Tewledandar Forest University

Tewledandar Forest University is the leading centre of knowledge in all of Belerion. Its hallowed wooden halls surge with scholars from all walks of life, often on pilgrimages from all corners of Belerion, seeking answers to the greatest conundrums of their lives. Despite the diversity of visitors, the majority of people on campus are elvish, hailing from the many settlements of the forest. Aside from them, the campus is by far the highest concentration of humans anywhere in the forest.
Set close to the heart of the Tewledandar Forest, and designed to encompass The Great Library of Tewledandar within its campus, the building is a classic example of elvish construction, having been 'grown' into shape from the trees of the forest by the Wood Elves.
As well as the Library, the campus comprises an Auditorium, where many great debates take place; these provide the primary source of entertainment on campus, with several Masters being invited to 'duel', often drawing large crowds, and more rarely, Readers taking on their Master in the hopes of demonstrating their readiness to become a Master of the Scroll themselves.
Each Master of the Scroll is afforded their own private living quarters on campus, where the majority of them spend most of their time, each equipped with a study, lounge, bedroom and dedicated valet who would assist the Master in their day to day tasks, and often run errands or fetch food from the Refectory if the Master was too engrossed in their studies to venture across campus for sustenance. They would also be responsible for laundering the Masters robes: a fine cassock of autumnal orange, fastened with chesnut buttons and bound with a golden sash.
There are also halls of residence for the Readers and Acolytes, which are a mixture of permanent dwellings, single rooms for temporary stays, and dormitories (typically reserved for Acolytes). Halls of residence are not serviced by valets or other campus auxilliary staff; acolytes are expected to maintain order and cleanliness of the halls while in residence, the reasoning being that they would have less need to support their Reader while on campus. Readers generally only return to campus either for a short stay to submit an entry to their scroll, or for a prolonged stay to study the scrolls as part of research for their current submission. It is not uncommon to see them in their forest green cowls, with the university emblem emblazoned to the left breast in a silver thread, hunched over scrolls in the library or pacing the scholars' cloister deep in thought. Their acolytes likely carrying out their hall duties in the traditional plain brown tunics, reminiscent of the earth and the start of their journey.

Structure

Administered by The College of the Masters of the Scroll, Tewledandar University has a clear structure that functions as both its management and academic hierarchy, referred to in its entirety as "the meritarchy".
The Dean of the Scrolls is largely a symbolic figurehead to the University, but remains the head of the College. His deputy, the Provost, is the functional leader of the University, guiding the four Professors Compendii in their management of their respective compendium. The Professors Compendii are the only authority over their compendium, deciding whether any new scrolls ought be opened or existing ones exponged.
Under each professor, sits the Master of the Scroll of each subject within their compendium. In turn, each Master oversees the Readers of their Scroll who conduct the field research. The Masters are also responsible for peer reviewing each submission to their scroll. Readers may be supported in the field by Acolytes.

Culture

There are two distinct cultures that pervade the university, each with their own merits and dangers:
The members of the college hold knowledge most sacred and over time have come to place the importance of procuring knowledge above the importance of sharing it with the masses.
Meanwhile, the wider meritarchy still embrace the altruistic nature of the collection of evidence for the purpose of sharing; taking care to make accurate records of their findings such that they may be accepted into their scroll of subject and thereby share their knowledge with the world.

Public Agenda

The College of the Masters of the Scroll's main mission is the gathering, storing and sharing of knowledge of the known world, while the university's main mission is the discovery, exploration and understanding of the unknown.

Assets

Arguably the most prized and revered asset on campus is the Great Library of Tewledandar; boasting not only the largest volume of knowledge, but also the greatest collection of literary works in the whole of Belerion, this tower of tomes recieves pilgrims from all over the world hoping to explore the endless aisles of ideas. Its custodians' skills in the art of preservation has also seen it become the home of several private collections of prominent nobles, as well as the safe storage of several sacred texts, constitutional documents and the personal journals of past cultural leaders.

History

The university represents the forging of a new alliance between the recently founded College of the Masters of the Scroll and the High Elves, keen to ensure the safety of their collections stored in The Great Library of Tewledandar. The Founder, and current Dean of the Scrolls, Abbott Alfred Stonebridge, set up the The College of the Masters of the Scroll with four of the High Elves who ran the The Great Library of Tewledandar, each becoming a Professor Compendii under the director of the Provost, Lucius Thornfeld.

Religion

Although the College of the Masters of the Scroll is a descedent of The Ecclesium, The University itself is a secular organisation, recognising that not everyone walks the same path, but should be free to gain the same knowledge. Religious practice is neither required nor prohibted on campus; several freedoms are observed and respected on campus - in general, a "you do you" approach is taken to how one conducts themselves, provided it does not cause offense or harm to others or the environment.