I'm eager to play a Dalish Inquisitor... Dalish have not been shown at their best until now, usually defiant and agressive, despising the City elves, living in the past and flirting with demons in their quest for ancient powers... but I understand their behaviour, knowing their history and how they are chased by humans, never free to settle anywhere peacefully. And they are just people, some better than others...
Well, the Dalish are usually wary of outsiders because outsiders are usually a threat to them. When human lords or lynch mobs drive you off the land, when Andrastians threaten you to convert, and when templars pursue your mages, you're not likely to trust that an outsider approaching your clan is going to be an ally; the Warden and Hawke are the exception, not the rule.
As for the view on city elves, that's a view held by some, just like some city elves view the Dalish as "savages", and think that any elves who leave the Alienage are tossing aside everything that makes them elven, thereby being "flat ears". According to hahren Sarethia of the Highever Alienage, "Here, we're among family. We look out for each other. Here, we do what we can to remember the old ways. The flat-ears who have gone out there, they're stuck. They'll never be human, and they've gone and thrown away being elven, too. So where does that leave them? Nowhere."
In regards to spirits, the Dalish traditionally don't deal with spirits or use magic that involves spirits. According to WoT, "Unlike other spellcasters, Dalish mages do not use any magic involving spirits, as they believe all spirits are dangerous." (page 104)
They have qualities I would like them to show in DAI. A sense of beauty, the love of family, the respect of nature, minds opened to the things they don't fully understand like the Fade, curiosity... it's time for them to start figuring what a good future could be rather than living in the past, what good they can bring to the world with these qualities... they have to build a new culture on the ashes of the lost one. And maybe they will be able to do that if they earn enough respect and influence during DAI. A Dalish Inquisitor could change his view of the world by his involvment and relationships, and eventually change also the views of his people, at least some of them... enough to make a difference. Change won't come easily but it could be the start of it.
How are the Dalish supposed to build towards a future when their religion and culture make them criminals in Andrastian lands? I've never understood this criticism of the Dalish. Their lifestyle is a matter of survival; they are nomadic because they are pursued, including by templars, as Merrill explicitly points out to Hawke. Unless an elven homeland is a viable option for the Dalish in Inquisition, they can only continue their nomadic lifestyle because they refuse to surrender who they are. Hopefully, helping the Dalish gain a homeland of their own is a possibility.
As for their view on spirits and the Beyond, it isn't ignorance; the Dalish simply see spirits as dangerous, which is proven to be true with the Spirit of Valor and Justice, who can both be dangerous to the protagonist without either one being malevolent or 'evil'. It's a stark contrast to the Andrastian view of Spirits and Demons. Merrill and Anders also have several religious debates about the dichotomy between how the Dalish view them all as spirits who are all dangerous, while Anders says that they are divided into Spirits and Demons, the First Children of the Maker and those who turned their backs on the Maker to embody different "sins". In one argument between the two characters, Anders argues, "Maybe you don't really understand the difference between spirits and demons. [...] Spirits were the first children of the Maker, but He turned his back on them to dote on His mortal creations. The ones who resented this became demons, driven to take everything mortals had and gain back the Maker's favor."
Merrill and WoT echo the same elven classification for spirts, as noted when Merrill says: As Merrill says, "Anders... there's no such thing as a good spirit. There never was. All spirits are dangerous. I understood that. I'm sorry that you didn't."
The City elves are different and may have to follow another path. If they save the day for the Orlesians during DAI, with a clever use of the eluvians, and then stand for their rights... things can turn well. After the civil war and all... Orlesians will NEED peasants and other workers if many people have died, and if they need the City elves, they will be more generous and respectful with them, since they won't be strong enough to enslave them anymore. It's a possibility, depending on the events and choices in the game, I think... we'll see !
The Dalish helping stop the Fifth Blight lead to gratitude from humans in Ferelden, but only for a short period of time. I'd rather see Briala's pan-elven movement of Andrastian and Dalish elves help emancipate the Orlesian elves from their constraints of servitude.
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(I wanted to romance Cullen as Qunari, alas it wasn't to be so elf will have to do)
