Flemeth

"I am a fly in the ointment. I am a whisper in the shadows. I am also an old, old woman. More than that you need not know."

Flemeth is a shapeshifter, known as 'the Witch of the Wilds', 'Mother of Vengeance' among the Chasind or Asha'bellanar ("woman of many years" in Elvish). She is widely recognized as the eponymous character of an age-old legend, described variously as extremely powerful and long-lived or even immortal, and having many daughters, all of whom are witches like their mother.

Background
Flemeth was once an Alamarri noble, the wife to Bann Conobar Elstan of Highever.

"Ages ago, legend says Bann Conobar took to wife a beautiful young woman who harbored a secret talent for magic: Flemeth of Highever. And for a time they lived happily, until the arrival of a young poet, Osen, who captured the lady's heart with his verse.

They turned to the Chasind tribes for help and hid from Conobar's wrath in the Wilds, until word came to them that Conobar lay dying: His last wish was to see Flemeth's face one final time.

The lovers returned, but it was a trap. Conobar killed Osen, and imprisoned Flemeth in the highest tower of the castle. In grief and rage, Flemeth worked a spell to summon a spirit into this world to wreak vengeance upon her husband. Vengeance, she received, but not as she planned. The spirit took possession of her, turning Flemeth into an abomination. A twisted, maddened creature, she slaughtered Conobar and all his men, and fled back into the Wilds.

For a hundred years, Flemeth plotted, stealing men from the Chasind to sire monstrous daughters: Horrific things that could kill a man with fear. These Korcari witches led an army of Chasind from the Wilds to strike at the Alamarri tribes. They were defeated by the hero Cormac, and all the witches burned, so they say, but even now the Wilders whisper that Flemeth lives on in the marsh, and she and her daughters steal those men who come too near."

Flemeth is said to have been born in Highever in 3:00 Twers. However, according to Brother Genitivi, there is no actual evidence of a "Bann Connobar Elstan" or a "Flemeth of Highever" having existed. Some people speculate that the legend might refer to Teyrn Talemal, son of Caedmon, who tried to unite Ferelden before being killed by his wife, whom he'd imprisoned for unfaithfulness but had been released by sympathetic servants.

Many legends shroud the mystery of how she became the Witch of the Wilds, a fearsome personage that walked the Wilds for centuries. Her title is, however, not a true one, but rather a superstitious name the locals of the Korcari Wilds gave to her. The Chasind often paint Flemeth in the shape of a great dragon or serpent that only the truly desperate would turn towards. Flemeth offers vengeance, but rarely in the way one expects, and most petitioners come to regret their wishes. To the Dalish, she's a vengeful and sometimes capricious being, just as likely to kill a supplicant as help them.

Flemeth appears often in Fereldan tales. In one legend, an old witch is said to have approached Calenhad Theirin to offer him the power to unite the Alamarri tribes and form a kingdom. She also appears in many versions of Dane and the Werewolf and is also said to have helped King Maric Theirin retake the Fereldan throne.

Flemeth has an almost unsettling tendency to be involved in the lives of a number of Ferelden's most noted citizens. Although she is most associated with the Korcari Wilds to the south of that nation, tales of her have reached much farther afield: stories of her are sung as far north as Antiva, and the Seekers of Truth know she is more than just a legend.

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

 * "There are things hidden in the shadows of your kingdom, young man, which you couldn't begin to guess."
 * (To Loghain) "You've rage enough inside you, tempered into a blade of fine steel. Into whose heart will you plunge that one day, I wonder?"
 * (To Maric) "You will hurt the ones you love the most, and become what you hate in order to save what you love."

Dragon Age: Origins

 * "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."
 * "Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature."
 * "I laugh at a world full of stupid humans, who ignore the Blight's evil and abandon their vigilance to pursue mortal goals."

Dragon Age II

 * "Hurtled into the chaos, you fight... and the world will shake before you." (Aside, to herself) "Is it fate or chance? I can never decide."
 * (To Bethany or Carver) "Regret is something I know well. Take care not to cling to it, to hold it so close that it poisons your soul."
 * "We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment... and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly."
 * "There is always a catch. Life is a catch! I suggest you catch it while you can."

Dragon Age: Inquisition

 * "I nudge history, when it's required. Other times, a shove is needed."
 * "Alas, so long as the music plays, we dance."
 * "Truth is not the end, but a beginning."

Trivia

 * Flemeth's dialogue in Dragon Age II contains several references to her role in Dragon Age: Origins:
 * Her first words in Dragon Age II are, "Well, well... what have we here?" The same words first spoken by Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins as well as Dragon Age: Inquisition. 
 * After she saves Hawke and their company, she mentions Alistair and the Warden as the only Grey Warden survivors of the Battle of Ostagar.
 * During an exchange with Hawke when a sarcastic option is chosen, Flemeth will also mention Morrigan.
 * After it is mentioned that she is the Witch of the Wilds, she quips that one of her names is, "an old hag who talks too much." This is what Alistair calls her in Dragon Age: Origins, just days before her encounter with Hawke.
 * Morrigan established Flemeth's survival in Witch Hunt (regardless of player choices), though the exact circumstances would not be revealed until Dragon Age II.
 * In her initial appearance in Origins, Flemeth wears a commoner's outfit, but when she is confronted later she is wearing generic mage's robes (the false Flemeth from Morrigan's nightmare wears magister's robes). Her radically different costume and hairstyle in Dragon Age II are unique, although they are based on early concept art for the character from Origins.