Strife

Strife
Race	Elf
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Dalish
Appearances	Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Ruins of Reality

Strife is a a city elf from Starkhaven who eventually joined Dalish Clan Morlyn. He is described as a tall man with silver hair.

Background

Strife grew up in Starkhaven's alienage. His outspokenness frequently got him in trouble, and he eventually had to leave the city after hitting a guard who was beating elven children. He was living in the woods when the Dalish found him and let him join their clan.

By the time of the fall of Ventus, Strife is at least fifty years old. He has no vallaslin.

Involvement

Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights.

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The plot follows BioWare's own canon, meaning it may not follow some of the player's choices in the games.

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Three Trees to Midnight
Strife is among the prisoners taken by the Qunari from Ventus, under the guard of Bas-taar of the Antaam. He is put to work chopping wood on the outskirts of Arlathan Forest, shackled at the ankle to the human Myrion. Their relationship immediately turns antagonistic when Myrion calls him a filthy knife-ear. Strife suggests that the Qunari shackle him to another elf instead of a "lazy shem," but Bas-taar tells them that racial distinctions don't apply to bas and to learn to work as one. As Strife complies, he calls him Bas-taard, to gauge how much Trade he speaks. The Qunari doesn't react to the insult.

When Strife tries to guess what his occupation in Ventus was, Myrion punches him in the face to shut him up, and gets knocked unconscious in return. The next day, Strife asks Bas-taar to be re-assigned, saying that he has alchemy training, like the elf Thantiel, also in the camp. When Strife is brought to Thantiel, he realizes that his friend has been turned mindless with qamek. Myrion saves him from suffering the same fate by killing their guard with a spell.

Strife reveals that Thantiel snuck into Ventus to get information about the Qunari invasion, and that they are part of the same Dalish clan. He kills Thantiel out of mercy, then retrieves the plans that he stole to finish their mission. As they head towards the forest, still shackled, Myrion gives all the other mindless prisoners a merciful death by setting their tent on fire, which alerts the Qunari to their escape. They meet Irelin on the outskirts of the forest, a shapeshifter mage from Strife's clan who gives him a bow, then leaves to warn the other clans that the Qunari are moving into Rivain. She claims she'll return by midnight.

While chased through the forest by Bas-taar and the Huntmaster, Strife and Myrion learn to work together. Myrion closes his wounds with magic when Strife takes an arrow below the ribs. Strife takes out several Qunari with his bow. Irelin returns just in time to help them during their last stand. Using the chain that binds them together, Strife and Myrion manage to strangle Bas-taar, though he is ultimately killed by the Huntmaster, who reveals himself to be a member of the Ben-Hassrath called Saarbrak, investigating rumors that the Antaam did not act in accordance with the Qun in Ventus. Saarbrak orders the surviving Qunari to retreat.

Strife uses one of the axes they left behind to cut their chains. When Myrion says that he'll go on his way after a night's rest, Strife tells him that the clan isn't his place, but that, once upon a time, it wasn't his either.

Short Story: Ruins of Reality

See also: Short Story: Ruins of Reality

After a relic of the Morlyn Clan, a journal handed down over generations, starts rewriting itself, describing ruins holding a powerful artifact in Arlathan Forest, Strife is sent on a mission to retrieve it by his Keeper. Strife realizes that something has gone wrong in the forest: the landscape seems to have stretched, time works differently, and he sees a mirror-image of himself. He also finds the relic: a crystal halla figurine held by a statue of Ghilan'nain. While Strife works as bait for angry sylvans, his shapeshifting clanmate Irelin retrieves the artifact. She tells him to meet her back at camp.