I had the option of letting the blood mage from the beginning of the mage origin story open the fade and kill the boy's mom instead, or go to the circle of magi and have them open it for me without killing anyone. I tried the second option of the two and got myself into a whole mess at the mages tower. That's where I am now. Not sure how it will play out, or if it plays out differently if you didn't start as a mage. Interested to find out though.