Mage-Templar War

The Mage-Templar War broke out in 9:37 Dragon between the mages and the templars after the decision of the Fraternities conclave to separate the Circle of Magi from the Chantry. Prior events which lead to the war include the 9:37 Rebellion in Kirkwall, a city state in the southern Free Marches, and the dissolution of the College of Enchanters in 9:38 after the rejected motion to abolish the Circles.

Background
Following the deaths of Viscount Marlowe Dumar and his son during the First Battle of Kirkwall in 9:34, Meredith Stannard, the knight-commander of Kirkwall's templars, assumed control of the city, inciting discontent amongst both the citizenry and the mages. Meredith's sanctions against the latter became increasingly harsh over the succeeding years, while members of the nobility began to object to her rule of the city, 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 declaimed the knight-commander and believed Meredith was losing her mind, seeing maleficarum where none existed. Grand Cleric Elthina attempted to moderate the clashes between the two and refused to pick a side in the conflict. The Divine 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 Lowtown, Anders declared that he would no longer allow the templars to persecute mages any longer and caused an explosion that destroyed the Kirkwall Chantry and killed all those inside, the Grand Cleric included, thus removing the possibility of compromise. Claiming that the people would demand blood, Meredith immediately invoked the Right of Annulment and the Champion was forced 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 most of Kirkwall's Circle, including First Enchanter Orsino, dead. Meredith's Knight-Captain and the rest of her 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.

Present day
As of 9:40 Dragon, the Andrastian Chantry is crumbling, with over nine hundred years of relative stability shattered. According to Varric Tethras all the Circles of Magi have separated from the Chantry. While some of the Seekers are known to remain loyal to the Chantry and the reigning Divine, others, as well as many of the Templars, have rebelled and left the Chantry to hunt and fight mages on their own terms.



The Divine desperately seeks 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 may have the power and influence to put an end to the conflict. One of her agents, Leliana, was sent to track down one of them, the Warden-Commander of Ferelden.

Cassandra Pentaghast was also sent to find Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall. She captured one of Hawke's companions, the dwarf Varric Tethras and brought him back to Kirkwall, interrogating him in the old Hawke Estate in an attempt to discover the Champion's current whereabouts and the true origins of the war. Varric knew nothing of the Champion's fate, but said he highly doubts that Hawke was dead. Satisfied, Cassandra then took her contingent of Seekers and departed Kirkwall.