#except for the one circle escapee that made it to Tevinter

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Dammit not me remembering that I've placed one of the five Amell mage!cousins in Tevinter like. I can't do it I can't play a human again. But the middle aged non binary Free Marches swag....

[radbanditgooplight]

Elven Mages relevant to the Circle:

Leorah - Senior Enchanter from Kinloch Hold (Origins): Expresses no opinion one way or the other about the Circle

Sketch - Leliana’s spy crew member (Leliana’s Song): Canonical rebel mage

Avexis - Dragon talking girl (Dawn of the Seeker: Made Tranquil

Arvin - Enchanter, Rhys teacher, and emissary to Tevinter, and spy (Asunder, mentioned only): High position, hypothesized only to be an emissary and placed highly only as an insult to Tevinter (an elven emissary is generally seen as an insult), no opinions mentioned (except that he hates Tevinter I think?)

Cera - Ambassador to the Wardens from the Circle (Awakening): Existence weird in general, since she can enchant and only Tranquil are suppose to enchant? No opinion mentioned, i think?

Eadric - Apprentice in Kinloch Hold (Origins): Wants respect in the Circle, as a human you can discriminate against him, doesn’t really mention wanting to stay in the Circle on way or the other, just that things are suppose to be different.

Fiona - starts the mage rebellion

Orsino - honestly he just wants to have a decent standard of living in the circle, as opposed to there being literal beatings and assaults in the Gallows, but I’m pretty sure he would leave if he could.

Grandin - former Circle mage turned abomination (Jaws of Hakkon): Doesn’t really mention wanting to be in the Circle or not, but he seemed happy helping the Inquisition, and wanting to serve.

Lysas - a member of the mage rebellion at Redcliffe (Inquisition): tells that he was taken away from his family and not allowed to say goodbye, says that it’s not fair to be locked up for the rest of his life if he stayed in the Circle, literally says mages are slaves (“stay and be slaves?”), and wants mage freedom.

Minaeve - former apprentice, creature researcher for the Inquisition: Probably one of the weirdest most inconsistent piece of writing (templars would have killed me... I like the tranquil.. templars mistreated the tranquil... templars make me feel safe... the Dalish left me for dead for being one mage too many... templars saved me). The indisputable pro-circle elven mage in all this.

Pharamond - Cured Tranquil (Asunder): Asks to be killed rather than be made tranquil again.

Helaine - Commander, Knight-Enchanter in service to the Chantry post rebellion (according to wartable mission: Trust), and Trainer (Inquisition): Considering she seems to still be in service to the Chantry, and according to Vivienne “Knight-Enchanters serve in the highest echelons of the Chantry and Circle”, it seems probable that Helaine is pro-chantry pro-circle. But she doesn’t express her opinion either way about it, so it’s up in the air.

Huon - apostate and Circle escapee (2): taken from his seemingly normal and uneventful life in the alienage and his wife (Nyssa), he is taken to the Circle. After ten years, he escapes and is insane and murderous. I WONDER how he got that way? (Cough templars cough).

Valya - Grey Warden, former circle mage (last flight): haven’t read the book, but I’ll take dalishious’s word on her having disdain for the Circle.

Voth - elven mercenary, Sutherlands company (Inquisition, Tevinter Nights): According to the wiki page about him regarding Callback, he’s a “free mage by special commendation”?

(I Forgot About Aneirin!) Aneirin - former circle apprentice, Wynne’s former apprentice, and escapee from the Circle, now kinda Dalish mage (Origins): Escaped from the Circle at fourteen, and the templars tracked him down and tried to kill him. Was found and healed by the Dalish (Zathrian’s clan?).

Skipping all Dalish elven mages that have no relation to the Circle, since I haven’t heard any of them say any good things about the Circle (ignoring Minaeve), our sole elven mage spokesman for the Circle is Minaeve! Who’s written horribly and inconsistently (both about herself and lore). Maybe Helaine is also pro-circle, but she doesn’t say a thing about it.

Adding on to the "elves are Circle stans" thing, two of the most important figures in the mage rebellion, Orsino and Grand Enchanter Fiona, are elves. And I can't think of any elven characters who are really loyal to the Circles.

There’s also Valya in Last Flight who expresses huge disdain for the Circles.

[qcdastuff]

Carding the Veil

Prologue

Thedas is a world in chaos. And nearly always it has been a world at war.

There have been wars between nations that decimated bloodlines and wars between species that tasted like genocide. There have been Exalted Marches against infidels and civil wars so bloody they threatened to fell the nation in on itself. Now, however, it seems the south of Thedas is embroiled in a war between mages and everyone else. But the south of Thedas is not all of Thedas.

In the North, the Tevinter Imperium has stood strong for over two thousand years, even as whole nations have been carved out from it's once-expansive territory. It still manages to be a powerhouse, a terror - a nation feared by all others - if for no other reason than that it is run by Mages.

Run by Mages on the backs of slaves - the last nation to officially keep to the institution. The majority of the nation is non-magical - sleepers - ‘Soporati’. But it does not matter; the nobles are all Mages themselves, and they live in decadence hardly seen elsewhere. They practice their arcane arts in prestigious colleges and circles, learning and expanding the breadth and depth of what magic can do. All of their progress, however, comes as a price - the lives and blood of elves and non-magical poor alike, reduced to chattel. But for all their extravagance, for all their callous disregard, they also play a vital role in Thedas.

The Imperium is nearly the only thing holding the Qunari in check. ‘Ox-men’ they are sometimes called, but never to their faces, not when they’re armed. Not unless you outnumber them. They are, as a people, tall and broad-shouldered; great horns curling from their heads, and to the Tevinter mindset, they are bloodthirsty savages.

While their appearance may cause fear or distress or disgust, it is their beliefs that cause them to make war against the rest of the world. For the Qunari themselves believe that they were once savages. Once bloodthirsty barbarians - Kossith. And then Ashkaari Koslun wrote ‘The Qun’, and his people fell upon it - consumed it - were consumed by it. It brought order to their chaos and purpose to their lives. They became The Qunari - the People of the Qun.

It is the Qunari’s mission to spread this message, this enlightenment, this order across all of Thedas. And they know what the Tevene know, and what all the rest of Thedas fears: If Tevinter should fall - all of Thedas will fall.

So yes, The Tevinter Imperium is full of slavers and power-hungry mages stabbing each other in the back over land squabbles and slave gifts and seats on the Magisterium. But they are also Thedas’ last line of defense against the Qunari menace, and so they get away with doing as they please.

For no other nation in Thedas can claim that they are ruled by mages. The Rivaini may have their Seers and the Avaar Tribes their Augurs, but these are not who rule their people. They merely provide counsel. The Rivaini have a working relationship with their magics, and the Avaar practice theirs under the watchful eye of benevolent spirits. It is because these peoples do not subscribe to the predominant religion of the continent that they have such a tolerant view of magic.

For the majority of nations, magic is not something that is allowed to run free. It is not something that is allowed to be practiced out on the streets or out from under the watchful eye of the Chantry.

It is the Chantry - the Church of Andraste, blessed Bride of the Maker - that truly holds most of Thedas in an iron grip. It is the Chantry which demands, more than guides, the mores, the conventions in Thedas. ‘Magic is meant to serve man’, cries the Chantry, and with this one snippet crushes magic under heel.

Ferelden, Orlais, Nevarra, The Free Marches, Antiva, and even the vast wasteland of the Anderfels all march to the Chantry’s tune. Mages are rounded up, as soon as they manifest their power, and are taken to be locked away in towers called Circles - for their own good. On the surface, it is claimed that these Mages, these children, are taken there to teach them control. To teach them how to make the magic serve them. But in reality - they are prisoners. For the only way a Mage actually leaves a Circle is by running away - which is never permanent. Or death.

The children are trained up and given a choice. They may participate in a ritual where they are thrust into the realm of magic, facing off against a demon in a Harrowing that will try to possess them (which of course they must resist) - or they can be made Tranquil. Cut off from magic, the Tranquil are also cut off from their emotions. They tend to become alchemists and storeroom clerks in the Circles - for even a magicless Mage cannot leave.

The true horror of the Circles, for most, comes with the arm of the Chantry stationed in every tower to watch the Mages. Templars. Trained in how to resist magic, in how to snuff it out, the Templars are said to be shepherds for their little flocks of Mages. In practice. In reality, they are jailers. They oversee the Harrowings and behead the Mages who fail to resist possession. They hunt down escaped Mages, and collect children to be brought to the Circle. They mete out punishment for any wrongdoing by Mages, and are the ones trained in performing the Rite of Tranquility.

In the best of circumstances, the Templars work with the Mages. They are there to protect them - from the outside world, from demons, from themselves if need be. They only kill who they must. They only make Tranquil those who know they are not strong enough to battle a demon and win.

But anyone alive can tell you how often the best-case scenario plays out. At their worst, they are corrupted by power. Abusing their charges in any way they see fit - because there is no one to stop them. Making Tranquil those who speak up against the abuse, those who would not submit. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. A lesson learned, and a scenario that played out in the Kirkwall Circle, in the Free Marches.

Kirkwall had once been a part of the Tevinter Imperium - as had all of the Free Marches - and it had been a hub for the slave trade. The City still looks it - giant golden statues carved and mounted into the rock face of it's main harbor of slaves in chains. The city itself is physically divided - the higher the social status, the higher in the city you live. Many even live below the city, where the slave pits used to run.

By most accounts, it is in Kirkwall where the flame of the Mage Revolution began. The Kirkwall Circle was more corrupt than most - it’s Templar Knight-Commander Meredith, a tyrant. She wielded the brand of Tranquility as easily as a sword, snuffing out resistance and letting her favored minions do as they would with their new playthings. She only grew more mad and corrupted as the years went on. She was helped by a sword she had commissioned - carved entirely out of red lyrium.

Lyrium in itself was dangerous, as anything in the wrong hands. Useful in the right ones. When distilled and blended properly it gave boosts in magic endurance and strength to Mages. It allowed Templars their ability to suppress magic. It was used in enchantments, and potions,  and the construction of magical staves. And always, always, that bright, electric blue.

Red Lyrium was and is still yet a bit of a mystery - corrupting and turning to madness anything that stays too long in its presence. Including the Knight-Commander. Meredith had hallucinated insurrection where there was none and corruption everywhere except within herself. Until finally - she snapped - and ordered the Annulment of the Circle.

Every Mage was to be put to the sword. Every man. Every woman. Every child.

According to most, an Apostate Mage - an escapee of a Circle - was the one who started it all. The one who could no longer tolerate her cruelty and lies and persecution. He blew up and destroyed the Kirkwall Chantry - the supposed seat of power for the Templars, though Meredith had long stopped listening to their edicts. He bombed the Kirkwall Circle and led the Mages to freedom - escape and riot and revenge against their oppressors.

The innocent and the guilty alike burned in those fires, and the outrage was immediate. Those who knew nothing railed against the Mage who destroyed the Chantry - feeling justified in their fear of Magic, in their belief that Mages should be locked away.

The Mages, however, saw their opportunity. Saw their chance. Even without knowing the full scope of the horrors of Kirkwall, every Mage knew what the worst of their situation would look like. Many had experienced it first hand. And so, because the liberation of Kirkwall had succeeded, all across Thedas, Circles rose up in open rebellion. Mages were no longer willing to be shackled and caged - they wanted freedom , and they wanted it NOW.

But the Chantry cannot allow such a thing. For magic to serve man, it needs to be controlled . Regulated. Put in its place. Templars have done their best to fight the Mages at every turn. To hunt down these rebel Mages; they seek to drag them kicking and screaming back to their towers, or else see them dead.

Brutal fights rage across Thedas as the Mages and Templars each try to see the end of the other, and so many innocents are caught in the crossfire. So now, the head of the Chantry, Most Holy - Divine Justinia - has called for a truce. A meeting of minds. To discuss the future of Mages and to bring peace to Thedas. For this war cannot be sustained. It cannot be borne by the common folk without destroying life as everyone knows it.

Thus, the Conclave was called. At the Temple of Sacred Ashes, where the last remains of Holy Andraste, Bride of the Maker, are ensconced. Mages and Templars alike are to come to the Conclave under a banner of truce, to meet, and to discuss the direction they will go into the future together .

There are many who think Most Holy mad - who think this cannot work. But as religion unites countries, so too does it unite people. No one can deny that Divine Justinia is a fair and just woman - chosen by her peers for the position, of course - but also blessed by the Maker.

And so they come - from the Free Marches and Ferelden and Orlais and Antiva and Nevarra and the Anderfels - they come. Up to the Frostback Mountains, up to the Temple. They come to listen to Divine Justinia and what the Maker might tell her. They come and they pray there is a solution to this that doesn’t burn down all of Thedas.

...

Chapter 1

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23582437/chapters/60499582

[a-gay-bloodmage]

Hmmm, time to get to know a bit about everyone x) Can you do 2, 4, 8, 15, and 17 for the oc asks I haven't seen yet? Thanks so much, I love getting to know about your ocs :)

I’m going to be answering for my Dragon Age OCs, but I’ve got more in a non-DA setting for an original story I’m working on! If you want to learn about those, send an ask to @daughter-of-war

I’m more than happy to answer!

As usual, this got quite long! More under the cut!

2. Do any of your OCs have a physical disability?

You know what? None of my Wardens really do. I should try to work on making more diverse characters, but as of now, I think I’ll include Redren, because over-use of his magic can lead to pretty bad anemia, which is always there to a degree. And Maria, one of my non-warden OCs, is mostly blind.

4. Does your OC have anything they take pride in? (Like an award or collection?)

Redren takes immense pride in his blood magic, something he’s always defined himself as. His entire life revolved around the singular fact that he was a Blood Mage, and he learned to take pride in it. To him, the only part of himself he could take pride in was what he couldn’t ever change. Unfortunately, nobody in the world seemed to think blood magic was anything to take pride in.

Orest takes pride in his nature, seeing his personality as the most important thing about himself. His ability to have compassion, and to make people laugh, is one of his favorite things about himself. He’s not vain, but he is self-confident. To Orest, the best anyone can be is their best, and he’s proud to say that he’s doing the best he can.

Faelyn takes pride in her friends. She’d lived so long with only her cousins as friends, as soon as she found companionship in Alistair, and Morrigan, and Leliana, and Zevran, and even in Shale, Wynne, and Oghren, she sees it as one of the best things she’d ever accomplished. Sten’s still a work in progress, but she’ll get there some day!

Andrea is quite vain and self-centered at the beginning of her story, making her social status the most valued aspect of herself, something she took immense pride in. Eventually, she learned to see past that fairly narcissistic view of herself, but in the start of it all, her place in the world as the Arl of Highever’s only daughter gave her all the pride in the world.

Hundir was similar to Andrea, but as soon as he was cast from Orzammar, the object of his pride moved to his battleaxe, the weapon that led him through the Deep Roads became his source of pride, the dark crimson stain of Darkspawn blood helping him hold his head up high.

Gemma takes pride in her brand. To many casteless, the brand is an awful reminder of what they are, the failure of their birth, but as soon as she joined the Wardens, she held her head up high, pulling the hair out of her face to show the world the black brand on her face. She’d smile as she thought of what those back in Orzammar would think, to see a casteless girl take pride in her branding as worthless. Because she knew she wasn’t worthless.

8. Do you ship any 2 of your OCs?

None of my Wardens, no, but I do have a few original couples!

Jo and Renee Bircann, from Orlais, are one! Jo is genderfluid, who switches from biologically and mentally male to biologically and mentally female at random, with Jo’s birth gender being unknown (this way people can’t really call it a “fake gender”, because s/he is “actually” fe/male on any given day. Loophole, transphobes!) And Renee is his/her wife, a lesser noble-born woman forced to run from the Orlesian nobility due to her magic that manifested when she was fourteen. The two started their relationship when both of them were fleeing Orlais, meeting in the Orlesian side of the mountains near Orzammar, with Renee immediately captivated by the rugged-looking “man” in the mountains. Luckily, Renee is bisexual, and very attracted to both women and men. Jo is just two lovers in one!

Maria and Bethany are another couple! Maria is one of my most developed non-Warden OCs, seeing as she’s central to Redren’s story. An approximately 600 year old Tevinter-born sorceress, Maria is in a relationship with Bethany, a spirit of an ancient tribal princess of the nomadic Enchanted Wood Tribe of the forests of the Anderfels and Orlais. They started their relationship when Maria invited Bethany out of the Fade as a fully-formed apparition about 500 years ago, as she had been there for 500 years already, fully aware, but with no way to get back to the world of the living.

15. Do any of your OCs have pets?

All of my Wardens got the Mabari companion! How could I resist giving each of them a puppy?

Redren named his mabari Dog, because it’s simple and he couldn’t think of anything better in the moment. The name stuck, in the end, despite Alistair’s protests against naming a warhound Dog.

Orest named his mabari companion Anga, Tolkien Elven for Iron. He thought it was pretty cool, and a tough dog deserves a tough name!

Faelyn decided to call her mabari Puppy! Her first instinct was to call out "puppy!" when she saw him, so yeah, she kept the name. Cute, isn’t it?

Andrea called her mabari Prince, and she treated him like one. She’d play with him in the Highever Castle gardens, and read books with him, and brush his fur, in short, she spoiled that dog rotten. And after she lost everything except that dog, she treasured him more than anything in Thedas.

Hundir, the ever so tough Aeducan, named his new mabari Ripper. He liked how tough and intimidating it was, and over the course of the Blight, yeah, that dog earned that name tenfold.

Gemma named her mabari Flower after her favorite thing on the Surface. She had never seen a mabari before, so she was very excited over the idea of having one to call her own. The pretty little flower that saved it is forever remembered in her mabari’s name.

17. Do you have any OCs you haven’t posted about?

Maria, who I’m in the process of writing a “write-up” post about, is honestly a really fun character to develop! She’s loud, and outgoing, and certainly the pinnacle of the older-sister type. She is the one largely responsible for raising Redren, with the help of her mother, Alda, and her Dearest, Bethany. She’s been blind for nearly six hundred years, after being bound to the Fade by the magic of spirit-channeling and Necromancy. To say she’s a living corpse is untrue, but she is essentially frozen as an eighteen-year-old for the foreseeable future. She’s able to see the spirits of people, animals, and living plants, making her able to navigate with no problem. Spirits free from the “prison” that is the mortal flesh are able to be seen with perfect clarity for her. She’s slightly infamous from Tevinter to Ferelden, however, known to many as an Enchantress that seduced men who later went “missing.” Human blood is incredibly good for potions and food, in her mind. She gave up the habit about two hundred years ago, but that doesn’t stop her from telling story after story about the fun she had with the witch-burners and Templars before they died, though.

Bethany, as mentioned above, was a tribal princess of the Enchanted Wood Tribe of Orlais and the Anderfels. Elf-blooded a million times over, due to the mixture of elf and human makeup of the nomadic tribe, Bethany was considered the most beautiful of her tribe, with wavy blonde hair to her ankles and green-blue eyes, she was sacrificed to Desire Demons in order to keep her tribe alive through the unpredicted and harsh winter. She sacrificed herself willingly, but she’s always wondered what happened to her beloved tribe. She’s a full-bodied and fully aware ghost now, forever reminded of her sacrifice by the large hole though her chest where her heart was taken, and her eternal forced nudity. She doesn’t mind the nudity, though.

Alda, Maria’s mother, and Bethany’s Dear Mother, is the matriarch of the village all my Dragon Age OCs live in, which is made of nearly all apostates driven from their homes or Circle escapees. She’s a proud Andrastian, but not opposed to the Ancient Elven or Tribal Gods and Goddesses. She’s a kind and loving old lady, physically around 70, as she stopped her aging after her daughter. A spirit healer, she’s kept alive in the same type of way Wynne is, except she chose to be kept alive by the Fade. She’s incredibly matronly, and helped to raise Redren as his Auntie.

And many more, but way less developed ones!

I’m also making playlists for each of my Wardens, so if you have any requests for what character I should prioritize, please reply! Thanks~!