[...what counts as the beginning? That gets a pause.]
The beginning... There are dozens of places that would count as the beginning. I'll try to narrow the scope.
[Another breath.]
I went to Kirkwall because they'd taken someone I held dear to the city; Kirkwall's Circle was lacking in senior enchanters because they kept killing them and he was transferred from Ferelden's Circle. From the start, it was clear that things were even worse there than they usually were when one group of people who had done nothing wrong were locked up.
They set a trap for me. As the Templars did multiple times while I was serving in the Grey Wardens, which is the reason I left originally. This trap ended the life of the senior enchanter I was there for, [and he's so proud of not letting his voice waver,] but showed me that there were serious abuses going on in the Circle.
[Another pause.]
I'm skimming heavily. The details stretch over a decade of time. But I will boil it down to a few points.
One, Meredith was clearly unchecked, and mages were literally dying or being made Tranquil daily. Her escalation was steady. The Rite of Annulment was coming.
Two, no one would care when it did. That's hundreds of mages who would be killed, and it wouldn't matter because it would be done legally.
They... [another breath. He needs to continue talking levelly. Somehow. It's not easy.]
I had an underground network. One set up to get small things in, letters from home, novels, little things, and to get mages out who were most in danger of being made Tranquil and raped, and I do not exaggerate. This network was almost entirely non-mages. The Templars slaughtered them down to the last. This is after they ended who my, my friend was by illegally making him Tranquil.
If you saw this happening to your people, if your pleas for someone to step in were ignored, if you knew that they were all dead and it was only a matter of time, could you sit there? Could you simply let it happen?
I regret the loss of life. I sincerely do. But the death toll would have been the same without my actions, and we'd still have Circles. We'd still have the Rite of Annulment looming over us all, and Templars hunting any who sought a life outside thick, cold walls, and everyone would have seen Kirkwall as nothing but just another time when mages had to be put down.
no subject
The beginning... There are dozens of places that would count as the beginning. I'll try to narrow the scope.
[Another breath.]
I went to Kirkwall because they'd taken someone I held dear to the city; Kirkwall's Circle was lacking in senior enchanters because they kept killing them and he was transferred from Ferelden's Circle. From the start, it was clear that things were even worse there than they usually were when one group of people who had done nothing wrong were locked up.
They set a trap for me. As the Templars did multiple times while I was serving in the Grey Wardens, which is the reason I left originally. This trap ended the life of the senior enchanter I was there for, [and he's so proud of not letting his voice waver,] but showed me that there were serious abuses going on in the Circle.
[Another pause.]
I'm skimming heavily. The details stretch over a decade of time. But I will boil it down to a few points.
One, Meredith was clearly unchecked, and mages were literally dying or being made Tranquil daily. Her escalation was steady. The Rite of Annulment was coming.
Two, no one would care when it did. That's hundreds of mages who would be killed, and it wouldn't matter because it would be done legally.
They... [another breath. He needs to continue talking levelly. Somehow. It's not easy.]
I had an underground network. One set up to get small things in, letters from home, novels, little things, and to get mages out who were most in danger of being made Tranquil and raped, and I do not exaggerate. This network was almost entirely non-mages. The Templars slaughtered them down to the last. This is after they ended who my, my friend was by illegally making him Tranquil.
If you saw this happening to your people, if your pleas for someone to step in were ignored, if you knew that they were all dead and it was only a matter of time, could you sit there? Could you simply let it happen?
I regret the loss of life. I sincerely do. But the death toll would have been the same without my actions, and we'd still have Circles. We'd still have the Rite of Annulment looming over us all, and Templars hunting any who sought a life outside thick, cold walls, and everyone would have seen Kirkwall as nothing but just another time when mages had to be put down.