#creators and masked andraste go brrrrr

[maleficarlife]

Those are all wonderful points and make me think about my Red Schism AU, where the White Chantry breaks in several offshoots as a consequence of Hawke leading a more organized rebellion and underground since Dragon Age 2. While the Chantry of Ferelden, ruled by Queen Anora and with a college of priests subordinated to the landsmeet, is made only during Inquisition, when Justinia is dead and Orlais is too broken up by civil war to be a problem (and as bonus, the Empire got recently humiliated by Ferelden actually conquering a part of their land at the border and had riots in Val Royeaux after the mage rebellion sacked the Grand Cathedral, so they are really busy) the creation of it's institution is possible only because a second schism called Red Chantry already happened with the Free Marches and Nevarra supporting the rebel mages and fighting a long war against Starkheaven and allies + the pious Anderfels and winning.

With the events of Inquisition taking a wild different route where there is no Inquisition to fight Corypheus, the Orlesian Empire crumbling in a bunch of nations -including Briala taking back the Dales- after Halamshiral goes really bad for nearly all parties involved and the institution of the first pseudo-democracies (the Free Marches became a Federal Republic, thanks to Kirkwall winning the mage-templar war and shaping her ex enemy cities policies) in Thedas, Hawke is pretty much the controversial but rallying popular leader that allows Anora to say "you know what? we are leaving too, why should we obey the clerics of Orlais when Orlais is dying and Ferelden is resurgent" and being mainly unopposed. And while I didn't tought about it, it's true that Amaranthine and Denerim would 100% facilite the transition.

i know the chantry of ferelden thing was a funny bit but i would genuinely love to hear any thoughts you have regarding that as a serious option

oh sure. frankly, i wouldn’t be surprised if it happened; i’m surprised it hasn’t (yet). chantry schism 2: electric boogaloo

the dominant religion in thedas is the orlesian chantry. it was founded in the same breath as the orlesian empire, by the first emperor of orlais. it possesses an extensive military arm, the templars, who have historically been used outside to pressure foreign powers in favour of orlesian interests. this is obviously the very same orlesian empire that in living memory occupied and brutalised ferelden for about seventy years. considering loghain’s attempted deal with uldred, making moves against the chantry does seem like something in the heads of fereldan loyalists. alistair and/or anora can also potentially be attempting to free the circle depending on the warden’s choices, or give land to the dalish, not to mention they accommodate the mage rebellion

as for the idea of a new “chantry of ferelden”, it's worth saying that ferelden contains many major sites of pilgrimage, including denerim (the birthplace of andraste), the newfound temple of sacred ashes (rip, though i would be surprised if the ruins aren't still a place of pilgrimage and perhaps even more so with the associations with the herald), and amaranthine (where andraste first revealed the chant of light and from which maferath’s army departed to invade tevinter). it’s not hard to make a case for ferelden as a spiritual centre, it certainly has better claims than orlais. you could also make a case for ferelden, not an empire, highly valuing freedom, not having serfdom, etc., etc. as far truer to andraste’s original ideals. of course, i’m not sure who would make this case. schisms require religious leadership, and dragon age chronically fails to produce grand clerics outside of its base “motherly” archetype or the occasional “mad fanatic” because they hate complex women and complex religious characters and also me and my personal interests. i mean, ahem, it’s a writing flaw. but the idea of a grand cleric who is a real ambitious visionary thinker (as real religious figures were in medieval europe, who chose sides in conflicts and held spiritual diplomatic and military power that made them in a very practical way some of the most influential people of their time!) would make for such an interesting character and i want it so bad

even aside from the issue of needing like a religious movement to back a separation, i can see why ferelden wouldn't secede and why if it did it would be a big fucking deal. ferelden is in a pretty bad position, overall. it's severely weakened by the blight, it's physically isolated, and its current nobility is pretty insular leaving them with no particular strong allies. orlais and the orlesian chantry would not be able to take a move like this lying down. there could be no better excuse to retake ferelden��more than an excuse, from a religious perspective practically a moral obligation—and that excuse would always be available as long as ferelden was apart from the “true” chantry. we’re talking an exalted march and that type of conflict tends to have no restraint on violence. there is no chivalry for heretics