Bolldew Institute

## The Bolldew Institute of Wizardry

The **Bolldew Institute of Wizardry**, simply known as the **Bolldew Institute**, is based in Greymarch. It is school, founded by Dundell Bolldew, for young potential arcane spellcasters to learn about magic, and control their powers.The school thrives on enjoyable learning, and a well-planned curriculum which is approved by the Cardinal Court as well as their arcane advisors, the Intrinsic Strand.

## **Layout and Facilities**

The Institute is a lavish interwinding building with various towers, walkways and courtyards, with a protective magic that surrounds it. There are hundreds of practice rooms for magic, study suites, offices and classrooms, so that the students have plenty of places to better their learning. These facilities are accessible to students over most of the year.

* **The Grand Library of Dundell Bolldew:** This enormous library houses millions of books from all ages of the world, detailing histories, spell lore, and many other thing totally unrelated to magic. It is much bigger than the original library, and students are encouraged to share books they have found, which are often purchased from them so that they are more accessible to the students. The library is many-tiered, with lots of walkways and alleys of books. Students are given a tour when they first come to the institute, and most years at least a dozen students end up getting lost for a short time. By they time they graduate, students know the layout like the back of their hand. The library is in a circular shape, and instead of a ceiling, an enormous dome window allows enough light to enter in the day, but also allows students studying at night to enjoy a beautiful night's sky as they work. Many students take an interest in astronomy as well, and so the library makes a great place for them to stargaze while they write notes.
* **The Three Towers:** Within the school are three very tall towers, each one connncted to the next:
	+ **The Tower of Pastoral Duty:** This tower contains the office, as well as the living quarters for the **Head of Pastoral Duty**. The tower connects via an outside walkway out of the Grand Library. This tower is where students go to discuss personal matters, and the HEad of Pastoral duty councils them if needs be. A doorway in the side of the office houses an "Extradimensional House of Blankets," where students are allowed to go and relax, which has a strict no-teachers policy.
	+ **The Tower of the Head:** Continuing round the Tower of Pastoral Duty, one finds themselves ascending a stepped bridge to a much wider and taller tower. This tower the head of school has their office and living quarters, as well as personal chambers of spell practise and a small personal library. In a lower level to the entry level, files on all of the students are kept and sealed in via magic that only the head can access.
	+ **The Tower of the Grand Magus:** Ascending further from the Tower of the Head, one arrives at a very thin tower. This is the tower of Dundell Bolldew, where he can work as well as sleep. The office is full off a great number of oddities and magic items. As Dundell is not a teacher (though he does often attend lectures and occasionally impart wisdom to the students), he is not required to live within the Institute during school terms. He often leaves the Institute on business, and when he does so, the tower becomes transluscent and impossible to enter.

## **Location**

### **Greymarch**

The campus is all located in the Valley Tier of Greymarch, set next to the north wall, and takes up a significant portion of the Streets of the Wanderers. The front of the Institute has an enormous green, which is often used for scholarly events and functions, which the students are encouraged to take part in. The magical protective force around the Institute prevents people from entering the Institute without being allowed through the front gate. It is a huge part of Greymarch culture, with many residents hoping their children develop a knack for the arcane, just to send them to the Institute. It has only been around for fifty years as of Campaigns 1 and 2, though it is said that when the building was Mollimer's School for Mages, it had a similar vibe.

## **Function**

The teachings at the Institute are paid, and thus mostly well-off families would send their children there. On occasion, the Institute would allow students in on a scholarship if they were particularly bright and could not afford the fees.

The Institute train students from the age of 11, who show promise and begin to develop arcane power. These students begin in a New Casters course, which helps the young spellcasters to understand the magic that they are able to wield, and stop it from becoming too uncontrollable (some would see this as stopping them from becoming unstable sorcerors, and ensure they become wizards instead). During this time the students are also given a good education on history and also begin to learn languages.

At the age of 16, the students enter into the Initiates course, which helps them hone their skill and also has them put into a school of magic that they show promise in. All eight recognised schools of magic are taught, however the school of necromancy is taught as a minimal course, which did not allow students to practise the more macabre and mostly illegal side of the magic. Instead they learnt more about it's healing elements. ALl of the schools continued to study history, languages and whatever else they had an interest in. Most of these lessons crossed over, and thus had students from all schools learning together.

Once their initiates training was over, the most promising student from each school is picked to be a "Journeyman," which meant they would be tested and possibly be able to continue into higher study upon completion of a 3 month task known as the Journeyman's Trial. The Journeyman would perform a task, most often involving travel across the country of Alvadir in order to retreive something, or aid individuals in a problem. The student must then document this study and present their findings to the Institute.

Upon completion and success in their Journeyman's Trial, the student then enters into their final few years of learning; the Spellmaster's course. A spellmaster focuses in on an aspect of their magic that they have interest in, and creates a thesis across a number of years. Different students accelerate at different paces in this Spellmaster's, and are encouraged to take as long as they need. During this course, they have full access to the Institute, though also have as much free time as they like, and even pursue job opportunities and adventure if they so wish. They are encouraged to check back in from time to time, whether it be via magical means or coming into the Institute, and they have full access to the Institute's practice rooms and library. The Spellmaster's is a free course, as the school believe it is important for these students to feel equal to the teachers. They are encouraged to share new spells that they have created and celebrate their success as academic peers.

Students who do not make it to the Spellmaster's course are still allowed access to the Institute after schooling has finished, as long as they have not been dismissed for offenses to the Institute, and do not pose any danger to the students. Many of them end up working on the campus, as a Spellmaster's is not required for becoming an Undermage or working in the library or other facets of the Institute.

## **Relationships**

Although the building was forced to close by the Cardinal Court after they began to worry it would raise destructive spellcasters which could combat their own, the Bolldew Institute has a fairly good relationship with them. Dundell Bolldew was allowed to start the school up with the approved curriculum, because the Cardinal Court and the Intrinsic Strand would also be allowed to pick from the best students and bring them into their own ranks should they wish to do so. Often this headhunting was done through way of offering regular money to the individuals chosen, as well as relocating their families if they wished to do so.

## **Staff**

#### **Current**

* Dundell Bolldew (Grand Magus; Archmage of Illusion and Founder)
* Illivia Miridio (Headmistress; Archmage of Enchantment)
* Rud Aschvance (Master of Pastoral Duty; Upper Mage of Abjuration)
* Vic Rodwell (Secretary)
* Petunia Quillbank (Librarian)
* Norbert Corper (Library Assistant; Former Abjuration Initiate)
* Hamlick Agurro (Bannerbolt Coach; Dropout Spellmasters Student; Ex-Captain of the Caustic Chimeras)

#### **Former**

* Crandall Aschvance (Former Master of Pastoral Duty) - Deceased

### **Teachers**

#### **Current**

* Grayla Knoss (Grand Evoker; Archmage of Evocation)
* Filomena Buccklestrop (Grand Abjurer; Upper Mage of Abjuration)
* Kristoff Kyversson (Grand Conjurer; Upper Mage of Conjuration)

#### **Former**

* Umbert Velvadish (Evoker; Upper Mage of Evocation) - Atttempted arrest, then went into hiding

## **Students**

#### **Current**

* Elstan Stonetail (Evocation Spellmaster)
* Natio Rublerook (Conjuration Spellmaster, Captain of the Caustic Chimeras)
* Velma Plumiss (Abjuration Spellmaster, Captain of the Screaming Salamanders)

#### **Former**

* Idrith Willowwind (Former Enchantment Initiate; left before completing Journeyman's Trial)