The Hall of Soldiers
The weeks had been arduous. Each work day was dedicated to the study of magic, beginning with magical theory and devolving slowly from there into the practice of the basic, and most important magics. From the first few days, the course load had seemed not quite as structured as the students had expected. While magic in the elements and healing were highly encouraged (and in fact, other colleges were off limits to the incoming youngster class) the primary focus of the college was to create battle wizards and to that end they allowed much greater autonomy than expected. While being well rounded in the basics was seen as desirable, in practice it was far more common for young students to become gifted in just one or two colleges, creating depth of knowledge rather than breadth.
What had been structured however, was life within the walls of the castle. While students had some say in their course direction their course load was unanimously crushing. And though students were often times split into different courses and under the control of no single direct supervisor, it seemed instantly known when a student was wasting his time or even tarrying in the halls. Punishments were different based on who exactly was doling them out -- those young professors, some of which had just earned their knight's cross often harried the students with a stern look or word, the kinder of the knights would nudge them along, ensuring they knew they were lucky that someone else had not caught them. And they would have been lucky, for it seemed that more often than not, those roaming the hall were only too happy to punish those even seeming to dawdle. This took many forms, from detentions on their already minimal time to actual, physical punishment on the spot. Brother Loke was famous for his torment on those in the halls during classroom hours, one story had him conjuring a pair of wild dogs to chase a student back into his classroom, and another with a student's robes set aflame, extinguishing only when he had finally broken the threshold of his Alchemy class.
It seems that the professors had their own ranks as well. Though most had no real position other than their knighthood, it seemed that there was a rank among them even in that. The Templars employed a system of awards and decorations, starting with the Knight's Cross which was the symbol of their knighthood. Adornments could be added, among the most common were oak leaves, or occasionally a pair of swords marking the cross. It seemed only two members of the staff, Baron Graves himself and Brother Loke had won the final adornment, a diamond border to the cross signifying the final step in a Templar's knighthood short of becoming the grand master himself.
The student body itself was structured as well, including the largest percentage of their time between classroom and study hours and the hours of mandatory sleep. Saturdays were their only time off, though it seemed inevitably at some point or another during the week they would end up in a detention whether warranted or not. Even without the detentions, the youngster class was prohibited from leaving to the city of Azer, so they would spend their time in the keep either practicing their spells, or blowing off steam however they could. Sundays were dedicated to prayer, regardless of the religious preferences of the students and those who chose not to practice religion made it clear to the newest students it was in their interest to keep their mouth shut and toe the line.
Class as well had it's place. Rather than each student living in the same dormitories, they were split into houses: The Hall of Nobles, where those with families of influence would dwell; The Hall of Bishops, oddly enough, where those with families of wealth alone would stay; The Hall of Soldiers, where those who had claim to their skill and intellect alone would reside. In addition, there was a small dormitory for women, as their numbers did not warrant a house of their own and on a separate portion of the grounds, a series of buildings belonging to the Jesuits, where as their instructors would often say, "Only only God knew what abominations were being carried out in his name."
It was the feast day of the fall equinox and the harvest and for once the class was free of detentions - put off for another day as the entire keep (minus the youngster class) went down into the city to celebrate the day. Left for the most part to their own devices, the youngsters grouped into their own hall common rooms, chatting and being social as they had been near unable for the last six weeks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:04, Sun 22 Dec 2013.