Primer.
This fic takes place in the world of Bioware's epic dark fantasy video game, Dragon Age. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this game, I'll be providing a primer to the salient points of the world environment as they relate to this fic.
On the continent of Thedas, in the country of Ferelden, the Chantry is the dominant religion. It is based on the worship of Andraste, a young barbarian slave in the Tevinter Imperium who was visited by the Maker, led a victorious army against her oppressors and was betrayed and martyred. She's like Joan of Arc plus Jesus.
Mages are people who are able to manipulate "mana," or magical energy. They take lyrium potions, a bright blue, specially-prepared concoction of rare and valuable ore mined by the dwarves, to augment their mana. Mages are born with a special connection to the Fade, the ever-changing realm of dreams and spirits. Elves and humans visit the Fade every night when they dream, but mages may walk the Fade while awake and conscious. For reasons no one fully understands, this attracts demons, who seek to possess mages. A possessed mage is known as an abomination and becomes a horrifying and powerful distortion of themselves bent to the demon's will. All mages, no matter how strong, are susceptible.
For this reason, mages are sequestered in Circles of Magi. In Ferelden, the Circle of Magi is a tall, tall tower in the middle of Lake Calenhad, far from any population centers. There, they are guarded by Templars, soldiers of the Chantry who are charged with protecting the population from the dangers of abominations. Templars take lyrium as well as mages, ostensibly to augment their magic-negating and mage-hunting abilities. Lyrium is addictive, and over time, Templars will succumb to their addiction.
Templars also hunt apostates – mages who do not reside in Circles, have run away from Circles, or practice non-Circle magical disciplines – and maleficars. Maleficars are practitioners of forbidden blood magic, a school of magic that involves using blood as fuel for magical spells. It produces proportionally greater results the more blood is spilled and permits a mage to control the minds of others. The Chantry tends to conflate apostates with maleficars, although not all apostates practice blood magic. The general public strongly shares the Chantry's view, their fear and distrust supported by their ignorance and by historical and religious reasoning.
Children with magical abilities are turned over to the Templars of their local Chantry and brought to the Circle Tower for training, forfeiting all titles, properties, and family ties. Blood is taken from them and placed in a vial called a phylactery that enables Templars to track any runaways. Apprentice mages undergo a test called the Harrowing in order to become full enchanters of the Circle, a test whose details are kept secret until the moment it occurs. The apprentices are thrust into the Fade as demon bait. If they successfully ward off the demon, they pass. If not, the Templars set in the Harrowing Chamber kill the abomination.
A mage who is not considered suitable for the Harrowing is made Tranquil, branded with a lyrium rune that forever cuts off their connection to the Fade. Tranquil mages do not have feelings and do not dream, but cannot be possessed and cannot work magic. An apprentice too frightened of the Harrowing may volunteer for the Rite of Tranquility, which is irreversible. It is illegal by Chantry law to make a Harrowed mage Tranquil. Their condition makes them useful for working directly with lyrium to create runes and enchant magical items for the Circle.
Finally, a word on the social place of elves. Millenia ago elves had a powerful civilization, but when humans arrived, elves died in droves of human diseases and their proximity to humans robbed them of their immortality. They attempted to seal off their kingdom, Arlathan, but the rising Tevinter Imperium attacked with its legions and blood magic, and Arlathan fell. Those who survived spent the next five hundred years as slaves. When Andraste's armies rose, the elf slave Shartan roused his people to join her rebellion, and in thanks, Andraste bequeathed the elves the land of the Dales in southern Orlais.
The elves attempted to recapture their lost civilization, which included worship of the elven pantheon, not the Maker. Therefore, the Chantry declared an Exalted March against the Dales, destroying the elven homeland a second time. Some survivors became proud wanderers known as Dalish elves, but the rest were absorbed into human kingdoms, sequestered in segregated alienages and treated as rabble and trash, their history and culture long forgotten.
Hopefully that's sufficient background. I'll try to establish the rest via narration, but any questions feel free to ask.