Mage-Templar War

The Mage-Templar War, also known as the Mage Rebellion, broke out in 9:40 Dragon when an unspecified number of rebel mages and rogue templars elected to secede from the Chantry following years of increased tensions.
== Background ==
Tensions between mages and templars increased during the early Dragon Age.
In 9:30 Dragon, mages in Ferelden's Circle led by Uldred attempted to overthrow the templars. The revolt resulted in demons and abominations being unleashed throughout the tower, causing the deaths of many mages and templars. The intervention of the Warden put an end to the crisis, and either mages or templars joined the Wardens in fighting the Blight.
In 9:31 Dragon, the Libertarian Fraternity of Enchanters intended to propose a motion to pull away from the Chantry entirely at the College of Enchanters in Cumberland.According to Wynne during the quest Ines the Botanist. In that same year, the Circle of Starkhaven was destroyed, causing many of its mages to flee towards Kirkwall.
In Kirkwall, living conditions for mages had already been growing stricter under Knight-Commander Meredith when she assumed control of the city following the deaths of Viscount Marlowe Dumar and his son in 9:34 Dragon. Meredith's sanctions against mages became even harsher over the succeeding years, while members of the nobility began to object to her rule of the city and obstruction of elections, many wishing for Hawke, the city's Champion, to become Viscount.
Meredith's sanctions against the mages were strongly opposed by First Enchanter Orsino, who publicly denounced the knight-commander and believed Meredith was losing her mind, seeing maleficarum where none existed. Grand Cleric Elthina attempted to mediate the clashes between the two but refused to pick a side in the conflict. Divine Justinia V took notice of the growing tensions and the Resolutionist presence in the city. She sent an agent to assess the danger and warn Elthina to leave Kirkwall, though the Grand Cleric was unwilling to abandon her flock.
Tensions reached a peak, and exploded into violence due to the actions of the apostate Anders in 9:37. During another confrontation between Meredith and Orsino in Kirkwall's Lowtown, Anders declared that he would no longer allow the templars to persecute mages and caused an explosion that destroyed the Kirkwall Chantry and killed all those inside, the Grand Cleric included, thus removing the possibility of compromise. Furthermore, as Anders did not contain the explosion, deadly debris from the blast also rained over half of Kirkwall, creating more chaos.
Claiming that the people would demand blood, Meredith immediately invoked the Right of Annulment, forcing the Champion to pick a side in the conflict. The city erupted into chaos as mages and templars clashed, some of the former resorting to blood magic, becoming abominations and unleashing demons onto the streets. The violence culminated in a confrontation at the Gallows, the city's Circle of Magi, ending with many of Kirkwall's Circle, including First Enchanter Orsino, dead. Knight-Captain Cullen and the rest of Meredith's templars turned on her when she attempted to execute the Champion, revealing the extent of her instability as she accused them all of being blood mage thralls. Ultimately, she became petrified when she attempted to draw too much power from her red lyrium sword.
While Templar reinforcements arrived in Kirkwall to suppress further resistance, news from escaping mages of what had occurred spread to other Circles. Outraged that the templars of Kirkwall would invoke the Right of Annulment to justify the extermination of an entire Circle for the crimes of one apostate, some Circles revolted, while others were close to doing so. In response, the Templar Order cracked down, further restricting mage freedoms in an attempt to quell further disturbance.
Despite this, the College of Enchanters, meeting for the last time in Cumberland before being disbanded in 9:38, voted against secession from the Chantry at the urging of Senior Enchanter Wynne, in opposition to the motion tendered by its newly elected Grand Enchanter, Fiona. Nonetheless, many of the Libertarian faction, who wished for independence, continued to encourage mages to rebel.
Fearing the possibility of a mage-templar conflict igniting within Orlais, Empress Celene I appealed to the Divine to take action and end the war before it began before she would be forced to utilize her own military to fight the conflict within her own empire.Dragon Age: The Masked Empire, Chapter 1 
Among the White Spire Circle in Val Royeaux, tensions continued to mount throughout the following year. The Divine, Justinia V, sought to use her position to reform the Circle of Magi and thereby bring an end to the troubles, but was hindered by both the templars and the mages, culminating with Jeannot, one of the White Spire's senior enchanters, attempting to assassinate her in 9:39 Dragon, despite her mage-sympathetic views. In response, Lord Seeker Lambert took control of the White Spire Circle and its templar contingent in order to attempt to bring matters under control. Dragon Age: Asunder, Chapters 2-3
== Revolt at the White Spire ==
Archmage Wynne, acting on Justinia V's personal orders, took her estranged son Rhys, a senior enchanter of the White Spire; his friend Adrian; her golem friend Shale; and the templar Knight-Captain Evangeline to Adamant Fortress in order to save her friend, Pharamond, a Tranquil who had become an abomination. Once rescued, Pharamond told the party that he had managed to find a way to reverse the Rite of Tranquility.Dragon Age: Asunder, Chapter 5
Presenting this information before Justinia V, it having already been sent to each of the fifteen Circles, and against strong objections from Lord Seeker Lambert, the Divine concluded that a conclave of first enchanters must meet, ostensibly to hear from Pharamond and to discuss the findings. Eleven of the fifteen first enchanters arrived in time, along with Grand Enchanter Fiona, Wynne, Rhys, and Adrian. Watched by the templars, the Grand Enchanter nonetheless sought another vote to separate the Circle from the Chantry. Before the vote could be taken, the meeting was disrupted by Lord Seeker Lambert, who on presenting news that Pharamond had been murdered and the bloodstained knife found in the quarters of Rhys, attempted to disband the Conclave. Unknown to everyone, the murder had been committed by Adrian, who knew that Wynne would've convinced the Circle to vote against independence once again, thus forcing Wynne to abandon her position of compromise for the sake of her son. Suspecting that Rhys was being framed, the mages refused to stand down, including Wynne, and the Lord Seeker ordered his templars to attack.Dragon Age: Asunder, Chapter 18
At first the mages fought in defense, but when a templar killed a mage who tried to surrender, they attacked in fury and killed several templars. Several of the first enchanters were slain; most were imprisoned, as was Rhys. Only Wynne and Knight-Captain Evangeline managed to escape. They returned to the White Spire to rescue those imprisoned with the assistance of the golem, Shale, and Leliana, an agent of the Divine. The Divine herself asked Lord Seeker Lambert and a number of his templars to meet with her, a ruse to lure them away from the Spire.
Evangeline, Wynne and Shale succeeded in destroying those phylacteries contained in the White Spire vault, including those of the surviving first enchanters, while Leliana led those imprisoned to safety. In an echo of the rebellion of the Kirkwall Circle, other mages of White Spire rose up and fought their templar jailers. By the time Lord Seeker Lambert returned to the White Spire, most of the templars had been slaughtered.Dragon Age: Asunder, Chapters 19-21
== Retreat to Andoral's Reach ==
The surviving first enchanters, the Grand Enchanter among them, retreated to the fortress of Andoral's Reach. Most of the fifteen Circles rose against the templars, with thousands of mages gathering at Andoral's Reach in the following months. It was predicted that with hundreds of mages manning the battlements, they could fend off an army ten times their size.
In Rivain, the Seekers invoked the Right of Annulment on the mages of the Circle of Dairsmuid for freely mixing with their families and training female mages in the traditions of the seers. First Enchanter Rivella led the defense, using the skills she learned from her father, Captain Revaud of the Felicisima Armada. The templars and Seekers slew all mages inside, but not without suffering heavy casualties. Before dying, First Enchanter Rivella sent word of the Annulment to her fellow mages at Andoral.Codex entry: The Annulment at DairsmuidDragon Age: Asunder, Chapter 22
About a month after the Battle of the White Spire, a vote for independence was once again proposed by the Grand Enchanter. As several first enchanters were either absent or had been killed, the mages were represented in the conclave by their fraternities, while they vowed that whichever decision they were going to take, they were all going to abide by it, be it submission or rebellion. The Loyalists insisted on submitting to the Chantry, arguing that they couldn't defeat the templars, an argument most of the smaller fraternities chose to side with. The larger fraternities, the Libertarians and the Aequitarians, voted to fight, winning the vote, arguing that submission would impose harsher conditions for all Circle mages.
While the vote passed, it did so by a very slim margin. The other half of the mages who voted against secession were soon forced to fight the rebel mages, and united under First Enchanter Vivienne of the Montsimmard Circle. They identified themselves as "Loyalist" mages, wishing to reinstate the Circles and end the war. Meanwhile, the "Isolationist" mages, true to their name, chose to go into hiding rather than fight.
== Templars and Seekers rebel ==
In 9:40 Dragon, in response to Justinia V's interference at the White Spire, Lord Seeker Lambert declared the Nevarran Accord, which had led to the Seekers and the Templars submitting to the Divine and establishing the Circles of Magi, to be null and void. The Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order they commanded would no longer be under the authority of the Chantry. At the time of this declaration, a large Templar host was about three days march from Andoral's Reach. The Lord Seeker predicted that once the mage rebellion was defeated, the Chantry would be forced to replace the Divine and reach a new agreement with the Seekers and Templars. Lambert vanished shortly after annulling the accord without a trace. Many templars assumed he had been assassinated by the mage rebellion in retaliation for his actions at the White Spire, though he had in fact been murdered by the spirit Cole.
Following the disappearance of Lambert van Reeves, Lucius Corin succeeded him as Lord Seeker and led the Templar Order in the Mage-Templar War.
With neither side under the authority and regulations of the Chantry, the Circle of Magi and the Templar Order along with the Seekers prepared for all out war with each other.Dragon Age: Asunder, Epilogue
== Chantry Mediation ==
By 9:40 Dragon, the Andrastian Chantry was crumbling, with over nine hundred years of relative stability shattered. All the Circles of Magi had separated from the Chantry. While some of the Seekers were known to remain loyal to the Chantry and the reigning Divine, others, as well as many templars, had rebelled and left Chantry oversight to hunt and fight mages on their own terms. Some, such as the loyalist mages and templars of Hasmal, elected to maintain a refuge from the war instead of partaking in it.Negotiate with Hasmal's Templars or Answer a Request from Hasmal Other mages and templars who wished no part in the fighting elected to join the Grey Wardens, who were willing to offer amnesty to such refugees on the condition they would undertake the Joining after their arrival. Many refugees from the Hossberg Circle of Magi elected to travel to Weisshaupt fortress to partake of the offer.Dragon Age: Last Flight, Chapter 1
The Fereldan Monarchy offered the rebel mages sanctuary in the Arling of Redcliffe. The mages gratefully accepted the offer; however, the Templar host pursued them across the border. Skirmishes between rebel mages and templars raged throughout the Hinterlands, with the peasantry of Ferelden caught in the middle, fighting in support of one faction or the other, or merely to defend themselves.Codex entry: Ferelden After the Blight
The Divine desperately sought to put an end to the conflict, and assigned those Seekers remaining loyal to her to track down the only two people in all Thedas who might have the power and influence to put an end to the conflict and lead the Inquisition. One of her agents, Leliana, was sent to track down one of them, the Warden-Commander of Ferelden.
Meanwhile, Cassandra Pentaghast, a Seeker still loyal to the Chantry, was sent to find Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall. She captured one of Hawke's companions, the dwarf Varric Tethras and interrogated him in the old Hawke Estate in an attempt to discover the Champion's current whereabouts and the true origins of the war. After giving her a full account of Hawke's time in Kirkwall, Varric said he knew nothing of the Champion's fate, but also said he highly doubted that Hawke was dead. Though satisfied that he had told her the truth, Cassandra ultimately decided to bring him to the Divine so he could tell her the story himself.Banter between Cassandra and Varric.
== Rebirth of the Inquisition ==
Three days later, the survivor regained consciousness and was accused by the Hands of the Divine, Leliana and Cassandra Pentaghast, to be the perpetrator behind the Breach. Though Chancellor Roderick wanted the survivor to be taken back to Val Royeaux for trial and execution, Cassandra gave the survivor a chance to prove their innocence by using the mark to seal the Breach. The attempt almost succeeded, stopping the Breach from growing, but not sealing it.
The people of Haven had heard tales of a mysterious woman seen in the rift from which the survivor had emerged, and thus assumed the figure was the prophet Andraste, and labeled the survivor her "Herald". When the Herald awoke, Roderick was still convinced of their guilt, but Cassandra believed the Herald was sent by the Maker. She and Leliana then invoked the late Justinia V's writ to restore the Inquisition, independent of Chantry control, for the purpose of finding the true perpetrators behind the Breach. In response, Roderick used his influence in the Chantry to denounce the Inquisition, claiming them heretics for harbouring the Herald, which the surviving clerics declared blasphemy.
The renewed Inquisition sought allies to help in sealing the Breach. Its leadership was divided on whether to seek help from the mage rebellion or the Templar Order.
== Renewed Conflict ==
With the latest attempt at a peaceful resolution destroyed with the Temple of Sacred Ashes, the war resumed across Thedas. In particular, after Fiona's Rebel Mages were granted refuge in Redcliffe by Ferelden's monarch, the Hinterlands region became the site of fierce conflict between deserters from both sides, causing heavy collateral damage to the population. Rogue templars supplied by lyrium smugglers liberally murdered those they deemed mage sympathizers and pillaged peasants to supply themselves for their purge. These templars believed that they were entitled by divine right to do whatever was necessary to crush the mage rebellion.Codex entry: Templar Encampment When the rebel mages saw that the templars were brutalizing the peasants and confiscating whatever food they had so that no Fereldan peasant could offer them any support, the rebel mages and their sellswords began ambushing the templars. The rebel mages' sellswords were no match for the templars and the rebel mages' careless use of violent magic engulfed templar and Fereldan refugee alike. Many templars were able to dampen the rebel mages' magic and survive the ambushes, leading to rebel mages and templars engaging in hit and run skirmishes throughout the Hinterlands with the Fereldan people caught in the crossfire. Not only were innocent Fereldans dying in these battles, but both the mages and templars began looting their victims' belongings to supply themselves in their war.Codex entry: A Page from a Journal, Edges ScorchedCodex entry: Hunter's View of the Mage-Templar War
Some spiteful mages who had spurned Fiona's refuge in Redcliffe took part in the skirmishes but resented common people and templars alike for their ostracism and thus had no qualms about hurting either. These mages believed in mage supremacy and sought to gather followers from the rebel mages in order to form an army bent on conquest.Codex entry: Stronghold of the Apostate Mages
Meanwhile, many foreign mages congregated to Fiona's refuge in Redcliffe village to seek asylum. Some of these foreign mage refugees were in fact Venatori infiltrators who encouraged an alliance with the Tevinter Imperium as the situation with the mage rebellion grew dire.According to Fiona's dialogue when asking her, "How did Alexius take control?" In Dragon Age: Inquisition
The Inquisition was forced to dispatch these extreme elements in order to protect the Fereldan people and bring peace to the Hinterlands.Templars to the WestApostates in WitchwoodAgrarian Apostate
== Alliance with the Inquisition ==
== Aftermath ==
== Codex entries ==
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== Note texts ==
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== References ==
Category:Conflicts
Category:History
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