Blessed Age

The **Blessed Age** (8:00–8:99) is the eighth named Age in the history of Thedas.

The end of war with the Qunari and the birth of twin boys, Reville and Gratien, to Emperor Etienne I of Orlais in the final year of the previous age is declared an omen by the Chantry. A long period of childlessness and fears of a civil war on the emperor's death dissipates with the onset of the Blessed Age, heralded as an age of bounty and prosperity.

## Chronology

* **8:5 Blessed**: Kirkwall rebels against Orlais and gains the status of a free city.

* **8:10 Blessed**: In a grand gesture, Qunari in Par Vollen welcome a group of Rivaini diplomats. The visit dispels many myths about Qunari society.

* **8:21 Blessed**: Emperor Etienne Valmont passes away. His son, Reville Valmont, is crowned Emperor.

* **8:24 Blessed**: The Orlesian Empire, under the direction of the "Mad Emperor" Reville, launches the Second Orlesian Invasion of Ferelden. Thanks to the clandestine support of number of powerful banns undermining Ferelden defence, Orlais quickly establishes a strong foothold.

Vigil's Keep and the City of Amaranthine are taken by the Empire, as is Redcliffe. At the Battle of Lothering, Ardal Cousland, Teyrn of Highever, is slain defending his king, Vanedrin Theirin. The King is also killed by the Orlesians, and Calenhad the Great's sword, Nemetos, is lost.
* **8:25 Blessed**: Though Vanedrin is succeeded by his son, King Brandel Theirin, the youth is unable to unite the country beneath him, and for the next two decades, Ferelden is mired in blood and battle.

* **8:31 Blessed**: The House of Repose accept a contract from the du Paraquette family to keep the mercantile activities from the Antivan Montilyet family outside of Orlais.Template:Citation needed

* **8:44 Blessed**: The Orlesian Empire finally sacks the city of Denerim, claiming victory in Ferelden and driving King Brandel into hiding.

Though routed, the King and others among the true Fereldan nobility continue to wage guerrilla war against their oppressors. When Brandel finally dies, several years after the birth of his grandson Maric Theirin, Orlais crowns Meghren as King of Ferelden, though Brandel's daughter, "the Rebel Queen" Moira Theirin - considerably more popular and charismatic than her father - keeps the resistance alive.
* **8:46 Blessed**: Nevarra begins the Perendale War with Orlais as belated payback for Princess Sotiria Pentaghast's dismissal by Emperor Etienne I. However, Orlais proceeds to sow dissent and rebellion among the locals in Perendale, who resent Nevarran rule.[note]

* **8:47 Blessed**: Emperor Reville, fearing the court turning favor toward rival Grand Duke Gratien, has Gratien, his wife, three grown children, and all eight grandchildren murdered. The youngest, Camille, is only eight months old.

* **8:51 Blessed**: Emperor Reville dies after spending more than a year locked in his room, fearing retribution for his assassination of the Gratien family. His son, Etienne Valmont II, is crowned the Emperor.

* **8:55 Blessed**: War between the Qunari and the Tevinter Imperium continues as the Qunari land and conquer Seheron within three years. Tevinter is left on its own to fight its war with the Qunari, though the peace between the Qunari and other lands is considered fragile.

Several attempts by the Qunari to land on the continent and attack Tevinter directly are repulsed.
Emperor Etienne Valmont II of Orlais dies. His brother, Judicael Valmont, is crowned the new Emperor.
* **8:56 Blessed**: The Judicael's Crossing bridge is built in Emprise du Lion.

* **8:60 Blessed**: Aurelian Pentaghast, stepson of Princess Sotiria Pentaghast, attempts to assume the Nevarran throne before it is revealed he is not a Pentaghast by blood. The disgraced Aurelian joins the dwarven Legion of the Dead, the only human ever to do so.

* **8:62 Blessed**: The Antivan city of Treviso is burned to the ground after a fire started in a warehouse full of lamp oil.

* **8:70 Blessed**: Emperor Judicael dies. His son, Judicael II is crowned the Emperor.

* **8:76 Blessed**: In the coldest winter in centuries, Adain of Starkhaven escapes from the Circle of Magi.

* **8:77 Blessed**: The Hundred Days Cough epidemic begins in Orlais; it claims the lives of the twin sons of the Emperor Judicael II and the infant daughter of his brother Florian.

* **8:78 Blessed**: Maric Theirin is born and the bloodline of King Calenhad is continued. Loghain Mac Tir is born around the same time.

* **8:82 Blessed**: Nevarra begins a bloody campaign of conquest within the Free Marches, encouraged by their taking of Perendale. They are stopped by Cade Arvale, who is named Champion of Tantervale for his deed.

* **8:84 Blessed**: After Emperor Judicael II dies during a fox hunt, his brother Florian Valmont ascends to the throne of Orlais, much to his chagrin.

Eamon Guerrin, the future arl of Redcliffe, is born.
* **8:87 Blessed**: Florianne de Chalons, the niece of recently ascended Emperor Florian Valmont, is born.

* **8:91 Blessed:** Teagan Guerrin, younger brother of Rowan Guerrin and Eamon Guerrin, is born.
* **8:95 Blessed**: The Witch of the Wilds in the Antivan Weyrs shouts a prophecy about the impending return of the dragons.

* **8:96 Blessed**: Moira the Rebel Queen is assassinated by Bann Ceorlic and several other traitor nobles at the behest of the Orlesian King Meghren.

Endrin Aeducan takes the throne of Orzammar.
* **8:98 Blessed**: The Fereldan rebels, led by the young Prince Maric, take the isolated port town of Gwaren, their first major victory since the death of Queen Moira.

House Tethras is exiled to the surface for denying the Voice of the Ancestors and willfully manipulating the sacred Provings.
* **8:99 Blessed**: At the battle of West Hill, the Fereldan rebel army is devastated by the royalist forces. Survivors retreat to Gwaren. Maric is presumed dead.

With the aid of the Legion of the Dead, Prince Maric emerges from the Deep Roads under Gwaren and wins an important battle and is coming much closer in liberating Ferelden than he or his mother ever did. Afterwards, he also kills Bann Ceorlic as well as the other three nobles who betrayed and killed his mother.
Believed hunted to extinction, dragons emerge first in Antiva, then devastate rural Orlais and Nevarra. Another dragon is also sighted in the Orlesian side of the Frostback Mountains, just before the battle of River Dane.
In light of this, Divine Faustine II who was ready to declare the Sun Age, named for the symbol of the Orlesian Empire, instead names the next age as the Dragon Age. It is predicted to be an age of violence and upheaval.
At the Battle of River Dane, the last two legions of chevaliers that the Emperor sent to the occupied Ferelden are defeated by the rebels who are led by Loghain Mac Tir.
The Seekers of Truth abandon Therinfal Redoubt in Ferelden due to lack of funding.