Battle of Ostagar

The Battle of Ostagar was a major engagement during the Fifth Blight between the kingdom of Ferelden and the Darkspawn Horde, and arguably the catalyst for the Fereldan Civil War.

Background
When the darkspawn appeared en masse in the northern Korcari Wilds, King Cailan formed his army and marched south to Ostagar along with his friend and advisor Teyrn Loghain, hoping to end the advance of the darkspawn before they could penetrate Ferelden's heartland. Ostagar was chosen for its excellent strategic position; the old fortress had been built by the Tevinter Imperium in ages past to shield against a Chasind invasion, and while old, the fortifications would serve the king's army well. Such was the haste of Cailan's march that many of his vassals were still gathering their troops by the time he arrived, including the Couslands, Howes and his uncle Arl Eamon. That being said, Cailan's force was still sizable, and included numerous mages from the Circle of Magi and the entirety of Ferelden's Grey Wardens. The latter had sensed the presence of an Archdemon leading the horde, and had gathered all their strength in hopes of bringing the creature down and ending the Blight in its infancy, even sending word to their comrades in Orlais to rally their forces. Before following the army, Duncan set off in search of Grey Warden recruits, and found three candidates: Ser Jory, Daveth and the Warden.

Pre-Battle Skirmishes
By the time Duncan arrived at Ostagar with the Warden in tow, the army of Ferelden had already won three major battles and there had been several small skirmishes in the Wilds with the Fereldans losing several patrols including Fergus Cousland's troops. Disturbingly, the Horde only seemed to be getting bigger. Even so, Cailan remained confident of victory, and without the visible presence of an Archdemon unifying the horde, many had begun to believe that what they were facing was just a large darkspawn raid, rather than a true Blight, though the Grey Wardens knew better.

War Council
Teyrn Loghain cautioned King Cailan of the dangers of this campaign. But King Cailan countered that if that was so then perhaps they should ask reinforcements from Orlais to which Loghain vehemently object. As compromise they decide to prepare battle with what they have on hand currently.

Along with his advisors, Teyrn Loghain devised a plan to destroy the darkspawn horde in one single decisive battle. The plan is to entice the Darkspawn army into charging ahead into a tight engagement where afterwards the rest of the Fereldan army would close the trap by attacking from behind. The Fereldans are to be deployed into 2 parts: The lure, and the ambush attack.

The idea is to present a target for the Darkspawn enticing enough for them to commit into an all out attack. Thus by requirement the Lure army must be relatively small and looks to be cornered. Anticipating tight quarters combat, the Lure army's to be manned by the Fereldan's best troops, provided by King Cailan's own elites and himself, and the best of the Grey Wardens including Duncan.

Once the enemy army's fully entangled in the attack, a signal's to be sent from the Tower of Ishal, Teyrn Loghain and his troops and the bulk of Fereldan force would spring the ambush, coming out of hiding behind the Horde and attack, trapping the then fully engaged darkspawn between the two forces and destroying them. It was hoped that the narrowness of the valley that led to Ostagar would effectively keep the darkspawn hemmed in and unable to bring their full strength to bear against the defenders, enabling the Fereldens to destroy the horde.

Battle Of Ostagar
Cailan and his troops waited by their defenses as the Horde came out of the Korcari Wilds and upon finding a small and cornered Fereldans, mounted the attack.

The battle began well enough according to plan. The Darkspawn Horde began their charge, Fereldan waited for them to come closer, further luring them in as per battle plan. Once close enough Cailan ordered his archers and ballistas to fire a volley to blunt the Darkspawn incoming charge. Then the Mabari hounds attacked to check the Darkspawn attack. And in that momentary confusion amongst Darkspawn ranks, Cailan ordered his own counter charge, seizing temporary advantage in this close quarters battle. A vicious melee between the defenders of Ostagar and the darkspawn forces then ensued.

Inside Ostagar, the two Grey Wardens assigned to lighting the beacon atop the Tower of Ishal, Alistair and the Warden, made their way to their objective and discovered that the Tower of Ishal had been captured by darkspawn. Linking up with a group of soldiers, the Grey Wardens made their way into the tower. The group fought their way to the top of the tower and lit the beacon.

However, upon seeing the signal, Loghain instructed Ser Cauthrien to order his troops to quit the field instead of springing the ambush attack as per battle plan, abandoning Cailan, his army and the Wardens. With Loghain's retreat and the cornered and now exhausted Fereldans against the still overwhelming numbers of the darkspawn horde, the battle swiftly turned into a massacre. Cailan himself fell to an ogre, who grabbed him and partially crushed him, then threw him to the ground; enraged by the king's death, Duncan drew his blades, charged the ogre and drove both his weapons into its heart, avenging Cailan's death. With all hope lost, Duncan watched as the last remnants of the king's army were slaughtered by the darkspawn, and stayed next to Cailan's body until he too was slain by a darkspawn (possibly the darkspawn general or the Hurlock Vanguard) as the full might of the horde made its final assault.

With the death of the king and as Loghain's retreat became clear, what remained of the army attempted to rout, a mere fraction surviving as the darkspawn concerned themselves with either feasting on the dead or finishing off the wounded. The darkspawn then retook the Tower of Ishal, killing the troops inside and wounding the Grey Wardens, who escaped death only due to the intervention of the witch, Flemeth.

Aftermath
As a result of Cailan's death, the country descended into chaos. The loss of the king and so many of his army left Ferelden increasingly undefended, and the darkspawn were able to push northwards into the nation's heartland, unopposed by any force of significant size. Ferelden soldiers were still active in attempting to protect the roads of Ferelden from darkspawn, but could do little against the main horde. As a result, many thousands would die and much of the country would be ravaged by the Blight until an army could be assembled to confront it. Cailan's death and the advance of the horde also caused a civil breakdown in Ferelden, as banditry and brigandage became commonplace with gangs of highwaymen taking advantage of the chaos to prey upon refugees, trade caravans and undefended townships. This situation was not helped by darkspawn warbands advancing ahead of the horde, spreading terror and disrupting the nation's supply lines and attempts at defense.

Meanwhile, Teyrn Loghain returned to Denerim and denounced the Grey Wardens as traitors after pronouncing himself regent, setting into motion the Ferelden Civil War. The border with Orlais was sealed, preventing the arrival of the Grey Wardens of that nation to aid against the Blight, and Loghain appointed the treacherous Arl Rendon Howe as his second-in-command, leading to numerous atrocities as he sought to stabilize his control over Ferelden. Immediately, Loghain faced opposition from Bann Teagan and the independent freeholders of the Bannorn, and the recovery of Arl Eamon from his strange illness resulted in two distinct political factions emerging to fight for control over the throne.

The most lingering loss of Ostagar was that of Ferelden's Grey Wardens, all of whom had been slain along with the king, thus depriving the nation of its most valuable allies against the darkspawn when they needed them most. Only two survived; Alistair and the Warden, both of whom were rescued with the aid of Flemeth and her daughter, Morrigan, and recovered in the Korcari Wilds. Their survival ultimately spelt the downfall of both Loghain and the Blight, as the two were able to rally an army to Ferelden's cause and defeat the former hero in the Landsmeet, thus uniting Ferelden in time to confront the archdemon at the Battle of Denerim.

It would be seven years after Ostagar before the casualties of the battle could be sorted, causing many survivors who fled to the Free Marches to be considered dead. Ferelden offered to reinstate the commissions of any surviving officers in the years following the Blight.

Perhaps the most interesting consequence of the battle would not be felt until some ten years later. Following Ferelden's defeat at Ostagar, the nearby village of Lothering was swiftly overrun by the darkspawn. Amongst the refugees fleeing the community was a young human by the name of Hawke, who would become a central figure in the years that followed, rising to prominence in the Free Marches and eventually becoming the Champion of Kirkwall.