Templar Order

The Templar Order is a military order that serves as an arm of the Andrastian Chantry. Their purpose is to protect the communities of the faithful from magical threats, protect mages from the masses who persecute them, and to subdue any mage who refuses to submit to the authority of the Circle of Magi. To aid them in their job, initiates develop specialized talents to nullify magic.
Advocates claim they are saviors, holy warriors, protectors of the innocent, and champions of all that is good. Critics see them as tyrannical, locking mages up in towers for their entire lives and imposing religious mandates onto others.
Their strength is that of an army. The Order is large and has members spread all throughout Thedas. These holy warriors are highly disciplined, well-equipped, and devoted to their duties.

Duties

Templars are sworn to balance the duties of protecting the world from the dangers of magic and protecting mages from a world that fears them.

Circle of Magi

Within the Circles, it is the templars' place to watch their charges for signs of weakness and corruption. If they should find it, they must be able to act without hesitation and deal with the problem — sometimes grimly. The mind of a mage is highly susceptible to demonic possession and any wasted time dealing with the threat can exponentially worsen the outcome. Though many outsiders think this must be a normality of templar living, the truth for those watching over Circles is far more benign.
In a well-run Circle, most of a templar's time is spent familiarizing themselves with their mages and mitigating any growing issues. They aim to create a place where mages can explore their talents in controlled environments, away from the fearful eyes of a mob that'd be quick to grab pitchforks. There must always be a distance between mage and templar, however, as the templar must be able to do what is necessary and not allow emotion to cloud their judgement. Unfortunately, not all Circles are well run or balance the protector-charge dynamic as was intended. Some teeter more towards tyranny and abuse.
A significant moment for these templars comes when an apprentice mage of theirs must perform a special ritual: the Harrowing. This ritual's details are kept in secrecy, but all apprentices must go through it at some point. Upon success, the apprentice becomes a full enchanter. Otherwise, they must be made tranquil. This is generally done in late adolescence or early adulthood. If things go poorly, the templar presiding over the Harrowing may have to kill the apprentice.

Hunting Magical Threats

Usually the work more reserved for veteran knights, the Order handles the pursuit and suppression of magical threats. They hunt apostates, maleficarum, abominations, and demons.
Inevitably, the Order must also pursue mages who escape their Circle. To aid in this, every mage entered into a Circle has a small vial's worth of blood taken from them. This is known as a "phylactery". Templars are able to use phylacteries to track mages.
Similarly, for mages who enter into their powers, that emergence of magic can be very harmful — both to them and their community. The rhetoric captured in the modern mind is of a child falling into a fit of rage, coming into their powers in that moment, and erupting in flames that eventually burn half a village down. At all costs, templars want to avoid this. They diligently follow up on rumors and incidents to track these fledgling mages and bring them to their Circle, before matters get out of hand.

Right of Annulment

In the extreme event that an entire Circle of mages becomes corrupted, the Templar chain-of-command may exercise the Right of Annulment. This grants them the authority to purge all mages in that Circle. This is meant to be used in the event that a Circle has been judged irredeemable. Because it authorizes the killing of innocents alongside the guilty, the Right remains one of the Chantry’s most feared powers.
This Right has only ever been invoked twice. The first instance was in Rivain, following the Qunari's invasion. The second was during the Danforth Incident, where a Knight-Divine attempted to annul Ferelden's Circle after a mage destroyed the capital city's Chantry.

Templar Recruitment

Members are often recruited as children or teenagers, especially from orphanages. The recruitment and training is rigorous, sometimes occurring in monastic refuges segregated from everyday society. Recruits require years of education and discipline to use their templar abilities. Once they're proficient enough, they learn weapons training and religious doctrine.
The night before a recruit takes their vows and becomes a full Knight-Templar, their life is forever changed: they are given their first lyrium and a philter through which they will continue to inject themselves with the substance, day after day, to help strengthen their powers.
Templars take vows upon knighthood and swear fealty to the Order as an arm of the Chantry. Unlike some other religious oaths, these do not require chastity. However, templars are discouraged from marrying or raising children as they must live such separate lives. If a templar's spouse is shown to have means of supporting themselves, this is less of a concern. The only broad, formal restriction is that templars may not marry other templars or mages within their same Circle as that would be considered fraternization. Their vows also dictate that they must not seek wealth or acknowledgement, and their lives belong to the Maker.
Recruits are most commonly human. In Antiva, drow are more common. Though no one is barred from joining the Templars on the merit of their ancestry, city elves and dwarves are very uncommon.

Abilities

Templars are the ideal foils for mages, having been trained specifically to counter and "deny" magic. This is done by a unique method of reinforcing the reality and immutability of the world. When a mage or demon seeks to work magic, they tap into the Fade in order to reshape reality. A templar's ability "declares the world real" and closes off a mage's access to the Fade. Magical effects dissipate and the mage is unable to reshape a suddenly stubborn world. From a mage's perspective it appears to be less spell interruption and more a templar reinforcing a reality in which that spell cannot be cast in the first place.
Templar abilities to dispel magic and inhibit spellcasting, as well as develop a considerable immunity to magic, come inherently through their training and their first bit of lyrium. They are made far stronger by continuing to inject themselves with lyrium. Many Templars get addicted to lyrium as they age. Little research has gone into this. Most who retire from the Order are provided a small stipend of lyrium to keep them from going mad. Those who are expelled from the Order get no such treatment and often succumb to mania.
Even without their abilities, templars are among the best warriors in Thedas.

Type

Military Order

Predecessor Organization

• Inquisition

Training Level

Professional

Parent Organization

The Chantry

Location

White Spire

Notable Members

• Evangeline de Brassard
• Meredith Stannard
• Saint Majeure
• Therminn Danforth

Ranks:

1. Knight-Vigilant
2. Knight-Divine
3. Knight-Commander
4. Knight-Captain
5. Knight-Lieutenant
6. Knight-Corporal
7. Knight-Templar