Greetings to you, I have a question, if I may: You wrote on one of your posts that your Surana is a very devout Andrastian and I would love to know how? Because my Surana is the most atheist person Thedas could possibly produce because of the way the Chantry treats him and his fellow mages + the elves. I would love to hear your reasoning, if you feel like it. Thank you.
Hello hello and welcome to the first ever Emmaera Surana TedTalk! This got very, very long. Oops?
I fully believe in the Andraste-only Andrastrianism postulated by @theshadowdreams-blog. To quote:
Since the Chantry harms them and the Maker have largely abandoned them, city elven andrastians actually pray to Andraste instead, as she was the one who freed them from slavery and the one who continues to petition the Maker to help his creations they hold her in higher regard.
So this is the environment in which little Emmaera grew up, in the Highever alienage. They did not have much, but what they had, they thanked Andraste for.
(Important to note, also: Emmaera is simply lawful good. She is optimistic and kind and not prone to bitterness. That is her nature.)
And then she got caught lighting her family's forge with magic. We know from Wynne that templars aren't always traumatic when they take in children. The templars were kind to her. Her parents were permitted to tell her goodbye. Likely they said something similar to what Niall's mother told him: that she would become someone great.
And then, when she was taken to the Circle, she got to eat every day! She never had to worry about where her next meal was coming from! And she never had to worry about her clothes, or winter, etc, etc. And she was taught to read. She could study. She could learn. She was the equal of, and indeed surpassed, many many many other humans. She, little dirty coal-smudged Emmaera, was respected. Thank you, Andraste.
And--well yes. She has to behave for the templars. And yes, she has to excel and keep excelling to maintain her position. But that's--that's just working hard, isn't it? That's just how things are. She's not lazy. She can prove that she deserves her blessings!
(This is what is called "model minority" in real life.)
Emmaera is the same flavor of devout that Leliana is: she takes much on faith, but she isn't dogmatic about it. Actually, she has this little secret belief that Andraste was Herself a mage. But to Emmaera, that doesn't automatically mean that none of the Maker's miracles to and through Andraste were real. It just means that the Maker's Bride was extraordinarily blessed.
Is she angry about the systemic oppression of elves? Yes, but ☝️ if the leadership of Thedas truly turned their hearts to Andraste, and followed Her example, then they too would free the slaves as She did, and embrace their fellows. Emmaera is Circle-educated! She knows about Shartan, she knows that Andraste had an elven general. It only bolsters her faith in Andraste more.
And what about mage oppression? Well. That is...Emmaera falls silent. Yes, it is very awful what happens in Circles but...the answer isn't to break away and rebel. If we could all just behave. If we could all just comply. Not just the mages but Chantry leadership too. Andraste never said to do all this. Where in the original Chant of Light did Andraste say to lock up young mages in solitary for a year, or to take away babies from their mage parents, or...
The Chantry as an institution has its flaws, because it has strayed from what Andraste Herself wanted. It is corrupted by time and greed of man. But Andrastrianism is fine.
If everyone could just follow Andraste's example instead of using the Chantry as a tool to gain more power, then things will be better! For everyone!
Emmaera's faith is the foundation of her character. It informs so many of her choices. Is she complicit in her own oppression? In some ways, yes. But that ☝️is because she lives in a society. She's a product of her environment. She is one of the realest characters I've ever made.