A Story and the History

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The Blight that had torn asunder the lands was no more. The Hero had fought and killed the Archdemon, and with it gone, the Darkspawn ranks broke and the horde was easily routed. Slowly, people emerged to reclaim their homes in the once Blight-stricken land. After the Blight ended, the Hero of Ferelden took up the mantle of Warden-Commander and began the task of rebuilding the Grey Warden Order in Ferelden. Great damage had been done to the nation and its people, and the Grey Wardens had likewise been devastated. It was time to rebuild.

King Alistair of the Grey Wardens now ruled over Ferelden, and the Kingdom would finally know peace again.

Across the sea, in Kirkwall, a young Ferelden man began making a name for himself. Hawke would rise as a Champion in the span of a decade and change the course of history forever. The change would make the world tremble beneath his feet – for better, and for worse. War would break out across the Free Marches; now, more than ever, racial differences created a rift between all beings spread across Thedas. The Champion warned all sides of the divisive war that they could not return to peaceful times without understanding.

Eventually, it was the Champion who helped usher in an era of hope and, for some, understanding. Meanwhile, the shadows of war still lingered in the streets of minds of the people of Thedas.










The Grey Wardens were once exiled from Ferelden for conspiring to overthrow the King. They were permitted to return by King Maric who saw the danger in the Darkspawn. The Grey Wardens are dedicated to destroying the darkspawn, and fighting the Blight. Because nearly every Grey Warden in Ferelden was killed during the last Blight, the Order had lost their influence in Ferelden and also suffered a great loss of morale. This moment of weakness allowed the Darkspawn armies to spread across the lands, marking the beginning of a terrible war.






The Blight ravaged the lands, Darkspawn marched across the country of Ferelden, spreading corruption and death wherever they tread. Many decided to flee the lands of Ferelden altogether, Lothering was destroyed and lost to the Darkspawn and many people made their across the sea to the Free Marches to escape the Blight. The Grey Wardens recruited all they could in order to stand against the Horde. However, due to a betrayal by the King's most trusted General, the Wardens failed in their first task to destroy the horde and kill the Archdemon, instead losing many men and much morale for their cause.

Fönn, a mage from The Circle, was made a recruit and survived the joining. She managed to survive the Blight, and battle at Ostagar only by the good grace of an old woman of the Wilds. Over the course of a year, the young Warden gathered support against the Blight. She brought the Dalish, the Dwarves and people of Fereleden together to stand against the Archdemon and the Horde by calling them to arms with treaties the Wardens had forged over the years. Though Ferelden's Capital was nearly destroyed, the battle was won. The Grey Wardens were exalted as heroes.






The Archdemon was slain by the Hero of Ferelden and the horde was forced back. The man that had stolen the throne was overthrown and King Alistair now ruled Ferelden. The Grey Wardens reclaimed their influence across Fereldan and rose again to their former glory. The Dwarven King Harrowmont closed his doors once the Blight had been destroyed. The enigmatic Dalish retreated back to their nomadic ways, disappearing once again into the wilds.

While word reached the Free Marches that the Blight was over, a young man and former Fereldan, bearing the family name “Hawke”, was making a name for himself in the underground. With the Blight over, opportunity opened up and he ventured into the Deep Roads on a hunt for long-lost riches.

Meanwhile, in Amaranthine, Darkspawn attacks began to overwhelm the area and cities. The Hero of Ferelden left to take her title as Commander of the Grey, leaving her past, to meet her future.





Ferelden was slowly recovering, Mages were given a monumental amount of Freedom under the rule of King Alistair, proving their own power and want for peace by aligning themselves with the King. The armies of Ferelden benefited greatly from magical aide. The Grey Wardens struggled to retain their posts and expand their order, fighting to regain the power in Ferelden that had been stripped away from them, without overstepping their political grounds.

The Free Marches was seeing trouble from a group of Qunari – the great conquering race was lingering in Kirkwall. Though they showed no outward threats to the people, the city soon found itself under  siege by the foreign intruders. The Qunari attacked the city of Kirkwall, and killed their Viscount. If not for Hawke, the city would have fallen to the Qunari attack, and along with it, its people. As a reward Hawke was named, "Champion of Kirkwall”.
The Free Marches were seeing their own problems now. With no Viscount to take command, the Knight Commander Meredith stepped in. The next three years she would use her position to terrorize mages and exert her influence over the city with an iron-clad fist.




The Chanty in Kirkwall was destroyed, in the name of freedom no less. The many deaths and the destruction it caused spread fear and war throughout the city.

The Knight Commander Meredith fought to bring the magi down, using the Chantry's destruction as a catalyst to attack the Circle in Kirkwall. Rumors spread across the lands that she had been possessed by a demon of rage after the fall of the chantry, though there were just as many whispers that the woman had simply lost her mind. Whatever the cause, the woman was blamed for the majority of damage done across the world. The repercussions of her years of torturing, stifling and punishing magi for simply honing their magical gifts had at last become known to the world. As a testament to how badly the Knight Commander was treating the magi, the Templars – men and woman whose sole purpose in life was to keep magi in check – joined forces with the magi to keep  Meredith from harming them further.

The Chantry suffered great lose of morale for not stepping in and stopping Meredith. After the death toll for both Magi, and later Templars was made public knowledge, and the secret war was brought to light, many people turned from the Chantry.






Nearly a year of ceaseless fighting had ravaged the lands of Thedas. Templars and Mages fought against the Chantry’s oppression, together, united as one. Ferelden was the first to take a stand to end the warring world's plight.

It was thus declared, that Religion would be kept separately from all matters of state and magi.

The Chantry would no longer have a hand in controlling the Circle's tower, in Ferelden. The Circle's tower would no longer exist as cells to mages, but exist as a Free Circle. The word Apostate was banished from Ferelden vocabulary. Together, Fereleden formed the first "Free Circle" in it's history. Along with Templar aide, they stood strong against the Chantry, until the Chantry stood down.

Ferelden stood tall, and aided all the mages in their plight. Countries that housed their own Circles, followed Ferelden's lead, some far less successful than others.

The Free Marches, a once bitter battleground, missed their Champion desperately. The Free Marches Magi and Templar recovered, rebuilt and reformed The Gallows. The Circle was no longer a prison, but a refuge for all Magi. Templars took political care to align themselves with the magi, and step away from the Chantry.  

While the world was changing fast, people rebelled against the change, reveled in the chaos and prayed for an end to the madness.





Welcome to the start of our story.

The world is still reeling from the fall of the Chantry in Ferelden and the Free Marches, but a peaceful resolution has been reached in almost all corners of Thedas and the fighting has died down into a political storm, a fight that is being fought without weapons.

While the Chantry has relinquished its power from the Circle, it is certainly not gone from the world. The Circle of Magi worked tirelessly over the last year to convert all their Circle's into a Chantry free organization. The Templar Order, in order to keep the peace and remain in the Circle, as is their proper place, stepped away from the Chantry as well.

In fact, the Chantry remains a strong political figurehead in most countries, regardless of stepping away from Circle affairs. Where the Chantry once stood in Kirkwall, there is nothing but ruins – it remains a memorial for all those that were lost in the chaotic fight for freedom. Though the Chantry slowly begins their return to the country, it is a slow, painful process.  

The world is in a power struggle to keep the new found equality with magi, and keep the peace that was so violently obtained over the course of the last year. The Chantry struggles to keep the peace with their once and former allies, while balancing their current goal of returning to the countries they suffered the most damage in. They have a reputation to repair, and it can only be repaired if they continue to push forward into the struggle. No one knows how this struggle will play out, only time can tell.



Help us to usher in this new world, ride the wave of change, or drown in it.


© 2011 - 2024 DA-Descent
Comments5
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nihilica's avatar
I'm curious about what happened to the Champion of Kirkwall? He just stops being mentioned after 9:34~
Wait. If it's a spoiler for DA2, don't tell me! /in the middle of playing it x'D