Gnossos (GNOS-oss (the 'g' is kind of like a grace note leading into the 'n'))

Perhaps the most demanding task of this great labour is the condensing of all that could be said of the Learned City into one easily digestible article. To begin with, Gnossos is home to the largest collection of tomes, writings, records and academia anywhere in the known world. The keenest minds of history, from Edlig Ba Crayzull to Euphemia of Dendrihaem, have passed through these illustrious halls. To study here is an honour. To serve is a privilege.
In a technical sense, the city and the university are two separate entities. However, their laws, customs and histories are so intertwined that in all practical senses they are one and the same.
Located at the northern end of the largest island of the Vetzil Basin, Gnossos' relative isolation, as well as its policy of prioritising the expansion of knowledge over all else and its reputation as a broker of negotiations have afforded it a long-standing political independence from the major powers of the surrounding Aldowean regions. The city is governed by the Chancellory, the heads of the hundred and fourteen schools. The manner of their election and duration of their terms are matters devolved to the schools themselves. One of their number is elected by their peers to the office of Chancellor Most Sage, and serves therefrom as the head of state. The CMS presides over debates, and has the deciding vote in case of a tie in a vote of the Chancellory, although this has been an exceedingly rare occurrence since the introduction of 'ballots of limitless conditionality' some four hundred years ago.

Type

City