Maker



There was no word For heaven or for earth, for sea or sky All that existed was silence Then the Voice of the Maker rang out The first Word And His Word became all that might be —Threnodies 5:1–8

The Maker is the entity worshipped by the Chantry. He is referred to as a male, and the prophetess Andraste, who inspired the foundation of the Chantry, is considered to be His wife. While the Chantry believes that the Maker is all-powerful and created all things, He has also turned away from them. The Chantry believes this to be because of the faults of His creations. He will not answer prayers, grant wishes or anything of the sort, until humanity proves itself worthy of His attention again.

Background
It is said that a long time ago, the Maker created the Fade as His first world. His first children were the spirits of the Fade and the Maker believed He had made them in His own image. Yet the Maker turned away from His first children, because while they could alter their world at will, they lacked a soul, and could only copy, not create or imagine for themselves. Dissatisfied with the result, He left the Fade behind, creating the world of Thedas instead. The next realm that the Maker created was one that his new creations would not be able to change at will. He separated it from the first by putting the Veil in between them, not realizing that His first children would be able to observe His new children and grow envious of their ability to envisage new things.

The children that populated this new realm had the spark of the divine within them, which pleased the Maker. While their world was more solid than that of the spirits, these creatures were able to imagine, and dream new things because of it. But then the First Sin was committed. Malevolent beings whispered to men from across the Veil, and turned them to the worship of the Old Gods. After imprisoning the Old Gods underground, the Maker turned away from mankind, and departed to the Golden City. But the Old Gods still whispered to men, taught them blood magic. The magisters of the Tevinter Imperium found a way to enter the Golden City, believing that they were superior to the Maker. But they instead blackened the Golden City and were cast back to earth by the Maker, transforming them into monsters, known as the darkspawn. Much later on, Andraste managed to convince the Maker to forgive his creations, but Andraste was betrayed by her mortal husband Maferath, and burned at the stake. The Maker turned away from mankind once more.

Now the Maker has left the world. The Chantry teaches that one day, when the Chant of Light is sung from all the corners of the world, the Maker will finally return and transform the world into a paradise. Until that day, however, He only watches for those few who follow Andraste's teachings. When they die, the Maker brings them to his side. All others wander the Fade throughout eternity, forever lost to the Maker's sight. The Chantry refers to this state as "Oblivion." The motive to create paradise in the world by spreading the Chant is often cited as the reason the Chantry called an Exalted March against the elves of the Dales, who refused to worship a 'human' god, or others against the Tevinter Imperium where the Chant has been deemed as corrupted in favor of their magister rulers to regain their leadership as in the old days before the first Blight.

Although a great many people believe in the Maker, not everyone does so, Chasind, the Dalish elves, the followers of the Qun, most dwarves and several dragon cults being the most obvious examples. Morrigan is prone to having elaborate philosophical discussions with Leliana on the matter, the Dalish struggle to maintain their worship of their Pantheon of gods in an effort to reclaim their lost lore, the Qunari are unyielding in their efforts to spread the teachings of their philosopher Koslun to what they deem "unenlightened" races plagued by chaos and lack of order, while non-surface dwarves are too mired in their old traditions of ancestor worship, and they simply don't care about the superstitions of humans and other races.

Justice claims that spirits do not know whether the Maker exists, and that demons do not care. He also suggests that the spirits who believe in the Maker may do so only because they saw Him in the dreams of mortals. Some demons have also claimed that the existence of the Golden City and the Maker is false, and deemed the Chant of Light as pedantic and foolish.

Customs & Culture
Wintersend was an ancient Tevinter holiday which has now become a celebration of the Maker. It stands for the end of winter in many lands and coincides with tourneys and contests at the Proving Grounds in Minrathous. In southern lands, this holiday has become a day of gathering for trade, theater, and, in some areas, the arrangement of marriages. It is celebrated at the beginning of Pluitanis.