Not much is known about the next Dragon Age installment, but those following its development can agree on one thing: Dragon Age 4 is all but confirmed to take place in the Tevinter Imperium. While Dragon Age characters from the Imperium, including Dorian and Krem, have been featured in games before, the Imperium itself has never been used as a setting.
As such, there are lots of questions about what the Tevinter Imperium will be like when Dragon Age 4 finally grants players access to the place. Thankfully, while the Imperium hasn't appeared in games, there has been plenty of lore, history, and other facts shared about it.
Overview of the Tevinter Imperium
The Tevinter Imperium was the start of it all for humanity on Thedas; the word "Thedas" actually means "world" in Tevene. It's the oldest human nation in existence, currently governed by a magocracy. Way back in ancient times, the Imperium's borders extended nearly across the entire continent, its power unrivaled by any other. In current-day Thedas, Tevinter's power and size is not nearly as great, yet it still qualifies as an important nation on the political landscape of Thedas. The Imperium's capital city is Minrathous, located at the northern end of the Imperial Highway.
History of Tevinter
Humanity's first foray into mainland Thedas resulted in them breaking off into several tribes, but one rapidly rose above the rest: the Tevinters, who made their base of operations the port city of Minrathous. The first Circles of Magi were established there, which gave rise to the Court of Magisters: a council of the most talented mages in the Circles. The Imperium itself was established after Archon Darinius, the first Archon of Tevinter, took power and declared that the nation's aristocracy would be its Magisters.
Throughout the Tevinter's Imperium rich and complex history, the empire has more than one claim to infamy. The first of these is its worship of the Old Gods. Some time after Darinius' rule, another of the early Archons, Thalsian, established the worship of the Old Gods, announcing that he had contacted the Old God Dumat and through that contact had learned blood magic. Thus, the Imperium began to build temples to worship dragons, believing that they were the Old Gods made flesh.
The next of Tevinter's infamous actions was one of conquest: the destruction of Arlathan, the elven empire, and the enslavement of the remaining elves. Tevinter declared war on the elves of Arlathan after the elves avoided or shut down all contact, and the Imperium laid siege to the great elven city. After six years of war, Archon Thalsian and his Magisters used blood magic to sink the entire city into the ground, effectively winning the war and destroying the land of the elves. Survivors of the siege were quickly enslaved, and Magisters went on to use elves as a way to learn how to enter the Fade with lyrium.
However, as the saying goes, pride cometh before the fall. At the height of the Imperium's power, a group of Magisters (including Corypheus, then named Sethius Amladaris) sacrificed hundreds of slaves and used up two-thirds of the empire's lyrium to physically enter the Fade with blood magic, determined to breach the Golden City. And, as the legend goes, they returned as the first darkspawn. This led to the first Blight, with the Archdemon Dumat at its head, which lasted for over 200 years until the newly-established Grey Wardens finally turned the tide.
Then, having been weakened considerably by the Blight, Tevinter suffered the first of the Exalted Marches, led by the escaped slave and prophet of the Maker, Andraste. Of course, Andraste was captured and executed with her generals four years later; however, in the years following, Archon Hessarian (who famously sympathized with Andraste enough to kill her quickly before she could burn to death) formally converted to the Andrastian faith.
The religious unity didn't last, and in 3:87 Towers, Tevinter's Chantry split from the southern Chantry, officially forming the Imperial Chantry under a mage Divine, also known as the Black Divine. This caused a number of exalted marches to be led against Tevinter in the Black and Exalted ages. When the Qunari invaded Thedas, however, much of Tevinter was conquered, and in order to win back their territory, Tevinter joined with the Orlesian exalted march on the Qunari. This eventually led to an armistice between the nations of Thedas and the Qunari, who both signed a peace treaty called the Llomerryn Accords.
The Imperium refused to sign the accords, and continued its bitter conflict with the Qunari - a conflict that has lasted throughout the ages and into current-day Thedas.
Tevinter Culture
In Tevinter society, history is everything; the Imperium is obsessed with the power that it once was and hopes to be again, carefully preserving everything it has built over the ages and renovating it when necessary. Society is divided up into three basic tiers: the mages; the soporati, or non-magical citizens; and finally Tevinter's slaves.
First, let's look at the mages of Tevinter: they make up the ruling class of the land, though within those ranks there are further divisions. The name of their game is competition, as all mages are groomed to desire nothing more than supremacy over the others; as such, scheming against one another is a near-constant thing within the ranks of the mages, though everyone in the magisterium wears a mask of civility in order to avoid scandal. They're further divided into altus, the elite of the elite who can claim to be direct descendants of the ancient Dreamers who founded the Imperium; laetans, who are not direct descendants but still have a long lineage of mages as family; and praetari, the lowest-ranking mages whose families were lower class, but due to that mage's magical talent, the family was lifted up to the higher class. Although blood magic is officially banned in Tevinter, most mages know at least the basics of it.
Then there's the "middle" class, known as soporati, or "sleepers." They're non-magical citizens, and although they vastly outnumber the mages of Tevinter, they are nevertheless beholden to the mages' governance. Many soporati hope that their children will develop magical talents, therefore allowing the family to rise to praetari status. Until such a time arises, the same soporati who dream of ascending to the ruling class also scheme against their rulers, resentful of the laws that make them practically powerless against the whims of mages. The soporati represents an enormous amount of people, complete with a merchant class and even a guild of thieves called the praesumptor.
Finally, there are the enslaved peoples of the Imperium. While most think of them entirely as elves, it's also possible for other humans and even Qunari to be sold into slavery. Slaves aren't considered actual citizens of Tevinter, although those who are lawfully become "Liberati". Rebellions in Tevinter do happen, though they're rarely successful; still, some individual slaves manage to free themselves, and even choose to fight back against the institution that saw them enslaved in the first place - such as Fenris, a.k.a. the Blue Wraith.
Because of Tevinter's status as a magocracy, it is more or less reviled by all the other nations of Thedas. It doesn't help that Tevinter still practices slavery, and that its nobility are over-indulgent schemers who often know blood magic, even if they don't use it. Tevinter is also the epicenter of Thedas' black market, and is known to even harbor mage fugitives from across the land. The rulers of Tevinter know that the country's economy would crumble without slaves, hence why they're so determined to keep it going, even to the point where one Archon who tried to outlaw the practice was quickly assassinated.
As such, the Imperium's mages, its considerable military, its wealth, and its political schemers ensure that it remains a powerful country, even though it's a shadow of its former self. Some, like Dorian Pavus and his newly-founded Lucerni political party, are trying to change Tevinter for the better. Whether the Tevinter Imperium will continue to cling to its old glory days, or whether it has the capacity for real change, will hopefully be revealed when Dragon Age 4 finally releases.
Dragon Age 4 is in development.