DISCLAIMER: I base my stories on Intellectual Property (IP) owned by BioWare ™ and EA™. I pretend to live in their world.

SPOILERS: I refer to information from the games, the novels and the comics. If you have not played or read, please beware.

Maker, though the darkness comes upon me,
I shall embrace the light.
I shall weather the storm.

I shall endure.

Canticle of Trials 1:10

"Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment…"
That was Ferelden.
Ruled by King Maric the Savior
Camelot – Lerner and Lowe

Chapter 1: PROLOGUE - TRAVELING

Which explains how the Couslands came to be in Ferelden and provides an alternate view of Ferelden history. The Cousland story provides a backdrop and some twists to the central pre-Blight story of Brief Shining Moment.


2:35 Glory === Highever Village

"Jadyn, can we do this? Travel to Thedas? Settle in Highever? I know Travelers often settle worlds more primitive than Areth, but this world is millenniums behind Areth. We'll be returning to the Dark Ages. It's, as you say, exciting, but daunting and frightening as well."

"Of course we can do this, Melys. It's what Travelers do. We've trained for this. We've visited Highever. And it's not as if we won't return to Areth for visits to family and guidance from the Travelers Council as we establish ourselves."

Melys reviewed the maps again. The Travel Portal stood near a small fishing port on the Waking Sea called Highever. A local warlord from the Elstan family, cousins to the Howe Banns of Amaranthine, ruled the Coastlands region. Jadyn and Melys would take up residence on a small farmhold west of the Elstan castle, which overlooked the port town.

"Melys Cousland, Melysande Cousland" Melys repeated. "At least we keep our given names. I know I'd mess up and call you Jadyn anyway, if we didn't. Jadyn Cousland. Must remember!"

"Well, we need some claim to the farmhold. We'll be distant cousins who claim the land. They'll just have no idea how distant." Jadyn laughed.

Of the two, Melys enjoyed learning the culture and history of her new home. Jadyn's interests focused on developing the skills needed to succeed as a farmer, herder, and sometime warrior. He would owe service to his Elstan lord when conflicts arose. The Areth Travelers Council encouraged couples to develop complimentary interests and talents. A breadth of experience ensured success when a couple settled in a newly linked world. Jadyn and Melys meshed perfectly.

Arethians developed interstellar travel a millennium ago. Originally, Travelers moved by space vehicle, but several centuries later Arethians developed Travel Portals. Portal technology enabled transport of people and objects. Arethian engineers had completed the Portal link between Areth and Thedas only ten years ago. This Portal would enable Melys and Jadyn to become the latest Travelers to settle in a new world and the first to settle in Thedas. Cleverly, disguised solar cells powered the Portal. A satellite, placed by starship, orbited the Thedosian planet to provide data communications. The mages of Thedas would be amazed at the achievements of Arethian science, had they known.

As Jadyn and Melys prepared to leave Areth, they reviewed the maps and documents provided by the Travelers Council. Arethian explorers had observed Thedas for decades prior to establishing the Highever Portal. Reports of Thedas from the original ship-based exploration team had intrigued the Travelers Council, which managed Travel for Areth's government. Humans, elves, dwarves and who knew what other intelligent creatures populated the planet. Even more intriguing, many kinds of magic were endemic in Thedas. Lacking it in their world, Arethians longed to understand the magic they saw in other places. Exploring a world peopled with mages and many intelligent species was irresistible.

Melys frowned as she reviewed the limited history the Council provided. "Highever seemed civilized enough, when we visited, but all this talk of tribes makes me wonder about the rest of the territory. The north and west of Thedas seem far more established."

"What, do you fear barbarians will swoop down upon us?"

"Well, maybe. The Alamarri tribes seem settled enough on the Coastlands and in the Central Ferelden Valley, although the Clayne appear more warlike. I suppose we should just avoid traveling to the Frostback Mountains to the west and the Frozen Wilds to the south. The Avvars in the mountains and the Chasind Wilders might not welcome curious intruders."

"We'll worry about exploring beyond the Coastlands and the Valley once we're established, love," Jadyn replied.

"It seems the Alamarri came from the west," Melys continued, "pushed out by more powerful tribes settling there. Once across the Frostbacks the Alamarri broke up into separate war bands. I suppose the easier life of the fertile valley and coast led the main Alamarri bands to settle down on farms. They still seem very warlike, however, over land and honor apparently. It's a good thing you learned how to use sword and bow. I wonder if they will find my use of a bow odd. This says that their women often become archers. I hope it's accurate."

"If nothing else, a more primitive region, near a seaport, should allow us to blend in more easily than we could in those more settled lands to the north and west," Jadyn assured her.

"Right. I guess in those lands the worry wouldn't be swooping barbarians, but haughty lords who would not believe our claim and shout off with their heads."

"Or freeze us with magic."

"And perhaps the lord would be an elf or a dwarf. Although, it seems the dwarves have their own kingdom, underground. Elves seem to be poorly treated, if not enslaved in some areas." Melys sighed. "Magic, elves, dwarves, slaves, warring tribes - it seems the stuff of fairy tales. I wonder if Areth had the same sort of society eons ago. Perhaps our fairy tales are grounded in ancient truths?"

"For a smart woman, Melys, you can go off on flights of fancy."

She grinned at him. "Well, we'll soon have the opportunity to explore those flights. Did you pack your journals? Just think, our Highever Journals will sit on the shelves of the Travelers Council along with those of all the storied Travelers who came before us."

"Yup. Journals packed; along with camera, power bands, music player earring, medicines, fake quill pens, clothing, coin...um I think that's it. It will be nice to have a few comforts from home, as long as we don't violate The Rule and avoid interfering with the Natural Progress of the Theodosian civilizations."

"I guess we're ready to Travel tomorrow. Although I must admit, I worry less about interfering with things, than interfering with thoughts and beliefs. It will be hard not to impose our principals on these people."

A bureaucracy, The Travelers Council, grew to manage the Travelers, receive and record their experiences and provide rules and guidance. The Rule forbad the introduction of advanced ideas and technologies to the Travelers' worlds. The Travelers lived in their world as normal inhabitants, participating as appropriate for the rank and occupation they adopted. Very quickly, their linked planet became Home and Areth became the Home World – the place they came from.

The Highever Portal rested in an underground passage carved out by the Portal Builders. To the north, the passage opened into a cave in the cliffs above the Waking Sea. To the south, the passage opened into a tunnel running from the ancient Elstan castle to the village. A secret door secured each end of the Portal passage. The door could only be opened with a recognized palm press and entry code. A storeroom in the Portal alcove housed supplies. Travelers had one option natives did not. When threatened with death they could escape to Areth, if they chose, or use the tunnel and supplies to escape to a safer location.

From the cave in the cliffs, a narrow path rose to the Coastland meadows not far from the farmhold Melys and Jadyn would claim as their own. Emerging from the cave and hoisting their packs, the two Travelers trudged up the path and through the grassy fields to their new home. Once settled, they would go to the castle of Bann Elstan to lay claim to their cousin Martyn Cousland's lands. In settling Thedas, they would follow in the footsteps of numerous other Arethian Travelers who settled permanently in distant worlds to expand Arethian knowledge of the universe.

The Rule did not prevent Arethian values from informing the actions of Travelers within the political, social, and cultural context of the linked world. The Council understood that the society a Traveler joined would be influenced by the Traveler's presence. Nor did The Rule prevent Travelers from using Arethian medicine, knowledge, and tools for themselves. The Rule discouraged Travelers from divulging their status to natives, but did not forbid it. Often, native spouses learned of or became Travelers. Travelers' children attended school in Areth. On becoming adults, Areth offered children the option of remaining Travelers, settling permanently Areth or abandoning Travel to live as natives in the linked world.

Arethian values included belief in the equality of all intelligent life forms and genders. Areth itself was a society based on individual responsibility; widely accessible education and healthcare; encouragement of both basic and applied scientific research; broad-based economic opportunities; respect for history and support of, culture, artisans, and artists. These core values informed Arethian's lives in their new linked worlds. All these values could be applied, in the context of a linked world's society, without violating The Rule.

For Jadyn and Melys, an immediate sore point in Thedas would be the treatment of elves and mages. Their first visit to Highever village provided a rude awakening to their more tolerant mindset. After visiting the Seneschal at the Elstan castle to prove their claim to Martyn Cousland's lands, Jadyn and Melys decided to visit the village. The castle sat on an outcrop overlooking a stretch of coastland, which extended north to the cliffs above the Waking Sea. The village and port stood less than a mile to the east.

A village on the verge of becoming a town, Highever had a modest earthen wall with a wooden gate structure. The gate stood open during daylight and no one obstructed Jadyn or Mely's entry into the town. They strolled down the main pathway noting the shops lining both sides of the path. The main path opened into a square containing market stalls. From the square, the path continued toward the dock area. Highever's main business was fishing, but a growing wool trade resulted in more merchant vessels from Kirkwall and Cumberland visiting the fine harbor.

"What's that area by the docks, I wonder, " Jadyn said. "It seems there are only elves on those streets. The housing looks rather rundown."

"That must be what is called an 'Alienage' or an area where only elves live."

"A ghetto?"

"Well, I guess that's what we would call it, at ho... in Areth." Melys hesitated, trying to recall her research. "Many dockworkers or fishing boat crew are elven, so I guess they choose to live close to where they work. Some women and men work as servants. It seems they aren't allowed to own businesses or hold other jobs. They're prohibited from carrying weapons, other than small utility knives. They can't even learn martial skills."

"There's a wall between one side of the Alienage and the rest of the village," Jadyn noticed. "I guess we just have to accept that kind of discrimination for now. That will be hard."

"Well, if we can ever afford it, I suppose we could hire elves and treat them well. One small step at a time, as an example to our children, when we have them."

"Any other unpleasant surprises I should know about?" Jadyn queried.

"That mages aren't treated any better, perhaps. They're taken from their families when their magic 'manifests' and put in a tower called Kinloch Hold to be trained by other mages. They call themselves The Circle of Magi. The Andrastian Chantry oversees their... imprisonment I guess, although I suppose that's not how it's termed here. Many of the mages never leave that tower. Our observers didn't discover much about what goes on in the Tower other than it was a kind of limited access institution for mages. There are many Towers scattered through Thedas.

"There are soldiers, called templars, who secure the tower and prevent entrance. The templars are part of the Chantry, a sort of military monk. Many take vows of chastity. Templars are considered a holy order of the Chantry. Some do not, but do not rise in rank. Common templars, I guess we would call them. Either type tracks escaped mages and returns them to the Tower. They also hunt mages who've managed to avoid the Tower. They call those mages apostates or hedge mages. Then, there are mages they call maleficars, but the observers weren't clear on how they differed from apostates. They thought, perhaps, that maleficars had committed some kind of crime with their magic. Apparently, the only 'crime' apostates commit is not being in the tower. The Andrastian Chantry interprets Andraste's precept " magic was made to serve man" quite strictly."

"Don't mages heal? Why wouldn't they use healing magic and have mages settled in every town?"

"They fear mages so they lock them up. Our observers' noted that some nobles have a healing mage in their household. They call them 'free' mages meaning they do not have a templar accompanying them. The rule, however, is that any mage out of the Tower must have a templar guardian with them at all times."

"That must be unbelievably creepy. A constant watcher."

Jadyn grabbed Melys' arm and pulled her back into the shadow of an alley. "That must be the Chantry over there. Look at those guards! They're more heavily armored than the Castle or Village Guards."

"They must be the templars. Templars also guard Chantries. Not sure why Chantries need guarding, but each one has its complement of templars. Maybe they watch for apostates or supplement the town Guard? Again, the observers couldn't discover much. Apparently, the Chantry and its Templars are quite secretive. Scary much?"

"Wicked scary." Jadyn chuckled. "Let's not visit the Chantry just yet."

"Sounds like a plan. How about visiting the market and shops."

Walking through the thriving market, Melys decided she liked this aspect of Highever. She particularly enjoyed the various wool and cloth merchants. Trade in wool provided a mainstay of Highever's economy, along with the tin and copper mined in the coastal mountains. A talented weaver herself, she looked forward to participating in the wool culture. The smithy's stall attracted Jadyn's attention, with its display of fine blades, shields, and metal arrowheads. He had noticed the actual blacksmith's workshop on the edge of town and guessed it served both town and castle. The number of foreign merchants surprised both Jadyn and Melys.

"The port of Highever must be growing to attract so many foreign merchants," Jadyn commented.

"And its population must be growing too," Melys added. "Someone must buy what they bring in."

"Seems like the Council chose the settlement location well," Jadyn said.

The descendants of Jadyn and Melys would succeed far beyond their expectations. Sarim Cousland, their great-great-great-grandson, would rise to become Bann of Highever when Conobar Elstan died. He held the lands in vassalage to the Arls of Amaranthine. With time, the Couslands would conduct a 30-year war to liberate Highever from Amaranthine's rule. After Mather and Haelia Cousland drove off the werewolves during a lycanthrope plague, Highever become a Teyrnir In a noteworthy reversal of power, the Teyrnir of Highever would eventually include the Arldom of Amaranthine as its vassal.

Elethia Cousland led Highever in opposition to Calenhad as he fought to unify Ferelden, but, when defeated, made peace and became part of Calenhad's Kingdom of Ferelden. Highever and House Cousland became staunch royalists supporting Calenhad's Theirin line. Eventually, House Cousland and Highever resisted the Orlesian Occupation alongside Maric Theirin and Loghain MacTir. The Couslands remained Travelers. The original Portal, near the town and port of Highever, connected through the underground tunnels to the ancient Elstan Castle, which became known as Castle Cousland.

While the Couslands called Highever home for generations, the family continued to move between worlds. Their ability to understand Arethian science & technology and alternative cultural and philosophical views informed the Couslands rule in Ferelden. Melysande Cousland, born in 9:10 Dragon, was educated in Areth, loved Arethian music and culture and made use of Arethian medicine and technology. The influence of and tools from Areth provided a foundation for Melysande's life, but Melysande was, first and foremost, a Fereldan and a Cousland of Highever.

Highever treated its elves, dwarves, and women more equitably thanks to the egalitarian views passed down to their descendants by Jadyn and Melys. The Couslands believed in educating their populace, providing training and apprenticeships, and ensuring no individual who was willing to work hard would lack the opportunity to succeed. These views provided an educated, entrepreneurial populace, which resulted in Highever's growing prosperity.

The egalitarian view extended, as much as it safely could under the Chantry, to mages. Throughout Highever, mages, particularly healers, could hide in plain sight with little fear of being reported to the Chantry by their neighbors. The Couslands always had at least one free mage household healer and a few free mages in the Teyrnir's Army and Guard. The Teyrn even proposed establishing 'Circles' in local Chantrys to train young children near their homes and families, rather than removing them to Kinloch Hold. While conceding the need for templar abilities, the Teyrn believed the functions could be integrated into the local Guard and Army. He quietly questioned the use of lyrium. His proposals had yet to be accepted by either the Landsmeet or the Chantry, but the Teyrn continued to champion them.

Ruled by the Couslands, Arethian ideals combined with Highever's natural riches and fortunate location made Highever the most advanced and prosperous region of Ferelden under King Maric's rule. The longevity of the Cousland family line assured their ascendance as the country's senior noble family. During Melysande Cousland's childhood, Ferelden became a thriving nation. Highever flourished as never before. Melysande knew only the brief happy period between Rebellion and Blight, happiness that would prove as fleeting as her childhood. This tale recounts that childhood, which ended one terrible night in the shadow of Civil War and Darkspawn Threat.


A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have time, please review. Book 1 may be complete, but I'm working on Book 2.

After completing Brief Shining Moments, I re-read and edited the entire work. From Chapter 14 on I had the support of my wonderful beta Kira Tamarion which resulted in far fewer errors. Any remaining are mine alone. There may be a few tweaks to wording, but no content changes.

I've received the support of many reviewers. Mike3207, Arsinoe de Blassenville,Caraine,clafoung,SnowHelm,katdancer2,dustywalker, Easternviolet, ElyssaCousland, Nymra, ChaoticHarmony1991, EveHawk, susyjohn, Judy,maradeux,DjinniGenie,Pollyanna24, Contess. Others have followed and favorited the story or posted kudos. Thanks to all of you.

I created some appendices with commissioned art, timeline, character ages, calendar, fest days, travel distances, etc. If such things interest you, please go to Archive of Our Own series, I Shall Endure.