Verse: Lights of Arlathan

• Muse: Tavares Umbrafae
• Fandom: Dragon Age

Applicable Dossier

This verse applies to the following dossier:

• Lights of Arlathan

Availability

• unplotted
• plotted

Quick Summary

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Summary

Tavares is a direct descendant of the refugees of Arlathan who found sanctuary in Cadash Thaig and survived the thaig's destruction by the army of Kal-Sharok. The survivors never returned to the surface, and most believe these "Drow" to be myths... or tainted by the blight.

Details

• Tavares was born in 8:42 Blessed in a glacial cave hidden from the rest of Thedas where the Aevendrow took refuge after the destruction of Cadash Thaig.
• This cave is in the uncharted territories south of the Frostback Mountains and to the west of the Korcari Wilds — the city of Callidae, inhabited solely by Aevendrow, has been built within the glacial ice cave in a permanently frozen corner of Thedas so remote most believe the region to be completely uninhabitable.
• The Aevendrow are most commonly the descendants of the slaves freed by Fen'Harel during his rebellion against the Evanuris, and they continue to revere him throughout the many generations since.
• A few inactive eluvians exist in and around Callidae, though many more are outright broken — the elders in the city whisper of sentinels and agents for when their god returns, but with each shattered eluvian and the simple passage of time, hope struggles to take hold of even the most devout of Fen'Harel's followers.
• A unique quirk of these drow, however, is that unlike most elves, whose lifespans are now closer to that of humans, they are capable of living for centuries, reaching upwards to 700 to nearly 1000 years old.
• Tavares encounters an extremely powerful being who is known only as the Prince of Frost when she is 42 — well below the age of majority for an Aevendrow at 100 — and is subsequently enslaved by the being for the next 50+ years before she agrees to be magically bound to him in order to regain even a fraction of her freedom.
• While trapped in the Prince's frozen fortress, she experiences it as only "seven years and a day" — it's possible that his Fortress of Frozen Tears is deeply connected to the Fade, which leads to the warped perception of time.
• Upon her return to Callidae, she is deemed to be Fadetouched, and in a desperate bid to protect the city from this entity, she is exiled from the city.
• Tavares finds an active eluvian that allows her to get further than she would have achieved otherwise, and finds herself in the Dread Wolf's Crossroads — possibly even leading to her crossing paths with Fen'Harel himself and/or his agents.
• Tav is likely to be wary of most people — particularly humans, given the increased risk of slavery, with her appearance being unique to the surface of Thedas and Aevendrow being so rare hardly anyone believes they even exist — though she will be more open to other elves so long as they're not hostile towards her.
• She is unaware of the world at large, being from such an isolated settlement — only the darkspawn are known to be a problem for Callidae as well, though not as badly as if it were connected directly to the Deep Roads.

Arlathan Refugee Worship Parallels

Timeline