however,
what will happen? Will the Blights end forever and humanity earn forgiveness from the Maker
at last? The scholars of the Chantry maintain that there were seven Old Gods in total and that
their worship by elves and humans did not die out until after the First Blight.

It should be noted that the elves, too, had their own pantheon of gods. Even though these
gods were never claimed to have walked in this world or have directly challenged the Maker,
their worship is just as heretical and caused the Maker's abandonment just as much.
Regardless of the truth behind the Old Gods, it is said that even from their underground
prisons, they were able to whisper into the minds of men.

The organized worship of the Old Gods was at its height prior to the beginning of the First
Blight when Dumat rose from his prison as the first archdemon. Ancient lore says that it was
Dumat who created the first darkspawn and led them against Thedas. The believers felt
betrayed that one of their deities could turn against them. However, the Chantry claims that it
was the darkspawn who created the archdemon and not the other way around. The tale of the
darkspawn's creation is known as the Second Sin: the magisters attempted to open a gate into
the Golden City within the Fade, desiring to physically enter and take possession of the
Maker's throne. They entered the Golden City successfully and thus tainted it with their sins.
The city had been a flawless jewel that was cracked by the flaws of man. It was filled with evil
and turned into the Black City (and it is a known fact that a blackened city sits at the heart of
the Fade, and paintings indicate that it was within mankind's history that once it was golden
and not black), and the magisters were ejected back into the living world as the darkspawn,
cursed by the Maker for their pride. Repelled by the light, they hid underground and then
searched for their old master. That they then tainted Dumat and unleashed the Blight upon the
world was, as the Chantry claims, merely mankind's own sin rising to destroy him.
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Worship of the Old Gods waned through to the Second Blight and the subsequent spread of
the Chantry. Spots of worship continued in isolated areas even afterward, though during the
Exalted March of the Dales, the Chantry actively stamped out this worship. Temples were
burned down and destroyed, the cults either dispersed or driven underground. Some temples
still stand (especially in Minrathous), though they have been converted to other uses. Most
other temples are ruins or have been replaced, and some temples have been built in hidden
places that were subsequently destroyed by the Chantry and now lie in shambles, grown over
by weeds and forests. Some few cults devoted to those three Old Gods who have not risen as
archdemon—primarily Urthemial, the God of Beauty—still exist today, and the dragon still
remains Tevinter's most prominent symbol—even if its true original significance has been
forgotten.

On Andraste

There was once a tiny fishing village on the Waking Sea that was set upon by the Tevinter
Imperium, which enslaved the villagers to be sold in the markets of Minrathous, leaving behind
only the old and the infirm. One of the captives was the child Andraste.

She was raised in slavery in a foreign land. She escaped, then made the long and treacherous
journey back to her homeland alone. She rose from nothing to be the wife of an Alamarri
warlord. Each day she sang to the gods, asking them to help her people, who remained slaves
in Tevinter. The false gods of the mountains and the winds did not answer her, but the True
God did.

The Maker spoke. He showed her all the works of his hands: the Fade, the world, and all the
creatures therein. He showed her how men had forgotten him, lavishing devotion upon mute
idols and demons, and how he had left them to their fate. But her voice had reached him and
so captivated him that he offered her a place at his side, that she might rule all of creation.

But Andraste would not forsake her people. She begged the Maker to return, to save his
children from the cruelty of the Imperium. Reluctantly, the Maker agreed to give man another
chance.

Andraste went back to her husband, Maferath, and told him all that the Maker had revealed to
her. Together, they rallied the Alamarri and marched forth against the mage-lords of the
Imperium, and the Maker was with them.

The Maker's sword was creation itself: fire and flood, famine and earthquake. Everywhere they
went, Andraste sang to the people of the Maker, and they heard her. The ranks of Andraste's
followers grew until they were a vast tide washing over the Imperium. And when Maferath saw
that the people loved Andraste and not him, a worm grew within his heart, gnawing upon it.

At last, the armies of Andraste and Maferath stood before the very gates of Minrathous, but
Andraste was not with them. For Maferath had schemed in secret to hand Andraste over to the
Tevinter. For this, the Archon would give Maferath all the lands to the south of the Waking Sea.
And so, before all the armies of the Alamarri and of Tevinter, Andraste was tied to a stake and
burned while her earthly husband turned his armies aside and did nothing, for his heart had
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been devoured. But as he watched the pyre, the Archon softened. He took pity on Andraste
and drew his sword, and he granted her the mercy of a quick death.

The Maker wept for his beloved and cursed Maferath and mankind for their betrayal, and he
turned once again from creation, taking only Andraste with him. And Our Lady sits now at his
side, where she still urges him to take pity on his children.

—From "The Sermons of Justinia II"

On the Maker

There was no word

For heaven or for earth, for sea or sky.

All that existed was silence.

Then the voice of the Maker rang out,

The first Word,

And his word became all that might be:

Dream and idea, hope and fear,

Endless possibilities.

And from it made his firstborn.

And he said to them:

In my image I forge you,

To you I give dominion

Over all that exists.

By your will

May all things be done.

~~~

Then in the center of heaven

He called forth

A city with towers of gold,

Streets with music for cobblestones,

And banners that flew without wind.

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There, he dwelled, waiting

To see the wonders

His children would create.

~~~

The children of the Maker gathered

Before his golden throne

And sang hymns of praise unending.

But their songs

Were the songs of the cobblestones.

They shone with the golden light

Reflected from the Maker's throne.

They held forth the banners

That flew on their own.

~~~

And the voice of the Maker shook the Fade

Saying: In my image I have wrought

My firstborn. You have been given dominion

Over all that exists. By your will

All things are done.

Yet you do nothing.

The realm I have given you

Is formless, ever-changing.

~~~

And he knew he had wrought amiss.

So the Maker turned from his firstborn

And took from the Fade

A measure of its living flesh

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And placed it apart from the spirits, and spoke to it, saying:

Here, I decree

Opposition in all things:

For earth, sky

For winter, summer

For darkness, light.

By my will alone is balance sundered

And the world given new life.

~~~

And no longer was it formless,

ever-changing,

But held fast, immutable,

With words for heaven and for earth, sea, and sky.

At last did the Maker

From the living world

Make men. Immutable, as the substance of the earth,

With souls made of dream and idea, hope and fear,

Endless possibilities.

~~~

Then the Maker said:

To you, my second-born, I grant this gift:

In your heart shall burn

An unquenchable flame

All-consuming, and never satisfied.

From the Fade I crafted you,

And to the Fade you shall return

Each night in dreams

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That you may always remember me.

~~~

And then the Maker sealed the gates

Of the Golden City

And there he dwelled, waiting

To see the wonders

His children would create.

—from the Chant of Light, Threnodies 5:1-8.

On the Schism

There are those who would tell you that the Chantry is the same everywhere as it is here, that
the Divine in Val Royeaux reigns supreme in the eyes of the Maker and that this fact is
unquestioned throughout Thedas.

Do not believe it.

The Maker's second commandment, "Magic must serve man, not rule over him," never held
the same meaning within the ancient Tevinter Imperium as it did elsewhere. The Chantry there
interpreted the rule as meaning that mages should never control the minds of other men and
that otherwise their magic should benefit the rulers of men as much as possible. When the
clerics of Tevinter altered the Chant of Light to reflect this interpretation of the commandment,
the Divine in Val Royeaux ordered the clerics to revert to the original Chant. They refused,
claiming corruption within Val Royeaux, an argument that grew until, in 4:87 Towers, the
Chantry in Tevinter elected its own "legitimate and uncorrupted" Divine Valhail—who was not
only male, but was also one of the most prominent members of the Tevinter Circle of the Magi.
This "Black Divine" was reviled outside Tevinter, his existence an offense to the Chantry in Val
Royeaux.

After four Exalted Marches to dislodge these "rebels," all that the Chantry in Val Royeaux
accomplished was to cement the separation. While most aspects of the Imperial Chantry's
teachings are the same, prohibitions against magic have been weakened, and male priests
have become more prevalent. The Circle of Magi today rules Tevinter directly, ever since the
Archon Nomaran was elected in 7:34 Storm directly from the ranks of the enchanters, to great
applause from the public. He dispensed with the old rules forbidding mages from taking part in
politics, and within a century, the true rulers within the various Imperial houses—the mages—
took their places openly within the government. The Imperial Divine is now always drawn from
the ranks of the first enchanters and operates as Divine and Grand Enchanter both.

This is utter heresy to any member of the Chantry outside of Tevinter, a return to the days of
the magisters, which brought the Blights down upon us. But it exists, and even though we have
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left the Tevinter Imperium to the mercies of the dread Qunari, still they have endured. Further
confrontation between the Black Divine and our so-called White Divine is inevitable.

—from "Edicts of the Black Divine" by Father David of Qarinus, 8:11 Blessed.

Magic

No one really knows where magic comes from, even though it permeates the world. Some
believe that it originates in the Fade, while others speculate that it emanates from the priceless
mineral lyrium. Regardless of the origins of magic forces, only a rare few possess the ability to
manipulate them. Mages are able to draw upon the magic around them, shaping it into fire to
blast their foes or using it to dominate the minds of others.

Mana

Mana is that which defines a mage. It is potential that dwells within a person but does not
always manifest itself. All men are connected to the Fade; we go there to dream. But only
those with this potential may draw upon its power. Mana is, then, a measurement of one's
ability to draw power from the Fade, and it is this power that is expended in magic.

As in all other things, it has limits. Just as a man has the strength to lift only so much weight
and no more, a mage cannot work more magic at one time than his mana allows. If he wishes
to work magic that would be beyond his strength, a mage must bolster his mana with lyrium.
Without lyrium, it is possible for the reckless to expend their own life force in the working of
magic; occasionally, ambitious apprentices injure or even kill themselves by overexertion.

—From the lectures of First Enchanter Wenselus

Lyrium

More than half the wealth of Orzammar comes from a single extremely rare substance: lyrium.
The Chantry believes it to be the "Waters of the Fade" mentioned in the Canticle of
Threnodies, the very stuff of creation itself from whence the Maker fashioned the world. Only a
handful of mining caste families hazard extracting the ore; they find veins in the stone quite
literally by ear, for in its raw form, lyrium sings, and the discerning can hear the sound even
through solid rock.

Even though dwarves have a natural resistance, raw lyrium is dangerous for all but the most
experienced of the mining caste to handle. Even for dwarves, exposure to the unprocessed
mineral can cause deafness or memory loss. For humans and elves, direct contact with lyrium
ore produces nausea, blistering of the skin, and dementia. Mages cannot even approach
unprocessed lyrium. Doing so is invariably fatal.

Despite its dangers, lyrium is the single most valuable mineral currently known. In the Tevinter
Imperium, it has been known to command a higher price than diamond. The dwarves sell very
little of the processed mineral to the surface, giving the greater portion of what they mine to
their own smiths, who use it in the forging of all truly superior dwarven weapons and armor.
What processed lyrium is sold on the surface goes only to the Chantry, which strictly controls
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the supply. From the Chantry, it is dispensed both to the templars, who make use of it in
tracking and fighting maleficarum, and to the Circle.

In the hands of the Circle, lyrium reaches its fullest potential. Their Formari craftsmen
transform it into an array of useful items, from the practical, such as magically hardened stone
for construction to the legendary silver armor of King Calenhad.

When mixed into liquid and ingested, lyrium allows mages to enter the Fade fully aware, unlike
all others who reach it only while dreaming. Such potions can also be used to aid in the casting
of especially taxing spells, for a short time granting a mage far greater power than he normally
wields.

Lyrium has its costs, however. Prolonged use leads to addiction, the cravings unbearable.
Over time, templars grow disoriented, incapable of distinguishing memory from present or
dream from waking. They frequently become paranoid, as their worst memories and
nightmares haunt their waking hours. Mages have additionally been known to suffer physical
mutation: The magister lords of the Tevinter Imperium were widely reputed to have been so
affected by their years of lyrium use that they could not be recognized by their own kin, nor
even as creatures that had once been human.

—From In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar, by Brother Genitivi.

The Dangers of Magic

*** Demonic Possession ***

We reached the village of Koten in the dead of night. We had been tracking the foul maleficar
for days, and the trail had led to this village. There he had taken command of the minds of the
villagers to avail himself of supplies and to raise a force against us. Armed with hatchets and
pitchforks, these poor taken men watched like hawks the entrances into the village, protecting
a master who cared nothing for their lives.

As we approached, a home on the edge of the village exploded with magical force, sending
splinters of wood and fist-sized chunks of rocks into our ranks. We had but moments to
regroup before fire rained from the sky, the sounds of destruction wrapped in a hideous
laughter from the center of the village.

And there, perched atop the spire of the village chantry, stood the mage. But he was human no
longer. He had become an abomination. We shouted prayers to the Maker and deflected what
magic we could, but as we fought, the creature fought harder. I stood in horror as my
comrades died, burned by the flaming sky or crushed by debris. The monstrous creature,
looking as if a demon were wearing a man like a twisted suit of skin, spotted me in my panic
and grinned. We had forced it to this, I realized; the mage had made this pact, given himself
over to the demon to survive our assault. And there, in the eyes of that mad thing, I found
oblivion.

That I live to tell you this story is a mystery to me. But I cannot return to the Order and vow
service to a Maker that turns his back while a thing like that exists.
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—Transcribed from a tale told by a former templar in Cumberland, 8:84 Blessed.

It is not known why mages attract the attention of spirits as they do. Unlike other living beings
who enter the Fade only when they dream, a mage is able to enter the Fade and remain
awake and aware of his surroundings. Perhaps it is this crucial difference that makes mages
so fascinating to the spirits of the dream realm. Malevolent spirits—who we call demons—that
wish to enter the world of the living are drawn to mages like beacons. Once a mage
encounters such a demon in the Fade, the demon will attempt to possess him. Often demons
will do this by force, and many mages simply do not have the strength to resist such an
assault. Other, more intelligent demons may try to cajole or trick the mage, distracting him with
offers of power, wealth, and, in some cases, even love in an attempt to make him drop his
guard.

The result is inevitably the same: An abomination is created. This is the name given to mages
who have been possessed by demons. This is not a physical possession—the demon is still in
the Fade, but so is the mage's spirit, and the demon twists and controls the mage's body
through that captive spirit. The demon sees through the body's eyes, channels its power
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through it and is able to use that body's magic in ways the mage would never have imagined.
However, the experience of entering the physical realm is overwhelming to the demon, and it is
driven mad by the sudden torrent of unfamiliar sights, sounds, and sensations. Now utterly
insane, the abomination violently assaults the world around it. The more powerful the demon,
the worse the abomination, and historical records occasionally tell of abominations that have
ravaged entire settlements or even gone on to tyrannize a countryside for years after their
creation.

This constant possibility of possession is the greatest threat to a mage and to the rest of the
world. No mage can say it will never happen, because even the strongest mages are
susceptible. So it is that the Chantry created the Circle of Magi long ago. Mages must be
allowed to exist so their power can be wielded against the darkspawn and other foes, but they
must be watched carefully—and those not strong enough to fight the demons that assault them
must be dealt with.

*** Blood Magic ***

The most efficient and powerful way for a mage to gain power is to draw directly from the life
blood of a living being. Blood mages usually begin by drawing from themselves, thus exposing
their blood, gaining access directly to their power. Obviously, this use weakens them physically
—if they draw on too much of their own life force, they risk death. Thus, as their demands for
power grow, they must begin to use the life's blood of other living beings. This usually involves
sacrifices, but some blood-magic spells can drain the life's blood directly from an opponent
during battle.

Blood magic was primarily used by the Tevinter Imperium magisters, who gained enormous
power through the unscrupulous use of blood sacrifice and the widespread use of lyrium. The
magisters also learned to control the minds of other men and summon demons from the Fade
to do their bidding—both made possible through the use of blood magic. When the Circle of
Magi was created, blood magic was made illegal, with Chantry decreeing that no magic should
be used to dominate the mind of another. The Circle protected the world from abominations
and watched carefully for those mages who would turn to blood magic. According to the
common wisdom, there is no way for one to use blood magic with good intentions. It harms
both the mage and the one from whom he draws his power, it destroys the will of the victim,
and the summoning of demons often results in rampant destruction. Thus the Chantry has
named a practitioner of these forbidden magics a "maleficar"—one who does harm.

Apostates
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Mages who refuse to join the Circle—or who flee the Circle after joining—are referred to as
"apostates." It is assumed that a mage who does not wish to be part of the Circle has rejected
the teachings of the Chantry and renounced the Maker. To a lesser extent, it is assumed that
the mage wishes to be free to practice blood magic. Even if that were not true, a mage outside
the Circle's careful watch risks falling prey to demons and becoming an abomination. If that
were to happen without the Chantry templars' knowledge, such an abomination could wreck
great havoc before anything could be done. For this reason, apostates are hunted by the
templars.

However, there are still many remote places where traditions that predate the Circle's creation
thrive. The barbarian shamans of the Avvar tribes, the lorekeepers of the Dalish elves, and
even hedge witches who brew simple love potions are all mages who have developed their
magical talent without training from the Circle. Some do not see their minor abilities as
anything special, while others live so far from civilization that they may have no knowledge of
the Circle.

The Limitations of Magic

You must not be under the impression that magic is all-powerful. There are limits, and not even
the greatest mages may overcome them. No one, for instance, has found any means of
traveling beyond putting one foot in front of the other. The immutable nature of the physical
world prevents this. So, no, you may not simply pop over to Minrathous to borrow a cup of
sugar, nor may you magic the essay you "forgot" in the apprentice dormitory to your desk. You
will simply have to be prepared.
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Similarly, even when you send your mind into the Fade, your body remains behind. Only once
has this barrier been overcome, and reputedly the spell required two-thirds of the lyrium in the
Tevinter Imperium and the lifeblood of several hundred slaves. The results were utterly
disastrous.

Finally, life is finite. A truly great healer may bring someone back from the very precipice of
death, when breath and heartbeat have ceased but the spirit still clings to life. But once the
spirit has fled the body, it cannot be recalled. That is no failing of your skills or power; it is
simple reality.

—From the Lectures of First Enchanter Wenselus

The Circle of Magi

Before the creation of the first Circle of Magi, those with magical talent outside of the Tevinter
Imperium went through a dark time in which they suffered persecution and even death should
anyone suspect their abilities. The spread of the Chantry only served to increase this
persecution—the tyrannical magister lords had used blood magic and demons to hold their
empire in an iron grip, and now the new religion spoke out against magic as corruptive and
evil. It claimed that in their pride, the mages believed they could seize the Maker's throne but
succeeded only in corrupting it and themselves, creating the darkspawn. The Andrastian
Chantry was a direct challenge to mages everywhere.

Emperor Drakon of Orlais was the first to realize that some way of legitimately and safely using
magic as a tool was needed, so the first legitimate mages were ordained in the city of Val
Royeaux. These men and women were under the Chantry's control and closely supervised
them to make sure that magic was being used appropriately. Even though the mages were
permitted to serve the ruling classes, two important limitations became mandatory:

1. Blood magic was strictly forbidden.

2. Mages could not unduly influence rulers or become rulers themselves.

Mages were not allowed to use their magic to influence the rule of men, which meant they
were required to be politically neutral. Most mages restricted their arts to such things as
healing, foretelling, communication, and economic matters. The other concern was that the
Chantry needed to prevent the creation of abominations, which gave their control some
legitimacy beyond the needs of the ruling classes. Naturally, the first mages were put under
incredible scrutiny in the chantries where they served, their templar watchers going to excess
in their vigilance. This caused the mages to chafe under the control and crave some form of
independence.

That opportunity came quickly: At the close of the Divine Age, the Second Blight began, and
Emperor Drakon was at the center of humanity's struggle for survival. The mages could
unleash their full power against the darkspawn, and they proved so useful that it was not long
before they were able to break away from the Chantry's direct control. The first Circle of Magi
was created. Mages who excelled at warfare grew powerful; over subsequent years, many
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became involved in the wars between nations, removing the restriction requiring political
neutrality. So long as the mages served the will of a ruler rather than attempting to control him,
this was permitted.

Today, the Circle keeps close tabs on those with magical ability. Affinity for magic usually
surfaces by adolescence, and all people found to have magical ability are required to join the
nearest Circle of Magi and act under its supervision. To practice magic and not join a Circle is
a capital offense—mages who insist on doing so are hunted as apostates. The mages who are
in the Circle of Magi, however, do their best to avoid the appearance of corruption as the fear
of going back to the days when mages were actively persecuted is a strong one. The Chantry
templars are still stationed in every Circle tower, ostensibly there at the invitation of the Circle.
They act as watchdogs and begin inquiries should they get any whiff of "evil" magic use. The
Circles suffer this indignity as a necessity.

Since the Schism with the Imperial Chantry, it has become increasingly difficult for the Circles
to work with the Chantry. The Chantry priests have become more and more suspicious that the
Circles sympathize with the Imperium and would likewise attempt to throw off the restrictions
that have been placed on them. The templars have once again become incredibly draconian in
their interpretation of those restrictions, and the new restrictiveness could lead to a battle
between the Circles and the Chantry. Already, many mages within the Circle are calling for an
end to their association with the Chantry, figuring that their usefulness and wealth will override
any backlash they might suffer.

Circle of Magi Hierarchy

It is no simple matter, safeguarding ordinary men from mages, and mages from themselves.
Each Circle tower must have some measure of self-government, for it is ever the Maker's will
that men be given the power to take responsibility for our own actions: To sin and fail, as well
as to achieve the highest grace and glory on our own strength.

You, who will be tasked with the protection of the Circle, must be aware of its workings. The
first enchanter is the heart of any tower. He will determine the course his Circle will take and
will choose which apprentices may be tested and made full mages, and you will work most
closely with him.

Assisting the first enchanter will be the senior enchanters, a small council of the most trusted
and experienced magi in the tower. From this group, the next first enchanter is always chosen.
Beneath the council are the enchanters. These are the teachers and mentors of the tower, and
you must get to know them to keep your finger on the pulse of the Circle, for the enchanters
will always know what is happening among the children.

All those who have passed their Harrowing but have not taken apprentices are mages. This is
where most trouble in a Circle lies, in the idleness and inexperience of youth. The untested
apprentices are the most numerous denizens of any tower, but they more often pose threats to
themselves, due to their lack of training, than to anyone else.

—Knight-Commander Serain of the Chantry templars, in a letter to his successor

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*** Fraternities ***

Another aspect of Circle life is the fraternity. When a mage becomes an enchanter, he may ally
himself with a fraternity. These are cliques that cross Circle boundaries, mages of common
interests and goals who band together to ensure that their voice is heard within the College of
Magi in Cumberland. The largest fraternities currently are the Loyalists, who advocate loyalty
and obedience to the Chantry;

the Aequitarians, who advocate temperance and follow a distinct code of conduct that they
believe all mages should hold themselves to;

the Libertarians, a growing fraternity, publicly maintaining greater power for the Circles but
secretly advocating a complete split from the Chantry—a dangerous opinion, naturally;

the Isolationists, a small group that advocates withdrawing to remote territories to avoid
conflicts with the general populace;

the Lucrosians, who maintain that the Circle must do what is profitable first and foremost. They
prioritize the accumulation of wealth, with the gaining of political influence a close second.

So far, an alliance between the Loyalists and Aequitarians has prevented the Libertarians from
gaining much headway, but there are signs that the Aequitarians may throw their support in
with the Libertarians. If that happens, many mages predict it will come to civil war among the
Circles.

*** The Harrowing ***

Among apprentices of the Circle, nothing is regarded with more fear than the Harrowing. Little
is known about this rite of passage, and that alone would be cause for dread. But it is well
understood that only those apprentices who pass this trial are ever seen again. They return as
full members of the Circle of Magi. Of those who fail, nothing is known. Perhaps they are sent
away in disgrace. Perhaps they are killed on the spot.

*** The Tranquil ***

Although apprentices do not know the nature of the Harrowing, all of them understand its
consequences: They either pass and become full mages, or they are never seen again. Those
who fear to undertake this rite of passage, or those who are deemed too weak or unstable, are
given the Rite of Tranquility instead.

The actual procedure, like the Harrowing, is secret, but the results are just as well known. The
rite severs connection to the Fade. The Tranquil, therefore, do not dream. This removes the
greatest danger that threatens a weak or unprepared mage, the potential to attract demons
across the Veil. But this is the least of the Rite of Tranquility's effects. For the absence of
dreams brings with it the end of all magical ability—and all emotion.

The Tranquil, ironically, resemble sleepwalkers, never entirely awake nor asleep. They are still
part of the Circle, however, and some might say they are the most critical part. They have
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incredible powers of concentration, for it is simply impossible to distract tranquil mages. This
makes them capable of becoming craftsmen of such skill that they rival even the adeptness of
the dwarves. The Formari, the branch of the Circle devoted to item enchantment, is made up
exclusively of the Tranquil, and is the source of all the wealth that sustains our towers.

Some laugh at me. I no longer mind. Once upon a time, I studied as they did. I learned under
the tutelage of an enchanter and attempted to master the art of bending magic to my will, and
while I did well enough, I know that I struggled. I saw the way the enchanter looked at me, the
sidelong glances of worry and disappointment. While other apprentices were conjuring fire, I
could barely light a candle.

I was frightened of magic. When I was a boy, my grandmother regaled me with tales of the
terrible Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds. She told me of the magisters and how their evil magic
infected the world with the darkspawn. She told me of demons and how they were drawn to the
dreams of those who possessed magic like moths to a flame. She told me all these things,
because, she said, the talent ran in our family's blood.

And so it ran in mine. All my young life I had dreaded the thought, prayed to the Maker that I
was not so cursed...but I knew otherwise. Deep in my heart, I knew. When the templars came
to our home, I knew.

The mages' tower was terrifying, full of secrets and danger. The templars glared at me as if I
could spring full into an abomination before their very eyes. My enchanter patiently attempted
to teach me to marshal my willpower, my only defense should a demon attempt to enslave me,
but it was no use. How many nights did I cry myself to sleep in that dark and lonely place?

Then my Harrowing came at last, my final test. Face a demon, they said, or submit to the Rite
of Tranquility. They would sever my connection to the Fade, and thus I would never dream and
no demon could ever touch me...but I would also be unable to do magic, and I would never feel
an emotion ever again. Facing the demon was certain death, so my choice was an easy one.

It was not so painful.

Now I serve in other ways. We Tranquil manage the archives. We run the tower, purchase the
supplies, and maintain the accounts. Our condition also allows us to use the magical element
lyrium without ill effect, and thus we are the ones who enchant the magical items. We are the
merchants who sell these items to those the Circle permits, and the coin from those sales
provides the Circle's wealth.

Thus, we Tranquil are vital. The young and old may stare at me, ill at ease, but they would be
worse off without me. They may think me a failure, but there is no horror for me now. I feel no
fear of what I am. The shadows are merely shadows, and I am content.

—Eddin the Meek, Tranquil of the Circle of Magi of Starkhaven, the Free Marches

The Fade
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Exactly what the Fade is will depend largely on whom you ask. The Chantry's opinion takes a
far more religious tone than that of the Circle of Magi, whose attempts to explore and
catalogue the realms of the Fade fly in the face of Chantry doctrine. Still, too, do the other
races have their own legends of the dream realm—the elven legends predate those of men but
have been largely lost since the fall of Arlathan. Dwarves take a different view of the Fade,
since they do not enter it; therefore, it features far less in their mythology than it does with the
elves and humans.

According to the Chantry, the Fade is a realm of primeval matter from which the Maker formed
our world and all living beings. When the living die, their souls pass through what is called the
Veil and into this realm. Those who have lived good lives and have earned the Maker's
forgiveness move beyond the Fade and from there journey to join the Maker. Those who
remain out of the Maker's sight, however, enter the Fade and are lost, returning to the ether
from which they were formed. The mages declare that there is no proof to substantiate the
Chantry's claim, as no dead soul has ever been witnessed to enter the Fade. It is an eternal
debate between the Chantry and the Circle of Magi, made all the more difficult because the
Chantry requires that its position be accepted as a matter of faith.

Requiring less faith is the fact that those who sleep actually do send their consciousness into
the Fade. The benign spirits native to the Fade anticipate this, and they have shaped the Fade
into various realms that cater to the unconscious desires of the living, providing experiences to
the sleeping that become their "dreams." Only those mages who have learned to enter the
Fade through the use of lyrium remain lucid in this state, able to separate dream from reality.
When the souls of the dreaming are harmed or "killed," they return immediately to their
sleeping bodies and awaken before the moment of death. Only mages using lyrium are truly at
danger in the Fade, for the lyrium that keeps their conscious mind in the Fade also prevents
them from returning to their bodies at the moment of death.

The various realms ruled by the spirits fluctuate according to the movement of the dreamers.
Those realms that the dreamers flock to become very powerful and in turn rise in the spiritual
hierarchy to rule great portions of the Fade, while other memories and concepts, things that in
the real world have been forgotten, slowly ebb in power until they drift away back into the ether
forever, the spirits who ruled them losing all potency. The only constant part of the Fade lies at
its heart—a black city with twisted spires that can be seen from any point in the Fade. This city
—so Chantry lore goes—was once a beautiful golden city that was home to the Maker and the
spirits, his first creations. When the Maker abandoned the great city, he expelled his spirits
from it, and it sat locked and empty until the Tevinter magisters entered it and corrupted it with
their sin. The magisters were turned into the first darkspawn, and the city became what it is
today: a ruin of darkness and shadow that taints those spirits foolish enough to draw too close.
It remains locked, awaiting the day the Maker forgives mankind and returns, removing the sin
in the Black City and thereby destroying the darkspawn forever.

The Black City

No traveler to the Fade can fail to spot the Black City. It is one of the few constants of that
ever-changing place. No matter where one might be, the city is visible. (Always far off, for it
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seems that the only rule of geography in the Fade is that all points are equidistant from the
Black City.)

The Chant teaches that the Black City was once the seat of the Maker, from whence he ruled
the Fade, left empty when men turned away from him. Dreamers do not go there, nor do
spirits. Even the most powerful demons seem to avoid the place.

It was golden and beautiful once, so the story goes, until a group of powerful magister lords
from the Tevinter Imperium devised a means of breaking in. When they did so, their presence
defiled the city, turning it black. This was, perhaps, the least of their worries.

—From Beyond the Veil: Spirits and Demons, by Enchanter Mirdromel.

Spirits

It is challenging enough for the casual observer to tell the difference between the Fade and the
creatures that live within it, let alone between one type of spirit and another. In truth, there is
little that distinguishes them, even for the most astute mages. Since spirits are not physical
entities and are therefore not restricted to recognizable forms (or even having a form at all),
one can never tell for certain what is alive and what is merely part of the scenery. It is therefore
advisable for the inexperienced researcher to greet all objects he encounters.

Typically, we misuse the term "spirit" to refer only to the benign, or at least less malevolent,
creatures of the Fade, but in truth, all the denizens of the realm beyond the Veil are spirits. As
the Chant of Light notes, everything within the Fade is a mimicry of our world—a poor
imitation, for the spirits do not remotely understand what they are copying. (It is no surprise
that much of the Fade appears like a manuscript translated from Tevinter into Orlesian and
back again by drunken initiates.)

In general, spirits are not complex. Or, rather, they are not complex as we understand such
things. Each one seizes upon a single facet of human experience: rage, hunger, compassion,
hope, and so on. This one idea becomes their identity. We classify as demons those spirits that
identify themselves with darker human emotions and ideas.

The most common and weakest form of demon one encounters in the Fade is the rage demon.
They are much like perpetually boiling kettles, for they exist only to vent hatred but rarely have
an object to hate. Somewhat above these are the hunger demons, which do little but eat or
attempt to eat everything they encounter, including other demons (this is rarely successful).
Then there are the sloth demons. These are the first intelligent creatures one typically finds in
the Fade. They are dangerous only on those rare occasions that they can be induced to get up
and do harm. Desire demons are cleverer and far more powerful, using all forms of bribery to
induce mortals into their realms: wealth, love, vengeance, whatever lies closest to your heart.
The most powerful demons yet encountered are the pride demons, perhaps because they,
among all their kind, most resemble men.

—From Beyond the Veil: Spirits and Demons, by Enchanter Mirdromel.

*** Demons ***

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The Maker's first creations were the spirits, beings whose very bodies were formed from the
ether and who most closely resembled the Maker in every way. They were glorious beings that
populated the many spires of the Golden City, and the Chant of Light says that they revered
the Maker with unquestioning devotion. The Maker, however, was dissatisfied. Though the
spirits were like him in that they could manipulate the ether and create from it, they did not do
so. They had no urge to create, and even when instructed to do so possessed no imagination
to give their creations ingenuity or life.

The Maker realized his own folly: He had created the spirits to resemble him in all but the one
and most important way: They did not have a spark of the divine within them and thus would
never be the children he desired. He expelled all the spirits out of the Golden City and into the
Fade and proceeded to his next creation: life.

The Maker created the world and the living beings upon it, separated them from the Fade by
the Veil. His new children would be unable to shape the world around them and thus would
need to struggle to survive. In return for their struggle, the Maker gifted them with the spark of
the divine, a soul, and he watched with pleasure as his creations flourished and showed all the
ingenuity that he had hoped for.

The spirits grew jealous of the living and coaxed them back into the Fade when they slept.
They wished to know more of them, hoping to find a way to regain the Maker's favor. Through
the eyes of the living, they experienced new concepts: love, fear, pain, and hope. The spirits
reshaped the Fade to resemble the lives and concepts that they saw, each spirit desperately
trying to bring the most dreamers to their own realm so they could vicariously possess the
spark of the divine through them.

As the spirits grew in power, however, some of them became contemptuous of the living.
These were the spirits that saw the darkest parts of the dreamers. Their lands were places of
torment and horror, and they knew that the living were strongly drawn to these places that
mirrored those dark parts of themselves. These spirits questioned the Maker's wisdom and
proclaimed the living inferior. They learned from the darkness they saw and became the first
demons.

Rage, hunger, sloth, desire, and pride, these are the dark parts of the soul that give demons
their power, the hooks they use to claw their way into the world of the living. It was demons
that whispered into the minds of men, convincing them to turn from the Maker and worship
false gods. They seek to possess all life as their due, forging kingdoms of nightmare in the
Fade in the hopes of one day storming the walls of heaven itself.

And the Maker despaired once again, for he had given the power of creation to his new
children—and in return they had created sin.
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Interview with BioWare

You've just had the dark fantasy ride of your life—assuming you've finished a game of Dragon
Age: Origins, that is. If you haven't completed a run through the game, head back and do so or
you may read some spoilers that give away important plot points and insight behind the
storyline choices. Once you're ready, sit down with us as we interview Lead Designer Mike
Laidlaw on topics near and dear to your heart like where to find the most obscure NPC, what
country might be developed next after Ferelden, and why Lothering had to be destroyed.

What's something in the game that you don't think anyone will find?

Arl Foreshadow. He's a rich, in-depth character with a compelling history...nah. He's an in-joke.
Back in the day, back in the original Baldur's Gate, you could find a single lord that wandered
around a very tiny part of one map, muttering vaguely about Amn when you talked to him,
offering (largely inaccurate) hints about what we had planned for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows
of Amn.

To meet Arl Foreshadow (possibly a long-lost cousin?), you need to complete the
undocumented fourth portal of the Summoning Sciences plot in the Circle Tower...and to really
see what he's about, you need to have a fairly high Stealing skill, to pick his pocket. Super
obscure? Yes!

The companions—their personalities, back stories, interactions—are fantastic. But were there
any that you considered but couldn't do for one reason or another?

Shale, actually! She was a problematic character at first, due to size and other technical
constraints, and so, reluctantly we cut the golem party member. That
is, until we moved her to our post-release team, freeing the stone prisoner from her exile and
pushing her back into the game.

~~~

Has any of their personalities

changed over the course of the games development?

Of course. Ideas get tossed around, refinements happen, and every so often you toss a stone
that just won't float. And when that happens, you rely on your writers to re-imagine the
character, and on everyone else to provide inspiration. Concept art, for instance, can provide
some remarkable insight into a character. You stare at an image drawn off the cuff and start
asking yourself questions like: why does he carry a dagger there? What could I do with that?
Suddenly a new voice and idea springs to mind. Brainstorming is crucial here, too. Throwing
around ideas rapidly in a supportive environment can produce some amazing results. Shale,
for instance, morphed over time from an emotionless statue death-machine to a bird-hating,
sarcasm-flinging death-machine. It's all about growth. And, apparently, death machines.
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What's the most popular class or play style among the team?

If the Dragon Age team likes to do anything, it's bring the pain. There's a lot of us who enjoy
the ballet of combat: using pause and play to chain effect after effect onto foes such that we
create a festival of violence. As a result, multi-mage parties are very popular with the team.
That kind of configuration requires the most attention on the part of the player, but your focus
and careful use of abilities can hold huge payoffs.

Designer Details:
Funniest Story

We asked the Dragon Age: Origins designers to fill us in on their favorite parts of the game,
and tell us some funny stories that happened to them while creating the game:

~~~

"When I was building Ostagar we had a lot of the new soldier models coming in but their "LOD"
or level-of-detail body shapes where not hooked up properly. As a result, I was running around
the level and all I could see were these crazy looking soldiers with long spider-like legs running
all around the place. Surreal!" —Andrew Farrell, Senior Artist

~~~

"One of the things I worked on was writing and doing the initial design for some of the random
encounters. Some encounters are really, really rare. When walking through the halls I heard
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one of the QA peeps swearing to someone that he encountered a bunch of people trying to pull
an axe out of stump with some wacky dialog. I could tell the others were dubious. I snickered
and walked by. There's a LOT to Dragon Age—some of the nooks and crannies surprise even
us." —Ferret Baudoin, Lead Designer of Dragon Age post-release content

~~~

"I believe I am probably the only developer to get all three possible romantic characters to
have sex with me in one night at the camp: Leliana, Alistair, and Zevran. Of course, as soon as
they were all done, Leliana forced me to break up with her, and Alistair made me choose
between him and Zevran. But still, it was a good night. I even had a friend visiting me at work
that night as a witness. (I had been telling her how fantastic Zevran was, and she needed to
see for herself.) I'm also the designer famed for yelling at the screen, 'Why won't you have sex
with me!' on one or more occasions. Alistair can be such a coy bitch some times. (Okay, okay,
it was a bug and I fixed it.)" —Cori May, Designer

~~~

"I think one of my favorite things I have seen go wrong during development was when
equipped items were showing up somewhere near five times as large as they should have,
which made things look very comical. Shields the size of doors, swords larger than their
wielders, etc." —Nathan Frederick, Lead Quality Assurance

~~~

What realm of Ferelden would you like to develop next? Can you give us some tasty tidbits?

I've always been fascinated by the countries outside of Ferelden. The empire of Orlais is home
to Leliana, you have Zevran's history in Antiva, and, of course, the fading glory of the once-
powerful Tevinter empire is central to the history of the world. There's so much to explore, I
think if we were to turn our attention elsewhere, it would be to show how these other nations
interact with Ferelden.

~~~

What's the funniest story that happened while you were developing your part of Ferelden?

For me, it was a quiet night at home, my wife away on work, and the majority of a bottle of
wine already polished off. I was playing through a sequence of the game where a follower
sings a lament for the elves. I knew, intellectually, that we were doing "something" around that,
something song-like, but I hadn't played through that part since it had been touched by the
cinematics team. When it finally played, it was fully voiced, with instruments, and featured
some of the best silent acting in the reactions from the other party members I've seen in a
long, long time. I was caught totally off-guard, and utterly floored. It wasn't necessarily funny,
so much as humbling to see something so amazing tucked away in the middle of a sprawling
game like Dragon Age.

~~~
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Whose mad idea was it to blow up Lothering? What a great plot moment, but what a bummer
that we left Sten behind.

You don't have to leave him behind, you know! Still, Lothering is one of those things where we
wanted to make sure the player had a sense of urgency and felt like the Blight was advancing
and destroying things in its path.

~~~

Would you rather have a pinch of ashes from the Urn of Sacred Ashes or a sip from the Holy
Grail?

Regretfully, I think the Grail has to win the day here, if only because it would taste better.

Designer Details:
Best NPC

We asked the Dragon Age: Origins designers to fill us in on their favorite parts of the game,
and here's what they had to say about their favorite non-player characters:

~~~

"Sandal, because he gets right to the point when you ask for an enchantment." —Andrew
Farrell, Senior Artist

~~~

"That's a really tough question. If I had to choose one...Morrigan. She has a wicked sense of
humor, she has great banter with Alistair and others. She has different layers to her personality,
and I find her story compelling. She's also a great addition to the party in a fight. She starts off
with good spells—and if you choose correctly she can be wickedly useful. So an intriguing
character with kick butt spells, what's not to like?" —Ferret Baudoin, Lead Designer of Dragon
Age post-release content

~~~

"Without a doubt, Dog. There's just something about a character who has so much charisma
and presence in a conversation but does not speak a word. Some of the best banter
conversations in the game occur between Dog and the other party members. Like when Dog
convinces the grim-faced Sten to play fetch or "doing all the talking" when breaking into Fort
Drakon to save Alistair and the player's character, he is both a capable party member and a
very cute puppy all at the same time." —Will Kuhn, Quality Assurance Tester

~~~

"Sten, because he has some very unexpected lines of conversation (growling with/at Dog,
supplying cookies to the boatman at the Circle of Magi). Unfortunately, he doesn't really have a
role in my ultimate party makeup." —Nathan Frederick, Lead Quality Assurance
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~~~

"Vaughan, of course, for the buttery dripping evil of hotness. Unless you meant henchmen/
followers. In which case, Dog. I love Dog. His dialogue is adorable (talk to him when you can,
especially in camp), he brings you cake, and he kicks ass without the player needing to do
much work. I'm a lazy player. And Zevran is my favorite romance option, but it's hard to resist
the ambitious lure of making the heir to the throne of Ferelden fall in love with you. And then
marry his brother's wife. And then sleep with an evil witch. It's possible that I romance Alistair
just to torture him." —Cori May, Designer

Who's your favorite NPC? Why?

Leliana. Sleek, red-headed, deadly yet pious and with a devastatingly beautiful accent, she's
hard not to love. She's a mainstay in all of my parties, and her deft hands when it comes to
locks and traps don't hurt in the least.

~~~

When traveling across the map, what's the most dangerous location for random encounters?

It's the Blight, so...everywhere. Some of the most dangerous encounters are story-driven.
Some of the ones that further your followers' personal plots can be quite nasty, but rewarding,
since your followers tend to come out of them with new perks.

~~~

Have you unlocked all the achievements yet? Which one do you think is hardest to pull off?

Due to the sheer scope of the game, pulling off all the different ending achievements can be
the hardest. Even with careful reloading, you have some significant sequences to defeat
before you can unlock all of the possible ending achievements.

~~~

Tell us about the downloadable content. What's this Grey Wardens stronghold we're hearing
about?

The Wardens are recovering from their expulsion from Ferelden more than a century ago,
when they overstepped their bounds and became too involved in politics. We're going to
expand the game by letting the player explore the history of their fall, and maybe uncover a
few secrets about the very nature of being a Grey Warden.

Designer Details: Favorite Item

We asked the Dragon Age: Origins designers to fill us in on their favorite parts of the game,
and here's what they had to say about their favorite magic items: "The Topsiders 1h Sword. It
was the ultimate weapon for my templar. You find parts of the sword in a series of hard fights in
the Deep Roads under Orzammar, so when I finally assembled it, I felt like I had accomplished
something." —Andrew Farrell, Senior Artist
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~~~

"I really like Reaper's Vestments. There was a time that item didn't exist and I remember
wishing my main character had a really good set of robes that would be befitting a Grey
Warden. Once the robes were created I usually save every last copper until I get those robes.
The vestment's huge armor bonus makes it so mages aren't so much of a glass cannon. And
for an arcane warrior, you can have a decent chest piece without a massive fatigue penalty."

—Ferret Baudoin, Lead Designer of Dragon Age

post-release content

"The Legion of the Dead armor set is my favorite magical item(s). Not only do they give you
huge bonuses but it looks so bad ass." —Will Kuhn, Quality Assurance Tester

~~~

"It's not magic. It's not even rare. But it's the 'backpack' and it's your friend. Buy them. Buy
them all." —Cori May, Designer

~~~

"Items which increase spellpower and spirit damage will make a huge difference to Blood
Wound, particularly on the player character as they are the most powerful of the three mages."
—Nathan Frederick, Lead Quality Assurance

How did Dragon Age come about? Was there a driving motivation that brought this game into
existence?

BioWare, in a lot of ways, exists because of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of
Amn. Those games helped define us as a studio, and after developing Jade Empire and Mass
Effect, we felt confident in turning our skills to world-building a new fantasy franchise. Our goal
was simple enough in spirit: define a fantasy world that breaks the high-fantasy conventions,
yet remains familiar enough that new players aren't confused when they first enter it.

~~~

Are there any elements of the game that you wanted to put in, but couldn't for one reason or
another?

There's always ideas that fall to the wayside, but I don't think there's any specific part of the
game that we're really missing. Origins is a very big game as it is, and while we could pack
more in there, I think we made the right choice by focusing on what the game delivers and
making sure it was polished.

Is there anything about the game that you would change or expand if technology and time
wasn't a concern?

At this point, there's a million little tweaks that we would like to make to the art, lighting,
systems, combat, and so on. As fun as it can be to theorize on what else we could add to the
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game, ultimately, there comes a point where you need to make the game internally consistent
and stop adding, and instead focus on polish.

~~~

What was the most challenging element about creating a game like this?

Scope. The size of Dragon Age: Origins is staggering, and it offers so many variations, subtle
and major changes to its storyline and branches that it can be hard to manage. The player will
find it an amazing experience, but it was a significant challenge for us.

Designer Details: Class Combos

We asked the Dragon Age: Origins designers to fill us in on their

favorite parts of the game, and here's what they had to say about class combinations:

~~~

"For me it was Wynne as an arcane warrior in full plate. Wynne would just stand in the middle
of my warriors and heal and rejuvenate everyone."

—Andrew Farrell, Senior Artist

~~~

"I love mages. The more, the better. I prefer for my main character to be a spirit healer/arcane
warrior and then choose a happy variety of crowd control spells (Mass Paralysis, yum), AE
damage (Fireball, Firestorm), and good old Rock Armor. I keep Leliana in the party to open
chests. Then I round it off with Morrigan and Wynne. A typical fight involves me locking down
the enemies with targeted paralysis spells (or Mass Paralysis) then casting a bunch of AoE
damage spells while Leliana pelts them with arrows—maybe hitting anything I'm concerned
about with an Arrow of Slaying. The whole philosophy is the best defense is a good offense,
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although my main character can have really decent armor because of the arcane warrior
specialty."

—Ferret Baudoin, Lead Designer of Dragon Age post-release content

~~~

"My personal favorite Grey Warden build is a sword and board tank. High constitution, all the
Sword and Shield abilities, and some high-level gear make one tough warrior. My personal
favorite party is running my character and Alistair as tanks and having Wynne and Dog in my
party as well. Having the two tanks soak up most the damage and attention with Wynne
supporting them through healing and buffs allows for Dog to eliminate any archers or mages
with relative ease and assist the tanks with mopping up."

—Will Kuhn, Quality Assurance Tester

~~~

"I play the rogue, and I tend to take Wynne, Dog, and Zevran wherever I go. (In terms of my
glory party, that is.) For one, the Wynne/Zevran banter kills me. I like Dog as my tank because
he's easy to run, and I prefer to have another rogue in the party because somehow they seem
to live longer than poor Alistair does. Don't blame him, though; it's all my own mishandling of
the warrior class. I'm terrible with warriors. I like the way Alistair looks, though, and having
some party variety, so I will occasionally chance it with him. Wynne I prefer only marginally to
Morrigan, because she has the 'heal all' spell, but honestly they can both be killer, given
enough time."

—Cori May, Designer

~~~

"I like to roll with a mage player character, Sten, Alistair, and Leliana. Sten brings the pain,
Alistair is my tank, Leliana picks locks and uses her ranged abilities to quickly take down
mages or pin the heavy-hitting enemies."

—Zach Beaudoin, Lead Technical Quality Assurance

~~~

"It's not just what you use in the party, but how you use them that makes them "the ultimate"
party makeup. Player: mage, first specced into blood mage, and then into spirit healer. Party
Members: Alistair: Bait, err, tank for boss fights. Focus on the Warrior and Sword and Shield
trees first. Morrigan: Spec her into blood mage. Wynne: Spec her into blood mage."

—Nathan Frederick, Lead Quality Assurance

 
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Has there been a dramatic evolution of the game since its initial creation or has the game been
on track with its initial concept?

Origins has largely stayed true to its goal of creating an experience worthy of being the
spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate games. There have been challenges, of course. The
engine was written from the ground up for the game, and a significant amount of world-building
was required, yet we've been able to hold true to our initial vision through most of the
development.

~~~

Are there any dialog choices, with crazy or obscured outcomes, that you think many of the
players may not find?

Too many to list. There are innumerable ways to break out what we call "the killing knife," for
example. A small dagger that your player will occasionally use to end arguments. There are
any number of very funny retorts and back and forths that will appear if you have the right
combination of followers, both in NPC dialogs and while exploring the world.

~~~

Is there anything about the game that you hope stands out in the player's mind after slaying
the archdemon?

Above all, my goal is that the player feels like they played their game, not the one we wanted
them to play. I think Origins excels at drawing you into the story and making you feel like you
defeated the Blight in your own way. It's easy to look at any one choice in the game and
declare it simple, but when you add the hundreds of choices along the way, the aggregate
experience is very personal, and, I think memorable. So, I want people to remember how they
were able to slay the archdemon, how the world ended up after they did so, and, finally, how
they will be remembered.

Dragon Age: Origins Artwork

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Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents

 
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate! click for Table of Contents