Building a Dragon Age Rivalry: Mages versus Templars

The conflict between the mages and templars in the Dragon Age setting is the subject of the latest editorial in GameInformer’s Dragon Age: Inquisition hub. Here’s an excerpt on how this plot point will evolve in the upcoming title:

Entering Inquisition, tensions are higher than ever before, and no one is safe. Those who read Dragon Age: Asunder, a book that details some of the aftermath three years after the Mage-Templar war, already know of some of the chaos. (We struck down the mechanisms that would normally keep these things in check. Even the governments like Orlais are in a state of civil war that was established at the end of Asunder. So even there, the most powerful empire in the world is not in a position to intervene in these events either, so that just all plays into the state of the world at the beginning of Inquisition. We set up all our ducks in a row,) Gaider says.

This time around, it’s not about extreme viewpoints, though. You’ve seen both groups at their worst; now it’s time to see the other side. (I think a big part of Dragon Age II was letting the player see the people who thought that things were bad by these extremists,) Gaider says. (And now in Dragon Age: Inquisition we want to show the player the people who feel that they’re right. That they’re on the side of good, not from the side of, ‘˜I am an extremist who has this view that might be hard to understand,’ [but] more, ‘˜This is why my position is morally correct.’) This also extends to seeing characters approach these views differently.

As many recall, Cassandra, a seeker of the Chantry, interrogated Varric about Hawke in an attempt to prevent war. (You will find out more as to why,) Gaider teases. (She wasn’t just investigating; there was more behind what she was doing. You find that out as the Inquisition comes around.)

Both Cassandra and Varric have been confirmed as party members, but we didn’t get to know much about Cassandra in Dragon Age II beyond her mission. This will change in Inquisition. (To some degree, I think that Cassandra undergoes probably the biggest transformative arc of any character in Dragon Age II,) Laidlaw says. Cassandra has always supported the Chantry, but after talking to Varric and seeing both sides of the issue, her opinions may change. (In a lot of ways, I think she represents the opportunity to grow by understanding [and not] getting increasingly lost in the noise of Dragon Age’s rising chaos,) Laidlaw says.

Another character who may be set to re-enter the Dragon Age ring? The redheaded, religious bard Leliana. (We’ve been building Leliana up to essentially act as an agent to the divine,) Laidlaw says. (I think it would be fair to expect that she might have some say, especially given her appearance at the end of Dragon Age II. But beyond that, mum’s the word.) Leliana has always represented faith and spirituality, often testing belief and being a way to question players about how they feel about the Maker. (As far as I can tell, if you look among our fans, people have a lot of strong opinions on [the Maker],) Gaider says. (It’s a good place to go.)