Been putting off posting them for ages so I could include their ~animal companion, Nehna, but I've not had that in me lately, so let me get into that later--
Introducing Kuvianak Felasalin - not Dalish, but what the Dalish would call a "follower of the Forgotten Ones". They would prefer to be called Forsaken. (I'll reblog this with my meta on that...)
Had been part of a seabound clan in the South - followers of Daern'thal. Gets recruited into the Wardens after saving a younger clan member from darkspawn in the Korcari Wilds and getting Blighted for their trouble. Not!! Happy!! About it!!
Forgotten and Forbidden ones, the exiled waiting for their time to rise once the Evanuris eventually fall.
The artifact that Bellara recovers is an Archive spirit set in a crystal, the Nadas Dirthalen, "the inevitability of knowledge". It's set to know everything the maker of the artifact knows. When finally Bellara fixes it and they manage to get it to respond their queries we learn this one was made by Anaris. A Forgotten one known from a story where they and Andruil fight each other over Fen'Harel. From the Archive spirit words and some other codices Bellara translates it seems Anaris was a considerably arrogant elvhen noble who was also in rebellion against Elgar'nan but not on Solas' side, and had a very poor opinion of him; Anaris speaks of the Evanuris thus: "a group of cowards. Hiding behind their more 'powerful' magic and 'superior' numbers". And of Solas, he thinks he's "an ideologue and a fool who sill soon pay the price" but still as the spirit tells us "when Anaris dispatches the Evanuris, he will spare a thought for Fen'Harel".
The name Anaris appears very little, in that dalish tale, in the elvhen word "Bellanaris" meaning "eternity" and in Fen'Harel's secret meeting wich has no official translation, that it goes "Ar-melana dirthavaren. Revas vir-anaris". I can offer an attempted translation as "I promise now/My promise. Freedom through the years". If Bellanaris means eternity and elvhen is actually a cypher anaris might come from anni, anno, years. Bellanaris/eternity is an abundance of years, or no end to years. The bell part must be that bit while anaris might be just the years. Yet it says vir-anaris, no -an suffix indicating a place, as the Vir is often used to mean the path of/to. Solas became Fen'Harel with the rebellion so if this is his secret greeting it could be a promise to all who joined him that through their efforts they'd achieve freedom in time and hopefully one that'd last. He's always been sensible enough not to speak in absolutes, he wouldn't promise eternal freedom without knowing for sure he could sustain it, so promising freedom in time, like eventually, if one joined his rebellion, makes sense. (I do my elvhen translations with the wiki, autism and vibes, sorry)
I find it very curious that when we first meet Anaris in Veilguard he mentions that "the sixth and seventh" got out, which allowed him to escape as well. The ones who escaped are Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, the first and last of the Evanuris ranks respectively, why is Anaris refrerring to them as sixth and seventh? Adding this to how his Nadas Dirthalen is referred by Bellara as "the eighth" archive spirit makes it weirder because all Evanuris were supposed to have their own Archive, so would that make Anaris like a low rank Evanuris himself? One that didn't make it into the top 7? Oh but wait, the Evanuris were 8, if we count Mythal, so why is Anaris's Archive the 8th? It'd seem the Veil Jumpers are not considering Mythal as an Evanuris or presuming one of them didn't have an Archive to begin with. It just seems weird and implies the ranks may have been less rigid than originally thought. Anaris is also called "noblest of nobles" and granted that may be his ego at work but maybe the Evanuris weren't just the elvhen self-proclaimed gods but their nobility, the highest class, of which a select few were at the very top and made it into history known as "The Creators".
Now, the post-credits scene is short but telling. It's unlocked by finding three codices about mysterious circles, found in the chamber where we fight The Formless One necro dragon, in an isle with a puzzle in Arlathan Forest and in the Crossroads after defeating the revenant Betrayal of Felassan. Each time a codex is found a disembodied creepy voice makes a comment that tries without success to reassure Rook there's no reason to alarm.
It's the Executors, those across the sea. Throughout the game they've had a silent presence in various codices and mentions, and it's revealed they were around even in Evanuris' time. They were a problem even back then. In the scene, that voice speaks in plural, "we", and mentions the storm has been quelled, the sun has been dimmed and the wolf has been defanged, while showing pictures of Ghilan'nain, Elgar'nan and the Dread Wolf, respectively. Then the voice claims they've "balanced, guided, whispered"..as the images show two or more figures appearing over images of the Magisters Sidereal ritual, Loghain at Ostagar surrendering King Cailan, Bartrand with the red lyrium idol in his hand..Corypheus, Mythal, the Breach..basically declaring they have shaped every major event in thedosian history for a long, long time.
The figures are cloaked in white and grey, hooded, wearing grey masks with what seem to be mutiple holes placed at random -as in, not pretending to be eyes-, and the pauldrons very much look like the ones in ancient elvhenan armor. So who could be wearing armor with ancient elvhen design elements, been around since the Evanuris time being at war with them, working from afar to shape history, and now feeling free to do their thing as the Evanuris are no more? Is it the Forgotten ones? Or more Forbidden ones? The latter are said to be just four -Gaxkang, Xebenkeck, Imshael and the Formless One. And the Forgotten ones are said to be like the Evanuris, their counterparts in a way, and are supposedly trapped in the Abyss. But the thing is throughout all of the games not once does Solas mention them. The only Forgotten one we found so far is Anaris, and he was not far behind in horrors from the Evanuris either. Other Forgotten ones names are Daern'thal and Geldauran. Considering Solas doesn't mention them being locked up, and his focus lies solely on his fellow Evanuris, i'm considering the possibility that, as is custom now, history was passed down with errors. Solas didn't lock up the Forgotten ones in the Abyss, but the Forgotten ones, much like the Forbidden four, must have been exiled, or exiled themselves -like Geldauran- in wait for the day when the Evanuris fell under their own crushing weight.
Maybe the story mentioning the Evanuris counterparts being locked in the Abyss was a form of passing down the fact they were blighted, because the Blight allegedly came from the Abyss. The maligned aspects of the benevolent Creators may have been in fact the Creators themselves, once corrupted by the Blight. Veilguard confirms their prison, Arlathan, the Golden City, has been Black with the Blight all along. That ever since the sundering of the Titans the Blight resided there with the Evanuris and reached Thedas only after the Magisters Sidereal broke into Solas' prison. The Evanuris were therefore imprisoned with their big bad blight. And that's maybe why Solas never spares a word for the Forgotten ones because he hasn't forgotten them, they're the Evanuris themselves, in their most terrible, sadistic, blighted aspect, the last they ever had, the reason they had to be locked away. Solas didn't trap anyone in the Abyss, the Evanuris had brought the abyss back to Elvhenan to exploit it, to use its power, the power of the Blight. The Evanuris and the Forgotten ones therefore may very well be the same thing. The powerful weapon with which Fen'Harel lured both groups may have been the lyrium dagger, and other "frogotten ones" like Geldauran and Daern'thal may have been much like Anaris, Evanuris wannabes, the competition that wasn't up to their level, so they went away.
Anaris' ego tho is freaking terrible, he must have been a spirit of sheer arrogance.
Anyway, now that the Evanuris are gone, and the Dread Wolf is locked away too, these unknown group feels free to act. All the "guidance" they've been doing from the shadows reminds me of Mythal's nudging of history. The first contact we had with them was in Inquisition, when they started leaving the triangles and lines symbols at Inquisition outposts, and when they took everyone stationed there, seemingly without resistance, telling the Inquisitor that all those people joined them willingly, for a higher purpose. We know now that mindcontrol was an ancient elvhen favourite. That enslaving or subjugating others was their bread and butter, with vallaslin, with binding masks like the one Anaris used of Cyrian. Maybe the reason there was no resistance at that outpost is because they were mindcontrolled to just get up and leave. And even then the "executors" spoke of an oncoming storm we had to get ready for. Back then everyone imagined it was Corypheus, the Breach, and all that. But now we can safely say the "storm" was Ghilan'nain, as that's how they refer to her in this scene.
As for the "wolf defanged" there's a curious choice of words. Solas as a wolf didn't lose his fangs, he's simply locked away, they could have said "the wolf, imprisoned", "the wolf, caged", even "the wolf, tamed" as he's with Lavellan who's the only with power enough to change his mind. But they said "the wolf, defanged". When fixing the Vi'Revas at the Lighthouse the Caretaker notices Rook has "the wolf's fang", meaning the lyrium dagger. I doubt that's the dagger's name, Solas wouldn't call it that as he didn't choose the Wolf name, it was imposed on him by evanuris propaganda and his rebels and he embraced it because it was useful -at the insistence of Felassan tho-. So the executors saying the wolf is defanged may not mean he's defeated or harmless now, it might just mean he no longer has the dagger, and therefore poses no real threat, as without it he can't cut open the Veil and get out.
I once proposed "those across the sea" could be Evanuris Loyalists that escaped to the East, beyond the Amaranthine. Now i have to rephrase it and say maybe "those across the sea" where the Evanuris competition, rivals that coveted their position and power. I think it's from my Blight post where i point out the pattern of the Blights moving east, like i initially thought maybe the Archdemons where aiming towards a last bastion of their masters or being drawn there for some reason but what if the motive was not to join allies but to strike enemies? The true forgotten ones who abandoned physical form during the Evanuris war with the Titans, the ones who like Geldauran exiled themselves in waiting for a moment where the Evanuris were no more so they could rise instead
Their pride will consume them, and I, forgotten, will claim power of my own, apart from them until i strike in mastery -Geldauran's Claim).
The spirits design in Inquisition was generally that of an ethereal translucid skeletal apparition just floating around. In Veilguard, demons are portrayed as glowing, floating nervous systems wearing a cloak . Solas himself in his spirit form is portrayed as a flying nervous system, extending into a couple of wings, a long tail, with 6 eyes where a head should be. So if the Forgotten ones are those who -much like the Forbidden ones which may have been the same thing- abandoned their physical forms to return to a spirit form, abandoned the people, the Evanuris and their awful war and exiled themselves far away from it all, it'd make sense that they are now portrayed as fully cloaked figures wearing masks, not letting an inch of skin show. The Executor that shows in Tevinter Nights is fully covered as well. Maybe this is because they don't have a body, they're those same nervous systems that just wear a cloak to have a bit more presence. Like the Caretaker or Vorgoth do.
Also, it's clear in Veilguard that triangles, golden ones specifically, are a staple of Elvhen design, they're everywhere. The Executors' symbol in this scene is a downwards black triangle crossed over by two white lines that open a bit in the middle, as if outlining an eye. I really think now it's most likely they are indeed the Evanuris competition -i don't say opposition because that would be Solas' rebellion; this other group may have opposed the Evanuris but only because they coveted their position of power, they didn't want to depose the Evanuris but take their place instead.
The Forbidden Ones are related to an ancient Tevinter tome called Fell Grimoire, that could be found in dark corridors underground Kirkwall. It allows the summoning of these ancient demons, and the bit of lore around it that DA games and books offer suggest they may be linked to the Forgotten Ones [”evil” elvhen gods]. Part of this vital information has been compiled by the forgettable character of Tarohne.
[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]
Who is Tarohne? She is not a big central character of DA2, but she is the first char we are presented who has some understanding of what Xebenkeck truly is.
To put it shortly in context, let’s refresh some quests in DA2
Everything starts in the coast of Kirkwall, where we find Cullen with a Templar recruit called Wilmod who he suspects is meeting escapee mages. He tortures Wildmod until he turns into an abomination, presenting to us a unique piece of lore up to this point: that mages are not the only ones who can become abominations as the Chantry has been telling us so far. Of course, Templars didn't know about it, as usual.
After some tracking of the responsible of the disappearance of Templar recruits, we find Tarohne who despite being a "sort of" unreliable narrator, she puts in context several points we learned or inferred from the codex The Enigma of Kirkwall: with the assistance of a mage, demons can possess anyone: a Templar, a noble, etc. In ancient Tevinter, she says, they could hold demons as allies. This is something that we see in DAI when Corypheus teaches the Venatori how to bind themselves to demons. This is the lore that explains all the plot about the Grey Warden raising an army of demons. I'm not saying the Grey Warden acquired this mastery, since it was altered [every time they bind to a demon, they became puppets of Corypheus], but that plot of DAI allowed us to see that the ancient Tevinter had a deeper knowledge of the demons to control them in similar fashion as Tarohne claims.
Later, we find Keran, a Templar recruit, restrained in a magical cage, tortured by nightmares as, I imagine, the demons keep pushing him in order to accept the possession.
This situation immediately brings to my mind what Flemeth said to Morrigan: "a soul cannot be forced upon the unwilling". This is a lore deeper and truer than any Tevinter knowledge we can get in DA series, since it comes from one of the first Elvhenan: Mythal. So I’m going to assume this is the true statement to understand what’s going on, lore-wise.
It's never explained explicitly what happens if a soul is forced upon the unwilling. I can speculate two options:
It may produce the destruction of the souls, since it seems to be the procedure that allowed the Grey Warden to destroy the Archdemons, preventing their further rebirths.
Another possibility is that this is the case when abominations occur and demons take total control of the person, changing their bodies into grotesque shapes.
However, option 2 seems to contradict a lot of situations where we saw a mage accepting possession willingly and becoming a deformed abomination afterwards. One could argue that this is because these abominations were product of accepting the possession of a spirit with "negative” behaviour [rage, desire, pride, etc], while the non-abomination possessions we know in DA series have occurred with gentle, kind, and positive spirits, for example, Flemeth [with Mythal, uhm...I know, she is not super positive as a goddess of Revenge], Wynne and Evangeline [with a spirit of Faith], Anders [with Justice, who didn't transformed Anders even when Justice transformed itself], Sigrid Gulsdotten [with some kind spirit of teaching for sure]. There are other anomalous cases of possessed people that were un-possessed later, like Fiona and Mihris, but I'm not counting them. They are not possessed anymore.
If we see what Keran says, it seems to show a small contradiction with what Tarohne said: the demons can’t simple take control of the person without their acceptance first. So they try to push and tempt the person in question, torturing and tempting them in dreams, but never forcing the possession straightforward. We can infer that in nightmares, Keran was tempted to accept the possession but he "resisted". If we keep into consideration Flemeth's words and all what I said before, it seems that only through a willingly person the possession [with or without a deformation of the host body] can be performed. Certainly, in all the instances where we saw possession in DA series, we saw demons making deals and tricks to convince the mage to accept them. So Flemeth's words strike true, and I'm inclined to think that the only situation where we see unwillingly possession is when the Grey Wardens kill the Archdemon, and it ends up in a blast that destroys both souls. If this is true, this could explain why the souls of all the previous archdemons were not born again after being slain, as the Avvar and Solas told us that it happens with spirits [Urthemiel can show this with Kieran too].
In any case, when we get rid of Tarohne, and save the Templar Order in Kirkwall from a wild corruption of Templar abominations, we assume this quest has been concluded. However, years later, in the following act, we have this curious quest of collecting "Evil tomes". As we collect them, we obtain the complete version of the codex Forbidden Knowledge, where we learn several interesting things gathered by Tarohne:
She has been studying other mages that made contact with something called Xebenkeck, a Forbidden One. It requires a lot of blood for that.
She claims that the first mention of the Forbidden Ones is in 4:2 Black [1495 TE]. This is after the Third Blight and the Schim of the Chantry between the Chantry of Orlais and the Imperial Chantry of Tevinter. To me, it looks like a very late age for listening about the Forbidden Ones for the first time, specially if we keep in mind that Tevinter have always been in contact with spirits or “Old Gods” before. That this denomination appeared so late makes me suspect that they were named in another way before [maybe Forgotten Ones?].
Her research seems solid because she wrote that the first contact with Xebenkeck was done in the "deep Fade". We had found a soft connection between the more reliable codices of the Elvhenan: Exile of the Forbidden Ones and the The Deepest Fade, which makes us suspect that maybe the place of exile of the Forbidden Ones had been the Deepest Fade, and it is there where these first Tevinter magus went to contact Xebenkeck. It’s coherent, at least.
She implies that the Fell Grimoire has the names of the Forbidden Ones and names them: Xebenkeck [DA2], Imshael [The Masked Empire, DAI], Gaxkang the Unbound [DAO], and The Formless One [I bet, in DA:D].
It is stated that it is they who taught Blood Magic to humans. This is very interesting, because Solas claims this is a school of magic like any other [check section “magic” in Solar shares lore: Part 2]. Solas’ comment makes us infer that this was part of the Elvhenan arcane culture like any other magic school, and it may link the Forbidden Ones as part of the Elvhenan society at some point. We also know that Solas never saw spirits and demons as different entities, but the same one with twisted purpose. Considering this knowledge, the main question is why the Forbidden Ones became what they are? What were they forced to do that twisted them so much into what they are now? Was it the war against the Titans? Could it have happened that Forgotten Ones that were forced to the Evanuris and twisted their purpose to become Forbidden Ones? Or the Forbidden Ones are simply another way of being elvhenan, and since they were not forced into shapes like the elves, they remained spirits? Certainly, all of them have less impulsive desires, and can be very civil talking to them [For example, Felassan speaking with Imshael]. Sadly, there are no many answers to these questions, only speculations.
Tarohne claims that Andraste was a deluded fool and the Maker is a hoax, which is a sentiment that other characters who understand this world much better seem to share. Solas prefers to remain silent when it comes to Andraste and the Maker, but his most direct agent we knew about, Felassan, claims that the Maker is a human invention [** check the end of the post for the cite].
She claims that there is more evidence about the Forbidden Ones than the Maker, and we, as player, can totally support this statement.
As we seek all these tomes, we end up in a Forgotten Lair, in Darktown, where we find the copy of the Fell Grimoire made by Tahrone.
The Fell Grimoire is an important book in DA lore, it appeared in the codex The Enigma of Kirkwall, in particular in two sections that imply part of the story around this book:
In the back alleys of Lowtown you can find extraordinary things. Priceless tomes of knowledge can be bought with a handful of gold: The Chant of Archon Lovias, a whole chapter of the Midnight Compendium. Some of these books were thought lost forever!
And these are no forgeries. I've verified their authenticity myself. The fences have no inkling that what they're selling has value. Where did these books come from?
After several failed attempts, I got my answer underneath the city. There is a hive of hidden passages in Kirkwall's sewers. Now and then a lucky "sewer rat" comes across an unlooted chamber, and then a cache of ancient Tevinter relics spreads through the black market. We must search below the city.
—Underneath a cobblestone with curious markings, faintly glowing. It is signed, "The Band of Three"
A recent trove was uncovered. This one was big, perhaps the archon's visitation chambers.
And a flood of tomes is on the market. Even the simple fences know something is amiss—they've raised their prices at the frenzy of collectors. One said he sold a copy of the Fell Grimoire! I doubt he would lie; how could he know that tome is a mere legend?
If that is real, then what of the Forgotten Ones? This journey has taken us to many strange places, and made us re-evaluate many former truths. Where will it end?
—Hidden under a cobblestone with curious markings and signed, "The Band of Three"
So, long time ago, when Kirkwall was Emerius [Kirkwall history and design], an underground network of arcane research was developed. The relics left there reached the surface via the black market when looters explored this underground network and could unlock new chambers. That's how we track the rumour that someone may have got a copy of the Fell Grimoire. This book, somehow, ended up in Tarohne's possession, who made another copy to preserve the knowledge.
The book is supposed to teach how to summon the Forbidden Ones, ancient demons that, so far, we only know they are four: Xebenkeck, Imshael, Gaxkang the Unbound, and The Formless One. Each of them known and fought in each game of DA with the exception of the Formless One [probably they will be present in DA:D].
Now, up to this moment, this is all the information we have about the Forbidden Ones in the games. We have a more broad vision of Imshael's personality in the book The Masked Empire, but there is no mention of the Forbidden Ones or their history. The only mention in the book is that Celene has studied about them.
However, as we saw in the codex The Enigma of Kirkwall, one of The Band of Three has a kind of a leap in their thinking process and realises that if they found the Fell Grimoire--which was supposed to be a book of legends and myths--now any legend and myth acquire a degree of truth: hence, the Forgotten Ones may also be truth. The last note of the codex straightforwardly connects Xebenkeck with a Forgotten One:
We went to the center of it all. F. is dead and I am alone and injured. I must go back and put an end to it. The maddening thing is there is still no answer. But the Forgotten One, or demon or whatever it is, must be destroyed. I fear one may already be unbound.
I foreswear my oaths. The magister's lore must be burned and the ashes scattered. No good can come of it. And Maker help us if someone does answer what we could not.
—Hidden near curious markings and signed, "The Band of Three"
At some point one suspected this was a typo in a rushed game, since Forgotten Ones and Forbidden Ones are names that can be easily mistaken. However, the World of Thedas book came up with the true intention of that last sentence:
This exchange of letters between Seekers claims information we didn't see in the Enigma of Kirkwall:
Blood magic origin is not from Tevinter but from Arlathan. This is a very interesting piece of information because coincides and makes sense with the information we got about the Joining ritual of the Grey Wardens that faced the First Blight: they created the ritual and consulted Tevinter Magisters and Elves, who shared "ancient knowledge of Arlathan". This is not new for us after all the analysis we did with Murals in DAI, Fen’Harel’s mountain ruins, The Lost Temple of Dirthamen, and Vir Dirthara, but we can appreciate the lore consistency in the details.
It claims that, at least, is worth investigating if there is a link between Forgotten Ones and Forbidden Ones. It doesn’t straightforwardly says that such link exists, but it’s something given to the player to consider.
As a final detail that I’m not so sure how much to read into it, is that Xebenkeck drops “Voracity”, a staff which has the same design than “Valdasine”, which is the only curious object we can find in the Vault of the Primeval Thaig.
Voracity has no lore in its description. Its design looks like a dragon’s jaw. There are some spikes of orange crystals that may or may not be a representation of red lyrium. Its stats only show that it’s related to blood magic, which makes sense since Xebenkeck seems to be deeply related to that magic.
On the other hand, Valdasine, found in the Primeval Thaig and tied to the codex Valdasine, is described as “a staff of strange metal, it looks like lyrium and chills one's heart like a remembered sorrow.” Sadly, sorrow is something that, lore-wise, we can relate to elvhes and titans alike.
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[**] Felassan in The Masked Empire:
“We were an empire,” Felassan said again, and this time she heard the anger in his voice. “It was not the Golden City. It was not the peaceful afterlife of this Maker the humans have made for themselves. Take the richest district of Val Royeaux, and tell me how many fools are scheming against each other at every ball? How many servants are flogged for improperly arranging the silverware?”
I have never seen this listed in any meta about Imshael, even ones that connect him to the Forbidden Ones: demons said to be the ones that taught humans and elves blood magic--part of both Dalish and human lore. In Origins and DA2, you can fight Xebenkeck and Gaxkang, and there are hints that a group of Seekers/demon hunters known as the Group of Three were trying to track them down.
And here Imshael is, just naming his compatriots aloud. I’ve never gotten this dialogue drop before.
(Another Headcanon/Meta post developed with @faerelden. Just a little one this time, but I like this and the way it would intertwine the ancient beings of the elves and spirits of the Fade.)
The Forbidden Ones were once Elves, who then Allied with the Forgotten Ones/Rebel Elves.
1. The Forbidden ones were originally elves, slaves to the Evanuris, and shed their physical forms to flee and/or hide, either from their masters, or from the Evanuris' war with the Titans.
DAI Codex: Vir Dirthara: Exile of the Forbidden Ones - "for casting aside form to flee to where the Earth could not reach"
2. The Evanuris banished the Forbidden Ones spirit forms to the furthest reaches of the fade. Lyrium powered magic [Earth] could not kill their spirit forms. We know that spirits cannot be killed only banished. We also know that the Evanuris twist things to their advantage.
DAI Codex: Vir Dirthara: Exile of the Forbidden Ones - "The pages of this book—memory?—show the blazing forms of the Evanuris banishing a howling spirit from the reaches of the Fade that touch their lands. A voice rings out, stern and imperial"
This comes across as propaganda, and if you flip the information, then it implies that the Forbidden ones did not abandon the Elvhen people, but possibly betrayed the Evanuris.
3. Forgotten Ones were probably the Rebel Elves.
DAI Codex: Fen'Harel; The Dread Wolf - "The legend says that before the fall of Arlathan, the gods we know and revere fought an endless war with others of their kind. There is not a hahren among us who remembers these others: Only in dreams do we hear whispered the names of Geldauran and Daern'thal and Anaris, for they are the Forgotten Ones, the gods of terror and malice, spite and pestilence."
DAI JoH Codex: Geldauran's Claim - "There are no gods. There is only the subject and the object, the actor and the acted upon. Those with will to earn dominance over others gain title not by nature but by deed. I am Geldauran, and I refuse those who would exert will upon me. Let Andruil's bow crack, let June's fire grow cold. Let them build temples and lure the faithful with promises. Their pride will consume them, and I, forgotten, will claim power of my own, apart from them until I strike in mastery."
DA2 Merrill to Hawke, The Betrayal - "Long ago, there were two clans of gods. The Creators looked after the People. The Forgotten Ones preyed upon us. And one god who was neither. Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf."
This theory is expanded upon further in @faerelden‘s Meta-post HERE.
4. During the Elvhen uprising, the Rebel Elves (Forgotten Ones) needed a source of magical power stronger than their natural connection to the Fade, to combat the Evanuris' use of Lyrium from the felled Titans. This was probably blood magic, which they learned from the Forbidden Ones, previously banished Elvhen slaves.
DAI JoH Codex: Geldauran's Claim - "Their pride will consume them, and I, forgotten, will claim power of my own, apart from them until I strike in mastery."
DA2 Codex: Forbidden Knowledge; Tarohne's Beginning - "The first of the magus cast themselves deep in the Fade in search of answers and power, always power. They found the forbidden ones — Xebenkeck, Imshael, Gaxkang the Unbound, and The Formless One. Many conversations were had and much of the fabric of the world revealed. And thus the magic of blood was born."
Assuming that "Their Pride will consume them" is a reference to Solas, then the discussion with him in Dragon Age Inquisition is also relevant to this point.
Solas: "...Using blood magic seems to make it more difficult to enter the Fade. You understand why I have never bothered to learn it. A shame, as it is extremely powerful, provided it remains a tool, not a crutch... nor a passion."
