"We are the Dalish: keepers of the lost lore,

walkers of the lonely path.

We are the last of the Elvhenan,

and never again shall we submit."

This is the oath the Dalish elves hold close to their hearts. In ancient times the elves ruled over Thedas alone, ageless and beautiful, until the humans came. Enslaved for a thousand years, the elves lost not only their immortality but their very identity. The Dalish are those elves who proudly refuse to live in human cities, proudly wandering the most remote corners of the wild lands in small clans that rarely meet. Their wagons are welcome nowhere, and more than one tale is told of the Dalish clashing with remote villagers who attempt to drive them away by force.

Much has been lost, but the Dalish will find what has been lost and keep it safe. They will re-learn the elven tongue, rediscover the ancient crafts and practice the old magics. They will spurn the human god and instead cleave to the ancient pantheon of the elves, praying that one day their own gods will return and lead their people to a new homeland. There the Dalish will await the return of those elves who have forgotten what they were, they will teach them to remember.

And until that day comes most importantly they will stand fast. As long as the landships are seen on the horizon there will be hope, hope that what was long ago shattered by the touch of mortal man may one day yet be restored.

~~~

Lyna Mahariel, born to the Dalish tribes of the Brecillian Forest. Her father was the Keeper of the clan, her mother the daughter of another tribe, neither of their clans approved of their match. However, the two met in secret for many months against the wishes of their clans and elders. During one such meeting, they were attacked by Shemlen bandits and her father was killed, her mother escaping and returning to her own clan.

 

Upon finding her pregnant with his child, they outcast her, and she was taken in by her husband's first, now the Keeper of the clan... Merethari. Some months later, Lyna was born to the world, the stars and the moon greeting her, a sign she was destined for greatness. When she was less than a month old, her mother walked out into the forest and never returned. Not wishing to speak of it and bring unwelcome pain to the young Lyna, they hid away the belongings until she came of age to claim them. From that point forward, Lyna was raised by the clan, but mostly by the mutal friend of her parents, Ashalle.

 

As a Dalish, Lyna grew up fast, learning the ways of the forest, how to avoid humans, and how to become an expert hunter for her clan, it became of no surprise when her skills, like many of her kind, went down the path of a Rogue. When Lyna passed the trials of adult hood her hunting party consited of the Keeper's first, Merril, Feneral one of the few warriors in the clan, and her closest friend, Tamlen, a fellow Rogue.

 

On one scouting party, Lyna and Tamlen, found a band of theiving humans. Once they had let them go the two of them headed to the south to find cave the human's have been thieving. What they found was not treasure, but darkness, ancient elven tombs, the walking dead...and a mirror....

 

 

 

Against their better judgement, the two of the approached the mirror, an Illuvien, a gate way of the old times, though corrupted by a darkness from within. Even against her urging, Tamlen approached and when he touched the mirror something within moved. Darkness drew in, and the cold clung at their souls. An ancient evil lurked within the mirror, and when Tamlen reached out to touch it, a blast of light and energy errupted from the mirror. Whatever came from that mirror, Lyna could not say, it gripped at her heart and felt like death would be upon her. For the brieftest of moments she thought she would die, become one of those walking corpses that they had seen in the caves. But it was not to be.

 

She woke, without Tamlen, in the Dalish camp. A Grey Warden had found her, and though they searched the caves, there was never any sign of her companion. Disheartened she swore to find him, alive or dead, but the mirror had tainted her. Cursed her with a slow and agonizing death, a taint that only the Warden could cure.

 

Perhaps cure was too strong a term for what the Warden had planned for her. Lyna was to become one of the Grey Wardens, one of the ancient and noble warriors who fought against the Darkspawn and could stop the Blight. It was not without its price however, upon taking her joining, though she would not die right away, she had capped her life at 30 years. But with Ferelden in a blight, it would take as many Wardens as possible to bring the horror to and end.