College

## **Imperial Studies College (aka Northlake College)**

Apparently built upon the site of an old Elven library, above ground the College has a number of study rooms, an accommodation wing for up to 100 students and a large central atrium extending up three stories with overlooking balconies. Nowadays the college is largely deserted, occupied only by a few die hard students and Sparrowsight herself.

Beneath ground there are four levels of storerooms, most of Elven construction, many with ancient spells of preservation still in place that help keep their contents intact. Recently, King Alvera ordered that all information relating to the Elven military and arcane abilities be shipped to Starport, but even so there are still thousands upon thousands on scrolls remaining in the cellars. The estimate is that about a quarter of the scrolls have been catalogued – and whilst not necessarily translated and interpreted at least the gist of their contents are known. The rest remain as yet unread, as a side note Sparrowsight will often boast that no scroll has ever been stolen from the College but when asked why – will refuse to answer.

Bazin explored the catacombs in Day 28-34 – The third week in Northlake: He doesn’t find anything of particular interest, at least 80% of the catacombs are of Elven origin, only some of the more recent antechambers show more modern construction – and this was obviously carried out by skilled stoneworkers, possibly even Dwarves.

The senior researcher who went to Starport had Clearsight according to Olg

### Organisation

The original organisation within the college consisted of:

Head Librarian: Sparrowsight, oversees all running of the college (assisted by some administration staff) and sets research direction;

Senior Researcher: Leads any major research project

Researcher: Either supports a Senior Researcher, or has their own project

Student: Works under a researcher, in their spare time will often have their own project

Apprentice: (Bazin had reached this grade) A senior runner who is nearly ready to take on research projects

Runner: Tasked with retrieving and returning scrolls from the cellars to the research rooms.

Now all that is left as Sparrowsight as Head Librarian and 9 Students, lack of funding for the college has meant that most staff have left to pursue other opportunities. The few remaining students are looking to complete their projects before their personal funds run out. Not having runners to assist is making this much more difficult.

### Hiring A Student

As they are desperate to complete their projects, all of the Students would welcome external funding, the following rates would apply:

Student: 5 Silver per day

Runner: 2 Silver per day (a student without a runner operates at 20% efficiency, some projects may require more than one runner. A party member can act as a runner)

Hiring would be on a week by week basis, paid in advance, the Student will given an assessment as soon as possible as to expected basic research duration. Obviously the more open ended the question, the longer the research period and the less likely of getting specific information.

Further info from Email2020-10-16 15:05

**Q:** Are the two students that Sparrowsight mentioned still at the College and available? (Or they could be the same student).

**A:** Both students mentioned by Sparrowsight have gone (Sineas and the "promising one").

**Q:** Are there any students she could recommend as being 'discreet' - ie who we could trust to keep sensitive research secret for the next few months? (Probably won't matter after 6 months or so - they can probably publish their research without it mattering after then.) I am obviously thinking about the advisability of researching the brooch and Starport.

**A:** All the students can be relied upon to be discreet, however there is a mandate that any information uncovered relating to Elven military and arcane abilities is immediately conveyed to Duke Adamas - and that mandate will be adhered to.

**Q:** How long is a working week? (I have assumed 7 days for costing, but if it's just 6 or 5, then we should reduce costs accordingly)

**A:** A working week will be 7 days, there is enough desire for ready cash that any student will be wanting to work the full week. You could even offer overtime if you want!

1. ↑ Day 35-41 – The fourth week in Northlake