MichaelFinnegan wrote...
It is certainly an alluring idea for conflict resolution. But...
Off the top of my head, I can think of at least two major issues with why this will not likely happen:
1. Out of sight doesn't necessarily imply end of danger: The Chantry and all those who fear mages wouldn't allow mages to go settle in some isolated island precisely because they'd fear an eventual invasion; and let us be frank here, the dangers of organized mage assault this way is manifold. In a nutshell, what they'd always fear is unsupervised power - they woudn't want blood magic to be used anywhere, they wouldn't want the rise of another Imerium, and so on and so forth.
Like I said, this theorhetical homeland would be well and far beyond Thedas. Given that mages exiled there will be pretty much starting from scratch, including developing the basic infrustructure, industry and such needed for even the most elemental semblance of society and civilization. They are going to be busy for quite some time just building even sustainable communities.
Even for mages, geographical distance and isolation is a signifgant barrier to any potential invasion. the laws and limits of magic would prevent teleportation, and it would take centuries to build an invasion army, as well as develop the necessary logistics to field it.
2. Offsprings. It is not such a simple thing as all mages move to some place and everyone lives happily ever after. In Thedas, mages are likely going to be born of non-mage parents; and wherever the mages move to, they'd likely have non-mage children. The issue of sepration of children from their families will hound all of them. For how long? Who knows? At this point, I don't know whether being born a mage is purely a genetic phenomenon or whether it is all that lyrium in the water as some characters in DA2 like to think about it.
yes there is that. My solution isn't one that is meant to cover all mages, even future ones, or completely resolve the mage issue. It's mainly geared towards those mages currently living, who are going to be, one way or another, caught up in a conflict in a society they might not want anything to do with. What will happen to future mages born after many current ones leave is another issue entirely.
And as far as the children born to mages in the theorhetical homeland,. I do not see how this wopuld be a problem. It is due to Chantry law and practice that mages are seperated from families. Chantry law would not even be an issue, since the theorhetical society in question would be one formed outside of the Chantry and it's laws. And it is unlikely that the mages who would agree to be exiled and live elsewhere would want to continue the Chantry system they most likely have been hurt by. As far as mages having non Mage children, i do not see this as a problem either. Once the mages have been exiled, it's their home, their society. Non-mage children born in such a place would not be automatically forced out or taken away, but raised like any other kid. A mage homeland wouldn't necessarily have to be 100% mages, there would likely be a couple of mundanes popping up as well. However, due to the seemingly recessive genetic nature of magic (and it is genetic, the Tevinter even kept breeding records and lineages of families producing mages) it is likely that non-mages would be a pretty uncommon thing. Though I don't really think that would matter much, as the point of a mage homeland would not be total exclusion, but the chance for self-determination and the creation of a society and system on their own terms, something that does not have any known precedent (even the Tevinter don't count. The tevinter were a group of normal human tribes like any other, with the exception being that their mages ended up becoming the dominant power over non-mages through the years).
And I'm sure we can find many real life examples of such separations (mostly religious) which haven't worked.
There are also a number that have. Either way, it's a choice. It's up to the mages on whether or not they will make it work.
The qunari threat is another reason why the Chantry and some of the others wouldn't let go of mages. The qunari, even with their supposed "technological" superiority had to rely on their mages to gain some kind of a standing in battle. Mages are assets in battle, and it only takes one side to have mages to tip the balance in their favor.
Yes, I am aware that it is unlikely the Chantry will simply let mages leave, because the Chantry will not accept anything but total control and ownership of the mages. And thus, it is likely that the Chantry will have to be forcibly "persuaded" to back off and let the mages leave. But this isn't necessarily a problem. If you want to look at a real world example, we have the Old Testament and the story of Moses trying to free the israelites from slavery in Egypt so they could leave and settle their promised Land. Naturally, the Pharaoh wasn't on board with Moses and his plan, and repeatedly said no or attempted to stop him. And we know how the story played out, complete with supernatural, divine plagues and punishments brought down upon the population of Egypt.
obviously, I'm not drawing a direct analogue to the Biblical tale, but just utilizing it as an example, that while the Chantry might say "no" doesn't mean that will be the end of it. obviously, the Chantry will try to stop such an event, and their attempts to stop any massive, outward migration will have to be dealt with. Harshly.
And on another note, I now have an image of "Moses the Mage", complete with staff, rasing his arms and using magic to part the waking sea so that the mages can cross it, then dropping the sea once the majority of their templar pursuers are already mid crossing, and the templars suddenly discovering that heavy plate armor is a serious impediment to swimming. And to top it all off, these scene is occuring in the middle of a Mel Brooks film, lol.
:wizard:
It is certainly an interesting thought, but one that will run into some practical hurdles I'm afraid.
of course it will run into hurdles. Most plans, especially ones of this magnitude and size, always do, and I never said it would involve smooth, flawless execution. Hurdles can be overcome, like anything. The real point is that it is an option, one that has never been considered, and one that provide a partial solution. And of course, a choice for the mages where none before exists. Not all mages would even want to do so. But there are probably a signifgant number who would be interested in the idea, and for those, it provides them a third option.
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