Jeshavis, also known as "the Mother of Orlais", was the first female chieftain, or gyðja, of the unified Ciriane tribes that established Orlais and the wife of two of the Sons of Betrayal. Eight generations afterwards, her tribe would coalesce under Emperor Kordillus Drakon's rule as the Orlesian Empire.
Background[]
Jeshavis was a Ciriane tribeswoman whose lands were under control of Maferath. When Andraste died and the Alamarri returned from their Exalted March to occupy the lands they conquered, Isorath, Maferath's eldest, was given the Ciriane territory to call his own and took Jeshavis as his wife. To tighten the grip on his subjects and to form a buffer against any Tevinter retaliation[1] he sought to consolidate the disparate and culturally distinct Ciriane tribes, using his wife's connections to do so.[2] He called it the Grand Unification. Once all the Ciriane were one, he called his newly created nation Orlais.
Out of xenophobia, revenge for the forceful unification, or perhaps simply for the satisfaction of practicing what would become The Grand Game of modern bards, Jeshavis planned to eliminate her foreign husband. When Verald, her brother-in-law, lost control over Nevarra City, he moved to Orlais to take power from Isorath,[3] possibly at Jeshavis' invitation. She then manipulated Verald into killing her first husband, then married him when he demanded it to strengthen his claim. She then seeded rebellion against her new husband; within a decade, she was the figurehead of a people's rebellion against him. After Verald's death, Jeshavis ruled Orlais for forty-two years.[2]
This development allowed her to insure the sovereign culture of the Ciriane people in the face of change, as well as to resist the encroachment of Alamarri dominance. Though Jeshavis appeared to have an abundance of faith, she was a nevertheless practical woman who looked out for the welfare of her own people as well. It is arguable that even in its neophyte period, Jeshavis nonetheless played the Game at its highest level.
Kordillus Drakon eventually destroyed the ancient Ciriane fortress that Jeshavis had inhabited and used its foundations build a great temple to the Maker where "the one true song of Andraste shall forever after be heard."[4]
Codex entries[]
References[]
- ↑
Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 1, p. 64
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Codex entry: Not of Heroes: United in Hatred
- ↑ Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, p. 15
- ↑
Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, p. 22