Exalted Age

The **Exalted Age** (5:00–5:99) is the fifth named Age in the history of Thedas. Divine Justinia II chooses the name Exalted as the war with the Tevinter Imperium persists.

## Chronology

* **5:10 Exalted**: The last Exalted March on the Tevinter Imperium ends in retreat for Orlais.

Calenhad the Great is born as the third son of a Highever merchant.
The Grey Wardens sign treaties with the various Alamarri teyrns, and build a fortress in Denerim, as well as several small outposts to watch for signs of darkspawn.
* **5:12 Exalted**: The Exalted Marches against Tevinter come to an end with the awakening of the Archdemon Andoral and the outbreak of the Fourth Blight. Darkspawn appear in great numbers in the northeast and northwest of the continent.

The country of Antiva is overrun by Darkspawn. The Grey Wardens arrive to evacuate Antiva City but the royal family refuse to leave. The Antivan Royal Guard rebel and kill King Elaudio before they are stopped by the Wardens. It is publicly reported that he was killed by the darkspawn.
The Wardens evacuate the surviving royals and court members via Griffons. As they retreat they are attacked by the Archdemon and the surviving royals are killed along with most of the Wardens.
Using improvised Aravels supported by magic and drawn by Griffons, the Grey Wardens evacuate a large number of civilians from Wycome to Starkhaven.
The darkspawn pour into the Free Marches and Rivain.
The Blight rises in the Anderfels as well, and the capital city of Hossberg comes under siege.
Orlais and the Tevinter Imperium are attacked by fewer numbers and are able to drive the darkspawn back into the depths of the Deep Roads. Despite their success, Tevinter refuses to send any aid to the Free Marches or the Anderfels, while Orlais sends only a token force.
The dwarves of Orzammar assist the Imperium in lifting the siege of Marnas Pell however the Ortan Thaig is lost.
* **5:16 Exalted**: Divine Hortensia II dies.

Divine Rosamund is elected. At nineteen, she is the youngest Divine in history. She was personally groomed for the position by Hortensia II.
* **5:20 Exalted**: The Grey Warden, Garahel, leads an army of Wardens and Anders and breaks the siege of Hossberg.

Kirkwall declares the common nug as a noxious vermin over fears that the animals carried the Blight. The extermination became known the Battle of Squealing Plains.
* **5:21 Exalted**: Darkspawn all but devastate the Free Marches. Chateau Haine becomes Fortress Haine, a makeshift Grey Warden garrison commanded by Isseya. A refuge known as the Retreat is dug into the mountain. At the most dire point of the Fourth Blight hundreds of fleeing Kirkwall and Cumberland residents call the Retreat home.

* **5:22 Exalted**: Garahel gathers Wardens from Orlais and the Anderfels and marches to Starkhaven. At Starkhaven, Garahel organizes an alliance between the leaders of the Free Marches. A united army marches north, led under the banner of the Grey Wardens.

* **5:24 Exalted**: Antiva is freed from the darkspawn during the infamous battle at the city of Ayesleigh, where Garahel dies upon slaying the archdemon Andoral. So many darkspawn are slaughtered in the battle that it is considered certain that they will never return. That the Blight continues to be felt underground by the dwarves of Orzammar is largely ignored by most except the Grey Wardens. Most are eager for the war to end and for regular trade to begin.

Lambert Valmont, a young Orlesian captain, is declared a hero by King Azar Adalberto Campana of Antiva for coming to the rescue of the Antivan army during the Battle of Ayesleigh. 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.
* **5:25 Exalted**: Many griffons are killed during the Fourth Blight. Their numbers devastated, the creatures soon die out.

* **5:33 Exalted**: Calenhad Theirin defeats Teyrn Simeon in the Battle of the White Valley and was named teyrn of Denerim.

* **5:37 Exalted**: The first king of the Nevarran Van Markham family, Tylus Van Markham, is crowned after having claimed to be a descendant of Drakon's son, killed in Cumberland and killing the ruling Pentaghast king. Being a hero of the recent Blight, Tylus is able to stir nationalistic feelings in the western Free Marches against the growing power of Orlais. He proves his military might by winning several major battles against the Orlesians, establishing Nevarra as a new, growing power.

* **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 proper nation.

* **5:42 Exalted**: With the crowning of King Calenhad in Denerim, the various warring factions of Alamarri are at last united under a single banner to form Ferelden. What had always been considered a land of wild, nomadic barbarians was finally a nation in its own right, though considered primitive and backwater by most.

* **5:71 Exalted**: Divine Rosamund dies after fifty-five years in power. She leaves a legacy as one of the most compassionate women to ever occupy this post.

Divine Amara III is elected. The famously fanatical leader is said to enjoy bonfires fueled by burning maleficar. Her reign does not last long.
* **5:99 Exalted**: Queen Madrigal of Antiva, is assassinated on a hunt, stabbed in the chest by four blades.

Divine Theodosia I receives news of Queen Madrigal's assassination. The image of the queen with four swords plunged into her chest haunts the Divine's dreams that night. Upon awakening, she declares the Steel Age.
## Notes

* At an unspecified date in the Exalted Age, a civil war broke out in Orlais after Xavier Drakon, described as an usurper and false emperor, assumed the throne. Alphonse Valmont, the son of Marquis Lambert Valmont, led the faction that sought to overthrow Xavier, and Alphonse's younger brothers Duke Isidore d'Arlesans, Duke Yvon of Savrenne, and Duke Stephan of Val Montaigne commanded some of his armies. In the final battle of the war, Alphonse fought and killed Xavier in single combat. With the Drakon dynasty extinguished, Alphonse became the first of the Valmont emperors.