The Opal Academy

Though Konaïs holds the largest churches, the tallest spires and the greatest of castles, none are more famous than the illustrious Opal Academy. A bastion of arcane knowledge, teaching any who wish to further themselves in its arts. Truly there exists no greater institution on all of Asharith.
- Illian Ling, Illian Ling's Guide to Konaïs

Founded only a few years after the city itself under the name "The Grimm School of the Arcane Arts", The Opal Academy has been at the forefront of arcane research and development for centuries. It was founded by the infamous wizard, Merlonn Grimm, who up until recently was seen as a shining beacon of arcane power at the core of the Opal Republic's might. After the events of the Day of Scales and Shadow, Merlonn's reputation was tarnished and a permanent stain was left on the Academy as a result.
It is still a well-populated school, though the new faculty has had to work hard to try and restore the Academy to its former glory.
The Academy serves as a place where all types of magic users can develop their potential. Each different kind of mage is taught according to their abilities, meaning both the students and facutly are quite diverse. Each type of mage has their own school and each school is divided into houses based on even smaller distinctions. A full list of schools and their respective houses can be found later in this entry.

After the death of Merlonn Grimm, the returned wizard Mordenkainen served as the Academy's headmaster to bring order back to the chaos left after the Day of Scales and Shadow. Mordenkainen would also take over the role of Principal Wizard, heading the academy's nine wizardry houses alongside the academy itself.
Mordenkainen restructured much of the Academy. One of his biggest changes being to the Academy culture, causing the wizarding schools to become less elitist and all the other schools to be seen as more equal. He also reduced many of the powers the Headmaster title held within the school during Merlonn's tenure, making every Principal of the Opal Assembly more equal in power when it comes to decisions surrounding the Academy's future.
Mordenkainen never truly felt comfortable sitting in the seat of the man who had caused the deaths of so many, however, and gave up the position after only five years of service. He retained the title of Principal Wizard, however, still teaching the young wizards of the Academy.

At the recommendation of Mordenkainen, the title of Headmaster was given to the young sorcerer Phoenix DeTrafford-Brandwreath, who had been the Principal Sorcerer ever since the death of his predecessor Greggory Haelix.
DeTrafford-Brandwreath had been the founder of the Sorcerer schools' wild-magic department, many seeing Phoenix as the original Wild Sorcerer. While it is very likely that there had existed many wild mages before Phoenix, he was the first case to be documented and studied within the Academy, allowing this type of magic to be added to the Archive's records and knowledge about it to be spread throughout Asharith.
Phoenix' contributions to the Academy's recovery after Grimm's actions have been instrumental, and while it may never reach the same heights it once had, the Academy is doing very well under this new leadership.

Campus layout

The Academy itself lies on te western edge of the Opulan capital. Part of the Aelsyr Wood is contained within its walls and is used as the teaching grounds of the Academy's Druid school.
The Academy is fully walled off with a chest-high brick wall with iron bars reaching to a height of 4m. The campus' main entrance is a large gate, located on the western edge of the school grounds. This gate leads into a paved walkway which goes all the way to the main courtyard and central building.
The courtyard contains a large circular fountain which used to hold a statue of Merlonn Grimm which has now been taken off and is set to be replaced.
The central building contains all the faculty offices and any general student amenities such as the cafetaria and the general library.
Surrounding this main building stand the smaller sub-campusses related to the different schools of magic. The largest of these is the School of Wizardry, which had been headed by Merlonn Grimm himself up until his death. Currently, it is under the supervision of the wizard Mordenkainen, who had the most experience out of any of the wizards within the Academy after Merlonn's death.
The schools have their own dormitories and up to four small auditorium's each. The largest auditorium is known as the Praetorium and is used predomenantly for Wizardry courses that require all the wizarding houses to be present. The only other school that makes use of the Praetorium is the barding school since they often use it to put on shows for the rest of the Academy.
There is a single building outside of the school grounds, built within Konaïs' Diamond Road district alongside the other religious institutions of the city. This building houses the paladin and cleric schools of the Academy, their closeness to the other religious monuments allows these students to commune with their deities more easily.
Underneath the Academy grounds lies a treasure trove of magical artifacts, both collected by the academy and stored here by the King of the Republic. Until the Day of Scales and Shadow, this trove, known colloquially as "The Horde," was managed by an individual then only known as "The Opal Dragon". This individual was later revealed to have been a weakened Tiamat, kept in this state by Merlonn Grimm's magic. Upon Grimm's death, Tiamat regained his powers and escaped into the world. His current wherabouts are unknown.

Schools of Magic

The School of Wizardry

For a more detailed breakdown of the school see: The Opal School of Wizardry

School Head: Mordenkainen
The wizards of the Academy are the largest group of magic users. This is predominantly because wizardry is the only kind of magic that is entirely taught. Even a bard needs to have an innate talent for the arts before they can use it to cast spells. Wizards are entirely book-taught, and thus many citizens of Konaïs try their hand at becoming wizards. The school of Wizardry has 10 schools, each dedicated to a different traditional "school" of magic.
During Merlonn Grimm's tenure, two new schools of magic were discovered, one of which was discovered by himself. The schools of Chronomancy and Somnomancy are the smallest of the wizarding houses as a consequence.
Up until the start of Mordenkainen's tenure, the school of wizardry, and more specifically its house of Divination was seen as the elites of the Academy within the culture of the school grounds.

The School of Sorcery

For a more detailed breakdown of the school see: The Opal School of Sorcery

School Head: Phoenix DeTrafford-Brandwreath
TBA

The School of Druidcraft

For a more detailed breakdown of the school see: The Opal School of Druidcraft

School Head: Pan DaMonium
TBA

The School of Barding

For a more detailed breakdown of the school see: The Opal School of Barding

School Head: Eduard Nesmin
TBA

The School of Acanotech

For a more detailed breakdown of the school see: The Opal School of Arcanotech

School Head: Gibbith Brass
TBA

The School of Spellswords

For a more detailed breakdown of the school see: The Opal School of Spellswords

School Head: Serena Valor
TBA

Founding Date

13th of Glòth, 13pS

Alternative Names

The Academy

Type

College / Academy

Parent Location

Konaïs

Owner

Phoenix DeTrafford-Brandwreath

Ruling/Owning Rank

Headmaster

Owning Organization

The Opal Assembly

Characters in Location

• Mikey Wazowskey
• Phoenix DeTrafford-Brandwreath

Related Report (Secondary Locations)

• Opula 1.1: Fright at the Museum

Related Historical Events

• MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE AT OPAL ACADEMY LEAVES FACULTY STUMPED
  Mysterious disappearance at Opal Academy leaves faculty stumped