Arcane Academy Summary

## Plot Summary

For possibly the first time in history a Sarcillian mage is in attendance on the first day of class in Rapture's Arcane Academy. After Principal Agoston welcomes the students with a speech, they are approached by a charming classmate, August Blackreach, who offers to his knowledge and friendship to the outsider. This is not a school for the weak and people like them, looked down upon by the upperclass Marked students, should stick together. The Listener agrees and they become a notorious pair throughout the school. Fendal Zinderphal, an ambitious boy from a Marked family, approaches them for much the same reason, offering a life of comfort should they ally themselves with him and his plans. He won't take no for an answer.

The Listener excels in their classes and gets to know their teachers better: Krios the half-demon oneiromancy teacher and Ramses, a naga from the Empire who teaches Monstrous Biology.

Not everything is as it seems. August shares with the Listener a secret, the real reason why an Abberant boy would choose a life in the Arcane Academy, and asks them to steal a journal from Principal Agoston's office. Fendal, their partner for a divination project, does a love reading for the Listener and he is surprised to see what the cards say about their past, present, and future.

The Listener visits Principal Agoston's office to discuss their academic timetable and how well they are fitting into Rapture. He too has noticed their rising star and is happy to give them more advanced classes. The dark mage has some advice as well: they are in Rapture now and their proclivity for kindness will not do them any favors. Before they leave he informs them that Governor Vaset is inviting a worthy student to join a diplomatic envoy to Runika and that he expects their application by the end of the week.

The Listener continues to excel even with pyromancy added to their schedule. A third-year student, Kreanin, introduces himself and successfully asks them out despite his nervous disposition.

When they meet up with August again it's revealed that they weren't able to steal the book as planned but August had a backup. He hid his shadow familiar in their shadow when they went into the office and it stole the book for him, hiding it in their bag. They reluctantly hand over the book when Fendal barges in on them, warning that Agoston is accusing them of stealing a relic from his office. Both Fendal and the Listener are shocked when August threatens them both with death and reveals that his friendly persona was a lie. All he wanted was the book, the Tome of Ill Omen, so he could "fix the world" by destroying the boundary between the realms of the living and the dead, sacrificing the entire population of Rapture in the process. August and Fendal both ask the Listener to join them at their sides, citing their magical power as the key to their goal - fixing Rapture for good.

Whether they make a choice is unknown. The Listener awakens in the school's apothecary tower in the care of Ramses. They were discovered in a weakened state after the portal collapsed and the naga encourages them to rest and recover. He shows a surprising amount of affection by declaring them under his protection, even advising them that if they choose to lie about what they were doing that he will back them up. It's unknown if he actually knows how involved they were with the theft of the principal's book. In the meantime, both Krios and his son are "looking into things" since the investigation is ongoing and Fendal has been frantically researching something while "in a state."

## The Listener

### Trivia

* August implies they are rather powerful for a student, describing their aura as a "magical spike".
* Have a natural knack for necromancy, successfully reanimating a swallow.
* Spent the first two weeks of school with "that  Aberrant boy" trading spells and studying together.
* Appears to forget taking notes in Divination class (though they might have "forgotten" just to bother Fendal).
* Has a mostly tidy room that Krios approves of.
* In an advanced class of divination/oneirmancy and are doing well enough that Krios has given them a reference to Principal Agoston.
* They are nervous around Ramses and is very formal around him.
* Their notes are at such a high level that their personal enchantment tome is as good as a warlock's grimoire.
* Succeeding academically. They are excelling in their necromancy class and have received high praise from both Ramses and Krios. The naga straight up calls them his favorite and brightest pupil.
* They are making some kind of impact to the school, possibly because they are an outsider outperforming Rapturian students.
* Their old timetable:

* Their new timetable from Principal Agoston:

### Fan Theories

* They are the same Listener from "Tempting Dark Mage Names You" however no other character refers to them as "Thorn" and the audio is not part of the Arcane Academy playlist.
* They are the same Listener from "Handsome Ork Shows You His Library" but the audio is not part of the Arcane Academy playlist.

## Plot Fan Theories

* The Listener will attend the Winter's Crest Ball being thrown by the Runikan Royal as part of the Rapturian diplomatic envoy.

## Audio References

**The Arcane Academy** playlist can be found here.