The Rise of Alchemy and Automation

The Northern Corner is also known as the Land of Knowledge, Enlightenment, Thought, and thinking. The Goddess Terras when she arrived at Ignea's request not only brought with her strength, steadfastness, she also brought her desire for problem solving and invention. This permeated throughout the entire culture of the Northern Corner via education. A typical Northern Corner youth, regardless of economic position in society was expected to be in school for the first third of their lives (generally between 15-25 years) to learn the extensive basics of education (languages, history, religion, philosophy, mathematics, accounting, and sciences). From there, graduates were free to apply and pursue any knowledge of expertise of their choice.
While many did prefer lives connected to the very ground below them via careers in farming and mining (the land of the Northern Corner is both very fertile and laden with many veins of valuable metals), the option to apply and be accepted into any number of specialty schools throughout the North was available to everyone. These schools emphasized learning the extensive and finer details of a craft or discipline and were also available to any student free of charge as long as they could provide that they were able to meet the entrance exam requirements and had not filled up to their class maximum for the year (however, students that did not make entry into the school of their choice were always encouraged to learn more and try again the next year).

These specialty schools produced some of the finest mages, the most brilliant practitioners of medicine and healers, the formation and creation of incredible architects and the wonders they've created throughout the land, and, most recently, the most innovative alchemists and engineers.
Rotamaqua- The Grand Artificer College was established roughly fifty years ago and combined the most recently learned disciplines of alchemy and engineering together along with basic studies of magic. It placed an emphasis on not only understanding the subjects as to how it is known today, but also on experimentation, innovation, and invention. While the pursuit of Engineering has always been a time-honored tradition among the Northerners, Alchemy- the discipline of combining chemistry and magic together, is a relatively new discipline that started slowly about five years after the college opened its doors.
Alchemy was first discovered by accident when a group of academics and mage's held a contest to see which could create the largest explosion. After nearly perishing themselves, destroying a cattle field, and creating a crater the size of a medium lake- the collective decided to experiment with the two disciplines further. They then brought in apothecaries and engineers into their experiments, and soon more and more people began to contribute to the very first Complete Book of Alchemy (the irony of the title does not escape any of them as no living discipline is never complete). From there, traveling lectures were held in schools throughout the Northern Corner, and eventually, enough demand was placed on having a formal field of study in the subject that Rotamaqua obliged and created the first college to offer Alchemy as a primary discipline of study.
Recently, the demand for Alchemists has increased dramatically, especially in the manufacturing hubs in the Southern Corner. The Southern Corner's Artisan's Guild has established an Alchemist Chapter among them. All of this is in an effort to create a substantial enough war front to wage battle against the warlord Narne who not only took over the territory that was once known as Crossroads but has also been sweeping through the Eastern Corner. The Alchemist is believed to be a key in the victory against Narne and her factions, and so their knowledge and creations are in the highest demand than ever before.