The journey of Warden Commander Drako Amell, The Hero of Ferelden: (DA:O, DA:A, and Witch hunt)
The Chronicles of Tyros Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall:
Where to start this... The Blight seems the best place. I was living in Highever at the time. Made a fair living with a local mercenary band. When word of the massing Darkspawn reached Highever, I dispatched a letter back to Lothering to my brother Carver to bring Mother and our sister Bethany up to stay with me until the danger had passed. A week later I received a letter from Bethany saying that Carver had run off to join the Kings men in the wilds. I should have expected as much. He has always been desperate to prove himself. I headed to Lothering that night...
...After reaching Lothering I spent three days trying to convince mother to leave with me. She refused to leave without Carver. On the third night a small army marched through the village. They had the crest of Gwaren on their shields. Teryne Loghain's men. They said little other than the darkspawn had over run their position and killed the King and the Grey Wardens. Mother rushed through their number frantically looking for her baby boy. He was no where to be found. One of the soldiers told her that if he wasn't here then he was likely dead on the battle field. She stopped resisting me then. Not the way I wanted to leave this place, but the Darkspawn were coming.
The next morning a couple of Grey Wardens came out of the wilds. This renewed her hopes for Carver. If they could survive then surely there must have been a chance for him. I had given up trying to talk her out of it. I was just going to cast a sleep spell on her and Bethany and I would carry her out in a wagon. The Darkspawn couldn't have been far behind those Wardens. We had to move. As I was about to cast my spell, Carver burst in the front door ranting about the horde. Mother was overjoyed. Bethany was just plain angry he went out there in the first place. No time for fighting. With him back it was time to run.
As we exited, the roars of the Darkspawn could be heard closing in on the town. Bethany and I hurled fireballs at the tree line to try and slow their approach and give the few people in town a little more time to escape. We four took off for one of the back roads until we came across a Templar and a female soldier. Wesley and Aveline. A married couple trying to flee the horde. The fact that Bethany and I were mages did not escape his notice. Made for a tense introduction. We put those matters aside for the moment as the Darkspawn were closing fast. We got cornered on a hill top. Bethany was killed. In a fit of rage, I poured all I had into a crushing prison spell and tore the beast that killed her into pieces.
I was exhausted afterwards and the Darkspawn were still coming. The templar was badly wounded. Aveline and Carver couldn't hold off the horde alone. I thought all was lost when suddenly a dragon appeared. It flew over and scorched the earth and wiped out the Darkspawn on the hill side. Those that she didn't kill ran off. Can't blame them. She was a fearsome monster. A monster that transformed into an old woman. A witch with powers unlike anything I had ever seen. I had never even heard of such magic. I tried to be charming. She did just save our lives after all. She even agreed to help us get to safety provided were do a favor for her. Deliver a necklace to an elf. An odd request, but we were in no position to refuse.
The Templar, Wesley, did not survive. He had been infected by the darkspawn. The corruption is lethal. It is an agonizing death. I have no love of Templars, but even I know that this is no way for a good man to die. While he was still himself I... ended him. Aveline was obviously devastated. Not only did she lose her husband, but we had to leave his body behind.
The Darkspawn had cut off our path to to Highever so we made our way to the waking sea to cross over to the Free Marches. The witch left our company once we were away from the Darkspawn. I can sense and eerie magic coming off this necklace, but a deals a deal. I'll get it to the elf at my first opportunity. First we had to get into Kirkwall. Mothers home town. Several boats filled with other refugees were headed there. I knew it would not be easy to get in.
It took us over a week to make the crossing and convince the gate guards to let us into the city. We had to sell ourselves to a local mercenary company to afford the bribes to get in. But get in we did. It's not much different than my work with the Blackstones. We'll be living in a slum, but we are safe... most of us... Bethany. I am not the religious sort, but I did pray for her soul that night. I don't know if Mages get to sit by the makers side or whatever that Chantry claptrap is all about, but I hope she finally found some peace. This life was not easy, but we found a way... That's more than many Fereldens could say.