Dragon Age History Page

Orzammar

"The Memories tell us that once our lands were numerous and extended far beyond the Frostback Mountains. The thaigs were once almost beyond counting. Kal-Sharok was the capital then, home to all noble houses, and Orzammar was simply home to the Miner and Smith castes. It was with the coming of the Tevinter Imperium that things began to change. Paragon Garal moved the seat of power to Orzammar to more closely oversee the trade that began with the surface. It seemed that our people were entering a new age of prosperity. We taught such concepts as commerce and coinage to the humans, and in return they provided us with a wealth of things we had never possessed in the deep: grains and wood, to name two.

The Memories hold no explanations for the coming of the darkspawn, only questions. One moment there was no such thing as a darkspawn, and the next there was. The darkspawn poured into the Deep Roads like smoke, and the Warrior Caste struggled to hold them back. Countless thaigs were lost in that first Blight. But as ever, in our time of need, a Paragon arose. Paragon Aeducan led the defenses of Orzammar, and we were saved from utter annihilation.

The cost of victory, however, was great. The Deep Roads were sealed to hold back the darkspawn, cutting off thaigs and whole cities forever. Only Orzammar itself remained, the last bastion of an ancient empire that had once sprawled over all of the deep of Thedas. The dwarves had been brought low, but we had survived."

• "Orzammar as a Kingdom"
• as told by Shaper Vortag

Ostagar

Representing the furthest point of encroachment by the ancient Tevinter Imperium into the barbarian lands of the southeast, the fortress of Ostagar was once one of the most important defensive Imperial holdings south of the Waking Sea. It stood at the edge of the Korcari Wilds and watched for any signs of invasion by the barbarians today known as the Chasind wilders. Straddling a narrow pass in the hills, the fortress needed to be by-passed in order for the WIlders to reach the fertile lowlands to the north and proved to be exceedingly difficult for the Wilders to attack due to its naturally defensible position. Like most Imperial holdings in the south, Ostagar was abandoned after Tevinter's collapse during the First Blight. It was successfully sacked by the Chasind wilders and then, as the Chasind threat dwindled following the creation of the modern Ferelden nation, fell to ruin completely.

It has remained unmanned for four centuries, though most of the walls still stand -- as does the tall Tower of Ishal, named after the great Archon that ordered its construction -- and Ostagar remains a testament to the magical power of the Imperium that created it.

The Blight

The Chantry teaches that it is the hubris of men that brought the darkspawn into our world. Mages sought to usurp Heaven, but were cast out, twisted by their own corruption, only to return as monsters--the first of the darkspawn. They plague the underground caverns and tunnels once inhabited by the dwarven kingdoms. When they discover one of the Old Gods, ancient dragons slumbering in the depths of the earth, it rises as an archdemon to lead the darkspawn as they spread like locusts across the surface lands, destroying all in their path: a Blight. It has been four centuries since the last Blight, but the darkspawn are amassing once again.

Grey Wardens

They are the most elite and feared of warriors, dedicated to the destruction of darkspawn in all human lands. The centuries of peace have left them all but forgotten. The Grey Wardens have kept watch through the ages, well aware that peace is fleeting, and that their enemy will never truly be defeated until the last of the Old Gods has been slain.

more to come...