Modern Day Circles

By “modern day” we mean as of 950DA. By this time in Thedas all Circles loyal to the Chantry are controlled by the Chantry. Within these Circles there is a noticeable change between the culture of the Circles pre and post war. In Orlais the most significant changes have been seen, which is hardly surprising given the strength of the religion in the country who birthed it.

The Fraternities have been dissolved; this is just one example of how the social aspect of everyday life has changed for Circle Magi. Political opinions rarely see the light of day now for they are deemed to breed discontent and are the reason why the Circles rebellion in the first place. Such dissonance is discouraged and documents like certain manifestos will never be produced if politics and the fraternities who feed and develop these opinions are gone. This culture exemplifies how much life is more regulated, even more than it used to be.

Despite this regimented culture it appears, on the surface at least, that the magi have as much “freedom” as they ever did before the rebellion. Even in the more “extreme” Circles (such as Ostwick) the magi are no more free than they ever were. That tangible watchful of the Templars still exists, so for many not much has changed at all. Every waking moment they know that every part of their lives, their words and actions and deemed thoughts are scrutinised by the Templar Knights. They are free to do as they wish, as long as the Templars do not take issue with it and suspect that they are practising magic that is forbidden, or plotting another rebellion. Groups meeting in secrecy are assumed to be malevolent in nature and so it is forbidden to form such secret societies; though they may meet as long as there is a Templar present for every mage in attendance. This includes the meetings between Senior Enchanters. No one is exempt from Templar eyes.

Excursions from the Circle have become both highly restricted and tightly monitored. It is now a widely recognised fact that if a Circle mage is seen outside of their Circle a Templar will be in very close proximity. Special permission must be granted and documents signed and carried; any Circle mage without the proper papers (with signatures of the First Enchanter, Revered Mother and Knight Commander) or outside of the stated destination (that is not considered en route) is deemed an apostate and treated as such by the Templar they come across.

Phylacteries in modern day Circles are all contained in vaults. The locations of these vaults are known only to the highest ranks of Templars and to the Seekers. Mages not only do not know these locations, but they cannot enter the vaults even if they somehow stumbled upon them. There is a fake vault in the College of Magi with just as fake phylacteries. It was created to fool mages who managed to penetrate it into thinking they had taken or destroyed their phylactery.

The current Grand Enchanter is the last of her kind, she is the last elected official and has held this position since before the war begun. Grand Enchanter is no longer an elected position and should the Templars succeed in their endeavours then then will never be another Grand Enchanter. The position will be dissolved along with the Fraternities. Magi no longer have independent democratic capability, they have no rights, no presence in elections and no vote nor voice. Their lives are completely controlled by the Templar Order and the Chantry.

Correspondence between magi is openly monitored and though other magi may be present when mail is being read and investigated they have very little influence over the procedure or the outcome of it.

Finally, the Rite of Annulment is in the hands of the Knight Commander only, unless a Seeker is present. In this instance the Knight Commander must consult with the Seeker before enacting the Rite. This was a very contentious point during the peace treaty negotiations but the Libertarians agreed to it because the Loyalists accepted the terms, believing that as free mages they had the right to choose their own fates.