대삼림 저택

저택 건축의 이면에 어떤 역사가 있는지 알지 못하면 이 아름다운 대삼림 저택이 레드클리프 성에서 굉장히 멀리 떨어져 있는 것이 이상하게 보일 것이다. 올레이가 페렐던을 점령하기 1년 전, 제이슨 게린 백작은 그와 "가까운 관계" 였던 유명한 가수이자 검술가인 코람 경이 편안하게 머물 수 있는 거처를 짓기 위해 저택의 공사를 지시했다. 제이슨의 아내인 백작부인 마게리트는 자신의 남편과 코람의 관계를 이해하고 지지한 것이 분명하지만, 공공연한 추문을 피하고자 그 음유시인이 백작의 성에서 살게 하는 것만큼은 피한 듯하다.

"제이슨 백작의 여정"은 해가 뜨기 전에는 별장에서 돌아오려는 백작을 유머러스하게 기리며 오랜 세월 동안 인기를 끌어온 주점 노래다. 코람 경은 제이슨 백작이 사망하고 몇 년 뒤 90세의 나이로 별세할 때까지 그곳에서 행복한 여생을 보냈다. 노인이 된 마게리트 백작부인은 코람의 시신에 백작의 것이었던 사냥용 복장을 입히도록 지시하고 명예롭게 화장하였다.

코람 경이 사망한 뒤 이 별장은 백작 가족의 손님들이나 젊은 가족 구성원들의 여름 별장으로 사용되었으나, 다섯 번째 대재앙의 혼란 속에서 버려지고 말았다.

—도르카스 게린 수녀 저, 레드클리프의 삶에서 발췌

 

Grand Forest Villa

That the lush and beautiful Grand Forest Villa is so far from Redcliffe Castle seems odd only until one learns the history behind its construction. More than an age before the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden, Arl Jacen Guerrin ordered its construction to serve as comfortable living quarters for his "close friend," famed singer and swordsman Ser Corram the Bard. Arlessa Marguerite, Jacen's wife, evidently understood and supported her husband's relationship with Corram—only stipulating that the bard not live at the castle to avoid any public scandal.

"Arl Jacen's Ride" was a popular tavern song for many years, jokingly honoring the arl's attempts to return from the villa before the sun rose. Ser Corram lived happily there until his death in bed at the age of ninety, several years after the death of Arl Jacen himself. The aged Arlessa Marguerite ordered Corram's body burned with full honors in a hunting cloak that belonged to the arl.

After Ser Corram's death, the villa was used by the arl's family for guests and as a summer home for younger family members. It was abandoned during the chaos of the Fifth Blight.

—Excerpt from Living Redcliffe by Sister Dorcas Guerrin