Hi! I'm doing an Inquisition fic, and I can't seem to find anything about the size or demographics of the group of mages led by Fiona at Redcliffe, the ones who were, uh, "employed" by Alexius. Do you have any idea how many mages were there? How many of them do you think might have been children? I have no idea where to even start looking for this information.
I don’t think there is a definitive answer for this since there is such a large population of mages in Thedas and there were many different choices for them to take.
The way I would look at it is this:
There are [about/maybe] 19 Circles in Thedas as of 9:40
Kirkwall’s is either small or nonexistent, due to annulment, rebellion, and rebuilding, at this point in time.
Starkhaven’s status is also questionable, it burned and the mages relocated with no knowledge of it was rebuilt
Minranthous and Vyrantium’s Don’t Count.
Dairsmuid’s remained out of the rebellion and was ultimately annulled.
Hasmal’s remained loyal to their Circle.
That leaves full 13 Circles who would be involved in the Rebellion and Separated from the Chantry.
From there it depends on the individuals. Mages had the choice of joining:
The Wardens. Last Flight mentioned they would take Mages or Templars in Weisshaupt who wanted out of the War, as Wardens.
The Extremists. Whom, in Inquisition, attacked anyone who crossed into their paths or territories.
The Inquisition. Mages like Minaeve who joined the Inquisition and Herald from the beginning.
The Loyalists. Those in Inquisition who remained loyal to the Chantry, like Vivienne.
The Rebellion. Those who followed Fiona in Inquisition.
No One. Those who decided to go off on their own or were forced out on their own.
This doesn’t include the Tranquil who were abandoned and murdered by Alexius and the Venatori. Other factors:
No idea how many mages lived in each Circle.
How many are children?
How many died due to bad luck, illness, natural causes, or due to the war.
Redcliffe is a fairly large town.
So honestly, writer’s choice is probably the best way to use this in your fic. But if I had to guess between 1,000-2,000 mages in Redcliffe with a lean towards 1,000. and around a fourth of which is children.
Basically, I don’t really know and there is no real way to figure it out, but here is my best guess?
