- See also: Armor: Enchanter Illana
Codex text
One hundred and fifty years ago, the girl who would rise to become First Enchanter Illana of Montsimmard was born to a noble family of Val Royeaux. When Illana's gift was discovered and she was sent to Circle of Magi, her family did not abandon her; rather, they took an enthusiastic interest in her career as a mage.
Her mother made several feeble attempts to start fashions at court with her "Circle-inspired" gowns. Illana's father was more successful, directing his daughter's fortunes through support of coin and political influence. Throughout Illana's apprenticeship at the Circle of Montsimmard, he secured private quarters for her as well as a personal guard of templars hand-picked by the knight-commander. So long as she was accompanied by her guards, Illana was allowed to leave the Circle as often as she wished.
With her father's backing, Illana rose swiftly through the Circle's ranks, named senior enchanter just after her twenty-second birthday. Eight years later, she was appointed first enchanter. Her family commissioned a fine set of a first enchanter's ceremonial raiments, designed in accordance with the prevailing styles of the time and presented them to her on the day she was raised.
Illana was first enchanter for just shy of two years, during which time the Circle was mostly run by her assistant, Hugh, and a small group of senior enchanters. She cited mental exhaustion when she stepped down and lived the rest of her days in a quiet manor outside Val Royeaux.
—From Mages in Orlais, by Senior Enchanter Percivale