Yeah, the Circles in DA (in Ferelden and the Free Marches at least, and to a lesser extent Orlais) are more prisons than training academies. Mages are sent there as soon as their magic is discovered, and from then they're rarely permitted to leave... ever. The Circles are supposed to be for the safety of mages, but I'd say in general they're more to keep the mages away from the general populace. This is mostly the Chantry's fault, since they espouse some pretty hardcore anti-magic views, and most people in Thedas are Andrastian. An exception would be the mages recruited into the Grey Wardens (or just the Wardens here), since the Wardens are heroes of the Blight and operate pretty much above the law. Or the Tevinter Imperium, but we don't talk about those heathens.
Which brings me to my next question: are Wardens able to get things for free? It would depend largely on the persuasive power of the individual, but in DA Wardens are allowed to take whatever they "need" to defeat a Blight, even when there is not a Blight going on at present. Some Wardens abuse this power to get more recruits or free meals. There probably won't be so much of that with our Wardens, but I know Ronan would not be averse to free meals. ... Sorry, Thedas is one of my favorite settings, so I do a lot of thinking about it.
I'd be up for that, if needed! If the others aren't active anymore it would probably be in our best interests to get some replacements. I've yet to find another RP that catches my interest, so I'd really like to keep this one going.
