The Exalted Plains are a stretch of land in central Orlais with a rich and bloody history. Part of the Dales, the plains sit southwest of Skyhold and make up a large portion of the land west of the Frostback Mountains. Shortly before I arrived there, it had been a battleground in the Orlesian civil war, but they temporarily stopped killing each other only to have a rebellious splinter faction, demons and copious amounts of undead start to kill them instead. The Inquisition was able to put a halt to all of this nefarious activity, fortunately, and assist a trapped clan of Dalish elves in the process. The history of the Exalted Plains was impossible to escape, with ancient fortresses and elven ruins and statues popping up around seemingly every corner. More than 700 years ago, the Dales were given to the elves by Andraste’s family for their role in her assault on Tevinter. Having lost most of their knowledge, customs and language after being enslaved for centuries, my people were eager to have a home to call their own where they could reestablish their culture. And they did, for a few centuries, at least, until violence flared up again. The story of that conflict and its origins is long, confusing, and new details have emerged that challenge the accepted history of the whole thing, so I will not attempt to retell it here. I’ll just skip to the last and most relevant bit, which had the elven army making a last stand against an Exalted March and being more or less annihilated. That’s why this place is called the Exalted Plains, because the glorious heroes of the Chantry crushed the last of the wicked elven heretics there and the few that were left either scattered to the winds, never to have a true home again, or were crammed into slums in human cities, free to be exploited or ignored. All in the name of the Maker. And if you ever wondered why I was never comfortable representing Him, well, there it is. Part of it, at least. Sorry this entry was a bit short, but I’m done thinking about this place.