Mage-Templar War

AKA:
The Mage Rebellion

This long-simmering conflict between two of the most powerful factions on Thedas set the backdrop for the re-formation of the Inquisition. There is simply too much history behind this fight to catalogue here, entire books could be written on the subject, so I’ll do my best to summarize. For centuries, the Circles of Magi operated across the continent under the watchful eyes of the Templar Order. Each of the many Circles was different from the others and changed over time, but it is needless to say that this arrangement brought about varying levels of discomfort for all involved. Some saw mages as people with a potentially-dangerous gift, others saw scheming, demonic bombs waiting to explode. Some saw the Templars as valiant sentinels, others saw paranoid tyrants. And all of these views, and everything in between, were probably true in certain times and places. But, while there was nearly always some tension between the groups, level heads prevailed for centuries.

The actual war between the mages and Templars can find its roots in many places, but Kirkwall is undoubtedly one of the most important. During Hawke’s time in the Free Marches city, a combination of events brought the conflict to a head. The leader of the Templars in the city, Knight-Commander Meredith, was slowly being driven insane by red lyrium and saw blood mages and demons everywhere. At the same time, Anders, a rogue Grey Warden mage, was unconsciously corrupting the spirit of justice he had merged with into vengeance. Again, there is too much involved in just the stories of these two to go through here {though you can find plenty of detail about them, and many more, in Varric Tethras’ bestselling The Tale of the Champion, available now!}. In the end, Anders blew up Kirkwall’s Chantry, killing everyone inside, and despite the fact that he had acted alone and was executed by Hawke herself, Meredith used Anders’ abhorrent crime to declare the Right of Annulment and tried to kill every mage in Kirkwall’s Circle. The mages fought back and there were heavy casualties on both sides. And while Meredith and her slaughter were stopped by Hawke, the dam had begun to leak. Over the next several years, the mages would narrowly vote to break from the Circles, which split them into rebels and loyalists, the Templars would renounce Chantry oversight and begin to hunt mages as they saw fit, and the full flood of violence began. When King Alistair and Queen Anora of Ferelden offered the now independent mages sanctuary in Redcliffe, the Templars ignored the nation’s borders and pursued their foes. Divine Justinia V, in a desperate attempt to cease hostilities, called the Conclave, but Corypheus’ ritual resulted in another massive explosion that killed hundreds of people on both sides, as well as any chance of ending the war. The fighting began again, and only ceased when the Inquisition rescued and recruited the rebel mages. Unfortunately, as that was happening, the Templars were being corrupted by Corypheus, tricked into ingesting red lyrium, and transformed into the monstrous Red Templars. So, in a way, the Mage-Templar war came to an end. But, in reality, the two sides were only absorbed into a different, and even larger, conflict.