The following was taken off the desk of the Chamberlain of the Grey in Weisshaupt in 9:32 Dragon.

Sir, it may seem incredible, but this record has been verified by first-hand reports from Orzammar and the Dalish clans we were able to make contact with. The account of the Ashes is not well-documented. The Chantry is sending their own people to investigate this claim. Their results will be acquired and sent to you post-haste.

A Record of the Fifth Blight, as recorded by Neria Surana, Ferelden Warden

In the year 9:30 Dragon, the Commander of the Grey in Ferelden found many promising recruits. Of these, seven are well-known: Alistair Theirin, who became King; Elyssa Cousland, who became Princess-Consort; Darrian Tabris, Neria Surana, and Natia Brosca; Daylen Amell, who became Commander of the Grey; and Duran Aeducan, who died in the act of killing the Archdemon and ending the Fifth Blight. He has been dubbed the Hero of Ferelden, and his own people made him a Paragon.

The battle at Ostagar is well-documented. The senior Wardens all fell with King Cailan and Warden-Commander Duncan. The King and Princess-Consort claim that the Witch of the Wilds saved them from the Tower of Ishal and carried them into the Korcari Wilds, but I am not sure of the veracity of that claim. They could have repressed the memory due to battle-shock. Whatever the case may be, they ended up at the hut of Flemeth, where they went to Lothering accompanied by Morrigan.

Few escaped the aftermath of the battle, but among them were Wardens Surana and Amell, who went back to the Tower of Magi in fear for their lives. Wardens Brosca, Aeducan, and Tabris ran the opposite way, deep into the Korcari Wilds, where they managed to heal their wounds and eventually make their way towards Lothering. There, they met up with Cousland, Alistair, and Morrigan.

Agents of Teyrn Loghain attacked them in the town's inn, and were defeated with the assistance of Leliana, who was at that time a Chantry sister. They drove off the bandits that had been harassing refugees and provided aid to the townspeople, including a Qunari vanguard who had been imprisoned for the crime of killing an entire family. He was freed to go with them and atone for his crimes by fighting darkspawn. He was not offered the Joining, as they felt a Qunari should not know the Wardens' secrets.

The group traveled to Redcliffe, where they assisted in defeating the undead who had been attacking the town at night. This undead horde was caused by Arl Eamon's son, an undisciplined mage, who Arlesse Isolde had tried to hide by hiring an apostate to teach him. This apostate poisoned Arl Eamon on Teyrn Loghain's orders, and the young mage made a deal with a desire demon to keep his father from dying. The Wardens then went to get aid from the Tower of Magi.

A blood mage insurrection took place in the Circle, almost resulting in a Rite of Annulment. The Wardens managed to put down all of the blood mages and demons that had risen up, and went back to Redcliffe with Senior Enchanter Wynne, Warden Amell, and Warden Surana. On their way, they were attacked by an Antivan Crow, Zevran Arainai, who was defeated and then defected from the Crows to help the Wardens. In Redcliffe the three mages successfully removed the demon from Arl Eamon's son. The apostate, a blood mage named Jowan, was executed by Warden Surana for his crimes.

At this point there were enough Wardens that they split into two parties. Wardens Theirin, Tabris, and Surana along with Arainai and the Qunari Sten went to find the Dalish in the Brecilian Forest, while the rest of them went to Denerim to find the Warden compound and a man named Genetivi, a Chantry scholar who had some lead for the Urn of Andraste's Ashes. Along the way they stopped in a town named Honnleath which had been mostly wiped out by the darkspawn and found a golem with free will named Shale.

Note: While there are many accounts of a golem which talked, I am unsure at this time of the veracity of this claim.

After Denerim, the Wardens split further: Cousland and her mabari, Amell, Leliana, and Wynne went to the town called Haven, where they hoped to find out what happened to Brother Genitivi. Wardens Aeducan and Brosca went with Morrigan and Shale to rally the dwarves of Orzammar.

In the Brecilian Forest, Theirin's group wandered for three weeks before meeting a Dalish clan. They gained the promised help of the Dalish in return for destroying the werewolves who had been hunting them down. Instead, the Dalish Keeper died to cure the tribe of werewolves and the Wardens gained the help of the newly-cured men as well as the Dalish. This took another two weeks of wandering through the Brecilian Forest, and after this it took them three weeks to return to Redcliffe, by which time Cousland's group had returned.

Note: These so-called "cured werewolves" have dubbed themselves "The Wolves" and have settled in the Warden compound Soldier's Keep, where Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden made her last stand during the reign of Ferelden's King Arland. It is believed that Warden-Commander Duncan led an expedition there to reclaim it for the Wardens' use some months before the battle of Ostagar, however at this time there is no confirmation of that from independent sources.

Cousland's group traveled quickly and made it to Haven within two weeks of leaving Denerim. There they found that a cult had sprung up around a High Dragon which the locals had heretically named Andraste. They destroyed the eggs they found in the Temple of Sacred Ashes, allegedly found the Urn of Sacred Ashes, and killed the High Dragon as well as all of the cultists. With a pinch of Ashes they returned to Redcliffe and cured Arl Eamon.

It took Aeducan's group three days to get to Orzammar from Denerim; they traveled with a merchant caravan hoping to get inside before the passes closed for winter. But when they arrived, they found the city closed, for King Endrin Aeducan had died and there were two contenders for the throne: Endrin's third son, Bhelen, and Lord Pyral Harrowmont, who claimed King Endrin named him heir on his deathbed. In order to resolve the issue, Aeducan followed a warrior named Oghren into the Deep Roads in search of the only living Paragon, Branka. They spent nearly three months in the Deep Roads searching for her and clearing out what few darkspawn remained as they went. They found her and the ruins of the Anvil of the Void in a long-overrun thaig. She was almost a ghoul, having spent three years in the Deep Roads, but still managed to forge a crown out of the magma before the Wardens killed her in an act of mercy. They returned to Orzammar and named Harrowmont king and Bhelen's son Endrin as Harrowmont's heir. Bhelen Aeducan, refusing to acknowledge Harrowmont as king, led a rebellion while the Deshyrs were still meeting; Duran Aeducan killed him and placed Branka's crown on Harrowmont's head himself.

They returned to Redcliffe a day after Theirin's group did, just in time to return to Denerim for the Landsmeet. At the Landsmeet, Mac Tir challenged the Wardens to single combat, and Theirin accepted. They fought to the death, but Theirin struck the mortal blow and declared himself King. The nobles at the Landsmeet accepted that and pledged to his banner.

The armies of elves, dwarves, and humans rallied in Redcliffe, where they assumed the Archdemon Urthemiel would make its appearance. Then the news came: the horde had emerged near Denerim, where it converged on a defenseless city full of refugees. The armies armed up and marched. By the time they eached Denerim, the city was half in shambles, and Urthemiel had risen, leading them in a full assault.

Senior Warden Riordan fell critically wounding Urthemiel, bringing It down so that It could be slain. Wardens Cousland, Brosca, Tabris, and Aeducan attacked when it fell to land on top of a noble's estate; Brosca jumped on the back of Its neck in preparation, but Aeducan struck first, cleaving through Its skull with a single blow. The Tainted God's soul took Warden Aeducan with It when It died, and thus he has been named the Hero of Ferelden for making that final sacrifice.

Warden Surana's record ends here. Independent accounts have provided that Warden Amell has stepped up to take the role of Commander of the Grey in Ferelden, while Wardens Theirin and Cousland retired from active duty in order to become King and Princess-Consort respectively. Warden Brosca is now running the compound in Orzammar. Warden Tabris has disappeared with the Antivan Crow. The Chantry sister appears to have vanished as well. The golem which allegedly has free will is with Senior Enchanter Wynne; there have been accounts of them heading to Tevinter. The Qunari has left Thedas, heading for Par Vollen. Oghren is now a Warden-Recruit; it is my understanding that they have several possible recruits.

Included with this report was a large cache of Archdemon blood. It has been stored with the cache of Andoral's blood which, as you know, is almost depleted. Most of Urthemiel's blood has been stored in Soldier's Keep. Shall I send for the rest of it?

Another note is crumpled below, in a different hand.

L,

Keep a close eye on these fledgling Wardens.