Circle Tower: Behind the Scenes

[kaispan]

So I'm (almost) writing an Amell fanfic, and I find myself wondering how much canon/truth there is with some of the stuff I keep running into--like the excessive promiscuity of the tower mages.

Comments

[silenceleigh]

I have a few theories

[kaispan]

yay theories! ^^ I love thinking of young Wynne lol-- I hope you figure out the other half of her Fabulous Adventures. ;D

Actually now that you mention it, I think I better check out some of the other mage fics, I have to admit I haven't read much since DA first came out.

thank you so much for your speculation! I'm definitely going to blast that background noise out my speakers to check it out now hehe.

[kaispan]

ooh that's a very good point. The mages certainly give the elves a run for their money when it comes to being repressed minorities, eh?

I haven't played any elf characters, but I find myself wondering...would the Suranas prefer being stuck in the Tower compared with the Alienage?

[kaispan]

here's hoping for some major social revolutions in DA2 ;P

why mages have lots of sex

[jakia]

* The rumors about the orgies under the moonlight have to come from somewhere.

* Robes are made for quickies.

* It's not like the Chantry lets them get married and actively discourages them from breeding. Without social expectations/roles, sex becomes just something for fun. I mean, look what most teenagers view sex as. Now add to the fact that they never plan to marry. Of course they are going to seem promiscuous.

* Magic and sex go hand in hand, not to mention fun things like magical sex rituals.

* It's not like they've got anything better to do in the Tower.

* Since Templars take vows of chastity, it's got to be fun to rub it in their faces. I bet it's one of the few luxuries mages get to hold over the Templars, and I bet the abuse it constantly.

I'm sure there are other better reasons, but these are the ones that came up off the top of my head.

Re: why mages have lots of sex

[kaispan]

my first reaction was a convulsive fit of laughter, but then I thought about it and realized... you are completely right.

and also funny.

high five!

Re: why mages have lots of sex

[jakia]

::high fives back::

To answer a few of your other questions:

* How are "magically inclined" children located? Are there bands of templars roaming around sniffing them out or do they usually just get reported in by their family/neighbors when exhibiting signs?

For one thing, nearly every village we've seen has a Chantry. Those Chantrys have Templars. Assuming the parents don't just turn the children in, SOMEONE is going to notice little Bobby can set shit on fire.

* I definitely got the idea Wynne was a free spirit/adventurous, but why should she be able to leave the tower and gallivant about? I didn't get the feeling mages had that much choice about staying inside the tower (just talk to some Separationists). And since no templar escort is sent with her when she joins your Warden, is that unusual? I was under the impression *any* mage regardless of rank couldn't run around unsupervised. I realize there are special circumstances (like your own drafting into the Wardens) but they never even mention it. I think at the time of the

Re: why mages have lots of sex

[silenceleigh]

* It's like being trapped in college full-time...for the rest of your life. You're together with these people 24/7, you have serious amounts of shared experiences, and you're in an environment that doesn't generally penalize having nookie. And heck, you've gotta have stuff to gossip about.

* Nothing's more fun than something that's theoretically forbidden.

[valiasedai]

On mage promiscuity: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Sexuality_and_Marriage#Mages source for the page is listed as David Gaidar. That and as someone else said: MAGIC SEX! I imagine there's some sort of herbal birth control as well - the families you do see (minus Goldanna) don't really have very many children. Maric is an only child, as is Cailan and Anora, the Guerins had three, the Couslands two, the guy at the inn on Lake Calenhad only had a sister. So few children makes me think it's out there, used fairly frequently, and not just to mages. Anders and Wynne both have very lax attitudes towards sex (with Wynne only getting bitchy due to the whole Blight thing) and freely tease others about it. I can definitely see it happening. Lock people up together for the rest of their lives? There's going to be some serious bed-hopping

[kaispan]

thanks for sharing your thoughts! I am also addicted to the Mage Origin. Or at least the class. (Adopted ftw x3)

and thanks for the link, I never noticed that section before. I was laughing at the quanari one--given how short Sten always is with Morrigan it seemed pretty ooc that he would turn around and give in to her; I always assumed he was trying to scare her off (and boy did that work xD). But then I remembered Mary Kirby saying Sten will never lie to you. Is this because he never lies, or is it because he regards you so highly (higher than Morrigan, for certain)? o_O (Sorry, the Sten does make me ramble on.)

How is Darkspawn Chronicles? I'm not all that sure I want to play it, but I love getting information from different perspectives to get the bigger picture... so it might be worth it?

[valiasedai]

Hehe, yeah, the sexuality in thedas is one I sort of stumbled across and decided to read. Very interesting! As far as what Sten said, I wouldn't call a joke a lie - but I also wouldn't be terribly surprised if it was somewhat true, given the nature of qunari. I think someone mentions Sten is stoic, even for a qunari. I can't remember who, where or when. (So helpful of me :P)

Darkspawn Chronicles on Normal/Hard actually made for a fairly challenging hack and slash, if still sort of hack and slash. It was interesting (for me :P) to see the choices made, I'm a total codex nerd, so I loved getting the update. Killing some people (Zevran, Alistair) was depressing, while killing others (Howe again, Goldanna, and >.> Wynne) was fun. Recruiting a Shriek and using that to play with was pure awesome. It was entertaining enough for $5. Though a warning: killing Alistair may/may not leave you feeling like you killed 1000 puppies/kittens/baby animal of your choice. It had to be the most "I won! Oh... I won. *sad eyes*" experience of my life :P

[kaispan]

yay Codex nerd! I'm sort of a junkie with the wiki which has assembled them all so nicely for me. ;D

And killing Goldanna, you say? >:D I don't know if I could really go through with the rest of it, though. Unless...maybe... can you play as an emissary? :D

I think I heard that about Sten as well (who knows where yeah haha). It's interesting meeting his brothers in the Fade--if they are representative of the qunari (to which Sten replies "not really") then I imagine that incredibly dry sense of humor is pretty pervasive. Which is my favorite kind.

Guuhh I luf Sten so much. I need an xpac just for him.

[crisium]

How could the door holding the phylactories tell if you had gone through the Harrowing or not? does something physically change about you? do you get a power upgrade? is it your new shoes?

I believe Anders mentions something in this vein-- and though I'm away from home (and thus, my game, to go double-check the dialog), I believe he says that once a mage has gone through his/her Harrowing, they cannot be made Tranquil. So it's not out of the question, I think, that there is some change in a post-Harrowing mage, be it physical or spiritual or what have you.

We all know the Chantry is against mages having children, so it seems like if this is allowed (one might say "overlooked" but I doubt they are unaware) there must be some magical birth control or sterilization enforced, or could this generalization just have been blown out of proportion based on Duncan's single encounter in The Calling? Again, this is just going on what I can remember, and so may not be 100% accurate. But the wiki had a bit of dialog

[kaispan]

no thank you very much for rambling on! (and excuse me while I do the same!) ^^ I haven't started my copy of Awakenings yet so that is a very interesting tidbit by Anders. I always assumed that the maleficar or apostates they hunted down could be made tranquil, but if that's not possible it makes sense that they would just kill them. I just really wonder what that change is exactly--I mean, is there an apostate equivalent? I feel like there must be those outside the Circle that have encountered demons and bested them; would that count as "harrowed"?

and the emotion/magic link gives me some wonderful ideas, so thank you on that count also. :D

I'm definitely going to have to force-talk the heck out of Wynne, my first game I had her in my party the whole time and she never mentioned having a son. :P

[crisium]

It's a dialog she has with Alistair. Here's the text, from the wiki