The Dragon Age Timeline: From the Black Age Through the Steel Age (Griffons and Nugs and Blights, Oh My!)

Welcome to the next installment on my own personal take on the Dragon Age Timeline, taking us from the Black Age through the Exalted and Steel Ages, and then on to the Storm Age. Please don't miss my earlier installments on the Ancient Age, and from the Divine Age through the Towers Age.

We hit some exciting stuff here, especially when we get to the Exalted Age and the events of the Fourth Blight and of Last Flight!


As always, let me know what's missing or wrong here, so I can add or edit as needed—meanwhile, faster than a griffon's wing, here are those next ages for your review and enjoyment!

The Black Age:

• 4:00 Black - Werewolves reappear in Ferelden.
• 4:20 Black - Herbalists rediscover elfroot and its healing properties.
• 4:22 Black - King Guiomar the Younger of Antiva dies at the hands of Callisti di Bastion, of the Antivan Crows.
• 4:30 Black - Queen Asha Subira Bahadur is born in Rivain.
• 4:40-5:10 Black - Exalted Marches are declared by the Chantry, continuing through 5:10 Exalted.
• 4:45 Black - The elf Alidda of Halamshiral is arrested for slaying twelve chevaliers. She escapes and kills twenty more, before cutting her own throat to avoid capture.
• 4:46 Black - Divine Clemence I commissions Tevinter fugitive (and former magister) Adralla of Vyrantium to write the Litany of Adralla in order to protect against blood mages and demonic possession.
• 4:50 Black - ~(Estimated) marriage of King Dario Campana to Asha Subira Bahadur, Gana of Ayesleigh.
• 4:52 Black - The Great Riot of Val Royeaux takes place.
• 4:80–84 Black - The Orlesian Empire crosses the Frostbacks and attempts invasion of Ferelden for the first time.
• 4:83 Black - The Teyrns of Ferelden unite to push back Orlais. Orlais attempts to take Highever, but its siege is repelled successfully by the port.
• 4:85 Black - The minstrel Uccam records the saga of Dane and the Werewolf.
• 4:85-4:90 Black - (Estimated) Birth of Isseya. Birth of Garahel.
  ▪ Chateau Haine is built in the Western Vimmark Mountains by Lord Norbert de la Haine.
• 4:97 Black - Divine Rosamund is born.
• 4:99 Black - Divine Justinia II names the Exalted age.

Exalted Age:

• 5:10 Exalted - Orlais marches in the last Exalted March on the Tevinter Imperium but then ultimately retreats.
  ▪ Calenhad the Great is born to a Highever merchant.
  ▪ The Grey Wardens sign treaties with Alamarri teyrns and build a fortress in Denerim, along with several other outposts.
  ▪ Isseya leaves the mage Circle to join her brother with the Grey Wardens.
• 5:11 Exalted - ~(Estimated) Isseya and Garahel survive the Joining and join the Grey Wardens.
• 5:12 Exalted - Andoral awakens, and the Fourth Blight begins.
  ▪ Garahel meets and bonds with his griffon Crookytail. ▪ Darkspawn overrun Antiva, and the soldiers evacuate Antiva City. The royal family refuses to depart, and the Antivan Royal Guard rebels and kills King Elaudio before the Grey Wardens stop them.
  ▪ The Wardens evacuate the surviving royals and court members using griffons, but on the retreat, the Archdemon attacks, and pretty much all of the royals are killed, as well as most of the Wardens.
  ▪ Isseya, her griffon Revas, Garahel, his griffon Crookytail, and a small number of Grey Wardens survive, including the mage Calien. Amadis Vael, Princess-Captain of the Ruby Drakes Mercenary company, survives the trip.
  ▪ Using enchanted Aravels drawn by griffons (thanks to a brainstorm by Isseya), the Grey Wardens are able to evacuate many civilians from Wycome to Starkhaven.
  ▪ Darkspawn pour into the Free Marches and Rivain.
  ▪ The Blight rises in the Anderfels, and Hossberg comes under siege.
  ▪ Orlais and Tevinter successfully drive back the darkspawn attacking their cities.
  ▪ Tevinter refuses to send any aid to the Free Marches or the Anderfels, while Orlais sends only a token force.
• 5:16 Exalted - Divine Hortensia II dies. Divine Rosamund is elected. 
• 5:20 Exalted - Garahel leads an army of Wardens and Anders to successfully break the siege of Hossberg.
  ▪ Kirkwall declares the common nug to be vermin and a possible carrier of the Blight, causing mass exterminations of the creatures that came to be known as the Battle of Squealing Plains.
  ▪ Attempting to save the darkspawn-infected griffon Shrike, Isseya discovers a way to put griffons through the Joining.
• 5:21 Exalted - Darkspawn destroy most of the Free Marches.
  Chateau Haine becomes Fortress Haine, a Grey Warden garrison commanded by Isseya.
  ▪ The refuge known as The Retreat is carved into the mountain at Fortress Haine, eventually housing hundreds of refugees.
  ▪ Garahel orders Isseya to put the griffons at Fortress Haine through the Joining, and Isseya does so under protest, save only for a few remaining griffons including Revas.
  ▪ Thanks to the griffons and Grey Wardens, Kirkwall is successfully evacuated.
• 5:22 Exalted - Garahel assembles Wardens from Orlais and the Anderfels and marches to Starkhaven, where he organizes an alliance between the leaders of the Free Marches. They march north as a united army under the Grey Warden banner.
• 5:24 Exalted - Isseya's corruption from the Taint progresses visibly. She puts most of the remaining griffons through the modified Joining.
  ▪ Battle of the city of Ayesleigh. Garahel kills the archdemon Andoral and perishes, along with Crookytail.
  ▪ Lambert Valmont, a young Orlesian captain, is declared a hero by King Azar Adalberto Campana of Antiva. Lambert weds one of Azar's daughters and the Valmont family is elevated to the nobility.
  ▪ Upon returning home, the Orlesian emperor is forced to match Azar's honors by granting Lambert a Marquisate.
  ▪ Darkspawn continue to plague the Deep Roads and to attack Orzammar.
• 5:25 Exalted - Isseya is called back to Weisshaupt Fortress at news of an illness among the griffons, and she realizes that her modified Joining has infected and doomed all of the griffons, even those not put through the ritual.
  ▪ Isseya goes to Amadis Vael, who gives her the world's only remaining clutch of griffon eggs.
  ▪ Isseya uses blood magic to take the darkspawn taint from the eggs and into herself, then conceals the eggs in a state of magical suspended animation in a cave in the Anderfels. She then leaves clues in records at Weisshaupt and hides her journal for a future mage to uncover.
  ▪ Isseya flies Revas one last time, then both perish in her Calling.
• 5:33 Exalted - Calenhad Theirin defeats Teyrn Simeon in the Battle of the White Valley and is named Teyrn of Denerim.
• 5:37 Exalted - Tylus Van Markham, the first king of the Nevarran Van Markham family, kills the ruling Pentaghast and is crowned King, winning several major battles against Orlais.
• 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 nation.
• 5:42 Exalted - With the crowning of King Calenhad in Denerim, the warring factions of Alamarri are at last united under a single banner to form the country of Ferelden.
• 5:71 Exalted - Divine Rosamund dies after fifty-five years in power. Divine Amara III is elected.
• 5:99 Exalted - Queen Madrigal of Antiva is assassinated. Divine Theodosia I receives news of Queen Madrigal's assassination by four blades and declares the Steel Age.

The Steel Age: 

• 6:15 Steel - Dragons are hunted to near-extinction, most famously by the Pentaghast family of Nevarra.
• 6:18 Steel - Fionne Theirin becomes the new Queen of Ferelden.
• 6:30 Steel - The Qunari land in Par Vollen, conquering it from Tevinter.
• 6:32 Steel - Beginning of the Qunari Wars in Seheron and along the coast of Rivain.
• 6:35 Steel - The Qunari conquer the Antivan city of Treviso.
• 6:42 Steel - The Qunari continue to conquer much of Tevinter, Rivain, and Antiva and begin to assault the Free Marches. They attack but do not take Minrathous. 
• 6:50 Steel - Under warlord Balak, the Avvar sweep into the heart of the Ferelden Valley in massive numbers. The Bannorn is put to the torch.
• 6:52 Steel - The Avvar are pushed out of Ferelden, leading to a terrible famine in Ferelden, and to hostile relations between the Avvar and Ferelden for ages.
• 6:85 Steel - Tevinter begins to successfully beat back the Qunari.
• 6:90 Steel - The Qunari besiege the city of Seleny. The appearance of a dragon, rumored to be called by Yavana, the Witch of the Wilds, forces them to retreat.
• 6:99 Steel - Divine Hortensia III names the next age the Storm Age, foreseeing a growing storm of violence across Thedas.

The Storm Age:

• 7:05 Storm - Sophia Dryden loses the Fereldan throne to her cousin Arland Theirin, joins the Grey Wardens and rises to the rank of Warden-Commander in Ferelden.
  ▪ Arland is a brutal leader, and Banns approach Sophia to intercede, and she attempts a coup against her cousin using the Grey Wardens.
  ▪ At the Battle of Soldier's Peak, Arland defeats Sophia, who is killed.
  ▪ The Grey Wardens are expelled from Ferelden and Soldier's Peak is abandoned.
• 7:23 Storm - The Qunari are pushed back to Seheron and Rivain.
  ▪ The Battle of the Nocen Sea takes place as the largest naval engagement in history and despite ending in stalemate results in the destruction of many ships on both sides.
• 7:25–85 Storm - The Exalted Marches on the Qunari are declared by both the Imperial Chantry (to retake Seheron and Qarinus) and by the Andrastian Chantry (in a pledge to retake Rivain).
  ▪ During the Exalted Marches, Orlais manages to steal the Tome of Koslun from the Qunari.
• 7:28 Storm - A dragon cult following High Dragon Urzara devastates the northern Free Marches until the dragon is slain by a militia group.
• 7:34 Storm - Archon Nomaran is elected directly from the ranks of enchanters in Tevinter, overturning the old rules forbidding mages from taking part in Tevinter politics.
  ▪ Hessarian's tale of his own conversion is translated.
• 7:44 Storm - Freyan, the newly crowned emperor of the Orlesian Empire, allows women to become knights after witnessing the death of Ser Aveline, the Knight of Orlais.
• 7:52 Storm - The second New Exalted March ends in disaster, as the Qunari capture much of Antiva.
• 7:54 Storm - The Qunari land in Estwatch and use it as a launching point for fleets of dreadnoughts.
• 7:55 Storm - Raiders from Llomerryn unite under the banner of the Felicisima Armada and help to turn the tide against the Qunari at sea.
  ▪ A third and final Exalted March on the Qunari is called.
• 7:56 Storm - The Qunari even in retreat gain a foothold in the Free Marches by landing near Ostwick and launching assaults against Starkhaven and Kirkwall.
  ▪ Starkhaven rallies but Kirkwall falls, and is then occupied until the end of the Third New Exalted March.
• 7:60 Storm - Kirkwall is liberated by Orlesian chevalier Ser Michel Lafaille, who becomes the city's first Viscount. The Kirkwall City Guard is founded.
• 7:75 Storm - The Battle of Afsaana takes place between Orlais and the Qunari.
• 7:78 Storm - The Felicisima Armada takes Estwatch following a massive naval battle with the Qunari.
• 7:84 Storm - By the end of the Third New Exalted March, much of Northern Thedas has been laid waste by the Qunari, but efforts to rebuild become a priority.
  ▪ The Qunari relinquish Seheron to the Imperium and have only one stronghold left on the continent: the city of Kont-aar.
  ▪ A meeting between human envoys and the Qunari at Llomerryn results in the signing of the Llomerryn Peace Accords. The Qunari pull back to Par Vollen.
• 7:88 Storm - The Chantry names Calenhad Theirin one of the Anointed.
• 7:90 Storm - Ceridweth of the Spiral Eye, one of the more popular apostates of The Gallows, is made Tranquil.
• 7:99 Storm - The end of Orlais's war with the Qunari. This, and the birth of twin boys to Emperor Etienne I, ushers in the Blessed Age.

Surviving the Joining: Thoughts on 'Dragon Age: Origins'

If you really want to understand the world of Dragon Age, then Dragon Age: Origins is simply essential, because when it comes to worldbuilding, DAO sets up the chessboard beautifully. It introduces you to Thedas, and to the Dragon Age universe's main regions and races, their politics, religions, and strifes. 

DAO also tosses you headlong into the fray by making your first protagonist a Grey Warden. 

The Burden of the Wardens

DAO features fascinating characters, like the lonely
slightly amoral hedge witch Morrigan (left), as well
as a world that's equally complex.

Grey Wardens are a grim, highly honored, elite cadre of fighters who either join the order out of ambition and pride, or who are forcibly conscripted. Much like GRRM's Night's Watch in the Game of Thrones universe, Dragon Age's Grey Wardens do an often thankless job around the fringes of Thedas's world, fighting darkspawn, haunted by the "Taint," and doomed to die within two or three decades. They're often a disparate mix of nobles and criminals and everything in between, because, as with the Night's Watch, once you become a Grey Warden, your past crime no longer exists.

Those wishing to become Grey Wardens must first undergo the Joining, a ritual that involves drinking a concoction of darkspawn blood, and which the majority of potential Wardens do not survive. Those who do survive are now Grey Wardens—respected throughout the land but doomed to live shorter lives due to the "Taint," and marred by a constant awareness of, and connection to, the darkspawn (a hellish, twisted, mostly mindless race that lives beneath the surface, and which can infect those in contact with them).

At least you're not alone in your newfound Grey Wardenship. You're immediately paired up with Grey Warden Alistair, a witty, slightly naive young man who has the potential to be either a friend, lover or foe as your adventures evolve.

The stage of DAO is then perfectly set with the reappearance of the one thing everyone in Thedas dreads: the appearance of an Archdemon. Archdemons are fell forces in dragon form, and each time they appear, they lead the darkspawn in something called the Blight, in which the darkspawn rage to the surface in massive, frenzied numbers as they attempt to take over the world of the living, obliterating whole villages, settlements and kingdoms. The Blight is basically a kind of infection that's both biological and metaphysical, in which those infected either die of the infection or slowly turn into darkspawn themselves.

An Endless Circle of Conflict: the Mages and the Templars

The other main tensions are between mages and templars, and these tensions not only affect the game and its choices in DAO, but they will be increasingly vital in shaping each new chapter of the trilogy as it progresses.

In the Dragon Age universe, mages are innately talented with magic, yet they're also dangerous because each time they use magic, they open a tiny channel to the Fade (the otherworld/dreamworld that is also the source of all magic), allowing for the possibility for demons to sneak through and possess them, turning them into powerful, evil Abominations. Mages are for this reason tested for this weakness in a Fade-based ritual known as "The Harrowing," and if they fail, the templars in the room will execute them immediately.

Those templars, meanwhile, are soldiers who guard, watch and imprison the mages, and who keep them in isolated towers known as 'Circles,' ostensibly for their own protection. Some Circles are gently managed, and there's real camaraderie between the mages and Templars (along with a healthy degree of sly hooking up), and a system that mostly works, even if I still intensely dislike any system that requires imprisonment for a talent people were, you know, born with. Other Circles, as we'll find as we move through the trilogy, however, are not kind, gentle, havens, but are horrifying prisons in which mages are starved, abused, raped, and more, without consequence or oversight. Mages who flee are often punished with death or a kind of spiritual lobotomy known as "Tranquility," in which the mage's connection to the Fade is severed, and they lose all capacity for emotion.

The first Circle we encounter is fairly gentle, however, and it includes a character we'll come to know very well as the trilogy progresses—the templar Cullen, who here in DAO is a shy young boy who cannot even stand a moment of flirtation with your female mage protagonist without running away. It's part of the reason I really recommend playing DAO at least once as a Circle mage, as you'll encounter plenty of drama and prejudice—even more so if you play a Dalish or city elf, as elves in this universe are a fallen people, distrusted, enslaved, and treated with active cruelty and prejudice. And you'll learn about the central conflict (mages versus templars) that will evolve with each new game or chapter as you progress through the trilogy.

A Hero's Journey Begins

DAO choices can lead to surprising outcomes. I
never expected to be standing next to Loghain, for
instance (although I'd envisioned standing ON him).

So what are the tasks set for our brave Warden protagonist as the game gets underway? Navigate Thedas's complex politics, gain allies, avoid the machinations of the usurper Loghain, gather a team of intrepid companions, fight your way across Thedas, and defeat the Archdemon.

No big deal, right? It's a great journey, and full of adventures across a complex and often beautiful array of regions and landscapes. Even better, you'll encounter some amazing characters, societies, and stories along the way—from werewolves to enchantresses, from dragons to demons.

And, as always with RPGs, you get to choose how—and who—you play. Are you a hero? Or a villain? Or a wisecracking rogue somewhere in between? It's all up to you. You can court—or kill—pretty much all of your companions. The choices are complex and often surprising, frightening, and even moving, and Origins ensures that the dialogues are consistently complex, engrossing, and genuinely interesting and fun to navigate.

Meanwhile, DAO is about far more than the hero—it also offers incredible characters. I loved the richness and complexity of the apostate witch Morrigan, the guilt-stricken Qunari Sten, the charming Alistair (hiding some secrets of his own), the Crow assassin Zevran, the devout former bard Leliana, senior mage Wynne, the golem Shale, and others. The characters are—all—beautifully performed, especially by Sten's dry, yet secretly heartfelt Mark Hildreth, Morrigan's sarcastic, vulnerable Claudia Black, Kate Mulgrew as the mysterious Flemeth, and more. I grew to love them.

Origins is like playing a great novel, and every choice you make has consequences. And each consequence can, in fact, carry forward into the events of Dragon Age 2—and into Inquisition itself.

The plot thickens... DAO is only the beginning.