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[Aulis Vaara]

Eh, not the best thing I have ever written, but the idea is worth sharing and exploring.

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A lot of theories have been detailed on these forums, but most continue along the assumption that the Old Gods of Tevinter and the Archdemons released from the Deep Roads are one and the same. It is true that they look alike, but that in itself is cause for scrutiny, because we know that the Taint usually causes significant disfiguration.

Instead I suggest that the Old Gods of Tevinter are in fact the Elven Gods, but they are not those Dragons buried deep within the Earth.

I think it is all related to Mythal's murder. First of all, I don't think Mythal is quite the same kind of being as the other Evanuris. I think she is intricately related to the Dragons, as Codex Entry - Mythal: The Great Protector tells us that Mythal was not created like Elgar'nan, nor by Elgar'nan. She was made entirely by the Land. This seems to me a hint toward Mythal's strong association with Dragons and being something "more" than just a spirit made flesh, which is what the ancient elves appear to have been.

Being more than the other Evanuris gave Mythal an edge, a way to take any of them on and win. She demonstrates this ability in confrontation with Andruil. This also makes her nigh impossible to defeat, but she has one glaring weakness: her desire to protect the People.

So, when the People kills their first Titan and in the process unleash the Blight, Mythal, having a closer association with the Land (the Stone, the Titans) knows exactly what has happened and sacrifices herself to keep the Taint at bay. She splits herself into seven or eight aspects and buries them as a magical seal against the Taint, replacing the lost Titan. One aspect she keeps on the surface world, to remain among the People.

This sacrifice made her vulnerable and the other Evanuris did not hesitate to strike, causing the Dread Wolf to have to seal them away in turn.

The reason I think this is how it went down is because it explains why Flemeth is after the Old God souls and how she can take it so easily from Kieran. Of course she can take it from him, it was always a part of her. On top of that, it ties into her cryptic comment from Dragon Age II about having more than one body.

Then, the darkspawn are after the uncorrupted Archdemons because they are the seal on the Taint, and they know where they are, because being different from the Stone, they have a different song (Vir Dirthara: Attentive Listeners), which may well be the song that the Darkspawn hear.

What about the actual Old Gods then, that whispered to the ancient Magisters? Well, my usual theory is that they are nothing more than the left over Wells Of Sorrow of the other Evanuris. However, they could just as well be the actual voices of the Elven pantheon.

In either case, the Golden City stood out because in a realm of impermanence, a constant stands out like a sore thumb, and having some knowledge of the Fade and the Veil, would likely promise answers to the state of the world. So the voices in the Magisters' heads were likely obsessed with learning more about the Golden City. So when the voices stopped, either because the magic of the Wells ran out or because the Dread Wolf fixed the last flaw in his prison (or something else?), the Magisters deduced that their gods wanted them to break into the Golden City.

This corrupted the Golden City and made it Black. Why? Because the Veil carries the Taint. There's substantial evidence, but given that the series has been inspired by The Wheel Of Time, it just screams at me that Bioware took that element when they thought up the Veil. And it does explain how breaches in the Veil can corrupt the things around them, when Red Lyrium can't make ghouls, nor can Darkspawn make Red Lyrium.

Did Darkspawn predate the Second Sin, or did the Second Sin predate the Darkspawn? I do not know, nor does it matter for my theory. What does matter is that the Darkspawn are driven to find the seals on the Taint's prison. Are they Dragons? Yes and no? They are part of a dragon (Mythal) and are in fact quite impervious to the Taint, as they would need to be. However, they are not impervious to those beings that actually know about Elven magic: the Magisters.

Someone once speculated that the Archdemons could only be woken by the corresponding Magister, and I think that is entirely true. We see evidence for this with Urthemiel. The Architect could just walk up to Urthemiel to try his inverted Joining, no word of digging for the Old God or treacherous paths to reach it. Well, the fifth Blight seemed long overdue, it actually makes some sense that the Darkspawn in fact found Urthemiel long ago, but because of the Architect's unique condition, he was never driven to properly wake it for the Blight.

An important question remains: if the Archdemons are NOT in fact the Old Gods, why do they look like them? The Magisters come into this. To each of the Elven gods Mythal looked different. Always a dragon, but where one of the Evanuris would focus on nothing but her firebreath, another would see the beauty of her form, while yet another would wonder at the mystery of her power. Ultimately, Mythal was a spirit, even if she was something more, she was still a spirit, and a spirit's form is influenced by those who behold it. So depending on which Magister awakens the Archdemon, it takes on the form that Mythal has in his Old God's mind's eye.

Even with the disfiguration of the Taint, this still allows the Archdemons to mostly look like the depictions that existed throughout the Imperium. It also makes sense that the Tevinter Imperium focused so much on those dragon forms, using the animal forms of the gods would make it blatantly obvious that they stole the Elves' gods and that was not what they wanted. They wanted to show their superiority over the Elves. Elves have always been in awe of dragons, one of the many reason that it was Mythal divine form, so declaring that you serve dragon gods would certainly make an impression on those elves.

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So TL;DR: The buried Archdemons are in fact pieces of Mythal, the whispering Old Gods are in fact the locked away elven gods. An archdemon is saught by the Darkspawn because it is a seal upon the taint. It awakens and takes form when an uncorrupted piece of Mythal is found by a Tainted priest of one of the other Elven gods, their form coming from how that god thought Mythal looked in her dragon form.

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Extra thought: this is why Flemeth never fights the Blight directly. She too, is just a piece of Mythal, and thus vulnerable to being corrupted by the Taint.

[Donquijote and 59 others]

This is all extremely fascinating but....TL DR  

i'm a simple mind so to me old gods=Archdemons

[Verasas]

Wow that does fit.  7 seals on the bore is a Wheel of Time thing.  

[straykat]

I thought Gaider said the Creators had nothing to do with it?

[Gervaise]

How long ago did he say that?   I think the details concerning the past are fairly fluid in the mind of the writers, so at one time they may not have been connected, but that doesn't mean they haven't changed their minds on that one.   Plus the Creators may not have been connected; we now refer  to the elven gods as the Evanuris but it hasn't been made clear if that just refers to the Creators or the whole pantheon of Creators and Forgotten Ones.   The Dalish believe the Dread Wolf was seen as a friend by both, but we know from Trespasser that the Creators/Evanuris certainly didn't see him that way, so may be the Forgotten Ones didn't either.   Alternatively, may be they did.  If the Creators banished them to the Void, then they might have been only too happy to assist Solas with his plans.    Gelduran, who is quoted in Jaws of Hakkon, suggested of the Creators that their pride (Solas?) would be their downfall and he was then going to step in to the vacant position of godhood.   There is also an ancient text that suggests Dumat created the darkspawn.   

 

I have asked elsewhere how people actually identified the arch demons as individual gods; the answer seems to be because they look like their old pictures in the Temples and possibly also they actually identify themselves to the Grey Wardens.   The latter would be pretty definite but I don't think it has been categorically stated anywhere that is the case.    So if their identity is based off old pictures and all contact with the old gods was through the Fade/Dreams, who is to say that if the Forgotten Ones wanted to gain revenge on the Creators, they didn't pretend to be them.   In this scenario the dragons would be what was left of the elven gods on this side of the Veil but I'm happy to go with an alternative idea that they are simply multiple pieces of Mythal, since I'm sure the Forgotten Ones didn't like her either.   Then the Forgotten Ones, who are the source of the Blight, tricked the ancient Magisters into releasing it, knowing that no only would it destroy the races of Thedas but would also be attracted to their old enemies where they were imprisoned and infect them too.

 

Then again, it seems to be hinted in Trespasser that the elven gods may have been responsible for red lyrium and thus the Blight, so who knows?

[myahele]

There was an empty Old God prison deep beneath Heidrun Thaig. In WoT2 a group of Legion of the Dead stumbled upon it and commented that whatever magic bound the Old God still remains somewhat. In the Descent we actually get to explore the Thaig and we see Dwarven-styled dragon sculptures similar to the Primeval Thaig in DA2

 

Why would ancient Dwarves worship/ revere Dragons? Some codex entries in Trespasser makes it seem as if Mythal felt some pitty for the Dwarves and "gave them dreams" ... with Mythal being somewhat related to the Dwarves too then could she have tasked them to protect the Old Gods? Afterall, Mythal is highly associated Dragons. 

 

At the very least it seems as if the Old Gods been underground sleep or bound since Ancient Dwarven history. And as it stands, only Mythal was the only one of the Evanuris to have had a Temple deep underground. Seems as if after killing a Titan, she regretted it and forbade killing the rest? Instead, doing something to seperate the link between Titan and Dwarf.

 

If not part of Mythal herself, perhaps they're parts of The Sun that was said to have razed the world and was sealed deep beneath the Earth only later to be "pardoned" with Mythal convincing Elgar'nan since the sealing of the Sun also made the world slowly decay. Then there's "dragons being the blood of the world" - Yavana. If that's the case, then Old Gods could very well be very important.

[Dai Grepher]

Interesting thought.

But then how does soul cancellation work with this? A Grey Warden who makes the final blow against an archdemon destroys the old god soul and it destroys theirs. If an old god soul is just Mythal's fragmented essence, wouldn't this mean that Mythal's soul is somewhere around halfway destroyed by now? Four out of seven old god essences were destroyed. The Urthemiel essence could be destroyed or could be recovered. Leaving Razikale, Lusican, and Flemeth and perhaps any other fragments. So if the old gods were containers for Mythal's essence fragments, why didn't Mythal come forth with the Dark Ritual before the First Blight? Why did she wait until, somewhere around the Towers Age (I think) to reach out to Flemeth?

But then there is Solas. If he wants Mythal to live, why did he kill Flemeth? Or does he think he can finish the job, and when he does Mythal will be recovered?

Also, why did breaching the Golden City infect the Magisters with the taint if the taint was underground and sealed by Mythal?

About the Magisters hearing the evanuris. I can see this is possible if they plotted to rip open the Veil, but why did they want the Magisters Sidereal to go after the Golden City? Wouldn't they prefer to open the Veil in the locations they are so that they can be freed from Fen'Harel's trap? It doesn't seem to make sense that they would want the Magisters to corrupt Mythal's fragmented essences. Seems to me they would just want to be released so they could hunt down the fragment of Mythal that was roaming free, kill it, and then leave the others in place to keep the taint at bay.

[Aulis Vaara]

1. You assume the Evanuris know a whole ton of things. Flemeth was known to keep a whole ton of things hidden from the other Evanuris because they could not be trusted with it.

2. How would the Evanuris even know about the new mechanics of the fade if they are locked away elsewhere?

3. Why would Mythal give up the secrets to her vulnerabilities to the other Evanuris who so clearly sought after power, especially because it holds back the Taint?

4. Why would they know how the Taint works when Mythal kept it buried, and even her trusted friend Solas doesn't know?

5. Solas killed Mythal because he needed power and she gave him permission. He was too weak to forcibly take it.

6. The Veil was tainted, that's how the Golden City was corrupted, as well as the lyrium beneath the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I thought I said this. How the Veil was tainted I'm not sure, but it's another TWoT parallel.

7. Soul cancellation works the way it has always worked: a soul is not forced upon the unwilling. Of course, if you're rejecting Mythal's soul, you also reject that bit of it that you accepted at your Joining and that has been protecting you from the taint all along.

In fact, that is more reason to like this theory: the Joining is now a ritual where you take in part of a protector goddess to keep you safe from evil.

[Ranadiel Marius]

I agree with the TLDR version. I too theorize that the Old Gods sealed beneath the ground have fragments of Mythal's soul and that the Darkspawn seek them out to break a seal.

However, I think that the seal is a seal upon the "sun" rather than the taint itself (mind you I also think the "sun" is the source of the taint, so that could just be an academic difference).

[Ashagar]

The Tevinter recognized and recorded the appearances of all the old gods though its how the wardens know which archdemon they are facing and in the nightmare's section of the fade you can even find a memory of ancient tevinter priest who recognized his god Dumat and was horrified in the moments before his death. 

[wtfman99]

There was an empty Old God prison deep beneath Heidrun Thaig. In WoT2 a group of Legion of the Dead stumbled upon it and commented that whatever magic bound the Old God still remains somewhat. In the Descent we actually get to explore the Thaig and we see Dwarven-styled dragon sculptures similar to the Primeval Thaig in DA2

 

Why would ancient Dwarves worship/ revere Dragons? Some codex entries in Trespasser makes it seem as if Mythal felt some pitty for the Dwarves and "gave them dreams" ... with Mythal being somewhat related to the Dwarves too then could she have tasked them to protect the Old Gods? Afterall, Mythal is highly associated Dragons. 

 

At the very least it seems as if the Old Gods been underground sleep or bound since Ancient Dwarven history. And as it stands, only Mythal was the only one of the Evanuris to have had a Temple deep underground. Seems as if after killing a Titan, she regretted it and forbade killing the rest? Instead, doing something to seperate the link between Titan and Dwarf.

 

If not part of Mythal herself, perhaps they're parts of The Sun that was said to have razed the world and was sealed deep beneath the Earth only later to be "pardoned" with Mythal convincing Elgar'nan since the sealing of the Sun also made the world slowly decay. Then there's "dragons being the blood of the world" - Yavana. If that's the case, then Old Gods could very well be very important.

 

I think the dragon statues you're thinking of were from Trespasser, no?

 

If so, it's Mythal, but if it's something else (haven't played Descent or DA2 in a while) it could still be Mythal, might not be though. 

[Aulis Vaara]

The Tevinter recognized and recorded the appearances of all the old gods though its how the wardens know which archdemon they are facing and in the nightmare's section of the fade you can even find a memory of ancient tevinter priest who recognized his god Dumat and was horrified in the moments before his death.

What exactly do you think that proves or disproves? Because that's exactly the point: the Tevinter Imperium knew exactly what their gods looked like despite being buried under a fuckton of rock. Whispers or voices don't exactly give you an idea of what something looks like and descriptions are inexact at best. Yet, even after the corruption that comes with being Tainted and is known for severe disfiguration (see Corypheus), the Archdemon Dumat looked so much like his statues that the person who observed him didn't even realize he was corrupted at first. That does not exactly say "disfiguration".

[myahele]

I think the dragon statues you're thinking of were from Trespasser, no?

 

If so, it's Mythal, but if it's something else (haven't played Descent or DA2 in a while) it could still be Mythal, might not be though. 

The lower left statue in DA2

 

And also the left one here in The Descent in Heidrun Thaig

Looked like stylized dragons in Dwarven (maybe even Tevinter) architecture. Not to mention what's clearly a "Claw of Dumat" 

 

Compared to the Elvhen-style Dragons here:

The middle 2 could arguably be Dragons (very stylized; think post modern metal sculpture) only found in Tresspasser elvhen ruins

[Dai Grepher]

1. You assume the Evanuris know a whole ton of things. Flemeth was known to keep a whole ton of things hidden from the other Evanuris because they could not be trusted with it.

Is this in reply to me? I didn't write or assume that the evanuris knew many things. In fact, my first question was about soul cancellation and why Mythal waited so long to start trying to collect her pieces from the archdemons.

2. How would the Evanuris even know about the new mechanics of the fade if they are locked away elsewhere?

I didn't think they would have. My question was about why they wouldn't have the Magisters Sidereal rip open the Veil in locations where the evanuris were trapped so they could be released. Encouraging them to enter the Golden City doesn't make sense. Telling them the power of the gods was there doesn't make sense either.

3. Why would Mythal give up the secrets to her vulnerabilities to the other Evanuris who so clearly sought after power, especially because it holds back the Taint?

Never wrote that she would. But she apparently gave Flemeth the knowledge of the Dark Ritual. So why didn't she find some loyal servant to inform during the First Blight so that the essence within the Archdemon would be preserved through the Dark Ritual?

4. Why would they know how the Taint works when Mythal kept it buried, and even her trusted friend Solas doesn't know?

I don't think you understood my question. You're claiming that the old god dragons contain a fragment of Mythal's essence. So in face of the Blight corrupting one of those dragons, wouldn't it behoove Mythal to tell a trusted servant about the Dark Ritual in order to extract that essence from the Archdemon and prevent a Grey Warden from soul cancelling it?

5. Solas killed Mythal because he needed power and she gave him permission. He was too weak to forcibly take it.

This doesn't seem to be in keeping with Solas' moral stance of how wrong it was for the evanuris to kill Mythal.

6. The Veil was tainted, that's how the Golden City was corrupted, as well as the lyrium beneath the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I thought I said this. How the Veil was tainted I'm not sure, but it's another TWoT parallel.

That seems implausible. The Veil is just a magical vibration that repels the Fade. The Magisters were in the Fade. I don't see how the Veil would have any effect on the Golden City. And if the Veil is tainted in one spot, then why hasn't it spread across the entire Veil by now?

As for the lyrium beneath the temple, I think that would have more to do with Corypheus than anything else. I doubt the lyrium was tainted during the events of Origins.

7. Soul cancellation works the way it has always worked: a soul is not forced upon the unwilling. Of course, if you're rejecting Mythal's soul, you also reject that bit of it that you accepted at your Joining and that has been protecting you from the taint all along.

But then why wouldn't Mythal come forward with the Dark Ritual immediately in order to prevent her essence fragments from being destroyed? And if the soul is never forced upon the unwilling, how can a Grey Warden draw the soul in the first place? Why wouldn't the essence simply not try to possess the Warden?

Also, on a side note, Cory seems to be able to force his soul upon the unwilling. Don't see why Mythal wouldn't be able to do this.

In fact, that is more reason to like this theory: the Joining is now a ritual where you take in part of a protector goddess to keep you safe from evil.

But the essence isn't "evil". It's Mythal. Isn't it? And if you already took part of her in willingly during the Joining, then you should be able to hold the fragment of her essence.

[Aulis Vaara]

Is this in reply to me? I didn't write or assume that the evanuris knew many things. In fact, my first question was about soul cancellation and why Mythal waited so long to start trying to collect her pieces from the archdemons.

I started from the back.

I didn't think they would have. My question was about why they wouldn't have the Magisters Sidereal rip open the Veil in locations where the evanuris were trapped so they could be released. Encouraging them to enter the Golden City doesn't make sense. Telling them the power of the gods was there doesn't make sense either.

Again. How would they know? How would they know where they are? Even if the Magisters could hear the actual Evanuris and it's not just their Well Of Sorrows equivalents, how would the either of them have any idea of the metaphysical locations of each of their realms. The Golden City stands out. It's a constant in an ever changing realm and thus likely the best place to start.

Never wrote that she would. But she apparently gave Flemeth the knowledge of the Dark Ritual. So why didn't she find some loyal servant to inform during the First Blight so that the essence within the Archdemon would be preserved through the Dark Ritual?

Flemeth = Mythal. And she was not around during the first Blight. She may be a goddess, but she can't just do anything she wants. And she hasn't been around during ANY previous Blight. She took the first chance she had and succeeded.

I don't think you understood my question. You're claiming that the old god dragons contain a fragment of Mythal's essence. So in face of the Blight corrupting one of those dragons, wouldn't it behoove Mythal to tell a trusted servant about the Dark Ritual in order to extract that essence from the Archdemon and prevent a Grey Warden from soul cancelling it?

See above, she hasn't had the chance before.

This doesn't seem to be in keeping with Solas' moral stance of how wrong it was for the evanuris to kill Mythal.

Yeah well, Solas is clearly a pride demon equivalent now. He's been able to justify killing close friends before, he's already gone off the deep end.

That seems implausible. The Veil is just a magical vibration that repels the Fade. The Magisters were in the Fade. I don't see how the Veil would have any effect on the Golden City. And if the Veil is tainted in one spot, then why hasn't it spread across the entire Veil by now?

It is. The Veil IS tainted all over. That's why bringing it down will be an utter disaster for everything. The point is, that Taint isn't going to show itself very obviously unless you make a big enough hole in the Veil so that it can actually seep out. Like when you try to invade the Golden City. In other cases it simply ebbs and flows with the Veil itself. It's only when you create an actual breach that it can seep out on its own and corrupt its surroundings.

As for the lyrium beneath the temple, I think that would have more to do with Corypheus than anything else. I doubt the lyrium was tainted during the events of Origins.

It clearly wasn't tainted during Origins. And even Corypheus had no way to taint existing Lyrium. He had to grab the source from the Primeval Thaig and then implant it in living beings to make it grow.

But then why wouldn't Mythal come forward with the Dark Ritual immediately in order to prevent her essence fragments from being destroyed? And if the soul is never forced upon the unwilling, how can a Grey Warden draw the soul in the first place? Why wouldn't the essence simply not try to possess the Warden?

Well no, the soul jumps automatically to the nearest tainted creature. We know this and it's clearly true. It's the inherent contradiction between Mythal's essence and the Taint of the Archdemon. The Taint tries to save the Archdemon, but Mythal's essence means it can't actually move where it wants. Neither is an intelligent agent that can actually *choose* to do something. They're just some rules of how their magic works and in this one instance, the rules contradict each other, allowing the good guys to win. Apparently the fallout is bad enough that the good guy dies as well.

Also, on a side note, Cory seems to be able to force his soul upon the unwilling. Don't see why Mythal wouldn't be able to do this.

Mythal is a spirit or spirit equivalent, Corypheus is not.

Corypheus is an agent of the Taint, that horrible magic that destroys pretty much anything it touches. Mythal is a being from a dimension where willpower shapes reality.

But the essence isn't "evil". It's Mythal. Isn't it? And if you already took part of her in willingly during the Joining, then you should be able to hold the fragment of her essence.

You should. But do you know any Warden that would let an Archdemon possess them?

[Gervaise]

The odd thing about Corypheus is that darkspawn are meant to taint everything they touch but in fact Corypheus doesn't.     Look at the number of people he comes into contact with in DAI who suffer no ill effects whatsoever, particularly the Inquisitor.     Red lyrium on the other hand does seem to taint everything it touches, even if it is only the mind of the person.   Corypheus didn't create that though, it was around before he came into existence.  

[Aulis Vaara]

The odd thing about Corypheus is that darkspawn are meant to taint everything they touch but in fact Corypheus doesn't.

Well, that is not and can't be true. If it were, fighting Darkspawn would be impossible. Darkspawn do spread the taint, but not to everything they touch, or not succesfully anyway.

It's likely their blood that contains the Taint and which is infectious, and thus the reason why Corypheus doesn't infect anyone is because he no longer uses his blood to perform magic. Reason number two is that his inner circle is already infected with the Taint anyway.
 

Red lyrium on the other hand does seem to taint everything it touches, even if it is only the mind of the person.

Even allowing for gameplay and story segregation, the fact that Red Lyrium affects the mind may come in large parts from Lyrium and not from the Taint. Afterall, Lyrium was already hazardous long before it got a Tainted version.

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I really wish Bioware put some effort into gameplay and story integration, because this makes it very hard to tell what is real and what is not.

[Gervaise]

Darkspawn may not literally affect everything they touch but the original lore was that they were very risky and not just when using blood magic, which the majority of them do not.   The teaching of the Chant (probably wholly incorrect as it turns out) was meant to be that the darkspawn simply coming into contact with the sleeping old god tainted it and transformed it into the Blighted archdemon.   From what I recall, when the Architect found Urthemiel it was simply making contact with him that caused the archdemon to rise before he even had a chance to do his ritual (again suggesting the old god was already infected).    If you spare the Disciple and he continues to wander the countryside helping travellers, he does end up infecting them though people don't realise he is the cause.  

 

I'm pretty sure that the taint existed underground long before the Magisters got involved and it is possible that the old gods were either imprisoned because they were already infected or were simply in some form of uthenera (which I don't think is confined to elves) and were infected from the surrounding rocks as they slept.  What seems to confirm this is that there is a codex about the legion of the dead finding an empty old god prison deep underground beneath an old abandoned thaig.   This means the old god must have been shut in at a very early period before the dwarves developed their thaig culture, which seems contemporaneous with the rise of Tevinter and thus after the Evanuris were imprisoned.    The dwarf recounting this also says that the prison itself had a bad vibe even though it had been long empty as though what he could sense was the magic used to contain the dragon (or alternatively the creature had always been tainted and this had seeped into the surrounding rock - my idea not his).

 

There seems a lot of evidence to suggest that actually the ancient elven empire was largely underground; we keep finding evidence of elven ruins that you have to go underground to access.   Even the Temple of Mythal has a large subterranean area.   If dragons originally ruled the skies then this would make sense as the surface would have been rather dangerous and the Mythal at least (who was said to be the one responsible for building cities) wanted to keep her subjects safe.

 

Bodhan was also shown a glittering wall deep underground which had illustrations of dwarves, elves, dragons and other creatures that Bodhan did not recognise.   So there was some subterranean culture prior to the current dwarven one which created this wall recording their deeds.    This is where he first encountered Sandal.

 

I also rather hope that things will be made clearer in the next instalment as currently the lore has become more confusing as we make discoveries rather than less so.   At present it does seem as though the Tevinter histories and the dwarven Shaparate have been covering up what they really know of the past because I just don't believe they are totally ignorant of the truth.   The reason Tevinter was so determined to wipe out elven culture was probably down to this as well.