W is for Wizards of the Arcanum

Still flying by the seat of my pants for these last few days, but I am determined to finish. Today, we’re looking at the citadel on the east side of Rusheniya that houses the Arcanum, a magic college and storehouse of information mundane and magical.

The first version of the Arcanum was founded 800 years ago, when explorers from the north discovered the ruined city and its mysterious green stone structures. The wizards who came with quickly invited others to research the area and the material they dubbed fellstone. A village sprouted in the area to support the wizards, and as trade with the dwarves to the east flourished, so did the village. Eventually, as fellstone proved impervious to research, the wizards realized that there was a need for a college (away from the big metropolitan areas in the north), and they moved into and rehabbed the ruined citadel. For almost the last 500 years, the Arcanum has been the foremost institution for training arcane spellcasters.

^{Photo by Ahmet Polat: https://www.pexels.com/photo/metal-ladder-in-a-old-brick-walled-library-17082022/}

Of course, institutions that last this long develop their own bureaucracy, and the Arcanum is no exception. The place is run by a council of Masters, with the Master of Scholarship leading the Council. The other Masters include History, Antiquities, and Artifice, as well as a Master for each of the schools of magic, a Master Librarian, and a Master of Apprentices. Each Master has at least a dozen Adepts to assist them, and each Adept supervises researchers and lecturers. The Masters of History and Antiquities are in charge of stories and ancient items, respectively, and often clash over items or information that both want control of. No one remembers why there are two Masters overseeing these areas, but neither is willing to cede power to the other. The Master of Artifice oversees construction of magic items. The Master of Apprentices oversees those formally enrolled in the Arcanum, even though each apprentice is also under the supervision of a Master of one of the Schools. Anyone with some arcane talent is welcome to study or do research at the Arcanum, for a fee of course. Additionally, outside researchers must navigate the web of bureaucracy that exists among the Masters and among the assistants and procedures of the Master Librarian.

The study of fellstone is lost in obscurity at this point, in part because the material seemed impervious to research and experiments, but also because several Masters claim control over different aspects of the research. Some have viewed it as a magical item, putting under the purview of the Master of Artifice; others see it as a historical item, so the Masters of History and Antiquities have squabbled over it from time to time; and the Master Librarian has much of the written research that was undertaken locked away in the stacks. Every few decades, a young researcher decides to undertake the vast job of collecting the work into one compilation, but fails to get the support of all the Masters. The result is that there are a number of conflicting and disparate collections of fellstone information in different parts of the Arcanum.

^{Photo by Julia Volk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/arched-passage-in-ancient-palace-with-shabby-walls-5272995/}

The Arcanum itself is a maze of interconnected buildings, cellars, towers, and workshops. Just as the Masters have argued about the magical territory under their supervision, so to the physical space and architecture have been created and modified by the whims of those arguments. The result is that there are hidden rooms, cellars under cellars, winding halls and stairways, and long-forgotten nooks and closets.