Scholomance School

Called the Solomonarie in Romanian, the Scholomance School of the Dragon is a small, mountain school that provides a full apprenticeship program, akin to a monastery. They specifically recruit and train apprentices from among the commonfolk on full scholarship, often selecting orphans or those without access to other magical schooling. Thus, many of their students are halfbloods or were born into non-magical families, and notably, most of the students live there year-round.

**Colors:** White and Grey

**Mascot:** White Dragon backed by a Hailstorm

## School Details

### Location

The historic Scholomance, in Transylvania. The school is set within a mountain, with tunnels, caverns, and catacombs serving as the school's grounds; there is a deep lake on the top of the mountain. Most of the mountain itself appears natural, but has been carefully cultivated with ancient nature magics over many hundreds of years.

### Size

An extremely small school with about 10 students per year group. Students are hand-selected but usually come from among the peasantry. Pureblood students are rare.

### Age and History

Founded thousands of years ago, this tiny school of magic was formed as a base for a group of mages to train their chosen apprentices so that they could join in the fight against the dark forces of the world. The school trains its students to become hidden heroes among the people, often out in the nonmagical world, thus the need for secrecy and subtlety in their magic is paramount. Many of their alumni wander the world under the guise of simple beggars and mete out justice from within the crowd.

Notably, the founders of the school had befriended a dragon, and in the years since have been a small sanctuary for dragons, earning the school the nickname "School of the Dragon." Students who earn the privilege will be trained to ride the dragons, sometimes forming a close, magical bond with a hatchling that they then graduate with and travel with in the world as a Dragon Rider. This ritual is a closely guarded secret, with each Dragon Rider oathsworn to never share it, as well as follow certain contract rules for the good of magekind.

The school's funding comes from some of the prestigious pureblood bloodlines in the area.

### Notable Features

* Mountaintop Lake with underwater tunnels that some of the dragons will submerge in
* An open-air amphitheater for astronomy, bonfires, weather-manipulation classes, and history lessons
* An underground museum hall full of statues of mages who were heroes
* A secluded grove where students are taught to speak with animals
* Gardens where students learn to grow food as well as potion ingredients
* Horse stables where riding and animal kinship are taught
* A library deep within the mountain full of ancient texts
* Dragon nests for several species of feral dragon. Balaur are the most common breed.

## Student Life

As a school of apprenticeship, accepted students usually live there year-round as a new home, each having their own room and being provided for. The small staff and older students will look after the younger students, raising and teaching them like in a monastery. Visits outside to family are arranged on request, but many students leave their old lives behind to fully study magic and become one of the prestigious yet secretive heroes of the people like so many Scholomance alumni before them.

Honesty, helpfulness, bravery, humility, and compassion are trained into their students, with harsh punishments for those who lie or break the rules. They are taught to serve the greater good. Students who continually break these important rules may be expelled, their memories wiped of their time in those hallowed halls.

Wilderness survival is taught alongside other classes, with a heavy focus on magizoology, astronomy, navigation, weather magic, and ranged magical attacks.

### Graduates

As the school's funding comes directly from richer pureblood families, most students go on to work in service of one of those bloodlines, particularly those who graduated as Dragon Riders. This helps Dragon Riders to care for their dragon, which would otherwise be a problem for them in towns and cities. They often see employment as messengers/couriers, magizoologists, veterinarians, magical farmers, foresters, rangers, and as simple wandering protectors who correct injustices, shield a populace from evil sorcerers, or bring rain to parched farms.