You recently graduated the Academy and were invited to join the staff as junior faculty. You owe your appointment to Lady Renn, who mentored you through your Alchemy studies and who lobbied for another Alchemy instructor. And Ferran Gylin who was seeking (and is still seeking) mages to power his Circle.

You and your wife, Amanda, have only just finished moving in to your new residence. The Chancellor has graciously allowed Amanda to look through the empty apartments and pick out any furniture you might want. He has instructed the servants to make any exchanges she desires.

You already know all the Faculty, most of the servants and guards and even a few of the older students. Amanda will need to be introduced as circumstances permit.

You will be involved primarily in the Alchemy Hall at least three days a week and you will be in the Enchantment areas the rest of the time.

After moving in our things, we give the bed a quick 'stability test' and I ask 'Would you like to join me for lunch my dear? You really should meet everyone.'

Amanda smiles and agrees. "You have told me so much about your days here as a student, I feel like I know everyone already." She will quickly get ready.

Amanda takes you by the arm and allows you to lead her to the dining hall. She is looking all about, gazing at the ancient halls and carvings with interest Asking what is behind each door, what that building is, what is done in there.... When you reach the dining hall and enter, the other faculty stand and clap as you come in. The Chancellor will come forward and take Amanda from you, "Please Karl, allow me to do the honors."

'Of course sir. Amanda, this is chancelor Soren, the esteemed leader of this acadamy.' He hands Amanda's arm to the chancelor with a wink to Amanda.

The Chancellor will walk Amanda around the table, making introductions to each faculty member. The male staffe will rise and give her a slight bow, as custom dictates, while the female staff will remained seated. After the introductions the Chancellor will escort Amanda to her seat and help her get seated. You are left to your own devices. While the Chancellor and Amanda are going through the formal ritual, Lady Renn says to you, "Karl, I'm delighted that we will be working together again."

Once everyone is settled the meal is served. It seems odd to you not to be sitting across the room with the other students, but it soon passes. The meal time disscussion is usually technical in nature, but today the faculty were making an effort to not become lost in shop talk. You realise that this is for Amanda's benefit, so that she would not feel too lost during her first day.

Still, the compulsion to turn to technical matters proved overwhelming in the end. It was, inevitably, Ferran Gylin, the Master Enchanter, who brought the disscussion around. "Andrid," He addressed the Chancellor. "Now that Karl is with us, perhaps we can devote some resources to that project we were discussing last week."

Soren sighed like a man coming to grips with an irresistable force. "Please Ferran, not just this moment. Karl hasn't even seen his schedule yet and you want to chivy him all over the Velitrium scaring up Mitra knows what. Well talk about it in a few days."

Ferran opened his mouth to protest and suddenly flinched, as tho in pain and shut it. You realised that either Lady Renn or Lyra Mothren, who sat on either side of Gylin, had kicked him in the shins.

"Which reminds me, when will I be getting my class schedule? And when I am called up to work on projects, how much notice will I be getting? I'd hate for Amanda and I to be caught in an, indelicate moment."

That brings a laugh to the table and makes Amanda blush. The Chancellor laughs, "Meet me in my office around two, we'll go over your schedule then."

The rest of the meal passes quickly. You don't really learn anything new or of interest, in many ways the world of the Academy is timeless. The problems and issues they talk about are the same types that affected the last bunch of students, and the ones before that.......

As the meal comes to an end the servants come to clear the table. Everyone is getting up and the Chancellor says, "Karl, I'll see you in about an hour Good day Amanda." He bows slightly and leaves. The other faculty also say their farewells and head off to their duties. You have an hour to kill.

Karl walks up to Amanda 'I hope I didn't embarass you too much, I didn't mean to.' And kisses her cheek. 'Perhaps you would like to see the rest of the campus, or at least the areas you can go to.' He grimaces a little at this last, uncomfortable with the fact that Amanda does not have as free a run of the place as he does.

Amanda laughs a little, "No, it was ok. And yes I would." The two of you set out for a more detailed tour. Amanda particularly likes the little courtyards and gardens. Some of them, especially those near the Hall of Enchantment and Alchemy, are gated off. You know that this is so someone doesn't wander into the area of Enchantment at a critical point in the casting and cause the spell to fail, or worse, backfire with dangerous consequences. The area around the Hall of Alchemy is also a safety zone, it is not unheard of for windows to blow out and even parts of the walls to collapse from a

Sometimes spell castings are done outside, in which case the approaches to the area in use will be cordoned off. But most of the time the gardens and courtyards are open to all.

After about forty minutes walking in the garden with Amanda, Karl will give her a kiss 'I'm sorry, I need to go see the chancelor now. He has asked if you would rather find work on campus or not, what should I tell him, or would you prefer to have mor etime to think about it?'

You arrive at the Chancellor's office right on time. He welcomes you and invites you to sit. "Well Karl, I'm sure your anxious to get started." He says

Karl smiles as he sits. 'Yes, and curious about a few things. Such as that project Professor Gylan, Ferran, referred to. I'm also curious about ways I can help the university outside of simply instructing, and what studies might be of greatest benefit to the overall game plan. But I am getting ahead, we should probably start with the class schedule.'

(Note: Instruction at the Academy is less 'classroom' than individual mentoring. There are organised demonstrations where most, or all, students attend. But usually an instructor will have two to four students, all about the same level of competence, whom they will work with until the students have reached a level of skill to allow them to be passed on to the next instructor and more advanced studies.)

Soren nods and says, "First things first, Karl. I am giving you three novices to start off. They have only just arrived and gotten unpacked a day before you got here. They seem bright and talented, but I want your assesment. Start them off with the basics, Thautamology and the ground rules for Alchemy.

Keep them out of Gylan's way in the Enchantment Chambers, you know he can be an Ogre when the Novices trip something up.... I'm sure you remember the drill from when you were a novice, nothing has changed. Ride them hard, push them to meet or exceed the goals you set for them." He smiled, "And don't forget, one of the perks of students is you can give them all kinds of dirty, nasty little chores to do. Remember, if they like you then your not doing your job properly." He held up a hand to forestall any argument. "I know, I know... It dosen't seem fair or right, but trust me it works. By putting them under seemingly impossible pressure it actually helps them strengthen and discipline their raw

talent. The drive to succeede and accomplish, via magery, what they otherwise have to do through drudgery, speeds the developement enormously." He grinned, "You see, there was a reason for all those months of Hell I put you through so many years ago." One thing you will need to keep in mind. Towards the end of their time with you, nine months to a year from now, their talent will be stronger and their resentment high. At that point they don't always have full control of their abilities, tho some do, and it happens that backfires and mishaps are unconsciously directed at you. So stay sharp."

"If you have any discipline problems, and you will, either handle them yourself, as you see fit, or send them to see Lyra, if you don't have the stomach for administering a sound whipping."

He hands you a sheath of papers. "Here is some information on your students, as well as the open times for the Alchemy labs and casting rooms. Set up your schedule around the availability of facilities, not your pupil's convenience. Don't hesitate to drag their asses out of bed in the wee hours and make them practice. When they leave here as mages they won't always have the luxury of decent working hours. Learning to focus while half fogged with sleep is an important skill."

"As for what Gylan wants... Well, as you may be aware, the junior member of the faculty, thats you by the way, gets stuck with a lot of the travel jobs and handling the locating of rare materials and all that rot. Ferran has a couple items that he simply must have, but we've been too shorthanded to send anyone. Once you've got your students settled into a routine, we'll sit down and discuss it, say in two weeks. Until then don't worry about it. Just concentrate on the tasks at hand. Your students are all in the 'Gryphon Tower' I've told them to be in their chambers from two till supper, so you can drop in on them at your convenience."

He glances at a paper in front of him. "One novice is a boy, named Ferral Druhn, age 14 from Glenluce. He was reccomended by a Priest at the Cathederal. He seems very bright, but so far has shown only middling strength

Then there is Veran Mijhal, also a boy, age 13. From County Aurantas. He was referred by a fellow practitioner of my acquaintance. His potential power seems very strong.

The last one is a girl, named Kyla Ardeen, from Velitrium. She is by far the smartest and probably the most talented of the three. She was referred by another Priest. Any questions?"

"Do I get copies of their papers? Oh, and how old is Miss Ardeen? Also is there any central repository where I can determine the availability of facilities, or do I need to check at a given facility? Oh, and when I do go traveling, should my students stay here or come with me, or is that at my discression?"

The sheaf of papers he handed you is for you to keep. This is not a paper heavy society, so you will have a copy of the students general info, most of which I have already told you, but also family names, date of birth, etc. There is an outline, prepared by the Chancellor, of the basic skills they should have when you are done with them, and a list of days and times that you will absolutely NOT be able to access certain areas of the Enchantment Hall and Alchemy Labs. Beyond that you must arrange your schedule with the Master Alchemist and Master Enchanter. As for traveling with the students, its entirely up to you. Kyla Ardeen is 14 years old.

Nod absently. "Thank you, I will get started on this immediately. " Look over the skills they need to develop, and head towards the library to compile a reading list for each of the three. Are they all learning both alchemy and enchanting/thaumaturgy?

Yes, initially they are studying just Thaumatology to learn the theory behind what they are going to do and basic Alchemy which is more hands on. Learning to identify substances that they will use in a daily basis. (Not magical substances, but things like salt, sulpher...... Ingredients)

The Librarian will be able to give you a recommended reading list, or you can dig out your own notes from those days and use them as an outline.

When you get to the library you find it open, as you expected, and manned by one of the senior students. The Master Librarian is off in the 'stacks' doing something or other.

I'll get the recomended reading list to begin with, and pick a book for each student from that list, (Thaumaturgy for Vylan and Kyla, alchemy for Ferral). Take these and a more advanced alchemy book for my own reading (I'm assuming books can be removed from the library, otherwise I'll just get titles and pick one for my own reading later), and start by visiting Ferral.

Faculty may remove books, students must use them in the Library. They are permitted, actually encouraged, to copy as much as they can. It helps them learn it and also results in more copies of books. The basic research sections of the Library are always open and their is always some one here to help find something. The stacks are only open when the Master Librarian is around. But a request for something may be left during off hours and it will be filled as quickly as possible.

(As an aside: Tho students are required to do their copying by hand, you know that there is some type of magical device, somewhere in the Library, that will copy pages, even whole books, word for word as a virtually exact duplicate. You have never seen the device, but you have seen the results, which are available for faculty and select scholars.)

The Gryphon Tower is on the far side of campus, you can actually see it across the way from the windows of your apartment. The front door is never locked. There is a central spiral stair case with a landing for each level. There are four levels, three apartments per level. A board at the base of the steps identifies which apartment is occupied by whom. The apartments are named after animals, a brass replica of which is on each door.

Karl leaves a request for the advanced alchemy book and then proceeds with a recomended reading list to the turtle apartment, and knocks on the door.

You hear a mumbled voice call irritably, "Wait a bloody moment..." Then, after a bit the door is pulled open by an owlish looking boy with dark, rumpled hair.

“Really. And I wonder who that might have been? Never mind that right now though, I thought before we got you started on your studies, I might learn a bit about you first. It says you were refered to us by a priest, and that you are quite bright. So lets start off with the easy questions, why do you want to learn magic?"

The boy looks puzzeled, as tho the question were incomprehensible (Like asking why do you want to be wealthy, powerful and famous. Next to being born noble, magic, if you have the talent, is the best way to rise in Velitrium.) "I seem to have the talent for it, sir. Why wouldn't I seek to use what Mitra has given me?"

"In short you have given it very little thought and are here because it is expected of you. That's what I feared. Very well, by tomorrow I want you to have read <name of alchemy text as far as you can. I'll be stopping by mid afternoon to discuss what you have already covered and possibly give you additional assignments depending on how well you have done. I also want you to think about what your goals are for what you expect to learn here, and be able to answer questions about this when I ask you tomorrow. You may proceed to the library now to start your reading."

You knock on the next door and it is answered by a tall, blond boy who regards you in an appraising fashion, then says, "Master Lingsted, I presume?"

"Indeed. I assume you are Veran Mijhal. Before we begin formal lessons, I'd like to ask you some background questions. I understand that you were recomended to the acadamy by a mage practitioner. Before you were recomended did you learn anything of the craft?"

He seems to think about it a moment, then says, "Master Rochyn is an old friend of my father. I have seen him perform sorcery many, many times, but he gave me no formal training."

"Did you ever try to duplicate any of the magic you saw him perform? Also, what sort of mage was he?" (unless the answer to the second is already in my paperwork)

"Master Rochyn was adamant that I should never attempt anything alone. He strongly reccomended that I come here and learn the craft properly, as he had.Master Rochyn never spoke as to the 'type' of mage he is."

The boy looks serious and thoughtful, then shakes his head. "No sir, I can't say that I have. I don't believe that I have the knowledge to make am informed choice."

"Very well. There is a book, <name of thaumaturgy book in the library, that I want you to start reading today. Tomorrow evening I will stop by to discuss what you have read. Don't be affraid to ask about anything you don't understand, but I will also have questions for you over the material. Keep track of how far you read, the first thing I'll ask is what page you have read to."