Students of the Great School of Magic
by Michael BerryThere is truly little to say about The Great School of Magic that wasn’t detailed by Robin in all those glorious 555 pages of erotic Glantrian goodness. While a full list of School Masters and Instructors was done one area I felt the exploration of the Great School was lacking was detailing who and how the Great School is used so I’ll riff a bit about the students that study at the Great School.
Before going into the actual student body, one must look overall at the population of Glantri. As a Magocracy it has often been asked, just how many users of magic are found in Glantri. Per the most recent census data in 1000 there were 804,766 Glantrians. The Flaem being not just the largest ethnic group in Glantri but also having the highest (non-elf) affinity for magic. Nearly one in five of the 183,724 Flaemish tested positive for magical ability. As the Flaem have multiple levels of educational opportunities, including many scholarship opportunities, for those that test positive for magical abilities nearly 90% of all those with ability become spellcasters. From the latest available census data in 1000 the top 5 ethnic groups for percentage of magic using population are as follows:
- Elves (Belcadiz and Erewan) – 40,815 (100% of population)
- Flaemish – 33,070 (18% of population)
- Alphatian – 10,194 (15% of population)
- Averoignian – 7,300 (11% of population)
- Kaelic/Fen/Ethengarian – 8,721- (7.5% of population)
The remaining other ethnic groups in Glantri (approximately 331,095) were descendants of more mundaner settlers and test out at the more typical Mystaran figure of 3% with ¾ receiving proper education to become arcaners. According to the Department of Records the Principalities of Glantri thus a total of 107,550 spellcasters which is 13% of its population. Most spellcasters learn at home by private education or by taking an apprenticeship under a master and rarely advance beyond basic levels of magical ability but for those who can afford the fees and tuition nearly all choose to attend the Great School of Magic.
One can break the student body of the Great School of Magic into three classes. The first and smallest are those that study at the Great School of Magic full time. Any full-time students at the Great School are required to live on campus as the Grand Master Etienne d’Ambreville believed that magical instruction was not merely learning magic but was also a mental education in which outside distractions should be kept to a minimum and learning discipline was key for young students as was the social aspects for potential nobles in engaging with their future peers, where lifelong friendships would be established, or even lifelong enmity would be cast. Full time students are grouped into various dormitory groups based on their social class.
- Eagle Dormitory which is exclusively for students of families of ruling Princes/Princesses
- Hawk, Vulture, and Jay Dormitories which are for students of lesser Glantrian Nobility as well as students of foreign high nobility.
- The Owl, Swan, and Rooster Dormitories which are for students from non-noble Glantrian families from the Arcaner class as well as foreign minor nobility. Various scholarship winners even if from mundaner families will be assigned to these dormitories.
- The Raven Dormitory is for any student from a mundaner family as well as non-noble foreigners who can pass the entrance exam and afford the fees to attend the Great School.
Currently there are 21 noble students studying at the Great School and are assigned to the following Dormitories:
Eagles – Monique d’Ambreville (age 13, M6, 1st Circle Alchemist), Miguelito de Belcadiz (age 34, E5, 1st Circle Blue Dragon Master), Tolui Krinager (age 8, M3), Rina Krinager (age 14, M7), Rejladan Virayana (age 21, M9, 1st Circle Dream Master, due to take Graduation test during term), and Thendain Erewan (age 84, E6)
Hawks – Threndel Widefarer (age 55, E2), Ghengis Lan (age 12, M4), Raffaella Fulvina (age 7, M1), Tabitha von Graustein-Jaenecke (age 7, NM), and Ota Koorteweg (age 19, M9, 1st Circle Death Master, due to take Graduation test during term)
Vultures – William Steurt (age 7, M2), Katya Verlien-Zirchevski (age 11, M6, 1st Circle Fire Master), Gaston Leconte-Foch (age 10, M2), Ysabel de Fedorias (age 104, E6, 1st Circle Witch), and Chiara Fulvina (age 7, NM)
Jays – Mary McDougall (age 9, M2), Rafael de Casanegra (age 125, E8), Friedrich von Graustein (age 9, M1), Heidi Stransky (age-10, NM), and Frans Verlien-Rjevens (age 16, M8, 1st Circle Fire Master)
There are currently 35 students in the 1014 class split among the Owl, Swan and Rooster Dormitories and another 28 students in the Raven Dormitory. A few words might be said about some of the details about full time students at the Great School. It is mentioned in Gaz 3 that students may only advance to half their parents’ level before coming of age at 16. Personally, I think that is worth ignoring as a parent’s level has nothing to do with a child’s potential especially as the parent is not educating the child but is by the finest wizards at the finest magic school in the world. I would ignore that especially seeing that official fandom pretty much ignored that for having characters like the infamous Angus McGregor who exceeded his father’s level six years before he even became an adult.
Another tidbit of Gaz3 with regards to the Great School that could be tweaked is student advancement. Per Gaz 3 a child gains one level of experience per 12 months of study when it is unreasonable (as well as unrealistic) that the school, much less a student could manage 7 days a week for 12 straight months of study. One can reasonably assume the need for breaks for the student as well as the school (instructors have lives as well and take vacations). So to simply matters and bookkeeping for the advancement of NPC’s in a campaign a school term lasts for 10 months a year, starting Vatermont 1 and going through to Eirmont 28 and upon completing a full term of study a student would gain one level of experience.
The other two classes of students at the Great School of Magic are both considered part-time students and do not live at the Great School. The first, non-graduates, is the largest class of student at the Great School. According to the Director of Admissions, Angan Forrestrir, there were nearly 25,000 non graduate arcaners on the rolls at the Great School in 1013 and just under 10% of them, some 2000, attended classes at the Great School at some point during the year. Only 10% of them, according to the Director, were accepted directly via sponsor (noble or instructor) while the rest had to pass an entrance exam. Upon passing the entrance exam the school assigns an instructor to the student who will often tailor the student’s curriculum to a student’s desires and interests. The remaining class of student at The Great School is the part time graduate. For the most part graduate students use the libraries, laboratories, and other facilities of the Great School for their own research or they might take courses they find of interest and pay the tuition fee unless they offer to lead courses themselves for which any tuition and fees would be waived which is what some Wizards do as tuition fees for graduate students can be quite exorbitant (45 Dc a day for a 9th level wizard). As part time non-graduate students there are no chores or mandatory sessions at the Temple of Rad only classwork. Much like fulltime students the part time student will take a morning’s worth of academic course work but of a student’s choice depending on his intellectual interests. After a break of several hours during the mid-day the student then meets with his assigned instructor for several hours of magical instruction.