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The Seekers of Truthare a religious military order within the Orlesian Chantry.We’ve seen them here and there inDragon Agelore, butDragon Age: Inquisitionis the first time they featured heavily in one of the games — exposing us to the group’s ideology and history.
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If you were invested much inCassandraas a character, you’ll know a lot about this group and how important it was to her. Her personal quests involve seeking out the Seekers who rebelled at the start of the Mage-Templar War and, ultimately, questioning the value of the entire organization. That’s a question we can’t answer withoutsome background information,though.
Founding And History
The Seekers of Truth werefoundedafter the disbanding of the first Inquisition.
The Inquisition of old was a loose band of individuals operating out of a concern that mages were getting out of control, and a desire toprotect non-magical folkfrom magical tyranny and/or intimidation. In the Divine Age, the Chantry was also a new organization, having grown slowly but surely with Andraste’s teachings.The Chantry invited the Inquisition to join them in the faith and become their military arm, with the agreement known as theNevarran Accord. It…
This was a time before there was a distinction between the Orlesian Chantry and the Imperial Chantry. Though those two organizations both branch from this initial organization that signed the Nevarran Accord, as of this writingthere is no known equivalent for Seekers of Truth in the Imperial Chantry.
Since then, the Seekers have been essential in the protection of the Chantry and the Divine. They have foiled plots within the Templar order to overthrow leadership, stopped attempted assassinations, and much more.
Things began to change whenthe Mage-Templar war broke out. The Circle of Magi was (effectively, then officially) dissolved at that time as mages rebelled across Thedas. In 9:40,Lord Seeker Lambertdeclared that the Nevarran Accord was functionally void, given how the two other institutions that it founded were in chaos.
The Templars — and many Seekers along with them — began to rebel in earnest. Shortly after, Lord Seeker Lambert mysteriously disappeared.A Seeker named Lucius Corin took his placeand began leading the rebelling Seekers and Templars against the mages.
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Loyal Seekers
Cassandra Pentaghast, the Divine’s Right Handrallied the Seekers who were still loyal to the Divine.The Divine gave her and Leliana, the Divine’s Left Hand, a mission:form an Inquisition to investigate and resolve the Mage-Templar conflict.Cassandra and Leliana began to search for an appropriate leader, an Inquisitor who could guide them.
If theHero of Ferelden(the protagonist of Dragon Age: Origins) is still alive, they begin by searching for them, but find that they are unreachable, vanished without a trace. Their next best option isHawke(the protagonist of Dragon Age 2), so they track downVarric Tethrasand interrogate him for Hawke’s location, but he insists he does not know it.
In the meantime,the Divine organizes the Conclave to bring both sides of the war together for peace talks.Cassandra and Leliana bring their forces there, still without a leader. When the Breach opens and a random attendee (the protagonist of Dragon Age: Inquisition) is left with a mark and the power to close it, they eventually name them the Inquisitor.
Rebelling Seekers
Meanwhile,Lord Seeker Lucius led the rebelling Seekers into a trap.Since Seekers are resistant to red lyrium, making them uncontrollable by Corphyeus, Lucius arranged for them to be ambushed by a cult:the Order of Fiery Promise. This order believes the world needs to end in order for humans to create a better society from its ashes, and thinks of themselves as the “true” Seekers. The cultists force-fed the Seekers red lyrium,eventually killing them.
Cassandra enlists the help of the Inquisitor and Inquisition forces in investigating the Seekers' disappearance. When they uncover the truth,the Inquisition kills Lucius and Cassandra retrieves the Book of Secrets,which details things that only the Lord/Lady Seeker is meant to know about their order.
Fate After Inquisition
The fate of the Seekers of Truth willdepend on the players' choices during Dragon Age: Inquisition.
The first major choice iswhether or not the Inquisitor told Cassandra to rebuild the Seekersafter she discovered the truth about them, or to let the Order fall to history. She will listen to the Inquisitor’s advice. If the Inquisitor told Cassandra to make the choice herself, she will choose to rebuild the order. If she does rebuild the Seekers of Truth, Cassandra decides to share the knowledge in the Book of Secrets with the whole order, emphasizing the importance of their shared duty to perform the Maker’s work. If you tell her to rebuild them or tell her to make the decision herself, she will rebuild the order even if she is elected to become the next Divine.
The next important decision iswho the next Divine is.If Cassandra is elected as the next Divine, her rule will be impacted by whether or not the Seekers were rebuilt. During her time on the throne, a rowdy sect emerges of people unhappy with her rule. If the Seekers were rebuilt, they support Cassandra’s rule. If they were not, there are two possible outcomes (reliant on unknown variables): the Inquisition steps in to ensure things don’t get out of control and negotiations are able to occur peacefully, or there is no one to keep the peace and the Chantry declares open war on itself for the first time in history. The fate of the Seekers of Truth doesn’t have much of an impact on the rule of Leliana or Vivienne if they become Divine.
The final important decision iswhether the Inquisitor told Cullen to stop taking lyrium.If Cullen got over his addiction, he will help many other Templars do the same. If the Seekers of Truth were rebuilt, many of these rehabilitated Templars join the Seekers. If the Seekers were not rebuilt, the Templars' decision about where to go will depend on the Divine. If Cassandra or Leliana is elected Divine, the Templars rebuild the Templar Order under the condition that they not be forced to take lyrium again. If Vivienne is elected Divine, the Templars refuse to serve a mage Divine and form a new order called the Silver Shield.
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Ideology
The Seekers of Truth are a paramilitary religious organizationoperating under the authority of the Orlesian Chantry,so their ideologies are essentially identical.Some key tenants and teachings include:
Seekers operate at the highest levelto uphold the values and laws of the Chantry.Unlike other groups, they work closely with, and under direct orders from, the Divine.
Ranks And Duties
The duties of a Seeker can vary drastically. They are effectively the Divine’s secret police force, withtwo main responsibilities:
The secretive nature of the organization means thatvery little information is available about its numerous operations.While it is officially the job of the Templars to hunt down apostates, Seekers have been known to aid the Templars when trying to wrestle particularly dangerous or evasive mages on the run.
Divine Justinia V, the one who dies at the start of Dragon Age Inquisition, chose to have a Left and Right Hand under her employ. It’s unclear if this is a conventional practice among Divines, and, if so, whether they are usually chosen from the Seekers. Her Right Hand, Cassandra, was chosen from among the Seekers of Truth, while her Left Hand, Leliana, was just an old friend.
The Seeker organizationsupposedly has a hierarchy similar to the one that Templars have,but we haven’t really seen it in action.The Templar ranks are, from highest to lowest:
We can presume that the Seekers have an equivalent rank for these positions, even if we don’t know their names and particular duties.The only rank that we do have a solid grasp of is the Lord/Lady Seeker,sometimes also called the High Seeker, who is the leader of the organization. We do also know that theequivalent role to a Templar Recruit is a Seeker Initiate.
As a general rule,Seekers are considered higher rank than Templarswhen the two individuals sit at an equivalent place in their respective hierarchies. If a Templar interacts with a Seeker, they are expected to generally give the same deference they would to a superior officer.
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Unique Abilities
Seekers of the Truth have many of the same abilities as Templars do,allowing them to stop mages from connecting with the Fade, subsequently stripping them of their magical abilities. Much like Templars, Seekers are trained to specifically combat magic, demons, and abominations.
Thanks to their extra training and unique role within the Chantry, Seekers also have abilities beyond any Templar’s power. For one thing, their self-mastery makes themimmune to mind controland meansthey cannot be possessed by a spiritagainst their will. Some extraordinary Seekers have even developed entirely unique talents due to their training. In Inquisition, Cassandra recalls a Seeker who was able toset the lyrium in a person’s blood aflame.
In the case ofred lyrium, Seekers are heavily resistanttothe corruption it can have on you just by being near to it. They’re not entirely immune, but the length of time it would take to corrupt a Seeker that way is just impractical. However,if they ingest it, they can still become corrupted and suffer the same grizzly fate as others.
Seeker Initiation
The key difference between Templars and Seekers is thatSeekers do not rely on lyrium to give them their extraordinary abilities.Templars consume lyrium daily, which is provided by the Chantry, and train rigorously. Seekers have to train even longer and develop extraordinary willpower and self-mastery to achieve the same results. For Templars, the lyrium is the bridge between the individual and the Fade. For Seekers, that bridge isachieved through a ritual performed when a person enters the Seekers of Truth.
Individuals are usuallyrecruited for the Seekers of Truthas children, so they spend a long time at the rank of Initiate. During this time, they undergo extensive training and perform rituals meant to test their mental fortitude. When they are finally ready to become a full Seeker,the Initiate takes on a vigil. Their vigil takes place over a full year, during which time they fast, pray, and do not speak to or interact with anyone. The Initiate must ignore any and all distractions.This experience renders them a Tranquil.
Most Tranquil are mageswho have undergone theRite of Tranquility. The purpose is to cut off their connection to the Fade so that they can no longer use magic, since the Rite is usually a punishment for some crime the mage has committed. However, it has the side effect ofrendering the mage a mere husk of their former self, the emotional center of the brain is completely cut off.
It was once thought that this made Tranquil entirely immune to demonic possession. However, it actually just makes them undesirable targets;Tranquil can still be possessed. It is also widely believed that the Rite of Tranquility is irreversible, but, in Inquisition, Cassandra discovers that isn’t true.
Once the Initiate has become a Tranquil, a spirit of Faith is summoned.Faith touches the mind of the Initiate and, in so doing, breaks their Tranquility and grants them access to their unique abilities.The reality of the vigils is kept secret even from Seekers who have undergone it; only the Lord/Lady Seeker is aware of the truth. That is,until Cassandra uncovers it.
