The Winter Academy

Through knowledge is the spirit freed.

In the city of Samavra is the only university in the known world. Some places boast smaller schools, but none compare with the grandeur that is the Vessunan Winter Academy.

Architecture

Though generations of school leadership have tried to keep some architectural cohesion, the centuries of new construction as the academy grew are readily apparent. Still, all use some variation of cob and red clay bricks. The original buildings have been repaired so many times that some joke there is nothing "original" about them other than their location.

History

In the oldest city of the oldest civilization in Iouɾan is a center of study founded almost two millennia ago. The original campus buildings are widely known to have once been the home of a cult, but officials of the academy do their best to play down the sordid whispers that nevertheless relentlessly circulate among students.
Of course, it's hard to squelch such rumors with an acknowledged haunting on the premises. In the largest of the old buildings, among rooms still used for lectures, is a closed door. Its dark wood and cold iron hinges are unremarkable. The multiple locks, however, catch the eye. Those walking past the room often report a cold spot or a sudden urge to open the door. (One of the more popular stories is that the reason for the locks has to do with someone who gave in to that feeling. Variations on the telling range from the vague "never seen again" to creeping madness to gruesome dismemberment.) Instructors often don't like being assigned to the neighboring rooms, claiming that it makes them uneasy.
There is one professor, however, who refuses to lecture in any room other than the one to the right of the locked door. Telemei has been teaching Vessunan history at the Academy for over forty years. He will not explain his preference for proximity to the haunted room, but sometimes one can hear him apparently talking to himself behind the closed door of his lecture room after all the students have left.

Type Public
President Calolise
Academic Staff 476
Students Over 6,000
Location Samavra