"That's the most neutral way to talk about the Circles," Myr acknowledges. "As 'groups of mages'. They are--were," (he's getting better at this, doesn't wince at having to make that correction,) "schools and lifelong homes for most of us mages here in the Free Marches--and other countries where the Chantry holds sway. We're--we were--brought into them shortly after our magic manifested, for our own safety and the safety of those around us. Magic is a gift, but it's meant to serve men, not rule over them, and the Circles saw to it we learned to use ours for mankind's benefit."

And magic isn't something all rifters seem to know about. He checks his headlong rush of words on that thought and asks: "Are you from one of the worlds that doesn't know of magic or the Fade, serah?"