Harrowing

thumb|300px|The Harrowing Chamber
The Harrowing is a test that every apprentice mage must go through to become a full member of the Circle of Magi. It is practiced throughout most of Thedas, with Tevinter employing a similar test whereby parents directly oversee their children's harrowing.Dorian's experience during Here Lies the Abyss.In Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Three Trees to Midnight, Myrion mentions taking a test on resisting demons during which a desire demon took the form of a boy he liked.Dragon Age: Absolution Exactly what happens during the Harrowing is kept a secret from apprentices and people outside of the Circle.Codex entry: The Harrowing
== Background ==
The Harrowing is a secretive rite of passage that is the cause of much fear and speculation among apprentices. All of their training and apprenticeship is meant to prepare them for the test, though they are never told what the test consists of or when they will be made to take it and as such must always be ready. When deemed ready by the enchanters, the apprentice is taken without warning or preparation to face the Harrowing. Apprentices generally go through the Harrowing in late adolescence or early adulthood.Codex entry: The TranquilAs seen in the Magi Origin.
Age at Harrowing, from youngest to oldest:
* Wynne – 16 years old, almost 17; noted to be years ahead of many of her peers
* Rhys – around 18-19 years old38-year-old Rhys reminisces about his Harrowing, "almost twenty years ago." Dragon Age: Asunder, Chapter 3
* Vivienne – before 19 years old; noted to be one of the youngest full-fledged mages in Circle historyShe transferred to the Montsimmard Circle as a full-fledged mage at nineteen. 
* Malcolm Hawke – 19 years old; noted to have hidden his true talents to match the pace of his fellow apprentices
* Bethany Hawke – 20 years old; as a former apostate, she was made to go through the Harrowing as soon as she arrived in the CircleLetter: Family Letters
Those who succeed the Harrowing earn the title and trappings of a mage, becoming a full member of the Circle. Those who fail are never seen or heard from again.Dragon Age: Asunder, Chapter 3
Apprentices may choose to be made Tranquil instead of undergoing their Harrowing.Codex entry: Journal of the Tranquil Apprentices who are deemed too weak or dangerous may be denied the Harrowing and made Tranquil outright.As was the plan for Jowan. Apostates who have never taken their Harrowing are usually made to undergo the test as soon as they are taken to the Circle.
Since passing the Harrowing theoretically proves that a mage is capable enough to resist possession, Chantry law forbids mages who passed their Harrowing from being made Tranquil.According to Hawke and Anders during Dissent and an unnamed NPC in the Gallows.
== The rite ==
The rite itself is fairly simple. First, the apprentice is taken to the Harrowing Chamber, where numerous senior spellcasters and templars stand ready. The Knight-Commander reads a passage from the Chant of Light.As done by Greagoir during the Magi Origin and in the story told by a mage Trevelyan Inquisitor during the game of Wicked Grace at Skyhold in Dragon Age: Inquisition: "It was the night of my Harrowing. I was standing in the middle of a room full of templars and senior enchanters. As the knight-commander read me the Chant, I got the nagging feeling something was missing..." Then the apprentice submerges their hands in a bowl of lyriumAs depicted by Rezaren Ammosine's Harrowing in Dragon Age: Absolution, episode 4. to project their mind into the Fade. There, the subject must face and overcome a demon that wishes to possess the apprentice's body and enter the living realm. This involves navigating whatever challenges have been set up and seeing through whatever ruse the demon puts on. The demon itself would have been summoned by Circle mages to the same part of the Fade the apprentice enters, lured by the promise of a living body waiting for it. The Harrowing is more a test of will, common sense, and the ability to resist temptation, than one of magical ability.
If the apprentice is overwhelmed by the demon (or, some say, takes too long to complete the task), they are killed by templars, who are standing by to prevent the tragedy of an abomination. One templar, who remains unidentified to the mages present, is assigned the killing blow in advance, while the rest keep danger at bay and stand ready to replace the 'designated slayer' if necessary.Cullen Rutherford is identified as the templar who was assigned to execute the mage in the Magi Origin if they failed their Harrowing.
Upon successful completion of their Harrowing, a mage is traditionally given a ring of lyrium-infused silver.
== Codex entries ==
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== Trivia ==
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== References ==
Category:Circle of Magi lore
Category:Fade lore
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