Camhlen

"People fear what we mages can do, but to allow Templars use that fear to bludgeon us mages into submission is wrong! And the Circle allows them to do it with our blessing!"

Camhlen was a Dalish mage and was the First to Keeper Marethari of the Sabrae clan.
He was branded a terrorist and was promptly killed when he blew up Ferelden's most prominent religious institution. His actions led to the second Right of Annulment ever being called for in the history of the Chantry, known as the Danforth Incident. Despite what transpired because of him, many rebel mages see Camhlen as a martyr and reminder that freedom must be achieved at any cost.
Finally, Camhlen is also remembered for spreading many lost Dalish tales prior to this death.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Camhlen was born into the Yethen clan, which wandered the hills of Nevarra. He was the third child of the clan with magic born to him. Following a gathering of Dalish clans, he was given to the Sabrae clan to act as their First following the clan's fleeing from the Frostback Mountains.
If Warden tales are to be believed, Camhlen spent about a year's time working with the Warden high command. They had sought him out looking for an elven mage trained in the stranger magics present in the world. Supposedly he knew information about how to kill the Jrid.
Spoiler: Campaign 1

The Wardens eventually found their way to the Sabrae clan's Keeper in an attempt to aid Gregory Flume in dealing with his red lyrium addiction. Camhlen took Gregory to a mirror and drew something from beyond into Gregory, allowing him to wane off his addiction to red lyrium. After performing the ritual to help Gregory, Camhlen's Keeper forced the Wardens to take Camhlen away and protect him for he was going to be exiled for unknown reasons.
For several months, Camhlen continued to monitor Gregory's condition, though it seemed as though Gregory was able to overcome his addiction through the ritual Camhlen had performed. During his downtime at the Flume Estate, he spent much of his time in private studying matters of the Beyond. During his time with the Wardens, he befriended Dematrigon Enginn and eventually the Dematrigon offered to take Camhlen to see the Anderfels with him. Camhlen, ultimately very surprised by this offer, eagerly accepted as he hoped to find any lost traces of Dalish lore that his people may have. He also saw it as a chance to see what an entirely different world would look like, and if the tyranny over mages enacted by the Chantry was common practice in a completely separate empire.
While he was in the Anderfels, Camhlen spent many days reading old tomes and learned many lost piece of knowledge that quite possibly no other Dalish might know. It was while reading these tomes, Camhlen learned the incantations on how to use a magical elven mirror he had found in the Brecilian Forest. When the Wardens decided to go to the Brecilian Forest and try to enact the treaty the Dalish signed to help the organization, Camhlen came along to acquire the elven mirror and begin studying it to see if he could learn anything of the lost Dalish culture. He knew very well he was not supposed to return since he was exiled.
When he went to where the location was, he noticed the mirror seemed empty. Usually there had been a spirit there to greet him, but nothing called back to him. Camhlen's Keeper let him know that the creature he thought was a spirit had tricked him by playing on his naivety. Instead, it was actually a demon. He didn't want to believe her, but she told him that the demon had planned to use Camhlen to unlock the mirror, unleashing its power fully upon the world, and allowing it to quickly kill Camhlen. The Keeper had made herself the demon's prison and forced Camhlen and the Wardens to kill her. She felt as though this was the price for Camhlen's use of blood magic , though he insisted he had never used it to do anything bad.
After she was killed, Warden-Commander Flume and his companion Valdris Kai'teih told him that he needed to pay for his actions. They were intent on his death, but he pleaded that he would leave the clans of the Brecilian Forest alone for the rest of his life and he would never interfere in Warden matters ever again. He was last seen with the elven mirror, sobbing over the death of his Keeper.
Several months later, the Wardens, surprisingly, sought Camhlen out. They figured out that they needed his expertise with the elven mirror to help them achieve their goal. He was found and aided them until his death.

Rumors also tell that the Warden high-command has a falling out with Camhlen where he was banished from working with the group. They eventually sought him back out since they needed his help and he begrudgingly accepted. Once the Ferelden Civil War was over and the fighting with the Jrid subsided, many Warden members went to Denerim to attend a Landsmeet where King Gregory Flume was to piece Ferelden back together. Camhlen noticed great injustices occurring to Circle mages, particularly pointing out the Right of Tranquility and the effective imprisonment of mages. In what some would consider a valiant attempt at fighting the system, Camhlen blew up Denerim's Chantry killing everyone inside, particularly the beloved Revered Mother Elthina.
Camhlen was quickly executed by King Flume for performing a terrorist act against the Chantry. It is believed that Camhlen's actions resulted in Danforth's call for the Right of Annulment. Despite many people pointing towards him being a naive murderer, an equal number see him as a martyr and a hero. His actions have carried weight, as many Circles around Thedas have started to rise up and oppose their "Templar jailers".

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

It is commonly believed that Camhlen saw the world through a lens of fear. Being an apostate, he had to fear for his life whenever going anywhere remotely near civilization otherwise Templars may have found him and thrown him into the Circle of Magi. Loving his freedom, he believed that the imprisonment of mages was wrong and that no person deserved to be treated as mages were.
In his final moments, one record states that Camhlen blamed both Ferelden's First Enchanter Irving as well as Knight-Divine Danforth for allowing mages to be treated as less-than-people. He blamed the First Enchanter, despite Irving being a mage, because Irving was "weak" and allowed the Templars to progressively treat mages worse and worse. Under his leadership as First Enchanter, Irving allowed the Templars to treat all mages as if they were blood mages. Camhlen blamed Danforth for not seeing mages as people and instead as monsters cursed and reckless. Camhlen told him that he believed that Thedas needed to see that people like Danforth, and the "tyrannical" Circle system, could be opposed.
His actions seemed erratic and though many people have tried to put reason to his action of destroying Denerim's Chantry, it is hard to know what exactly pushed him over the edge.

Relationships

Many depict Camhlen as a faceless elf for few know his face but many know of his actions, for good or ill.

Ethnicity

Dalish

Spouses

Siblings

Aligned Organization

Dalish Pantheon

Appears in...

• Camhlen (short story)