Vorstallen Magic Preparatory - The Third-Best School for Young Mages in the Nation! Enrol Today!

Vorstallen Magic Preparatory. The third-best magic academy in the city of Vorstal for which it is named. One of the newer colleges, but one of the better ones. Started by a consortium of Vorstallen merchants who paid a great deal of money to set up many talented mages there, what it lacks in tradition and accumulated knowledge it makes up in teaching talent. Admittedly, in a city with seven of the top ten magical academies in the world, this is not an unimpressive feat. Still, it's disappointing. You'd been aiming for Greystone Academy, and hoping for the Imperial Collegium, but the Preparatory is still good. Just not as good as you'd hoped. Oh, well. At least you made it into a decent school.

As the cart rattles along the cobblestones of Vorstal, you turn your mind back to the road that brought you here...

Firstly, where do you hail from?

[ ] Vorstal, the city itself. The city-state is the centre of world learning, bordering the Six-Fox Pact and the Undying Empire as it does. Its famous neutrality (and the immense power of the mages who graduate from its cities) keep it independent. Ironically enough, most of the Vorstallen-educated mages do not come from Vorstal, the inhabitants of the city preferring to engage in commerce. The endless trade of magical artifacts through the city has given you an edge on identifying them.

+ 5 to Commerce Skill, +5 to Artifact Identification, no Diplomacy bonuses or maluses.

[ ] Narubar, the greatest nation in the Six-Fox Pact. Narubar trains endless mages as part of the rivalry of the Pact with the Undying Empire. As such Narubar provides financial assistance for any who choose to train in magic, as without mages it cannot maintain its pre-eminence in the Pact, and defend itself against the predations of the Empire. Bordering both the Empire and Vorstal, Narubar also has mandated military service for all of its people. Before you can learn magic, you will have learned the spear and shield for several years. The Undying Empire hates Narubar (a hatred Narubar returns in equal measure), and loyalty to Narubar and all of her people will have been drilled into you a hundred times.

+ 100 currency to start, +10 Spear Combat, +10 Shield Use, major diplomacy malus to characters with Undying Empire background, major diplomacy bonus to characters with Narubar background, minor diplomacy bonus to characters with other Six-Fox Pact backgrounds.

[X] The Undying Empire, greatest empire of the world, once covering the entire continent of Afakal, ruled by the eternal King of Bones. The Undying Empire does not love mages as Narubar does, as mages form its ruling class - those from the wrong background or the wrong family will quickly find themselves ostracised for reaching above their station. Indeed, the ability to seize immortality with magic is jealously guarded, and the King of Bones and his Rotting Court only pass it on to the most worthy and politically connected. However, the Empire is steeped in magical knowledge and artifacts, and its place as the greatest world power has not been usurped.

+ 5 to Magical Lore: Necromancy, major diplomacy malus to characters with Six-Fox Pact backgrounds.

[ ] Crakon, one of the minor nations in the Saint's Archipelago. Crakon is a handful of towns and fishing villages, with no real wealth or power to speak of. You're damn good at fishing, and sailing, and swimming. Half the people at the school haven't even learned your country's name! Why are you even here?

+ 15 to Swimming, +15 to Craft: Fishing, + 15 to Sailing.


Secondly, what is your background?

Vorstal Backgrounds:

[ ] The Five Families, Scion: The Five Families are the nominal ruling class of Vorstal, the five major mercantile families with immense wealth and immense power. And immense influence - enough to see you into the best academy in the city easily. You must have really fucked up the entrance exams. Man, your father is going to be so, so, so mad. He would've probably had to pay someone off just to get you into Vorstallen, and the fact that he couldn't do it for Greystone or the Collegium speaks to the depths of your failure. Still, you're goodlooking and charming and strong, and you have a good amount of magical power. You're even fairly smart. Being coddled all your life though, has left you with an extreme deficit of willpower, and with it, the ability to study or practice as much as others.

Stats - 3 Intelligence, 3 Channeling, 1 Willpower, 4 Charisma, 4 Physical Ability
+ 500 coins, major diplomacy bonus to all characters with Vorstal backgrounds. Gain Trait: Family Love (The Family pays your way. They're unlikely to ask you to do anything, you're too important to risk) Starting age 16.

[ ] The Five Families, Country Cousin: Wow, you made it in! Sure, you're technically a member of the Five Families, but only technically. You're smart, though, and you have significant magical talent. You spent your formative years learning accountancy for one of the Family's businesses, you're not all that strong. You have all the charisma of an accountant, too, but you're very smart. You're not so connected the Families would send you to the Collegium, but they'll pay for Vorstallen, especially with your solid exam results.

Stats - 4 Intelligence, 4 Channeling, 3 Willpower, 2 Charisma, 2 Physical Ability
+ 100 coins, + 20 to Accountancy, minor diplomacy bonus to all characters with Vorstal backgrounds. Gain Trait: Family Service (the Family pays your way. They may ask you do things from time to time. Refusal could see these payments revoked). Starting age 18.

[ ] Genius Student: Well, you'd hoped for the Collegium, but only people with connections get in there. Greystone had been a possibility, but the offer they send didn't include tuition. Without that, well, you're not going anywhere. Your results were good enough for Vorstallen, though, and lots of talented mages have come from Vorstallen. Not so many influential ones, mind you, but famous and accomplished ones all the same. You're brilliant, driven, and charming. Your endless long days of studying have left you unable to run half a mile or lift all that much. Your magical energies, though - the less said about that the better. Still, Aginara Fountaindance and Melody Killwhisper both have notoriously weak magical energies, but have accomplished great things all the same.

Stats - 5 Intelligence, 1 Channeling, 4 Willpower, 4 Charisma, 1 Physical Ability
+ 10 to Lore: Magical History, + 10 to Lore: Alchemy, + 10 to Lore: Famous Mages. Gain Trait: Scholarship (the Preparatory pays your way, failing subjects will see this revoked). Starting age 15.



Narubar Backgrounds:

[ ] Senator's Scion: The scion of an influental Narubar Senator, you studied hard to get out from under your father's thumb. Vorstal was the only place outside of Narubar your father would accept you going, so you studied ferociously to become a mage. Lacking your father's charisma and confidence, you buried yourself in exercise, becoming one of the most physically fit people you knew. Running long distance, working out in the gymnasium, you applied yourself with singleminded focus, and you excelled at your military training. You're not all that intelligent, and you're very shy, but your power, both physically and mentally is significant.

Stats - 2 Intelligence, 4 Channeling, 4 Willpower, 1 Charisma, 5 Physical Ability
+ 500 coins, gain Trait: Daddy Issues (-50 on all rolls opposing your father's requests or demands). Gain Trait Daddy's Money (your father pays for school. Piss him off too much and he might stop). Starting age 18. Narubar characters start at +10 opinion towards you - a Senator's scion working to serve as a mage in the military fits the story of what the Senatorial class should be like.

[ ] Famed Warrior: Fighting in the Archipelagian War against the Undying Empire, you singlehandledly defeated a mage in combat, though the spell he used against you sliced off your legs a moment before he died. As a hero of renown, they had you lecturing in the halls of the Wolven Academy for the new cadets, until you decided you had endured enough. Seeking something more, you studying hard and took the tests to enter the various magical academies. Your ability to grasp the theoretical was always weak, and has not strengthened with time. It took three rounds of testing before you had learned enough to enter, and The government paid for your tuition willingly, though your results were barely enough to gain you entrance. A commander of men, you are charismatic and well-known, though your physical abilities are lacking. The magical floatchair they have provided you gets you around well enough, but is slow and difficult to maneuver, and it drains a lot of your considerable magical power.

Stats - 2 Intelligence, 5 Channeling, 5 Willpower, 5 Charisma, 0 Physical Ability
+ 20 to Tactics, gain Trait: Government Payment (the government is paying for your education. Given your heroic status, there is very little you can do to forfeit this),
gain Trait: Crippled (cannot walk without the use of your floatchair), gain Trait: War Terrors (Willpower roll whenever a roll involves using or seeing powerful cutting magics. If you fail, fail any rolls associated with said magics) gain Item: Floatchair (Allows movement in all directions at walking speed, permanent -2 Channeling malus while equipped). Starting age 26.

[ ] Military Orphan: Your parents were both proud members of the military, fighting in the Archipelagian War. Their unit was ambushed by a powerful mage who cut them to pieces within seconds. You were raised in one of the Military Orphanages, taught to read and write, and to hate the enemy who took your parents from you. With no real influence to speak of, you managed to get into the Preparatory through your tremendous intelligence, and the great power you were found to have during magical testing was no small boon, either. You're scrawny and weak, part of a lifetime of underfeeding from a government that paid more attention to its mages than its orphans, and you were always defensive, snapping at people for no reason. You aimed to become a mage so you could find the man who killed your parents and take his life just as he took yours. Failing that, a few hundred Imperial soldiers would do just fine.

Stats - 4 Intelligence, 4 Channeling, 3 Willpower, 2 Charisma, 2 Physical Ability
Gain Trait: Imperial Hatred (gain +10 on all rolls opposing a character with an Undying Empire background, -50 on any roll taken for the purpose of helping a character with an Undying Empire background). Gain Trait: Scholarship (the Preparatory pays your way, failing subjects will see this revoked). Starting age 18.


Undying Empire Backgrounds:

[ ] Scion of a Fallen Lich: Your family was one serving under an influential Lich-Mage, one who had been a major part of the Empire for over two hundred years. Your magical powers are immense, you are intelligent, hardworking, physically well-trained and charming. You have been raised as an instrument to bring your family success. Last year your Lich paterfamilias was killed, though you don't know how. The many enemies your family had made were on you like a pack of wolves, your businesses being destroyed, your fleets being commandeered, and your magical artifacts stolen. Within two months half of your family was dead.

Your bloodline ensures magical talent, and you're on the run. You're tentatively safe in Vorstal - nobody is going to kill you unless they can make it look like a complete accident. Any bloodline from the Empire who did would find themselves cut out of magical education to some degree, and while many people want you dead, none of them want you dead at the expense of their own power. You enrolled because, well, running forever would mean you'd be found eventually. You need power to survive, and this is the only place you can get it.

Stats - 4 Intelligence, 4 Channeling, 4 Willpower, 4 Charisma, 4 Physical Ability
+ 20 Lore: Necromancy (+25 total), + 10 Hiding, + 10 Disguise, Gain Trait: Hunted (major malus on diplomacy with Undying Empire characters. The King of Bones wanted your ancestor dead, and he wouldn't frown on you dying, either. People will try to kill you from time to time. If you start gaining power, your enemies will consider it a priority to kill you. The Six-Fox Pact has no real reason to want you alive either, so you can't count on help from anyone unless you make some really good friends. You do get 20 stat points total as opposed to the standard 15, but this is Hard Mode). Gain Trait: Scholarship (the Preparatory pays your way, failing subjects will see this revoked). Starting age 15.

[X] Necromancer's Bargain: Like many of the poorer members of the Empire, you served the upper classes in what capacity you could to help your family survive. Gifted with tremendous natural power, you agreed to sell a significant portion of your power to a necromancer in return for money, and a good life for your family. At first he just took a little, and then more, and then more, each time paying a significant sum of money. Eventually you had barely anything left, not even enough to make it worth his while to steal any more. To effect this transfer you had to spend a great deal of time near him, and you learned bits and pieces of the ritual. The only useful thing you learned was that if the necromancer died, the power would return to you. With the money you had, you chose to go to a magical academy - if you could find some other way to break the bond, you'd be able to become one of the greatest mages of all. The curse has left you somewhat drained in physical ability as well.

Stats - 4 Intelligence, 6 (!) Channeling, 5 Willpower, 2 Charisma, 3 Physical Ability
+ 10 Lore: Necromancy (+15 total), Gain Trait: Curse of Transferal (-5 Channeling, -1 Physical Ability. Only method you know to remove this is death of the necromancer who created it). Gain Trait: Paid Up-Front (you've used your money to pay your tuition, getting a large discount for paying for all four years. This has left you with no extra money, but no obligations in regards to tuition). Starting age 16.

Crakon Backgrounds:

[ ] Write-In:

Seriously, why is someone from a little fishing village on an island nation at the fifth greatest academy for magic in the world? Write some reasons, and distribute 15 stat points among the 5 stats.

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Game System:

The game runs on a pretty standard 1D100 vs DC rolls to achieve something.

To add to this, there are two mechanics that help the main character succeed on these rolls.

The first is Stats. Stats are permanent, not improvable (except through either extraordinary effort or extraordinary magic, and this is very rare), and give a bonus of +5 per stat on any roll associated with that stat. The average stat is 3. The maximum is 10.

The first stat is Intelligence. Intelligence impacts how quickly you learn while learning, how well you plan, and is a general all-around boost to anything involving thinking. A stupid character will have difficulty learning more sophisticated magics. That being said, not all magics are complex and intelligence-based. Some spells just involve drawing on a shit-ton of magic, dumping it into an area, and igniting it.

The second stat is Channeling. Channeling is how much of the Primordial Ether you can filter through your body before you simply can't anymore. This is largely determined by your birth, and cannot really be improved (artifacts can store magic for later, but these are expensive and rare). Your Magic Pool, is Channeling*10+10*Channeling^2. Channeling doesn't make your spells more powerful as such, it just allows you to cast more of them. A character with Channeling 1 will have a Magic Pool of 30, which will make practising powerful spells nearly impossible, and casting them rare. A character with Channeling 2 will have 60, and one with Channeling 4 (the highest possible start) will have one of 200, almost seven times that of a character with Channeling 1. Channeling is largely not applied to rolls.

The third stat is Willpower. Willpower determines how likely your character is to skive off, get scared, etc. Willpower increases the chances of a training check being successful - Intelligence determines how much successful checks give. Most Willpower checks are not subject to skill usage, so having a low Willpower means you'll fail a lot more training checks. Willpower also applies when enemy mind-affecting magics are used against you.

The fourth stat is Charisma. Useful for getting people to help you, as well as conversing with Primordial Spirits of various kinds. Being able to bind and use Spirits is highly Charisma-reliant, as they tend to be fairly willful and serve people they like. Skill Training is a lot easier if you have knowledgeable people to help you as well. A highly Charismatic character might find themselves keeping up with an Intelligence-based on by charming their teachers, for instance.

The fifth stat is Physical Ability. Physical ability determines how strong, fast, etc, you are. It also determines how much magic you can flow through your body at any given time. Casting spells in quick succession is physically exhausting - low-level magic use merely feels irritating, using a huge torrent of power can have deleterious effects on the human body. In addition, since magic is limited, being able to move around, run, fight, and so on is highly valuable for a mage caught with his or her pants down.

Secondly, Skills.

Skills can be improved through Training, and are the primary method of character progression. Training a Skill takes time, and learning a new Skill takes time. A Skill ranges from 1 to a hypothetical infinity, though in practice a skilled Blacksmith might have Blacksmithing: 30, and a master Blacksmith might have Blacksmithing: 60. 100 in a given skill is sublime, and beyond that is beyond the sort of skill your average person could achieve in a lifetime. Of course, as a mage tapped into the Primordial Ether, theoretical human skill doesn't mean that much to you.

Skill ranks are added directly to Rolls. Multiple skills can be used on one roll, provided they're both directly applicable (For instance, you're fighting a reanimated demon corpse - Lore: Demons and Lore: Necromancy are both applicable). If you have no skills directly applicable, but one that's fairly close, you can add half of that skill on. (For instance, you're fighting a unarmed fighter with a sword, and you have no ranks in Sword Combat, you could apply Unarmed Combat because he's fighting unarmed, and your skill kind of helps). You can only add one skill in this manner.

The character does not have hit points as such, but can gain temporary maluses to their stats. If Intelligence, Willpower, or Physical Ability goes below 0, you have died. If Channeling goes below 0 you are permanently cut off from the Primordial Ether. Charisma cannot go below 0.

Lastly, there are Spells.

While Skills assist rolls, Spells do one specific thing (For instance, the Curse of Transferal allows you to drain the Channeling Stat from another player, and 1 Physical Ability point per 5 points of Channeling). You can both learn new spells (which go into the character sheet), or improve existing ones, both of which have three things.

Firstly, Cost. Spells cost a certain number of points from your Magic Pool, depending on size, effect, etc. Most spells are fairly variable - want to make your fireball twice the radius? Eight times the cost. You can lower cost by studying the spell and finding ways to make it more efficient.

Secondly, Difficulty. Casting a spell is not a matter of thinking things into reality. You need to use Spellforms, either by drawing them in the air precisely and quickly, on the ground precisely (though not as quickly as the marks will remain), or on a device designed to turn Primordial Ether into spells. Some spells are simple and easy, others are extraordinarily difficult and require a huge amount of precision. You can lower difficulty with practice.

Thirdly, Effect. A spell has a precise effect, in that a fireball spell creates a great amount of heat, consuming oxygen within a certain radius. A levitation spell might levitate something at a certain speed, or a certain distance. Modifying a spell on the fly is very difficult, so most mages learn small variants of their most powerful spells.

All spells also have a School, which has no real magical effect, but determines where you'll find information about it in the library and which teachers are most likely to know about it, and which Lore skills are applicable to identifying it. Necromancy spells tend to be categorised that way because they were invented by necromancers, there's no real method of definition.

Let the voting begin!

This is an approval voting system. If I say the top two choices will be taken, you are not limited to vote for two options. Feel free to vote for one, or all (though functionally voting for all is the same as voting for none), or three, or six.

So, this is a pretty standard Magic Academy Quest. Well, I assume so. You play as a character of your choice, and go to school, partake in lessons, engage in political intrigue, and occasionally have a dangerous adventure.

That being said, just for an idea of the tone of the quest - magic is powerful and useful, but not all-powerful. The most powerful mages in the world are those who have cracked immortality and have had a few centuries to train. The majority of mages are going to have a few powerful spells they use regularly, and a bunch of useful situational tricks. They're a very long way from immortal and invincible, and even powerful mages can be stabbed to death unless they're actively maintaining some sort of powerful defense. The player isn't going to reach the heights of 'powerful mage' in 4 years unless they take some very risky decisions.

Magic is very political - falling in with the right crowd can get you on the fast-track to some spectacular spells and skills, and using those spells and skills against the wrong crowd can get you on the fast-track to a spectacular death. Whichever character you choose is going to be in the top 2-3% of human talent in some fashion, but all the same they're vying against people from that same 2-3%.

You can fail subjects (though I'll warn the thread if that's likely to happen), and if you do you might very well be expelled. That all being said, magic is cool, I think I've got a moderately interesting system set up, and I think it'll be a lot of fun.

Updates: Before I post an update, I'll put a Tally into the thread (which will also contain dice rolls for the update ahead as I write it). Once I put a vote-tally in (if other players want to do so to discuss winning options, tactical voting, etc, that's fine) that's generally the point at which voting has closed, unless I post otherwise.

I thought I'd write a few loreposts while voting continued, just to give a little more context to the world. I won't be adding anything the character couldn't realistically know at present - no magical theory, no secret histories, no trick to becoming a lich - but I hope it adds a little more information about the world the quest will be in.

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Friends and parents. I write to you to let all good folk of Vorstal (who of course subscribe to our illustrious publication) the state of magical education at current. Where your children can expect to go, what sort of marks they will require, the tuition, and, of course, the outcomes. While there are many institutions of magical learning in the world, the majority of these merely teach repetition, the sort of an untalented combat-mage from Narubar might undergo. A few spellforms, the ability to use them quickly, but no understanding. No true learning, no ability to grasp the context in which a spell exists, to create, to modify, and to improve.

In the world today, I would say there are no more than ten institutions of worth for any family with bearing and wealth. Seven are here in fair Vorstal, one in the Empire, one in Narubar, and one in Fayut, otherwise the least of the Six-Fox Pact.

Firstly, of course, is the Imperial Collegium. Before the Undying Empire suffered such terrible losses and the Prince of Bones became the King of Bones, it was the centre of magical learning for the entire Empire, and of course the entire continent. A thousand years of domination over the the entire continent, and all the magical resources of the continent poured into that institution make it a place unlike any other. Oh, other colleges may boast of talented mages and cleverly-built laboratories. The Collegium has the Library of Slumber, allowing students to study in their dreams. The Egg of Time, where a student goes to trade a day for a week (though only once), traditionally used in the day before the final examinations.

The Collegium is without equal, and the quality of the training there is shown in its great mages. The King of Bones studied there when he was still a man of flesh, and six of Narubar's thirty Senators have studied there as well. Some colleges require both money or talent. The Collegium requires both, or one of an utterly exceptional level. If you are a merchant of wealth and your Scion is brilliant, perhaps you may be able to gain them entry there. The Collegium rarely gives out scholarships, though it can most certainly afford to do so. It aims to reject those who cannot bring great influence or great talent to its doors, to ensure its high reputation remains for another thousand years.

Secondly comes Greystone Academy. Named after the Grey Stone of Arkhas which it is built around (and we are told has some magical purpose, those the members of the Academy are remarkably tight-lipped about what that might be), the Academy is nearly eight hundred years old, and traditionally taught the arts of rhetoric, logic, grammar and politics, as well as economics and enchanting. Greystone has never educated the greatest combat mages, disdaining them as brutish, but rather turns its students towards invention and innovation. While its students are not so famous as those of the Collegium, Greystone may very well be a better choice for the discerning merchant - why not send your Scion to somewhere they can learn arts which will enhance the family business?

Thirdly is the College of Bones, aptly named after the ruler of the Empire. Situated in the capital of Borealis, the College of Bones is without equal in teaching necromancy and other such powers. However, it is open only to those with political influence within the Empire. As a proud Vorstallen, I urge you - do not even try to enter. Not only will the Empire deny you, but it will pretend that you are less than they while doing so. Keep your Scion at home, and educate them in Vorstal! Let the King of Bones have his necromancers, while we attain the wealth of the world!

Fourth is the Spire of Cunning. Situated on the desolate Narubite coast, the Spire teaches combat magic and divination at levels unknown to other nations. While Vorstal is the centre of magical education, the Narubites are obsessed with war in a war that makes all other nations look peaceful. Their mages are taught magical theory, true, but they are primarily taught to do two things - find their enemy, and destroy them. The victories of the Pact in the Archipelagian War came from superior naval power, but this naval power in part came from mages who could detect the enemy, and offer a great deal of firepower when they closed to unsuspecting Imperial fleets. Despite being outnumbered four-to-one in hulls, the War ended status quo ante bellum, a resounding endorsement of Narubite training. Still, what sort of use does Vorstal have for combat mages? Even a genius at combat will not sell any more wine, will not forge any more saleable artifacts. While the Narubites might let you in, they most certainly would not let your Scion out with the knowledge they had garnered. No place for true Vorstallens.

Fifth is the Vorstallen Magic Preparatory. While Greystone and the Collegium are ancient, the Preparatory is only a hundred years old, a hundred years younger than Vorstal as an independent state. The Preparatory focuses on magical theory over all else. While the Collegium turns out archmagi of potent powers, and Greystone sends out sweet-talking enchanters who can forge webs of words as well as webs of wards, the Preparatory has the backing of the Five Families, and as such spends money in ways the others do not. The Preparatory tends to turn out mages of moderate repute, but rarely does a mage go through the Preparatory and embarrass themselves. Expensive tutors, rigorous hours, and many excursions to magical sites around Vorstal mean that Preparatory-trained mages are often the equal of their rivals when they graduate, and tend to be even more exceptional twenty years into the future. An excellent choice for all true Vorstallen patriots!

Sixth is the Six Colleges of Night and Day. Six minor magic schools in Vorstal, each over five hundred years old, that amalgamated sixty years ago. Excellent training in a wide variety of magics, though their combat magic is drastically lacking. The Colleges do offer a significant scholarship fund, so if you have a member of the family who is brilliant, but perhaps not important, the Colleges are an excellent choice.

Seventh is the Inner Ring College. Founded as a rival to the Imperium Collegium eight hundred years ago, the Inner Ring teaches magical theory and combat magics, though has no real focus on enchanting. The Inner Ring are expensive, and offer a quality education, but have lower entrance standards than other schools. If your Scion is unfortunately (through no fault of their own, no doubt) performing poorly in the Magisterium Examinations, this may be an excellent option.

Eighth is the Outer Ring College. Founded seven hundred years ago for poorer students in the Outer Ring, the entry standards are quite high, but the fees are low and the education standards are quite good. A good choice for less important members of the family.

Ninth is The Cloudy Peak, situated on the great mountain of Sinara in the Saint's Archipelago. Rumor has it this is where the Saint herself now lives, though nobody truly knows. The only academy in the Archipelago, it closed its doors eight years ago when the Archipelagian War started. Historically the only academy to exist outside of the Empire (though the Preparatory was also founded after the Empire dwindled) , nobody has been able to enter since.

Tenth is the Librarium Arcanum. Despite the name, it is an institute of learning nowadays. Founded as a library in the Imperial era a thousand years ago, the demand for education increased as the Imperial stranglehold on magic slowly tightened, the librarians (often talented mages themselves, taking up the position to gain access to the library archives) began offering magical lessons to cover their increasing expenses. Over the centuries this became slowly institutionalized, and a small number of dormitories were built around the library to house students. The Librarium is expensive, but offers the greatest potential knowledge of any institution. Of course, talented teachers tend to find themselves elsewhere, so unless your student is brilliant, the Librarium may not be for them.

That is it for the rankings of the various institutions. Remember, if you found use from this edition of our work, please donate to the Vorstal Mercantile Press. All the information a talented merchant needs, at half the price it should be!