Flemeth

"There are men who struggle against destiny, and yet achieve only an early grave. There are men who flee destiny, only to have it swallow them whole. And there are men who embrace destiny, and do not show their fear. These are the ones that change the world forever."

The mother of Morrigan, Flemeth has a difficult, at times adversarial relationship with her daughter, whom she has raised to hold mankind in contempt and value power above all else. She is a strong-willed woman with a lust for power. However, early in the games, she is quite helpful and friendly to the Warden and Hawke, both of whom's lives she saved.

Background
The name "Flemeth" apparently belonged to a legendary and fearsome personage that walked the wilds centuries ago. According to legend, the daughters of Flemeth can kill a man by fear alone. The "Witch of the Wilds" is not a clan so much as a superstitious name the locals of the Korcari Wilds have given to the infamous Flemeth and her daughters. According to Morrigan, she is in fact possessed or in a symbiotic relationship with a demon, thereby classifying her as an abomination, albeit a strangely human-appearing abomination. However, at the end of the Witch Hunt DLC, before Morrigan uses the Eluvian to enter a world "beyond this world, beyond the Fade", she states that Flemeth is not a blood mage, not an abomination, and not even truly human.

Story
“Once there was a great templar, shining and proud, righteous in his faith in the Maker’s will. So proud was he that, upon hearing legends of Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds, he embarked on a quest to find and slay her on his own, leaving his home in Redcliffe behind.

On his way to the Korcari Wilds, the templar came to the village of Rossleigh on the western roads. There he spoke to a young woman that had heard tales of the witch from the Chasind wilder folk. ‘She is a monster,’ said the woman, ‘terrible in her temper and wild in her beauty. She is the hand of the cold, the wet, and the dark. Above all these things she is a myth, and not worth any man’s pain to find.’ But the templar would not heed such hearsay, and so he pressed on.

The templar came to Lothering, where the world gathers at the edge of the Wilds. There he met a woman, a mother that had been telling her child of the dangers of the great forest. ‘Yes, I know of her,’ said the mother. ‘She is a creature of legend, a cautionary tale of the limits to where man should go. Not even a powerful templar can kill a warning, sir.’ But the templar was sure that the Witch was more than just a symbol, and so he continued his quest.

And then the templar entered the Korcari Wilds, home to the savage Chasind people, and he found a village elder, a cracked and bent old woman who was willing to speak in his language. ‘She steals men’s souls at the end of the green,’ said the crone, ‘where hearts turn to ice and blood runs blue. Even a templar dare not go after her, for the land bends to her will, and that templar’s life will be drawn before his sword.’ But the templar bristled against such doubt of his skill and the Maker’s glory and he charged off to find the witch.

And he reached the end of the green, where the Wilds touch snow and frost, and there he did indeed find a cabin huddled against the wind. And there he found a lovely young woman tending a garden that grew even through the frost, and he approached her to ask after the witch.

‘You have come far, good templar,’ purred the young woman, exotic and dark in her beauty. ‘And it is time that you should rest.’

‘I will rest only when the Witch of the Wild has been killed,’ said the templar, ‘Tell me where she is!’ The templar pointed his sword at the young woman, who smiled warmly as the templar felt a knife enter his back.

‘I am myth, and warning, and the thief of souls,’ whispered his killer. ‘I am all those things you heard of me, and I was all those people with whom you spoke.’ And the templar doubled over and fell to his knees, turning to face the voice and finding but a blur. ‘And I am the last thing you will never see.’

The templar’s quest ended there, at the feet of the Witch and her dark daughter. Ever since, all have known never to ask after the Witch of the Wilds, never to seek the one named Flemeth, lest they find her.”

“The Witch of the Wilds”, as told by the minstrel Ensuelo in the taverns of Antiva.

Quotes

 * "You are required to do nothing, least of all believe. Shut one's eyes tight or open one's arms wide, either way, one's a fool."
 * "Either the threat is more or they realize less. Or perhaps the threat is nothing! Or perhaps they realize nothing! (laughs)"
 * "Such manners! And always in the last place you look... like stockings!"
 * "Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature."
 * "Why dance at all? Why not sing? (laughs)"
 * "It is a dance poor Flemeth knows well. Let us see if she remember the steps!"
 * "Choice...There is great power in choices, as there are in lies. I shall give one of each."
 * "Come. She will earn what she takes. I’d have it no other way."


 * Flemeth: Yes, men desired Flemeth then, and some even killed for her....
 * Warden: Are you sure they didn't die from horror?
 * Flemeth: You will need that smart mouth for more than asking me silly questions.


 * Warden: I'm not sure what to believe.
 * Flemeth: "A statement that possesses more wisdom than it implies. 'Be always aware.' Or is it 'oblivious?' I can never remember."


 * Warden: Believed or not, some things must simply be accepted.
 * Flemeth: Ah, there is the answer I sought. An open mind, and not one made of mush.


 * Warden: What's the point?
 * Flemeth: (laughs) How true! So says the shoe to the foot and the foot to the leg, but we all move as one.


 * Flemeth: Considering what the world has done to me, I have already done more than it deserves.
 * Warden: And what has the world done to you?
 * Flemeth: That is between the world and me.


 * Flemeth: There are men who struggle against destiny, and yet achieve only an early grave. There are men who flee destiny, only to have it swallow them whole. And there are men who embrace destiny, and do not show their fear. These are the ones that change the world forever.


 * Flemeth: Hurtled into the chaos, you fight... and the world will shake before you. Is it fate or chance? I can never decide.


 * Aveline: I know what she is. The Witch of the Wilds.
 * Flemeth: Some call me that. Also Flemeth. Asha'belannar. "An old hag who talks too much!" (laughs)


 * Flemeth: Without an end, there can be no peace. It gets no easier. Your struggles have only just begun...


 * Flemeth: There is always a catch. Life is a catch! I suggest you catch it while you still can.


 * Hawke: Just how much trouble will this delivery be?
 * Flemeth: Just as much trouble as me saving you five minutes ago.
 * Hawke: Good point.
 * Flemeth: If you'd knew my daughter, you'd know how seldom I hear that.

Trivia

 * To the Dalish, Flemeth is known as asha 'belannar or the "Woman of Many Years."


 * She looks much younger in Dragon Age II than in Dragon Age: Origins.


 * After she saves Hawke and his/her company she mentions Alistair and The Warden as the only Grey Warden survivors of the Battle of Ostagar


 * Her first words in Dragon Age 2 are " Well, well... what have we here?" The same words first spoken by Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins.


 * In all her appearances to date, Flemeth is voiced by Kate Mulgrew, who is most famous for her role on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Janeway.


 * Flemeth is aware of the name the Dalish have for her. This could be a reference to the Dalish that brought Maric and Loghain to her in The Calling. It can be presumed that the clan was ironically Ariane's clan.


 * In dialogue when a sarcastic options is chosen Flemeth will mention Morrigan, but not by name and Morrigan does not make an appearence in that scene.