Anderfels

The Anderfels is a kingdom in northwestern Thedas. It is located north of Nevarra and Orlais and west of the Tevinter Imperium. The Anderfels is best known for being the birthplace of the Grey Wardens and the site of their headquarters, Weisshaupt Fortress.

History
An old name for the land of Anderfels is the Orthlands. Anderfels was originally the western part of the Tevinter Imperium, from which it separated after a rebellion in -695 Ancient (500 TE). It was reconquered by Tevinter in -535 Ancient (660 TE). After almost 100 years of bitter war with the darkspawn during the First Blight, the order of the Grey Wardens was founded and in -305 Ancient (890 TE) Weisshaupt was built. The Blight was then slowly pushed back during the next century or so.

After the First Blight, Tevinter held on to the Anderfels for about 200 years, but abandoned it in an effort to protect central Tevinter when the Second Blight began in 1:5 Divine (1199 TE). The Anderfels was nearly destroyed by the Blight, but saved by Emperor Kordillus Drakon, starting with the lifting of the siege of Weisshaupt in 1:33 Divine, and joined to the Orlesian Empire as well as converted to the Chantry. After the death of Drakon, his successor Kordillus II could not hold the empire together and the Anderfels broke free again in 1:65 Divine. The Second Blight was ended in 1:95 Divine.

The Third Blight from 3:10 Towers to 3:25 Towers mostly maimed areas to south and east of the Anderfels, starting in Tevinter and Orlais and being ended in the Free Marches. The Anderfels got off relatively easily. This didn't last, however. In 5:12 Exalted, the Fourth Blight began and spread to the Anderfels, the darkspawn laying siege to Hossberg, which was released by an army led by the Grey Warden hero Garahel in 5:20 Exalted. The Blight was again decided elsewhere, this time in eastern Antiva in 5:20 Exalted.

Climate
The arid landscape of the Anderfels experiences dangerously hot summers. During cooler months dust storms blow inland and make farming all but impossible.

Geography
Geographically, the Anderfels consists mostly of steppes, largely deserted after weathering the most severe Blights. The capital is Hossberg, located northwest from Weisshaupt. The area is bordered by the Wandering Hills and the Donarks to the North; the Colean Sea to the East, and the Tevinter Imperium to the Southeast. Also on its southern borders lies beneath the Hunterhorn Mountains the great thaig of Kal-Sharok, once capital of the dwarven empire.

Cities

 * Hossberg – capital
 * Kassel
 * Laysh
 * Nordbotten
 * Sundarin
 * Tallo
 * Tallo's Eye

Fortresses

 * Weisshaupt Fortress

Regions

 * Blightlands
 * Broken Tooth - a jagged butte, Weisshaupt Fortress is built on its edge
 * Hunterhorn Mountains
 * Lattenfluss
 * Merdaine
 * Wandering Hills – home of the Orth people

Notable sites

 * Our Lady of the Anderfels: a giant white sculpture of Andraste, holding an eternal flame, carved into the Merdaine near Weisshaupt.

Our Lady of the Anderfels

"A land filled with wonders like the Merdaine, with its gigantic white statue of Our Lady carved into its face, her hands outstretched and bearing an eternal flame." Genitivi's words, brief as they were, inspired me. The stone prophet sounded magnificent. I had to see her for myself.

I trekked up the Imperial Highway, concealing my identity and taking care not to seem like a foreigner. At Vol Dorma, a neglected road led west. Soon the dry land gave way to absolute desolation. Red earth. Bones. Blowing sand stripped my face raw. When it cleared, I could see for miles - not that there was anything to see. The few settlements I encountered were populated with derelicts and Chantry zealots. They warned me of worse trials, should I continue to the Merdaine.

Eventually I turned back, opting for a smaller statue in a place the Maker hadn't abandoned.

—Brother Berard, Perendale Chantry cleric

Culture and society
The people of Anderfels are known as Anders. An old name for Anderfels is the Orthlands, and due to this an old name for its people is Orth, but Orth has since come to refer to people living in the Wandering Hills region of Anderfels, who practice scarification of their faces as a part of their culture.

Anderfels houses the headquarters of the Grey Wardens, Weisshaupt Fortress. The king resides in Hossberg and generally ignores the citizens of the Anderfels as he is mainly interested in maintaining the order and comfort of the capital city to the exclusion of anything else. This distant monarch is protected by royal tribunals who also function to enforce the laws he creates; being a highly religious nation, these tribunals administer justice for the sake of "absolution". According to Riordan, the king of the Anderfels is weak and the people refer to the Grey Wardens for leadership. He also states that there are over a thousand Wardens present in the Anderfels. The Anderfels is the last place where the Grey Wardens have retained their importance over the centuries. They hold political power equal to an Orlesian baron or Fereldan teyrn, a power they have recently taken greater advantage of.

Stationed at Weisshaupt, the First Warden is intended to be the commander of all Grey Wardens throughout Thedas, though in practice the entanglements of Anders politicking leave this individual functioning mainly as a figurehead. This results in considerable responsibility being laid at the feet of the regional Warden-Commanders. One of the tasks of the First Warden is to act as adviser to the preoccupied king in matters of state. Intriguingly, the First Warden has recently begun to criticize the nation's monarchy, suggesting that the leader of the Wardens is considering a grab for the throne.

Outside of the cities, most Anders live in small but self-sufficient outposts and villages. The importance of the Wardens to the Anderfels is shown here as they are the only real source of authority in such remote areas and maintain some presence even in the distant and thinly peopled hinterlands.

Anders are the only non-dwarven people to fight the darkspawn on a regular basis as they remain a constant menace and can appear almost anywhere at anytime. As a result the population lives in constant fear and vigilance. They are the hardened warriors who fight grimly against an enemy that they cannot defeat: the rest of Thedas is remote enough that their plight is easily ignored. The Anders are a poor people who live in a devastated land of vast, stark steppes, though their proud culture remains, and they are likely the most pious followers of the Chantry in Thedas, praying for a day when they are released from the clutches of the Blight.

The sculptures of Ander artisans, which usually have religious content, are the most prized and sought-after in all of Thedas, especially within circles of the Orlesian nobility who would pay exorbitant prices in order to have them. However, members of the Dwarven Merchants' Guild who act as the middle party in these transactions keep most of the profits as "handling fees" while the artisans receive very little, if any.

The Chantry's presence is felt strongly in the Anderfels and worship of the Maker is expected of a citizen. Even the king's laws are seen as having religious underpinnings and their violation can be punishable with death in Hossberg.

Notable people with Anderfels origins



 * Woolsey
 * Anders
 * Kilina

Language
The language used in Anderfels is called Ander.
 * The Anders people were the first to fight the darkspawn, and it is from their language that genlock and hurlock received their names.

Trivia

 * Writer David Gaider has stated that the Anderfels are "German in character, maybe a bit more on the Visigoth side."