Schools of Magic

In the 2nd and 3rd Eras, countless schools for the magical arts were founded across the globe in a vast array of circumstances, spurred by population and geographic expansion, and motivated by various economic, social, and political causes. By the 5th Era, only seven major schools remained, the rest either having either dwindled to tiny uninteresting communities or gone completely extinct from a variety of factors.

These schools are major centers for magical development and living, and are typically representative of the magical culture of surrounding regions, although this aspect has been the subject of controversy and criticism for the perceived pervasiveness of Laraenian magic and its influences. Each school, along with being a small population center for itself, has policies set in place for study and board from the secondary to the post-graduate level, a necessity given the considerable amount of geographical isolation that virtually all seven schools share.

The Royal conservatory of Haedt - laraenia, eimia

"In the Cold, a Beacon Burns."

The historic eighth province of Laraenia was a cultural, magical, and religious center for the country, and the traditional capital for all regional sorcerers. Buried deep in the northern Naraenian mountain wastes, the Royal Conservatory is famed for its "aurora beacons", a defensive system that cloaks the entire campus in a dazzling (and disorienting if necessary) shield of light and energy.

The Conservatory is known to produce alumni of remarkable talent in historic and theoretical fields, although large numbers of sorcerer-graduates with considerable skill in combat were seen during the early 5th Era Laraenian Civil Wars. Funding for the school is traditionally provided by the Laraenian royal government and several aristocratic families, who make recurring donations in exchange for influence on school policies; in modern years, however, this has resulted in controversy and criticism of the school for adopting non-progressive or even regressive policies caused by the conflicting interests of donors.

The Central Conservatory of Magic - ghanhamei, meimera, eimia

"The Gem of the Floating Mountains."

The premier school of magical arts in Meimera is situated on a secluded and secretive site within the majestic Ghanhamei National Park. The Conservatory is famed worldwide for its nearly unique exclusive specialization of Meimeran traditional sorcery, but is also locally prized for its invaluable libraries, archives, and collections pertaining to pan-Meimeran history and cultural mythologies.

Students of the Meimeran Conservatory are known to be among the most technically proficient in the world. This combined with the school's impressive annual production of skilled graduates make the Conservatory a formidable competitor in global employments and investments. Conversely, detractors of the school have made a number of claims regarding rumors of unethical magical practices and business policies in place within the institution, though few have been taken seriously by the Meimeran government.

The Kieper school - Istapolis, evyia

"The Onward Way."

The Kieper School was founded near the end of the 4th Era, and was the extraordinary product of several factors that propelled it onto an international stage of prestige and merit. Located in the protected wildernesses on the outskirts of Istapolis, the school swelled with support from the influx of Eimian immigrants, many of whom were some combination of the magically-inclined, the wealthy aristocratic class, and the survivors of battle. As the Great World War drew to a close, the legacy of slain sorcerers in Evyia was enshrined in the Istapolitan forest mountains, upon which the endowment of the Kieper Foundation for the Magical Arts was laid.

The Kieper School is held by many to be the golden standard of magic-making and learning of the entire world, and is characterized by the extreme skill of its students and faculty, as well as the consequentially restrictive acceptance rates and policies. The Kieper faculty and board of directors are among the most influential in the magical community.

the Helfgott institute of magic - Lumeria, axia

"Buried Treasure."

Persecution of sorcerers and other magically-inclined people of Axia, which had reached a furor in the mid-4th Era, became a controversial subject of debate in communities across the world. Amid confusion and debate, a prominent member of the Axian magical elite and heiress to a considerable fortune, Circe Helfgott, founded a place of refuge in the underbelly and underground of the city of Lumeria. Here, the "unwanted jewels of Axia," as she called them, would have a safe place to continue the lifestyle most natural to them, and in so doing not only rallied the entire Axian magical community, but attracted the attention and contributory sentiments of the globe.

In the modern age, enrollment of the Helfgott Institute is among the most limited of the world, due largely to two factors: the ever-increasing standards of the school, and the ever-mounting level of secrecy and care needed to keep the school secure from the federal government. For these reasons, students of the Helfgott Institute are particularly encouraged to pursue fields in magical philosophy and law, with the aim of not only improving the relationship between the magical and non-magical of the world, but to also develop and promote order in the oft-unruly communities of the magical world itself.

the new verdecas conservatory of magic - Serra, Eimia

"Where Magic meets Life."

As refugees from the 3rd Era Laraenian Civil Wars fled, the population of the Serra island settlement began to swell, and the local magical community bolstered. With those immigrants also came delegations from the Royal Conservatory of Haedt, who established an offshoot of the school with a stronger focus towards international study and inclusion. The school has since distanced itself from its roots with a strong presence of skil and renown on the global stage, despite being involved with a few controversial matters in its early days, including conflicts with the local indigenous population.

Some of the most alluring aspects of Verdecas as an educational institution are its commitment to fostering an international community, as well as the emphasis it places on magical applications in traditionally non-magical artistic fields. While most other magical schools can be said to place similar value in that regard, Verdecas is considered a pioneer in the modern age, making great strides forward in the integration of magical principles and techniques in fields including but not limited to the fine, performing, culinary, medical, and athletic arts. This cross-disciplinary approach has invited comparison between Verdecas and the Nielia College.

the naranija academy of magical arts - pendsira, naranija, eimia

"The Arts of the Ages."

Arguably the school carrying the most long-standing tradition, the Naranija Academy boasts a history spanning millennia, with the date of its inception falling somewhere in the last days of the 1st Era. In the modern day, the academic magical tapestry of the Eimian continent is often said to be divided between the Laraenian, the Meimeran, and the Naran, and it is at the Academy where the historical and technical significance of the latter is concentrated like nowhere else on the globe.

Despite its age as well as its historical and cultural value, the Naranjia Academy has been the subject of many misfortunes in its long operation, including a fervent sociopolitical opposition to magic and associated practices that periodically resurfaces in the Naran region, often accompanied by violence and persecution. The Academy has even been involved with controversy in the magical community itself, due in most part to its long tradition in studying the relationships between the magical and sexual arts.

the nielia college of magical arts - Al-kharei, nielia

"In with Fire, Out with Steel."

The Nielia College of Magical Arts is the youngest of all modern magical educational institutions, and was founded shortly after the last of the Great World War and peace had been secured in the dark Nielian lands. Despite the relative youth of its existence, the College has perhaps been subject to the greatest number of controversies of all the other schools, many of which stem from a constant struggle with poor funding, loose security policies, the turbulent and chaotic surrounding societal landscape, and a considerable amount of troubled students in its body.

Despite this, the Nielia College has also attracted some of the most innovative minds of the world, both as students and as faculty, drawn in by the comparably relaxed administrative practices allowing for inventive, if unpredictable, study and progress. One of the Nielia College's most outstanding research programs involves the study and development of the altersciences, most notably in magitek (the blending of magical and scientific principles) and its sub-field steampunk science, territories in which the College is considered to be at the forefront in the world.