Besmit Academy (Current Chronicle)

Besmit Academy Location Guide - By B. Kellestine v.1 2021

To keep this guide concise, only facilities of note are explained in any depth.

Besmit Academy was originally a school during the old Kingdom of Shei, however was decimated and pillaged during the War of Eternals and the chaos in the aftermath. Recently, a combination of interest and need required the old school to be restored, with most buildings having to be mostly or completely rebuilt, save for the Old Library and the School of Magic. With funds raised by the wealthy Besmit family of Moonfall, as well as loans and grants provided by the Crown, the school was restored and opened for use in 1375 AC.

Though boasting an excellent educational experience for its students, it is a surprisingly reasonably priced school per semester, and offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to promising students, as well as its work study program. Students on work study are assigned jobs - often in maintenance or clerical jobs - to cover the costs of their tuition. This helps keep costs lower due to a reduced demand for support staff.

The academy’s colours are black and silver, though each of the four student houses have their own colour that replaces the black on their house crests - red, blue, green, and gold. The school crest is a shield divided into four sections, each with a symbol - red with a sword and shield, blue with a cog and hammer, green with a leaf, and gold with a book and torch. Uniforms are required for students, though are only essential while attending classes. The men’s uniform is a blue blazer with their house crest, white collared shirt, slacks and a tie slashed with their house colours. Womens are not much different, with a female-cut blazer, blouse, ankle length skirts, black cotton stockings, and a scarf slashed with their house colour.

The Grand Hall

The Grand Hall, designed in the style of classical Shei amphitheatres, is a massive domed structure that is capable of seating as many as one thousand students, instructors, or guests on four distinct balconies and floor seats divided into sections by house colour, as indicated by the carpet and decoration in each section. A central circular platform is used for presentations that require the attendance of the entire school, ceremonies, and special functions such as concerts or other performances. Attached to the Grand Hall at the south are also the instructor’s facilities, apartments of appropriate size and accommodation that they as often as not serve as an instructor’s home away from home, or even their primary residence.

School of Magic

The School of Magic is housed in a great ziggurat that predates even the Tallis-Shei migration to Shalzaar. Likely a remnant of Zissahli civilization in this area of the world it seems grossly out of place on a school grounds, and likely a testament to its importance that it was constructed sturdy enough to survive the Shar`Vaire’s assault on Shalzaar not once, but twice. When restoring the academy, Archmagus Dean Alan Ranoine was insistent on keeping the ziggurat as intact as possible, stating that he had no doubt that this location was a both a place of power and historically significant. As such, the building was classified as a historically protected site by the Moonfall authorities.

Though not a formal school of magic in truth, the school does teach introductory magic and is approved and endorsed by the Moonfall School of Magic. Under this school students can progress any mage to the rank of Journeyman before they must continue their progression at a traditional School of Magic - most often either Moonfall, Am-Rayna, or Am-Xitha.

This is not to say that only those studying Arcana will be admitted. There are many classes on magical theory, theology, and the interactions between the two. As such many aspiring priests and mystics find themselves studying within the great stone walls of the school as well.

School of Fine Arts

If the School of Technology is the heart of the Academy, then the School of Fine Arts is certainly the spirit. Headed by Dean Zanio Frell, an eccentric Tashrani with a whimsical temperament, the school offers classes ranging from fine arts, performance, writing and direction, and even costume design. The school of fine arts boasts a garden amphitheatre that seats as many as three-hundred, a cozy and atmospheric alternative to the decadent Grand Hall.

School of Technology, Engineering, and Science

Often cited by Harry Gedeye, Dean of Technology, as the heart of the academy, the School of Technology provides more than simple theoretical training in engineering and construction. This school provides vital services, alongside the school of magic, in ensuring such essential services such as power and plumbing are in full operation. Students are not required to be engineers to attend classes in this school, as lessons on things such as masonry, carpentry, and smithing are also the domain of the school of technology. Facilities include a forge, rail tracks, and a small ship crafting harbor along with a variety of shops and a few small classrooms. It is through this school that a great deal of supplies are brought in from elsewhere on the continent, meaning that this area can be one of the busiest for students attending the academy on a work study program.

School of War and Athletics

The largest section of campus in the northeast corner, though with the least amount of classroom, the school of war and athletics focuses on practical lessons as opposed to classroom time, even during the cold seasons. Agnhis Gamdotter heads this school, an imposing, no-nonsense northlander who deals in hard lessons with little sympathy for people who do not put in their potential.

The gated in yard is entered through a small building housing two modest classrooms that are mostly used for war history, tactics, and strategy classes. Within there are shooting ranges, a closed circuit track for foot and horse races, and a field for a northlander sports game known as drapskule.

School of Natural Sciences

The School of Natural Sciences is nestled in the southwest corner of the campus. The school itself is a minimal structure, with a few small classrooms and a greenhouse. Outside of the structure, there are small pavilions that are frequently used for lectures for much of the hands-on work, including fishing, tracking, hunting, botany, and agriculture.

The School of Natural Sciences is headed by Wynne Sihde, a Half-Shei woman who is one of the more popular faculty members. Students are also frequently working alongside members of the chapel and school of magic to learn theology, or the school of war and athletics to study marksmanship and horsemanship, and promising students of veterinary sciences might even be enlisted to assist in caring for sick or injured animals.

Chapel

The Academy Chapel is maintained by Minister Gileon Wheyt of Kithanis’ faithful. Though a follower of Knowledge, the chapel itself is mostly non denominational, focused on informing over converting. As such, students can take classes on many of Imarel’s canonized faiths, though education on cabals, cults, and choruses not officially affiliated with their respective churches is minimal, as are studies of Xosian gods except as studies of how they are represented in the greater mythology of the pantheon. Inside this building is also the nurse’s station.

The Twin Libraries

The pride of the academy, the twin libraries face each other on opposite sides of the roadway in the southwest of the campus. The Old Library is a relic from the War of Eternals, surviving the bombardment of the former settlement in part because of the enchantments laid on the shei marble walls. Though long pillaged for nearly all of their tomes of magical significance, a number of historically significant pieces of literature survived, including a copy of acclaimed author and theoretical cosmologist Fin Lithuar's Musings. The New Library is a mirror image of the old library, though fresh and newly built.

The decision to keep the new and old libraries separate buildings was primarily an aesthetic choice, though incidentally serves a functional purpose - to keep the librarians apart. When hiring staff to man the library, the Headmaster chose to hire a mother/daughter pair to manage each of the buildings, with the elder Margot Potte managing the old library and Suse Potte heading the new. The pair of redhead hillswomen have an intense rivalry, each thinking their operation and content is superior to the other’s. This strongly contrasts with their personal relationship, which is actually quite close and affectionate.