Langevin Academy of the Arcane

The Langevin Academy of the Arcane is one of the premier places to learn the arcane arts. The academy itself is located in Langevin, a village to the Northeast of Isfa. The village largely supports the academy by regulated the provisions of food, textiles, and various specialized material. The school has masters of two of the eight schools of magic, with proficient scholars in the other schools. These are the masters of enchantment and divination.
The school supports boarding students, roughly about two-hundred in number. These students vary in age between ten and twenty years old, though approximate ages are irrelevant. The school accepts students based on the master of divination who is the sole determinant for the eligibility of a student. The master will then inform the clergy of the school, that is, the Clergy of the Seat of Order, that a particular student has been accepted. The clergy will then write a letter to the governors of the town where the child is located. The parents will be informed. In most cases, the child is brought to the academy immediately. The school accepts around five students per year.
The Langevin Academy is largely regarded as the arcane center of Isfa. While Isfa enforces a strict adherence to the commandments of the Seat of Order, Langevin is given the directive to ensure that the arcane is appropriately managed. For many years, the Langevin Academy was a cloister of scholars that worked the arithmetic of "Essential Binding." The close friendship between the scholars of Haralon and Langevin himself would position the rapid growth of the academy.

Purpose / Function

The Langevin Academy is given the directive to ensure that the principles of magic are properly maintained. This directive was set by the Clergy of the Seat of Order. As the Seat of Order ensures that all things move in its proper motion, the Langevin Academy is set with defining this progression. To govern this investigation, the academy is administered by the Seat of Order.

Alterations

The Langevin Academy of the Arcane began as a cloister. The clerics of Zakil established the cloister as part of the natural spread of Isfa. Set up in a remote territory, Langevin, a cleric in high standing, would choose Langevin for the picturesque view that it gave over the Cunab Basin. The first building erected, apart from temporary structures, would be the cloister that would inevitably house the clerics. The large dome structure included several rooms and a central hall.
While Langevin would rest northwest of Isfa, merchants traveling into the basin would pass through Langevin. Thus, Langevin became a trading stop. As a small population would settle near the cloister, Langevin began to change. As wealthy merchants would find clerics skilled in writing, transcription, language, and arcane arts, investments would be made within Langevin.
Langevin wouldn't see the opulent structures associated with wealth. Instead, the clerics that managed Langevin would first construct a library and dormitory. This structure would be attached to the cloister. When the merchants would revisit Langevin, they found that the clergy would not allow them into the library or the dormitory. This created a rift with the merchants. Merchants began to avoid Langevin, creating new trade routes that circumvented the cloister, but Langevin had already begun to thrive. The library that Langevin built was still an empty room, but the library would soon be the tallest building in Langevin.

Architecture

The buildings in Langevin are constructed using spacious dome structures interconnected by narrow halls.

Defenses

The Langevin Academy of the Arcane is defended by soldiers and auditors from Isfa. The soldiers at the Langevin are trained specifically to combat independent and patroned arcanists. The auditors are trained specifically to find and silence dissidence.

History

Langevin was a cleric of the Seat of Order. Langevin would find comfort in the Seat of Order and would join the clergy. While not as skilled in the principles of the arcane, Langevin was skilled at oration. This was during the time of Isfa's rise. It was also around this time that Zagros was building an army within Haralon. In response, Isfa would send emissaries to Haralon. At this same time, Isfa would build bastions and bolster their own army.
During a brief period of expansion, Isfa would send out certain members of the clergy to establish places of Order. These cloisters represent the spread of Order throughout Uinsil. Langevin was one of the clergy chosen to establish a cloister in the Cunab Basin. Langevin would eventually settle nearly fifty miles from Isfa to the northwest. Langevin would receive the required supplies from the capital to build the cloister.
After the construction of the cloister, the clerics worked in the cloister to praise Zakil. When merchants arrived in Langevin, merchants established a trading post at the cloister. The trading post would gain popularity as the road into Isfa. Serving as clerics of the Seat of Order, the merchants paid generous tithes to the clerics. In exchange for these tithes, the merchants expected to receive gifts and favors. However, with these tithes, the clergy improved the cloister and built a dormitory. When the wealthy merchants did not receive the favors they expected, they argued with Langevin. By this time, Langevin had grown old and expelled the merchants from the area. As the merchants established a new route, Langevin would not grow for decades.
The library and the dormitory, however, would allow for the increased presence of other clergy. These clergy would spend their days transcribing texts and filling the walls of the library. While other libraries would exist throughout the world, Langevin would be the second largest to only Isfa. Through the transcription of these texts, clergy within Isfa would begin to dabble in the study of the arcane. Within the circles of Isfa, this would not be permitted as the clergy could only serve the Seat of Order. Langevin, now isolated due to the conflict with the merchants, would find luxury in its separation.
It would not be long before Langevin would be called before the Seat of Order and the Champion-King Illiam Castell. When asked about why this was permitted, Langevin simply responded, "Laws are eternal and order is dependent on following those laws. We are not blessed with infinite knowledge, but must seek it and understand it."
Illiam Castell would eventually return Langevin to his cloister and establish Langevin as an academy for the study of arcane. Within Langevin's life, he had established the academy that would be crucial to the defense, rise, and expansion of Isfa. At Langevin's passing, the resultant village was named Langevin in his honor and the academy named the "Langevin Academy of the Arcane."
At the head of the academy was the clergy. These clergy would officiate the study of the arcane within their own ranks. However, conflicts with Haralon during this period would draw many of the clergy away. To supplement the activities of the academy and prepare Isfa for future conflict, students were taken into the school who were not clergy. Initially, these students would range in age from twenty to fifty. It was found that these students were slow to learn and struggled to stay focused. Over time, this age gap would change to eventually be students between ten and twenty.
"The older students were rigid, unfeeling and unteachable. But the youth yearn to untangle the complex and simply, prove old people wrong."
During the border war with Haralon, the academy instructed the student in combative arts, focusing on abjuration. The students were instructed to war among themselves. The students were divided in their dormitories and would routinely be subjected to skirmishes. Clergymen, adhering to the Seat of Order, could hardly bear the sight. Thus, teaching of the students fell to administers and masters. The clergy would then largely focus on the propagation of the instruction of the Seat of Order and fulfilling the obligations of the same.
The students of the academy, having been predominantly selected from houses associated with the clergy (effectively the lords of Isfa). The students would be given to extensive studies, many required to transcribe their own books of study. When the clergy required abjurers within the military ranks, the eldest students were called. This was often referred to as, "Breaking the Quill."
As peace between Haralon and Isfa settled, the academy would reduce the emphasis on direct conflict between students. Instead, the students were given to large academic instruction. Students that were particularly gifted would remain at the school. This would further cause the campus of the academy to grow. Eventually, the academy would boast stables, amphitheaters, multiple dormitories, and a library with ten stories.
Around Langevin was a population that grew to serve the academy. Caravans would be regularly sent to Langevin from Isfa with supplies for the academy. As the Seat of Order would pay for the procurement of goods, merchants attempted to re-establish in Langevin. However, the clergy would not accept their presence, relegating the merchants to the pre-established trade routes. Instead, Langevin would attract tradesmen that worked directed with raw goods. These tradesmen specifically supported the academy.
The prestige of the Langevin Academy has continued to grow throughout nearly two-hundred years. During the peace with Haralon, scholars of the academy visited the libraries of Haralon and were astounded at the prolific writings. Far beyond the comprehension of Isfa, the scholars indicated, "Had Haralon so desired, Isfa would be no more. It is only by their restaint that Isfa remains. We are lucky to have peace." The visitation of the scholars to Haralon would result in a close working relationship between the archmages and the Langevin Academy of the Arcane. This would introduce a new level of complexity that the scholars in Langevin had never before considered. Through this relationship, Langevin would enter a period of enlightenment.
This period of enlightenment would try the relationship between the clergy and the masters. The clergy desired to further the cause of Order within Uinsil while the masters seek to tempt the boundaries of known possibilities. These perceptibly opposing views would cause further divisions between the clergy and masters. This would result in a visitation from the King of Isfa. While at Langevin, he proclaimed that Langevin shall continue with Order and to stem the tide of chaos that seeks to sprout within their hearts. With this, many masters would depart from the academy, resettling within Mashangist and Haralon.
It would be discovered that Mashangist had produced a device that was able to destroy the order of a creature and channel the essence for the manipulation of machines. Isfa would send a missive to Mashangist declaring war. At the same time, Isfa sent a letter to the Langevin Academy known as the "Great Charge." Langevin would quickly be a staging ground for the largest military Isfa had known. As students of the Langevin Academy would be instructed to provide the basic principles of the arcane to the footsoldiers of Isfa, there was palpable fear in the air. The soldiers were trained to fight against words of power, but it was clear that the arcanists held the advantage. Few of the soldiers would master even the simplest magical equations before marching to war. For the rest of the war, Langevin would feed the military with both arcanists and teachers.
The eventual destruction of Mashangist brough a calm against to the Langevin Academy. A mixed history of war and peace drew a unique pedigree to the academy. The academy would expand the number of students, drawing from many backgrounds and races. The academy would also host students from other countries upon certain conditions.

Type

College / Academy