The Chantry teaches us that it was the hubris of Man that brought the Darkspawn into our world. The mages sought the usurp Heaven, but instead they destroyed it. They were cast out, twisted and cursed by their own corruption. They returned as monsters, the first of the Darkspawn and a blight upon our lands, unstoppable and relentless. The Dwarven Kingdoms were the first to fall and from the Deep Roads the Darkspawn came at us again and again, until we neared annihilation.
But then the Grey Wardens came. Men and women from every race; it didn't matter if they were warriors or mages, barbarians or kings. They gave up everything to stem the tide of darkness and prevailed. It was been four centuries since that victory and we have kept our vigil. We have watched and waited for the Darkspawn to return. But those who once called us heroes have forgotten. Our warnings have been ignored for too long… and it might even be too late.
- From Duncan, Warden Commander of Ferelden
Chapter 1: The Taint
A frail autumn sun was setting over Ferelden. The days were rapidly getting shorter and cold winds came down from the mountains. Far to the east in the dense Brecilian forest, which the superstitious locals profess to be haunted, a brave or foolish, few had entered the woods. The sounds of their difficult breaths and pounding footsteps broke the silence that the twilight had brought. But Alain and his brothers kept on running through the forest as if they were being pursued by wolves. All three sprinted frantically over narrow and rugged paths as the sun's fading light covered the entire wood in a bright orange light. None of them dared spending one night in these woods. Legends said that long ago several battles raged across the entirety of the Brecilian forest and because of the bloodshed the ghost of fallen soldiers still roamed between the trees. Arriving at a clearing, Alain heard a faint whistling noise. The next moment was pinned to the ground and fell over. His brothers, following close behind, were calling his name, but he did not hear them. He looked at his feet to see what made him fall and his heart sank. An arrow was sticking out of the side of his boot and had missed his foot by a hair. A slender figure jumped out from the bushes holding a pale white bow, which he readied and pointed it at Alain face. The arrowhead gleamed and looked sharp enough to cut through anything. "Oh Maker, oh Maker…" Alain muttered as he struggled to get back up, but the arrow still pinned him to the ground. The figure was clad in thick leather and was armed as a hunter; grasping a sturdy longbow and two daggers were strapped to sides of his legs. He had a pointed face with high cheekbones, a straight nose and deep-set blue eyes, even in the fading light of the sun, Alain could see the anger in them. But the most prominent feature was the intricate tattoo that covered his face. "You're a… a Dalish…"Alain said with barely contained fear.
"Yes. And you are somewhere you shouldn't be." the Elf responded coldly.
"Let us pass, Elf. You… you have no right to stop us!" The hunter moved his gave from Alain to his older brother, Eames and squinted his eyes as if he was pondering what to do with them.
"Is that right? Well, we'll see about that." The Elf slowly pulled the bowstring to his cheek, but before he could loosen the arrow another Elf moved out of the shadows. Her presence took Alain by surprise; where the male hunter was tense and let out an almost tangible hatred, the female elf seemed like a creature of extraordinary grace and calm. He couldn't help but stare at the female elf, the stories he grew up with about the Dalish didn't do her justice. She didn't look like a monster that kidnapped children to use them in dark Elvish rituals. She was a beautiful woman with a smooth, oval-shaped face. Her slightly slit-like eyes were rainy cloud grey, which took in the scene with a stern look. Without acknowledging her, the male Elf said: "You are just in time, Kallian. I've found these humans lurking about in the bushes. Bandits no doubt…"
Alain snapped back to reality. "We aren't bandits! I swear!" he pleaded. "Please, don't hurt us. Don't kill us!" But the male Elf scoffed and aimed at him again; hate flaring up in his blue eyes.
"You shem'len are pathetic. It's hard to believe you ever driven us from our homeland."
"We have never done anything to you, Dalish!" Alain's younger brother, Oscar, said defiantly. "We didn't even know this forest was yours." He wanted to take a step forward, but Eames stopped him and smacked him on the head. The brashness of their younger brother would one day be their death.
"This forest isn't ours, fool! You stumbled too close to our camp." the hunter snapped. "And we can't trust you not to make mischief. What do you say, Lethallin? What should we do with them?"
The female Elf, Kallian, looked conflicted for a moment as her gaze went from the three brothers to her fellow hunter. "Let them go, Tamlen." she sighed, her long auburn brown hair danced lightly as she shook her head. "You judge these humans too harshly."
"What?" Tamlen turned to Kallian in disbelief and in the process lowering his bow. "How much must be taken from us before you hate them as I do? Besides we have to move camp if we let them live."
"That will happen either way. Besides killing them will only bring more of them out here." Kallian snapped back at him. While Alain listened to the two Elves' discussion, it dawned on him that he could die in the next couple of minutes. The female elf tried to persuade her fellow hunter, but the anger of the latter was very strong. As his desperation set in, Alain felt a slight tap on his shoulder. His brother, Eames, nodded at the satchel that hung from his shoulder. Immediately Alain swung around and blurted out: "We have something! To trade for our lives…!"
Both Elves stopped arguing and looked at him in surprise. Kallian raised her eyebrow, but it was Tamlen who spoke: "What could you shem's possibly offer, that would be of interest to us?"
His tone was meant to be harsh, but Alain could hear a glimmer of curiosity. Hope again sparked in his chest, as he opened the bag and pulled out a small statue. It was made of a single piece of polished bark, but it was so finely carved that any normal chuck of wood would have broken or splintered. Tamlen seemed to be in shock as he grabbed the statue from Alain's hand and studied it.
"It has carvings…" he said amazed. "Is this Elvish? Written Elvish?"
He showed the statue to Kallian, who asked the brothers softly: "Where did you find this?"
Alain took a deep breath before he reviewed the events of a couple of hours earlier. The brothers had gone to check on the traps they had laid out the night before, as they had done for years. But on the way back to the village, they noticed a noise they had never heard in the forest before and followed it further into the woods. There the brothers discovered a cave. Chills went up Alain's spine, while he tried to tell of what they found in the darkness. "There are ruins like I've never seen before." he continued. "And we only entered, because we thought there would be…"
"Treasure?" Tamlen grimly finished his sentence and his eyes darkened again. "So, you three are more akin to thieves than actual bandits."
"Look, we didn't come here to be trouble! We found the statue at the entrance and we didn't get further in than that."
"Why not?" Kallian asked suspiciously.
"Because of the beast." Eames responded with a shaking voice. "It was huge, with black eyes."
"Thank the Maker we were able to get out of there alive." Oscar added.
"Where is this cave?" Tamlen demanded. Alain pointed towards the way they ran from. In the still dimming light, the trees seemd to be looming over the path covered in their footsteps. Almost as if the forest was daring them to go back to the cave. "Just to the west… I think."
"Well, Lethallin? Do you trust them? Should we let them go?"
Despite his words, his raised bow and his eyes said he wanted to do otherwise, but the opinion of the female elf seemed to be worth more to him that his own.
"I think you scared them enough, Tamlen." Kallian said with an uneasy smile. "I don't think they'll bother us any longer." She looked tensely at the brothers as if she was saying: 'Go'.
Tamlen let out a frustrated sigh. "Run along then shem's! And don't come back until we Dalish have moved on." he barked, as the brothers turned on their heels and ran away as fast as they could.
Alain had only one thing on his mind, as he listened to his own pounding heartbeat, he would never ever return to this blasted forest.