Remia Academy of the Arcane

First major Rune Casting academy in all of Iosis

Remia is the most prestigious school of the arcane in all the world. Everyone with the proper means and interest attends this school. Those without the means but shows exceptional talent are allowed to participate but are required to work at the school amongst the servants to earn room and board. The exclusiveness draws incredibly talented rune casters from all over the world which the school then uses to justify making the tuition high and making the school all the more exclusive. This cycle has led to the school amassing a significant amount of wealth and opulence that further adds to the mystique of the academy. Even the school's detractors have to admit that the school has produced the most substantial number of proficient and talented rune casters out of every arcane school. Although, these critics are also quick to point out that the school's tendency to snatch up promising rune casters from other schools contributes a great deal to the other schools having a much lower number of prominent alumni.

Structure

Archmage - Headmaster of the academy voted into position by the Magus. In charge of hiring and dismissing Magus and approving the more outlandish research and experiments done by the Magi and students.
Magus - Teaches classes at the academy and researches their chosen study of runes.
Acolyte - Research and teaching assistants.
Student - Students from the ages of 10-18 who learn how to write and use rune magic.

Public Agenda

The public agenda of Remia is to provide children and teens who show tremendous potential in rune casting an environment which they can learn how to power and use runes. They also give Magi and Acolytes a place to conduct research and experiments with runes. In times of need, Remia can also provide healers or other rune casters to villages and towns that need them. In other times, Remia can pass on these requests to alumni who are skilled in healing or other runes necessary to help the situation.

Assets

Remia Academy: Remia is based out of a sprawling estate found on the main street of, Llyne, Aryia's capital. A stone wall twenty feet high surrounding the entire estate prevents the public from catching a glimpse of the academy except through the large iron wrought gates found at the entrance. Leading from the gates is a stone walkway lined on either side by grass and neatly trimmed shrubs and trees. Halfway between the gates and the main building, along the path of the walkway is a large circular fountain. From the fountain, the sidewalk splits off into three separate directions, one road leading off to the right, another off to the left, and finally the last continuing to the main building. The way to the right leads to the dormitory where the males students live while the path to the left leads to the female student dormitory.
The main building is a multi-story structure consisting of six stories above ground and two below ground. This building contains all of the rooms reserved for teaching and performing research. On all four corner of the building are corner towers that are slightly taller than the building itself with spires on top. These four towers include the rooms of the Magus and Acolytes. On the roof of the main building is a one story structure half the length and width of the rest of the building. This structure is the Archmage's apartment.
Both of the student dormitories are five stories tall with the students divided amongst each floor with the first floor reserved for the first and second-year students, the second floor reserved for third and fourth-year students, the third floor reserved for fifth and sixth-year students and the final level reserved for students in their seventh and eighth years. The ground floor is a communal lounge/study area. Both buildings are made out of 'blonde' sandstone with large wooden double doors made out of a dark red color wood at their entrances. Most rooms are doubles though there are also some rooms capable of housing one or three students. Each room has an individual bed, desk, and chest for every student as well as a closet shared by the room's occupants. At the end of each hall is a communal bath.
The Magi and Acolytes living quarters are similar to the students but with all of the Magi having private rooms while all Acolytes have to reside in doubles.
The Archmage apartment consists of four rooms: a private kitchen and dining room, a private bathroom, a single bedroom and a living room/lounge. Every Archmage is required to furnish the apartment themselves so the interior can differ vastly between them.
Behind the main building are two more buildings, one that is short and squat and another that is a bascilla with a tall bell tower attached to the back. The smaller of the two buildings is the school's cafeteria where students and faculty alike eat their meals or grab food to take back to their rooms. The taller building is the academy's library where students can read hundreds of books and journals that contain information on runes and past experiments. The bell in the belltower is used to inform both those residing at the academy and the Llyne citizens who work and live around the Academy of the time of day as well as provide a warning in times of war.
Aldert Academy: Aldert Academy is located just outside Llyne. This academy is both its own academy and also used as an overflow site for Remia. The building is short and blocky looking three-story building with the dorm area contained in a tall tower on the west side of the building. The dorm tower is twice as tall as the main building with the top story reserved for the Archmage, the fifth and fourth floors are reserved for Magi and Acolytes, the third, second and first floors are reserved for the students while the ground floor is divided between a lounge/study area and communal eating area.
Basora Academy: Basora is located on the small island off the northern coast of Aryia a few miles from the city of Clasier. Surrounding the academy is a waist-high wall made out of trimmed hedges. The academy is made up of only one rectangular building four stories tall and a single story below ground with a large courtyard in the center of the building with a fountain and many colorful plants and trees. The dorms and classrooms, as well as research rooms, are all contained within this building. The building is built entirely out of limestone. The above ground floors all have large picture windows both facing the outside as well as the courtyard allowing anyone outside to see through to the inner courtyard. Only the windows in the classrooms and dorms have curtains to give privacy.
Chatou Academy: Chatou is located on the main street of the city of Antilly, the southernmost town in Aryia. The academy is a large rectangular two-story building with a flat roof and large arched windows on the second floor and smaller rectangle windows on the first floor. Surrounding the building is a small yard filled with trees, shrubs and colorful flowers and surrounding the yard itself is a five-foot high stone wall. The second floor contains the living quarters for faculty and students alike while the first floor is reserved for classrooms and research areas. There is no communal eating area. Instead, the students and faculty will dine at the various inns and public houses in the city or purchase food from food stall vendors. Some students do not reside at the academy at all. Instead, they continue to live at home with their parents while attending.
Tarora Academy: Tarora is located in the city of Gretou the central most town in Aryia and the second largest after the capital. The building is a fat square building that takes up the entirety of the grounds reserved for the building. There is a grand staircase leading up to the front door that is flanked by four pillars. The building is four stories tall with a glass dome on top that fills the building's interior with natural light. Directly beneath the glass dome is a large L-shaped staircase made of marble that goes all the way up to the top floor is wide enough for five people to traverse at the same time. On the ground floor, is equally divided between the academy's dining room and lounge/common room. The first floor is reserved for the school's research rooms and its library. The second floor is made up entirely of classrooms. The third floor is student housing while the fourth is reserved for faculty housing.
Leobwin Cenric's Cabin: The small shack owned by Leobwin the founders of Remia learned rune-casting. Its exact location is unknown, having been declared a sacred site by the founders and its precise position removed from history books so no damage could come to it. It is known to have been high up in some mountainous area, and the building was on the edge of a lake.

History

The history of Remia began a few decades before the idea was even conceived or the keystone for the initial school building was laid down. Decades before the start of the new era, around 67 B.R.C, an albino man Leobwin Cenric received a vision from the goddess, Isyn, who showed him the wine stain birthmark on his face could be used to power runes. Before this revelation, runes were thought to be useful but entirely unmanagable as there was no set way for someone to write runes. Instead, runes were symbols, usually fashioned into necklaces or painted on shields, passed down through families that believed the emblem would protect them or provide them luck or provide some other kind of benefit. Anyone who took the symbol by force would find themselves experiencing the opposite of the family with them being more susceptible to harm. Anyone who received the emblem not by force but instead through trade or rediscovery would find the symbol neither beneficial nor harmful. And so, by using the symbol created by his birthmark, Leobwin Cenric was able to tie the rune to himself and then any runes added to it would be powered by his abilities rather than belief in the rune.

Isyn

Don't trust what she says. Demons always lie

Leobwin Cenric spent years traveling the world, recording runes he could find and figuring out how to combine them with his own symbol. During this time, Leobwin Cenric began gaining a reputation as someone who could cast runes at will and he began being approached by nobles and peasants alike to take their children and train them. Wanting to spread his knowledge, Leobwin Cenric began teaching children from a shack on the lake where he'd had his vision. He had to turn away a number because of lack of ability but, in the end, Leobwin Cenric had a group of about thirty children who showed promise. Amongst these children were Folcher Chlothar, Otwin Theudemar, Amelina Humbert, Osanna De Rege, and Rosmunda Blackwell who would go on to found Remia.A schism formed between these six and their teacher in 11 B.R.C caused these six as well as some other students to leave. The cause of the schism has been lost to time and history but from then on these students never interacted with their teacher ever again.

Schism

He wanted rune casting to be available to all. They saw an avenue for profit. A shame Leobwin wasn't more discerning in choosing students.

Otwin Theudemar, Folcher Chlothar, Amelina Humbert, Osanna De Rege, and Rosmunda Blackwell cultivated an even bigger reputation than their former teacher by selling their services. Eventually, the then Lord Gautier Oweyn of the fledgling kingdom Aryia offered to give them the best plot of land in the capital city of Llyne if they agreed to build a school there.
The current era is considered to begin the year construction of Remia began. While construction was going on, Folcher Chlothar and Rosmunda Blackwell and their followers who were talented in the then-fledgling art of healing expanded their renounce when they accompanied Lord Gautier Oweyn and his soldiers on a campaign to conquer the neighboring kingdoms of Tapis and Lales. Not only were the campaigns successful, but they were also completed faster and with fewer casualties than any other thanks to troops being healed and returning to the frontline faster than the opposing army could. With these victories, the usefulness of rune casting was finalized in the eyes of most people, and the growing kingdom of Aryia prospered greatly for being the first to capitalize on this valuable resource.
Three years after starting, construction of Remia Academy of the Arcane finished in the 4th year of the new era. With the opening of the school, once again there was a flood of parents from every walk of life seeking to send their children to the school but, for the most part, only those with ample wealth were able to achieve this goal. There were a few students from the peasantry who showed remarkable skill though, and the founders declared that they would be allowed to attend but on the condition that they work on the academy grounds to earn their way. There was some grumbling about the apparent biases the school had towards the peasantry that led to some to try to seek out Leobwin Cenric but, no one could find him or the students who had stayed behind to keep learning from him. The founders expressed great dismay over this news and declared the shack he had taught them in to be a sacred site and expressly forbid anyone from seeking it out for fear that it might be vandalized. To further honor their teacher, the six founders declared that Remia would from then on have one Archmage to lead the academy rather than six as they had been doing so far.
As the years passed, both the power of Remia and Aryia grew until the kingdom of Aryia covered a third of the continent of Thaesia and Remia now contained so many students, magi, and acolytes the construction of a second academy Aldert Academy of the Arcane was needed. At the same time, some magi originally from different countries expressed interest in building academies in their home countries as there were many children and teens with innate abilities with runes whose parents could not afford to secure their passage across seas. After some debate, the then archmage, Jesper Thøgersen, agreed to let these magi leave not only with his blessing but, with a large number of funds that would, if not cover all of the cost of the construction of these academies, would cover most of it.
Remia saw a brief period of disfavor following the arrest and execution of Baron Gavriil Aukes. To counter the negative news that was causing people to question the academy's secretive nature, the then archmage, Moritz Ruhl, made the first ever public decree saying that the academy would require all students who graduated and began selling their services to submit to twice-yearly inspections by the city guard. He also made it so no one, not even an archmage or an alumnus would be allowed to perform research with healing runes without at least one other person present and made every student who entered the field of healing runes swear never to harm another person.
In the years since the incident with Baron Gavriil Aukes the academy's reputation has recovered. Currently, there are branch academies of Remia in all the major cities of Aryia and sister Academies in every single nation except for the island nation of Kimiri and the marsh nation of Huición. The academy has also undergone recent renovations that expanded the land surrounding it to make Remia the most lavish site in Llyne, outshining even the palace. Due to the academy's close relationship with the Oweyn line, there is a small section of the population that wonders if the archmage of the academy can influence the King. Given that many prominent rune casters find employment in the palace or the Aryian army there does seem to be some truth to this talk. Some though, still remember how the academy never truly became transparent after the incident with Aukes and did not disclose what research goes on within the walls of the academy to anyone, not even the King.

by yukimoda

[Transcript:

Remia, and the other academies modeled after it, homogenized rune casting, supposedly making it more useful to all. The people rejoice and thank their deities every time a graduate heals their ills, all but the people of Kimiri of course. In exchange, they turn a blind eye to the experimentation done behind the walls of the academy. So long as a caster doesn't follow Aukes’ path who cares about canvas covered bloodstained carts exiting the iron wrought gates almost daily? Or that wheeled cages filled with wild creatures are permitted entrance just as often?
Eyes might stray when a caster emerges with an experiment in tow. But, those same eyes immediately avert again because selective blindness and muteness is the real price we pay for healing, isn't it? And if those experiments get free, or are released, and harass the people of the countryside and their livestock? The apology issued forth by the Academy is enough compensation for the loss of life and livelihood.
After all, the alternative would be to wonder if this was the outcome the rune casters wanted all along, that they wanted to see how well their experiments thrive in the wild. And if it’s true, the people would have to confront the rune casters about their disregard for human life. Confrontation might cause the rune casters to move somewhere remote leaving the average citizen without a quick and easy means to heal their injuries and disease. So, the people blind themselves and bite their tongues until bloody, allowing more and more tiny concessions each year.
But of course, it's not like these rune casters are Aukes reborn and murdering people with their own hands, right?]

Power From Within

Heraldry done by TrueUndeadHero

Type

Education, Magic

Alternative Names

Remia Academy, The Academy

Leader

Archmage Cassandra Delacroix

Parent Organization

Aryia

Subsidiary Organizations

• Aldert Academy of the Arcane
• Basora Academy of the Arcane
• Chatou Academy of the Arcane
• Survey Council
• Tarora Academy of the Arcane

Location

Llyne

Related Ranks & Titles

• Archmage
• Magus

Related Professions

• Rune Caster

Controlled Territories

• Leobwin's Cabin

Notable Members

• Amelina Humbert
• Archmage Cassandra Delacroix
• Baron Gavriil Aukes
• Isyn
• Magnolia Harlow
• Moritz Ruhl
• Rosmunda Blackwell