Codex text
It is easy to think that the Antaam broke from the Qunari as one, but the reality is that of a vase shattering into countless shards, each broken in its own way, reflecting the warlord who now leads each kith. Some, like the Butcher in Treviso, use their new freedom to indulge in cultures long forbidden to them. Others, like Ataashok (Dragon King) or Isskatari (Master Killer) in Rivain, reject foreign cultures and either lean on the trappings of the Antaam or invent a heritage to inspire the loyalty of their soldiers.
What seems consistent among the Antaam warlords is cruelty, from Baqounasaar (Flaming Wind), whose ships terrorize the northern coast, to Kashtaar (Jewel-Taker), whose kith have become a bandit army in the mountains outside Marothius. I believe the reason to be twofold: first, these kithshoks feared that their army might turn upon them as they turned upon the Arishok, so they drive their soldiers through fear; and second, there are very few kind and thoughtful Antaam.
This is an observation, not an insult.
The Qun has two words for healer. One is rethari, a healer-priest, whose name literally means "one who helps." The other is maridim, an Antaam battlefield healer, whose name comes from "mar-itwa'adim," or "do not let them fall." Those under the Qun have jobs selected for them by their teachers, so any young Qunari too thoughtful or too sensitive for the harsh life of the Antaam would have been made rethari instead of maridim. The Qunari, in their wisdom, decided that all children who were naturally prepared to follow orders and hurt others should be placed in the Antaam, and this is the result.
(There are a few Antaam—not kithshoks but individual soldiers—who did not break from the Qun. Their help is the only reason the betrayed Arishok survived. They and the former Arishok have renounced their Antaam status and now serve under the defense branch of the Ben-Hassrath, as the Qunari, their body in rebellion, try to survive with mind and soul alone.)
—Excerpt from Marloqun: The Loss of Reason by Seer Rowan of Dairsmud