Magisters are members of the Magisterium, the upper house of the Tevinter Imperial Senate.[1] These coveted seats are split among the Circle of Magi, the Chantry, and the major families—who are currently all mages. Their edicts rule the Tevinter Imperium.[2] Young mages often aspire to become a magister's apprentice because it offers them the best chance of ascending to the rank of magister. Foreign mages may also indenture themselves to a magister in order to eventually become imperial citizens.[3]
Background[]
When Tevinter tribes were ruled by kings, before the founding of the Tevinter Imperium, a magister was a top representative of a local society of mages, the Circle of Magi, in a state council of the most powerful mages. The magisters would convene in Minrathous and held dominion over all magic in the land.[4]
The Magisterium known today was established by Archon Darinius.[5] When Darinius seized the Tevinter throne in -1195 Ancient, the Court of the Magisters became the royal court, and "magister" was the only title of nobility recognized in Tevinter.[4]
It is technically not required to be a mage to become a magister. Indeed, after the Transfiguration that saw the Old Gods abandoned and Andrastianism embraced, most magisters were non-mages. Since the schism between the Imperial Chantry and the Orlesian Chantry in the Towers Age, however, non-mages in the Magisterium have slowly been weeded out.[1] After his election in 7:34 Storm, Archon Nomaran lifted the old rules prohibiting mages from taking part in politics. Within a century, mages were openly ruling the country.[6]
The Magisterium makes the Imperium's laws and chooses a new Archon if there is no approved heir. A true magister is a figure of real power in Tevinter. All other mages serve at their pleasure, and any mage not of proper lineage has no influence outside of that which personal wealth and talent provide.[1] One can become part of the Magisterium in various ways:
- A magister is chosen from each of the seven Circles of Magi in Tevinter, usually from the ranks of Senior Enchanters. However, First Enchanters are ineligible for becoming magisters.
- Every Grand Cleric of the Imperial Chantry has a seat, as does the Imperial Divine.
- Seats can be inherited by the magisters' heirs.
- The Imperial Archon reserves the right to appoint new magisters of his choosing at any time.[7]
The Archon used to be elected from the ranks of the Magisterium but this practice has been banned since the Black Age.[7]
After the Third Blight, the Orlesian Chantry promoted the story that a group of magisters who managed to physically enter the Fade and the Golden City of the Maker[8] were responsible for the corruption of the city and led to the creation of the first darkspawn. The Chantry refers to this as the "second sin."
Known magisters[]
- Archons – rulers of the Imperium and part of the Magisterium
- Imperial Divine – head of the Imperial Chantry
- Grand Clerics – senior clergy of the Imperial Chantry
- Magisters Sidereal – high priests to the Old Gods that the Canticle of Silence names as the ones who breached into the Golden City
- Adralla – born in Vyrantium; after fleing from Tevinter, she was commissioned by Divine Clemence I in 4:46 Black to write the Litany of Adralla—a tool used against blood mages and demonic possession[9][10][11]
- Aesthia – lived in 7:71 Storm; she criticized blood magic in a letter to her apprentice[12][13]
- Vibius Agorian – who authored the text Questioning the Chant, which was later banned by the Chantry[14]
- Ahriman – Fenris' sister, Varania, serves at his court[15]
- Sethius Amladaris – High Priest of Dumat and one of the ancient magisters who entered the Golden City and became one of the first darkspawn[16]
- Elio Andante[17]
- Anodatus – a descendant of Archon Ishal; his family is traditionally responsible for the upkeep of the Juggernaut Golems which guard Minrathous[18]
- Gereon Alexius – a member of the Venatori and the mentor of Dorian Pavus
- Allineas – a famous researcher during the Towers Age who first coined the term "arcanist derangement" in relation with apostates[19]
- Irian Amladaris – current representative of House Amladaris in the Magisterium as of 9:40 Dragon[20]
- Rezaren Ammosine – a magister from the city of Nessum
- Zaldereon Antonidas – an acquaintance of Professor Frederic[21]
- Aurarius – campaigned for increased funding to the Circles in 9:39[22]
- Bicklius – a centurion[23]
- Calanthus – he believed he would become the "Ascended Man" and for that purpose he sacrificed thirty three slaves in a rite which turned him into an abomination (7:71 Storm; deceased)[12][13]
- Callistus – of Teraevyn; his research on the Fade earned him the epithet "the Fade-Touched"[24][25]
- Cavellus – creator of the Amulet of the War Mage[26]
- Cruxis – he led an expedition into the Arbor Wilds[27]
- Danarius – Fenris's former master
- Tractus Danarius – Danarius' bastard son
- Delphine – lived in Minrathous (8:65 Blessed)[28]
- Dulcia – rumored to be a Venatori[29]
- Erasthenes – a famed scholar of the Old gods
- Gallus – a magister in league with the Venatori who studied the gangue in the Hissing Wastes (9:41 Dragon)[30]
- Livius Erimond – a magister and a member of the Venatori (9:41 Dragon)
- Hadriana – an apprentice of Danarius
- Harach – the famous creator of the Juggernaut armor set[31]
- Alerio Invidus – father of Francesca Invidus and Florian Invidus[32]
- Emerius Krayvan – founder of Kirkwall[33][34]
- Nanterius – Praetor of Vyrantium in 9:40 Dragon with an interest in mining activities beyond Tevinter borders[35]
- Nastasia – a magister who had her son torn to pieces by a darkspawn Shriek[36]
- Nenealeus – trains slaves into mage-killers[37]
- Urian Nihalias – a magister who became the Black Divine in 9:27 Dragon after staging a coup against his predecessor
- Oratius – a poet who authored the Chant for Dreamers[38]
- Amelia Pavus – the creator of the Circulum Infinitus[39]
- Dorian Pavus – becomes head of House Pavus after his father is assassinated; he assumes his father's seat in the Magisterium (c. 9:43 Dragon)[40]
- Gideon Pavus – an ancestor of House Pavus who was tried for treason during the Exalted Age[41]
- Halward Pavus – the former representative of House Pavus in the Magisterium; father of Dorian Pavus
- Parthalan – his legion was supposed to quell a slave uprising in Kirkwall, but none of them ever arrived; owner of the Staff of Parthalan
- Pelidanus – head of the Corial Order in the early Exalted Age[42]
- Pellinar – who wrote about the cultural habits of the Orlesians to his countrymen[43]
- Pendictus – a researcher of the secrets of elven Veilfire[44]
- Leviculix Porenni – a Tevinter supremacist[45]
- Prycis – a magister in league with the Venatori who commanded to examine the elven ruins near Crestwood (9:41 Dragon)[46]
- Quillan – served under Claudian and enforced the cruel practices within the Bone Pit in -35 Ancient[47]
- Zara Renata – a member of the Venatori[48]
- Sephus – a magister in league with the Venatori who were active in the Hissing Wastes[30]
- Talerio – a magister involved in the Imperium's first expedition against the Avvars; and later against the rest of the Alamarri including the Chasind in -712 Ancient (483 TE); sanctioned the culling of many residents of the Frostbacks and sacked their encampments for trophies[49]
- Tebrin – his apprentices have worked with Arcanist Dagna in South Post[50]
- Athanir Tilani – father of Maevaris who was most known for his gentle nature and inoffensiveness in the Imperial Senate; executed in 9:32 Dragon by the Imperial Templars[51]
- Maevaris Tilani – widow of Varric Tethras's cousin, Thorold
- Tirena of the Rock – used blood magic to repel Qunari invaders during the Steel Age by boiling the very blood in their veins[13]
- Aurelian Titus – a magister with no known lands or family but with a reputation for power and knowing things no others do
- Tlaxius – one of the last generals who tried to invade Ferelden; owner of the Staff Of The Magister Lords
- Urathus – a magister in league with the Venatori who were active in the Hissing Wastes[30][52]
- Mareno Vadis – disowned his daughter for taking an elven lover[53]
- Varas – a magister whose apprentice researched the capabilities of vitaars in 9:32 Dragon[54]
- Verixsus – a magister in contact with the Inquisition, with a particular view concerning the proper use of spirit-bindings[55]
- Viren – a magister who lectured on the threat of the "oxmen in the north"[56]
- Claudian Vyrantus – was the last known "Overseer" of the Bone Pit; he was feared for his sadistic cruelty from the various experiments he conducted on those who disobeyed him; after his slaves revolted they stripped him of his enchanted robes and threw him into the Bone Pit to be feasted upon by his dragonlings; last known owner of the Armor of the Overseer[57]
Codex entries[]
Codex entry: Armor of the Overseer- Codex entry: History of Kirkwall: Chapter 1
- Codex entry: History of Kirkwall: Chapter 2
- Codex entry: The Imperial Chantry
- Codex entry: The Litany of Adralla
- Codex entry: The Lost Art of Veilfire
- Codex entry: Lyrium
- Codex entry: Magister Erimond
- Codex entry: Magister Gereon Alexius
- Codex entry: The Magisterium
- Codex entry: A Magister's Needs
- Codex entry: The Magister's Shield
- Codex entry: A Missing Slave
- Codex entry: Shriek
- Codex entry: Tevinter: The Magisters
Magister relics[]
Artifacts formerly owned by magisters:
- Amulet of the War Mage
- Armor of the Overseer
- Belt of the Magister Lords
- Magister's Shield
- Magister's Cinch
- The Magister's Scythe
- Ring of the Magister
- Robes of the Magister Lords
- Staff of the Magister Lord
- Staff of Parthalan
Trivia[]
- It is common for non-Tevinters to attach the label "magister" to any and all Tevinter mages. This inaccurate practice is considered a mark of ignorance in the Imperium.
- Ancient magisters suffered physical mutations as a result of massive lyrium consumption.[58]
- The Well-Read Pig-Farmer was also part of the Magisterium.
- In the French translation of the first two games of the series, the Magisters were called "Inquisiteurs" (Inquisitors). This translation was dropped for Dragon Age: Inquisition.
References[]
Nunzio DeFilippis.
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