PERSONALITY

Ellana approves of genuine acts of kindness, open-mindedness, and helping others, even if the way for doing so is to rebel and fight against tyranny. She likes to learn how to better help others and enjoys spending time with others, in nature and with animals. She approves in helping mages, but is against the Circle of Mages and the Rite of Tranquility. 

BIOGRAPHY

As Ethyral:

Taking on physical bodies by using raw lyrium to craft them angered the Titans and began a war with them. Originally a Spirit of Hope, Ethyral was called forth by Mythal to take on a body and be her chosen "sister", helping her and others by inspiring them with hope for a better future during the war with the Titans. Because of this, Ethyral was among one of the first of the elves, also calling Elgar'nan "brother". Not long after, Mythal soon called on a Spirit of Wisdom to take physical form and serve her with his wisdom. This was when Ethyral met Solas.

While the elves were losing the Titan war, Mythal had Solas craft a Lyrium dagger, which helped them win the war. Once it was over, Elgar'nan refused to give up his command as he promised. He argued the elven people needed stern leadership and his strength for protection. Mythal agreed with Elgar'nan, believing the elves needed inspiring figures to unite them, quell their fears, and to guide them with wisdom. The respected generals and elders that consisted the Evanuris followed Elgar'nan and Mythal's examples and proclaimed themselves the gods of the elves. When Ethyral was offered the same position by her sister, with Mythal even granting her the title "Goddess of Spirit" because of her abilities to inspire others, Ethyral surprised everyone by rejecting it and choosing to stand beside Solas instead, reusing to follow suit and saying there was no hope here, but with Solas, there was a chance at it.

Once Solas started his rebellion and became known as Fen'Harel by the Evanuris, Ethyral offered her help. She became a healer and soldier for the rebellion, helping to heal and inspire the spirits of both soldiers and freed slaves while fighting to help free them. She worked alongside Spirit's who also helped her with her work. The rebellion lasted for centuries.

Despite both sisters feeling betrayed by one another for their chosen paths, Ethyral and Mythal still remained on speaking terms at times, with Ethyral coming to dislike Elgar'nan and fearing that his temper may lead her sister to danger someday. Ethyral began to notice the toll the war was taking on everyone, even Solas, who had started willingly sacrificing his agents in order to win the war.

When the Evanuris started to seek the magic of the blight, Ethyral and Solas went to Mythal for help, both of them always thinking they could eventually convince her to step down and join them. But when Solas informed her that the wards sealing the Blight were weakening and asked her to leave the Evanuris, Mythal refused again and told him that she would go to the rest of the Evanuris and remind them of the danger of using the Blight. However, the Evanuris did not heed Mythal’s warning, and instead murdered her.

With this, Ethyral fell into a state of despair, with Elgar'nan mockingly granting her the only title and thing she might be remembered by "Goddess of Grief" as she spent time wandering the Crossroads, visiting the place of refuge that was made for Mythal if she ever decided to join the rebellion. A fragment of her sister Solas had managed to recover from the dagger was placed there before he decided to seal the place off out of grief. Due to Mythal's murder and the belief that the Evanuris' use of Blight magic would destroy the entire world if left unchecked, it pushed Solas to create the Veil to separate the physical world from the world of spirits, locking both the Evanuris and the Blight at the heart of this new realm and using their life force to sustain their prison. However, doing so inadvertently robbed the elves of their immortality and much of their magic, leading to the collapse of the elven empire. Creating the Veil weakened Solas so considerably that he slumbered for millennia afterwards.

However, Ethyral didn't know what Solas had done or where he had disappeared to. She only watched as the world of Arlathan and the empire they once tried to fight against fell from the sky and was destroyed once and for all, with none of the Evanuris to be found, including Solas. Deciding to no longer let her grief consume her and turn her into something else, Ethyral used her orb (which holds powers of rebirth), to be born into a new body and a new life, knowing her best chance at hope now is to restart again with a second chance, eventually being reborn as Ellana of Clan Lavellan.

Over the centuries there are no surviving texts or lore of Ethyral, but if there are any, it is often of her story being misconstrued over the ages, becoming an omen of grief and despair by the Dalish and something to be weary of just as they are of Fen'Harel.

As Ellana:

Ethyral, now reborn centuries later as Ellana of Clan Lavellan, was born with a faint green glow around her before it faded away. Because of this, her parents gave her the name Ellana which meant "Glow." At first it alarmed her parents and Keeper, but it was taken as a sign of her being destined to become a mage, something they were in need of. Her abilities as a mage started awakening at a young age, resulting in the Keeper taking her under as an apprentice. 

While Ellana had no recollection of her past life, she started having dreams around the same time her abilities as a mage awakened, involving a strange woman who is often trying to show her messages of an ancient past. This is also when Keeper Deshanna discovers that Ellana is a Somniari/Dreamer, a mage with the rare ability to enter the Fade at will, without the aid of Lyrium or blood magic. Around this time, Ellana's parents are killed, leaving her adopted by Keeper Deshanna who continues to train her to control and harness her abilities. 

Despite the stories of warning from the Hahren and Keeper of Clan Lavellan, it doesn't stop Ellana from having a fascination with Spirits and wanting to learn more about the Fade she often visits in her dreams. Because of this, Ellana is sometimes viewed as a black sheep by the rest of her clan, especially because of the fact she was caught one time wandering away from camp and giving an offering of Spiced Jerky at a shrine to Fen'Harel, which involved a traumatic moment where a wolf was killed.

In the years as she starts to grow up into a young woman, Ellana starts realizing that the strange woman from her dreams looks exactly like her (White hair, Green eyes, and even the same sounding voice, minus having the light green Mythal Vallasin that Ellana has gotten as her rite of passage.) She sums it up as nothing more than the woman being a manifestation of her subconscious, trying to guide her to the right path. 

Keeper Deshanna sent Ellana to spy on the conclave at Haven, resulting in Ellana stumbling upon something she shouldn't and finding herself becoming the Inquisitor of a reborn Inquisition. 

Codex Entry:

“The Dalish are elves who refuse to live in human cities, where their people are exploited, having few rights. They choose to eke out an independent existence in the forests, attempting to keep the last remnants of their ancient culture alive.  Ellana is from Clan Lavellan, a group of Dalish who migrate around the perpetually feuding Free Marches. Ellana’s people travel along the borders of each city-state's territory, where Free March rulers will be less inclined to attack them, for fear of accidentally provoking neighboring cities.

Ellana manifested a talent for magic as a child. The clan's leader, Keeper Deshanna Istimaethoriel Lavellan, taught her how to control and hone her new powers. Ellana grew into a capable mage, far away from the eyes of the templars and mage Circles. When tension between the two factions erupted into warfare, spilling into the countryside, Clan Lavellan was forced to pick up and move. Ellana’s Keeper sent her to spy on the Conclave at Haven, as the outcome might determine the fate of her own clan."

— From Codex Entry: Lavellan, of the Dalish