Timeline

The Chantry calendar measures time as a period of Ages. The current is the Dragon Age, while the period before was the Blessed Age. Each Age lasts approximately a century and there have been nine so far.

The First Age was marked by the creation of the Chantry. Time periods before the first age are called Ancient, so 400 years before the first Age would be -400 Ancient. This is equivalent to 800 TE by the Imperial reckoning or about 1,300 years before the present.

In the 99th year of each Age the Divine looks for an event or portent in order to determine the name of the new Age. The last portent was a dragon awakening and going on a rampage. This suggests an age full of violence and destruction.

Dragon Age: Origins starts at approximately 30 Dragon Age.

Pre-Tevinter Imperium

 * 1 FA or -6405 TE: Arlathan is founded some three thousand years before the arrival of humans on the continent. The date is so far removed from recorded history that it is difficult to pinpoint in Chantry years.


 * 3000 FA or -3405 TE: The elves are believed to first make contact with the dwarves.


 * 4500 FA or -1905 TE: Records claim humanity arrives in Thedas around this date from the north in a single tribe known as Neromenian. This is disputed by scholars, who ask where the humanity came from and why they left.


 * 4750 FA or -1655 TE: Elves are said to first notice the quickening, ending their immortality and frightening them into the withdrawal from human contact. This is thought by many to be mere legend.


 * 4800 FA or -1605 TE: The Old Gods are said to begin whispering to humanity from the Golden City. They teach the Dreamers of the Neromenian tribes magic. Power shifts, and these Dreamers become both priests and kings among their people.


 * 5185 FA or -1220 TE: The Alamarri tribes cross the Frostback Mountains and settle in the lands that will eventually become Ferelden. Alamarri legends says they were fleeing a “shadow goddess”, but scholars believe they were escaping a natural disaster.


 * 5785 FA or -620 TE: The Alamarri living near Lake Calenhad break away, becoming the Avvars. The two groups war with each other for centuries, though they unite when the need arises.


 * 5900 FA or -505 TE: The Neromenian tribes split to form four kingdoms: Tevinter, Neromenian, Barindur and Qarinus.


 * 5990 FA or -415 TE: The entire kingdom of Barindur vanishes under unknown circumstances.


 * 6005 FA or -400 TE: Thalsian, also known as the First Priest of Dumat, is the first known person to wield blood magic, and the first magister. He claims to learn this art after personally communicating with the Old God. The power he gained from blood magic allowed him to spark the birth of a future empire under his rule.


 * 6185 FA or -220 TE: The Chasind people break off the Alamarri and settle in the Korcari Wilds.


 * 6393 FA or -12 TE: The kingdoms of Neromenian and Tevinter unite after Darinius, High King of Neromenian, takes control of the Tevinter throne.


 * 6400 FA or -5 TE: Tevinter allies itself with the dwarves.


 * Dwarven gladiatorial contests known as Provings become popular among the nobles of the Tevinter. A Grand Proving Arena is constructed in Minrathous.

Pre-Ages

 * 6405 FA or 0 TE: Darinius unites Tevinter and Qarinus, forming the mighty Tevinter Imperium. He declares himself the first Archon. Prior to this event, only scattered fragments are known. It is believed that elves existed in the land first and that humans came from elsewhere—though there are many theories about from where that might be, and few historians agree. Some suggest that humans came from across the ocean as the Qunari did, but if so, there is no record from such a time. Humans spread across Thedas - as various tribes of people known as the Hacian and the Alamarri, and those started other tribes such as Ciriane and the Planacene - but it is the Tevinters, centered on the port city of Minrathous, who became ascendant.


 * History records that elves and humanity were hostile and that Tevinter led the way in aggressive retaliation against the elven city of Arlathan. The elves responded by retreating from human contact, and Tevinter thus flourished and spread. The first "dreamers" learned the use of lyrium to enter the Fade from elven captives, and these dreamers later became the first of the Imperium's ruling magisters.


 * 25 TE: Under the rulership of the Paragons Endrin Stonehammer and Orseck Garal, the capital of the dwarves is moved from Kal-Sharok to Orzammar, as trade with the surface becomes more and more vital for the prosperity of the dwarven empire.


 * Endrin Stonehammer oversees the construction of the legendary Stonehammer Hall in Orzammar.


 * The Orzammar Proving Grounds are expanded to encompass Grand Provings, previously held in Kal-Sharok. The best warriors of these Provings become the first of Orzammar's Paragons. Endrin Stonehammer builds a hall to house huge statues in their honor.


 * 35 TE: Taxes drained by Orzammar from Kal-Sharok's trade profits begin to grow burdensome.


 * 64 TE: Endrin Stonehammer is made a Paragon.


 * 214 TE: The hostility that festered between the Tevinter Imperium and the elves finally turned into open war. Armies of the Imperium surrounded the fabled elven city of Arlathan.


 * 220 TE: The Magisters resorted to a horrifying blood ritual that sank Arlathan into the earth, destroying it utterly and deciding the war in their favor. The conquest of the elven kingdom was complete: All those who did not perish with their city were enslaved, their spirit crushed and their ancient culture destroyed forever.


 * 300 TE: The Tevinter Imperium expands rapidly, bolstered by its new elven slave class. The Imperium takes almost nearly all of northern Thedas and begins pushing across the Waking Sea.


 * 315 TE: The Tevinter Imperium settles the island of Estwatch, fortifying its bay and establishing a port for warship repair.


 * 435 TE: Archon Almadrius takes the throne in the Tevinter Imperium.


 * 480 TE: The Tevinter Imperium stages several campaigns to subjugate the Alamarri in Fereldan Valley. After many near misses, they succeed in holding the area for a time and construct the Imperial Highway across the mountains to Ostagar.


 * 483 TE: First Tevinter expedition against the Avvars in the Frostback Mountains.


 * 500 TE: The western part of the Tevinter rebels to form the Anderfels, mainly populated by the Yothandi people.


 * The Imperium proves to have great difficulty in defeating the Ciriane to the south-west. Internal strife results in many rebellions and a great deal of internal disorder.


 * 503 TE: Archon Almadrius is assassinated, and his apprentice Tidarion inherits the throne. Civil wars break out in the Tevinter Imperium.


 * 555 TE: Archon Tidarion dies without an heir. As the war continues, the magisters vie for power.


 * 575 TE: Emerius, the last of the great Imperial cities, is founded in the distant south of the Imperium by the powerful archon, Emerius Krayvan. Elven slaves were brought in by the thousands to work the stone quarries, and suffered hardships that would give the city a dark and bloody reputation. In time it became known as the "City of Chains," the center of the Imperial slave market and the destination of all those captured by the spread of arcane rule.


 * The civil war in the Tevinter Imperium ends with Archon Parthenius claiming the throne.


 * 620–640s TE: The first civil war of the Tevinter is usually cited as when it began to decline markedly from its =golden age. The magisters of the various noble houses wield terrible power but still seek more; their competition with each other leads to human sacrifice, and demon summoning becomes a regular occurrence. When two of the largest Tevinter houses battle to claim the Archon's throne, the Imperium is almost split in two. The resulting war left ruins and battlefields where the magical taint continues to be felt to this day. Peace is brokered in the Senate to prevent the dissolution of the Imperium, but the nobility continues its oppression of the masses in an effort to achieve supremacy.


 * 660 TE: After generations of independence, the Anderfels are reconquered by the Tevinter Imperium.


 * 785 TE: A group of kossith is believed to land in the southern Korcari Wilds, establishing a colony. They are likely killed off in the First Blight, giving rise to the first appearance of ogres on the continent.


 * 800 TE: The most powerful magister lords, seeking more power, open a gate to the Golden City at the heart of the Fade. The result is catastrophic: The Golden City becomes tainted, and the magisters bring the taint into the world, creating the first darkspawn.


 * The Old God Dumat is freed and transformed into the first archdemon. The First Blight begins. The darkspawn attack en masse, concentrating at first on the underground Deep Roads of the the dwarven kingdoms. As the dwarven kingdoms begin to fall by the 815 TE, the darkspawn use the Deep Roads to appear throughout the continent. All of the Imperium is under siege and in a state of chaos. Finally, the nations of the Imperium begin to settle in for a long war as they become accustomed to the surges of the darkspawn. Communication becomes difficult across the Imperium, but cooperation is paramount. The people of Tevinter pray to the remaining Old Gods for help against Dumat, but they receive only silence. The people's faith waning, unrest sees many temples destroyed as the Imperial people begin to turn from the Old Gods, believing themselves betrayed. The dark period lasts for over 200 years, extending post Blight.


 * 840 TE: The Blight has yet to reach the Alamarri. They are instead caught up in a war with the Avvar. In the Battle of Red Falls, Alamarri warrior Luthias Dwarfson fights Morrighan'nan, Avvar warrior queen. Both die in the battle. The Order of Ash Warriors is founded in Dwarfson's honor.


 * 890 TE: The Grey Wardens are founded at Weisshaupt Fortress in the Anderfels, dedicated to wiping out the darkspawn wherever they should rise. The organization is formed primarily of veterans from the countless battles against the darkspawn. They maintain communications within the Imperium and strike quickly wherever the darkspawn appear, quickly erecting fortresses everywhere and receiving tithes and supplies from all lands.


 * 940 TE: The dwarven Paragon Caridin creates the first golem to battle the darkspawn terrorizing the Deep Roads. The dwarves begin to retake lost thaigs and reclaim parts of the Deep Roads.


 * 947 TE: Caridin disappears along with the secret to creating golems, and the dwarven kingdoms continue their descent into oblivion.


 * 992 TE: The Grey Wardens gather the forces of humans — the Imperium, the Ciriane, and Rivain — and confront Dumat at the colossal Battle of Silent Fields in the southern reaches of Tevinter. Dumat is ultimately destroyed by the Grey Wardens and the darkspawn forces routed. Though the darkspawn are still large in their numbers and still battle mankind, they are no longer directed by Dumat's power and become scattered. The contracts ensuring the powers and rights of the Grey Wardens date from this year.


 * The prophet Andraste is born in the Alamarri lands. The exact year of her birth is hotly contested by scholars.


 * 1000 TE: Slowly, the last of the darkspawn hordes are defeated. They are forced into the Far Steppes, west of the Anderfels, and into the Deep Roads. For the dwarves, the war continues underground, but for humanity, the battle is believed to be over. Weak after centuries of fighting, the Imperium is weak.


 * As the Deep Roads close, communication lines falter between the surviving dwarven kingdoms. Each thaig elects its own king while maintaining allegiance to a high king in Orzammar.


 * 1004 TE: The Grey Wardens discover a number of intelligent darkspawn who can control portions of the horde even after Dumat's death. Warden Sashamiri arranges a trap to restrain and study one of these creatures, Corypheus, believed to be one of the Tevinter magisters who entered the Golden City and were corrupted into the first darkspawn two centuries prior. Corypheus is successfully imprisoned under the Vimmark Mountains in the southern Tevinter Imperium.


 * 1008 TE: Andraste marries Maferath, an Alamarri chieftain.


 * 1009 TE: Andraste preaches of a new creator, whom she calls the Maker. The more she says, the more hell following grows. Maferath uses her teachings to unite the Alamarri clans under his authority.


 * 1011 TE: The Tevinter Imperium's influence recedes in southern Thedas as Minrathous rebuilds.


 * The Chasind claim the fortress of Ostagar.


 * 1014 TE: Warden-Commander Daneken realizes the futility of the Wardens' attempts to control or kill Corypheus and proposes instead to seal the prison off from the rest of the world and keep its very existence secret forever.


 * 1015 TE: A massive horde of barbarians cross the Waking Sea from the south led by the warlord Maferath and Andraste. Some records claim the barbarians were driven north by the darkspawn, others that Andraste was bringing freedom to the people of the Imperium who had been long oppressed by the depravities of the magisters. Regardless of the reason, the press of the barbarians in the south is accompanied by massive rebellions that welcome their progress. The invading army frees the elves, enslaved for centuries by the Tevinters. The southern Imperium begins to crumble, and the Tevinter magisters are forced to unite to combat a threat to their power that is greater than that of the darkspawn.


 * The Tevinter Imperium abandons the island of Estwatch to focus on mainland troubles. The island remains largelyuninhabited for ages.


 * 1024 TE: The Battle of Valarian Fields is fought between the Alamarri and the Tevinter Imperium. Maferath is victorious. At that battle the elven slave Shartan takes Maferath's side and leads other elves in the fight against their Tevinter opressors. He later converts and is made a disciple, only to have his writings suppressed following the Exalted March of the Dales.


 * Andraste and the Maker are given credit for Maferath's military victories. Maferath's jealousy overwhelms him. Wanting to bring and end to hostilities and tighten his grip on conquered territories, he makes a pact with the Archon Hessarian of the Tevinter Imperium.


 * 1025 TE: Andraste is betrayed by her husband at the city of Nevarra, one of their strongholds. She is burned alive and then killed by Archon Hessarian in Minrathous, the capital of the Imperium.


 * Disciple Havard, loyal to Andraste, collects her ashes and carries them back to the Avvar lands.


 * 1030 TE: After of the death of Andraste, the barbarian army disperses. Maferath is granted the lands south of Emerius. He takes Fereldan Valley for himself, while dividing what will become Orlais, the nation of Nevarra, and several Marcher cities between his sons.


 * The southern Tevinter Imperium breaks away, forming a collection of independent city-states. Maferath's sons unify several scattered tribes neighbouring Alamarri lands; the tribes of Ciriane turns into the Kingdom of the Ciriane and the Planasene tribes into the Kingdom of the Planasene. Both of these last less than a century — the Ciriane soon become the land of Orlais, while the Planasene become a part of the loose confederation across the plains called the Free Marches.


 * The land between the Waking Sea and the Frostbacks is given to the freed elves by Maferath as a homeland and is called the Dales. The Long Walk begins as elves from across the Imperium begin traveling to the Dales largely on foot and are preyed upon by disease and robbers, causing massive chaos.


 * 1035 TE: A cult devoted to Andraste's teachings spreads rapidly in the south but is largely disorganized and is very unpopular with the temples of the Old Gods. However, archon Hessarian converts from revering the Old Gods to the Cult of the Maker and reveals Maferath's treachery. The Alamarri abandon Maferath, and southern Thedas collapses into anarchy. Back in the lands of the barbarians, Disciples of Andraste are formed, and a new religion begins to grow, referred to collectively as "the cults of the Maker."


 * Archon Hessarian converts the Tevinter Imperium to Andrastianism, beginning the Transfiguration.


 * 1040 TE: The Ciriane in present-day Orlais unite in a moment known as the Grand Unification.


 * 1060 TE: The Alamarri in Fereldan Valley fall into a long series of internal wars as various warlords attempt to replace Maferath
 * Andraste's ashes disappear, revealed ages later to have been stored away at the Temple of Sacred Ashes in Haven.


 * 1065 TE: The Chant of Light is created by Andraste's disciples, collecting her story and her teachings into hymns. Numerous versions of the Chant are written over time, with different interpretations of what Andraste taught about the Maker, each prevalent in different regions.


 * 1070 TE: Archon Hessarian dies in his sleep. Many in the eastern and southern provinces of the Tevinter Imperium push for secession, fearing his successor, Archon Orentius will restore the Old Gods and their clergy.


 * 1075–1145 TE: Rebellion begins in the east as the Rivaini attempt to split off from the Imperium. The resulting campaigns to stop the rebellion distract the Imperium from its attempts to reconquer the Free Marches and allow the south to gather its strength. Many of the eastern cities in the Free Marches intervene on the behalf of the Rivaini, and after several losses that culminated in the disastrous Battle of Temerin in 1142 TE, the Imperium finally abandons the east.


 * 1095 TE: The Inquisition is founded around this time. The loose association of Andrastian hard-liners hunt heretics and mages in the name of the Maker.


 * 1151 TE: The Kingdom of Rivain is formed.


 * 1155 TE: The dwarves of the capital of the dwarven kingdoms in Orzammar in the Frostback Mountains close the last of the Deep Roads leading into their kingdom by the order of High King Threestone. Within ten years, the kingdoms of Hormak and Gundaar fall to the darkspawn, leaving only Orzammar and Kal-Sharok. The dwarves of Kal-Sharok never forgive the high king of Orzammar and cut off all contact, and thus Kal-Sharok is assumed to be lost as well.


 * 1165 TE: The city-state of Antiva expands to become a nation.


 * 1170 TE: As the borders of the Imperium recede, Emerius becomes one of their lone outposts within a distant and violent frontier. The city is surrounded by the Kingdom of Ciriane, the barbarian Free Marches, the Alamarri, as well as the new elven homeland of the Dales. Despite its isolation, the city fought off many invading armies and did not fall until the slaves within the city finally rebelled, executing their Tevinter rulers in an orgy of violence. Possession of the fortress city remained contested for centuries to come, but it would never again rejoin the Imperium. No longer under Tevinter rule, the city changed name to Kirkwall, and became part of the Free Marches.


 * 1184 TE: The cults of the Maker spread quickly in the southern lands, resulting in the beginning of building of the first great temple in Val Royeaux which becomes the major center of worship for the new faith. One of its most fervent followers is the young king of Kingdom of Orlais, Kordillus Drakon. Drakon begins a series of holy wars in the name of the Maker, quickly proving himself to be one of the greatest generals in history.


 * 1192 TE: Having conquered several neighboring city-states and forced others to submit to his overlordship, Kordillus Drakon is crowned an emperor in Val Royeaux, Orlais becoming an empire it is to this day. His ambitions to spread farther north into the Free Marches are confounded by constant pressures from the Dales to the east.


 * Chantry is formed by Emperor Drakon as he formalizes the Maker's cult an official religion.


 * The emperor commands that missionaries be sent forth into the other lands, thus spreading the Chantry's teachings.

Divine

 * 1195 TE or 1:1 Divine (1st year of the 1st Divine Age): The first Divine of the Chantry, Justinia I, is instated at the still unfinished Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux.


 * The free use of magic is declared illegal in Orlais except by those mages operating under the direct auspices of the Chantry.


 * 1:5 Divine: Zazikel awakens and the Second Blight begins in the Anderfels, with darkspawn slaughtering the entire city of Nordbotten before the Grey Wardens finally get the word out. Now, rather than the darkspawn coming primarily from the west like they did before, they come out of the mountains in all corners of the continent. Once again, humankind is launched into a desperate battle for its survival over the course of the next 100 years.


 * The Tevinter Imperium abandons the Anderfels and attempts to protect itself, a betrayal that is remembered by the Anders people even to this day.


 * Emperor Drakon calls on mages to use their magic against the Blight. The mages prove themselves to be effective allies in battle.


 * 1:16 Divine: In several engagements, including the hard-fought victory at the Battle of Cumberland, the Orlesians defeat several hordes of darkspawn, and numerous cities are saved. The Orlesian Empire under Drakon's command expands quickly, as does the influence of the Chantry.


 * 1:20 Divine: The Nevarran Accord is signed between the Chantry and the Inquisition. The senior members of the Inquisition form the Seekers of Truth. The Circle of Magi and Templar Order is then born from this agreement.


 * 1:25 Divine: The people of Orlais are angered when the city of Montsimmard is nearly destroyed by the darkspawn as the elven army watched from nearby.


 * 1:31 Divine: The Tevinter Imperium is greatly weakened by the nearly succesfull sacking of its capital Minrathous by the darkspawn horde.


 * 1:33 Divine: Emperor Drakon is given the opportunity to expand northward, but instead he chooses to swing his armies west and relieve the siege of Weisshaupt.


 * The Grey Wardens are impressed enough to convert to the worship of the Chantry, and together the Grey Wardens and Drakon save the badly weakened nation of Anderfels from destruction, making it a part of the Orlesian Empire and bringing it to a devout worship of the Maker that continues to this day.


 * Throughout this entire time, the elves of the Dales remain neutral and unhelpful.


 * 1:40 Divine: The Alamarri warrior Hafter unites the tribes against the darkspawn, defeating not only them but also the combined forces of the Avvars and Chasind who hoped to take advantage of the chaos.


 * 1:45 Divine: Emperor Drakon perishes from old age in Val Chevin. His empire, forming the majority of the western Free Marches and all of the Anderfels, does not survive his death. His successor, Kordillus II, doesn't possess the political savvy of his father, and the Anderfels declares independence 20 years after the death of Kordillus I.


 * The teachings of Andraste are popularized in Antiva.


 * 1:45-95: Over the next 50 years, the Chantry continues to spread rapidly, aided by the Grey Wardens as the Blight winds down.


 * The Chantry spreads east into the Free Marches and Antiva and even north into the Tevinter Empire, though there it is largely resisted, as the Chantry stands in direct opposition to the power (albeit waning) of the sorcery-wielding nobility.


 * 1:50 Divine: Hafter defeats combined Chasind and Avvar forces to hold the Ferelden Valley.


 * 1:65 Divine: The Anderfels once again declare their independence, this time from the Orlesian Empire.


 * 1:95 Divine: The Free Marches and Orlais are hard-pressed to defend themselves, but the Grey Wardens and the powerful armies under the command of the brilliant Emperor Drakon make the difference. The last battle of the Second Blight is fought at Starkhaven in the Free Marches. The human army is led by the Grey Wardens and wins a resounding victory where Zazikel is finally destroyed and the darkspawn routed.


 * The period that follows is known as the "Rebuilding" - a time when trade, culture, and religion become paramount across most of the human lands.


 * In the aftermath of the Blight, the Alamarri elect the first teyrn, Hafter, who became famous for uniting the tribes against the darkspawn in the Fereldan Valley.


 * Astyth the Grey is made a Paragon after sacrificing her life for the king. The Silent Sisters are formed in her memory.


 * 1:99 Divine: The Divine Age ends.


 * Divine Hortensia I names the Glory Age, predicting a grand rebirth of the world after the devastation of the Blight.

Glory

 * 2:5 Glory: Increasing hostility between elves and humans result in numerous border skirmishes between the Dales and Orlais.


 * 2:9 Glory: Finally, the elven forces attack the Orlesian town of Red Crossing and quickly take it over. The atrocities they are said to have committed there against the villagers and the town's Chantry enraged humans across the land.


 * Orlais immediately went to war with the Dales, but was initially surprised by the ferocity of the elven response. A quick Orlesian victory was not going to happen.


 * 2:10 Glory: In Alamarri lands, Hafter's grandson, Teyrn Caedmon, declares himself king. A civil war begins in opposition.


 * 2:10-20 Glory: With elven forces having captured Montsimmard and marching on the doorstep of Val Royeaux, Divine Renata I calls for a holy war against the elves. This becomes known as the Exalted March of the Dales. While the elves eventually sack Val Royeaux and push well into human lands, Halamshiral is conquered and the elves are completely crushed by 2:20 Glory.


 * The lands of the Dales come under Orlesian control, with elven settlements being uprooted and worship of the elven gods forbidden. The elves are forced to either live with humankind under their rule or wander as homeless vagabonds.


 * Divine Renata I orders the establishment of the first alienages.


 * 2:15–2:45 Glory: The rise of Starkhaven prompts its king, Fyruss, to attempt to unite the Free Marches under his banner and build his own empire.


 * Antivan cities to the north unite under a common banner in 2:33 Glory to defend themselves against Fyruss's advance.


 * In 2:45 Glory, Fyruss is betrayed by his Tevinter allies, and Starkhaven is conquered by the Tevinter Imperium. By the time of his death, Fyruss's name is equated with that of prideful folly.


 * 2:18 Glory: Caedmon is killed at the Battle of Valmorn Hills. The fight for power over the region begins. This period is known as the War of Crowns.


 * 2:30 Glory: The Winter Palace, by far the most prominent structure in Halamshiral, becomes a regular seasonal retreat for the empress and selected Orlesian nobility.


 * 2:34 Glory: Following the defeat of Zazikel in 1:95 Divine, there is general support of building fortified headquarters for the Grey Wardens. The fortress of Soldier's Peak in the Alamarri lands is finished after a decade of construction.


 * 2:46 Glory: Caspar Pentaghast of Hunter Fell seizes control of the city-state Nevarra and becomes its king.


 * 2:80 Glory: Starkhaven is freed from Tevinter rule during an Exalted March.


 * 2:83 Glory: The Circle of Magi in Nevarra is the first to be annulled - meaning all mages within are killed - for practicing forbidden magic and defying their templar guardians. After the incident, Divine Galatea grants the Right of Annulment to every Grand Cleric of the Chantry.


 * 2:99 Glory: The end of the Glory Age.


 * The Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux is completed, its two main towers visible from everywhere in the city and from miles around, and thus the Towers Age is named.


 * Archon Vespasian is assassinated the same day that the Grand Cathedral in Orlais is completed.

Towers

 * 3:0-99 Towers: Alamarri's Chasind myths place the legend of Flemeth and Lord Connobar during this period.


 * 3:10s Towers: The Old God Toth awakens, and the Third Blight erupts in the central lands of Thedas with darkspawn coming in greater numbers than ever before. Darkspawn swarm the Tevinter cities of Marnas Pell and Vyrantium as well as the Orlesian cities of Arlesans and Montsimmard.


 * The Grey Wardens in both of these countries are able to quickly organize a defense, and despite heavy losses in the besieged cities, the darkspawn are pushed back.


 * 3:18 Towers: Darkspawn ravage the Free Marches, attacking cities along the Minanter River. At first, the Orlesians and Tevinter do nothing, but constant pressure from the Grey Wardens in Weisshaupt convinces both nations to send aid to the beleaguered city-states.


 * 3:25 Towers: The armies of Orlais and the Tevinter Imperium meet in Hunter Fell and join the Grey Wardens in the last battle of the Third Blight.


 * Toth is destroyed, and the darkspawn are slaughtered in one of the bloodiest battles in history. The darkspawn carcasses are piled into mounds as high as 100 feet and then burned. The people of the Free Marches will not soon forget the image of the burning darkspawn.


 * Their goodwill is quickly crushed by the victorious armies as they decide to occupy the territories liberated from the darkspawn. Orlais takes the city of Nevarra, while Tevinter takes Hunter Fell.


 * 3:49 Towers: Hunter Fell breaks away from Tevinter Imperium.


 * 3:65 Towers: Nevarra achieves independence from Orlais.


 * 3:86 Towers: Divine Joyous II is made head of the Chantry.


 * 3:87 Towers: After many years of argument, the Schism splits the Chantry as the Imperial Chantry within Tevinter elects their own Divine, a male mage named Valhail, at the Minrathous Cathedral. The Imperial Chantry had always taken a more moderate view on magic and argued that mages should be allowed to rule so long as blood magic remained prohibited. They also argued that Andraste was not of divine origin but rather was a mortal prophet with considerable magical talent and that her ascension to the Maker's side did not make her divine, even if she was a symbol of hope. Both these arguments did not sit well with the rest of the Chantry. As the Val Royeaux Divine Joyous II took measures to restrict the power of the Circle of Magi within Tevinter, the Imperial Chantry took action. The Minrathous Divine is referred to as the "Black Divine" by most, and Chantry propaganda stirs popular sentiment against Tevinter and the Circle of Magi.


 * 3:99 Towers: The death of the Divine Joyous II in Val Royeaux is celebrated in Minrathous and is declared a holiday by the Imperial Divine.


 * The Black Age is named as the Chantry calls for retribution against the false Divine of the north.

Black

 * 4:00 Black: Werewolves, long present in Fereldan lore, are said to reappear, assuming the appearance of regular people. The use of dogs as guards able to "detect" werewolves becomes common. An especially bloody chapter of Fereldan history ends with the apparent extinction of the creatures.


 * 4:22 Black: The Antivan King Guiomar the Younger meets his end at the hands of Callisti di Bastion, a soon-to-be legendary member of the Crows of Antiva.


 * 4:30 Black: The Rivaini-born Queen Asha Subira Bahadur, who will later become one of the most influential queens across Thedas, is born.


 * 4:40 Black–5:10 Exalted: The Chantry declares a series of four Exalted Marches to destroy the "heathens" within the Tevinter Imperium. All four times, large armies are gathered from around the Chantry's domains, and an assault is launched deep into Tevinter. Every time, however, the Exalted March falls just short of its goal of conquering Minrathous. In the end, the Exalted Marches serve simply to cement the separation between Minrathous and Val Royeaux. The Imperial Chantry starts to form its own dogma and policies, and the groundswell of mages fleeing from southern lands into Tevinter bolsters the Imperium's waning power.


 * 4:46 Black: Divine Clemence I commissions Tevinter fugitive Adralla of Vyrantium to write the Litany of Adralla, a tool to protect against blood mages and demonic possession.


 * 4:80 Black: The Orlesian Empire takes advantage of Alamarri's fractured state and crosses the Frostback Mountains to invade the land for the first time.


 * 4:83: The Alamarri teyrns set aside age-old differences to push the Orlesian Empire back. The Orlesians hope to take port of Highever, but the fortress of Redcliffe holds out too long, and winter in the Frostbacks leaves many Orlesian units without supplies. By the spring, most of the invaders pull out or are captured.


 * 4:85 Black: Alamarri legends of Dane and the Werewolf are recorded about a time in the past when the tribes suffered repeated werewolf attacks until the hero Dane managed to slay the lycanthropes. The events these legends refer to most likely took place in the Divine Age.


 * 4:90 Black: The famed Chateau Haine is built in the western Vimmark Mountains by Lord Norbert de la Haine, who uses it to stage numerous failed invasions of Marcher states.


 * 4:99 Black: Divine Justinia II names the next age Exalted as the war with the Tevinter Imperium persists.

Exalted

 * 5:10 Exalted: The last Exalted March on the Tevinter Imperium ends in retreat for Orlais.


 * Calenhad the Great is born as the third son of a Highever merchant.


 * The Grey Wardens sign treaties with the various Alamarri teyrns, and build a fortress in Denerim, as well as several small outposts to watch for signs of darkspawn.


 * 5:12 Exalted: The Exalted Marches against Tevinter come to an end with the awakening of Andoral and the outbreak of the Fourth Blight. Darkspawn appear in great numbers in the northeast and northwest of the continent.


 * The country of Antiva is overrun and its entire ruling family slaughtered.


 * The darkspawn pour into the Free Marches and Rivain.


 * The Blight rises in the Anderfels as well, and the capital city of Hossberg comes under siege.


 * Orlais and the Tevinter Imperium are attacked by fewer numbers and are able to drive the darkspawn back into the depths of the Deep Roads. Despite their success, Tevinter refuses to send any aid to the Free Marches or the Anderfels, while Orlais sends only a token force.


 * 5:16 Exalted: Divine Rosamund is appointed. At nineteen, she is the youngest Divine in history.


 * 5:20 Exalted: The Grey Warden, Garahel, leads an army of Wardens and Anders to the city of Hossberg and breaks the siege.


 * 5:21 Exalted: Darkspawn all but devastate the Free Marches. Chateau Haine becomes Fortress Haine, a makeshift Grey Warden garrison. A refuge known as the Retreat is dug into the mountain. At the most dire point of the Fourth Blight hundreds of fleeing Kirkwall and Cumberland residents call the Retreat home.


 * 5:22 Exalted: Garahel gathers Wardens from Orlais and the Anderfels and marches to Starkhaven. At Starkhaven, Garahel organizes an alliance between the minor kings and teyrns of the Free Marches. A united army marches north, led under the banner of the Grey Wardens.


 * 5:24 Exalted: Antiva is freed from the darkspawn during the infamous battle at the city of Ayesleigh, where Garahel dies upon slaying the archdemon Andoral. So many darkspawn are slaughtered in the battle that it is considered certain that they will never return. That the Blight continues to be felt underground by the dwarves of Orzammar is largely ignored by most except the Grey Wardens. Most are eager for the war to end and for regular trade to begin.


 * Oddly, Kirkwall declares the common nug as a noxious vermin and starts the Battle of Squealing Plains.


 * 5:25 Exalted: Many griffons are killed during the Fourth Blight. Their numbers devastated, the creatures soon die out.


 * 5:37 Exalted: The first king of the Nevarran Van Markham family, Tylus Van Markham, is crowned after having claimed to be a descendant of Drakon's son, killed in Cumberland and killing the ruling Pentaghast king. Being a hero of the recent Blight, Tylus is able to stir nationalistic feelings in the western Free Marches against the growing power of Orlais. He proves his military might by winning several major battles against the Orlesians, establishing Nevarra as a new, growing power.


 * 5:38 Exalted: King Tylus Van Markham turns the western Free Marches against the growing power of Orlais. He wins several major border wars against the Orlesians, expanding Nevarra into a proper nation.


 * 5:42 Exalted: With the crowning of King Calenhad in Denerim, the various warring factions of Alamarri are at last united under a single banner to form Ferelden. What had always been considered a land of wild, nomadic barbarians was finally a nation in its own right, though considered primitive and backwater by most.


 * 5:71 Exalted: Divine Rosamund dies after fifty-five years in power. She leaves a legacy as one of the most compassionate women to ever occupy this post.


 * Divine Amara III is elected. The famously fanatical leader is said to enjoy bonfires fueled by burning maleficar. Her reign does not last long.


 * 5:99 Exalted: The Exalted Age ends.


 * With the assassination of Queen Madrigal of Antiva as during a hunt she is found deep within the forest with four steel swords plunged into her chest (the work suspected to have been done by the mysterious Crows of Antiva), Divine Theodosia I declares the beginning of the Steel Age.

Steel

 * 6:15 Steel: dragon are hunted nearly to extinction thanks to methods pioneered by the Pentaghast family of Nevarra. The Pentaghasts become known across the continent as legendary dragon hunters.


 * 6:30 Steel: The Qunari land in Par Vollen in the Tevinter Empire, and conquer it quickly.


 * 6:32 Steel: Word of Qunari invastion does not reach the continent until the Qunari ships begin to land en masse at the coasts of Seheron and northern Rivain. The First Qunari War begins and lasts for the remaining of the century, and most of the next one.


 * 6:42 Steel: The Qunari's initial advances are great: they have conquered much of the Tevinter Imperium, Rivain, and Antiva and begin to assault the Free Marches.


 * Only Minrathous itself remains besieged but unconquered in the north.


 * They force all they conquered to convert to the Qun, their oppressive philosophy that heralded all as equals but scorned all individual freedom.


 * 6:50 Steel: The Avvar organize forces under the great warlord Balak and sweep into the heart of the Ferelden Valley in massive numbers. The Bannorn is put to torch.


 * 6:85 Steel: the humans have organized themselves and pushed back hard enough that massive rebellions in Tevinter manage to free the Imperium, and the Qunari lines begin to crumble.

Storm

 * 7:10 Storm (approx.): Under the rule of King Arland, the Grey Wardens are banished from Ferelden following a failed coup d'état from Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden.


 * 7:23 Storm: the Qunari are pushed back to Seheron and Rivain, but they are well entrenched.


 * The Battle of the Nocen Sea is the largest naval engagement in history and results in a stalemate and the destruction of many of the ships on both sides.


 * With both sides exhausted, an impasse begins.


 * 7:25–7:85 Storm: The New Exalted Marches are declared, by both the Imperial Chantry - to retake Seheron and the eastern city of Qarinus - and the Chantry - to retake Rivain.


 * During the Exalted Marches, Orlais manages to steal Tome of Koslun from the Qunari.


 * The first New Exalted March takes place in 7:25 Storm.


 * 7:28 Storm: A dragon cult following the rampage of the High Dragon Urzara devastates the northern Free Marches until the dragon is slain by a group of militia men.


 * 7:44 Storm: The newly crowned emperor of Orlais, Freyan, allows women to become knights, after being previously the witness of the death of Ser Aveline, the Knight of Orlais.


 * 7:52 Storm: The second New Exalted March is a disaster, as the Qunari capture much of Antiva.


 * 7:56 Storm: The Qunari, although on the retreat, manage to gain a foothold in the Free Marches by landing near Ostwick and launching assaults against Starkhaven and Kirkwall. Starkhaven prevails, but Kirkwall falls to the sorceries of the Saarebas in a daring night-time raid and is occupied until the end of the Third New Exalted March.


 * 7:60 Storm: The Kirkwall City Guard is founded, after the city is liberated from the occupation of the Qunari by an Orlesian chevalier by the name of Ser Michel Lafaille, who becomes the first Viscount.


 * 7:84 Storm: By the end of the Third New Exalted March, the Qunari are pushed back to only the city of Kont-aar in northern Rivain, and Par Vollen.


 * By then, rebuilding all the destruction caused was considered more important than trying to dislodge the Qunari from Kont-aar once again. A meeting between envoys of all the human lands (except for Tevinter) and the Qunari at Llomerryn results in the signing of the Llomerryn Accord and peace being declared.


 * Peace is not established between Tevinter Imperium and the Qunari. Though skirmishes are few while the Qunari pull back to Par Vollen and rebuild.


 * 7:90 Storm: Ceridweth of the Spiral Eye, one of the more popular apostates of The Gallows, is made tranquil.


 * 7:99 Storm: The Storm Age ends.


 * The birth of twin boys to Emperor Etienne I of Orlais is declared an omen by the Chantry. A long period of childlessness and fears of a civil war on the emperor's death dissipates with the onset of the Blessed Age, heralded as an age of bounty and prosperity.

Blessed

 * 8:05 Blessed: Kirkwall rebels against Orlais and gains the status of a free city.


 * 8:24 Blessed: The Orlesian Empire, under the direction of the "Mad Emperor" Reville, launches an invasion of Ferelden. Thanks to the clandestine support of number of powerful banns undermining the Kingdom's defence, Orlais quickly establishes a strong foothold.


 * Vigil's Keep and the City of Amaranthine are taken by the Empire, as is Redcliffe. At the Battle of Lothering, King Vanedrin Theirin is killed; Ardal Cousland, Teyrn of Highever, is slain defending him.


 * Though Vanderin is succeeded by his son, King Brandel Theirin, the youth is unable to unite the country beneath him, and for the next two decades, Ferelden is mired in blood and battle.


 * King Calenhad Theirin's sword, Nemetos, is lost.


 * 8:44 Blessed: The Orlesian Empire finally sacks the city of Denerim, claiming victory in Ferelden and driving King Brandel into hiding.


 * Though routed, the King and others among the true Fereldan nobility continue to wage guerrilla war against their oppressors.


 * When Brandel finally dies, several years after the birth of his grandson Maric Theirin, Orlais crowns Meghren as King of Ferelden, though Brandel's daughter, "the Rebel Queen" Moira Theirin - considerably more popular and charismatic than her father - keeps the resistance alive.


 * 8:55 Blessed: War between the Qunari and the Tevinter Imperium continues as the Qunari land and conquer Seheron within three years. Tevinter is left on its own to fight its war with the Qunari, though the peace between the Qunari and other lands is considered fragile.


 * Several attempts by the Qunari to land on the continent and attack Tevinter directly are repulsed.


 * 8:70 Blessed: A war between Nevarra and Orlais over the control of the western hills around Perendale results in a Nevarran victory. However, Orlais proceeds to sow dissent and rebellion among the locals in Perendale, who resent Nevarran rule.


 * 8:76 Blessed: In the coldest winter in centuries, Adain of Starkhaven, one of the more successful apostates, escapes the clutches of the Circle of Magi.


 * 8:78 Blessed: Maric Theirin is born and the bloodline of King Calenhad is continued.


 * 8:82 Blessed: Nevarra begins a bloody campaign of conquest within the Free Marches, encouraged by their taking of Perendale. They are stopped by Cade Arvale, who is named Champion of Tantervale for his deed.


 * 8:96 Blessed: Moira the Rebel Queen is assassinated by Bann Ceorlic (Stolen Throne) and several other traitor nobles at the behest of the Orlesian King Meghren.


 * 8:99 Blessed: Maric Theirin kills Bann Ceorlic as well as the other three nobles who betrayed and killed his mother. The last two legions of chevaliers that the Emperor sent to the occupied Ferelden are defeated in the Battle of River Dane and the liberation of Ferelden from Orlesian rule is much closer than ever before.


 * The Blessed Age ends.


 * The previous several years have seen two dragon flights ranging out of the Frostbacks and Orkney Mountains, even though it was thought that dragons had been hunted to extinction by Nevarran dragon hunters during the Steel Age. The dragons devastate the countrysides in Orlais and Nevarra, and all attempts to slay them end in disaster. Despite the devastation, some see the return of dragons to Thedas as a glorious sign - Chantry scholars, however, claim that this is the worst of omens.


 * Dragon Age is named, with the Chantry scholarts saying that it will be an age of violence and upheaval.

Dragon

 * 9:02 Dragon: Led by the young King Maric, Ferelden successfully rebels and throws off Orlesian rule. A short time later, Antiva is shaken by a civil war and the much maligned "Three-Queens Era" begins. The ruling Archon of Tevinter faces usurpation.


 * 9:04 The future Empress Celene of Orlais is born.


 * 9:05 Dragon: Birth of Cailan, future king of Ferelden.


 * 9:08 Dragon: Death of Queen Rowan of Ferelden.


 * 9:10 Dragon: Underneath Ferelden, the intelligent darkspawn known as the Architect attempts to unearth and kill the remaining Old Gods and taint the entire surface world. His efforts are thwarted by King Maric and a band of Grey Wardens.


 * King Maric allows the order of Grey Wardens to return to Ferelden after two centuries of exile.


 * Alistair is born.


 * 9:12 Dragon: Thought by the Orzammar dwarves to have been long lost to the darkspawn, the dwarven city of Kal-Sharok in the Hunterhorn Mountains is rediscovered. The dwarves there are still resentful of Orzammar and refuse to bow to the dwarven king's authority.


 * 9:13 Dragon (approx): The dwarven fortress of Bownammar, home to the Legion of the Dead, falls to the darkspawn.


 * 9:14 Dragon: Perrin Threnhold is appointed viscount of Kirkwall.


 * 9:20 Dragon: Ferelden and Orlais officially make peace after the ascension of Empress Celene to the Orlesian throne.


 * Arl Eamon Guerrin marries an Orlesian woman by the name of Isolde, and upon her request sends Alistair to the Chantry.


 * 9:21 Dragon: After a failed coup against the Templar Order, Viscount Perrin Threnhold is executed and Marlowe Dumar is appointed Viscount of Kirkwall. Due to her part in the arrest of Viscount Threnhold, Meredith is promoted to Knight-Commander of Kirkwall by Grand Cleric Elthina.


 * 9:22 Dragon: Blood mages, secretly in league with a rogue Grand Cleric of the Orlesian Chantry, conspire to assassinate Divine Beatrix III. A Seeker of Truth Cassandra Pentaghast thwarts the conspiracy and is named Hero of Orlais and the Divine's Right Hand.


 * 9:25 Dragon: King Maric of Ferelden is lost at sea, and is imprisoned by Crows of Antiva in Velabanchel.


 * Maric's son, Cailan Theirin, inherits the throne of Ferelden. Approximately one month later, Cailan marries Anora, daughter of Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir.


 * 9:27 Dragon: Malcolm Hawke, the apostate mage responsible for resealing Corypheus, and father of the future Champion of Kirkwall, dies in Lothering.


 * 9:28 Dragon: The dwarven Paragon Branka takes her entire house, save Oghren, into the Deep Roads in the hopes of finding the Anvil of the Void and the secret of creating golems.


 * The lyrium-infused slave Fenris escapes from his master and heads to the south.


 * Leliana seeks refuge in the Lothering chantry.


 * 9:30 Dragon: Alistair is recruited into the order of the Grey Wardens by the Warden-Commander of Ferelden, Duncan.


 * Events described in Dragon Age: Origins begin.


 * The Fifth Blight begins in the Korcari Wilds and southern Ferelden when the Architect's failed attempt to make a Disciple out of Urthemiel instead results in the Old God becoming an Archdemon.


 * Arl Rendon Howe murders Teyrn Bryce Cousland and Teyrna Eleanor Cousland of the Cousland family.


 * Sabrae clan of the Dalish elves contemporarily staying in Ferelden finds a tainted Eluvian. To escape the taint and the coming Blight, the clan leaves north towards the Free Marches.


 * The Warden is made a Grey Warden.


 * Ferelden is defeated at the Battle of Ostagar by the darkspawn; the battle is lost when Teyrn Loghain deserts, resulting in the destruction of the Fereldan army, the near-destruction and exile of the Grey Warden order, and the deaths of King Cailan Theirin and Warden-Commander Duncan.


 * The Warden and Alistair are saved by a Witch of the Wilds, Flemeth.


 * Teyrn Loghain returns to Denerim and declares himself regent, triggering a civil war between him and Ferelden's nobility.


 * Events described in Dragon Age II begin. Lothering is destroyed by the darkspawn and the Hawke family (along with Aveline Vallen) flee to Kirkwall with the aid of Flemeth.


 * 9:31 Dragon: Urthemiel is slain by one of the remaining Grey Wardens in Ferelden at the Battle of Denerim and The Warden becomes the "Hero of Ferelden."


 * Events described in Dragon Age: Warden's Fall take place.


 * Orlesian Grey Wardens are dispatched to Ferelden to help disperse the darkspawn that failed to return to the Deep Roads after the archdemon was slain. They are put under the command of Lieutenant Gable of Vigil's Keep. Kristoff leads the investigation, and is killed by the minions of an intelligent brood mother known as The Mother.


 * Events described in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening begin. The Darkspawn Civil War begins.


 * Remaining darkspawn in Ferelden are purged by the Warden-Commander and the replenished Fereldan Wardens. The Darkspawn Civil War ends.


 * The dwarves of Orzammar are able to reclaim the city of Kal'Hirol.


 * Amgarrak Thaig is overrun by harvesters. The Warden-Commander of Ferelden slays one of them and destroys the research.


 * The Circle of Magi in Starkhaven burns to the ground. Its survivors are relocated to Kirkwall, making it the greatest Circle within the Free Marches.


 * Qunari set out to meet Orlesians who agreed to return the Tome of Koslun to them. However, the book is intercepted by a pirate Isabela.


 * Following a storm, the Qunari ships sink at the coast of Kirkwall, and the Arishok and his surviving army are forced to stay in the Qunari Compound, untill the book is returned to them.


 * A shipwrecked Qunari mage is imprisoned underneath Kirkwall by the Chantry after causing a destruction to an entire village. A Qunari agent by the name of Tallis is sent to retrieve him.


 * Hawke of Kirkwall helps fund an expedition to the Deep Roads with Bartrand Tethras and Varric Tethras. They discover an ancient, pre-First Blight Primeval Thaig, and an ancient lyrium idol contained within.


 * 9:32-37 Dragon: Orlesian noble by the name of Prosper de Montfort works out a deal with a Tal-Vashoth called Salit to purchase a list of Qunari sleeper agents. He is killed by Hawke.


 * Corypheus awakens in his prison, and is defeated by Hawke.


 * 9:32 Dragon: The Warden-Commander of Ferelden confronts Morrigan in the Dragonbone Wastes; she leaves through an Eluvian.


 * 9:34 Dragon: Arishok of Kirkwall decides to attack the city, and the First Battle of Kirkwall and the Second Qunari Invasion of Kirkwall take place.


 * Marlowe Dumar is killed by the Qunari.


 * Hawke defeats the invaders and is named "Champion of Kirkwall" by Kirkwall's Knight-Commander, Meredith Stannard.


 * The Knight-Commander takes up stewardship of Kirkwall and imposes tighter sanctions on the Kirkwall Circle of Magi.


 * Revered Mother Dorothea ascends as Divine of The Chantry, taking the name Justinia V.


 * 9:37 Dragon: An apostate mage Anders destroys the Kirkwall chantry, igniting the Battle of Kirkwall and inspiring mages throughout Thedas to rebel against the Circle system.


 * The Champion of Kirkwall kills First Enchanter Orsino and Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard during the Battle of Kirkwall, and later flees the city.


 * 9:38 Dragon: BioWare canon.png King Alistair, with the help of Isabela and Varric Tethras, travels to Antiva City looking for clues regarding King Maric's ultimate fate.


 * 9:38-9:39 Dragon: Discontent with the Empress Celene I's reign sparks a civil war in Orlais.


 * The Circle of Dairsmuid in Rivain is annulled.


 * The College of Enchanters votes to separate from the Chantry.


 * BioWare canon.png Senior Enchanter Wynne sends out a letter to all Andrastian lands detailing a cure for Tranquil mages.


 * 9:40 Dragon: Following the dissolution of the Circle of Magi, the Nevarran Accord is declared null and void by Lord Seeker Lambert van Reeves. The Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order no longer follow the Chantry's orders.


 * Hawke's former companion Varric Tethras is interrogated by Cassandra Pentaghast, one of the few Seekers of Truth still loyal to the Chantry.


 * Both The Warden-Commander and the Champion have mysteriously disappeared by this time.

Timeline converter

 * FA refers to the founding of Arlathan
 * TE refers to the founding of the Tevinter Imperium