Fade

The Fade, known by the Dalish as the Beyond, is a metaphysical realm that is part of Thedas yet separated by the Veil. The Fade is split up into fiefs belonging to the spirits that live there, and they change the landscape of the Fade to emulate what they see in the minds of mortal dreamers.

Relationship with the races of Thedas
Every living being, with the exception of dwarves, enters the Fade mentally when they dream and mages tap into it when they cast spells. Most people do not remember their time in the Fade, but mages are forced to recall. Killing a mortal dreaming in the Fade is a shock to their living bodies, but not lethal. The person merely wakes up. Mortals have entered the Fade physically only once, which, if we are to believe the Chantry, caused the First Blight. Mages of the Circle frequently visit the Fade with the aid of lyrium and during their Harrowing, a mage is projected into the Fade to resist the attack of a demon.

Unlike other living beings, dwarves are not connected to the Fade and do not naturally enter it when they dream. Whether this grants them their natural resistance to magic or is a result of it is unclear, but under certain conditions a dwarf can be forced into the Fade in a dream state.

It is unknown what relationship the Qunari culture has with the Fade, although their mages would certainly have the same affinity and vulnerability to it as their elven and human counterparts.

Characteristics
The Fade and its inhabitants generally copy locations, objects, people and concepts of the real world, though in a cruel and often confusing way. In addition, these copies are nowhere near consistent, and can alter from moment to moment.

There is but one constant feature in the Fade, the Black City, which can always be seen on the horizon. According to the Chantry, it was once the Golden City until the Tevinter magisters set foot within it. With the possible exception of this, no one has yet found a way to reach it, though if one looks to the sky, one can see it, forever in the distance.

Fade rules

 * Enemies killed in the Fade do not have loot. However, in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, enemies may drop Ethereal potions to be used in the Fade. Some enemies may drop Corpse Galls in Dragon Age: Origins.
 * Items from the player's inventory destroyed while in the Fade will be gone forever, or for that matter potions used.
 * You cannot bring goods back from the Fade.
 * Even if you learn shapeshifting, you cannot use it in the normal world.
 * Rangers cannot summon animals while in the Fade, although this does not seem to apply during Awakening.
 * Mages cannot use the spell animate dead and Reavers cannot use the talent Devour to recover health while in the fade.
 * Attribute and stat gains will remain in the normal world.
 * Codex entries gained will remain.

Chantry teachings
According to Chantry, the Fade was the first realm created by the Maker, which He populated with the spirits, the first of His creations. Growing unsatisfied with them as what they created was fleeting, ever-changing, He then created the mortal world, Thedas, separating it from the Fade. The spirits who grew jealous of its inhabitants became what which mortals call demons, mimicking their lowest of desires and sins.

The Chant of Light would have it that the Black City was originally golden and the seat of the Maker. It was the magisters of the Tevinter Emperium who tried to enter that blackened it with their sins, and their punishment was to be cast down again as the first of the darkspawn, releasing the Blights upon Thedas.

The Chantry also holds that when a person dies, their spirit passes through the Fade to the afterlife. Those who have turned away from the Maker are doomed to wander the Fade forever as lost souls. Fade spirits such as Justice claim that the dead pass to a realm beyond the Fade but are uncertain of its nature.

Dragon Age: Origins
, depending on certain choices , during the main quest Broken Circle , if the Warden is mage , in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening , in The Golems of Amgarrak

Trivia

 * The Fade has distinct ties with surrealism, it being a dream realm and surrealism being the omnipotence of dream. It is thus apt that the art style of The Fade is that of surrealism. This art style is also reminiscent of that of Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batlló and Casa Milà.
 * The ship encountered on one of the islands of the raw Fade in Dragon Age: Origins appears to be a reference to the Myst puzzle-game series. A similar stationary ship is encountered in two Myst games, and all Myst games involve solving puzzles to progress between areas.
 * The Fade holds several similarities, including its fleeting nature, to the World of Dreams, Tel'aran'rhiod, from The Wheel of Time series.
 * The Fade seems to be very much alike the "Shadowlands" from White Wolf's "Wraith: The Oblivion".