Keeper

A Keeper is a leader of a Dalish clan. The life of a Keeper can be one of great sacrifice. Their purpose is to serve as a wise mentor dedicated to preserving and seeking out the elves' ancient lore. They are also usually adept natural mages, specializing in controlling the roots beneath the earth.

Purpose

A Keeper is a leader of the clan in both the spiritual sense, as well as the literal. They are not thought of as rulers, however. The families within a clan listen to their Keeper because they consider them to be wise, and it is a tradition.
In the days long ago when the Dalish occupied the Dales, a Keeper served the role of a priest in any of the temples to the elven gods or goddesses. There they functioned as magical scholars, though some elves coveted this title for malevolent reasons. Nowadays a Keeper is responsible for steering other elves away from the Dread Wolf, an embodiment of betrayal and rebellion. Through remembering and passing down their clan's ancient lore, they show their fellow brethren the road they must all follow.
The Keepers are Dalish mages, though each clan will seldom have more than two fully trained mages. Usually the clan refers to the Keeper's apprentice as First, and those vying for next in succession as the Second. At any given time there can be multiple elves vying to be Second. A Keeper's spell casting is channeled orally, usually through the elvish language. Keepers and Firsts are the only ones who know the secret of writing the elven language. It used to be more commonly taught, but some clans found that in times of desperation their people would teach human scholars how to read the Elvish language for money or food. Keepers feared that the few memories of Elvhenan would be stolen or desecrated, knowing that their language spreading would only bring academics and treasure hunters into Dalish ruins.
It has become decreasingly common for the Dalish to birth mages, meaning that sometimes a clan with multiple mages may have to pass one of their apprentices to another clan so that each Keeper has a successor.

Relations

The Templar Order is well aware that each Dalish clan has a Keeper and a First, but largely lets such apostasy go without problem. This is largely because they don't want to further interfere in human-elven relations. As well, most of these mages rarely interact with everyday life for the people of Thedas. In turn, the Dalish are aware that their mages are tolerated rather than accepted. They make it a point for them to behave and never overstay their welcome in any human land.

Qualifications

A First inherits this title by successfully completing a Vir Tassalan, which involves the First leaving their clan for a long period of time. While they are away, the First must find something of value to bring back to their clan. Usually this gift they bring back will have some cultural significance to their clan or the Dalish people in general.