Janus School

The **Janus School** is an academic institution in the Divinity Cluster, situated on Eeder, the moon of Rachus, in the Colossus system. Originating from an academic order known as the **Order of Majja**, the scholars of Janus serve as economic, political, and scientific intellectuals under the employ of various corporations, aristocrats, and other powerhouses of the Divinity Cluster.

## History

### Origins

The Order of the Janus is a distant descendant of the culture of a cluster of feuding desert kingdoms in a small barren land known as Adush in the western equatorial zone of Crown. Scholars were held to the highest esteem in these kingdoms, and were the only ones who were allowed to pass freely through the borders to converse and share information. At the Majja La Delta, where the only three rivers of the desert converged, which each kingdom had been vying for control of for centuries, the myriad scholars of the kingdoms decided to settle the dispute by building a vast library, the Library of Majja La, on the delta’s shores, where the denizens of every kingdom could consult with scholars and learn freely. Eventually two of the largest kingdoms situated around this delta converged and conquered the rest; the library and scholars, however, were left unmolested, and eventually formed a sort of “parliament” within this new Empire of Adush, the “Order of Majja”.

### Change and Flight

As this now powerful empire began to communicate with the other societies of the planet, the scholars spread to every corner of the world, and members of the Order could be found in every embassy and laboratory on the planet as researchers, counselors, and strategists. The Order prospered for centuries, and took part along with the System Logistics Society in deciphering the technology involved in leaving the planet, and eventually the solar system. As the nations of Crown began to colonize new planets in Astra and Colossus, they united in a federation of states (though some nations they formed the Republic Universa. However, soon the First Schism erupted in the two systems- scholars of Janus existed on both sides of the conflict, and so the order was scattered across the war. It was a small group from the original Majj La Library that formed the new order, traveling far from the growing Crown Lords to the remote planet of Eeder in Colossus to build a newer library, free from the war-torn. Almost a century later, the Lords of Crown, who had successfully united all of Astra under their rule, found this library; a group that began with just fifty Janus had built a new library, and had been able to preserve almost all their knowledge form the first (Little did they know that the original library remained on Crown, virtually abandoned but unharmed). Recognizing the role they had played on their planet, the Lords of Crown spared this new school, and the many factions of them came together gain in this new institution.

### Aftermath

Several renegade fragments of the old Order of Majja scoffed at the new Janus School; some became smaller schools, like the Kojja School of Policy and Warcraft or the Cascadean Doctoral Academy, that paled in comparison to the eventual influence and fame of the Janus; some tired to sabotage and attack the Janus school outright, believing they were a bastardization of the old Order and viewing the flee from the Schism as a betrayal to the rest of the scholars. However, these hostile factions were quickly mopped up by the Crown Lords, who had begun amiable relations with the School through Janus scholars joining their houses as scholars and advisors.

### Integration into the Society

The Janus School enjoyed over half a millennium of peace, wealth, and influence, rising to become (albeit their small and unassuming campus) the largest research institution in the cluster. They also enjoyed political influence in Unions politics, begotten through Janus administrators and counselors in most major organizations and Houses, as well as amiable relations with the several major lords with Janus education. Through the lucrative "educator's fee" taken from alumni scholars in positions of wealth and esteem, the School became wealthy, and were able to open up the "**Janus School Bank**", through which they gained a foothold of economic power.

This peace would not last forever; in 1007 A.E., a rising logistic powerhouse, the Lite Corporation, who had in the past both employed several members of the School and taken out several loans from their Bank, attempted to negotiate a merger between the School's bank and their fledgling "Lite Bank". They elevate several Janus economic counselors to management status paid back their loans to the School in triplicate, and offered reduced transportation services- but still, the School refused, noting that their Bank was merely a source of income to fund their academic endeavors, and that they did not wish to fully enter the economic sector.

Though the merger did not occur, the Systems Logistic Society noticed the negotiations between the two parties; having a monopoly on interstellar trade and travel, they knew a combination of the Lite Corporation's logistic capabilities and the Janus School's economic and political power could create a private-sector monopoly on *intrastellar* travel. Already being in the process of negotiating with the Whisperers for a partnership, the Society used the few Janus under their employ to lobby for annexation into the Society; several government officials involved with the banking operation also appealed in favor of the Society. Facing a severe drop in political influence, and the threat of the Society starting their own banking system, they complied, and, along with the Whisperers, were made a vassal of the Society through the Institutes' Concord in 1009 A.E.

## Culture

### Curriculum

The Janus School has five distinct departments, each housed in one of the five domed buildings of the school compound:

- Business and Economics (department operates in tandem with the Janus School Bank)

- Politics and Warcraft

- Mathematics and Physics (largely taken over by the Society after the Institute' Concord)

- Mechanics and Engineering (largely taken over by the Society after the Scholars' Concord)

- Biology and Medicine

The Janus School curriculum is unique among the various schools of the cluster due to several key factors: its varied education (focusing on many different scholarly aspects, instead of just one or two fields like most other institutions; its long, arduous experience often taking years to achieve sufficient mastery of a subject and sometimes taking over a decade to graduate as a true Janus scholar, not to mention the difficulty and strain on the psyche caused by neural augmentations; and, simply, due to the difficulty and complexity of the School's classes.

### Completion of Training

When a Janus completes his training (usually a decade long, but they continue to learn and return to the school on Eeder throughout their lives), they are given their “second eyes”, a circlet of silver tattoos above their eyes in the *shape* of eyes (and which can eventually grow to cover their face, such as the second eyes of Veeneesh of Janus, as they learn more and more, tattoos being added as they master new subjects). These display their level of knowledge and prestige within the institution. Though mostly unseen, most scholars of the Janus School also augment themselves with special, Janus-made neural implants.