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Within Dragon Age is a lot of political intrigue, from deciding who would be the next ruler of Ferelden and Orzammar in Dragon Age: Origins to who will be the next Divine in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Politics are a huge part of the games' plot, and its players love the games for it. Among the players in the politics of Thedas are the mages, particularly the Circle of Magi.
The Circle of Magi has enchanters that join the Fraternities of Enchanters. These fraternities are basically political parties that have their own ideas about how mages should exist in Thedas. There are five large fraternities, each with differing values, popularity, and goals. They are, however, informal alliances that are not officially recognized by the Chantry. It is said there are other, much smaller fraternities, but these five are the ones that hold the most influence.
Aequitarians
The most popular fraternity among the enchanters are the Aequitarians. Why they are so popular is due to their moderate views, being that mages simply must use their magic in an ethical and responsible way. The additional idea is that a mage's ethics and responsibility are important regardless of Chantry law, meaning they won't be loyal to the Chantry if they deem their laws unethical. A lot of known characters are in the ranks of this fraternity, including Edmonde, Rhys, Irving, Wynne, Sweeney, and Torrin. In fact, one has risen among the ranks to represent the fraternity as a whole, and that is Rhys as of 9:40 Dragon.
Their desire to balance between Chantry law and using magic to help the world puts Aequitarians in a centrist sort of mold in the political sphere of Thedas. They tend to be the mediators between Loyalists and Libertarians, though tend to lean more towards the Loyalists at the end of the day. Aequitarians are often called the most practical and pragmatic of the various fraternities. They desire cooperation and often try to broker compromises to achieve it.
Isolationists
The Isolationists are a party that believes mages should live away from the rest of the world so that they may practice magic without fear of scrutiny from non-magic folks. This means mages living as hermits or in small communities. In a sense, the Isolationists agree with the Chantry that magic is dangerous and that feeds into their idea that mages should be isolated in order to protect the rest of the world.
Isolationists have Libertarian-leanings, as being isolated would mean being away from the Chantry and templars. The Chantry, however, would argue Isolationists would become like Tevinter if they got what they wanted. There are no known characters that ally with this fraternity, though Niall from Dragon Age: Origins has mentioned sympathizing with them.
Libertarians
Libertarians are anti-Chantry involvement. They believe the Circle should be self-regulating and independent. Characters that have been active in the fraternity include Fiona, Uldred, Adrian, and Jeannot. The party has tried peaceful means to gain more independence, such as creating bills that they propose to the Circle of Magi. As of 9:40 Dragon, the party is represented by Adrian. The Chantry considered the Libertarians to be troublemakers, but that changed when the Resolutionist subgroup appeared.
The Resolutionists support mage freedom at any cost, including acts of violence. The subgroup has resorted to terrorism against the Chantry. According to their codex, many of these mages are connected to the Kirkwall mage underground and have declared that until mages can rule themselves, they will show Thedas how little protection the Circle of Magi actually gives them.
Loyalists
Loyalists are the opposite of Libertarians and hope to strengthen the relationship between the Circle and Chantry. They are pro-templar, believing that the Chantry has the best interests of mages and the world at heart. Not every Loyalist is the same, though, as some are devout believers while others what to climb the Chantry hierarchy.
They are nicknamed "Chantry apologists," and those among them are often mages that do not feel safe without Chantry supervision and/or actually have good experiences in their Circle. They are anti-rebellion, and at most want the templars to have some reform. Some fans have argued that Vivienne has Loyalist leanings, though she actually never joined a fraternity.
Lucrosians
Lucrosians are all about power and wealth, sharing a little of Tevinter's belief that mages deserve to pursue wealth with their skills. They are not well-liked by the Aequitarians and the Loyalists, as their ideals go against rules, duty, and ceding power to the Chantry. However, they do have allies within the Libertarian fraternity. Lucrosians believe that mages should pursue crafting and artisan work with their skills. In comparison with the other fraternities, Lucrosians are a small fraternity and little else is known about them.
Dragon Age 4 is in development.