The Ustanan Royal Academy

The greatest place of learning on all of Zheng-Kitar, where all come to be educated by the best of the best

Structure

The structure of the Ustanan Royal Academy is for the most part quite simple and easy for most anyone to understand - unlike the Umberlight Society which is divided into several colleges each ruled by a headmaster subservient to an overall Grandmaster, the Royal Academy instead is wholly united beneath a singular banner and within a singular complex, but instead is divided within that one building and organization into various Departments(Defined as broad categories of study within the Academy) that are headed up by Directors(The most senior teacher or instructor within that department), who are nothing but employees of the Academy given special titles that remain subordinate to the Magna Magistera, head of the Academy.
Below is a breakdown of the ranks present in the academy, and a brief description of their duties, ranked from most important to least important.

Structure of the Academy

• Magna Magistera - The overall headmaster of the Royal Academy and leader of the faith of Asad the Patient across Zheng-Kitar. Is responsible for giving the final say on all Academy matters, for handling matters of admission, serving as the face of the academy above all else, and handling all highly important academy matters and business. They are chosen directly by the previous person to hold the title, and in the event where a Magna Magistera dies before a successor can be named, they are typically taken from the ranks of the faithful of Asad the Patient.


• Director - The heads of the various areas of instruction within the Academy, such as Martial Instruction, Arcane Instruction, Spiritual Matters, Academic Instruction, Athletics, and more. They are the right hands of the Headmaster, and handle much of the Academy's day to day operations. They are the usual liasons to the students on behalf of the Magna Magistera, do not typically teach themselves, and are given vast authority within the Academy to set policy, lesson plans, discipline students, and more - unlike the Professors, they are not subject to regular inspections or verifications.


• Professor - The teachers and instructors that make up the various areas of instruction within the Academy, subordinate to the Director in charge of the department they teach for. Like the Assistant Staff, they are hired from a variety of places - the only true requirement is one's breadth of experience and the desire to instruct and teach. They are subject to regular inspections and verifications that are mandatory if they wish to keep their jobs to ensure they are leading students along the correct path.


• Elite Student - The students that occupy positions of leadership within the student body - they are lead by the President of the Student Council, and are made up of various chairmen of student-run organizations such as the disciplinary committee, clubs, and such. They are given limited power over their fellows by the Academy to self-police the student body and handle minor matters of discipline that are considered beneath the notice of the Professors and Directors - with this internal autonomy the students are taught self-reliance and how to handle themselves in a real-world environment. Their power has fluctuated wildly throughout the Academy's lifespan - from its lowest point as a group little more than worthless puppets of the Professors and Directors to its high point as an organization with such power that even the Academy's staff obeyed their demands.


• Assistant Staff - The staff that do not teach, but who service the academy's grounds, staff, or structures such as janitorial staff, teaching assistants, and the like. They are considered below the Elite Students but above the average student body despite being staff.


• Normal Student - The average student body, most numerous among the academy's populace. They attend daily lessons and lectures and commonly live on campus in the school housing complexes. They are almost universally high-born, but can be from any strata of society from anywhere on the continent so long as they can afford the entrance fees and yearly tuition costs(Or are given an extremely rare exemption). They are broken up into first through fifth year students - with the higher year students being senior to the lower year students and given more prestige, respect, and allowances than their juniors. These students graduate and pass out of the Academy after their fifth year, though some elect to take optional, longer courses and continue their studies in more specific areas while others still opt to become teachers or professors.

Culture

Ultimately, there are few true rules at the Ustanan Royal Academy - it encourages civil discourse and promotes reason, logic, and learning above all else, but also strives to foster an environment in which the student body can learn lessons that will serve them well in the cutthroat halls of high society - meaning that though the Academy's student body and staff may interact with each other beneath a veneer of cordial politeness, there is a great deal of scheming that goes on behind such guises.
However, there are several ironclad rules that are omnipresent throughout the Academy, which are punishable by immediate expulsion should they be broken - none dare to break these rules, as they are enforced with terrifying efficiency by the Magna Magistera and the school's personal legion of knights(Directed and led by the Magna Magistera themselves).

1. Blood shall not be spilt upon Academy Grounds.
2. No student or staff shall meet their end upon Academy Grounds.
3. The word of the Magna Magistera is absolute and shall not be denied.

Public Agenda

As it ever has been since its founding, the agenda of the Ustanan Royal Academy is primarily to serve as a training center for the next generation of high society - while they may cater to any who can afford their tuition rates no matter whether they be high or low born, the original and true purpose of the academy is to properly educate and instruct the children of nobles the world over in ways that cannot be done in their homeland, to give them an understanding of the scope and scale of the world that would not be feasible nor possible in the halls of their homeland.
Over time, this has begun to change somewhat from this stodgy and old-fashioned agenda to a more egalitarian agenda of education, but it is by no means complete and most of the Academy's elite still see their mission as one of high societal education, to properly preserve the traditions of the elite across Zheng-Kitar and to empower such nobles to maintain their grip on the populace.

Assets

As a government-funded institution in the Ustanan Concord, the assets of the Ustanan Royal Academy are immense - they have access to the very best facilities in which the student body can be taught, are given the very best equipment, given an entire legion of knights on permanent standby on academy grounds to act as guardsman and security forces, and have a massive amount of wealth and funding taken from not only the Ustanan Concord, but from the coffers of the noble families who send their children to the school to be educated - who often act as patrons for the school,
Though the schools assets were nearly exhausted during the six decade long construction of The Imperial Observatory which nearly bankrupted not only the academy but the country at large, they have begun to slowly build their assets back up over the centuries since thanks to the patronage of the government and the families from across Zheng-Kitar who support them.

History

Founded in the year 4300 ASK by the Saint Asad the Patient, the Ustanan Royal Academy was founded to be the greatest center for learning and knowledge across Zheng-Kitar - and while it was not originally intended to become the bastion of high-society it is today(And was instead envisioned as a place of learning for the common man), its original purpose still lives on within the halls of the hallowed institution that has seen them tutor countless important figures across the centuries from the highest born nobleman to the lowest born peasant whose talents earned them an Exemption(A special privilege that allows one to not pay the academy's fees to attend).
To those who attend the Royal Academy, the history of the place is embedded within its very walls - within the portraits of Headmasters past, the portraits of previous students, and the traditions passed down from student to student and professor to professor since the Academy's founding so many centuries ago. Everyone from the most legendary of heroes(Perhaps most notably being Rasmus Elias Oström Olander XV in a past life) to the most gifted of commoners have emerged and graduated from the halls of the Academy over the course of its history, with many students being directly hired or selected from the ranks of the student body into jobs across high and low society as many organizations the world over keep members on site at the Academy to scout for suitable talent.

A tradition of Excellence. A history of Pride.

Founding Date

4300 ASK

Type

Educational, School/Academy

Alternative Names

The Ustanan Academy, The Academy

Demonym

Student

Leader Title

Magna Magistera

Deities

• Asad the Patient

Controlled Territories

• The Imperial Observatory

Related Ethnicities

• Ustanan

Related Reading