C 17: The School of Clerkship

This sprawling campus is second only to Grey College in size and history, though it offers a very different program of studies. Its campus does not have the parklike atmosphere of its cousin on the other side of Clerkburg, nor do its build ings convey the grandeur of Grey College's Hall of Deans.

But the School of Clerkship serves a student body nearly as large as Grey College's. Graduating classes tend to be larger than at Grey's, since most students take but a two-year course of study here. Four- and six-year programs are available for aspiring sages or master moneychangers.

A year of tuition here costs only about two-thirds of the cost of a comparable year at Grey College. The School of Clerkship, of course, does not offer the abundance of choice that its rival does, but its teaching in its selected fields is unsurpassed.

The school is indeed a college, but it has clung to its original name for misguided reasons of tradition. In a sense the name reflects the feeling of inferiority that seems to pervade the entire student body. They regularly compete with Grey College, the Bardschool, and various fraternities in the events at the arena; just as regularly, the School of Clerkship loses nearly every competition.

But academics is where this college sur passes every other. The Clerkship curriculum offers its basic program in Enscription (which qualifies one to work as a scribe) to all of its students, teaching them in two years all the finer points of dictation. penmanship, style, and accuracy.

Students who wish to continue their studies may then elect to take advanced course work in Finance or Journalism. The former field involves all aspects of bookkeeping, accounting, and money changing, while the latter teaches techniques of persuasion, observation, cartography, description, and illustration. The latter field is only now coming into vogue, and many graduates of the school find themselves highly valued as agents of various ambassadors and lords. After all, a spy who can write down what he sees accurately, together with pertinent maps and diagrams. is worth far more than an illiterate footpad.

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C17: School of Clerkship. This sprawling campus is second in physical size, student population, and age only to Grey College, and it has little of the finery and airiness of its elder sibling. However, the School of Clerkship is a powerhouse that turns out highly trained students with degrees in economics and finance, business law, foreign languages, trade, diplomacy, and management. More merchants in Greyhawk hail from this place than Grey College, which is seen as the “rich heir’s school,” Moneychangers, moneylenders, bankers, bookkeepers, accountants, and loan managers across the Domain of Greyhawk got their starts here. Scribes receive special training, as illiteracy in Greyhawk is still fairly widespread even among nobles; dictation and penmanship are emphasized. Courses in observation, cartography, illustration, and drafting have proven very popular.

A full course here in most subjects runs two years, with a year's tuition costing two-thirds what it would at Grey College (C1). The school does not do well in athletics against Grey College (or even small schools), but the alumni are devoted fund-raisers, and the college lacks for nothing. The Union of Merchants and Traders, the Guild of Lawyers, Scribes, and Accountants, and the Union of Moneychangets and Pawnbrokers are major allies of this institution.

DM’s Notes: It is not well known, but a few graduates of this school later become spies and assassins. Jaryn Lejenaus of the Guild of Assassins is one example. The reason for this lies in the exceptional training given in observation, note-taking, and sketching, which goes a long way in making high-quality spies. Several secret student groups operate on this campus, all devoted to acquiring power and influence throughout the Flanaess in the name of various deities or causes. All such groups are lawful in the extreme and cause little trouble, though they do not take kindly to anyone prying into their secrets.