Prev   Next   Contents

Institutions

"But surely you have safe passage, Sir Mage."

"Don't call me that," Palin said, irritated. "It's not accurate. I'm of low rank in my art. In military terms, I am equivalent to afoot soldier."

He couldn't help the bitterness creeping into his voice.

"All of us start at the bottom, Majere," Steel said gravely. "There is no shame in that."

- The talk of cousins
Dragons of Summer Flame

Sorcery may be the primordial magic of Krynn, powered by energy as old as the world itself, but the study of this art, at least among the mortal races, is barely four years old. When the Last Conclave announced the return of magic to Ansalon, hundreds - probably thousands - of would-be- and former magic users were frantic to learn the secrets of the new magic. Some were happy to hear or read Palin Majere's description of the theory and practice of sorcery and closet themselves away to experiment and explore this new art. Many others, however, had no desire to waste their time attempting to repeat experiments that had already been successfully performed by others. They wanted to be taught sorcery rather than solve its mystery on their own.

In the past, the three Orders of High Sorcery took responsibility for training wizards in their art. In fact, anyone who did not wear the robes of one of the Orders was considered a "renegade." They were hunted down by members of all the Orders, who saw their skills as gods-given gifts not to be usurped. It is completely understandable, therefore, that those interested in studying the new magic would search for an "official" institution at which to study.

The Academy of Sorcery was founded with the idea of providing a single location at which students of any school of sorcery could come to learn the most current theories and spell effects of their schools, where information on all aspects of sorcery was available to everyone. Having been founded by Palin Majere himself, of course, lent the Academy the prestige of being not only the first, but the best place to learn sorcery.

Still, some factions disagreed with the idea of teaching sorcery to just any one. More than a few individuals and organizations believed that knowledge of sorcery should be a tightly controlled commodity, or sought to emphasize one aspect of the art over all others. These factions have boycotted the Academy, opening their own colleges and usually refusing to share their discoveries and advances with students from Solace. Small colleges often have one or two spells which they consider to be their "trademarks," and these spells are closely guarded secrets. Students of these various institutions have been known to fight to the death to preserve the secret of their school's trademark spells. More than one fatal sorcerous duel has been fought over spells that accidentally duplicated the effect of a private college of sorcery's trademark spell.

The fact of the matter is, however, that the magic that sorcerers use comes from the very rocks, water, and air around them. Today, unlike in the days of High Sorcery, no single order, school, or college can lay claim to a divine mandate to teach. Anyone with an instinctive abil- ity to see and manipulate the energy if within all the creations of the gods can teach himself to be a spellcaster.

Why Study?

If anyone can teach himself sorcery at home, why do so many people flock to the Academy of Sorcery, not to mention the numerous private colleges and independent teachers, to study? Why don't would-be-sorcerers get their basic training from these institutes and then pursue their studies in private?

Perhaps the single most frequently heard reason for attending an institution of sorcerous education is that even though basic ability in spellcasting seems to come naturally to many students, the theory behind the art eludes them. People in Ansalon have been thinking about magic in terms of the three gods of magic for so long that any deviation from that perspective gets confusing. Many beginning students simply cannot conceive of the fact that sorcery flows from their connectedness to the various other creations of the gods. They may have instinctive abilities in sorcery, but without some instruction in its application, they will never progress beyond very basic spells.

Another reason many neophyte sorcerers choose to study at an institution is the safety factor. There should be no doubt that sorcery can be a very dangerous power. Imagine the havoc that uncontrolled use of pyromancy could wreak! Even the less destructive schools tap into powers that most mortals are unprepared to face. The lessons learned during study teach sorcerers not only to expand their powers, but, more importantly, to become comfortable with them, to understand their own capabilities and foresee when a spell might go awry.

Finally, attending an institute of sorcery allows all the discoveries of a new spellcaster to be recorded for posterity. When every day the understanding of sorcery grows more detailed and sorcerers try innovative spells and perform radical experiments attempting to combine sorcerous spells with mystic ones, it becomes increasingly important to record the details of all these activities, lest the knowledge they provide be lost forever. While studying at an institution does guarantee that records will be kept, the politics of that school will determine how many people benefit from the results.

Although it quickly becomes clear that attending an institution of sorcerous study is the best thing a fledgling sorcerer can do, one question still remains: Which institution should he choose?

The Academy of Sorcery

Even as he returned from the Last Conclave, Palin Majere realized that the facts known about sorcery were far outweighed by what remained unknown. This new magic might be the oldest on Krynn, but mortal mages had only occasionally plumbed its depths, often with disastrous results. To make sorcery a boon to the world and not a curse, he would have to organize some sort of governing body and arrange a location from which to teach the new ways.

First, Palin gathered together all the former members of the Conclave of Wizards that he could find. They met at the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth and argued for days about how many Orders to split sorcery into, how to arrange and supervise a new Test for advanced students, and what to do about those who refused to bow to the Conclave's rulings.

Palin was sorely disappointed. With the infinite possibilities this new magic presented, all the former wizards could think of was recreating their old hierarchy. Palin disbanded the Conclave, which came to be known as the Last Conclave of High Sorcery.

To Palin, sorcery was not a boon of particular gods; it did not require spellcasters to perform specific rites to access its power. In fact, as his travels throughout Ansalon had proven, more and more people simply developed a knack for sorcery, casting simple spells on their own with no training at all. To Palin's mind, sorcery should not be regulated and governed like a guild, it should be taught and nurtured like an art. From these wistful musings was born the Academy of Sorcery.

The Academy was created to be a place where all sorcerers of all levels of ability could come to study their art, learn from one another, and add to the communal pool of knowledge. Since there was still so much that even the most gifted sorcerers had to learn, there would be no teachers - everyone at the Academy would be a student, even Palin himself. Every student would be responsible for helping those less skilled than he, and engaging in some form of research to add to the understanding of whatever school(s) he specialized in.

The Academy does have some structure, of course. Its Governing Council manages the affairs of the Academy as a whole. This council consists of two delegates from each school, with Palin acting as the deciding vote in an impasse. The schools of sorcery each send their most advanced member - the head or "dean" of the school - as well as a delegate froì the student body at large, the school's "representative."

The Campus

Located on a natural plateau overlooking Solace, the Academy of Sorcery is home to more than three hundred students engaged in the study of all eleven schools of sorcery. The campus is laid out in a circular pattern of eleven Towers of the Arts (one devoted to each school) with one building, the Tower of the World, in the circle's center. A network of open hallways surrounds and crosses the campus, connecting the Tower of the World with all the other buildings. The center of the Academy has been divided into four quadrants, named after famous wizards of Krynn's past. Three of these areas (Par-Salian's, Magius's, and Justarius's Quads) are covered with neatly manicured grass, several large vallenwood trees, and numerous benches for students to sit and study, or occasionally even relax. The fourth area (Raistlin's Quad) has been kept in its original state: a thick, lush forest similar to the one that envelops Solace.

The Tower of the World contains living quarters for all the students. It, like the entire campus, was built with the future in mind, and so the current student body doesn't even come close to fully occupying the rooms within. Even though housing is generally arranged so that more advanced students have rooms higher in the tower than beginning ones, every student can, if he wishes, find a private room available on his appropriate level.

Students can find facilities for cooking, cleaning, and other necessary functions on campus, but most choose to walk into Solace at least twice a week to get a good meal or simply to enjoy the company of people whose lives revolve around something other than sorcery.

Entrance Exams

Getting into the Academy of Sorcery is, on the whole, fairly easy. Considering Palin's dream of the school being an institution where any sorcerer could come to develop his art, there is no call for exhaustive tests to determine a potential student's qualifications.

One day a month the Academy convenes an Entrance Committee in the Tower of the World's Great Hall. The committee is comprised of one member from each school of sorcery, but Palin usually sits in as the twelfth member of the panel if he is in that day. Anyone wishing to join the Academy must stand before this committee and prove he has at least a rudimentary understanding of the theory of sorcery.

An applicant, therefore, must possess a Reason code of at least "B." Palin has been known from time to time to admit others who do not possess the minimal understanding of sorcery. These applicants nearly always possess some manifestation of a "wild talent" in sorcery, although this is not always the case; the young sorceress Emma Xela was one such student. Individuals are allowed to attempt entrance into the Academy once per season, but may keep trying season after season until they succeed.

While admission into the Academy is relatively easy, succeeding at its course of study often is not. Many applicants who were admitted shortly after the Academy was formed have yet to master even a single spell. Most of these have given up their interest for other pursuits, but some few remain, hoping to achieve a breakthrough someday.

Learning and Teaching

One of the key principles behind the Academy is that no matter how long and hard one studies, no matter how much he excels in one or another school of sorcery, there will always be more for him to know. Students can always learn something from everyone they meet.

The practical application of this principle is that every student at the Academy also acts as a teacher. Advanced sorcerers act as tutors for students who are less skilled in their school, but also must spend time listening to the theories of these students, not with an ear toward correcting them, but rather to see what kernels of insight may spring from totally unbiased views. The newest students are generally assigned as "open door tutors" for people preparing for admission into the Academy and who need work on their basic understanding of sorcery. This serves the dual purpose of increasing the quality of applicants and helping develop young students' confidence and teaching skills.

Palin Majere holds discussions almost daily on the preferred methods of instruction for tutors. A tutor is expected to guide his charges through the abilities of their school of sorcery, giving helpful clues but allowing them to reach conclusions themselves, even if this means not following the accepted line of reasoning. More often than not, spellcasters have found more than one way to get identical results from a school of sorcery, and students that follow "unconventional" lines of thought usually are the ones responsible for breakthroughs.

Experiments and Research

Every student is expected to engage in research which will expand his knowledge of the school(s) he is able to cast from. For beginning level students, this merely means mastering the basic principles and abilities of their schools, usually with guidance from one or more instructors. For more advanced students, however, this means engaging in experiments and library research to uncover hidden potential and uses for the schools.

Experiments in individual schools result in discovering more powerful spells, finding more economical ways to cast accepted spells, and understanding better the relationships between the different schools. Slightly more gifted students often engage in experiments to combine schools to create spell effects not yet achieved through sorcery. Some students are even involved in research with the mystics on Schallsea Island to determine if sorcery and mysticism can be combined.

Research often involves reading ancient texts to find clues about the nature of sorcery. Since the art of sorcery is as old as Krynn itself, it is foolish to think that in all of recorded history no one has tapped this power prior to the Fifth Age. In fact, several students involved in this research believe that some of the races, creatures, and legends of Ansalon's past have been natural sorcerers, using the power of primordial magic as naturally as most races breathe (see "Magical Races" in Chapter Five). Unfortunately, texts containing information about the magic that predated High Sorcery are very rare. Occasionally, research involves looking over old tomes on High Sorcery to try to gain a better understanding of exactly how sorcery differs from that more rigid form of spellcasting. Although there are fewer such tomes at the Academy than at the library of Wayreth's Tower of High Sorcery, their insights have occasionally proved helpful for Academy students.

The most important part of research or experimentation at the Academy of Sorcery, though, is reporting one's findings. Every ten days, the students of each school of sorcery hold a Council of Peers, where students report on the progress of their experiments and research, offer advice for fellows whose studies are going badly, and demonstrate any new spell effects they have achieved recently. A detailed record of the meeting is kept and stored in the Academy Library, which takes up three floors of the Tower of the World. Any student whose results or findings are particularly impressive or have implications for other schools is sent to repeat his report at the monthly all-school Council of Peers, chaired by Palin.

There are no grades or other reviews of students' work. However, the students themselves consider being asked to make an appearance before Palin's council an honor, and students are considered neophytes until they have been requested to present at one. Anyone asked to appear at more than one council in a single season is treated with celebrity status (Narrators who base campaigns at the Academy may wish to give a bonus of +1 to the total quests of a hero who achieves this, the bonus representing the equivalent of having participated in an adventure).

Private Colleges

The view espoused by the Academy of Sorcery is, of course, not shared by all sorcerers. Many of the former members of the Conclave of Wizards found Palin's open door policy offensive, and refused to have anything further to do with the school or Palin himself. Those with a talent for the new magic opened their own schools, colleges of sorcery where students were taught not only the finer points of spellcasting, but also a belief that their skill in sorcery put them in an elite group, one that was cheapened by institutions such as the Academy. The graduates of these private colleges often consider Academy students second-rate sorcerers who know nothing of the honor and nobility associated with a "true wizard."

The general public's opinions of students from private colleges of sorcery is even worse than their attitudes toward Academy students. They are seen as being not only strange and disconnected from reality, but also insufferably arrogant.

Being a student at one of these smaller schools has advantages and disadvantages over attending the Academy of Sorcery. Since the private colleges are smaller, each student receives much more personalized attention from the instructors. For that matter, because there are definite teachers and the teaching method is not so heavily regulated, beginning level students learn much more quickly than do those at the Academy. They have their lessons explained to them by teachers with specific opinions of how spells should and shouldn't be cast. After the first year of study, private college students seem significantly more capable than their peers at the Academy.

On the other hand, because the private colleges have a much smaller field from which to pick their teachers, not every institution will have an instructor for all eleven schools of sorcery. Most colleges specialize in teaching four or five subjects. Students wishing to learn other schools of sorcery will have to transfer to another college. What's more, although beginning level students learn more quickly than do those at the Academy, higher level students do not usually reach the level of expertise attained by students in Solace. The broad range of lessons and the "hands-on" style of teaching at the Academy produce sorcerers better able to find solutions in the more esoteric levels of spellcasting.

While it is unwise to generalize, and some private colleges do follow the example set by the Academy of Sorcery, the education received at these institutions is usually narrower of focus and less practical in the long run.

Tuition and Other Debts

Another thing that separates private colleges of sorcery from Palin's Academy is tuition. The Academy of Sorcery charges its students no tuition or room fees, it provides a place for students to devote themselves to their art, and it asks only that they share their findings with the school. Of course, students then become responsible for taking care of all their personal needs, and those that do not have an independent source of income must work in some capacity in the town of Solace. Independent colleges, however, usually charge their students a substantial fee to attend their classes and live in their facilities. Aspiring sorcerers would do well to find out all they can about a college before handing over any tuition payments.

While the private colleges by and large provide a genuine service for the money paid them, there are more than a couple "institutions" run by charlatans who take students' money, fill their heads with confusing pseudophilosophy which has nothing to do with sorcery, and disappear in the dead of night, usually leaving the bewildered students to explain why the rent on the "schoolhouse" hasn't been paid in months.

Even when a student acquires a quality education for a reasonable price, most private colleges of sorcery demand a heavy payment from their graduating students. Usually, though, this payment is not in the form of coin. Some insist that students stay behind and teach for a number of years after their studies are through, others require an oath of secrecy, having the graduates swear never to reveal any of their lessons to another living soul (particularly if the school has a "trademark spell," such as the summoning spell a student performs under the watchful eyes of her master in the illustration on page 51).

The most common debt a student is asked to pay to his school, though, is a debt of service. Upon reaching a certain level of ability, students are required to perform specific - and extremely difficult - tasks in order to graduate. Often, this is some action which will either fill the college's coffers with coins or increase its fame and reputation among the general public of Ansalon.

Independent Teachers

For some, attending an institution of sorcerous learning is simply out of the question. They have too many family commitments, live too far from a suitable school, or simply do not have the financial wherewithal to support themselves in this time-consuming endeavor. Often these people have some very basic abilities in spellcasting, and they dream of becoming full-fledged sorcerers but most will likely never get the chance to prove themselves. For a very few lucky individuals, their needs are answered in the form of an independent teacher.

Independent sorcerers, particularly those wandering spellcasters who have no idea where they will get their next meals, are often willing to spend some time working with an eager pupil in exchange for food, lodging, and occasionally cash. While these independent teachers generally do their best to share their knowledge and experience with students, there are several drawbacks to working with this kind of instructor.

First, since a wandering sorcerer is skilled in no more than three schools of magic, it is entirely possible that he cannot teach the pupil a desired school, and only in very exceptional cases can tutelage in one school provide practical lessons for another. A farmer with a knack for aeromancy may have to wait years before anyone with that skill happens by his property. If, of course, the would-be pupil is not determined to learn a particular set of sorcerous skills, he will have a much easier time finding a private instructor.

A more important caveat, though, is that students looking for a teacher should be very careful whom they invite into their homes. Most wandering sorcerers are good-hearted souls simply looking for their places in the world, but more than a couple of them are antisocial rogues who will take advantage of good-natured folk, and a few of them are just plain Evil. Having sorcerous ability does not bring with it any level of responsibility or even common sense. Any rowdy or immature guest can wreck a home; if he is a sorcerer, he can bring it crashing to the ground.

This is not to say that it is always a bad idea to take in a wandering sorcerer in exchange for spellcasting lessons. If done with proper care, this can be the most economical and time-efficient way to learn sorcery. However, students should be very sure of exactly who they are inviting into their lives before they open the door.

Sorcerer's Apprentice

Sometimes aspiring students are not tied down to one place; they simply have no idea where to go for the instruction they seek. Perhaps they were turned down for entrance to the Academy of Sorcery, perhaps they cannot afford a private college, or maybe they simply do not believe in themselves strongly enough to follow their dreams. In any case, these people occasionally hit upon the idea of finding an independent sorcerer and apprenticing themselves to him.

Apprentices face all the problems and variables associated with the independent teachers, plus they must give up their homes to live and travel with their new masters. What's more, having skill in spellcasting does not guarantee that a sorcerer has any knack at all for teaching. New apprentices may find themselves acting more like personal servants than students of magic. Nevertheless, for some, this is an excellent way of learning sorcery, for it keeps costs to a minimum while providing a "hands-on" education.

Knights of Takhisis

Unlike the other ways to learn sorcery, becoming a Knight of the Thorn involves quite a bit more than being quick of wit. First and foremost, applicants must be fully trained, moderately experienced Knights of the Lily - one of the most demanding occupations on Krynn today.

Knights who wish to enter the Order of the Thorn must first be deemed to have the potential to succeed as sorcerers (as judged by a high-ranking Thorn Knight) and then must pass a Test of Takhisis (see Chapter One). Those who fail the Test are put to death, for with ambition comes risk. Those who succeed are apprenticed to a Thorn Knight, called a Thorn Master, who specializes in training initiates.

Thorn Masters are usually assigned three or four apprentices at one time. They are responsible for teaching their charges the basic tenets of sorcery, with a strong emphasis on the school of divination, and furthering their sense of purpose within the grand scheme of the Vision. Mirielle Abrena is very cautious not to create an order of Knights who wield powerful magic but lack an absolute devotion to the Dark Queen.

Although a Thorn Master gives equal tutelage to each apprentice, they are not treated as equals. In order to assure an appropriate drive for success (and fear of failure) in the apprentices, the one who progresses through his studies quickest is given preferential treatment while any students who lag behind the others are treated roughly. Tales are told of apprentices who were beaten, incinerated, electrified, or worse, by their masters. Given the Knights' general theories on success and honor, these tales are easy to believe.

Understandably, then, the competition between apprentices is fierce, and bitter rivalries often develop. This not only keeps the Knights' taste for victory keen, but also insures that members of the order are not likely to trust one another enough to organize into a bloc and threaten the sovereignty of the Knights of Takhisis as a whole. A Thorn Knight considers all Dark Knights to be his brothers, but rarely counts more than one or two of his fellow Thorn Knights among his close friends.

After an apprenticeship of one year, Knights who have performed up to the expectations of their Thorn Master receive their new armor and the order's trademark gray robes, an echo of this group's defiance of the three Orders of High Sorcery during the Fourth Age. They also earn a Reason code of"B" at this time, but must reduce one Physical code, as described for the "Knight of the Thorn" role. These full-fledged Thorn Knights are then assigned to a talon of other Gray Knights for duties especially suited to their sorcerous expertise.

Those who have not fulfilled the requirements of their apprenticeship after a year face one of several fates. They will find themselves either:

- Retained by their Thorn Master, if he feels they are on the way to completing their studies;
- Given to a different Thorn Master for a second apprenticeship;
- Allowed to face a Test of Takhisis to enter the Order of the Skull; or
- Returned to the Order of the Lily with no hope of ever becoming a full Thorn Knight, no matter how successful they become at spellcasting.

Prev   Next   Up