Questions about Dragon Age. (mage centered)

[Misterian]

Okay, there are some things about Dragon Age that I've been having trouble figuring out, and those are things centered about how mages are portrayed in the franchise.

first off, are the Circles of Magi in Thedas independent or part of the Chantry? or is it a mixed bag?

I ask because the Circle in Ferelden is policed by the Templars, who are part of the Chantry, yet it's a mage (said mage being First Enchanter Irving) who seems to have most of the authority in the Circle, authority enough that he can apparently authorize mages to go in and out of the tower twice (once to Castle Redcliffe and the other to Denerim) despite it being supposingly forbidden for Cricle Mages to leave the tower, as well as how, if I read the Templar-Mage war article on the Dragon Age wiki right, the Circle can declare itself separate from the Chantry and is apparently powerful enough to declare themselves exempt from the Chantry and hold their own against the Templars when fully united (despite the Templar's anti-magic techniques being suppossed to give them an edge against mages).

Second of all, why is the Circle Mage Grey Warden's Phylactery in Denerim? when several of the phylacteries of the other Ferelden Circle Mages from in the Circle Tower? is that ever explained at any point in the game?

 

[Salomega]

Hmm, let's see: The Chantry controls the Templars in the circle but they have a certain amount of autonomy to do as they see fit. In most cases the Knight-Commander and First Enchanter have a relationship similar to the president and vice president, which is to say one can make a decision and the other can go along with it or veto it depending on what the request in question is. Not to mention the First Enchanter didn't get to be First Enchanter by being a firebrand rebellious warmonger, he got to be that because of years of staying put and helping the circle grow while keeping the young mages from rebelling and having the Right of Annulment called down on them.

As to the circle declaring itself independent, that isn't something the chantry wants. "Magic was meant to serve man, not rule over him" I think is the biggest piece of the chant of light sacred to their religious text. Unfortunely, somewhere along the line in history some chantry jerk decided that this meant that all mages should be locked away at birth and only allowed out under extreme guard by templars. The fear of them is understandable though, since demons constantly come knocking to try and possess them and steal their bodies. So, they can declare themselves free but if the fact that all the other circles didn't do the same thing pretty much at the same time all it would have accomplished was the right of annulment and alot of dead mages.

Last but not least, the grey warden's phylactery is in Denerim because he completed his Harrowing, that means that he would have been allowed to leave the tower for special assignments under templar guard. If he ran they could hunt him down, the Phylacteries kept at the circle tower are for the apprentices who have yet to take their Harrowing and thus would never be allowed out until they did, so the templars there at the tower would have the job of bringing the apprentices back, whereas the full fledged mages would be the responsibility of the chantry and its arm of the apostate hunters in denerim. Hope that answers your questions.

 

[Misterian]

Hmm, let's see: The Chantry controls the Templars in the circle but they have a certain amount of autonomy to do as they see fit. In most cases the Knight-Commander and First Enchanter have a relationship similar to the president and vice president, which is to say one can make a decision and the other can go along with it or veto it depending on what the request in question is. Not to mention the First Enchanter didn't get to be First Enchanter by being a firebrand rebellious warmonger, he got to be that because of years of staying put and helping the circle grow while keeping the young mages from rebelling and having the Right of Annulment called down on them.

As to the circle declaring itself independent, that isn't something the chantry wants. "Magic was meant to serve man, not rule over him" I think is the biggest piece of the chant of light sacred to their religious text. Unfortunely, somewhere along the line in history some chantry jerk decided that this meant that all mages should be locked away at birth and only allowed out under extreme guard by templars. The fear of them is understandable though, since demons constantly come knocking to try and possess them and steal their bodies. So, they can declare themselves free but if the fact that all the other circles didn't do the same thing pretty much at the same time all it would have accomplished was the right of annulment and alot of dead mages.

Last but not least, the grey warden's phylactery is in Denerim because he completed his Harrowing, that means that he would have been allowed to leave the tower for special assignments under templar guard. If he ran they could hunt him down, the Phylacteries kept at the circle tower are for the apprentices who have yet to take their Harrowing and thus would never be allowed out until they did, so the templars there at the tower would have the job of bringing the apprentices back, whereas the full fledged mages would be the responsibility of the chantry and its arm of the apostate hunters in denerim. Hope that answers your questions.

Sort of, but with your answer to my second question, I still don't really get why the phylacteries of the post-horrowing mages are moved to Denerim and not kept in the Circle Tower, unless it's an organization matter or if it makes the phylactery easier to grab hold of in case the post-harrowing mage does try to go apostate.

 

[Salomega]

The way I see it is the apprentices are the responsibility of the tower templars, whereas the fully Harrowed mages are the responsibility of the chantry itself. So, the chantry can devote quite a few more templars to hunting the harrowed mage rather than just a few going after the apprentice. I could be wrong but that's what I saw when I was playing through the games.

 

[DementedSheep]

I think Lilly says something about there not being enough space for all phylacteries of every mages in the tower.

I think you?d want the apprentices immediately on hand since they are the ones most likely to try and run but not be a massive threat so you?d want to bring them back quickly and quietly with only a few templars. If a full mage runs off you want a proper mage hunting group after them. Plus the more powerful adults are the ones more likely to get past all the safeguards to get into the room where they are stored.