The Chantry and the Templars
The Chantry is the church of the dominant religion in Thedas. Predominantly human in its following, it was established by those followers of the prophet Andraste who refused to abandon their faith after her death. Andrastians worship the Maker, the creator of all things, in the hope that they can one day be forgiven. The primary text of the religion is the Chant of Light, a collection of prayers and parables that spring from the
prophet’s teachings.
The first person converted to the cause was supposedly Hessarian, the archon who ordered Andraste’s execution. The Chant tells that Hessarian felt such remorse as he watched Andraste burn that he ran her through with his sword to save her from a slow and painful death. The sword thus became an emblem of mercy in Chantry symbolism, and Hessarian allowed worship of the Maker to flourish in his own search for redemption. But it was emperor Kordilius Drakon I of Orlais who formalized the cult into a religion and created the first Chantry.
The central belief of the Chantry is that mankind has sinned against the Maker, namely through the worship of Old Gods; through the practice of forbidden magic; and the final transgression of the magisters, to trespass in heaven itself, imagining they could usurp Him from his Golden City. Since then, he has forsaken us and left us to face our punishment in the form of the darkspawn. But if the Chant of Light should ring out from the four corners of the world, the Maker will hear and return to restore order.
That act of redemption has been interpreted evangelically as a need to preach, to proselytize, to carry the message and convert followers – by force, when all else fails. And so the Chantry established their military arm – the Order of the Templars – to enforce the prohibitions on apostasy and heretical crimes. The templars have adopted the flaming sword as their insignia.
All Chantry priestesses are female, on the basis that Andraste was a woman. Men can be brothers, serving as academics and initiates, but it is a junior position and non-ordained. Those who have received religious and martial instruction while being raised in the Chantry may become templars. 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, some of whom administer the chantries of major cities.
The Chantry permeates human society in every nation: at least one temple can be found in every village. It delivers practical services to the community, caring for the sick and collecting alms for the poor. The Chantry provides hospitality to travelers and a public network of communications. Should an illiterate commoner need to send word to another town, the Chantry’s educated priests write and send the letter for him.
With so much influence over the people, the Chantry can also exert considerable political pressure on the ruling classes in many areas of concern. In extraordinary times, and in deference to Andraste, the Divine may also be moved to declare an Exalted March. These religious crusades have mobilized armies of thousands to destroy the heretical enemies of the Maker, the most recent being led against the Qunari.
The Circle of Magi
The Chantry does not forbid magic completely. The commandment of the Maker states that magic should serve man rather than rule him. The Circle of Magi was thus created as a way of legitimately and safely using magic. It keeps close tabs on those with magical ability. Affinity for magic usually surfaces by adolescence, and those found to have significant magical ability are required to join the nearest Circle of Magi and act under its supervision. To practice magic and not join a Circle is a capital offense, and mages who do so are hunted as apostates. Mages practicing the forbidden arts such as blood magic, by contrast, are labeled maleficarum, and are hunted mercilessly.
The mages of today’s Circle of Magi do their best to avoid the appearance of corruption, fearing a return to the days of persecution and the loss of some rather fragile rights. Templars are ostensibly present by the invitation of the Circle; though in truth they are stationed as watchdogs in every tower, conducting investigations at the slightest whiff of dangerous magic use. The Circle suffers this indignity as a necessity.
A first enchanter, who oversees the numerous mages and their apprentices, heads each Circle. He or she assumes this position for life and retains the right to choose his successor, taking into consideration the “strong suggestions” of the templars, which, until recent years, were rarely contravened. When required, the first enchanters will congregate in the city of Cumberland, at their college, to elect a grand enchanter. This grand enchanter is the Circle of Magi’s direct representative to the Chantry who also attends the Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux and acts as an advisor to the Divine and as an observer.
The Tranquil
Apprentices in the Circle of Magi must pass the secretive trial of the Harrowing to prove their resistance to demonic possession. Conducted in co-operation with the templars, who keep an executioner on hand, the test exposes those who are too great a risk to be allowed to live. But if there is already doubt about an apprentice’s chances then, alternatively, they may be put forward for the Rite of Tranquility, or even request it themselves.
The Rite severs the apprentice’s connection to the Fade, thereby eliminating their potential to attract demons across the Veil. The more contentious side-effect is that it removes all capacity for both magic and emotion. No longer distracted by dreams or desires, or feelings of any kind, the coldly detached Tranquil demonstrate a superior faculty of concentration. They commonly put this to use in the painstaking and fastidious creation of magical items, and the Circle’s Formari branch of enchanters is exclusively Tranquil.
Grey Wardens
A renowned group of fearless warriors, mages, and rangers, the Grey Wardens dedicate themselves to the eradication of the darkspawn. They are said to sense the presence of the horde and have greater knowledge of the tactics required to fight them. Theirs are the only records that contain details of forays into the underground caverns, telling of the broodmothers and detailing the archdemons that have risen so far, to be destroyed at the Grey Wardens’ hands. The nations of humanity once gladly tithed to the Grey Wardens and sent them not only food and equipment, but also a steady stream of new recruits.
In better days, the fabled fortress of Weisshaupt once housed thousands of men and a fleet of griffons ready for battle. However, the organization has fallen into obscurity for many. Although they are still respected and sometimes even feared for their martial prowess, they are still largely thought irrelevant in lands where the darkspawn have not appeared for centuries. Only in the Anderfels, the victim of continual invasions, do the Grey Wardens retain some semblance of the influence they once had. Here the Order was formed by ex-soldiers of the Imperium, battle-hardened veterans who renounced their oaths of fealty and swore instead to reclaim the land from the darkspawn curse.
Candidates for the Grey Wardens are usually selected for a specific talent, perhaps their superior will, stamina, or combat prowess (whether physical or magical). If necessary, a Warden Commander can invoke powers of conscription to recruit from other organizations. But there is also mercy shown to those with the Blight disease, as the Wardens share a terrible secret.
New candidates are compelled to undergo the Joining, an initiation ritual that involves drinking a carefully prepared mixture containing darkspawn blood. Some are killed instantly. But not all, and those that survive receive the darkspawn corruption. They develop a deep connection with the darkspawn, sensing their presence and hearing the archdemon when it calls out to the horde. They develop immunity to the Blight disease, for which there is no other cure. They become Grey Wardens, carrying a darkness within their light. And they will likely die within thirty years as the poison claims them. As such, they often spend their last days foraging into the Deep Roads to take as many of the darkspawn down with them, an honorable fate that earns them great respect among the dwarves.
The forfeiture does not end there. An archdemon cannot be killed conventionally because its spirit simply passes to the nearest soulless darkspawn to be reborn whenever its body is destroyed. But the Grey Warden, a tainted being, may also draw the archdemon’s spirit. The Warden who delivers the deathblow thus tricks the creature’s soul into their own body – ending the Blight, but with fatal results for both.
The motto of the Grey Wardens? In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice.
The Crows
When a love rival vanishes or a young man drops dead in the prime of life, it is normally regarded a mystery. But not in Antiva, where fingers will always point to the House of Crows. As the most feared guild of assassins, spies and thieves ever to offer their services to the rich and powerful, the Crows thrive as profitably on their infamy as on the cruel efficiency of the dark agents they train from youth.
Hence, no treasure in Antiva is guarded so fiercely as that of the Crows’ reputation. Their code of honor, if it does not sully the word, demands that contracts are met and agreements are kept. Failure to eliminate a mark means the life of the operative is also forfeit – though one has been rumored to elude his unhappy Guildmasters through skill or fate.
The Felicisima Armada
Operating out of the coastal city of Llomerryn, the pirate captains of the Rialto Bay are as numerous as the tales told of them – if not always as tall. They were commonly known as the Raiders of the Waking Sea, making brazen incursions along the coastal trade routes all the way down to Orlais. But when the Qunari invasion threatened the future of their lucrative merchant bounties, the Raiders agreed to an unusual contract. Granted privateer status under a single flag, the Felicisima Armada gathered together the largest fleet of scoundrels, smugglers and corsairs the world has ever seen. Having outwitted and outmaneuvered the authorities for years, the Raiders turned their dirty tricks on the fearsome Qunari dreadnaughts and even launched assaults on Par Vollen. Today’s merchants must now regret that the Armada remains loosely intact, its leaders having seen the profit of working together.