A good thread, thank you for starting it.
First of all, there is the question:
do we want mages to roam free? Without any check and break?
They deserve freedom, because:
- they are humans (elves), with feelings, emotions, various skills and personalities
- magic is just a tool, like any other tools, you have, be it poison, weapon, retorics, gunpowder, healing potion
- oppression almost always leads to people fighting back, dissatisfaction makes people act, and do desparate measures
- a happy peaple growing up in healthy family surroundings, socialised to live within non-mages, and non-mages being socialised to live with mages are less prone to hatered and drastic measures.
There should be breaks because:
- they can not be asked to not use their "weapons", while you can tell a fighter: put down that sword and go into this pub without it, what can you do to a mage? drink this numbin potion, that prevents you from moving? You
can not rip the weapon they possess from them for durations. There is
no armband of limit or anti-magic field. It is not something you can
switch off and on, depending on need. It is always there.
- they are more prone to be possessed by demons/spirits (though we have seen that non-mages can be possessed too)
- demons are very very dangerous, not because they are strong, but because they know you. They do not make demands, they smartly feed on your own feelings. They do not evoke, they merely strengthen. Step by step they lure you into a direction they want you in. You will not even notice, when you step over the red line. Looking back, you might go: by the maker/creators/dread wolf/water, I never thought I will walk this far! But you don't look back, because what you see in front of you is so much better then what you leave behind. People becoming abominations are not stupid, thoughtless, evil, selfish people necessarily. But they are human. They have goals, desires, needs. Many of them are quite noble.
- it is dangerous (it can be random, unexpected). Just like I wouldn't let my child handle the fireplace alone, without supervision, I would hate my kids to play with Sandal (considering he occasionally blows up the place he is at), I do not let an unexperienced person peel a potato with a knife alone... there needs to be limits, supervision, study, education how to handle dangerous matters.
Let me pull a modern life example: prisons and asylums. Prisons and asylums close people away from the society who have the ability and power to endanger members of the society. If the prison inhabitants revolt, do you want them to set loose? No. Not even if the revolt is justified, because the (human) guards and jailors were abusive. We have often seen that, psychological studies show that people put in position of power, do things they never thought possible. Most of the experiements in this field had to be stopped because people involved became so radical. Do we want people let loose from the asylumns? It is not their fault, they are how they are, often they have not hurt anyone at all.
What is a likely scenario if mages live free?
After the initial relaxation of the mages, and the general fear that runs through the population, there will be abuses. People will kill mages for any unexplanable events (there was no rain for two weeks, I am sure the mage caused it). And unchecked mages will set damons lose on people, haunt their dreams. The ones having no moral boundaries will 'level up' fast , have money, bribe people, gain supporters, evoke fear, gain power. If we have a group of candidates for the power, the one with the best tools will gain it. And in most cases that's a mage without moral, self-imposed limits. It will be kind of like lawyers are seen. Most people hate lawyers, because they often get into contact with the powerful unethical ones. But it'll label -all- lawyers, not only the bad ones.
Is there an alternative to the circle?
I couldn't find one. Not if we define the cirlce as: a place where mages are supervised to ensure that the dangers of magic itself are limited to a minimum.
What is good in the circle?
- education, the mages need to learn how to deal with the tools they can not part with. Just lik a child needs to learn how to walk, speak, write, eat...you can not push a sword into the hand of a 4 year old and go: good luck, see you whenever. It is dangerous both to the kid and his surroundings. None ever considers doing it. Magic is the same, just not by choice, the maker or whoever created people of Thedas put magic in the hands of children and let them lose. Without any guidance and help. How can a non-mage teach a mage to use the tool? A non mage has neither the capacity, nor the chance to understand magic, because we likely lack the sensory organs for it (otherwise it would not only be mages who are possessed by demons). If you put those people in a surrounding that is full with people who can understand what they go through, who can teach them how to live with magic, and make magic a gift instead of a curse, then we win. Segragation is not always bad. At times it serves the needs of people who are segrageted, think on schools which have smaller classes, and less fast spaced lessons, or other schools that are more focused on sports in order to handle hyperactive children. Every sort of need can be supplied for in the proper form and institute. Even today, specially gifted and talented kids are likely to end up in schools for specially gifted and talented kids, no?
- mechanism to handle mages that lost their limits
What is bad in the circle?
It is an institute run by humans. And humans are faulty. Humans often seek power over the others (maybe a hint from old time animalistic rivalry and dominance fighst?) Just like mages will go stray, their supervisors will go stray. No ideology, however noble and fine, will be able to withstand human greed and manipulation. All fine ideologies failed there. So as long as we can not rip ourselves from everything that makes us human, whatever we come up with, will have flaws.
What could be done to improve the circles?
- control for the templars. This would mean a right for the Circle to appeal eg to the Chantry or the ruler of the place, to check on the templars. Just like the right of the templars to call on an outside place to check on the mages. Probably I would rip the right of annulment from the Templars, and make it a right of initiating annulment with an upper forum, mostly outside forum. One that consists of mages and non-mages both. (yay, for administration)
- family surroundings: allowing families that wish for it, to live near the circles. That would make circles have a town evolved around them, where mages and non-mages would live in a cooperation, socialising both mages and non-mages how to handle each other.
- field trips? part of the education would be teaching mages how to handle non-mages that fear them. To make them see, that their uniqueness will always evoke fear on those who don't possess such power.
- education for those passing the harrowing in blood magic and about demons, so they understand the dangers and are not so easy pray for the demons
- general permits to leave and live outside of the circle for those who "finished school", with the promise of returning yearly for a "demon-scan" (go to the fade and check how he is there, demons appear in the fade after all).
Even Trevinter mages have their own "templars'", just with less power. Even the Keepers have their own "templars" (the whole clan) who kill an abomination Keeper. And magic knowing people at the Dalish are not walking free, they are linked to the Keeper.
It would be nice to have some tools that would allow people to see if someone is an abomination or under the influence of a demon or not (just like it would be nice to be able to tell if someone has the taint or not). It would be nice to have a tool, that temporarily prevents mages to be able to use their abilities (anti-magic fields, double void bracelets, demon repellants). But there are no such things in Thedas.
Are all mages corrupt? No, not more then any other human. They just have more power to do harm if they go astray.
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