In many large cities in the kingdom of Marland and elsewhere in the empire one can find an Academy – some of the cities have in fact evolved up around these buildings that shelter the brightest minds and dustiest books of the realm. They were originally founded to serve as the memory of the country, and still today their learned doctori bid each other farewell and announce both meetings and lectures ended with the words “never forget !“ , with the correct answer: “always remember”.
In practice the Academies are huge libraries, laboratories for new inventions and – maybe most importantly – centers of education. They are all administrated by a complicated hierarchy of praeceptori and doctori, but what the commoners mostly associate with the Academies are the magistri (or magisters for the common folk). These are learned men – and sometimes also women – who have fulfilled their studies in an Academy. They serve in many different positions and tasks. Some stay in their Academy as librarians or teachers or creativi (that means they “create new knowledge” by studying existing texts or through experiments), some leave the Academy walls behind them for ever. The latter form a valuable link between the Academies and the rest of the empire, as they found schools for the children of the nobility (and in rare occasions also for common people), serve as counselors for rulers, work as healers or architects or astrologists or engineers or alchemists an in many other high professions. They are highly appreciated and esteemed in Marland and most of them have a very high position in the society.
Academy titles are in many ways similar to noble titles. Pretending to a title not yet officially earned has severe consequences, starting by being banished from all (further) studies and ending at jail sentences. Once earned, a title is given for life. Even a mere discipulus may ask to be adressed as such in the outside world, no matter whether or not he manages to proceed to the next level. In effect, many failed students hide the fact that they have not managed to pass the exams by foregoing the title that is rightfully theirs, but others feel that even being a mere studiosus puts them above normal people.
The Academies are all relatively independent from both the emperor’s rule and each other. Thus they all have their own special fields and traditions, and also something of a ranking among themselves, but there is also much exchange and cooperation between Academies; both magistri and studiosi can travel far in their search of new knowledge not available in their own Academy. Some Academies are of course considered much more excellent than others, a trend that reinforces itself, since excellent academies have more money at their disposal than average ones. Still, the alumni of even the worst universities are highly appreciated as teachers and counsellors.
A typical student at an Academy is a younger son of a noble family that still isn’t rich enough to grant lands and fortunes and good marriages to all its heirs. But among these there are also boys from the schools of the doctori, journeymen and apprentices that the professional doctori have found skilful or talented, and also some older noblemen and –women or successful craftsmen who finally have the chance, time and fortunes to fulfill some old dream of educating themselves. The education is not free – the expenses can be paid by a rich family, but where there is none the candidate may work at the academy or for some creative to pay for their studies. This serves an underlying strive to, and ideal of, everybody having equal chances to education – but the truth is that the candidate that work besides their studies take much longer to fulfill them and are often looked down at by their rich fellows.
Both length and intensity of the studies vary much between Academies and candidates, but all in all roughly one sixth of them finishes their studies and gets the ring of a magister. The rings all bear the symbolic stone of the Academy – indeed every Academy is named after a different stone, such as the Emerald Academy of Shoretown or Garnet Academy of Middlewoods. The graduating ceremony is preceded by demanding exams and written theses, and all Academies guard and survey strictly the quality of their graduates. The new doctori give a symbolic vow of remembering and never forgetting their knowledge and of guarding, increasing and sharing it after their own best understanding. The formulation of the vow is old, but not as old as the academic institution itself. On the contrary, it was changed to its current form – which gives the greatest freedom to the new magistri concerning the use of the knowledge he has achieved – after a long dispute that threatened to split the Academies in two opposite schools some two hundred years ago. The original vow included many promises and assurances of almost religious nature about only serving the good, and posing hard obligations to the new magistri of always disposing oneself to the ones in need.
The magistri of today are mainly men all free to follow their own convictions and strivings in life. Still some remain that mean that knowledge is a precious treasure given to few but meant to gain all people, and these men and women sometimes serve this purpose as devotedly as monks of other countries, religions and philosophies serve the call of their deities and convictions. These magistri are often seen humbly wandering from town to town, helping the rich and poor alike where their skills are needed.
Despite all the freedom a magister enjoys outside the adademy walls these days, there is a strict ranking order kept up within. For every academy, there is one praeceptor, who represents "his" academy on all meetings, has the last word in personnel decisions and generalls rules like a small king. Most of the administrative staff and all senior creativi come from the ranks of the doctori. They are senior magistri who have proven their worth, usually by showing great prowess in their chosen field, but often also through an extensive network of contacts. The normal university staff consists of magistri who have chosen to stay instead of leaving into the wide world. Even among the students, the ranking order continues; the new students are called discipuli. They are the lowest of the low and have yet to prove that they are even worth educating. About half of them reach the next level, that of studiosi. From here on, they enjoy a greater freedom and may choose their field of studies or even change to another academy. Still, only a third of them pass the final exam.
The high price of education and the high rate of failure in the exams have not only led to the magistri being considered truly excellent and dedicated, but also to the existance of a shadow side of education. Almost all of the poor students are highly in debt when they leave the academy and are desperate for a way to turn what they have learned into money, and even some of the noble students who are thrown out are disowned by their families upon failure. These poor souls often make their way through life either as lower staff at the academies or as teachers for the low classes. They wander through the country exchaning a day's lesson in writing and calculating for a roof over their head and a few copper coins.
The magistri most often dress as their high rank in the society allows them to – there is no official academic dress code besides the ring with its stone inlay. As a magister seldom needs do physical work he can afford long coats trimmed with fur, with hanging sleeves and trains, highly decorated collars, long hair and beard, pointed shoes… practically anything that in the eyes of other people gives them the look of dignity and wisdom – not only richess and power, which often can be seen in the design and decoration of the dresses of the ruling class.
Academic ranks and professions:
praeceptor – the highes leader of the academy
doctor – senior magister of high rank
magister – a person who has fulfilled his/her studies at an academy
studiosus - An older student
discipulus – A new student, the lowest rank
creative – A magister or doctor that works for creating new knowledge; a researcher
besides creativi the magisters and doctors that stay at the academy can work as librarians, teachers or for example on the field of administration. Outside academy walls magistri work in a wide range of professions.