College of Arcane Metallurgy

Visible from hundreds of miles in all directions is a great plume of smoke and ash rising high from a vast mountain. The sky is blocked out by an ever present cloud of dark smog, and the land itself is blanketed for miles in snow as black as coal. Thus is the mountain called Heixue, after the soot stained snow that falls from the blackened sky all year round. The College of Arcane Metallurgy is built into and around this great volcanic mountain, carefully situated along it’s rocky cliffs and in it’s great shadow. Heixue is carefully monitored by the sorcerers that inhabit the college, it’s molten core maintained so that it both never grows too cold or gets too hot and erupts fully. It is a dangerous balance. A razor’s edge between the infinite heat they need for their mystic forges and the total destruction an eruption would represent, yet they have maintained that balance for several hundred years.
The buildings are constructed from metal, carefully enchanted to resist the intense heats of the volcanic core they connect to so as to provide a comfortable living space for those inside. Yet all is not the cold gray of iron. Rich blues, golds, and silvers are preferred, with each building a smooth, perfectly formed geographical shape. Sharp edged hexagonal towers crown the volcanic mountain, as well as jute out from various rocky cliffs along it’s eastern side. Great stairs run from tower to tower and down the mountainside, winding down for thousands of steps to the mountain’s base where a small residential village can be found. The largest facility, however, is a palace build halfway up the mountain and connected to the two largest towers by bridges. Surrounding it are hundreds of smaller buildings that form a ring around the mountain’s eastern side.
The volcanic power of the mountain provides heat both for the forges as well as their water. Much of their drinking water comes from hidden lakes inside and around the mountain. Some were once polluted by the run off from the black snow, but these have long since been purified by a combination of volcanic heat and magic, resulting in pleasant hot springs for relaxation, as well as viable drinking water. The air in and around the college facilities are similarly safeguarded from airborne pollutants by magic filtration systems that are built around the buildings.
Hot air balloons are a common mode of travel for up and down to different parts of the campus. The stairs are chiefly there for visitors to the college to test their resolve and dissuade spies.
House of Metals: The main building is known as the House of Metals. This is where the main teaching is done. Large rooms dedicated to teaching thousands of students every day. While it was originally built only on the surface of the mountain time and number of students have forced it to expand into the stone, fusing the building with the mountain itself. Thousands of tunnels lined with intricately laid metal run down through the rocky interior, often dangerously close to the molten lake within the heart of Heixue Mountain. They run both up and down, each leading to an array of large halls for the students to do their studies.
The Great Forges: The hexagonal towers built into the mountain side house the great forges of the College of Arcane Metallurgy. Powered by the magically directed volcanic heat of Heixue’s heart, these forges burn endlessly and intensely, and are used to construct many of the great and wonderful inventions of the college. Usage of the forges must be requested formally, and there is a long waiting list. Each forge releases a constant stream of white smoke that burns black when in use.
Residential Ring: There are many inventors and mages who live on campus. Many old masters never leave, and so make the mountain their home. Many more students need a place to stay, and while once the House of Metals housed them the needs of the college had long since grown beyond being able to accommodate that. Students are accommodated inside one of many small, single room houses made of stone, while masters get much larger accommodations with multiple rooms. The master’s buildings double as workshops where they both live and teach their apprentices in private.
Long roads wind between craggy hills and steep slopes connecting the residential buildings forming a complex network of small villages at varying levels of altitude. Travel along these paths is done on beetle-carriages. Large, metal contraptions with six mechanical legs and a carriage on top that is fueled by magic and can easily traverse the rocky paths in ways wheeled modes of transportation cannot.
The Heart of Heixue: The core of the mountain and the belly of molten stone from which the geothermic energy of the whole college originates. It is here that massive bridges span the width of the volcanic cavern, suspended high above magma and supporting a single, large, spherical building in the center. This building houses the finest forge in the entire college. One used only for the most powerful works of engineering and magic. Bare skinned mages cannot survive the intense heat of this place and must adorn themselves in layers of magical protection, and even then there is a great risk. For this reason only the highest ranked masters of the craft are permitted here, and only when the project warrants such a special forge.

Type

College / Academy

Owning Organization

College of Arcane Metallurgy