Head to the School of the Natural Elements and look for the Earth building. Find an introductory book.
You head past, noting a large ziggurat, the Department of Life.
Department of Life
You approach a ziggurat made of stone blocks, seemingly centuries old and overgrown with verdant green plantlife--a rarity in these parts.
This building has a terraced layout, with four central stairways leading to an altar at the top (with a statue at the local shrine). There are four terraces, having eight, six, four, and two doorways per side, respectively. Nets of plants prevent people from falling over the edge, and also function as a shade and awning for the level below.
There is a tree you've never seen before growing on the roof of the shrine. Its bark is a rich brown despite being cracked with age, and its magnificent crown is green and filled with capped nuts which tend to fall down in the wind. You find many of these nuts scattered across the ground. Crows tend to come and go, picking up the nuts and taking them places unknown.
Passing it, you notice a large obsidian tower in the distance.
Department of Earth
An obsidian spire with windows dotting the side. The windows themselves vary in color and shape, but they are all made of crystal, though whether they are colored quartz or real gemstone would be difficult to tell without the skill of a true appraiser.
It seems like an inconvenient structure for housing classrooms. Indeed, the building itself is hardly ten meters wide at the base. But soon you realize that the spire itself is merely a museum meant to showcase aspects of Earth magic. The true structure is underground, and the stairwell opens up to a massive underground cavern that functions as a lobby, with minecart-style trams to provide easy transportation up its slopes and steam-powered machinery driving all the clockwork. Not unsurprisingly, a large percentage of students here are dwarven, some belonging to the stout and muscular variety, others thinner and almost elfin in figure.
The layout of the chamber is as follows: A spiral ramp descending from a giant brass-colored drillhead below, leading up to the bottom layer where the newest classes are held. As the ramp ascends, the width of the chamber increases, housing more and more classes, and all of the offices are located on the uppermost level, clustered around the bridge which takes you from the stairwell itself over to solid ground.
The roof of the cavern is dotted with sparking diamonds reflecting torchlight. Looking up from the bottom, it would seem like looking at the sky of another world, not a world under this one.
The School of Thoughtform sounds interesting. I should give it a look, see if it is relevant to my studies.
Head over to the School of Thoughtform and see what it has to offer.
You head out, biding by the sign's instructions. Crossing a bridge across the river, a boatman waves as he carries a betentacled octopus-like student, and the student follows suit although he isn't quite sure how many tentacles he is meant to use.
North of the Natural library, you find the Greater Library, ostensibly consisting of both Time and Shadow majors plus a library devoted to the most obscure aspects of Magic.
Department of Time
A gothic-styled building not unlike a cathedral, but with many stories and walkways to provide convenient places to take a walk and observe the campus. Indeed, it's the highest building besides an obsidian tower you see in the distance. At the fenced-off entryway, there is a statue depicting a female watchmaker holding a loupe and dressed in coveralls. Coiled around her feet is a komodo dragon with an excessively long tail, holding a scepter in its front right claws. A short girl and a tall guy seem to be posing next to the statues for some reason.
The structure itself is made from brick and mortar, but it is painted over in black shingles. The sloped, mostly-conical roof of the main structure, and the steeples of the clocktower, would be covered in snow if not for flickering dots that seem to buzz around the surface, melting snow in proximity and allowing the water to drain into the gutter system. The gutters empty into a waterwheel at the side of the building, where there exists a large warehouse with plaque labelled 'MACHANICS CLUB' (sic).
Behind the building, there's a cemetary.
At the Department of Life...Now that would be fun to play with...
Without second thought Dan steps into class room. "Hey, are you professor who teaches Life?"
Murble winces at Dan's impetuousness, but there's little she can do now but watch the show.
Greybeard gives Dan that look people reserve for others who are both stupid
and dangerous. The worst kind of delinquent.
"I am indeed one of the professors of Life, but also one of the busiest, so unless you were to jump off a high place and maim yourself I shall continue my current job and that is teaching my class."A round of chuckles ensues.
"Unless you'd like to explain Bane's theorem to the class, if you don't mind."Great I'm still dead.
Perhaps I should go see the Life professor...Raioyris shambles off to the life building looking as lively as a dead man can look.
Department of Life
You approach a ziggurat made of stone blocks, seemingly centuries old and overgrown with verdant green plantlife--a rarity in these parts.
This building has a terraced layout, with four central stairways leading to an altar at the top (with a statue at the local shrine). There are four terraces, having eight, six, four, and two doorways per side, respectively. Nets of plants prevent people from falling over the edge, and also function as a shade and awning for the level below.
There is a tree you've never seen before growing on the roof of the shrine. Its bark is a rich brown despite being cracked with age, and its magnificent crown is green and filled with capped nuts which tend to fall down in the wind. You find many of these nuts scattered across the ground. Crows tend to come and go, picking up the nuts and taking them places unknown.
There is an open door, third to the left on the second story. A crow lands on your shoulder, giving you a one-eyed stare as it looks you over.
At the LodgeKyron shrugs and picks up the violin. He knows how to play, and honestly, who cares if somebody's punching somebody else?
You join in with an improvised melody,
[-] eventually finding yourself unable to keep up with the pace, and transition into a stacatto bassline instead where you're sure you won't make any mistakes.
The orcs battle on. The human seems a much better violinist than yourself, adjusting the melody to keep up with whichever wrester currently has the upper hand, playing a distinctive leitmotif for each combatant.
Eventually, Red Mane receives the upper hand, having exhausted Prussian Blue near to the point of collapse. However, he lets his guard down and attempts to side-kick, allotting Prussian Blue the bare moment he needs to throw a mighty punch and knock Red Mane off-balance. In an vicious display of brutality, Prussian Blue follows through by tossing himself forward as his legs give out, grabbing Red Mane's neck with one hand and delivering several punches to the face in rapid succession. Red Mane does not resist, and in fact seems to be unconscious.
...
Clapping.
The human with the red eyes seems to have had a role as a mediator, as the drummer plays a short victory tune to commemorate the battle.
"It's settled, then. Orychos rules this dorm." He glances at you.
"Welcome. I hope the quartermaster didn't send you to shut us down. They'd promised to protect student culture,"
In the Icecone ForestTry and follow the footprints, also check out the grey tree.
"Absolutely beautiful, this place.", Nix said, to no one in particular.
You follow the tracks first and foremost. Unable to gaugue the direction of the tracks themselves due to snow cover, you are only able to discover many wandering tracks, as if a large number of people were simply... wandering through the forest at one point. Either way, there's no way to track them to the source aside from visiting every branching path.
You'd go toward that odd tree next, but entering the forest has made it invisible and you can only guess its general direction.
Author
Topic: Folstag University of Magic (Between Light and Shadow) (Read 54934 times)