"Nobles, originally," says Varric. "From what I understand, pretty well ranked, too. Not royalty or anything, but good enough to hold our own in the Assembly. Then there was a fuss over a Proving, and it turned into a fuss over a lot of Provings, and next thing you know the entirety of House Tethras was expelled from Orzammar. I can't say whether the accusations were true or not, of course. I was born after my family took up residence on the surface."