The Story So Far

[Dumat]

Knight-Commander Meredith has effectively controlled the city of Kirkwall since she arrested Viscount Threnhold for attempting to oust the already powerful Templar Order in the year 9:21 Dragon. Sixteen years later, in 9:37 Dragon the tensions finally bubbled over and spilled onto the streets in the Battle of Kirkwall. The Champion of Kirkwall, a mage named Hawke killed both First Enchanter Orsino and Knight Commander Meredith and subsequently fled the city. The name Hawke is a rallying cry for mages across Thedas. It has been a year since the Battle of Kirkwall, and though it has not come to force of arms yet, everywhere the signs of war are brewing.

In Orlais discontent among the nobles with the reign of Empress Celene I has hit a breaking point, she was lured to Haramshiral by Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons with rumors of an elven rebellion and ambushed. No one knows what has become of her. In the north of the Orlesian Empire those loyal to the crown marshal their forces for war.

Across Thedas the Templars and Seekers of the Orlesian Chantry are becoming harder and harder to control though no Divine would admit such openly. The Right of Annulment is invoked for the third time in less than a decade and the Circle of Dairsmuid in Rivain, a nation long known for unusual tolerance toward mages, is wiped out.

More and more templars and Seekers and mages vanish from their posts. Dark rumors tell of armies forming. Small packs of rogue templars and mages roam the lands. In the years leading up to the Mage-Templar War there is no neutrality, and all will be forced to take sides. Blood mages hunt down Templars and their supporters and slaughter them in their beds or turn their own bodyguards upon them. Rogue templars kill mages on sight, whether they be Circle, Dalish, Warden, or advisors to monarchs.

And in the middle of this bloodbath is you dear reader. Whether you be mage, templar, bandit, merchant, or mercenary, you have had a stroke of dubious fortune. You have stumbled across a book. The pages are blank, but when you write in them, messages appear that did not come from your pen. With a little investigation you discover that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of these books scattered across Thedas, and that what one person writes in his book appears in every other copy instantly. A fascinating toy. Unfortunately such things are coveted now. The Templars will wish to hunt you down, for who knows what sort of demons might reside within such an unheard of artifact? The mages also wish to take this tome from you, for with it they can coordinate across the length and breadth of Thedas.

By a stroke of ill fortune you are caught in the middle of a fight between two giants. All you can do, is endeavor not to be crushed.

[Hedge Your Bets]

Yay conflict! This sounds good to me, and hopefully when we finally get some details on DA3, we can bring them in nicely.

Do we have any firm details on Hawke and the Warden? I'm perfectly fine with only mentioning them fleetingly, but I do think it would be more effective to have more of a set backstory.

If nothing else, respective genders would be nice (and if we're voting, I'm all for male Warden and female Hawke), so we can at least use pronouns. Knowing who the current ruler of Ferelden is would be a bonus too. And maybe the fate of Ferelden's mages?

[Kendrah]

Dumat here, I didn't feel lie switching out my accounts. I have yet to determine the genders of the Warden and Hawke, I'll probably call a vote, though as far as origins I am leaning toward a mage warden.

The Circle of Ferelden was not annulled and the current ruler of Ferelden is Alistair, married to Anora. Surprisingly the new king even appears to be competent. Bhelen is the King of Orzammar and he does not have a golem army at his disposal. Probably.

If there's anything else go ahead and ask. I'm sure there are other things I didn't really think of.

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