Ok I meant to post this hours ago but today has been busy. I am now ready to ramble about how the Circle of Magi was, as an institution many ages running, able to function in Southern Thedas generally and Ferelden specifically.
This is a Dragon Age post please scroll by if you're not here for that and be reminded my DA tag is "aging dragons" if you want to block it.
So the oppression of mages is achieved by removing anyone who exhibits magical ability from their communities and cloistering them in Circle towers. This is justified by everyone's favorite line from the Chant of Light "magic must serve man and not rule over him", but the actual tangible thing is that either the mage's community actively casts them out by reporting them to Templars, or the mage themself voluntarily goes to the Circle. What kind of environment would encourage that behavior?
I buy that for all the devoted Andrastians out there happily doing whatever the local Reverend Mother says, plus there's a bit of "that's just the way things are" learned helplessness and "the Circle is for mages, it's best for them, they're better off there than here" misinformation. And it makes extra sense in Orlais, the seat of the White Chantry.
But I'm thinking about Ferelden, which is by Thedas standards a young nation whose Andrastianism is mixed up with the native Alamarri, Avvar, and Chasind more animistic beliefs. Belief in the Maker hasn't so much replaced existing religion as much as been assimilated by it. Ferelden is also depicted as a country with pretty low population density - even Denerim the capital city isn't as populated as Val Royeaux or Minratheous (and yes graphical limitations of DAO factor in but I think even so the point stands).
Quick tangent: some older DAO materials talk about Redcliffe like it's supposed to be a big city that's important for trade because it's "between Orzammar and Orlais" which is absolutely isn't. Both times we see Redcliffe it's been, y'know, Redcliffe Village not Redcliffe City. So I'm ignoring that.
Finally, Ferelden has a reputation for obstinance: the smelly doglords who were under foreign occupation no fewer than three times and managed to successfully win independence all three times despite being a backwater. And also the birthplace of famous rebel Andraste herself. My point is, Ferelden doesn't seem like the kind of people to whom you can say "if your neighbor or child does magic, let us take them away and you'll never see them again. Don't worry it's for their and your own good" and have that go well.
But it does! Sera, city elf from Denerim, is a perfect example of someone whose view on magic and mages is considered normal in Ferelden! And she's very afraid of magic, and mistrustful of mages.
Okay, so Fereldens are willing to send their friends and family to Kinloch Hold because they're afraid of magic.
One of my favorite things about Origins is how the gameplay backs up that belief that magic is scary: magic is busted in DAO, and even better magic is /always friendly fire/. You can drop a firestorm on the field sure! Don't worry about Alistair and Zevran I'm sure they'll be fine. Magic is both very impactful in a fight and aggressively unconcerned with who is its intended target. Imagine an entire group of soldiers, veterans and at the peak of health, choking in a Death Cloud cast by a single person tens of meters away. Now imagine that was an accident and happened in the middle of the market.
When I was told "your magic is a threat to everyone around you no matter what you do or what your intentions are" in DAO, I could immediately buy that because not only was the fiction of the world telling me that but the actual gameplay was corroborating it. I buy DAO's Ferelden as a place where people might be willing to send their loved ones away because they're afraid and the Chantry is selling them a solution.
And that's really cool! Because the Circle of Magi is awful!! I know it's awful, but I can see the logic behind why it exists! I can see why people might think that the Templars are necessary!
Of course there's also the other half of this which is, there's almost certainly Fereldens who look at all that and, in true doglord fashion, go "nah". And to the games' credit! There are! Malcom Hawke's family certainly didn't turn themselves in. Isolde Guerrin didn't hand Connor over to any Templars (lol rip). And then obviously the Avvars and Chasind who may not have even converted to Andrastianism probably don't have a very high rate of submitting their mages to the Circle.
All of this is just to say, I really like how DAO paints a picture of a place capable of producing a guy who runs around Kirkwall shouting "I'll show you why mages are feared!"
