Evanura: The True History of the Conquest of the Dales
by JES Brandis
20th Edition
A New Translation by Ghyslaine Coté
Edited by Varric Tethras
Forward by Brother Ferdinand Genitivi
Published on the 6th, Justinian, 9:26 Dragon
by Maison d'édition de Dumas, Cumberland, Nevarra
Part I: Forward
Foreward
by Ferdinand Genitivi
I remember when I first read Evanura: L'histoire Vraie de la Conquête des Dales. It was listed in the fiction department of the University's library, and was the library's only copy (the others had been destroyed by the Templars during Divine Faustine the Second's purge of "Anti-chantry propaganda" between 8:62 and 8:71 Blessed). It was a first edition, and was in its original Orlesian, and I remember I was unable to put it down. I read the book for three days straight (I missed two classes, my professors were not pleased), and couldn't get it out of my mind for months afterward. When I was forced to return the book after keeping it two months too late, I immediately set out to the nearest bookshop to find a copy of the recent 19th edition.
To my wonder (and happiness) none of the humor, severity, or poetry of the original work was lost in the translation (all editions after the 10th have been released exclusively in common). It is still my favorite book to this day (despite having many other 'favorites), and I make an effort to re-read it at least once a year. I must admit that it isn't the most well written of books I have read, nor it is the most riveting. Rather, it is the most resonant. It resonates with me in a way that only a book that has changed your life can.
When I was asked to write a foreword to this book (a surprise, let me assure you, as even today it is still considered a blasphemous "Anti-Chantry" book), I found myself unable to refuse. I know that I may receive some sideways glances from my peers when this is printed - I do not care.
The book is, of course, hotly debated in scholarly circles, and the University has a very strict policy: Discussing the work as a non-fiction book is grounds for expulsion. It is no secret that this is a policy rigidly demanded by Divine Beatrix The First during the Black Age, when the fervor against all anti-chantry materials was at an all-time high. The close political ties between the University and those in positions of power within the Chantry make sure that this policy will not be disappearing anytime soon.
The book contradicts a lot of Orlesian and Chantry rhetoric on the Exalted March Upon the Dales. Faustine decried its continued publication (despite it being listed under fiction) as it "Besmirched the reputation of the venerable Divine Renata The First." The chantry has long held that the Exalted March upon the Dales was entirely an Orlesian affair, and never gained full chantry support (despite Renata's declaration of an Exalted March). This book firmly asserts that is a lie, and a blatant one at that. The author (who claims to, of course, be none other than the famous Ser Brandis himself) contends that Renata The First not only announced the march, but also decreed that it was the Maker's will that the Elves be punished for refusing to "Put aside their pagan gods."
Renata, and her famous right hand Amity, have long been regarded as devout and pious heroes of our faith. This book contends the opposite: That Renata was a totalitarian despot, and Amity little more than a bigot who hid her prejudice behind her station, and her excellent grasp of the art of speech. It makes many assertions that are considered blasphemy of the highest regard, which has only served to increase the books popularity in the last few decades. After all, pulp fiction is a sort of culture in Orlais, even if it does besmirch much of what Orlesians are taught about their own history.
Despite the rules at The University, that this book, under no circumstances, was to be considered anything but a work of fiction, scholars have not stopped from debating its true nature. Scholars, even graduates of Val Royeux's prestigious University, are now debating whether the book truly is nonfiction, and merely published as fiction to avoid the chantry's ire. The rebuttal is usually the obvious one: Fiction or not, why would the Chantry of the Glory age (widely known to fiercely destroy heretical materials with gusto) allow such a book to exist, if it truly contained a truth that blemished its reputation?
The answer, of course, for those of us who believe there is at least a grain of truth in the writing, is that the chantry published it (in a way of course). There are few publishers of note from the Glory age. Publishing was not the booming business it is today, with a printing press in every city, with printing and publishing houses boasting employees numbering in the hundreds in some of the largest cities (Dumas currently employs over 700 people throughout Orlais and Nevarra).
Publishing before the Steel Age was done on a very small time basis. Few companies had the resources for larger printing presses, and so most books were actually copied either by hand, or enchanted by Tranquil or Dwarves to copy themselves. Even the famous Shaperate of Orzammar still use the old Dwarven rune-method of copying, rather than printing presses (Dwarves dislike the absolute mess that ink makes). In the middle of the glory age, when this was first published, the chantry would have easily not noticed a book published through their own presses, as most of them were 'loaned' out to smaller publishers (for a sizeable "donation" of course).
Of the publishers of note in that age, one comes to mind: Roderic Bouchard. Bouchard was a chantry scholar in the Glory Age, as well as a prolific author and one of the few publishers known by name throughout Orlais at the time. It is the opinion of us "truth seekers" that he is the Roderic that the letter from "JES" refers to. Brandis was, at the time of the Exalted March, a high ranking general in the Imperial army. He would have had many connections, and it is not out of the question that he would have a few chantry scholars who owed him a favor. Additionally, there is evidence that Brandis and Bouchard both attended the University during the same time. Whether they became friends or not is unknown, but the evidence is there to suggest that they at least knew each other. The University was a much smaller institution six hundred years ago, and it would not be uncommon for a graduating class to have less than 80 people in it (compared to over 800 nowadays). There are even some who contend that Bouchard himself wrote the book, using correspondence he received from Brandis.
It is possible that Roderic not only helped to cover Brandis's disappearance from his life as a soldier, but also published this work for him. Given his connections in the chantry (he was, by all accounts, the head publisher of the chantry), it is logical to assume that Bouchard would have had the means and resources to publish the book without the chantry knowing about it, until too many copies were in circulation.
This evidence, of course, is entirely circumstantial. It is entirely possible that Evanura is little more than a work of fiction, published by an author looking to stir controversy. The biggest flaw in the argument of those of us who believe that the story is at least somewhat factual, is that there is no evidence of the book until the middle of the black age, nearly two hundred years after Brandis's supposed death. Of course I will offer this rebuttal to that: There is no publication evidence of the famous Le Recueil Complet de la Flore de Conifères by Brother Gerard Boulet until the middle of the Towers Age, and yet the scholar community at large accepts as fact that the book was published in 2:31 Glory (a little over 10 years after the fall of the dales, coincidentally).
The history of publication in Thedas is a very murky subject. To outright dismiss (or confirm) a books publication date anywhere before the Black Age is almost impossible. Chantry record keeping has been restructured no less than 14 times since the Glory Age. Any chantry librarian can tell you that something always gets lost when a restructure happens in the system. Why, only last year, when the Denerim Royal Library restructured its catalog system, it lost no less than 35 books. So far, the librarians have only recovered 15. Multiply that over the course of six hundred years, and losing record of a books publication doesn't just become a possibility: It becomes an inevitability.
L'histoire Vraie de la Conquête des Dales changed my entire career as a scholar. I remember believing, before I read it, that Divines could do no wrong. I firmly believed that religion was the one true good in the world, the one true light. The chantry brought light to darkness, truth to uncertainty and hope to the hopeless. After I read Evanura, however, I understood the truth: The Chantry is run by men, and men are corruptible, no matter how "Divine" we claim them to be. My entire career in the last 30 years has been coloured by that realization: Men are fallible, therefore government, businesses, ideals, and yes, religions, are fallible as well. The Exalted March upon the Dales was wrong. It used the ideals of "justice" and "Defense of the common man" to justify cultural destruction, and relegating a proud people to little more than vagabonds and street rats. We should remember tha razing of Halamshiral as one of the black spots upon our institutions long history.
Truth, or Fiction, L'histoire Vraie de la Conquête des Dales helps us remember an important fact: We were wrong. It is a mantra we must always repeat whenever discussing a mistake that we, either as individuals or collectives, have committed.
In his final letter to Roderic, Brandis mentions that he hopes and believes that Orlais and The Chantry will eventually make restitution to the Elves it has wronged. He hoped that such restitution would happen in the next few hundred years. We have sadly missed him dream by a few hundred more. I can only echo his own hope, that we – as a culture and an institution – realize that we must make amends, for we all the Makers children – even those who don't believe in him.
As "Brandis" famously says in the epilogue of his work: May Andraste Light Your Way, and may Falon'Din be at your side.
Brother Ferdinand Genitivi
12th Cloudreach, 9:26 Dragon