Okay here we go. This story is as close as I can get it to the actual game. I have tried to add in a little more every now and then to spice up the story. For the record, the Dalish Elves are my favorite race in the game. I have played this story line through, and I have beaten the game a couple of times, I know I have no life, but with this I have put together what I think is one of the better story lines possible.

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: I will be telling this game through, start to finish. But only the main story quest and the companion quests.

Your reviews are extremely encouraged, both good and bad, but the only thing I ask is that you are respectful. NO FLAMES. I am not a professional writer; this is just something that I do for fun. So please enjoy.

Chapter 1

Drake Mahariel was sitting in the woods watching the birds fly above. The life of the Dalish often allowed, and even encouraged, the elves to sit and watch the world around them. It was thought that by watching their surroundings, they could see all the beauty and order of the world. But today the birds were flying in a strange manner and this had caught Drakes attention. Instead of flying back to their nest, or searching for food for their young, they were circulating around an area. Almost as if they were afraid to enter the area they were circling.

Kneeling down next to the small stream he was near, Drake cupped his hands in the water and brought some up to his mouth. He and his friend, Tamlen, had gone out hunting early in the morning. As sometimes happened though, the two hunters turned their focus onto the tracks of shems that were very close to their clans camp. Too close for comfort. This caused them to start hunting the shems, instead of hunting for game.

Looking down at the water he looked at his reflection. Admiring the tattoo's that now covered his face. The tattoo's where the marks that all the Dalish received once they had succeeded in their hunt. They looked like branches that reached from his ears up his forehead and beneath his eyes, with another separate part going down the length of his noise. Unfortunately, the tattoos did not match the color of his hair, which was usually the tradition. But for him, his tattoo's did not match the color of his hair, for it was almost impossible to make tattoo's white.

The other clan members had told him that his father had the same color of hair. It was perhaps the only memento that he had of his parents. After having his fill he picked up his bow, readjusted his dagger and sword and went to find Tamlen.

Coming over a small hill he saw his childhood friend Tamlen, walking with his bow drawn pointing it at three humans. Drawing his bow he started down the hill towards his friend. Oh Elgar'nan, Drake cursed, what has he gotten himself into this time?

Notching an arrow he walked up next to Tamlen. "You're just in time," Tamlen said, "I found these…humans lurking in the bushes. Bandits no doubt. What do you say, lethallin? What should we do with them?"

Drake thought for a moment. "Let's find out what they are doing here first."

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

One of the humans stepped forward. "Listen, we're sorry…we had no idea that this forest belong to you."

Tamlen grunted. "Foolish shem, we do not own this forest. You have simply traveled too close to our camp."

The human shrunk back and started to stutter more. "L-look… we didn't come here to be trouble. We just found a cave-"

"We know this forest," Drake cut in, "there are caves, but no ruins. You lie."

"I… I have proof! Here… we found this just inside the entrance."

The human handed over the small tablet to Tamlen who immediately began to look it over. "Is this elvish? What else did you find in the cave."

"Nothing, we did not go far into the cave."

"Why not," Drake questioned, not letting up at all on his string.

The human began to break out into a sweat. "There was a demon! It was huge, with black eyes! Thank the Maker we were able to out-run it!"

"Where is this cave of yours?" Tamlen asked the humans.

"Just back that way. I swear it!"

"What do you think lethallin? What should we do with these shems?"

Drake thought for a moment and began to let up on the string of his bow. "You've frighten them enough. They won't bother us. Provided of course that they do not go near our camp."

Tamlen let out a frustrated sigh and eased his bow string. "Run along then, shems… and don't come back until we Dalish have moved on."

The humans did not have to be told twice. Muttering their thanks for getting away with their lives the three humans ran from the two Dalish hunters. Once they were out of sight Tamlen turned back to Drake. "Well, shall we see if there's any truth to their story? These carvings make me curious."

Drake placed his bow away and readjusted the strap that held onto his long sword and dagger. He had a bad feeling about this. "Shouldn't we inform the keeper first?"

"She might be interested in these carvings, but let's see if there's anything more before we get excited. Besides," Tamlen said already walking down the path that the humans pointed them too, "we're already here. Now let's go."

Drake nodded and followed his friend down the forest path. This was quite a beautiful place that the clan had decided to rest at. Within the woods there were a couple of small waterfalls and small streams. This provided good water sources for the halla and the clan. His hunter trained ears picked up on a low growl on the path in front of them. Turning to Tamlen he motioned for the two hunters to dropped down into a low crouch. Walking forward carefully they saw what had made the noise. On the path in front of them they saw two wolves feasting on a halla.

Tamlen notched and arrow and let in fly in a blink of an eye hitting one of the wolves in the neck. Drake drew his sword and dagger and charged forward. The remaining wolf caught sight of them and ran towards them. At the last second the wolf jumped. Acting on reflex he raised his sword and thrust it through the wolves gut. In a blink both wolves were dead.

Walking forward Drake and Tamlen knelt by the fallen halla. "Another one returns to the earth," Drake muttered under his breath.

"This is not one from out clan," Tamlen noted looking it over, "too bad, this was a great halla."

Drake nodded his approval. "Come Tamlen," he muttered standing up, "we will bury it on our way back. Let's see this cave to satisfy your curiosity."

For the next half an hour the two walked through the forest without any sign of trouble. Finally the two came in front a large cave in the side of a hill. "This must be the cave that the shem were talking about. I don't recall seeing this before, do you?"

Drake shook his head. How was this possible? The Dalish always searched every inch of forest whenever they settled into a new area. "No, and that worries me. We have searched this entire area and never seen anything like this before. We should be wary."

Tamlen chuckled. "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?"

If nothing else that one sentence made Drakes blood freeze. How often had something bad happened after Tamlen had said that? Elgar'nan help us.

The two hunters proceeded with care as they entered the cave. Looking around the architecture definitely suggested human origin, but there was a slight elvish style to the workings. Of course Drake should have listened to his feelings. They were no more than five paces into the cave when a loud hiss made both of them look up.

Drake jumped out of the way just in time to see two extremely large spiders fall from the ceiling. Not wasting time he drew his sword and dagger and prepared to defend himself. Tamlen drew on an arrow and hit the back spider in one of its eyes. Drake slashed at the remaining spider slicing its head in half, spraying Drake with its blood.

"Holy Ghilan'nain," Tamlen said, "you see the size of these things. How do spiders become so large?"

"No time to worry now lethallin," Drake said keeping out his sword but putting his dagger back, "let's see if there is anything interesting then get out of here. I do not like the feel of this place."

Elves had always been more susceptible to the presence of evil than humans. And this place absolutely reeked of evil.

As the two walked through the ruins they found several more spiders and some cocoons, but nothing really note worthy. As they were stepping into one room however, Drake stopped Tamlen before he could take another step. "What is the matter lethallin?" Tamlen asked?

Without saying anything Drake bent down and examined the floor just beneath his friend's foot. It was definitely a trap trigger. Tamlen by now knew what he was doing and held still as much as possible. Working quickly, Drake disarmed the trap.

Tamlen let out a sigh of relief. "Whoa, remind me to thank Paivel when we get back for teaching you how to set and disarm traps."

Walking with more care now, the two set off deeper into the ruins. Coming around a turn they walked down a long hallway, but Tamlen pulled Drake to a stop in front of a strange statue. "I can't believe this. You recognize this statue, don't you?"

Drake looked over the statue carefully. The statue did indeed look familiar. "It's worn, but it looks vaguely familiar…"

Tamlen did not give him a chance to finish hi thought. "Back when our people lived in Arlathan, statues like these honored the Creators. When the shems enslaved us, much of that lore was lost. This statue, it looks like human architecture… but the statue is definitely one of our people. Can these ruins date back to the time of Arlathan?"

Drake shrugged. Truthfully, the history of his people always fascinated him, but right now the feeling of evil was almost too strong to stand. The statue was beautiful in a frightening way. It had the slim shape of a person, but on its back there were wings like a bat, and over the top half of its face there was a helmet that covered it's eyes. "It's interesting. So much of our past is lost to us."

Tamlen shook his head. "I would never have guessed ancient elves might have lived here! With humans of all things."

Drake voiced his agreement and turned to the path directly in front of the statue leading off the hallway they were on. "Come on Tamlen, let's go a little further and then get out of here."

However when he placed one foot down he heard a familiar clicking sound. By Fan'Harel, I set off a trap. "Tamlen get back," Drake yelled just as poison gas filled the hallway.

The hunters had another surprise waiting for them as soon as they turned around though; one of the skeletons had gotten up and was charging at them. Hearing a clink behind them Drake turned to see another skeleton standing and charging at them. Raising his sword he blocked the larger sword, dropping him down to his knee. "Forget the bow Tamlen," Drake said still holding the sword up. "Draw your dagger."

For the next five minutes the two hunters fought against the undead. After several slices the two skeletons finally fell and did not get back up. What is with this place? Is Fan'Harel here?

He turned to Tamlen and saw him slightly shaking. "This place makes me nervous."

"What do you think this all is?"

"I'm not sure," Tamlen said, "This looks like a very old humand 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. Personally I think I would stick to the roaming the land."

Drake scratched the back of his neck. "Do you think the keeper will want to come here?"

"She takes any opportunity to gather elven lore. When the clans come together, they exchange whatever they've found. She shouldn't come without hunters to guard her, though. The air here feels so… sinister. Well whatever it is, it… won't stop me. A Dalish hunter fears nothing!"

Walking back to the statue Drake paused. "How did you know all that about the statue?"

Tamlen crooked his head to the side. "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?' What does that mean?" Drake asked.

"He was a guide who took people across the spirit land to their final resting place in the Beyond. But he wasn't an evil god, not like Fan'Harel, the Great Wolf. It doesn't seem right that a place so…wrong…would be his."

Drake looked back at the fallen skeletons. "How could walking corpses be here?"

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

Drake thought back to the humans that they came across. "Maybe this is the 'demon' the humans saw."

"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?"

Drake nodded his consent. This place was started to reek of evil. Tamlen headed down the hallway. "Let's press on…I want to know how out people were involved with this."

Drake came up next to him. "You said something about a veil? What is that?"

"I'm no storyteller. All I remember of the Hahren's tales is that a veil separates our world from the spirit world. He said that spirits are jealous of us and always try to steal out souls. They want to be like us so badly they'll even possess our dead, which drives them insane. But for them to enter our world, the Veil must be weak. Is that why this place feels so strange?"

"If they show themselves," Drake said finding courage, "we'll kill them too."

"I doubt it would be that easy." Tamlen reasoned. "More likely, we'd get possessed too."

"Very well, let's keep going."

Tamlen waved his hand in front of him. "Lead on, lethallin."

Drake entered the door, and was greeted by the ugliest thing he had ever seen. It looked like a bear, but there was no fur on it. Also there were spikes of, something coming out of its skin. And all the skin was a dark red in color. As soon as the beast saw them it charged at the two hunters.

Their shock wore off quickly as the beast charged, and both hunters jumped away from each other, Drake drawing his sword and Tamlen his bow. Tamlen planted an arrow it its side, and while it was distracted Drake ran up and slashed the creature across its side. The beast decided that Drake was the bigger threat and concentrated on him. Charging, the beast jumped and pinned Drake against the ground. The elf lifted his sword and used it to push against the creature hoping to keep it's long claw's away from him.

Tamlen used this chance to run up, and jump of the creature's lower back. With Tamlen's weight on its back, the creature lifted its claw's away from Drake and reached for Tamlen. But Tamlen already had an arrow notched, and he let it loose, point blank, into the back of the creature's neck.

The creature leaned back on its back legs and hollowed out a cry. Paws reaching back desperately to get the arrow out. Drake saw his chance and acted in the blink of an eye. Using his sword he slashed across the creature's chest, then slammed his sword up to the hilt into the creatures lower chest beneath its ribs. Drake prayed that it's heart was in the general area of his sword.

Sure enough, Drake's aim was true. And the beast fell onto its back. Dead.

Both of the hunters were bent over panting, trying to catch their breaths. The fight was not draining, but just the sight and presence of the monster was enough to leave them breathless.

"What, what was that thing?" Tamlen panted out.

Drake, panting himself, wiped the blood off of his blades. He would have to wash the blood off of himself on their way back. The keeper would through a fit if she saw all the blood he was covered in. Turning with Tamlen they both looked at the statue that was in the center of the room.

It was all white, and it had steps leading up to a tall mirror that was in the center of the statue. On either side of the mirror there was a statue of a human woman in a following dress that was holding up either side of the mirror. There was writing all over the bottom portion of the statue. Tamlen stepped close to it. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I wonder what the writing says."

The feeling of unease rose in Drake. "Do not touch the glass lethallin."

Tamlen scoffed. "Not that we'd leave a fingerprint on it…see how clean it is? Not a single smudge or crack. I wonder what this writing is for. Maybe this isn't---hey, did you see that?"

Drake looked up at the mirror, and saw what almost looked like a ripple spread across the mirrors surface. "Get away from it, Tamlen…" Drake said slowly backing up.

Tamlen however bent closer to the mirror. "Hold on, I just want to know what it is. 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 close look…"

Drake tried to pull him back, but Tamlen touched the glass. "It is showing me something. A city, all black. Oh no, it has seen me. Help me Drake."

Drake tried to reach for his friend again. But a light shot out from the mirror and knocked him down onto the ground. The last thing he heard was the sound of Tamlen screaming.

Drake had no idea how long he had been laying in the ruins. A day, a year, time had lost all meaning. After the shock had hit him, his entire body felt as if it was drained of energy, her did not even have the strength to open his eyes.

Without warning he felt a pair of strong arms lift him up off the ground. He tried to open his eyes and see if it was Tamlen, but once again he had no strength to do so.

Eventually a bright light hit his eyes and he could tell that whoever it was had taken him outside of the ruins. He felt himself being lowered onto his back and finally Drake felt the strength to open his eyes. Looking up he saw a man standing over him. The man had a black beard and tan skin. His brown eyes showed his concern. The armor he wore was polished, but some blood was still sprayed across it.

"Hang on elf," he heard the man say, "we are almost back, you must hang on."

After that, everything went black for the elf again.

Well there is chapter one. The next two chapters will encompass the completion of the origin story. Once again please Review, it helps me a lot because I talk your opinions into consideration when I am writing. Also for those of you curious, the name's you may no reconginze are Dalish Gods. I figure if they were going to use curse words, those would be it.