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Post by bruixa on Apr 26, 2014 19:17:25 GMT
GREY WARDENS
The Grey Wardens are an order of warriors of exceptional ability dedicated to fighting darkspawn throughout Thedas. They are headquartered in the very place of their founding, the Weisshaupt Fortress in the Anderfels, but maintain a presence in most other nations as well.
They become Wardens through the Joining ritual. The ritual and the details about it are kept a strict secret by the Grey Wardens, because during the Joining, the recruits drink from a silver chalice containing a mixture of darkspawn blood, lyrium, and a drop of blood from an archdemon. Few survive this, but those who live become Grey Wardens — forever connected to the darkspawn, and forever tainted by the blood they have consumed.
The Grey Wardens are known for ignoring a recruit's racial, social, national, and even criminal background if they deem the person valuable in terms of character or ability. They are also granted the Right of Conscription, they may demand that any individual from king to criminal be drafted into their ranks. However — especially in Ferelden — this right is used sparingly for fear of political reprisal. Further complicating matters, the Grey Wardens don't accept just anyone. Only the best and brightest are invited. In addition, the fact that the Joining ritual kills many of its participants means that the draft may turn out to be a death sentence.
Even surviving a Joining is a guarantee of a shortened lifespan, however: all Wardens will eventually suffer The Calling, which begins with nightmares or voices from the Old Gods, the same "call" the darkspawn hear to search for the Old Gods. Although Alistair claims it takes a person about thirty years after their joining to hear it, the gap varies depending on their willpower and the level of their interaction with the darkspawn. As such, Grey Wardens during a Blight are likely to have shorter lifespans. Otherwise, it is commonly between ten to thirty years that the Wardens hear the Calling.
According to ritual, the Grey Warden who hears their Calling descends underground and celebrates before entering the Deep Roads to kill as many darkspawn as they can before being overwhelmed and slain.
The order of Grey Wardens is commanded by the First Warden in Weisshaupt, and consists of a system of semi-autonomous national branches lead by a local commander. Though there is a hierarchy, in practice the "pecking order" is frequently defined by seniority (decided by time of Joining) in the order.
At the time of 9:40 Dragon, the strength of the Grey Wardens is estimated at over 1,000 in the Anderfels, several hundred in Orlais, and around one hundred in Ferelden.
The official hierarchy of the Grey Wardens, in descending order, is:
First Warden: Permanently situated at Weisshaupt fortress. The First Warden is mainly a political figure since the griffon extinction, and most military command falls to the Warden-Commanders.
High Constable: Second-in-command to the First Warden, and formerly the aerial commander during the Wardens' use of griffons.[9] Recently, the High Constable has become the public face of the order, acting as the ambassador to the High King and leading local recruitment.
Chamberlain of the Grey: The senior archivist at Weisshaupt, and to whom Warden Commanders send yearly reports. The Chamberlain technically outranks Commanders of the Grey.
Commander of the Grey: The leader of the Grey Wardens in a given country, and under normal circumstances under little direction by the order. The dwindling communications between Weisshaupt and the branches leave most Warden-Commanders to run their respective branches as needed. They can be summoned to Weisshaupt by the First Warden at any time.
Constable of the Grey: A Warden-Commander's second-in-command, the Constable, colloquially called Warden-Constable, acts as the field commander and steps in when the Warden-Commander is away.
Senior Warden (or Warden-Lieutenant in Orlais): commands a small group of Wardens or undertakes special missions.
Warden-Ensign: Generally called as just Wardens, these are the members of the Order who have survived the Joining ritual.
Warden-Recruit: an individual selected to join the Wardens but who has not yet undertaken the Joining ritual. Failed recruits' names are kept in the archives of Weisshaupt in honour of their sacrifice.
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Post by bruixa on Apr 26, 2014 19:17:37 GMT
CIRCLE OF MAGI
In the Dragon Age, most mages in Thedas belong to the Circle of Magi. As such, they are taken from their families while still children, and highborn children who are able to use magic will lose all claims to their family's estates and titles when they are taken to the Circle. This helps to create a bond stronger than social class or race, since everybody in the Circle is raised and taught the same way.
Children who are born to mages within the Circle are taken to be raised in a Chantry orphanage, either until they are old enough to make a life on their own (likely within the Chantry itself as a cleric or templar) or their magical abilities have manifested and they are returned to the Circle.
Upon joining a Circle, mages undergo a process as apprentices of having a few drops of their blood taken by the First Enchanter and placed in a phylactery. This ensures the mages' compliance as well as the ability to track down any mage who decides to run away, since a templar can track anyone through their blood. As a further measure, mages who are feared to be incapable of controlling themselves, or who fear their power, are made Tranquil: their connection to the Fade is magically severed.
Some mages manage to escape the notice of the Chantry and the Circle, and grow up without the training that those who are taken from their families will have. Any mage not a part of the Circle is called an apostate, and will be hunted by templars if discovered. Often apostates will wield magic unknown or forbidden to the Circle, and considered threatening by the Chantry.
Grey Warden mages are exempt from being bound to the Circle. Mages are also highly respected in Dalish clans, being viewed as "gifted" and the Tevinter Imperium is a magocracy where power is concentrated in the hands of the mages--and where they abuse that power freely, indulging in slavery and human sacrifice.
Most humans are taught by the Chantry to fear magic and those who practice it. Mages are looked upon as people to be pitied at best, and hated at worst. The average citizen sincerely believes that the Circle exists only to protect mages and help them learn to control their abilities.
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Post by bruixa on Apr 26, 2014 19:17:41 GMT
TEMPLARS
The Templar Order is a military order of the Chantry that hunts apostates and maleficar and watches over the mages from the Circle of Magi. While they are officially deemed a force of defenders by the Chantry, established to protect the communities of the faithful from magical threats, they are in fact an army unto themselves; well-equipped, highly disciplined and devoted to their duties.
By the end 9:37 Dragon Age, the Kirkwall Chantry has been destroyed by magic. After the battle in Kirkwall and the deaths of First Enchanter Orsino and Knight-Commander Meredith, all of the Circles have begun to rebel.
Three years later, according to Varric Tethras in his testimony to Cassandra Pentaghast, the Chantry is on the brink of collapse and has lost control of the templars. A group connected to the Chantry that includes some of the Seekers of Truth have sought to find a peaceful solution to the escalating conflict between the mages and templars by finding both the Warden-Commander and the Champion of Kirkwall, who could help stop the war. Yet the group has had no success in tracking down either individual.
The Seekers of Truth, under the Lord Seeker also broke away from the Chantry along with the Knight Commanders. In 9:40, Lambert wrote a letter to the Divine nullifying the Nevarran Accord that originally established the Seekers as the Chantry's right hand. In the letter, Lambert writes: "Neither the Seekers of Truth nor the Templar Order recognize Chantry authority." This split from the Chantry occurred at approximately the same time as the start of tyrannicides. It is unknown exactly how this schism proceeded or whether there are divided factions with some members of the Seekers remaining loyal to the Divine.
Templars are considered by the common folk to be the saviors and holy warriors of Thedas, protecting the world from the dangers of magic unchecked. As the Chantry’s military arm, they are recruited primarily for their martial skill and religious dedication to the Maker. Given the difficult choices templars must make in the course of their duty, they must be unswervingly loyal to the Order and maintain an emotional distance from the plight of their charges. It is said that a templar’s obedience is more important to the Chantry than his or her moral center.
It is this sense of ruthless piety that most frightens mages when they get the templars' attention: when the templars are sent to eliminate a possible blood mage, there is no reasoning with them, and if the templars are prepared, the mage's magic is often useless. Driven by their faith, the templars are one of the most feared and respected forces in Thedas.
Non-human recruits such as elves are not barred from joining the templars, but are not common in their ranks.
Templars are the ideal foils for mages, having been trained specifically to counter magic. Templars have the abilities to dispel magic and inhibit spellcasting, and they develop a considerable immunity to magic, primarily through ingesting lyrium. Ironically, these abilities could be considered a form of magic in themselves.
All templars are addicted to lyrium, which is officially used to help develop their anti-mage skills and unofficially used as a control mechanism by the Chantry. A lack of lyrium causes the templar to lose touch with reality and suffer from delusions within 1-2 months. The effects of lyrium addiction for templars include paranoia, obsession, and dementia. Over time, templars grow disoriented, incapable of distinguishing memory from present, or dream from waking. They frequently become paranoid as their worst memories and nightmares haunt their waking hours.
The Templar Order is composed of numerous branches, each of them centered around a specific community or region they are assigned to defend and monitor. Templars may be assigned to the Circles of Magi but also to individual chantries. Each main branch of the organization is led by a Knight-Commander. In Thedas there are fifteen Knight-Commanders, who in turn answer to the head of the local chantry. The Order itself is ruled from the glittering White Spire in Val Royeaux by a Knight-Vigilant.
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Post by bruixa on Apr 26, 2014 19:17:52 GMT
SEEKERS OF TRUTH
The Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order were once known as the Inquisition, a group of people who fought against the threat of dark magic after the First Blight. Some accounts suggest that the Inquisition was always known as the Seekers of Truth and that they strove to restore order in a time of chaos through their even application of justice.
In the twentieth year of the Divine Age, the fledgling Chantry convinced the Inquisition to unite under the banner of their common faith. Upon signing the Nevarran Accord, the two organizations jointly created the Circle of Magi and established the Templar Order as wardens for the Circles and guardians over magic use. Under the Accord, senior members of the Inquisition formed the Seekers of Truth as they are known today.
Seekers are typically chosen from the elite ranks of the templars. In their roles as overseers of the Templar Order and the right hand of the Divine, they serve as the Chantry's investigators and are given considerable latitude to function outside the law. The leadership hierarchy of the Seekers runs parallel to that of the templars, although a senior Seeker outranks any templar.
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Post by bruixa on Apr 26, 2014 19:18:08 GMT
THE CHANTRY
The Chantry is the dominant religious organization in Thedas. It is based on the Chant of Light, a series of teachings written by Andraste, the prophet of the Maker, and was founded by Kordillus Drakon, the first emperor of Orlais. Its followers are known as Andrastians. "Chantric" is also an acceptable adjective to refer to something or someone that is of the Chantry religion.
The Chantry's goal is to spread the Chant of Light to all four corners of the world, that includes non-humans as well. The view of the Chantry on non-humans is that they need saving—they have turned even further from the Maker's grace than humanity has. There are no known Andrastian Qunari; the elves worshipped, and in some cases still worship, the Elven pantheon; and dwarves venerate the Stone. Once all peoples have accepted the Chant and practice its teachings, supposedly the Maker will return to the world and return it to its former glory. As such, Andrastian religion in Thedas can be described as deistic in that the world (or Thedas at least) was abandoned by the Maker and he will not heed prayer or perform any other function until his favor is regained.
The Chantry calendar is used everywhere in Thedas, save for the Imperium, and is the source of the names of the Ages.
The funeral rites of the Chantry involve cremation. As Andraste's body was burned, and her spirit ascended to stand by the Throne of the Maker, so too will that of her followers. It may also be to ward off the possibility of the corpse becoming the subject of demonic possession.
The actual priesthood of the Chantry is made up entirely of women, on the basis that Andraste was a woman. At the head of the Chantry is the Divine, who leads from her seat in the Grand Cathedral of Val Royeaux. Below her are the Grand Clerics who are the Chantry's highest authority in a country or a region. After a Divine dies, Grand Clerics are also the ones who are required to travel to Val Royeaux for the Grand Consensus, a meeting where they should unanimously elect the new leader of the Chantry. Beneath them are the mothers, who are responsible for administering to the spiritual well-being of their flock.
If a mother is in charge of a local Chantry, she is called as a revered mother. Beneath them are the brothers and sisters and they consist of three main groups: affirmed, initiates, and clerics. This is the only rank that men are allowed to have. The initiates take vows and receive an academic education. Those who seek to become templars receive a martial education in addition. Clerics are the scholars of the Chantry and the most senior of them receive the title of "elder", which is, however, beneath that of mother.
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