Delphos Training Academy

Delphos Academy is part of a much larger college in Erran dedicated to the art of war, military leadership and martial magic.

Of all the training academies in Erran, Delphos is one of the most difficult to get into. Studying at the academy means you were selected from hundreds of applicants for your talents and potential, and a position in the academy holds quite a reputation about the city. Students of Delphos are immediately recognizable by their uniform, a simple black tunic with intricate coloured embroidery around the hems and a gilded insignia badge in the shape of their house symbol. When in combat, serving on official duties or at formal events, this uniform includes leather armour styled in a hoplite fashion and a scaled leather pauldron painted gold, worn on the left shoulder.

Students are cared for comfortably by the school, with board, food and equipment covered, and in return are expected to carry out contracts for the city as part of their training, the fees for which are paid to Delphos. Many affluent families donate large sums of money in support of the academy if they have children attending (or some might argue, in order to get those children accepted into Delphos) and pay allowances to the student from their family. On the other hand students who wish to have a little coin for themselves may find part-time or short term employment around their studies.

**What Delphos house would you be in? Take our quiz and find out!**

## **Layout**

The college is situated in the centre of Erran, close to the Maw Coliseum and the remnants of the Imperial Palace which now houses many of the city’s taverns, terrace and stores. Delphos is made up of 12 simple but beautiful buildings made of golden stone with terracotta roofs, around a large outside quad courtyard and training grounds. Amongst these 12 buildings are classrooms, a forum, a refectory, libraries, a bathhouse, an infirmary, as well as dormitories and leisure areas for the five different houses within the academy.

Houses are assigned to students after they are accepted into the college based on their talents and aspirations. All of the houses study physical combat, warfare techniques and history, as well as having a choice of elective subjects and hobbies, but each has a specialism they are known for.

## **Houses**

### **Domus Virtus**

**The House of Valor**

   Considered by many to be the most prestigious house of the college, Domus Virtus is dedicated to strength and virtue on the battlefield, studying martial combat techniques and military leadership.

**About Domus Virtus**

House colour: Gold

House creature: Pegasus

Common traits of Virtus students:
chivalrous, bold, brash, playful, impulsive, kind, brave, stubborn

Head of house: Master Elio Naron, a tall hobgoblin in his forties with long dark hair worn tied back with small beaded braids throughout and dark brown eyes, an expert swordsman devoted to Maglubiyet. He is a valiant, traditional and approachable man with a lot of pride for his students, who openly encourages ambition. Elio is a descendent of a war hero from the War of Three Crowns, and served as a captain of the city guard for several years.

Famous alumni: Damaris Ariti – a gladiator at the Maw coliseum - an elven woman with olive skin and long poker straight red hair who fights with twin shortswords

Most promising student this year: Icarus Pelayo

Telling folks around Erran that you’re a member of Domus Virtus is usually met with respect and admiration, but within the academy there is known to be a little jealousy or mockery towards your house because so many students want to get into Virtus but are placed elsewhere, and many students in this house are a little arrogant about their achievement - and should be. Virtus tends to attract a lot of loud and extroverted types, would-be heroes who either clash with one another or become something of a hive mind in their camaraderie. You're fun, cheerful and determined and you've been placed here for your strength of spirit, courage and ambition.

Common classes to come from this house are fighters, barbarians and paladins, as Virtus places a lot of emphasis on melee based combat, although they are open to accepting applicants with any skills as long as they have the right attitude.

### **Domus Medeis**

**The House of Arcana**

   Domus Medeis is the only house in Delphos to focus purely on magic, its practice in martial warfare and its place in politics. It’s common for students of Medeis to go on to become advisors to politicians, nobles or even entire armies.

**About Domus Medeis**

House colour: Blue

House creature: Siren

Common traits of Medeis students:
studious, resolute, particular, intelligent, blunt, unpredictable

Head of house: Master Helena Kantos - a slightly unnerving and mostly unapproachable human sorcerer with dark skin, pale hair and striking green eyes who looks younger than she is rumoured to be, Helena is extremely observant and strict, but full of wisdom and worldly knowledge she is keen to share with all her students, who she dotes upon as long as they behave. Helena has held the position of head of house for as long as any student or alumni can remember.

Famous alumni: Artax Virian, a Dragonborn War Wizard who was placed as an advisor in the young city of Arakhis right out of Delphos after graduating.

Most promising student this year: Pandora Di Rossi

Medeis has the second to least number of students of all the houses, so you should be proud of being let in. Many spellcasters, especially clerical types, end up in Anterus instead. Magic is difficult to study and Medeis has the highest number of dropouts each year, students who are unable to keep up with the intense study and workload. As a result, those who do cut it tend to become extraordinary spellcasters.

Common classes to study in this house are wizards, druids and sorcerers - and the occasional warlock, although they try to keep the source of their talent with magic secret from the rest of the school.

### **Domus Callidus**

**The House of Cunning**

   Domus Callidus is the most selective house at Delphos, taking the least students each year and producing expert graduates with very unique skills. These students are trained in the arts of information acquisition and infiltration, investigation, and push their students towards targets of physical and mental excellency.

**About Domus Callidus**

House colour: Red

House creature: Chimera

Common traits of Callidus students:
Individuality, cunning, resourcefulness, creativity, instinctive, rebelliousness

Head of house: Master Aleksi Brenna - a shameless and sharp-witted elven man in his four hundreds from Elenithil who settled in Erran after the War of Three Crowns. Aleksi is hard-nosed and quiet, often removed from the students of his house. Rumour has it he worked for the Errani legions against Elenithil during the war and is either banned from returning or in hiding.

Famous alumni: Roys Kyriak - a quiet and studious student who gained infamy during his time in Callidus for working contracts for the school without a team to back him up. Roys is famous for his school legacy and for supposedly being hired into a prestigious position right out of Delphos, although no one can confirm what it was.

Most promising student this year: Meiro Hasagawa

Due to the unique nature of the skills taught in this house, many of the students in Callidus are resourceful, independent and innovative personalities. Unlike the other houses they are educated largely privately from the other students, with only one student per tutor. Some members of this school join the city guard after graduation, but others go on to more secretive roles in a number of different organizations.

Common classes to come from this house are rogues, some monks and the occasional bard who wishes to study the skills of the college of whispers. It's not completely impossible to enter Callidus with another fighting style, but it is very unusual.

### **Domus Anterus**

**The House of Aegis**

    Domus Anterus educates students in all manner of battlefield support, from defense to medical aid. The sort of positions students in this house find themselves in are often back-up roles to frontline fighters, good team members but not leaders, and despite combat training, a number of graduates end up working in medical fields.

Anterus is the largest of the houses, accepting the most students each year.

**About Domus Anterus**

House colour: Green

House creature: Hippocampus

Common traits of Anterus students:
Compassionate, brave, tolerant, patient, idealistic, sensible, friendly

Head of house: Master Saliko Kia - a female water genasi in her fifties who travelled across the continent to teach at Delphos, after spending two decades wondering the wilds alone, spreading kindness and healing those in need. Salkio is in touch with nature and nurtures her students as though they were her family. She is gentle, modest and encouraging, although she does not tolerate misbehaviour or cruelty from her students and is turbulent and intense when angry.

Famous alumni: Kassandra Stefos - a bard who chose to travel with the Errani army as a volunteer, healing the wounded and permanently changing the way medical support was perceived in the military.

Most promising student this year: Luka Mounir

Anterus looks for students with empathy, compassion and selflessness, although it is a mixed bag of extroverts and quieter students, and it’s often said this is the friendliest house at Delphos with little opposition or rivalry amongst the other houses. Bravery is also a key trait in these students, who are trained to focus on their personal task no matter what is going on around them on a battlefield.

Common classes to come from this house are rangers, druids, clerics and bards, although Anterus is the most open house and accepts anyone, including a number of wizards who do not make the cut for Medeis, training them to put their skills to use supporting their peers instead of trying to stand out.

### **Domus Imperatoria**

**The House of Strategy**

    Domus Imperatoria is a house of tacticians, strategists and future commanders and politicians. Where Domus Virtus preaches leadership qualities, Imperatoria teaches its students to take control of a battlefield on a grand scale, as well as the skills needed to work a political room and negotiate with opposition and allies alike.

**About Domus Imperatoria**

House colour: Purple

House creature: Cerberus

Common traits of Imperatoria students:
Fraternity, self-preservation, rationality, astute, academic, instinctive, cautious

Head of house: Master Mohkius - a straightforward and confident no-nonsense minotaur who is careful, considerate and consistent in his methods of educating and discipline. He encourages the rivalry between Virtus and Imperatoria in his students, also believing his house to be the better of the two. Before Delphos, he was a war historian.

Famous alumni: Councillor Oskar Demna - a human man who was elected into the council of Erran just last year as a strategist in charge of the movement of Erran's military and navy, the youngest member of the council since it was founded at just 23 years old.

Most promising student this year: Alexis Leonida

Like Domus Virtus, students in this house often gain a strong self-importance and belief because they are trained to be crucial and paramount players in any significant force. They tend to be more erudite than the students of Virtus, placing a larger importance on study and knowledge than on physical training. The two houses share a strong rivalry, often over which produces real ‘leaders’.

Common classes to come from this house are - almost exclusively - fighters, war domain clerics and rangers. Imperatoria produces some incredible tacticians and commanders who often go into Erran's military or navy, or into high positions in the houses of Bane and Maglubiyet.

## **Education**

Students can join Delphos Academy at any age, from the age of 14, with no upper age limit. For the first year of their education, students are taught in group classes on basic subjects including history, languages and martial combat. From their second year, they are assigned a personal mentor and their classes become more selective, with a number of elective classes in various skills and arts - from here, they train and specialise until they are ready to graduate.

Final exams become available to each student depending on their progress in Delphos and determined by their personal mentor, but these exams always take place in the month of Amakil near the end of the year. The longest a student has stayed in the school without choosing to drop out or being expelled is seven years.

A ceremony is held for graduates in the final month of the year, where students can celebrate and be matched with future employers if they wish. Graduates commonly join ranked positions within the Erran city guard, the military, or are employed as private advisors to noble houses and councils continent-wide.

## **Faculty and Students**

Delphos is a lively and large academy in an equally lively and large city and employs a number of people as professors and weapons masters. The number of students per year differs based on how many students are accepted, but it is usually no more than 25 per year, with between 200 to 400 students studying at the academy at any one time.

The Headmaster or ‘Domina’ of Delphos is a hobgoblin woman called Octavia Petri, an ex-general of the Errani army, who is stern, meticulous and composed with a dry sense of humour. She doesn’t have a lot of contact on a weekly basis with the students, but knows each of them as though she did.

Each of the player characters (and other students) has a personal mentor within Delphos who after their first year has been their primary educator. This is someone who they can rely on for support through their studies, guidance and criticism alike. Although not all students are close to their mentors, it’s not uncommon for students to develop strong friendships and loyalty to these tutors after such close contact for years.

Sebaste Auron is a Satyr professor who is in charge of the student's final exams, and in charge of the contracts they take during their studies. He is quiet, serious and quite intense.

Pandora Di Rossi is a student of Domus Medeis.

Mayes Hasagawa is a student of Domus Callidus.

Icarus Pelayo is a student of Domus Virtus.

Lorakai Avitus is Icarus' mentor.

Alexander Escholme is Pandora's mentor.

Citra Bellatore is Mayes' mentor.

**Known students:**

* Alexis Leonida - a male hobgoblin from Domus Imperatoria who antagonizes the party
* Kyria Torres - a female half-elf from Domus Anterus who worked with the party on a contract to eliminate carrion crawlers outside the city walls
* Johan Miria - a male half-orc from Domus Anterus who joined the party for the same contract
* Matej - a male hobgoblin from Domus Imperatoria, a friend of Matej who refused to join in with Alexis when he challenged the party to a fight in the street
* Juliet - a female dwarf from Domus Imperatoria who is quick to backup Alexis in the street fight