Dragon Age: The History and Lore of Thedas. The Tevinter Imperium

those decrying our Ambitions to reclaim our lands to cry history what was not once under the watchful eye of the archons the wisdom of the True Divine or the Justice of the magisterium Idol or lay graceless ferelden even vain antiva where ours in ages past tivinta's imprint is present in every corner of their degenerate cultures whether it be music poetry architecture mathematics or any art that stirs the human spirit where our Empire to stretch its arms again this tide of Southern decadence would at last be stopped and corrected by the superior minds of the Imperium Avana hello and welcome my dear students to another lesson of Dragon Age the history and lore of thedas with me Professor Absalom we have now reached the part of this course when we are going to start studying the major Nations and countries of thedas so this lecture and the ones following it will revolve around this subject and what better way to start than with the oldest human Nation on the continent its history ancient and impactful it's past built on powerful magic and cruel slavery to this day the nation has survived but its power have dimmed and its influence is shunned by many in the rest of thedas the tevinter Imperium we will start with going through tevinter as a nation with its special culture and society and then move on to the imperium's history without further ado let's begin situated in Northern thedas along the coast of the nosun sea the tevinter Imperium stretches from the mountains of the high reaches in the west to the arlathan forest in the east the desolate region known as the silent Plains marks its Southern border towards the nation of Navara and the rest of Southern thedas numerous large and ancient cities lie along the northern coast of the nation Ventus formerly known as quarinus karastis neramanian varentium marnus pel azariel and lastly the capital of minrathus the largest city in the world built on a Rocky island off the coast and accessible only by a large bridge to the mainland the largest city in the world have never been conquered by a foe in its long history other cities of the nation include places like Vol Dorma to the West towards the anderfels moroccius and perivantum in the East and Cayman Brea Trevis and the pilgrimage site of nessim in the south to Winter climate angiography is varied with mountainous and Stony regions to Plains and even deserts as mentioned with a silent plane some coastal regions are prone to harsh weather and winds from the nosun sea and the region around the city of neramanian in particular is home to a near-constant cloud cover that darkens the region and leads to many storms and windy Seas the central focal point of tevinter society and culture is without a doubt Magic Mages hold every major societal position whether cultural religious or political though this was not always the case as will be revealed later might makes right into winter society and those who can enforce the most might is of course those with magical abilities magic itself is seen as a gift from the maker and a spiritual blessing upon the person in question and this is an old tradition that has its roots in a time before the Imperium worshiped the maker and instead pledged themselves to the old gods the circles of Magi interventor acts as prestigious and honorable academies of higher magical learning and to attend one is a privilege not mandatory as it is for other Mages in thedas into winter the Imperial Templar order is controlled by the circle of Magi in sharp contrast to the rest of thedas with the right mentor and teacher a young Mage can go far in a circle and Beyond into winter Society but this system tends to favor those of higher nobility and descendants of Arcane Bloodlines yet it is not impossible for those of humble Origins to struggle up the ranks divinter history has shown this a number of times the Imperial circles seek to study magic and to pursue the Arcane Mysteries and that has been their goal since their foundations nowhere in thedas have the study of magic come as far as in the Imperial Circles of tevinter to the amazement and shock of the rest of thedas who often see tevinter Mages and their use of magic Grand and impressive but also too dangerous and Powerful from the Imperial Circles of old comes the traditions of the circle of Magi but also the ranks of the organization enchanter senior enchanter and first enchanter that are used in the rest of thedas the title of grand enchanter is reserved to the Imperial Divine who is both head of the Imperial Circles of Magi and the Imperial Chantry as you will come to see the religious and magical institutions into winter are intrinsically intertwined to understand to Winter society and culture along with its relation to Magic however one must understand its class system this feudalistic system differs from other similar ones in the rest of thedas as this one takes into account if members of the society are Mages or not there are four main classes into winter two Mage classes and two mundane classes at the top of the societal Ladder into winter are the Altus class these are the Mage High nobility descendants of the first dreamers and ancient magisters of old though these Mighty families were closely associated with the faith of the old gods in ages past these noble families still hold sway over most of the political and societal power long after the dragon Gods stopped being worshiped there have been periods in history like for example after the first blight and following the transfigurations where the altars were chastised and persecuted but they have in modern times managed to regain much of their old Splendor might and influence the majority of magisters the rulers and wielders of political power into winter as well as many other influential figures in Imperial Society are members of the Altus class below the Altus is the second Mage class known as the latents this class consists of Mages whose families have practiced and exhibited the Arcane arts for multiple Generations but are not descended from the original dreamers like the altars the latents also consists of Mages who were born into families with no prior history of magic and have thus been elevated along with their family to this class because of the Mage born among them it is not unusual for many within the latent class to aggressively Vie for influence and power into winter society as many well-bred altars look down upon the latents as upstart Mages with no true claim to Authority like themselves of ancient magical Bloodlines these latents in turn seek to prove themselves against these arrogant altars the tenacity of these power-hungry latents have borne fruit many times into winter history as a full third of archons who have ruled in the Imperium have belonged to the latent class but it can also work the other way around instead of showing humility and tolerance towards those non-mages that are below them on the societal ladder the people that many of them come from originally their new status and magical abilities might create a new sense of superiority and disgust among some latents towards those that they now deem as inferior below the latents are the first mundane class of tevinter the saporati or sleepers as they are commonly known the vast majority of citizens into winter belong to this class and work in trades that range from Farmers and Merchants to publicans a type of civil servant that can also lead legionaries although able to own property serve in the military and attain the lowest ranks in the Chantry saparati are barred from achieving higher ranks or influence in society because of the fact that they are not able to wield Magic many soporati dream of one day having a child with magical abilities because if that were to happen that entire family will be elevated to the latent class and given new Privileges and opportunities that were previously denied them yet others among the sleepers resent those that stand above them those that flaunt their magical gifts and riches while they themselves must persist in a harsh and unfair Society totally ruled by Mages lastly we have the lowest of the tiventer classes the slaves the practice of slavery is completely allowed in the tevinter Imperium and although the trading of slaves are forbidden in the rest of thedas it's still very much thrives into winter most of the Imperium slaves are elves but other humans and even qunari can have the misfortune to be made slaves dwarves very rarely end up as slaves in the Imperium due to tevinter's not wanting to endanger the lucrative Alliance that tevinter and orsamar have to Winter slavers are also active outside of the imperium's borders in the rest of thedas kidnapping or tricking people into becoming slaves and then selling them on slave markets when they come back to the Imperium some are bought in secret in or lay by wealthy Nobles and are named servants though what they really are is ultimately undeniable the slaves of tevinter society reside at the bottom of this class ladder they are not citizens nor can they serve in the military though they can be used as slave soldiers and Cannon father neither are they allowed to own property since they themselves are considered property of someone else either as privately owned slaves or as state-owned slaves known as servos publicus slaves are forced to do all sorts of tasks by their masters some mundane and tedious like taking care of a house or doing shores as a house slave others are trained in a specific profession like workers or scribes if they have martial aptitudes they might be trained as personal bodyguards or soldiers maybe even assassins and Mage Killers if their masters are powerful enough but these professions never obfuscate what the slave really is in the end a tool to be used and abused by its master in any way he or she sees fit no matter how good a slave might be as a farmer or Smith or handmaiden they will never be considered true laborers workers or Artisans of the same profession and having apprentices is out of the question when it comes to slaves slave bodyguards or soldiers never receive military honors or ranks like the ordinary citizen soldiers most likely to remind them of their place in the world cruelty and abuse of slaves are not uncommon amongst tevinter slave owners and in the worst cases slaves might even be used as sacrifices for forbidden blood magic rituals if the master is a Mage and so inclined to use the slave in such a way according to tevinter law slaves can only be set free in front of a judge with the owner or slave master explicitly and formally proclaiming that the slave or slaves in question have been given Freedom slaves can also be freed by the owner's will following his or her death even if a slave is granted freedom the person in question still does not become a tevinter citizen rather freed slaves become part of a subclass of society called the Liberati and are only afforded limited rights in comparison to the rest of the imperium's citizenry although now able to pursue a trade and have apprentices along with owning property and even join a circle of Magi a Liberati is still banned from joining the military or pursue any influential political careers slaves and slavery as a tradition have become solidly ingrained into tevinter society and is a central part of the nation's history much of the Imperium its infrastructure architecture and buildings not just historical but modern have been built using slave labor the practice is sanctioned by not only the state but the religious institution of the Imperial Chantry that is given a tithe for every slave sold in the Imperium to Winter citizens might even decide to give up their own freedom and become slaves in order to provide for themselves or their families in severe cases and even if a slave were to gain his or her Freedom again they would do so as a Liberati with their rights and privileges greatly limited even if a slave were to be found to have magical powers and elevated to the ranks of Leighton the former slave would face scorn and hate from other Mages considering themselves of more worth than a former lowly slave this meritocratic system as the Imperium would describe it could offer a chance for even slaves to rise to the rights and privileges of a mage in society but as stated it is only that a chance and a random one at that it is simply a lie that the tevinter authorities tell the desperate and downtrodden instead of real meritocracy freely given to everyone in a fair and just system the slaves of the Imperium and even the soporati are told this everyone has a fair chance to live freely and with all the rights and possibilities that you can imagine but only if you are a mage the state religion of the tevinter Imperium is the Imperial Chantry to Winter's own version of andrastianism in my lecture about the humans of thedas I talked quite extensively about this religion and the differences between it and the ulysian Chantry so I will refer interested students to that lecture if one wants to know more on this particular subject here I will give you a summarized version of what the Imperial Chantry is and stands for while overall similar in appearance and practice the Imperial Chantry is much more pro-magic than their orlesian counterparts believing that the Commandment against magic that is espoused so vehemently by the faithful in the rest of thedas magic exists to serve man not to rule over him is simply a warning that magic should not be used to control the minds and actions of others but in regards to power politics and ruling overall the Imperial Chantry sees no issue with its leaders being Mages since the best way for magic to serve man is for it to serve the state and those who control the state should thus be Mages in order to better serve mankind this is of course a result of tevinter's very prominent Mage culture and the faith is thus skewed in favor of these particular views and opinions not only is Magic more accepted in the Imperial Chantry it is seen as a gift and blessing from the maker all the major religious figures of the organizations are Mages themselves several religious holidays like the visitations are actively centered around Mages and Magic is even used into winter chantries during service and different religious ceremonies like keeping the Eternal fires of different chantries lit there have even been several canticles added to the tevinter version of the chant of light that are of course not recognized by the orlesian Chantry that either down place to Winters more antagonistic roles in the original texts or puts the concept of magic in a more favorable light for the reader arkon haserian is since he laid the groundworks for the faith here considered to be andraste's most important disciple the tevinter Imperium is also considered the Holy Land by the Imperial Chantry since the prophet andraste herself died there the Imperial Chantry has its own Divine known as the black Divine in the rest of thedas who is not recognized by the rest of the continents faithful together with the grand clerics who elected divines by simple majority when one is to be elected the Imperial Divine rules over the religious matters of tevinter and all of these religious figures have a seat in the imperium's ruling body the magisterium as mentioned earlier the Imperial Divine is also the leader of the Imperial Circles of Magi the Imperial Chantry unlike Theologian allows both men and women to become full members of the clergy as revered mothers and fathers clergyman and women into winter are also allowed to marry in contrast to the rest of the continent this Chantry might in some aspects seem a bit more open-minded than its orlesian counterpart but the Imperial Chantry is by no means without its faults while founded after the transfigurations on the concept of involving both Mages and non-mages in religious life in modern tevinter all of the Grand clerics and the higher clergy along with the Divine himself are members of the circles of Machi a non-mage soprati have today very few chances of advancing higher in the ranks of the Chantry due to the tevinter culture of favoring Mages the Imperial Chantry as an institution also profits from the nation's practice of slavery receiving as mentioned a tithe for every slave sold within the nation's borders before the Imperial Chantry during its early history tevinter worshiped the faith of the old gods the seven Dragon Gods each with a different Divine aspect were worshiped at specific temples and had specific priesthoods dedicated to them each headed by a high priest temples and shrines to the old gods existed in every port of tevinter and later in many other parts of thedas as tevinter expanded the tradition of seeing magic as a divine blessing into winter culture stems from this Faith as the faith of the old gods were centered around the dreamers ancestors of the Nobles and the Mages of tevinter who were the chosen of the Dragon gods their special magical powers explained later were symbols of the old God's favor after the blights the creation of the Chantry and the transfigurations many of the old temples of the old gods were torn down abandoned or changed into Circle towers for the circle of Magi and even though the faith of the old gods is almost extinct in modern to Winter with some exceptions the old temples and their distinct architecture serve as an example of this ancient tevinter religion let us now move on to the subject of tevinter politics and warfare one of the most well-known words both in tevinter itself but also outside of its borders is the word Magister a term for a specific type of mage a common misconception in the rest of thedas is the belief that the term Magister simply refers to all Mages into winter but this could not be further from the truth in the Imperium as we have already discussed even though Mages are immensely privileged in comparison to other classes not all Mages are equal and magisters stand Above the Rest in power and influence a Magister is a tevinter mage who has a seat in the Upper House of the Imperial Senate tevinter's government and legislative body thus a Magister is someone who holds more power and influence on a political level than most other citizens or non-citizens into winter to make all of you understand this as easily as possible let's break down the mechanisms of governance in the tevinter Imperium the tevinter Imperium is a magocracy which means that it is primarily governed by and for magic users the legislative body of the Imperium called the Imperial Senate is made up of two houses the Upper House called the magisterium and the lower house known as the publicanium each house have ruling Senators seated in them but the elected officials of the lower publicanium hold no real power in the grand scheme of things and the lower house is merely seen as a bureaucratic body the Upper House of the magisterium and the magisters that form it are those that hold real power able to enact policies and new laws and so on Mages can gain seats in the magisterium and become magisters in several different ways all the seven circles of Magi in the country elect one Magister each to have a seat in the magisterium and these are chosen mainly from the circles senior enchanters since is the highest rank of the circle the first enchanter is not allowed to be given a seat the Imperial Chantry also have seats in the magisterium the Grand clerics and the Imperial Divine are all magisters as well seats can also be inherited from Magister to their heirs as most magistrates come from esteemed noble families with many family members new magisters can also be appointed at any time from any Noble family and the person that wields this power is the Arkham the archon is not only the leader of the magisterium but also the supreme ruler of the tevinter Imperium magic is often seen as a divine blessing into winter but this goes a step further in regards to the archon the archon rules by Divine Right his magic power and authority is granted to him by a God as mandate to rule the nation of tevinter on thedas and even though the nature of the deities in question granting said divine right from the old gods to the maker in modern time the tradition of this magic and power being granted by Divine Powers Remains the Same in Practical terms the archon rules over the magisterium and have final Say in any laws or edicts that the rest of the magisters aim to enact and as mentioned before the archon have full authority to appoint new magisters and Grant them a seat in the assembly at any time many occurrent Magister have the archon or one of his predecessors to thank for their position as many magisters can trace their line of work back to when an archon for whatever reason decided that their family would be granted a seat in the magisterium the office of archon is usually a hereditary one given over to close family members or sometimes apprentices of the archon when he passes away normally the archon in question publicly announces his heir to the magisterium before he dies but in the event that an heir was not named or appointed for whatever reason at the time of death for a narcon a new archon is chosen by the members of the magisterium in the past this was handled as an internal matter with a new archon being chosen from one within the ranks of the magisterium but this practice has been banned since the Black age in modern to Winter candidates to the throne of the archon must be chosen from someone outside of the magisterium and the Chantry being a magocracy one would be inclined to believe that non-mages are simply not allowed to become a part of the magisterium but this is not actually the case ever since hysarian's Transfiguration non-mages are allowed to become magisters and during his rule most of the magisters were just that they're also used to exist a ban on Mages participating in politics but this was later abolished by arkon namaran in 734 storm the truth is that since the storm age Mages have reclaimed much of their lost ground in the magisterium and today most of the magisters of the magisterium are once again Mages since the magisters are the most influential and Powerful Mage Nobles in all of tivinter tevinter politics is infamously Cutthroat and filled to the brim with intrigues the magisterium's members often scheme and plot on how to outmaneuver their political Rivals and opponents or how to gain more power and influence within the halls of the magisterium this can range from subtle methods of spreading propaganda and rumors to outright assassinations and the use of forbidden magic while blood magic is officially forbidden into winter most influential magisters and other Mages are at least familiar with the basics of this Arcane art and acknowledges that its use is sometimes necessary to rise through the ranks this among other things might be the reason why to Winter society and to Winter politics in general are considered truly barbaric and the rest of thedas to enforce the mygocracy's rule over to Winter its citizens non-citizens and slaves but also to protect and defend its borders from foreign attacks the Imperium employs a large and impressive Army once the force that conquered most of the continent the army of the tevinter Imperium today mainly protects against attacks from the qunari in the imperium's ongoing war with the cune and are also used to put down slave rebellions revolts among the slave population occurs quite often and it is one of the few moments when the ruling magisters stops to scheme against one another and unites in the magisterium to suppress the so-called slave seditionists recruiting from all different parts of the nation different types of units make up the tevinter Army from regular infantry and guards to more specialized units like elephants used from mounts and war elephants these beasts have been imported to the Imperium from their jungle colonies to the Northwest and these units have become infamous on the rest of the continent another interesting facet of the tevinter military is that instead of using horses for its Cavalry beasts called dracolisks are used instead this has been the standard since the steel age and for the last 300 years these draconic looking beasts have been bred for different purposes into winter Society including military use in the Imperium there exists people known as legionaries and often these are part of the Publican work sector this rank most likely refer to the rank and file soldiers of the army but information regarding this is a bit unclear as of this time the tevinter Army is mainly made up of men and women serving in the military are restricted to specific tasks and ranks indeed even though it is not as mighty as during its ancient past the tevinter military is large and well trained the rest of the nations of thedas would have reasons to once again fear the Imperium where it not for its Aegis long conflict with a qunari which keeps tevinter focused northwards and drains many of its military resources year after year as part of the defenses around the capital of minrathus and as a testament to the close and long-standing connections and trade between the Imperium and the dwarves three gigantic War Golems known as juggernauts stand guard against any potential attackers outside the gates of minrathus speaking of the dwarves the tevinter Imperium and the Dwarfs of the underground have had a strong trade and Military Alliance ever since the Dwarven king enter in stonehammer and the tevinter Arcon dorinius formed to the alliance in -1200 ancient more than 2 000 years ago even though the Dwarven Empire no longer exists the two parties still uphold this close agreement to this day the main factor of this agreement revolves around lyrium since the Imperium is centered around magic there exists a constant demand for the valuable mineral something that the dwarves happily provide for monetary exchange without the steady supply of lyrium from orzamar to Winter would both figuratively and literally start to fall apart not only are the Mages of the Imperium always in need of lyrium to enhance their powers but many buildings have been raised and are maintained with magic and would collapse if the lyrium stopped flowing naturally there are many surface dwarves that live in the Imperium because of this but despite the long-standing alliance between the two peoples and many Dwarven families having lived in the Imperium for generations and centuries these individuals are not considered citizens but rather as foreign dignitaries by tevinter the dwarves of tevinter are also governed differently by their own like the Dwarven enclaves in other theodosian nations Dwarven embassies exist in every major tevinter city and they are all governed by something called the ambassadoria the ambassadoria is officially a form of government a group of elected representatives of dwarves that exist to advise the tevinter archon and the magisterium on questions regarding the alliance and trade this means that in Practical terms the ambassadoria are more like a Lobby group than anything else their main focus is that the trade agreements and treaties between tevinter and orzamar is upheld no matter who the archon is or who sits in the magisterium some of the Dwarven embassies in tevinter exists entirely underground so that the dwarves working there never have to come up to the actual surface and risk losing their cast the embassies of the capital minrathus as well as naramanian and Aquarius are constructed in this way they are still embraced by the stone in this way and even though they have lived in the Imperium for Generations they have never actually set foot on its surface Dwarven influence interventor architecture and culture can be seen in The Proving Grounds built in minrathus and as mentioned earlier the golems that protect the gates of minrathus aside from the dwarves tevinter does not have the best of relations with the rest of the continent of thedas all of the continents major Nations have been conquered by the Imperium in its ancient past or have roared with them during modern time the numerous exalted marches and religious Schism between the Imperial and orlesian Chantry is also one of the reasons that makes tevinter one of the most maligned and disliked nations in the rest of thedas their continued practice of slavery along with their age-old depression and enslavement of elves along with the destruction of arlathon makes the relationship between elves and tevinter a very tainted one a scar that probably will never heal and ever since the Imperium refused to sign the lomeran Accord the conflict between tevinter and the kyun have existed waxing and waning in intensity for control of not just the island of Saharan but much of Northern thedas many among teventor's ruling class and many ordinary citizens as well still consider the peoples of other nations on the continent as unwashed barbarians barely having achieved societal structure and civilizations worthy of acknowledgment tevinter is according to them of course the Apex of civilization and the bearers of an honorable history and Legacy which obviously makes it better than any other country or Nation the rest of thedas is seen as uncultured and its people lack respect for the strong Authority and tradition that the Imperium stands for the language of the tevinter Imperium is called Tevin although the trade tongue have largely replaced it as the language mainly spoken by the people of tevinter still many know parts of the language and it is mainly still used in High Society where the Nobles and Wealthy individuals flaunt their knowledge of ancient history impeccable education and social standing by speaking certain phrases of the language for example the word I used at the start of this lecture Avana is an informal greeting meaning hello while the phrase Vitae benefaria is a formal goodbye that literally means something along the lines of a good life and a long one or go well additionally there is an older and now extinct version of the language known as ancient tavin spoken during the Zenith of the imperium's power in thedas the only facet of this language still in use in modern thedas is within scholarly circles since the old names of the months of the year is originally ancient tavin such as verimences and plutonis or the names of the constellations like belitanus and satinalis we now move on to the history of the tevinter Imperium many written texts and sources about the Imperium and tevinter history from the rest of thedas have very clear bias against tevinter Chantry Scholars like Jenna TV and petrine do not look favorably upon tevinter because of religious and ideological reasons and this sentiment is shared by many in other parts of thedas similarly tevinter sources on the same subject often romanticize the nation's past or disregard uncomfortable issues when dealing with history and the sources that hearken back to set history one must always try to be as nuanced and objective as one can and this will be my aim for today's lesson to give you as fair and nuanced of a retelling of the winter history as I can there will be some information in this lecture that I have already covered in previous lectures like the one about humans or elves so check those out if you need to refresh your memories I will try to not repeat too much of what you already know and focus on the newer information the ancient history of tevinter starts with the arrival of humans to the continent of thedas in minus 3100 ancient the first human tribe the narrow minions migrated to thedas from what is most likely parvolin this tribe would split travel and settle other parts of thedas where its offshoots would create the distinct human populations of the rest of thedas but the narrowmanians themselves settled along the coast of the nosun sea in northern thedas there they came into contact and conflict with the elves of the area while able to peacefully coexist with humans in other parts of the continent as is revealed with the ruins in the Brazilian forest in ferelden this seemed to not be the case between the early niromanians and the elves of Northern thedas starting to refer to the humans as shemlin meaning quicklings in Elvish pertaining to their short lifespans around the year -28-50 ancient elves started to shun the newly arriving humans avoiding and moving away from them with a lot of elves seeking refuge in arlathon Forest which was one of the last great remnants of ancient Elvish culture this was done because the elves started to incorrectly believe that it was the interactions with humans that had cost the elves to age and lose their immortality the real reason that the elves had been cut off from the fade when Solas banished the evanuris and created the veil had at this stage been forgotten by The Elves and as they distanced themselves further this enabled the human tribes to spread across the continent unhindered this was also the case with the northern neuromanians who now established themselves firmly along the shores of Northern thedas at this time these tribes had an early form of religion worshiping their fallen Heroes Reborn as dragons and this religious reverence for Dragons would prove to be quite appropriate considering what would occur during the following centuries for it is said that around the year 2800 ancient from deep within the magical fade the old gods started to whisper to the humans from across the veil those who listened and learned from these Whispers were able to harness and display magical powers to the odd fascination of their fellow neurominians these individuals were the first human Mages and would later become the future priests magisters and kings of their society the so-called dreamers dreamers or somniari intervene is a type of Mage that can travel to the fade in a state of dreaming without using lyrium or blood magic the dreamer is able to visit places in the fade interact with Spirits both in the fate and the waking world and even find other individuals that are dreaming in the fade and temper with them driving the dreaming person mad or killing them if the Mage dreamer is so inclined some dreamers were even said to be oracles able to relive history or see into the future a magical practice dating back to Elven Mages of ancient elvenon Mage dreamers were revered for these magical powers and the most famous dreamer was a neramanian by the name of thalcian mourn him in a moment As Time passed more and more people broke off from the greater naramanian tribe to settle elsewhere in the area and by the year minus 1700 ancient three other separate kingdoms had been formed to Winter quarius and barindur the remaining neuromanians also formed their own kingdom of neromanian each kingdom was ruled by a high King and this was the social structure for these humans of Northern thedas for the next 500 years one of these kingdoms bahrendur did not last as long as its neighbors however in -1610 ancient the entire Kingdom along with its capital seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth leaving behind nothing but a single Road bare rock and a grassy plane where once the capital formally stood said to be a wonder of the ancient world housing fountains that could Grant Eternal youth the capital had simply disappeared Into Thin Air the Kingdom's disappearance have been a mystery for Untold years Legends claimed that the kingdom had fallen out of favor with one of the old gods and had been brought to ruin by the God as punishment these Legends are quite anachronistic however and created after the fact since the faith of the old gods was not a widespread Faith at the time of barandur's disappearance a more likely explanation based on recent findings told To Us by the elf Solas who claims to have found the ruins of the city during his many travels is that the kingdom of bindur was the victim of some sort of calamitous volcanic eruption Solas tells us that the ruins of bindor are buried beneath the modern grassy Plains sealed tight by volcanic ash the same volcanic ash had also wiped out the Kingdom's inhabitants killing them in an instant and turning their bodies into Hollow molds reminiscent of statues we can now return to thalcian the dreamer falcian was historically as far as we know the first dreamer among the neuromanians even if the old gods started whispering to the neramanians long before his birth and even though there might have been dreamers before thalcian there is not enough historical evidence to support this with the sources that we have thalcian is credited with being the first dreamer among the neuromanians as mentioned thalcian claimed to have been contacted by the old God dumat the dragon of Silence in the fade and the old God had personally taught him the secrets of magic specifically the secrets of blood magic with this newfound power falcin became the first known human blood Mage and used it to great effect making himself king of neromanian and to honor the god that had granted him these great Powers falcian built the first temples to do maths in neromanian establishing and spreading the faith of the old gods to the rest of his kingdom with himself as the high priest of dumat falcian also introduced the notion that dragons were no longer the fallen heroes of past neuromanians but instead symbols of divine power because they represented the old gods themselves with his influence thalcian also took on a great number of pupils during his time as king people who had discovered that they had magical powers many of these pupils would later go on to found some of the most ancient and highly respected noble families into winter history all of this took place around and following the year -1595 ancient and thalcin would be honored and remembered after he himself was gone he was the first of many things if this story is to be believed the first dreamer and the first Blood Mage among the humans to start with although modern members of the Imperial Chantry believe blood magic was learned from the elves of arlathon and not the old gods but there is simply not enough direct evidence to support this claim he was also the first high priest of an old God dumat and considered by many in essence to be the very first archon but more on that later along with getting credited for having created the ruling class of Mages that would dominate to Winter Society in the ages to come thalcian is one of the most important figures in pre-tivinter history as a side note according to the chant of light in the sixth stranza of the canticles of thornodis thalcian was the dreamer Oracle to the Ancient King of niromanian and toridas thalcian advised the king in preparation for his war against the inghirsh tribe to give sacrifice to a demon of the fade instead of the maker agreeing to this the demon gave the king victory in this war and in future conflict with another ancient tribe the planasini the tribe's people too had to turn to demon worship to fend off the neuromanian assault considering of course that this is religious literature with all that that entails this might have been thalcian before he became High King of neromanian during and following the era of thalcian's Reign cultural Concepts that we would today consider distinct for tevinter culture and history started to take shape the faith of the old gods took root in all the Three Kingdoms with temples and priesthoods for the different gods being created as well it is also during this period that the first Circles of Magi are created commonly known today as the place where the Chantry keeps and educates mages about magic the first circles created in the Kingdom of tevinter who are very much closed societies that existed in every major city where Mages trained studied and shared knowledge about the Arcane this was very early on in Mankind's exploration of the magical which is probably the reason why these organizations were secretive and closed from the rest of society all of the modern ranks and titles of the circles as I mentioned earlier enchanter senior enchanter and first enchanter all originates from these early circles with one noteworthy exception above the rank first enchanter there was another higher rank that held sway over the circle and that was the rank of Magister the Magister was the most talented and skillful mage of that Circle and all of the magisters from each circle in the Kingdom would in time create their very own institution the court of magisters made up of the most powerful Mages in the entire Kingdom of tevinter the court of magisters would convene in the tevinter capital of midratus where they would dictate and rule over the use of magic in the entire Kingdom deciding what was proper and improper use of magic and ruling over the circles and all other magic users into winter this institution would become very important during the coming years as we now move on to another central figure of tevinter History darrenius the ferryman first archon of the tevinter Imperium the story of darrenius is a fascinating one deserving a lecture in and of itself to summarize his story durinius was a child of the high queen of tevinter during his birth darrenius's Uncle staged an uprising against the high Queen and took the kingdom for himself but not before the infant durinius had been sent down river in a basket with nothing but a blanket and the Signet ring of the kingdom of tevinter that had been broken in half found by a priestess of dumat in the city of varantium he was raised as her son within the temple and during his upbringing he proved to be an exceptionally talented dreamer and capable Mage with the use of his magical Talent not to mention his wit and cleverness he ascended to the rank of high priest of dumat at the age of 19 and managed to be crowned High King of neromanian on the eve of his coronation his adoptive mother revealed how he had been found as an infant and gave him the broken Royal seal of tevinter with his true lineage now revealed to him duringius was expected to avenge his mother's murder or risk the anger of the Gods and after a dream that very night in which he was ferried to the other side of a river by a shadowy ferryman only to realize that the ferryman had been himself all the time darrenia saw this as a sign from damat and decided to act from this dream derives his sobrike the ferryman in - 1207 ancient he managed to overthrow his uncle following a duel to the death and with this the two kingdoms of niromanian and tevinter were United under one High King following this achievement darrenius established ties with the Empire of the dwarves underground around the year minus 1200 ancient after traveling through the Deep roads to the Dwarven capital of Cal sharok he gained the respect of the Dwarven King endron stonehammer which resulted in an extremely beneficial trade agreement and an alliance between the two Nations bearing not only gifts and riches back from the underground to the surface but also bringing with him the Dwarven gladiatorial Traditions known as provings to his people darrenius saw his new kingdom flourish as a result of the new Trade Agreement during the following years with his army now equipped with arms and armor of finest Dwarven craftsmanship and his Mages and Priests receiving a steady flow of lyrium From The Underground to fuel their spells the remaining Kingdom of quarinus saw where the winds were blowing opting for diplomacy instead of armed conflict High queen rathana of coronus proposed a marriage alliance with durinius one that darrenius accepted in the year minus 1195 ancient darrenius and rathana were joined in marriage and with this Union all three kingdoms had been united into one darrenius proclaimed himself the first archon of a new nation the tevinter Imperium and with his coronation as archon to Winter Scholars marks this as the first year of the tevinter imperium's own calendar the year 0 t e after this point follows the history of the tevinter Imperium as a fully fletched Nation arguably even more of a central figure in early tevinter history than thalcian duringis instituted many changes and acts that would define the Imperium and thedas for ages to come during his Reign the court of magisters were turned into the Royal Court and from this point onward the title of Magister became the only recognized term for nobility in the land the Nobles of the Royal Court combined with the priesthood of the old gods formed the very first ever magisterium under the rule of dorinius becoming the ruling legislative body of the Imperium under the archon darrenius's alliance with the dwarves not only resulted in Bountiful trade and the spread of gladiatorial culture but also the construction of the first Dwarven Embassy to the Imperium the ambassadoria that except to this day and even though he had been dead for 400 years arkonderinius and the magisterium awarded thalcian of niromanian the first dreamer the honorary title of archon for the contributions that he had made during his life that had laid the groundworks for the imperium's creation with the reign of the first archondrinius the age of the tevinter Imperium had begun and soon all of thedas would know the power and Wrath of the Mages from the north following the reign of darrenius the tevinter Imperium gradually expanded its settlements and borders eastwards over the course of almost 200 years as a result the humans of Northern thedas once again came into contact with the elves one must remember that the elves started to withdraw from the arriving humans around -28-50 ancient almost 2 Millennia earlier and had for the longest time not been seen by many humans since those times the inhabitants of tevinter had seemingly forgotten about the non-humans that their ancestors fought against when they settled the coast of the nose and sea and this information seems to have been lost to history over the centuries many of thedas elves had moved into the large forests of arlathon and the city within the forest of the same name this place having been the center of all Elven culture during the days of elvenan and even though the period following the creation of the veil had eradicated much of the old Splendor of Elven culture some remnants of it still remained in arlathon during this time tevinter settlers who pushed eastwards settled near the Western border of the forest during this time and sometimes caught glimpses of Elven Scouts watching them from the edge of the forest this confused the settlers as they had believed that the forest was uninhabited it was even rumored at the time back into winter proper that the forest was haunted and when reports were brought back to the Imperium about these sightings they were dismissed for the same reasons as mentioned earlier this initial standpoint from the Imperium changed however as the legionaries of the imperium's army started to report skirmishes along the eastern border with creatures from inside the forest creatures that had pointed ears and could wield magic an entire Forest inhabited by a hitherto unknown non-human race though they would not have been unknown to the ancestors of the tevinters a threat this close to their Eastern border had to be dealt with somehow the Imperium reasoned taking it slow and steady was the first official approach from the Imperium as a delegation of emissaries were sent into the forest to establish official contact with its denizens but the entire delegation quickly disappeared into the woods supposedly killed to a man when no one from the delegation returned alive the Imperium constructed a fortress at its eastern border and stationed soldiers on permanent watch against the elves of the forest but the ball was already in motion and things would only escalate from here on out during the following decades tensions would only rise as contact with the elves along the forest border became more and more frequent and increasingly more violent one of the more significant of these events occurred in the summer of -98 ancient when numerous to Winter settlements in and around the arlethan forest simply vanished their inhabitants never seen or heard from again fear and anger now took hold of the citizens of tevinter these knife-eared monsters had taken away many of their sons daughters and relatives living on the Eastern front and many were now openly calling for war against the elves the populaces cry for war would eventually be answered in -981 ancient when the reigning archon thalassian and the magisterium decided that it was time to retaliate and ordered the imperium's legions to bring War to the elves of arlathon the legions did just that marching in force into the forest there at the heart of the forest they found the previously hidden city of arlathan and laid Siege to its ancient walls allegedly the Imperium used enthralled demons and dragons in their war effort against the city but these claims are largely based on Elvish tales and legends created long after the event itself and cannot easily be verified with or without draconic and demonic Health whatever the case the elves would not give up their ancient home so easily and defended it fiercely this led to the siege of arlathan dragging on for six long years draining the imperium's resources the longer it kept going with much of the imperium's military focused on The Siege the southern English tribe decided to take advantage of tevinter's predicament and started raiding the southern parts of the country with a pressure mounting on the archon to quickly bring an end to the siege thalassian and his magisters turned to using powerful blood magic in order to defeat the elves in -975 ancient with a spell that shook the Earth itself the archon and his magisters sunk the ancient city of arlathon into the ground destroying it completely and routing the elves the same Elvish Legends and tales I mentioned earlier describes the destruction of arlathon with the following words quotes with magic demons and even dragons at their behest the tevinter Imperium marched easily through arlathon destroying homes and Galleries and amphitheaters that had stood for ages the elves called to their ancient gods but there was no answer arlathon had fallen to the very humans our people had once considered mere pests it is said that the tevinter magisters used their great destructive power to force the very ground to swallow arlathan whole destroying eons of collected knowledge culture and art the whole of Elven lore left only to memory end quote while the teller of this tale himself states that these are but tales and that the entire truth will never truly be known it definitely paints a vivid picture of the terrible event with the destruction of the city the legions of tevinter corralled the fleeing and surviving elves and clasped them in iron and chains an entire population of Elven slaves were thus taken into the Imperium basically overnight many hundreds of years of cruel slavery would follow for the children of fallen arlathon and this would sadly just be the first taste of the imperium's military might and Ambitions as to Winter Now with an entire population of disposable labor turned its eyes to the rest of the continent with an entire class of Elven slaves now at their disposal the tevinter Imperium expanded at a rapid Pace after the fall of arlathon well equipped with Dwarven steel and backed by the powerful magic of their magisters in a display of tremendous military might the imperium's armies had conquered nearly all of Northern thedas by the year -895 ancient and in minus 880 ancient tevinder took over and settled the island of estwatch fortifying its Bay and building a port to house and repair warships estwatch would become one of many staging grounds for future military actions and slave raids as the Imperium now started probing and pushing across the Waters of the waking sea to the lands of the alamori and many other tribes the Imperium would from -715 ancient and onwards launched several military campaigns to subjugate the alimari tribes of modern day ferelden along with other tribes like the avars and the chastened that lived in the vicinity here the tevinter armies would meet some of the fiercest resistance that they had faced thus far in their Continental conquests as the alamari fought tooth and nail for every inch of their Homeland after many unsuccessful campaigns it was only through the sheer numbers of continued invasions including an almost genocidal expedition of conquest and looting by tevinter against the avors of the frostback mountains in -712 ancient that the Imperium finally managed to hold on to the area for a time but the alamari would never truly stop fighting as will become apparent in a moment with this the tevinter Imperium had essentially conquered almost the entire continent of thedas and would though revolts guerrilla warfare and Regional secession would occur rule these lands with an iron fist for the next 400 years this period is considered to be the Golden Age of the tevinter Imperium not least in the eyes of tevinter historians the Imperium itself flourished during this time culturally architecturally magically and scientifically astronomy were one of these scientific fields that received much attention and Research into it during the early Heyday of the Imperium the modern constellations that can be seen in the night sky in thetas today were mapped by tevinter Scholars and given names in tavine like equanor and judics there are however evidence to suggest that many of these constellations had already been mapped by the elves during the ancient days and that the tevinter scholars simply changed the names of them from Elvish to tavin while we are speaking about tevinter astronomy we might as well mention the astroriums these strange and mystical devices can be found all across the continent of thedas and is believed by modern Scholars to have been created by a tevinter cult before the time of andraste these objects would reveal hidden caches of supplies and messages to the user but only if one could solve a kind of puzzle where one must map out a certain constellation as mentioned these were created during the time before andraste but if it was during tevinter's golden age or later is hard to say in the now continent-spanning Empire of tevinter new cities were built in the conquered provinces of the Imperium and the faith of the old gods were spread to many corners of thedas not just to Winter settlements like the slave colony of amarius later kirkwall were built to mine a nearby jetstone which in itself were used to build numerous temples in the capital of minrathus another important building Venture of this time was the quite ambitious project of the Imperial Highway this was to be an enormous Road Reaching Across all the conquered lands of the Imperium binding them together however distant they were elevated and built on compact stone-like marble much of it mined by slaves in the quarries of modern-day kirkwall it would take the Imperium generations to construct and according to Dwarven accounts to Winter magisters used magic to construct the highway as no such construction could have been built entirely without the use of the arcane the highway never actually reached its full completion and the reasons for that we will get to later but at its longest extension the highway literally stretched from one end of the continent to the other starting at the imperium's capital of minrafis the highway wound its way South through modern day Navarra or lay and even across the frostback mountains into ferelden which still was very hostile towards the tevinter occupants the highway split off in several parts towards paravantium in the north and towards anderol's reach in orlei there was even a bridge of the highway that reached across the waking sea between modern day valroyo and lid a bridge that today lies in ruins the highway circled Lake Calum had in frelden and also split in two one going towards the ferelden capital of denarim and the other branching off South ending at The tevinter-built Fortress of ostagar this Fortress marked the southernmost point of tevinter's influence on the continent built not only as a fortress against possible invasions from the Chase and tribes to the south in the kokkari Wilds but also as a site for Magical experimentation like ostagar many Native interstructures were built throughout the length of the road and it reached some of the most important cities of the continent much of the Imperial Highway as was stated earlier stands to this very day and is used frequently by Travelers though many parts now lie in ruin and have fallen into disrepair over the years the reasons as to why it was never fully completed and Construction in many places were hindered is one of the things we will not talk about for even though this was the supposed golden age of the tevinter Imperium its might and influence stretching across the entirety of thedas this period was not Untouched by conflicts secession and infighting with the conquest of the rest of the continent and its disparate number of peoples many non-to-winter Mages were now a part of the Imperium says magic was seen as a gift from the old gods within to Winter culture the religious leaders and magisters of tevinter considered this new underclass of foreign magic users as inferior and not worthy of acknowledgment this matter came to a head during the reign of arkhon al-madrius from -760 to -692 ancient Al Madras had many tevinter Mages as apprentices but decided to also take a lowborn man named tidarian as his Apprentice this created great uproar and Scandal into winter Society since tadarian was not only of low birth but also of planasini blood a foreigner as archons usually named their heirs from among their pupils and apprentices the thought of a low-born foreigner potentially inheriting the seat of the archon was simply too much for many Nobles and magisters into winter especially Al madras's political Rivals Al Madrid's apprentices were assassinated by his Rivals one by one with almadrius himself surviving numerous attempts on his own life before he was finally killed by one of the Magister assassins in -692 ancient tidarian was the only one left standing after this and when the magisterium refused to acknowledge him as a legitimate Heir tadarian usurped the throne by force triggering a Civil War which splits the Imperial Legions between tadarian and the underclass of lowborn Mages into winter the latents and the religious institutions and magisters that opposed him and so Mage fought against Mage for the first time in centuries within the Imperium a few years before Al Madrid's assassination and the start of the Civil War the province of Western tevinter possibly noticing where the winds were blowing and taking advantage of the political upheaval interventor proper decided to rebel and split away from the Imperium in -695 ancient this land became known as the anderfels one of the other modern nations of thedas the Civil War of the Imperium would last for 52 years until the death of tidarian himself during the conflict with no Heir named the war continued for another 20 years as the magisters of the realm fought one another for the seat of power the war was eventually ended when parthenius formally of the Temple of dumat was crowned archon in -620 ancient parthenius agreed to let the leightons have seats in the magisterium and be allowed access to the temples addressing some of the reasons for the conflict both during and long after this devastating Civil War the Imperium would face another internal problem as the Imperium had expanded across the continent the legions had subjugated and ruthlessly suppressed the conquered peoples of many foreign lands most of them tribal in nature this spread strong resentment among the conquered populaces not least from the alamari of modern ferelden even under occupation many alamari still resisted to Winter rule with the establishment of the city of amarius in -620 ancient the city became a major Nexus for the imperium's slaves and slave raids were frequently carried out in the lands of the alamari from emerius not only that the ruling Noble family of amarius called the Cravens were the ones pushing most fervently for the Imperial Highway to be extended across the frostback mountains and into the lands of the alamori this met with Fierce resistance for decades to come as the alamari hurried sabotaged and attacked the highway and its guards so fervently that the entire project was never completed soon another political crisis followed with the archon's throne becoming vacant and the two most influential magisters in the Imperium vied for it as the realm was plunged into another civil war that lasted for 20 years between -575 and -55 ancient though it eventually came to an end this would Mark the end of the imperium's Golden Age though the people living at the time would certainly not have seen it that way tevinter began to thrive again after the Civil war and a couple of decades after the Civil War the underfels having enjoyed 160 years of Independence was reconquered by a revitalized Imperium it would seem like the Imperium would remain the superpower of thedas for countless centuries to come after this but the Glory Days as many tevinter historians would call it would soon come to an end and the tevinter Imperium would in the coming centuries be brought Low by the hubris of Their Own magisters according to tevinter and Chantry sources in the year -395 ancient a group of tevinter magisters successfully managed to magically breach the veil and entered the realm of the fade physically the magisters in question were the magisters cedarial the seven ruling High priests representing each old God it is said that the old gods had started whispering to the priests prior to the event promising them godhood if they would enter the fade and the Golden City at its Center dumat the old God of Silence were the first to contact his high priest this man had many names and titles was his birth name the conductor of the choir of Silence but his most well-known epitaph would be corypheus together with the other high priests a powerful magical ritual was prepared and performed using blood magic the sacrifice of hundreds of slaves and two-thirds of all the lyrium in the tevinter Imperium the veil was breached and the Magister sidereal set foot inside the fade itself what happened next has been the subject of countless debates throughout the years from all different kinds of viewpoints Chantry Cannon states that when the magisters entered the fade and the Golden City their steps blackened the city and the maker upon his throne cursed the magisters for their hubris and cast them back into the world corrupted and deformed as the magisters became the first darkspawn in contrast to this corypheus himself would much later state that this had not been the case at all he claimed that when he and the other magisters entered the city it was already tainted and black and the Thrones of the city were empty they did not bring Darkness into the world as he saw it but simply discovered the darkness that was already there and letting it become a part of them and their being this turned them into the darkspawn whatever happened in the fade that fateful day the magisters were sent back to thedas there the taint that had become a part of them spread to other beings who in turn also turned into darkspawn eventually guided there or not these first darkspawn found their way to an ancient prison underground that held the draconic form of the old God dumat the darkspawn corrupted the dragon with their taint and turned dumat into the first archdemon and with that the first blight started for almost 200 years from -395 to -203 ancient the darkspawn Hoards almost annihilated Dwarven civilization before then using the Deep roads built underground to make their way up towards the surface where they wrought Untold Devastation upon the lands of thedas for the tevinter Imperium who controlled almost all of the continent this was an unexpected and overwhelming assault that hit the Empire from all sides at the same time its Legions fought back but were also pushed back on all fronts the attacks came from everywhere as the darkspawn could surface anywhere from the vast deep roads up to the surface and the soldiers of the Imperium could not be everywhere at once large swaths of territory were forced to be given up to The darkspawn Horde as the armies of tevinter pulled back to the heartlands of the Empire and the capital of minrathus over the course of the blight the fact that one of their own Gods were seemingly the archdemon leading the blight against them largely destroyed the spiritual morale of many tevinter citizens who had been told for centuries that the old gods were on their side in the wake of the blight the people of tevinter Desperately sought to appease the rest of the old gods at their temples and shrines but the rest of the old gods did not answer and gave only silence to their desperate worshipers feeling betrayed and abandoned by their own Gods this crisis of Faith resulted in many citizens of tevinter abandoning their old faith and many went so far as to raise several temples and murder Priests of the faith large-scale rebellions within the Imperium broke out within its northern and Eastern provinces rebellions that were put down brutally with demonic summonings from the ruling magisters the vast Imperium was ravaged from the outside by the darkspawn hordes and on the inside by its own people who now felt abandoned and betrayed by both their gods and Masters even when the archdemon was finally stopped with a combined Army led by the newly formed gray wardens at the Battle of the silent plain in southern tevinter in the year -203 ancient the effects of the blight were still felt by the Imperium for decades afterward it took years to push the darkspawn underground even after the victory at the silent plane and when it was finally done tevinter was not the same the Empire had been plundered and devastated its people driven to desperation and Rebellion as their gods had abandoned them and they had lost their fundamental Faith the Imperium was still the most powerful Nation on the continent but its will had been irrevocably shaken and the morale of the legions had been reduced quite considerably as a result of the blight all lands south of the waking sea mostly modern day ferelden and or lay was abandoned by tevinter and the southernmost Outpost of the Imperium ostagar was was left empty at the southern edge of the Wilds the tevinter Imperium still stood at the end of the first blight but it was battered and bruised like never before and it would not be long until a new threat would show itself against the empire one that would usher in a new era of Faith across thetas andrastes exalted March against the tevinter Imperium changed not only the nature of tevinter society but impacted the entire continent of thedas in more ways than one after the first blight tevinter was still a mighty Empire but having been forced to relinquish its conquered territories in Southern thedas and still reeling militarily and spiritually after the war with the darkspawn it was severely weakened so when an alomari woman named andraste formerly ate a winter slave and her husband mafrath crossed the waking sea with a tribal Army at their beck and call the Imperium now faced a new opponent andraste spread the new faith of the maker decrying The Reckless use of magic that the magisters of tevinter had engaged in for centuries denouncing their oppression of the continent and proclaiming that their dragon gods were false deities there existed only one God and that was the maker this religion quickly spread and gathered followers as andraste launched what was to be known as the exalted March against tevinter in -180 ancient and met with success as the years went on former slaves and many among the oppressed masses flocked to her side and her faith the Elven slaves under charton rose up against their tevinter masters and in the climactic Battle of valerian Fields the army of androste won a hard-fought and decisive victory over the tevinter forces in -171 ancient the exalted Marsh's ultimate goal to overthrow the tevinter Imperium and the faith of the old gods ultimately ended in Failure however as andraste was betrayed by her own husband mathareth and given over to the tevinter magisters she was burned at the stake for her Defiance against the Imperium in -170 ancient publicly put to death by arkhon haserian himself as agreed with mafrat much of Southern thedas was given over to him and his sons while the Imperium kept control of much of the north with such distant places as estwatch having been abandoned by the Imperium during the war and although the ultimate goal of the exalted March had failed the permanent loss of the South the spreading of the faith of the maker andrastes martyrdom and the weakening state of the faith of the old gods would change the Dynamics of thedas forever Ten Years Later in -160 ancient hesarian converted to andrastianism starting the transfigurations which turned to Winter into the First Nation dedicated to the faith of the maker the lower classes largely sided with Assyrian against many Highborn Nobles and mages with whom Spiritual Authority traditionally had Lane and those who resisted were overthrown eventually this laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Imperial Chantry to Winter's own version of the Maker's Faith tailored to the imperium's own mage-centric culture despite reforming its culture and National Faith tevinter might and influence would steadily decline over the coming centuries after the death of hesarian in -125 ancient the other provinces still controlled by the Imperium in the south and east began to talk of secession fearing that hesarean's successor would reinstitute the faith of the old gods and the power of their respective clergy and secession came to pass as the Eastern province of ravane rebelled in -120 ancient in an attempt to gain independence from tevinter the Imperium responded with military force but met with stiff resistance because of the aid that ravane was receiving from several city-states in the free marshes eventually after a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Tamarin in -53 ancient to Winter abandons the entirety of its eastern Holdings not long after the kingdom of ravane was founded in -44 ancient antiva followed suit in -30 ancient finally emerius the last Bastion of the Imperium and the three marches and the South cut off from tevinter and its Aid since the end of the first exalted March almost 150 years earlier false as the city's local magisters are overthrown in a slave revolt the city is later renamed kirkwall so at the end of the ancient age and at the dawning of what would be known as the Divine age devender had seen its power and influence in the rest of thedas shrink and disappear since the death of andraste with the exception of the anderfels which was still controlled the Imperium had never been weaker but had forged itself a new identity a new religion and to a certain extent a modified culture that would meet the following ages as the chant of light spread in southern thedas the Elysian Chantry was eventually founded in -3 ancient with the help of the olesian emperor cordillius dracon the head of the faith the Divine justinia was crowned in the era 1-1 of the new age giving it the name the Divine age almost instantly conflicts began between the newly founded Chantry and tevinter the Imperium had as previously mentioned since the time of arkhon hazarian and the transfigurations more than a century earlier been organizing and creating their own version of andrasianism now that the southern Chantry had been created and were insistent that their version of the faith was the correct one this caused quite a lot of problems between the continents faithful it was also during this time that tevinter would lose one of their last territorial Holdings on the continent excluding its own heartlands during the outbreak of the second blight in one five Divine the winter Imperium seeking to defend itself more effectively completely abandoned the underfels where the blight first broke out left on their own the inhabitants of the underfells were later saved during the blight by the orlesians and later still gained independence of their own but the Betrayal of tevinter during the second blight would be something that the anders would never forget nor forgive even to this day and so to Winter who had once controlled in essence the entirety of thedas now only ruled over their heartlands and the island of saheron the religious tensions between the orlesian Chantry and their tevinter counterparts soon resulted in a complete religious Schism the second commandment of the maker magic exists to serve man and never to rule over him was the main point of tension between the two sides along with some other issues and tevinter had an entirely different viewpoint on the role of magic in andrastianism than the southern Chantry after a series of events the tevinter Chantry split off and formed the Imperial Chantry in the year 387 towers with its own Divine in manrathus known as the black Divine in the rest of thedas compared to the white Divine in valroyo violence followed not long after as the southern Chantry launched a series of Holy Wars more exalted marshes to forcefully break the tevinter Heretics and bring them back into the fold an exalted March had already previously been launched against tevinter-controlled starkhaven in 280 Glory but the following marshes were now of a different character against a heretical magic friendly Faith according to the orlesian Chantry between 440 black and 510 exalted over the course of 70 years four exalted marshes were called against tevinter in quick succession it took the forces of the Southern Chantry several years and well into the fourth of these marches to make territorial gains into tevinter lands but the ultimate goal of Conquering the capital of manrathus eventually ended in Failure if anything these EXO that marches did nothing more than cement the religious beliefs of the tevinter populace in their own Chantry instead of bringing them over to the orlesian one the outbreak of the fourth blight in 512 exalted put a stop to any future marches against the Imperium and a maligned tevinter refused to send Aid to the rest of the continent during the resulting blight because of the Decades of holy war that had been waged against them by the rest of the continent the Schism had forever split the faithful of thedas in two a divorce that has not been mended even today in modern thedas having lost all other provinces previously controlled by the Imperium the only other remaining lands controlled by tevinter after the exalted marches and the fourth blight as mentioned earlier was the island of saharon being the largest island in thedas saharon had been a part of the Imperium since its Glory Days before the first blight and was considered a natural part of the realm but in 632 steel the island the Imperium and the rest of thedas would come under assault from the cune and the qunari during the cause of the long qunari Wars Saharan and all of tevinter with the exception of its sturdy Capital minrathus would become occupied by the cune and even though several exalted marches by the Imperial and orlesian chantries and Decades of bloody conflicts managed to push the qunori off the mainland and back to their conquered islands of saheron and parvolan this would not bring an end to the Bloodshed between tevinter and the kyun now a shadow of its former self yet still fiercely combative the Imperium had been bloodied by the newcomers and now wanted vengeance the lemarine Accords that were signed in 784 storm was a treaty that ended the conflicts between the rest of thedas and the kyun but to Winter refused to be present at the meeting or sign the peace treaty whether or not considering the war done or simply craving Revenge tevinter continued its war with the qunari on their own as both sides sought to influence and extend its powers over what was left of Northern thedas Saharan had been taken back by the Imperium at the time of the signing of the lomirin Accords in 784 storm but years later in 855 blessed the qunari launched another offensive against the Imperium and took back the island ever since then the conflict had been waxing and waning between the two Powers up until this very day during the qunari wars in 734 storm as war was raging in the very heart of tevinter a political decision was made that would shape the Imperium for centuries to come the leader of the nation the archon was elected directly from the ranks of the circle of Magi this had previously been forbidden outlawed since the days of Assyrian and the transfigurations but whether as an emergency decision or something more Sinister the new archon named nomaran abolished these old laws once and for all this resulted in the magisters of the Imperium gradually ceasing back control of the political system of tevinter once again this process continued after the lomeran Accords had been signed and is the reality of the Imperium of today the history of modern day to Winter is one of defiance in the face of Decay and changing ways the cultural Splendor of the Imperium of old can still be seen especially in minrathus but years of war against the qunari and civil Strife among slaves and the lower classes have led to a decrease in living standards as thousands of refugees is drawn to the capital in the wake of the war with the horned ones and yet as Jenna TV writes on the Imperium in pursuit of knowledge the travels of a Chantry scholar quote the Imperium survives whether with sword or magic tevinter remains a force to be reckoned with end quote currently ruled by arkhon rodonis the nation have had to deal with internal problems from 941 dragon and onwards as an ultra-nationalistic cult called the venatori have tried to gain both political and military power in the Imperium venerating their leader corinthius the cult persisted in small numbers even after the defeat of corypheus in 942 Dragon those of the Cults still with influence in the magisterium are opposed by a new political faction known as the Lucerne a small group of passionate but unexperienced minor magisters with the goal of redeeming and restoring the tevinter Imperium not only in the eyes of its own citizens but also in the eyes of the rest of thedas on top of all of this the untam the military arm of the qunari launched another invasion of Mainland to Winter in 944 Dragon an act apparently unsanctioned by the rest of the kyun's leadership as of 945 Dragon the major cities of Ventus carestis and naromanian have so far Fallen to the kunori forces and only time will tell if this is the beginning of a minor or major conflict for the tevinter Imperium that was quite an extensive lecture but we are now at its end the upcoming Examination for this lecture will cover all the main subjects brought up today so don't slack when it comes to reading up on Ancient to winter history or the tavine grammar chapters for that matter next time we meet we will continue with the nations of thedas as we move on to the anderfels so stay tuned for that one I wish you all good luck and thank you very much for joining me have a good day I have been Professor Absalom and I will see you all in the next lecture thank you all very much for watching this video it's been a while since I made a longer format video and this one took a while to get done but now it is finally here as I mentioned in the video the next series of longer videos will cover the major nations of thedas and we will continue with the anderfels next time until then I will get some shorter floran fauna videos out for you to enjoy we are also closing in on 10 000 subscribers so a massive thank you to all who have subscribed and become new viewers of the channel during this period you are all great and the channel will hopefully reach a new Milestone soon because of you guys don't forget to like subscribe and comment to satisfy the algorithm and until next time have a good one

Channel: Lore University

Views: 18,632

Keywords: #dragonage, #dragonageorigins, #dragonage2, #dragonageinquisition, #lore, #videogames, #dragonagedreadwolf, #tevinter, #tevinterimperium

Id: IPkc42BLgzY

Length: 96min 53sec (5813 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 01 2023