This is a story of how a seemingly serendipitous event can cause far reaching consequences, even through time and space...
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Prologue Part 1:
If you believe the old stories, mankind's pride gave rise to the darkspawn. Countless in number and toxic to all life darkspawn search endlessly for an Archdemon. When they find one, darkspawn armies surge up from their corrupt barrows beneath the ground-and a Blight begins. Grey Wardens are the only ones capable of destroying an Archdemon, and history always honors the one who sacrifices all to kill the beast.
But there is another tradition in Thedas, one that not only sounds impossible, but also dates back to Andraste herself. If a "wanderer from another world" (as Andraste calls them) arrives in Thedas seeking aid and gives validity to the claim that he or she is indeed from another world, You are to aid him or her in his task, and he or she will aid you in yours.
This seemingly impossible claim is often explained in what would come to be known as the Canticle of Vestiges. In it, Andraste tells the tale of how one of her followers had had his soul stolen by the Daedric Prince Molag Bal. But because Thedas was still somewhat weakened from the First Blight, Molag Bal attempted to physically pull Thedas into his realm of Coldharbour. Together with the Vestige, Andraste and her followers restored order to both Thedas and the seemingly mythical land of Tamriel before finally confronting Molag Bal in his realm of Coldharbour. Through the power of Andraste's faith in the Maker, the combat skills of the Vestige and Maferath, and the sacred power of the Amulet of Kings, Molag Bal was defeated, and the Vestige reclaimed his soul from bondage.
Ever since then, if a mysterious wanderer provides verifiable proof that they are from another world, if they are aided, they will aid you in return. While several had provided proof, most of the time they didn't have major events tied to them. There were only two such beings, both of them were tied to the blights.
During the Third Blight, a wandering mage confirmed that he was indeed such a wanderer, and that he was seeking an artifact called the Staff of Chaos in order to defeat Jagar Tharn, who had imprisoned Emperor Uriel Septim VII in the realm of Oblivion using such an artifact. He had then split the staff into eight pieces to insure that it could never be used against him. The wardens at the time helped recover the eight pieces, reforge the Staff of Chaos, defeat Jagar Tharn, and rescue Uriel VII from Oblivion.
But the Third Blight was still to be dealt with. In gratitude for his rescue, Uriel VII gave the title of Eternal Champion to his rescuer and granted a legion of his best soldiers to aid the Grey Wardens. In the final battle, the Staff of Chaos (which hadn't returned to Oblivion due to the aid of the Grey Wardens), in the hands of the Eternal Champion, had its full strength unleashed against the Archdemon. This weakened the Archdemon enough for the Grey Wardens to kill it without sacrificing a Grey Warden's life, but it came with a terrible cost. The Staff was shattered back into its eight pieces, and the magic unleashed not only killed the Eternal Champion, but also disintegrated his body.
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During the Fourth Blight, another wanderer appeared and called himself the Champion of Daggerfall. His mission was to reassemble the brass golem known as the Anumidium recover the Totem of Tiber Septim and the Mantella, the control and power source for the Anumidium Golem. Both were recovered and given to the Grey Wardens, who used the Anumidium to wage war against the Darkspawn. But before the Anumidium could destroy the Archdemon, both it and the Champion of Daggerfall vanished. Fortunately the Archdemon had been weakened enough for the Grey Wardens to finish it off.
After investigation, the Grey Wardens delivered a bewildering, and seemingly contradictory report. According to the report, each of the four now well-established kingdoms of Daggerfall, Hammerfell, Sentinel, had been given the Mantella and the Totem while the orsimer kingdom of Orsinium had received them; The infamous Mannimarco, King of Worms, had used the Mantella the Champion had given him to become a god; the Empire of Cyrodiil had regained control of the Anumidium and used it to prevent a major war; and the underking had used the Mantella to grant himself death. All of these had been rather surprised to learn that the Champion had given the Totem and Mantella to the Grey Wardens so they could end the Fourth Blight. Eventually, this result was accepted as a consequence of the Dragon Break, as everyone else called it, but this left one question by the Grey Wardens unanswered: How much magical energy would it take to create a Dragon Break? In Tevinter, it became a bit more accepted that the creation of the darkspawn was the result of a Dragon Break, even though it wasn't what those in the Southern kingdoms of Thedas believed.
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In the Fifth Blight, the Warden was the Hero of Ferelden: Aedan, youngest child of Ferelden's powerful teryn Cousland. Betrayal saw the Cousland's ancestral castle burn, and the teryn and his wife slain. Duncan, a Grey Warden, helped the young noble escape to a new life with the Wardens. The allied Ferelden and Grey Warden forces met in Ostagar, where King Cailan's armies and a host of Wardens gathered, ready to destroy the darkspawn. But valor turned to despair as Loghain Mac Tyr betrayed his king. Cailan's forces were slaughtered, and the south was lost.
The Hero, now a full-fledged Grey Warden, with the aid of Flemeth, the mysterious Witch of the Wilds. Joined by Flemeth's daughter, Morrigan, a Grey Warden named Alistair, and a mysterious dark elf named Tarin, the Hero set out to build an army strong enough to build an army strong enough to abolish the Blight. With the traitorous Loghain now seated on Ferelden's throne, the Wardens sought help from the influential Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. However, they arrived in Redcliffe to find the town under siege, as each night, undead rose in waves and assailed the battered village. With the Hero's help, the people of Redcliffe stood fast against the undead horde.
The Wardens reached Arl Eamon's castle only to find the arl lying at the edge of death, and his court fallen into madness. To save his father's life, Eamon's young son, Connor, had made a deal with a demon-and had quickly fallen victim to its possession. The Hero intervened, freeing Connor from possession and breaking the demon's hold over Redcliffe. But deals with demons are never straightforward: the demon only agreed to save Eamon's life, not restore him to health. Arl Eamon needed a miracle to recover.
The Hero located an urn containing the Sacred Ashes of Andraste, which were said to cure any ailment. The urn was protected by ancient traps, tests of will, and a dragon-worshipping cult that wanted to twist the urn's power to its own ends. The urn remained pure, but mysteriously disappeared after the Wardens departed. Only the temple dedicated to it still stands. With a pinch of the ashes, the Hero restored the arl to health. Informed of Loghain's trechary, Eamon swore his political and military support. But the path to collect the sacred ashes was not without casualty.
A mysterious dark elf named Dagoth Gares had also been attempting to twist the power of the Urn to his own ends. A priest of an unknown entity (at the time) named Dagoth Ur, Dagoth Gares could not be allowed to desecrate the sacred ashes, but he delivered a strange message to Tarin, telling him to come to the Red Mountain to aid him in his struggle against the Tribunal and the Empire. The Hero misinterpreted what the message was, and thought him to be a darkspawn Emmisary, so both he and Tarin did battle with Gares. But even as Gareth died, he put the curse of Corprus on Tarin. After restoring Arl Eamon to Health, The Hero returned to the Temple with Tarin, but the urn containing the ashes was gone.
In desperation, the Hero and Tarin sought aid from the oldest and most mysterious wizard of the Dunmer Race, Divayth Fyr. With his aid, Tarin was cured of all the negative aspects of the Corpus. Afterwards, they followed a trail of clues to why Tarin survived while all other test subjects died. The path eventually led them to a place called the Cavern of the Incarnate. Upon entering the cavern, The ancient ring One-Clan-Under-Moon-And-Star was found. Tarin donned the ring, proving beyond doubt that he was the Nerevarine, the reincarnation of the ancient Chimer warlord Indoril Nerevar, and the "Wanderer from Another World" spoken of in the Chant of Light. In response, the Hero and Nerevarine swore allegiance with each other in Azura's name to aid each other against their foes.
The Circles of Magi are bound by oath to aid the Grey Wardens in times of Blight. However, Lake Calenhad's tower could offer little help: one of its mages, Uldred, had become possessed by a pride demon and was twisting other Circle mages into abominations. After the Nerevarine proved himself to House Telvanni And was thereby named Hortator of House Telvanni, both he and the Hero, bolstered by House Telvanni mages, fought theair way to the top of the tower and defeated Uldred, saving the remaining mages. Grateful for their lives, the mages joined the Warden's army. The allies gained at the Circle and House Telvanni were not the only forces to join the united forces, however.
Dalish Elves don't usually make alliances, but even deep hatred can be set aside in the face of oblivion. An ancient curse was destroying Ferelden's largest Dalish clans, turning the elves into werewolves. Zathrian, the clan's Keeper, claimed that the cure required the heart of the great wolf Witherfang. Years before, Zathrian himself had afflicted a group of humans with the curse that now ravaged his clan. As long as he lived, the curse endured. But a mysterious tip from when Tarin was getting named Hortator of House Hlaalu pointed out a way to free the werewolves from their long-standing curse, which originated on the Island of Solstheim. Following up on the clue lead to Solstheim dealing with the Bloodmoon Prophecy, which in turn lead the Hero and Nerevarine to Hircine, Daedric Prince of the Hunt. With Hircine's aid, The Hero freed the werewolves from the curse, and the Dalish and Human Werewolves joined the united forces.
Blights may happen hundreds of years apart, but the dwarves who lived below the surface of Thedas fight darkspawn every day. No one is better schooled in battling darkspawn than the warriors of Orzammar-except perhaps their allies of old, the Grey Wardens. But before traveling to Orzammar, there was still House Redoran's task to name Tarin Hortator.
The task went a little awry when a group of intelligent darkspawn arrived in House Redoran's territorry. Investigations led to a mysterious darkspawn dressed like a king who referred to himself as the Architect. As it turned out, he was indirectly responsible for causing the Fifth Blight by one of his experiments to separate darkspawn from the hive mind of the Blight went sideways. With the Hero and Nerevarine's help, the Architect's experiment was reigned in, and during such an adventure, Tarin was also able to be named Hortator by House Redoran.
The Hero and Nerevarine arrived in Orzammar in the wake of King Endrin's death to find political factions fighting for control of the dwarven capital. Only the vote of a venerated Paragon could break the deadlock—and order the dwarves to honor their Grey Warden treaty and join the battle against the new Blight. The Hero and Nerevarine set off to find a paragon named Branka who had disappeared into the Deep Roads in search of a legendary artifact: The Anvil of the Void, created by the renowned smith Caridin to forge mighty war golems. During the adventure, evidence was discovered that the Sorcerer-Priest Kagrenac and Caridin were collaborators, but they had a falling out due to what both of them described as a "flawless specimen" or "prototype" roved too difficult to control. Not only that, Kagrenac had used what he learned from collaborating with Caridin to create the Anumidium.
With Branka's help, The Hero restored the Anvil of the Void, and a small army of powerful, sentient golems, commanded by Caridin thanks to the Nerevarine convincing Caridin that binding a Golem to a control rod should only be used if, and only if, a condemned criminal is being used to create a golem and execution is too good for said criminal.
The Hero and Nerevarine emerged from the deep roads with a master-forged crown, crafted by both Branka and Caradin, to bestow the Paragon's favor on whichever rival candidate would be crowned king: Bhelen, the youngest son of King Endrin who was suspected of foul play, or Harrowmont, the aging traditionalist backed by the dwarven assembly. Bhelen followed his father's footsteps to the throne. He leads with a ruthless, but progressive, hand, seeking to reestablish ties to the surface kingdoms.
But there was still one task left for Tarin. He had to prove himself to the four Ashlander tribes of Morrowind in order to fulfill his destiny and confront Dagoth Ur. During the last of such missions, An attack by a Dark Brotherhood assassin led the Hero and Nerevarine, who had now taken to calling their united army the Manmer Alliance, made them believe that a powerful enemy had taken notice of them. A clue pointed them to the capital city of Morrowind, Mournhold, while another clue pointed to Ferelden's capital city of Denerim, and a third clue pointed to Red Mountain. This also showed that they still had to deal with Loghain so Ferelden could stand unified against the darkspawn—before the Blight swallowed the world.
The Kingdom of Ferelden stood divided: while some nobles supported Loghain's regency, others condemned his inaction against the Blight. Civil war brewed, and Arl Eamon called a Landsmeet in hopes of curtailing the conflict and removing Loghain from the throne. As penance, Loghain was sentenced to join the Grey Wardens and fight darkspawn until the end of his days. During the Landsmeet, Loghain was able to prove that he had nothing to do with the Dark Brotherhood assassin, thereby pointing the Blame at either being from Mournhold, or Red Mountain.
Eventually, the Hero and Nerevarine decided to look into the Red Mountain clue. This eventually led the to the Living God Vivec. Eventually, The Nerevarine forgave Vivec and received Wraithguard in return. He eventually decided that Vivec's pennance was that he should join the Grey Wardens after Dagoth Ur was defeated.
With Keening, Sunder, and Wraithguard in hand, the Hero and Nerevarine confronted Dagoth Ur and saw his weapon, Akulakhan. Eventually, the Heart of Lorkhan, the source of both Dagoth Ur's life force and Akulakhan's power, was sundered, thereby allowing Dagoth Ur to be defeated, but before engaging him in combat, Dagoth Ur was able to prove that he also was not responsible for the Dark Brotherhood Assassin, leaving Mournhold as the only option left.
Upon arriving in Mournhold, the Hero and Nerevarine met another Living God, Amalexia. Upon learning about the assassination attempt, Almalexia pointed to the third Living God, Sotha Sil. But upon recovering and reforging of Nerevar's old sword, Trueflame, Sotha Sil was found to be already dead, and Almalexia was revealed to be the one responsible. Reasoning with her was not possible, since she had been driven mad by the Heart of Lorkhan, and the Hero and Nerevarine were forced to kill her.
Now while the Manmer alliance massed in Redcliffe, and Vivec was successfully initiated into the Grey Wardens, the darkspawn overran Denerim, laying siege to Ferelden's capital city.
The Manmer alliance fought valiantly through Denerim and broke the darkspawn siege. On Fort Drakon's highest tower, the Hero and Nerevarine's strongest allies fought alongside the Warden in a final heroic battle against the massive Archdemon. The Archdemon was killed without the sacrifice of a Grey Warden's life, through a combined attack by both the Nerevarine and the Hero of Ferelden. With no Archdemon to lead them, the darkspawn scattered. Most fled underground, still teeming in number and always seeking a new Archdemon to awaken.
The shattered Kingdom of Ferelden embarked on a long journey to recovery. In the Blight's aftermath, strong leadership was crucial. Alistair, King Cailan's half-brother, and Queen Anora, Cailan's widow and daughter of Loghain, joined in a political union. Together, they ushered in a new era.
The newly-named Hero of Ferelden and the Nerevarine accompanied each other on several more adventures each. But eventually the two of them parted ways when the Nerevarine left on an expedition to Akaviir. But before he got on the ship, he promised:
"If the Dunmer or Thedas need me, I will come."
Ferelden still stands, as obstinate and resolute as the dog lords ever are, but the events of the Fifth Blight loom over it as the nation rebuilds. For people across Thedas and Morrowind, legends of the Hero of Ferelden and the Nerevarine remain both nations' brightest beacons of hope during their darkest times. Even now, it's not uncommon to hear dark elves pray to the Nerevarine during battle.
To be continued in Dragon Age: The Lost Scrolls II...