I don't own Dragon Age or the mods from the first and third page. I am doing something that Fanfiction user Alasse Nenharma is doing in their story, Al, Kal and that other Warden. My second recruit is different though, so I don't get copy-righted from Alasse. I'm basing this one off of Youtuber YoshiFan007's female Dalish Elf, again I will change some stuff up.

Dalish prologue

You were born amidst the Dalish elves noble wanderers who refuse to join the society of humans that subjugated their homeland so long ago. The Dalish travel the land in tightly-knit clans, struggling to maintain their half-forgotten lore in a human world that fears and despises them. You spend your time hunting with your clan-mate Tamlen in the forests and as is sometimes the case, your quarry is not always the local wildlife.

"No? We will see about that, won't we?" Tamlen holds three humans at arrow point. Halia comes up beside him with her own bow drawn, "You're just in time. I found these… humans lurking in the bushes. Bandits, no doubt."

One of the humans speaks up in a terrified voice, "We aren't bandits, I swear! Please don't hurt us!"

Tamlen replies as he and Halia slowly take steps forward, "You shemlen are pathetic. It's hard to believe you ever drove us from our homeland."

Another human says in a terrified voice, "W-we've done nothing to you Dalish! We didn't even know this forest was yours!"

Tamlen replies, "This forest isn't ours, fool! You've stumbled too close to our camp. You shems are like vermin—we can't trust you not to make mischief." He turns to Halia, "What do you say, lethallan? What should we do with them?"

"Kill them—what do I care? The others will never know."

"I like the sound of that. Anything to say in your defense, shems?"

One of the humans speaks up, "L-look… we didn't come here to be trouble. We just found a cave…"

Another human continues, "Yes, a cave! With ruins like I've never seen! We thought there might be, uh…"

Tamlen finishes, "Treasure. So you're more akin to thieves than actual bandits."

Halia speaks up, "Ha. We know this forest. There are caves, but no ruins. You lie."

One of the humans responses quickly, "I… I have proof! Here… we found this just inside the entrance." He hands Tamlen an idol.

"This stone has carvings… Is this elvish? Written elvish?"

"There's more in the ruins! We didn't get very far in, though…"

"Don't listen to these shems, Tamlen. It could be a trap, for all we know."

"A trap? We didn't even know you elves were here! We-we were just trying to find the treasure!"

"And this is all you found? Why didn't you look for more?"

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

Tamlen scoffs. "A demon? Where is this so-called cave?"

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

Tamlen turns his head slightly to Halia, "Well? Do you trust them? Shall we let them go?"

"So they can bring a mob to drive us out?" She pulls out a second arrow, "Kill them all."

"Yes, one could expect no less from a shem. This will not take long," With that he let his arrow fly, which ended up in one of the human's chest. Halia let her two arrows fly, getting the other two humans, one in the head and one in the neck. When all of the humans were dead both elves put their bows up, "Well, shall we see if there's any truth to their story? These carvings make me curious."

"Shouldn't we inform the Keeper?"

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

They started on the trail, at times dispatching a few wolf packs with little to no trouble. They finally found the cave. Tamlen looked as confused as Halia felt, "This must be the cave. I don't recall seeing this before, do you?"

Halia turned her head to him, "No, and I don't think we should go in alone."

"There's nobody else here. And I'm not running back for help unless there's something worth making a fuss over. Come on, let's at least see what's there. How dangerous could it be?"

Halia shook her head as she followed her fiancé into the cave that gave her chills.

When they entered the cave, they both looked around while Tamlen commented, "It… looks like the shem was telling the truth. But these ruins look more human than elven."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Tamlen walked up to Halia, and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry, my dear. I'll protect you," he says smiling, then leaned in for a kiss. Halia smiled and kissed the man she loves. They then walked side-by-side, into a big room. Halia stopped, looked around, and saw webs. She readied her bow and Tamlen followed suite. Halia heard a noise, and looked above her. Two giant spiders were coming down. She aimed her arrow for the farther one, while Tamlen aimed for the closer one, and both let their arrows fly. Both score direct hits in one eye each. The spiders fell to the ground, dead. They went through the first door, with their bows still drawn, into a long sideways hallway. They went to the left, Tamlen in front and Halia with her back to his.

When they reached the only door, Tamlen tried the handle, only to find out that its locked. He tried to kick open the door, only to jar his leg, "OW!" Watching the whole thing, Halia just stood there and smiled. Tamlen leaned agaist the wall, rubbing his leg, "Oh, if you find this so funny, why don't you try to open the door?"

Still smiling, Halia walked up to the door, kneeled, and pulled out her lock picking tools. After a few seconds, Halia put her tools away and stepped back. With a smug look on her face, she barely pushed on the door, and it opened. Just to make fun of him even more, she said, "Oh, and I didn't even break a sweat."

Smiling, Tamlen walked up to her and said, "No one likes a smartass, Hal."

Getting even closer, Halia said, with a smile, "No. But you love it, and you know it."

"Oh yeah? Show me."

"Later, Tamey. For now, let's get out of this creepy place."

"We will. After we find something to report."

Halia shoulders slouch, "Fine. Let's at least hurry up." She points to the door, "After you."

They entered the room and looked around. There was only a door and some skeletons. They walked to the door. Fortunately for Tamlen, this one was already unlocked. They passed through the door, and into another hallway. They went to the middle of it and saw an ancient statue. As they walked up to it, Tamlen said, "I can't believe this. You recognize this statue, don't you?"

"It's worn, but it looks familiar…"

"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 looks like human architecture… with a statue of our people. Can these ruins date back to the time of Arlathan?"

"It's interesting. So much of our past is lost to us. But there isn't much left here."

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

They then turned around and there was a door. Tamlen reached for the door, but Halia threw him back just as a bear with spikes burst through the door. Halia ducked as the creature swiped at her, as she pulled her two curved daggers out. The bear tried to bite her but only managed to get her quiver. She tried to cut the straps holding her quiver, but the beast threw her into a wall. Dazed, she tried to stand up, but immediately fell and rolled on her back. The beast started to walk to her, when suddenly, Tamlen came out of nowhere, did two slashes then a thrust, which killed the beast. He pulled his sword out, and went to check on Halia.

"Hey, you ok?" he asks as he helps her up.

"No, I'm not ok. Do you know how long I've worked on that quiver?" she replies with a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah. You're fine," he chuckles.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Just a bit dazed."

With that they went to the room that the bear was in. It was a circular room with a giant mirror in the middle. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I wonder what the writing says."

"Tamlen, stand back. We can't be sure it's safe."

"What? Don't be silly, it's only a mirror. I wonder what this writing is for? Maybe this isn't—hey did you see that? I think something moved inside the mirror."

"Get away from it, Tamlen."

"Hold on, I just want to know what it is. Look there it is again. Can you feel that? I think it knows we're here." He starts to walk to it, "I just need to take a closer look… It's showing me places." He touches it. "I can see… some kind of city… underground? And… there's a great blackness… It… it saw me! Help! I can't look away!" Then bright light blinds Halia as she is pushed on her back by an unknown force.