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An apostate is a magic user who is not conforming with current magic laws and/or attending the mage circle.

An apostate is any mage who is not part of the Circle of Magi. There are two types of apostates: hedge mages, who were never part of the Circle, and rogue mages, who have fled from the Circle. The Order of Templars is charged with finding apostates and either capturing or killing them.

Once, the term only described mages who willfully left the Circle and the path the Chantry had laid out for them. However, as the Andrastan Chantry is now the dominant religion in Thedas, the Chantry assumes that everyone born in Thedas is a follower of that faith. Anyone who disobeys the laws of the Chantry is thus regarded as betraying their faith, and labeled apostate.

The Chantry's harsh policy means that Dalish elven mages, who use a completely different type of magic than the Circle, are forced to hide their powers from non-Dalish, which has only increased the tension between humans and the elves.