에메랄드 무덤

우리 종족은 이곳을 에메랄드 무덤이라고 부른다. 오래전, 데일스의 몰락 이전에, 데일스를 수호하기로 서약한 모든 전사를 위하여 이곳에 나무들이 심어졌다. 이 전사들은 할람시랄의 에메랄드 기사단이라고 불렸으며, 그들의 나무로 이루어진 숲은 에메랄드 행진이라고 불리었다.

인간들이 또다시 우리의 영역을 침범하기 시작했을 때, 에메랄드 기사단은 우리를 지키기 위해 유대를 맺었다. 그러나 인간의 수는 너무 많았으며 성가회는 강력했으니, 결국 데일스는 정복당했고, 우리 땅을 지키기 위해 싸웠던 기사들은 대부분 쓰러지고 말았다. 한때 강력한 군세를 상징했던 숲이 오늘날 에메랄드 무덤—희생의 살아있는 상징이 되어버린 것이다.

올레이에 있는 대부분의 인간이 이 장소를 진정한 이름으로 부르지 않는다고 들었다. 그들은 이곳을 불길한 곳이라 여기며, 이 숲을 오직 거목숲이라고만 부를 뿐이다. 그들은 이곳을 나무와 이끼 그리고 잎사귀의 집합체로 여길 뿐, 이곳에 흩뿌려진 피에 대해서는 외면한다. 그러나 우리는 기억한다. 우리가 잃어버린 것의 무게를 느끼고, 숲을 보며 나무가 아닌 자유를 위해 희생된 이들의 모습을 본다.

—데일스 엘프 랠러피린 부족의 수호자 기샤렐에 의해 구전됨

 

Our people call this place the Emerald Graves. Long ago, before the fall of the Dales, a tree was planted for every warrior who pledged themselves to the guardianship of the Dales. Together, these warriors were the Emerald Knights of Halamshiral, and the forest of their trees was named the Emerald March.

 

When the humans began encroaching once again on our borders, the Emerald Knights banded together to protect us from the incursion. But the humans were many, and their Chantry powerful, and they eventually conquered the Dales. The knights fought in defense of our land, and almost all perished. The trees that once represented a mighty army were now living symbols of sacrifice—the Emerald Graves.

 

I hear that most humans in Orlais do not call this place by its true name. They find it an inauspicious one and refer to the forest only as the Greatwood. They refuse to see anything but wood and moss and leaves, and hope to remain ignorant of the blood that was spilled. But we of the People remember. We feel the weight of what was lost, and we see, not trees, but lives given for freedom.

 

—As told by Keeper Gisharel of the Ralaferin clan