Theron Mahariel was a member of the Dalish elves: noble wanderers who refused to join the society of humans that subjugated their homeland so long ago. The Dalish traveled the land in tightly knit clans, struggling to maintain their half-forgotten lore in a human world that feared and despised them.

Theron spent most of his time travelling with his clan and was probably the most skilled hunter in that very same clan. He was currently rushing through the Brecilian Forest, when he had suddenly heard rustling nearby and it did not sound like a wild animal. Though he was not always a hunter, he also had a passion for storytelling and was the apprentice of Paivel, the clan storyteller. In fact, many of the clan had said that he would take over Paivel when it came his time.

He soon emerged from the bushes and found his childhood friend Tamlen holding his bow and aiming an arrow at three shems. He pulled out his own bow and began to circle the same shems and Tamlen grinned at him. "You're just in time. I found these… humans lurking in the bushes. Bandits, no doubt."

One of the shemlen held up pleading hands. "We aren't bandits, I swear! Please don't hurt us!"

Tamlen and Theron exchanged an amused eyeroll. "You shemlen are pathetic. It's hard to believe you ever drove us from our homeland."

Another one of them gulped. "W-we've never done nothing to you Dalish! We didn't know this forest was yours!"

"This forest isn't ours, fool." Tamlen snapped a forefinger against the arrow shaft. "You've stumbled too close to our camp. You shems are like vermin—we can't trust you not to make mischief." He shot a look at Theron. "What do you say, lethallan? What should we do with them?"

Theron was curious why three unarmed humans had strayed far from their village. "Let's find out what they're doing here."

"Does it matter?" Tamlen snapped. "Hunting or banditry, we'll need move camp if we let them live."

"L-look… we didn't come here to be trouble. We just found a cave." The man nearly wet himself as he pointed towards a game trail.

"Yes, a cave!" Another one of them nodded. "With ruins like I've never seen! We thought there might be, uh..."

"Treasure. So you're more akin to thieves than actual bandits." Tamlen gave a Theron look indicating that he wanted to kill them.

Theron had no love for shems, but it was better to avoid trouble, rather than start it. He was also curious about this treasure they mentioned. "Ha! I'd like to see these ruins."

Tamlen rolled his eyes. "So would I. I've never heard of ruins in these parts."

"I… I have proof!" One said, reaching for his pocket as he showed them a small stone tablet. "Here… we found this just inside the entrance."

Tamlen glanced at Theron, then lowered his bow to step forward and take the tablet. Theron kept the men covered while he examined the tablet. At once Tamlen's eyes widened and he held it up to Theron. "This stone carving… is this elvish? Written elvish?"

"There's more in the ruins!" The man said eagerly, pointing at the trail again. "We didn't get very far in, though..."

"Why not?" Theron asked, not lowering his bow.

"There was a demon! It was huge, with black eyes! Thank the Maker we were able to out-run it!" The man exclaimed.

Tamlen scoffed. "A demon? Where is this cave?"

"Just off to the west, I think. There's a cave in the rock face, and a huge hole just inside." The man said.

"Well? Do you trust them?" Tamlen asked Theron. His eyes flickered to the shems and his lips twisted slightly. "Shall we let them go?"

Theron didn't trust those shems, but they looked frightened to death and killing them would only cause more problems. "You've frightened them enough. They won't bother us."

Tamlen sighed, but lowered his bow. "Run along then, shems… and don't come back until we Dalish have moved on."

"Of course! Thank you! Thank you!" The man practically tripped over one another in the hurry to get out of the way as they ran off.

Tamlen and Theron exchanged looks, they both shook their heads laughing. Tamlen waved the stone tablet in his face. "Well, shall we see there is any truth to their story? These carvings make me curious."

Theron placed his arrow in his quiver, he didn't like the idea of going alone. "Shouldn't we inform the keeper?"

Tamlen shrugged. "She might be interested in these carvings, but let's see if there's anything more before we get excited." He then looked across the game trail. "Besides, we're already here. Now, they said it was to the west..."


They walked down the game trail encountering the wolf, but there was no sign of this so-called demon.

"Tell me, why did you let those shems go?" Tamlen asked as they pushed through the branches.

"If we killed them, their village would have retaliated by attacking us." Theron pointed out. Tamlen was about open his mouth, when Theron interrupted him by raising his hand. "I know. We would have beaten them easily, but they would send word to other villages and sooner or later, they would send an army down upon us and I doubt we would win that fight."

Tamlen nodded to his reason and then came to a sudden stop. "This must be the cave. I don't recall seeing this before, do you?"

Theron shook his head; he had a bad feeling about this place and his hunches were usually correct. "No, and that worries me. We should be wary."

Tamlen shook his head. "Always the careful one. Fine, but I'm not running back until I know there's something worth making a fuss over. Come on, let's at least see what's there. How dangerous could it be?"

Tamlen then pushed the vines aside and went into the cave.

"Famous last words." Theron moaned and followed Tamlen into the cave.

They entered inside and found spiders and traps, but it wasn't much trouble. Theron noticed a skeleton of a man whose flesh had been stripped away, leaving nothing but his coat. Theron then heard Tamlen gasp. "I can't believe this. You recognize this statue, don't you?"

Theron looked closely at the statue. He couldn't make it out because it worn through the ages, but it looked elven. "It's worn, but it looks vaguely familiar..."

"Back when people lived in Arlathan, statues like these honored the Creators. When the shems enslaved us, much of that lore was lost. This looks like human architecture… with a statue of our people." Tamlen then began to examine the room around them. "Can these ruins date back to the time of Arlathan?"

Theron considered. It certainly was likely but it was unlikely they would find something interesting down here after all that time. "Perhaps, but there isn't much left down here."

Tamlen nodded. "Yes… time and decay take their toll. Still, there's bound to be something of value!"

Suddenly they heard a noise and turned just in time to see the bodies strewn around the place beginning to rise and starting to advance towards them. They both drew their bows and fired arrows at the corpses and they hit their marks.

Theron then heard moaning behind him and drew his sword in time to slice up the head of a corpse and found others marching towards them. Tamlen quickly turned and fired more arrows and Theron began slicing his way through them with his blades.

Once last of the corpses had fallen, they went to retrieve their arrows. "Were those walking corpses? This place is haunted!" Tamlen cried out.

"Alright, so we found a haunted cave, but look on the bright side..." Theron trailed off as Tamlen stared at him as if he was crazy. "At least we got a story to tell."

Tamlen laughed. "When you tell it around the fire later, make sure you let Merrill know how heroic I looked."

Theron shook his head. "Lethallan, you could tell her how you feel about her."

Tamlen raised an eyebrow. "Then why haven't you done the same?"

Theron shrugged. "Fair point."

Theron took the lead as they moved further into the cave. Behind him, Tamlen gave a low whistle. "This place makes me nervous."

"So talk, if that will calm you down." said Theron. He bent to brush aside some dust and get a closer look at the carvings along one wall.

"I suppose so..." Tamlen said slowly. He then looked down at Theron. "Hey, weren't you supposed to be assisting Master Varathorn today? How did you end up coming with me?"

Theron shrugged. "You know me. I can get away from anything whenever I can."

Tamlen shook his head. "I've never known anyone so eager to wander. You'll end up a flat-ear someday, living in the cities like a shem."

"I prefer to hunt."

"Me too, even if you are a better hunter than I am."

"What do you think all this is?" Theron wiped away the dust from another relic. It was so faded he had trouble telling carving from natural stone.

"I'm not sure. This looks like a very old human place. Why did they build this? And why would elven artifacts be here? Maybe some of our ancestors lived here, in caves like the dwarves." Tamlen shook his head. "I'll stick to roaming the land, myself."

Theron smiled at his friend. "Why did you want to come down here so badly?"

"Aren't you curious? We could be discovering our history. Minstrels will write songs about us!"

Theron raised an eyebrow. "You aren't fooling me, Tamlen."

Tamlen rubbed the back of his head looking slightly embarrassed. "If I were to bring some valuable ancestral artefact back to the keeper, she might forgive me for..." Tamlen trailed off, and then shrugged. "Well, you know."

That was something that Theron wouldn't want to witness again, how one elf could cause so much trouble he will never know. "You get into far too much trouble, Tamlen."

"And you get into far too little..." He punched him gently on the shoulder. "Which is probably why the keepers send you with me." He quickly looked around no doubt he wanted to change the subject. "At any rate, I was expecting this place to… feel quite like this. Maybe this wasn't the best idea..." Tamlen fingered one of the arrows in his quiver.

They then continue their search through the corridors. As they walked Theron had a bad feeling about this place, it felt evil and unwelcome. He was starting to regret that he couldn't convinced Tamlen to go and inform the keeper.

"How'd you know all about the statue?" Theron asked.

Tamlen shrugged. "I saw a picture of it in one of those old books the keeper never lets anyone touch. It was one of the old gods. The keeper called him a "friend of the dead"."

""Friend of the dead"?" Theron frowned, and mentally ran through his lore. He came up with nothing. "What does that mean?"

"He was a guide that took people across the spirit land to their final rest in the Beyond." Tamlen said.

Theron nodded. The keeper must have meant Falon'din. "Perhaps this place is a tomb." If it was an honored resting place of their dead, snooping around down here wasn't the best idea.

Tamlen shook his head in rejection of that idea. "An elven tomb built by shems? I doubt it. It's said that the old ones never truly died; they just went somewhere and… slept forever. And this god would come to guide their sprits away. But he wasn't an evil god, not like Fen'Harel - the Dread Wolf. It doesn't seem right that a place so… wrong… would be his."

"How could walking corpses be here?" Theron began peeking around the corners and every step they took, the feeling of dread increased. The part of him that wanted to turn back began to argue with the part of him that wanted to keep exploring, to see what lore of the People he could uncover.

"Hahren Paivel once said that in places where many people died, it can become setheneran—a land of waking dreams. The Veil becomes weak and spirits slip into our world. Then they possess corpses and walk around." Tamlen shuddered.

"Maybe this is the "demon" the humans saw." Theron said, shaking his head. Ignorant shems could easily mistake the shambling dead for a full on demon.

"It's hard to imagine anything else could live here with these… creatures. Still, worse things may be ahead. This place reeks of something… wrong. Can you feel it?" They exchanged a look. Tamlen unslung his bow, and Theron did the same. "Let's press on… I want to know how our people were involved with this."


They soon came across a larger door and the moment they opened it they found that 'demon' the shems have been so scared of. It wasn't a demon he knew that much, but it looked like some sort of blighted creature, probably used to be a bear.

Theron only had enough time to throw himself to the side as the creature charged at him. Tamlen quickly shot an arrow into its side, but it simply whirled back and went for the archer. Theron rolled to his feet and fired off two arrows in rapid succession. The bear roared, then turned towards him. Immediately, Tamlen fired again, and the two men took turns distracting and firing until the thing collapsed. Theron tossed his bow aside and pulled out his swords and jumped on the creatures back. At once it tried to throw him off, but he kept a tight grip on its fur and then stabbed his two blades into its back. It then went limp and fell to the ground and Theron climbed off it with a look of relief on his face.

Tamlen shot him a triumphant look, then his eyes widened as he caught sight of something behind Theron. Theron turned to look, and saw the strangely glowing mirror. He exchanged a look with Tamlen, and the two walked towards it slowly.

Wonder filled Tamlen's voice. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I wonder what the writing says."

"The keeper might be able to translate it." Theron said. He couldn't wait to let her know what they had found. An artefact like this rivalled anything he'd ever seen before.

"Maybe, but she's not here to help us. Odd that it isn't broken like everything else, especially with that bear lumbering around in here. I wonder what this writing is for?" He bent to get a closer look. "Maybe this isn't—" He jumped back as if startled. "Hey, did you see that? I think something moved inside the mirror."

That bad feeling of Theron soon returned, he didn't know what this mirror was, but he had a bad feeling about it. At once he grabbed Tamlen's shoulder. "Get away from it, Tamlen..."

"Hold on, I just want to know what it is." Suddenly, they saw something like a ripple on the mirror surface. "Don't you see it? There it is again! Can you feel that? I think it knows we're here. I just need to take a closer look..." Tamlen then moved over to the mirror and reluctantly Theron followed him.

Tamlen placed his hand on the mirror and began to act as if he placed his hand on the surface of a. "It's… showing me places. I can see… some kind of city… underground? And..." Slowly, Tamlen's voice began to change from wonder to dread. "There's a great blackness..." Then Theron heard some sort of noise from the mirror. "It… it saw me! Help! I can't look away!"

Panic filled Tamlen's voice, and Theron rushed over to him in order to pull away from the mirror. Then a huge bright light exited from the mirror and consuming the two of them. Theron could hear Tamlen screaming and everything went black.


"Are you sure this is the best path to Ostagar?" Daylen asked.

"I have travelled through this path before." Duncan assured him.

He glanced at the others. Faren kept on looking at the trees and bushes taking in his new surroundings. Sereda acted as if this was just a normal expedition into the Deep Roads. Daylen, however, looked exhausted. He was starting to lean heavily on his staff, clearly, he had never walked this much in his life. Elissa walked as if she was still a noble, but kept an eye on the shadows of the trees as if she was expecting an attack at any moment. Kallian was acting very cautiously, especially around Elissa no doubt she was still suffering from her ordeal. Barkspawn sniffing in the air and now and then chanced the odd rabbit.

"We should reach a village in time for dinner." Duncan assured them.

"Good." Elissa nodded. "I could… use a bath, I think." She assisted with Daylen step over the fallen log. Duncan could tell that she was trying not to be a burden, since she spent most of her time in Highever Castle. Kallian kept on staring at her, she undoubtedly assumed that Elissa would order her to carry her bags, but clearly her mother had raised to treat people as her equal and not as her lesser.

They had not gone too far when something pinged lightly at the edge of Duncan's senses. He held up a hand, stopping their forward motion. Faren and Daylen gave him curious looks, but Sereda, Elissa and Kallian laid hands on their blades as their eyes scanned the woods. Duncan drew his own blade, and moved in carefully.

Near the edge of a small cave laid an unconscious elven man in Dalish leather armor. Duncan moved closer to examine him and he could feel the darkness seeped into the skin of the young man. His eyes went to the mouth of the cave before going back to the elf. Standing, he would have been tall for a Dalish. His dark brown hair held spider webs, and his hands were filthy, as though he'd crawled out of the cave. Duncan put his age at around twenty.

"Dalish?" Kallian asked, as she looked in wonder on the tattoos on the elf's face.

"His caravan is probably nearby." Duncan said. He looked up at her. "Kallian, you come with me, as for the rest of you scattered around I sense darkspawn nearby."

"Why take her and not us?" Faren asked.

"Because the Dalish don't trust outsiders, especially humans. Kallian may be the only one here they could trust." Duncan pointed out.

Sereda nodded. "Well, you heard the man."

Duncan and Kallian watched as their four friends began walking through the woods for the hunt of darkspawn. He then picked up the unconscious Dalish and started carrying him back in the direction it appeared the Dalish had come.

The Dalish opened his eyes for a moment. Duncan looked down. "Can you hear me? I am..." Duncan hesitated a moment. He could feel the taint in the young man's blood. The situation was already beyond any hope. "Very sorry." The Dalish stared a moment, his green eyes got even greener as they focused upon Duncan's face for a heartbeat. Then he passed out again.