Calissa Vallonia. The daughter of a farmer and a healer, the eldest of three with a younger brother and younger sister. Her mother and father were taken during the first wave of darkspawn attacks of the Fifth Blight, leaving Calissa and her siblings to flee Lothering and seek shelter wherever they could.

Over the course of that year- 9:30 Dragon- Calissa and her siblings travelled to Denerim, but she couldn't find any work to support her family. Seeing her dismay, the hahren, Valendrian, of the alienage decided to take pity on them, took them in and gave them shelter. The elves were against it, having shems in their space, but they gradually began to accept the siblings into their community as Myles helped in the workshops, Kaya played with the local elven children, and Calissa helped mind the market stands. They did everything they could to repay Valendrian and the elves for taking them in and show how truly grateful they were.

When Loghain came recruiting, Myles was recruited into the royal army- much to Calissa's horror. She knew Loghain was a bad man and would sacrifice his men in a heart beat and she worried for Myles' safety, but the pay he would be getting from the royal guard could help them repay the elves for everything they had done for them. He promised he would be safe and he'd write as often as possible. Valendrian gave him a raven to take with him to send messages back and forth to help ease Calissa's mind.

Trouble began in the alienage when Tevinter magisters came, pretending to have a cure for the sickness that had overtaken the alienage. The elves were getting desperate, but soon they started to disappear one by one. Calissa tried to look into the disappearances, but nothing came of it. Eventually even Valendrian had disappeared and there was no one left to look after the alienage. Many of the elves began to turn to Calissa for guidance, trusting her to protect them because of everything she had done for them. She did what she could to keep them calm, but it did little when more and more elves were disappearing and no one knew why. Calissa had finally had enough and went outside of the alienage to find someone- anyone- who could help her. No one would even give her the time of day. That is until Branford Cousland and his companions arrived in the capital.

Branford Cousland was the youngest son of the Teyrn and Teyrna of Highever and one of the two remaining Grey Wardens of Ferelden after the defeat at Ostagar. When he and his companions had come to Denerim, they were trading in the market and trying to find more information to aid them in taking Loghain down. The day that they met Calissa was one that changed not only her life, but theirs as well.

"Oof!"

Branford looked around when he heard the sound of two people colliding and found his companion and fellow Warden, Alistair Theirin, on the ground with a woman on top of him.

Alistair had caught the woman who ran into him, but he lost his balance and tumbled back. He looked up at her, blushing when their eyes met as she pushed herself up from his chest. Her cheeks burned bright red as she scrambled off him and bowed, apologizing profusely.

"Maker, please forgive me...! I'm so sorry...!"

Alistair got to his feet with Branford's help and looked at the young woman. "It's alright, it's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." He felt his cheeks burn when she looked up and met his gaze. "A-Are you alright?"

She nodded sheepishly. "Y-Yes." Her cheeks were flushed like soft rose petals. "I'm terribly sorry, I'm just trying to find help..." She bowed again. "I'm sorry to have delayed you and your companions..."

She began to turn away, but one of their companions reached for her hand and stopped her. "Wait, you said you were looking for help?"

She turned back to her and nodded. "The elves in the alienage... They're disappearing and no one knows why... No one will even give me the time of day if I ask for help..."

"Why would you care about the elves in the alienage?" One of the companions said.

"Probably the same reason you care about me, Zevran." The woman who had stopped her said, looking coyly at the elf who spoke.

The young woman looked at the suave and charming looking elven rogue. "Because they took me and my family in when we had nowhere else to go. We owe them our lives and now they're in trouble. I have to do something." She looked back at Alistair. "Will you please help us? I can't just let this continue... Even the harhen has disappeared and now there's no one left to look after the alienage and its people..."

Alistair looked at Branford. "We can't just do nothing, Branford."

Branford looked at the young woman. "We'll help you and the alienage. Perhaps you can help us in return?"

She nodded. "Of course, anything."

"We need information, but I will give you the further details once we find the missing elves and the hahren."

The young woman nodded, her eyes tearing up a bit. "Maker bless you, thank you!"

"What is your name?" Branford asked.

"Calissa Vallonia." She said. "And you are?"

"I'm Branford Cousland, this here is Zevran Arainai, Sister Leliana, Tori Evermoore and Alistair Theirin."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Calissa said, bowing.

"Well, now that we got introductions out of the way, Calissa why don't you lead the way?" Branford said.

Calissa nodded, then gestured for them to follow her and she led them through the gates of the alienage.

Branford and his companions followed after her and when they reached the alienage, they watched the elves surround Calissa asking her questions.

"Please, everyone calm down!" Calissa said, shushing the crowd. "I found some people who are going to help us figure out what is going on and find everyone who's gone missing."

"Cali!"

Calissa looked over as one elf pushed her way through. "What is it, Shianni?"

"Kaya, she..." Shianni started, but she got choked up and had to take a minute.

"Shianni, what about Kaya?" Calissa asked, her eyes widening.

"She... she's gone..."

Calissa stared at Shianni, her heart pounding. "What..?"

"They said she started to show signs of the illness." Shianni began to explain. "Those men came to take her. They said they would cure her just like everyone else."

"When?" Calissa asked.

"About ten minutes ago."

"So then there's still time." Calissa said, then turned to the other elves. "I need everyone to go back to their homes please. We're going to take care of everything, I promise. Stay safe and don't trust those men." She turned and started heading towards one of the houses.

"Cali, where are you going?" Shianni asked.

Calissa turned back to her, then glanced at Alistair as he came to stand next to Lucas. "Shianni, they have Kaya. Where do you think?" She hurried into the house, the door closing behind her.

Alistair turned to Shianni. "Who's Kaya?"

"Kaya is her baby sister. She's all she has left since their brother Myles was recruited by Loghain into the army." Shianni explained, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Everyone looked to her." Zevran noted. "Why?"

Shianni turned to him. "When Cali and her siblings came to Denerim, they had fled Lothering after the first darkspawn attacks killed their parents. Cali couldn't find work and when Valendrian saw them suffering, he took pity on them and gave them shelter here."

"We look to her to protect us in Hahren Valendrian's stead because she have proven herself to us and we trust her." One elf said.

"And I'm more than happy too, especially since I owe them my life and the lives of my siblings." Calissa said, joining them.

"Cali takes care of us." another elf said. "We didn't accept her and her siblings at first because they are shems, but they have proven themselves to us and we treat them like family."

"Myles helped in the workshops while Cali minded the market. Kaya even has become well loved here, a good friend to many of our children." Another said.

Shianni looked to Calissa. "Be careful, vhenallin? Come back to us safely."

Calissa nodded. "I will." She hugged Shianni, then turned to Branford and his companions. "I'm going with you. They have my baby sister."

Branford nodded, seeing her wielding a sword at her hip and a bow and quiver of arrows at her back. "Show us where these men are."

Calissa nodded, then led the way to where the Tevinters were holed up.

Calissa went with Branford, Alistair, Tori, and their companions when they confronted the Tevinters. Branford was able to bribe the guard at the back door of the building into letting them pass, but they met resistance inside. They fought their way through, then found a secret passageway that led down into the lower section of the building. They met more of the Tevinters and fought their way through until they came to a large room that connected to an alleyway and in that room where all of the elves who had been disappearing, including Valendrian. Even Kaya was there, huddled against Valendrian in fear.

Calissa and the others were able to defeat the Tevinters, discovering that they were taking people from the alienages to be sold off as slaves. When they had cleared out the Tevinters, Calissa ran to free everyone.

"Cali!"

"Kaya, thank Andraste you're safe!" Calissa said, embracing her sister as the six year old ran to her.

"Cali, I was so scared...!" Kaya said, burying her face in her sister's neck. "The bad men came and took me while you were away..!"

"Hush, da'len." Calissa said, holding her tightly. "It's alright now. The bad men have been dealt with. They can't hurt you or anyone else again."

"You came for us, Cali." Valendrian said, approaching her.

Calissa lifted Kaya into her arms and held her as she stood and turned to the hahren. "Of course I did, hahren. I couldn't stand by and do nothing, not after everything you've done for my family."

Valendrian smiled and smoothed the back of Kaya's hair. "She was very brave, you know. When those men came to try and take her and the children they had captured, she bit the man who tried to grab her. The man hit her, but she stood her ground nonetheless."

Calissa looked down at Kaya and saw that she had a busted lip and a black eye. "Kaya, who hit you? Is he in this room?"

Kaya nodded and pointed at the ringleader of the Tevinters who they had captured to turn into the royal guard for dealing in slavery on Ferelden soil, which was treasonous.

"Hahren, can you hold her for a moment?" Calissa asked, then handed Kaya to Valendrian before turning towards the Tevinter only to see Tori already approaching him.

"What are you going to do, little girl?" The man said, laughing. "You going to pull my hair?"

Calissa watched as Tori marched up to him and kicked him in the face, glaring down at him as he groaned and fell back onto the floor.

Tori leaned down and pulled him upright, then looked him in the eye. "You think it's fun to hit little girls? You think it's OK for you to fake an illness, to 'cure' people who come to you for help then kidnap them and try to sell them into slavery? You think it's fun to tear families apart?" Her eyes narrowed. "You Tevinters messed with the wrong people."

The man chuckled.

"You think I'm joking?" Tori asked. "Well let me tell you something, Tevinter. Those elves you took? They took Calissa and her family in when they had nothing and nowhere to turn. And that little human girl you took, the one you hit? That's Calissa's baby sister. They're all family and I'd be willing to bet that to Calissa, family is her world." She leaned in, her grip tightening around his collar. "Do you want to find out what happens when you hurt someone's family?"

The Tevinter looked at her, fear in his eyes.

Tori shoved him back down and stood. "You're nothing here, Tevinter. You're scum. And you wonder why half of Thedas hates your kind." She turned and started to walk away, but stopped when the Tevinter began to taunt her.

"You think you're so big and tough, little girl. You're weak, selfish. You think these elves would ever trust you or that woman? You're nothing to them!"

Calissa watched as Tori knocked an arrow and shot it at the Tevinter, her arrow hitting its mark in his thigh.

"You don't know what you're talking about." She said, then advanced on the man again. "These elves took them in, giving them food, shelter, and work despite the apprehensions between humans and elves. They accepted them like family. Calissa and her family are like me, 'vhenallin'- friends of the People. I myself proved I was worthy to train with the Dalish and in return they gifted me with not just knowledge but these markings as well." She gestured to the markings on her skin, similar to that of the vallaslin. "People like you wouldn't understand when all you think of is yourself. You thrive off of misery, fear, despair, poverty, the weak, the defenceless." She knelt and twisted the arrow in his thigh, but she didn't enjoy his cries of pain. In fact they made her sick, but he needed to pay for what he did so she endured it. "People like me and Calissa, we look out for one another, regardless of race. We care for each other, protect each other, love each other. We are family, we are friends. You'll never know what that feels like, so before you think to judge people like us again, just remember the pain you feel right now because it's far worse than what you could have caused us." She yanked the arrow from his thigh, wiped the blood off on his robes, then stood as she deposited the arrow back into her quiver.

Valendrian and the elves had watched what she did, heard what she said, and they were touched. Never before had shems treated them as such: like equals, like family. They knew then that they were right to call Calissa and her siblings "vhenallin" and they could understand why Tori- who remained a stranger to them- would be given such gifts from their kin the Dalish.

"Hahren, could you take Kaya back home with the others? We need to finish up here." Calissa said, looking to Valendrian.

He nodded. "Of course. Come home soon, lethallan."

"Cali, be safe." Kaya said, looking to her sister. "See you at home?"

Calissa smiled. "Of course." She replied, then watched as Kaya and the elves hurried out of the building and headed back home. Turning to Branford and his companions, she bowed. "Thank you very much for your help. Without you, I would have lost more family and friends."

"It was our pleasure." Branford said, smiling. "You're quite handy in a fight."

"My father was a farmer and my mother was a healer, but we had to fight off bandits so often that we all learned how to fight in order to protect our farm and our village." He face fell a bit and she looked away. "It wasn't enough to stop the darkspawn, though... I guess that's why we have Grey Wardens... Too bad they all died at Ostagar... We need someone to protect this country, to stop the Blight... But all Loghain has been doing is recruiting people who show promise and turning them into his own private militia so that he can stay in power. The queen is no better. She hides behind her title and does nothing for the people, just lets her father run amok mad with power."

"What can you tell us about Loghain?" Branford asked. "We need to take care of him. He has to answer for what happened at Ostagar and the civil wars that have broken out since he seized control."

"All I know is that Loghain wants to stay in power. But, he's wary of anyone close to him. He feels like everyone is a threat to him, even his own daughter the queen. He's mad with power, recruits anyone he can who he says shows promise and from what my brother Myles told me, he sends out factions of men to secure alliances or submissions and complacencies from the nobles and other villages. Not everyone will flock to his banner, though, which is why there are som many civil wars breaking out. Most recently, Myles said they had to face off against men from Mimel. They won against Mimel, but there were many casualties on both sides and Myles said he was lucky to have survived." Calissa's face fell a bit at that. "Loghain is forcing his men to fight against their own countrymen because he fears what he cannot control. We needed the Wardens to stop the Blight and he took that from us. Without the Wardens, there's no way we can survive this. Loghain just refuses to see reason nor will he accept that he was wrong and now he's putting not just my brother's life on the line, but all of ours."

"We're going to fix things." Alistair said, looking at her.

"Someone has to." Calissa replied, meeting his gaze. "We do what we can in the alienage, but the others in the capital aren't so forthcoming with aid. There's only so much that we can do on our own."

"Thank you, Calissa, for the information." Branford said. "You should return to your family."

Calissa nodded, then looked to the Tevinter. "What about him?"

"We'll take care of him." Tori said. "Get back to your home, to your family. Keep them safe. Things will turn around soon enough, you'll see."

Calissa nodded, bowing again. "Thank you again for you help." She looked up at them and smiled. "If I hadn't run into you, I may never have seen my baby sister or the others ever again."

Alistair smiled. "Glad we could be of assistance."

Calissa smiled and turned to leave, but Alistair stopped her.

"Calissa, can I ask you something?"

She looked back at him. "Sure."

"I have a sister, she lives here in the capital. Her name is Goldanna." Alistair said. "She refused any help from me, let alone acknowledge I was family. But I worry for her all the same."

"I'll look out for her, Alistair." Calissa said, smiling. "It's the least I could do for you helping me keep my family safe."

Alistair smiled and sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"Of course." She looked between he and his companions. "If you ever need anything, just ask. I owe you all a debt." She bowed and left, wondering if she'd ever see them again.

After that day, things began to grow more tense in the capital. Word spread of Wardens in the city, straggling survivors who escaped the carnage at Ostagar. Word spread of the oncoming Blight, more and more darkspawn attacks. Several months had passed since that day and it was the final battle against the Blight, the final battle where Branford Cousland and Alistair defeated the archdemon. Branford was named the Hero of Ferelden and Alistair was made the King of Ferelden.

Calissa stood with her siblings, Myles having come back home to serve Alistair when it was decided at the Landsmeet that he would be king, and watched as the coronation took place. They celebrated with everyone, but Calissa noticed that Tori Evermoore wasn't present. Seeing her and Alistair together, she could tell them were a couple- or trying to be- and she hoped that she hadn't died in the final battle. Tori had stood up for her and her family, putting the Tevinter in his place. She had helped save her baby sister and the elves who had taken them in, accepted them as family. She would be forever grateful for her aid and she owed each and everyone one of them- Tori included- a debt. She gave a prayer for Tori's safety and protection, hoping that she had survived.