College of Mimrinoth

## Synopsis

The College of Mimrinoth is an academy of magic located in the dwarven city of Mimrinoth in the Alviren Empire. The college is located underground, beneath Mount Torringraine, and comprises the majority of the ancient city of Mimrinoth. The focus of the college is primarily on understanding the lost magic arts of the Age of Arcana, in an effort to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

## Leadership

The College of Mimrinoth is comprised of seven distinct schools of study, called the Circles. Each Circle is overseen and directed by a leader, called a Paragon. Together, the seven Paragons serve as the leaders of the college in a council setting. When a Paragon must be replaced, the decision of succession is made by the remaining Paragons. Generally, an existing Scholar is promoted to Paragon, although on other occasions, powerful arcanists from outside the college are invited to serve as Paragons.

## Student Hierarchy

The College is comprised of about 2,500 students.

A student can achieve the rank of Scholar only by bringing a new discovery to the college, such as a forgotten spell or a long lost magical artifact. A student seeking to achieve the honor of being named a Scholar must present their discovery to the Paragons of the college, who determine whether the discovery is worthy of being deemed a Scholar.

## Enrollment

To become a student at the College of Mimrinoth, an applicant must pay 25GP, and pass a basic aptitude test in order to begin their studies, demonstrating a knowledge of the fundamentals of magic, and an aptitude for its practice. The fee is waived for Mimrinoth's citizens. The testing process also incorporates the required testing for a license to practice spellcasting from the Weavers Conclave, and the swearing of the August Oath. The testing is administered by a Scholar of the Circle which the student wishes to join, who serves as the students' sponsor for the purposes of the licensing process. The 25GP fee also covers the applicant's fee owed to the Weavers Conclave.

Upon successful completion of the testing, a student is admitted to begin studying at the College and gains access to its resources. Each year thereafter, a student must pay an additional 20GP in annual tuition. Upon reaching the rank of Scholar, there is no longer an annual tuition owed.

## Spell Library

The College maintains a library of arcane spells that the college has discovered. Student wizards can freely copy these spells into their spellbooks, given they provide their own resources. Vellums and inks, etc., can also be purchased from the College.

The catalogue currently includes all level 1 and 2 wizard spells, most level 3, a handful of 4/5.

## Circles of the College

### Circle of Rune Carvers

#### Student Body (Scholars / Students): 5 / 30

The Circle of Rune Carvers is the newest circle of the College of Mimrinoth. It was formed about 160 years ago by Mordus Moonbeard, who was a Scholar of the Circle of Divines at the time. Mordus was granted the rank of Scholar for his discovery of an ancient warhammer that was etched with runes, which ended up being an example of Rune Magic - a mysterious and ancient magic that had been lost since the Age of Arcana. Since this discovery, Mordus has dedicated his life's work to the study and practice of Rune Magic.

Rune Magic is still shrouded in mystery and not well understood, and the Circle of Rune Carvers is the smallest of the college's Circles.

### Circle of Divines

#### Student Body (Scholars / Students): 40 / 200

Students of the Circle of Divines seek to understand the nature of the Divine Gate and divine magic. Although the subject matter of this Circle leads to a wide variety of studies and practices based on the individual or deity being studied, they are unified by their overarching goal of circumventing and bypassing the Divine Gate to draw divine magic into Materi.

### Circle of Templars

#### Student Body (Scholars / Students): 20 / 100

The Circle of Templars specializes in combating and neutralizing magic and magic users. Its areas of study include abjuration and antimagic. The Circle of Templars exists as a kind of fail-safe against the dangers presented by the magic studied and practiced by the rest of the college. Behind the scenes, it is generally agreed that the Alviren Empire's leniency towards the college's practice of magic is due in large part to this Circle.

### Circle of Far Weavers

#### Student Body (Scholars / Students): 15 / 200

Students of the Circle of Far Weavers aim to understand the physical and metaphysical structure of the planes of existence. Their studies range from the nature of the planes themselves, to planar travel, to forms of magic specific to other planes of existence. Their work at times overlaps with other circles, especially the Circle of Divines, and they are among the most collaborative of the Circles.

### Circle of Architects

#### Student Body (Scholars / Students): 50 / 250

The Circle of Architects studies how magic is formulated and executed in a tangible way. Their areas of study are broad, ranging from artificery, to spell components, to arcane sigils and holy symbols, to the composition of new spells. For lack of a more elegant phrasing, they study the "nuts and bolts" of the practice of magic, with less of a focus on theory or metaphysics.

### Circle of Naturalists

#### Student Body (Scholars / Students): 40 / 200

The Circle of Naturalists studies the magic that is inherent to nature. Their area of study is niche but very distinct, including primarily druids and rangers, who seek to study those forms of magic that can be extracted from Primordial Chaos, rather than crafted with the Weave or drawn from beyond the Divine Gate.

### Circle of Arcanists

#### Student Body (Scholars / Students): 200 / 1000

The Circle of Arcanists is the largest, and by far most broad, Circle of the college. Their students study all forms of arcane magic, including the traditional schools of magic, and the nature of the Weave itself. This Circle comprises just over half of the entire college's students, and their areas of expertise vary widely from Scholar to Scholar.