Chantry History

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Contents 1 Chantry History - Part 1: The Imperium in Flames 2 Chantry History - Part 2: A Prophet Born 3 Chantry History - Part 3: Andraste Betrayed 4 Chantry History - Part 4: The Birth of the Chantry

Chantry History - Part 1: The Imperium in Flames

“The First Blight devastated the Tevinter Imperium. Not only had the darkspawn ravaged the countryside, but Tevinter citizens also had to face the fact that their own gods had turned against them. Dumat, the Old God once known as the Dragon of Silence, had risen to silence the world, and despite the people’s frenzied pleas for help the other Old Gods did nothing. The people of the Imperium began to question their faith, punishing their gods for not assisting them by murdering priests and burning temples.

In those days, even after the devastation of the First Blight, the Imperium stretched across the known world. Fringed with barbarian tribes, the Imperium was well-prepared for invasions and attacks from without. Fitting, then, that the story of its downfall begins from within.

The people of the far northern and eastern reaches of the Imperium rose up against their powerful overlords in rebellion. The Tevinter Magisters summoned demons to put down these small rebellions, leaving corpses to burn as examples to all who would dare revolt. The Imperium began to tear itself apart from within, throngs of angry and disillusioned citizens doing what centuries of opposing armies could not. But the Magisters were confident in their power, and they could not imagine surviving a Blight only to be destroyed by their own subjects.

Even after the Blight, Tevinter commanded an army larger than that of any other organized nation in Thedas, but that army was scattered and its morale dwindling. The ruin of Tevinter was such that the Alamarri barbarians, who had spread their clans and holds over the wilderness of the Fereldan Valley at the far southeast edge of the Imperium, saw weakness in their enemy, and, after an age of oppression embarked on a campaign to not only free their own lands but to bright down mighty Tevinter as well.

The leaders of that blessed campaign were the great barbarian warlord, Maferath, and his wife, Andraste. Their dreams and ambitions would change the world forever.”

"-- an excerpt from “Tales of the Destruction of Thedas” by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar."

Chantry History - Part 2: A Prophet Born

“When the prophet Andraste and her husband Maferath arrived at the head of their barbarian horde, southern Tevinter was thrown into chaos. The Imperium had defended against invasions in the past, but now they stood without the protection of their gods, their army in tatters, and their country devastated by the Blight. Many felt that the timing of the invasion was yet another of the Maker’s miracles in Andraste’s campaign to spread His divine word.

Andraste was more than simply the wife of a warlord, after all; she was also the betrothed of the Maker. Enraptured by the melodic sound of her voice as she sang to the heavens for guidance, the Maker Himself appeared to Andraste and proposed that she come with Him, leaving the flawed world of humanity. In her wisdom, Andraste pleaded with the Maker to return to His people and create paradise in the world of men. The Maker agreed, but He would only do this if all of the world would turn away from the worship of their false gods and accept the Maker’s divine commandments.

Armed with the knowledge of the one true god, Andraste began the Exalted March into the weakened Imperium. One of the Maker’s commandments, that magic should serve man rather than rule over him, was as honey to the souls of the downtrodden of Tevinter that lived under the thumbs of the Magisters.

Word of Andraste’s Exalted March, of her miracles and military successes, spread far and wide. Those in the Imperium that felt the Old Gods had abandoned them eagerly listened to the words of the Maker. Those throngs of restless citizens that destroyed temples now did so in the name of the Maker and His prophet, Andraste. As Maferath’s armies conquered the lands of southern Tevinter, so did Andraste’s words conquer hearts.

It is said that the Maker smiled on the world at the Battle of Valarian Fields, in which the forces of Maferath challenged and defeated the greatest army Tevinter could muster. The southern reaches of the mighty Imperium now lay at the mercy of barbarians. Faith in the Maker, bolstered both by such miracles, threatened to shake the foundations of the Imperium apart.

Of course, the human heart is more powerful than the greatest weapon, and when wounded, it is capable of the blackest of deeds.”

"-- an excerpt from “Tales of the Destruction of Thedas” by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar."

Chantry History - Part 3: Andraste Betrayed

“It is said that at the Battle of Valarian Fields, Maferath stood and looked out over his armies. He had conquered the southern reaches of the greatest empire the world had ever known and built splintered barbarian clans into a force to be feared. With pride in his heart, he turned to congratulate his men and found that they had turned from him.

Maferath fell to the evil of jealousy. After all that he had done, his wife was the one to receive all the glory. He saw his wife’s power and influence, tired of his place as second husband below that of the Maker, and his heart swelled with fury. If he had conquered just to have his wife wrested from him by a forgotten god and a legion of faith-hungry rabble, then perhaps this war was not worth the trouble.

Here history and the Chant of Light come apart. History tells us that Maferath looked north into the central Imperium and saw nothing but more war against a rapidly regrouping army and he despaired. The Chant of Light holds that Maferath chafed at his position as a secondary husband beneath the Maker, and grew jealous of the glory that Andraste received even though it was he that led the armies.

Maferath traveled to the Imperial capital of Minrathous to speak with the Archon Hessarian. There he offered up his wife to the Imperium in return for a truce that would end hostilities once and for all. The Archon, eager to put down the voice of the prophet that stirred his own people against him, agreed. Maferath led Andraste into an ambush where she was captured by Imperial agents, signifying an end to her Exalted March.

Crowds of loyalists stood in the central square of Minrathous to watch Andraste’s execution. By command of the Archon, she was burned at the stake in what the Imperium believed to be the most painful punishment imaginable. According to the Chantry, however, Andraste was instead purified and made whole by the flames, ascending to her life at her Maker’s side. By all accounts, there was only silence where her screams should have been. At the sight of the prophet burning, the crowds were filled with a profound guilt, as if they were participating in a great blasphemy. So moving was the moment that the Archon himself drew his sword and thrust it into the prophet’s heart, ending her torment and leaving those assembled to consider the weight of what they had seen.

Whereas the execution of Andraste was meant to be a symbol of defeat for the faith of the Maker, in truth it all but sealed the fate of the worship of the Old Gods and paved the way for the spread of the Maker’s chant.”

"-- an excerpt from “Tales of the Destruction of Thedas” by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar."

Chantry History - Part 4: The Birth of the Chantry

“The crowds present at the death of Andraste were right to feel despair. It is believed that the prophet’s execution angered the Maker, and He turned His back on humanity once more, leaving the people of Thedas to suffer in the dark.

In these dark times, mankind scrambled for a light, any light. Some found comfort in demonic cults that promised power and riches in return for worship. Others prayed to the Old Gods for forgiveness, begging the great dragons to return to the world. Still others even fell so low as to worship the darkspawn, forming vile cults dedicated to the exaltation of evil in its purest form. It is said that the world wept as its people begged for a savior that would not come.

Andraste’s followers, however, did not abandon her teachings after her death. The Cult of Andraste rescued her sacred ashes from the courtyard in Minrathous after her execution, stealing them away to a secret temple. The location of that temple has long been lost, but the ashes of Andraste served as a symbol of the enduring nature of the faith in the Maker, that humanity could earn the Maker’s forgiveness despite its grievous insult to Him.

With time, the Cult of Andraste spread and grew, and the Chant of Light took form. The chant told the tale of Andraste and Maferath, their rise and fall, and it took flight in the hearts of the people. Spread this chant to the four courners of Thedas, it was said, and it would gain the Maker’s attention at last. As the Chant of Light was spread, the cult of Andraste became known as the Andrastian Chantry.

The early Chantry was a thing of both might and right. An early scribe described it as “the gleaming sight of iron blades with the warming sound of holy song.” Those who converted to the Chantry’s beliefs found it their mission to spread Andraste’s word. Thus did the Exalted March begin anew, the Chant of Light spreading across the world… by force, if necessary.

There were many converts, including powerful people in the Imperium and in the city-states of what is now known as Orlais. Such was the power of the Maker’s word that the young King Drakon undertook a series of Exalted Marches meant to unite the city-states and create an empire solely dedicated to the Maker’s will. The Orlesian Empire became the seat of the Chantry’s power, the Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux the source of the movement that birthed the organized Chantry as we know it today. Drakon, now Emperor Drakon I, created the Circle of Magi, the Order of Templars and the holy office of the Divine… by many within the Chantry he is considered to be as revered a figure as Andraste herself.

The modern Chantry is a thing of reverence and beauty, but it is also a house of necessity, protecting Thedas from powerful forces that would do it harm. Where the Grey Wardens protect the world from Blight, the Chantry protects mankind from itself. Most of all, the Chantry works to earn the Maker’s forgiveness, so that one day He will return and transform the world into the paradise it was always meant to be.”

"-- an excerpt from “Tales of the Destruction of Thedas” by Brother Genitivi, Chantry scholar."

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