Rhys is the estranged mage son of the Fereldan senior enchanter, Wynne, and an unknown templar father.
Background
Rhys is a handsome man in his late thirties (by 9:40 Dragon) with chiseled features, warm brown eyes, a dark beard and black hair with silvering streaks. He became a senior enchanter himself in 9:33 Dragon with the help of Arvin and he is also a skilled spirit healer and spirit medium.
Rhys was taken from his mother shortly after his birth. He was raised in a Chantry orphanage until he was old enough to come to the Orlesian Circle of Magi, the White Spire. He became an apprentice to Arvin, a curmudgeonly elderly elven mage. When Arvin was transferred to the consulate in Teraevyn, Tevinter Imperium he took Rhys along. After having been beaten by three magister's apprentices Rhys was sent back to the Spire. All his life Rhys assumed that he had been taken from a Ferelden family. After the Fifth Blight Wynne came to Rhys and introduced herself. She promised to return, but she never did. The templars didn't realize Rhys and Wynne were related, although the Seekers knew. Rhys and Adrian were lovers and then remained best friends.
Involvement
Rhys is at the center of the events of Dragon Age: Asunder. He must try to prove that he is innocent of the murders taking place in the White Spire, the templar stronghold of Orlais. Having suspected that his friend Cole was responsible for the murders, he confronts him and tries to coerce him into confessing his murders to the templars. Cole reveals that he is the "Ghost of the White Spire" and explains that his fears of being forgotten were only assuaged when he killed people. Even so, Cole also feared alienating Rhys, his only friend. Trying to avoid a violent confrontation, Cole ran from Rhys and Rhys gave chase. Rhys however, ran into Knight Captain Evangeline, who knocked him out and apprehended him for breaking curfew. Due to Cole being unable to be seen by other people, Rhys' rendezvous with him looked like strange behavior to the templars; making Rhys the most likely suspect of the murders. Before an investigation or any punishment could be carried out on Rhys, Rhys' mother intervened and requested that Rhys aid her on her mission from the Divine.
At the behest of his mother Wynne, Rhys will reluctantly accompany her on a journey to the western wastelands. There he will assist Wynne in rescuing her friend, Pharamond: a Tranquil mage who was able to reverse the Rite of Tranquility; and then report the news of his research to the Divine in the Grand Cathedral.
Though Pharamond's experiment allowed demons to overrun the Adamant fortress; he did discover through his research that it is possible to reverse the Rite of Tranquility by having a spirit touch the mind of a Tranquil. He was however, unable to find an alternative to the Rite in denying a mage his or her power. Despite this, Rhys advocated that his research involving abominations and benign spirits be preserved so that it could advance their knowledge in discovering an alternate method to the Rite in protecting mages from demonic possession.
Divine Justinia V allowed the First Enchanters to convene at the White Spire in order to discuss reforming the policies of the Circle of Magi so that peace and coexistence between the mages and the Chantry would occur. Instead, the conclave decided to discuss seceding from Chantry rule. Lord Seeker Lambert and his templars disrupted the meeting shortly after discussion of rebellion occurred; after which he attempted to disband the conclave and arrest Rhys on the grounds of the murder of Pharamond; who was found dead in his cell with the murder weapon found in Rhys' chambers. This led to a battle between the templars and the mage conclave which led to many deaths on both sides. Rhys was captured by Lambert in the aftermath. He is later interrogated by the Lord Seeker, who attempts to convince him that Cole is a demon and that Rhys has been under its influence. He also attempts get a confession out of Rhys that he was being controlled by it.
Cole later freed Rhys and they attempted to sneak out of the tower using his invisibility. However, Lambert tracks them down with Rhy's phylactery and uncovers them using the Litany of Adralla, revealing that Cole was in fact a spirit using blood magic. As the Lord Seeker proceeded to viciously attack Cole, Rhys stands up in his defense, stating that not all spirits should be judged the same. However, Cole accepted the truth that he was not real and faded away, causing Rhys to lose the will to fight. He is then rescued by Wynne and the mage resistance. The mage resistance was subsequently able to route the templars from the White Spire. Wynne however, sacrificed herself to save the life of Rhys' beloved, Evangeline de Brassard, who was mortally wounded by Lambert.
Rhys and the mage resistance fled to the safety of Andoral's Reach and in the ancient Tevinter ruins, Rhys became the spokesperson for the Aequitarians, his deceased mother's fraternity, at the request of First Enchanter Irving. When Adrian came to summon him for the vote of independence, Rhys became suspicious that she refused to make eye contact with him and forced her to confess to murdering Pharamond. She stated that Wynne would've convinced the conclave to vote against independence, and that she would fight the templars if her son was threatened. Rhys threatened to throw Adrian to her death, to which she defended that she had only done what was necessary for the good of all mages. This made Rhys recall how Anders killed Grand Cleric Elthina to incite the war between mages and templars. He then spared Adrian and renounced their friendship.
Rhys later made the tie-breaking vote for all mages to rebel against the Chantry. He then met with Evangeline and discussed whether or not there was a mage named Cole. They shared a kiss before joining a group of his mother's friends as her ashes are given a proper funeral.
Trivia
- In Dragon Age: Origins, Wynne mentions to Alistair that she has a son, in their conversations.