Exalted March of the Dales

Date

2:10-2:20 Glory

Location

Result

Orlesian victory

1. Elven kingdom dismantled
2. Establishment of alienages throughout Thedas
3. Ban on worship of the elven gods and forced conversion to Andrastianism
4. Creation of the nomadic Dalish clans
5. Human settlements established across the Dales
6. Removal of the Canticle of Shartan from the Chant of Light

Belligerents
orlais Orlais andchantry Chantry	dalish The Dales

Commanders and leaders
andchantry Divine Renata I orlais Emperor Kordillus Drakon II andchantry Sister Amity da2templar Ser Brandis orlais Lord Demetrius Aron † da2templar Ser Mhemet orlais Ser Yves de Chevac	dalish Rajmael † dalish Lindiranae † dalish Vaharel † dalish Briathos † dalish Nomaris † dalish Siona †

The Exalted March of the Dales was a holy war declared by the Chantry and waged by the Orlesian Empire against the elven kingdom of the Dales between 2:10 and 2:20 Glory. It was the second Exalted March and the only one to involve troops from only a single nation. Accounts of the Exalted March vary wildly between human and elven sources.

Border tensions[]

In -165 Ancient, the elves were granted the Dales as a new homeland in exchange for their help during Andraste's Exalted March against the Tevinter Imperium.^[1] Across the next several decades, elves eager for their freedom and a place to call their own after centuries of slavery in Tevinter made the Long Walk to the Dales. They established the city of Halamshiral (meaning "the end of the journey" in the elven language) as their capital, the first elven city since the fall of Arlathan.^[2]

In their new homeland, the elves attempted to rebuild the culture they had lost after generations of slavery in the Imperium. They returned to the worship of the Elven pantheon, adopting new beliefs to fill in the gaps in their knowledge of the old ways.^[3] As they laid the foundations of Halamshiral, the elves vowed that no human would ever set foot on their lands. An elite order of warriors dedicated to the elven gods, the Emerald Knights, was established to ensure the Dales' continued independence.^[4]

Relations with humans were strained from the beginning, and only worsened after Kordillus Drakon, first Emperor of Orlais, forcibly unified the disparate cults of the Maker, stamped out belief in other deities, and made Andrastianism the official religion of the newly formed Orlesian Empire. The Dales presented a significant obstacle to Drakon's dreams of expanding Orlais further to the north and to the east.^[5]^[6] Furthermore, elven rejection of the Maker drew the ire of the Chantry,^[3] as it confounded their core mission of spreading the Chant of Light throughout Thedas to ensure the Maker's return to the world.^[7] The Chantry sent missionaries to the Dales,^[5]^[4] then templars when these were turned away.^[8]^[2]

In response to these human incursions, and after the loss of prominent advocates for closer relations,^[9] the Dales became increasingly isolationist, posting Emerald Knights on their borders and rejecting diplomatic and trade overtures.^[2]^[6] When the Second Blight spread across Orlais, the elves refused to lend aid as darkspawn nearly destroyed the nearby human city of Montsimmard.^[10]

Rumors that the elves sacrificed humans to the elven gods further fueled border tensions.^[2]^[6] By 2:05 Glory, border skirmishes had broken out between the Dales and Orlais.^[11]

The attack on Red Crossing[]

These border skirmishes turned into open conflict after a group of elves attacked the human town of Red Crossing in 2:09 Glory. The atrocities the elves were said to commit enraged humans across Thedas.^[11] However, written accounts from Din'an Hanin, the tomb of the Emerald Knights, show that both sides played a part in the beginning of the war.

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Amidst the growing hostility between Orlais and the Dales and rumors of an abduction, an elven woman, sister of the Emerald Knight Siona, was murdered by human hunters. Around the same time, their brother, an Emerald Knight by the name of Elandrin, fell in love with a human woman from the town of Red Crossing named Adalene, and she with him. As their relationship remained secret, Elandrin's unexplained visits to Red Crossing led the other elves to fear that he would convert to the Maker and betray their secrets. When Elandrin left before he could be questioned, Siona led a group of knights to the village to either convince him to return with them or bring him to justice. When they reached the town, Adalene spotted them first. She started racing towards them with something in her hand; Siona slew her with an arrow. The townsfolk attacked the elves after hearing the girl's scream but were defeated. The Emerald Knights retreated when more humans came, but Elandrin wouldn't be moved and was killed by their arrows, his body dumped in the river.^[12]

The events at Red Crossing marked the beginning of open war between Orlais and the Dales.

Elven victories[]

The elves saw several significant victories in the early days of the war. In 2:10 Glory, the Emerald Knight Vaharel^[8] led the elven forces into capturing Montsimmard, a major strategic settlement for Orlais. That same year, as the elves marched on the capital of Val Royeaux, Divine Renata I called for a holy war against the elves. Uniquely among all Exalted Marches, only a single nation is reported to have answered the call–Emperor Kordillus Drakon II's besieged nation of Orlais.^[11] For that reason, some Chantry clerics do not see the Exalted March of the Dales as a "true" Exalted March.^[13] However, while no other nations fielded troops, some templars of other nations were inspired to join the Exalted March.^[14]

The elves continued to push into human lands and eventually reached Val Royeaux in 2:14 Glory. Their armies sacked the city, plundering the tomb of Kordillus Drakon I and taking his arms and armor back to Halamshiral to be displayed as trophies.^[15]

Fall of Halamshiral[]

The tide of the war eventually turned against the elves. Val Royeaux was liberated by Orlesian forces. The chevalier Ser Yves de Chevac famously struck down the elven forces' commander with a shot to the throat at two hundred feet with a bow named the Bane of Red Crossing.

As the Exalted March stretched on and the Chantry's forces neared victory, a group of elves decided to turn the rumors of blood sacrifice into a reality. They killed four innocent humans to fuel a ritual that would empower them to defeat their enemies. However, the ritual failed, resulting only in their deaths and the loss of the legendary Sulevin Blade.^[16]

In 2:20 Glory, Orlesian forces captured the elven capital of Halamshiral.^[17] The walls of the city were so strong that the fortifications were left otherwise untouched after its gates were breached.^[18] Despite the significant reward offered for the return of Drakon's arms and armor, taken to Halamshiral following the sack of Val Royeaux six years earlier, none of the artifacts reappeared, presumably taken by either elves fleeing the city or soldiers seeking a better reward.^[15]

Last stand[]

Exalted2 — Dirthavaren, where the elves made their last stand

Even after the fall of their capital, a group of elves, among them the Emerald Knight Lindiranae, refused to surrender and made their last stand in the region they called Dirthavaren, "the promise," which would later become known as the Exalted Plains. The Chantry fielded troops of their own, led by Lord Demetrius Aron, Sister Amity, and Ser Brandis of Lac Celestine.^[19] Sister Amity led their troops to the river Tenasir, where she struck down the shrines to the elven gods and sang the Chant of Light.^[20]

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the elves attacked the humans, slaying Lord Demetrius in their charge. Eventually, Lindiranae faced Ser Brandis on the field. While Chantry history holds that Lindiranae was bested by the knight in single combat, research by Lord Avery of Montsimmard in the Dragon Age indicates that Ser Brandis, who didn't want to see her die in vain, refused to fight her and that Lindiranae was actually killed by an arrow fired by another soldier. After her death, Ser Brandis took her legendary sword, Evanura, to the Emerald March and buried it beneath a tree in the Vallasdahlen, the same tree that was planted in remembrance of her.^[21]

Lindiranae's death marked the end of the Exalted March and of the Dales.

Aftermath[]

Dalish Camp in Exalted Plains — A modern Dalish camp

At the conclusion of the Exalted March, the elven kingdom was dismantled. Orlais established human settlements across the region of the Dales. The region of Dirthavaren became known as the Exalted Plains while the Emerald March became known as the Emerald Graves to the elves due to the scale of their losses, and the Greatwood to the humans who wished to ignore the blood that had been spilled.^[22] Ville Montevelan on the Exalted Plains became the first such settlement in 2:21 Glory. Sister Amity, champion of the Exalted March, assumed the title of Revered Mother Amity and presided over its chantry for over forty years.^[23] Halamshiral eventually became a seasonal retreat for Orlais's imperial family.^[24]

To deal with the elves that had been rendered homeless, Divine Renata I decreed that all Andrastian nations must allow elves to live within their lands and cities, on the condition that they renounce their now-prohibited faith and convert to worship of the Maker. Alienages, squalid, walled-off sections where elves live as second-class citizens, were established throughout Thedas.^[25] The Divine further ordered that the Canticle of Shartan, Andraste's elven disciple, be struck from the Chant of Light and that all Chantry art depicting elves be destroyed. The only exception was a mural by Henri de Lydes featuring Shartan, which was exempted from destruction after Shartan's ears were cropped.^[26]

Many elves refused to bow to the Chantry, such as the general Rajmael and the Emerald Knight Nomaris, who chose to leap to their deaths rather than surrender.^[27]^[28] Others, refusing to renounce their gods and culture, banded together to form the nomadic Dalish clans, named after their second lost homeland, roaming Thedas until they can have a home of their own once again.^[29]