"Titan, the Archaean, steadfast as stone.
Ramuh, the Fulgurian, sharp as lightning.
Shiva, the Glacian, gentle as snow.
Leviathan, the Hydraean, relentless as tides.
Bahamut, the Draconian, unbending as iron.
Ifrit, the Infernian, fickle as fire.
Executors of the Maker, Guardians of his Divine Majesty.
Since time immemorial, they have watched over Eos."
- The Cosmogony of Holy Fundamentalism Order
***
"This could result in another Exalted March, but this time it would be aimed at Orlais..."
His son Septimus said with a resigned tone of voice, as he wasn't really most pleased about choosing the most violent solution out of all.
"Then let them come... we are more than prepared for them. And both of us know that if Tevinter were prepared for the Exalted March, the result would be vastly different."
Even though the Tevinter Imperium won the war and defeated the Crusaders of the Exalted March, the Imperium also lost a lot of its national power during the Exalted March and suffered tremendous losses.
Most of it stemmed from the fact that they were not prepared properly, and many Magisters chose to ignore the threat until it was too late, as they were convinced of the invincibility of their Magic and power.
"What did your wife say about it?"
Castana was a more pragmatic person than most, but at the same time, she understood the usage of power and how important the power was for the Ciriane.
"To send there Kingsglaives."
The old man chuckled lightly as he knew that his daughter-in-law hated dissent.
Within the Ciriane Clans and Tribes, rebellions and riots were pretty common occurrences and were happening almost on a periodic basis. Ciriane were very warrior-like Tribes, and they respected only strength.
"Then you have it. I will speak with Kordillus; he will probably want to lead the Kingsglaive on the mission. In the end, they were his idea, and this would be the first mission for them."
The Kingsglaive was never deployed till now.
"Commander Drautos would be delighted to take his troops to the battlefield, finally."
Kingsglaive's leader was Titus Drautos... a man of Tevinter origin who was previously a General in the Tevinter Army and was actually a very famous General by the name of General Glauca.
Drautos's ancestors fought in the Exalted March against the Tevinter Imperium and were one of the pivotal defenders of the borders, and led Tevinter to many victories against the Crusaders of the Exalted March.
In the service of the Tevinter, Drautos was callous and murderous, preferring to fight on the battlefield alongside his troops. Across the Tevinter Imperium, he was often charged with suppression of the slave rebellions, hunting for the Apostates, or dealing with the overpopulated bests.
He had a strong reputation for being an unparalleled swordsman and was probably one of the few Mages who wore heavy armor and fought in close-quarter combat. Unfortunately for him, he ran out of his luck due to some machinations of the cutthroat Tevinter society and was discharged from the army.
"He would suppress the riots in the Val Forent as fast as possible. The city is an important city to the Orlais as it serves as an entrance to both the Nahashin Marshes and the Western Approach."
The Western Approach range, an arid expanse near the Hunterhorn Mountains, primarily consists of the deserts, dunes, and oases that were scattered all over the place.
The Nahashin Marshes were an area in north-western to the Val Royeaux. The marshes are described as cold, wet, full of snakes, murky, and inhospitable. According to a Ciriane legend, the bow that belonged to the mythical archer named Arrowwood was bound in an iron case and buried in the Nahashin Marshes so that no one could use it again.
"I have also come to discuss something else."
There was another reason why Septimus wanted to speak with his father, aside from the problems that the riots of Andrastianists were creating in the Orlesian territory, which was a pretty serious problem.
But...
Since his son established the teachings of the Orange Fundamentalism Bible, it became inevitable.
"It's time to establish a new organization that would be congregating all Mages of Orlais under its banner... we have too many Mages in the Kingdom right now, and most of them are doing nothing literally. Aside from those who joined the Royal Magic Corps, others are just living across the cities."
Septimus, who was head of the State Governmental Office, also needed to deal with the Mages that were basically just being there. Contrary to the Tevinter, where the Mages were congregating in the various Towers and working under Magisters, most Mages of Orlais were just enjoying their lives in Orlais.
"We are already prepared for it. Once I reach Supreme-Tier, we will announce the creation of Kirin Tor and its Circles of Magi. Mages would be congregating in their respective Circle of Magi, with each Circle focusing on a specific type of Magic which they would be training in and researching, while Kirin Tor would serve like Magisterium in Teviner and oversee all of them."
Creation of the Mage Organization was already a long-discussed topic within the Royal Council since the Queen Castana openly declared that her kingdom would accept any Mage who wanted to flee from the persecution of the Cult of Andraste.
"Not even Tevinter has such a comprehensive and structured organization of Mages..."
Even though Septimus wasn't a Mage, after hearing for more than twenty minutes about the structure of the Circle of Magi, the division of the various Circles, and how the Kirin Tor, which would shelter it all, would function, he was deeply surprised.
Tevinter Imperium, despite being a Magocracy, was only loosely organizing its Mages in the various Mage Towers, with only Magisters and Gold-Tier Mages being able to construct their Mage Tower in the Tevinter Imperium.
"No... we wanted to create something that would not only gather the Mages under one banner, but also would be continuously pushing the boundaries of Magic. Even though you never went to Towers, you know how things were in Tevinter?"
Vanderin said as he ended with the question.
"Yes. But do you think the system would work?"
Septimus still lived most of his life in Tevinter and knew the society very well, and how the Mages of the Tevinter Imperium were. Most of them just lazed around, some were doing research, and some served in the army, but the majority of them only pretended to do anything at their respective Mage Tower.
"Yes... with the right combination of motivation and punishment, it would work splendidly."
Vanderin knew very well how Mages operated and was aware that with the right combination of benefits and threats, they would all quickly fall in line and do what the Kingdom wanted from them.
"Seeing your non-understanding expression allows me to elaborate."
Seeing that his son wasn't catching on, he proceeded to elaborate more in-depth.
"Most Mages are motivated by three things... Money, Knowledge, and Power, those would be the benefits of Kirin Tor. All Mages pool up their knowledge to advance their collective understanding of Magic, while those who make contributions to the Kingdoms would receive stipends from the nation. If they refuse, they would be either killed or exiled. But with the plans Kordillus, there won't be anywherfe where they could go... aside from the Deep Roads and live among the darkspawns."
Vanderin alughted at the end of the sentence because if the Orlais unified the continent, then the Mages who refused to pledge their allegiance wouldn't have much of a choice. Vanderin Drakon understood very well the power of Mages and accepted the words of his grandson.
'Either they would serve the Crown or they would all die.'
And he agreed with that... leaving the power of Magic in the unchecked lands was rather dangerous. Supreme-Tier Mages were like natural calamities that could easily destroy entire cities and reshape the landscape when they started using their true might.
In some irony, Mages were also the people who were most interested in keeping other Mages in check. This situation was rather dominant in Tevinter, where a few of the continent's remaining Supreme-Tier Mages were basically maintaining equilibrium and the status quo.
There was literally almost no progress in the research of Magic or development, because everyone was paranoid that their rivals would get ahead of them and become stronger...
Thus, it developed into a state where everyone was plotting and scheming against everyone.
This was something that couldn't happen in Orlais at all, and because of that, they needed institutionalization of Mages and Magic education.
"Well... this could work, but that would also require balance between Magic and having counters to Magic, and I don't think that Dimeritium and Tevinterean methods would really work in this case."
Septimus thought it over as he, in the end, agreed with his father, because the plan they had was rather good.
"I am aware... for that we want to create proper Anti-Magic Knights that would be tasked to create some counterweight to Mages en masse and also create a prototype of warriors that would be both Mages and Anti-Mages, both of whom would be obviously only answer to the Royal Family."
Vanderin stated seriously, as this was the personal project of the House Drakon for the past two hundred years or so. The House Drakon didn't produce a Supreme-Tier Mage for a very long time, so they turned their attention to another thing.
Anti-Magic.
Something that he was sure that his oldest was teaching both Kordillus and Cirilla.
"This would come as news to you, as you were never inducted into the research of our family."
Septimus Drakon nodded as he listened carefully to what his father had to say.
Because he wasn't a Mage, there were a lot of things he didn't know, especially regarding the ongoing research the House Drakon was doing, especially when it was still in Tevinter.
"My father, like his father before him and even before his father, was all researching Anti-Magic and means of nullifying Magic. In the end, many decades of effort culminated in the new Class of Knights that would walk across Thedas and would be the literal bane of Magic and Mages. We even created methods of mass-producing them, even though the requirements are strict, but the method is foolproof and could be used by anyone as long as the person completes basic criteria."
The House Drakon polished the Art of Spellbreaking through centuries of research and usage of Blood Magic. They collected hundreds of Spellbreaking Methods and merged them together to create an ultimate one.
"I don't think that Magisters would be pleased with this..."
Septimus muttered quietly as he listened to his father.
"So, what are your warriors called?"
Despite everything, he was rather intrigued because new Classes appear across the Thedas once in a few centuries. Or rather, there were many Classes, but the ones that became widespread could be counted on one hand.
The term itself was basically a description of a person's specialization, primarily in combat or solely in combat.
Base Classes of Thedas were: Mage, Knight, Rogue, Warrior and Archer.
Every base Class had several specializations that could be as few as two or three, or as many as more than twenty, in the case of the Mage Class, depending on the Magic Type that the Mage was using.
"We would call them Templars... Knights that are trained in the art of fighting Magic and Mages, while also being powerful swordsmen and warriors with no opponent."
The Templar Order.
Of course, its purpose wasn't just to be a counterweight to the Mages, but they would also be tasked with working together with Mages as their Tanks, and together they would fight the wars on behalf of the Orlais.
"Well... if we are successful, Tevinter or any Magic-based faction won't be such a tall mountain to overcome for us."
Normally, Mage could be defeated only by Mage.
This was a general rule.
For Mages below the Silver-Tier, one good shot with a bow, and they are as good as dead.