) The Chantry is a bully. It uses its own religious dogma to create an oppressive system that is inherently abusive, and not even just to mages, which we've already discussed extensively. Templars suffer under Chantry rule by being force-fed lyrium, an addictive substance. If they find that they don't like being Templars, they can't leave.
The Circle system is neccessary and not all that horrible in most places, it just needs some reform. Templars have to be given Lyrium to perform their duties. Would you rather we grab normal soldiers and send them into the breach, fighting demigods who can hurl fire and lightning and cause earthquakes with their mind? Needs of the few, needs of the many.
The Chantry is incredibly hypocritical. It ignored the historical contributions the elves had made to free Andraste's followers from the enslavement of the Tevinter Imperium, and removed the Book of Shartan from the Chant of Light. It did these things in order to justify attacking the elves of the Dales.
Your kidding right? People still know about Shartan and his contributions. The Second Exalted March was caused by many things. For instance, when Montsimmard was attacked by the horde during the Second Blight, the walls broke and darkspawn poured into the city, slaughtering everyone. The Dalish had a massive army overlooking the city, but they literally sat down and watched the city burn at the hands of the darkspawn. This severely soured relations with Orlais, understandably. Continued border skirmishes and attempts at conversion by the Chantry ended when the Elves up and declared war, attacking the town of Red Crossing and then attacking the city of Montsimmard, which they had abandoned to its fate before. It was only when they were on the doorsteop of Val Royeaux that the Chantry stepped in and called an Exalted March.
So the elves let us get massacred and then attacked us. Just for the record.
It preaches the "evils" and "dangers" of magic and mages, and uses this stance as the excuse to deny the general public access to services like healing and enchantment, but sees nothing wrong with using these resources to consolidate and/or maintain it's own authority (using mages as a military force against the Qunari, etc). It brings the mages out when it suits them to do so, and then shuts them back up again without even having the common courtesy to thank them for their valuable service.
Ok, I'm sure the Templars thank the mages when they're done getting healed by them. The Templars don't force the mages to go out and heal peasants or enchant shovels, it tries to contain them in one place for security reasons. We both agree that needs to change.
You'll probably say "Ohhhh, but what about all the orphans the Chantry takes in? What about in Lothering and Redcliffe where the Chantry was used as shelter? What about the poor people it collects donations for?", to which I say the Chantry does not deserve credit for simply looking after its own. It is in the Chantry's own best interests to try and prevent the slaughter of its own adherents. Bullies are nice to their friends, but that doesn't change the fact that they are bullies.
So, the Chantry does not deserve credit for helping people all across Thedas, giving sanctuary to travelers all across Thedas, caring for widows and orphanages all across Thedas, guiding community efforts and then paying for them out of their own pocket (most quests on the chanters board are about fixing roofs you know, not just killing people). We totally shouldn't give them credit for offering their buildings as a sanctuary in times of crisis, or having their templars fight to protect people (Lothering, Qunari Invasion, Mages, whether you like their methods or not). No let's dismiss all of that because... it makes them look good? I'm not following you on this. It almost seems like your trying to dismiss all the notable day to day ways the Chantry helps people in favour of going on about mages, but that's absurd.
And that's all just physical good deeds they do. The Chantry holds services for the nearby people, teach Andraste's word, and give counsel to those in need, just like any modern church would.
The Chantry isn't just guilty of hoarding magic and lyrium, but also physical wealth. In any given city, town, village or settlement, the Chantry is the largest building and the most lavishly decorated, with perhaps the exception of the local lord's keep. If the Chantry in Kirkwall, just as an example, were serious about helping the "less fortunate", then it could sell off its tapestries and paintings, and its hundred-foot-high golden statues.
Unfortuante truth, its hard to get people to donate money to a shack, and its hard to find a place for travelers to sleep in a shack, not to mention all the widows and orphans. People give money to the Chantry, and the Chantry sews tapestries of Andraste and buy books for people to read. What villians.
The Kirkwall Chantry was very lavish and expensive, but you also have to remember that the Chantry is a political force as well. They have to command respect, which is hard to do from a shack. Plus, all those statues look cool, and some would argue their continued presence will do more good for the world than giving 30 peasants one meal.
Furthermore, Meredith blatantly violated the Chantry's own laws by taking de facto control over the city. She even tried to force Aveline to cede authority of the city guard over to the Templars.
The position of Viscount is supposed to be decided by the nobility, not the Templars. If the Chantry had any respect for secular authority, or even cared about simply following its own goddamn rules, it would have reined Meredith in, if not expelled her from the organization outright. The fact that it took no such action absolutely proves that it cares for nothing beyond the increase and maintenance of its own authority.
Meredith is the worst the Chantry has to offer, let's keep that in mind. Frankly, the Chantry not intervening is a plot hole more than anything else. Divine Justinia would totally knock her down, but I guess we can chalk it up to distance. Orlais is a ways away, maybe she was sending orders but her messenger showed up too late. Constraints of the story, We had to have our mage-templar fight, blah blah blah.
Modifié par Palidane, 25 octobre 2012 - 04:34 .
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reason why no matter how nice the nun-things are in DA I still wish they gave us more opertunitys to start a few fires.
