Since you can cast without a staff in DA, plus the remark of a mage Inquisitor at the opening sequence at DA:I that they didn’t need a staff to be dangerous, it’s probably fairly common that apostates go without notice because they use different things to act as their magical focus?
A trader on the road with dozens of pretty baubles glimmering against her dark skin, coordinated beautifully with her outfit, and folks swear they see fire dancing in her eyes. Templars let her pass without a second look. Bandits who dare to stop her on the road die tormented, grotesque deaths as she burns them alive; calls lightning from her rings, fire from her necklaces and bracelets.
A nondescript, smiling clerk in Denerim. He puts up with rude customers but knows the movement of every thief in his store. No one sees the sigils carved under each of the display tables.
A scribe with a favorite quill. When she knows no one is watching, she twirls it and sends up a tiny whirlwind of golden sparks. Sometimes when her hand starts to cramp in the dead of night, she’ll stand up and walk around the room, stretching. The quill continues its diligent march across the vellum alone.
A hunter, a favorite old face in the small community he lives by. He’s hailed as the greatest of hunters; he always finds game, no matter the season. His secret is a song, a whistling whimsical tune that the spirits of the forest whistle back, tell him where to go to seek out rabbits and deer and foxes.
