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 do not need to know."

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

Background
The name "Flemeth" belongs to a fearsome personage that walked the Wilds centuries ago. According to legend, Flemeth and her daughters can kill a man by fear alone. The "Witch of the Wilds" is not a true title so much as a superstitious name the locals of the Korcari Wilds gave to these terrifying women. Although Morrigan at first believed her mother to be an abomination, she later realized that Flemeth is "no blood mage, no abomination. She's not even truly human!"

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?"
 * "Keep him close and he will betray you. Each time worse than the last."
 * (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."
 * "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)
 * "I laugh at a world full of stupid humans, who ignore the Blight's evil and abandon their vigilance to pursue mortal goals."

(With high cunning)
 * 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."

Dragon Age II

 * "Hurtled into 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."

Trivia

 * After she saves Hawke and their company, she mentions Alistair and the Warden as the only Grey Warden survivors of the Battle of Ostagar.
 * 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.
 * During an exchange with Hawke when a sarcastic option is chosen, Flemeth will mention Morrigan, but not by name.
 * Much like Isabela and Varric, Flemeth enjoys bantering with a sarcastic Hawke.
 * 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 will mention Flemeth's survival in Witch Hunt, 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. Her radically different costume and hairstyle in Dragon Age II are unique.
 * Morrigan says that Flemeth turned into a giant bird and carried the Warden and Alistair away from Ostagar, one in each talon. She also says that the Warden need not believe that story, so it's quite likely that Flemeth actually rescued them in her dragon form.