Julius may have come down in a different place, a few years earlier, on whether or not to characterize the system as abusive. Today, however, he just says with a rueful smile, "I think it's probably optimistic to declare with certainty that the Circles are gone, under the circumstances, but I know what you mean. There's no one thing happening, right now. Some are going to the Inquisition, though after Fiona's death I don't know if the Inquisition's mages are still viewed as such a definitive options. There have always been apostates who stay with their families or hide with one another; I'm sure those numbers have swelled without Templars actively hunting them down the last few years. It's not unheard of to defect to Tevinter, for reasons you can probably guess." Given how mages are treated in the South, a nation where they rule could have its appeal even with all the other factors in play.

He goes on: "But you do raise the question ... I suspect some pious parents are still inclined to turn children over to the Chantry. I was six when my magic manifested, hardly old enough to make an informed choice as to where I'd want to go if it had been offered to me." Which, to be clear, it was not. "It may be worth talking to Project Haven to see if we can find out if the Chantry has a current system for dealing with those children." The war with Corypheus has been going on long enough now families who'd prefer not to harbor a mage are probably disinclined to wait it out.