"Same difference", smiled Vashti, "Anyway, I've arranged for an entrance examination, and Vallo says he'll help with tuition if you can't manage it alone.""If he's that good, we'll find a way to pay." Nebo paused,
"Does he want to go?"
"I didn't ask", Vashti said as she opened the door and a crouching young man tumbled in ear-first, "I just sorta assumed." When he picked himself off the floor, Moreau joined the others' laughter.
--from the bio of Moreau Valois Perault
Ahh, the Inhedration of Initiates. One would think this was a great festival that occurred annually, or seasonally, rife with sober rituals and gay celebrants. Perhaps it used to be that way, a long time ago when novices were rare and the Collegium was smaller and less grand as it is now.
The Inhedration in these modern times of the 90's is much more business-like and efficient. Candidates for schooling under the aegis of the Biblioteca fall into two categories, outer students and inner students. Those applicants who are to be taught for the purposes of learning the basics of math, the philosophies, manners and basics of magic are shunted into a series of lecture halls which front the Biblioteca. There individual masters are allotted their shares of these students. These are the tuition-paying backbone of some of the teachers. They will learn much about the world, some about what magic is, a little about math, astronomy and manners, and also become versed in whichever philosophy is decanted by their lecturer. This is a curriculum that generates competent (well, educated) public officials, scribes, accountants, lords and ladies etc.... It can last as long or short as the tuition funds are paid. These outer students attend classes outdoors, in dusty garrets, largish back rooms in inns and guildhalls, the occasional field, and in some of the walled courtyards that flank the numerous inns and taverns which surround the Biblioteca proper. Everywhere, in fact, but the Biblioteca itself.
These students are known as Frasiers (from the ancient term for a lamb mesentery), essentially it is understood to mean outer or casing. Frasiers traditionally wear a style of neckerchief to indicate their status within the school: first year -- white, second year -- yellow, third year -- blue and black for the fourth year, although few students stay longer than 3 terms. There is no graduation of any sort, except for a party or small celebration for those departing to homes or positions with patrons, the royal service or whatever. Students are generally responsible for their own upkeep and attendance, albeit some houses and inns specialize for this trade by providing room and board for fixed rates. There are probably arrangements made between these establishments and various instructors. These agreements are regulated by the Biblioteca. For the purposes of Frasiers, there are quarterly gatherings of applicants, who must produce funds, literacy, some learning ability and a recommendation from alumni or someone of note to be eligible to enter. There are also a fixed amount of free board students, paid for by the Crown.
Of course that is the bulk of the students who gather at the Biblioteca. Perhaps 85 out of a hundred applicants are to be Frasiers. Of the remaining few however, there is a different world ahead. Those who have patrons to support the expensive tuitions for the College of Thaumaturgy (first year) are treated to an exhaustive series of tests which are conducted on the second Lunes of every month. The size of a month's intake can range from one to fifteen candidates.
The Trials are held in the Outer Bailey of the gardens that surround the Biblioteca. They change in nature, type, duration and style from month to month. Usually created by the Senior Mages of the Collegiums and proctored by senior assistants from the various collegiums, these trials are primarily intended to weed out untalented or unsuitable candidates.
Those applicants who show little or no aptitude are invited to take a place amongst the Frasiers if they like, or they can retest at the end of the second semester following -- if they are borderline cases. Some applicants who have failed the battery have gone on to other institutions and led successful careers as mages. The Trials also ferret out those who evince an aspected ability that suits them for a particular college, which is rare but not unheard of. It is often the case that aspected aspirants do better by concentrating their studies immediately rather than being plunged into the general studies curriculum.
Some of these test have dangerous, and even fatal complications. There are numerous stories which point to this series or that College's propensity for nasty surprises. Some Inhedrates die or suffer life-threatening injuries in the passage of their tests, but this is rare, and more often than not it is the fault of the candidate. Age or size is not a factor in these exams. Those applicants passing through the gauntlet with high or extremely high marks are usually marked by the senior proctors for the next phase of the process.
After the Trials, which can last from eight to twenty four hours, the now qualified candidates are brought together near the second Ward of the Biblioteca, which is an area where ranged and area spells are usually practiced and mentored. It is the last time these newly-minted first year fledglings will see everyone in their class together.
It is on the grassy sward of the second Ward that they are assigned to senior proctors and will meet with their first real Mages -- the Masters and Matrons of the Biblioteca, each attended by their senior students or Noumenons. Inhedrates are now Novices (or novaculites to any Noumenons -- a dense, even-textured silica-bearing rock used in whetstones) and will be housed, fed, clothed and tutored within the domain of the Biblioteca for the duration of their tenure. Each new student will be watched over and husbanded through the difficult, intensive and repetitive classes that will now take over their waking hours for the next eight to ten years of their lives. They will surrender any personal possessions, status or referents to their former lives and become adherents to the Biblioteca. They are given a necessary amount of protective magical items, a formal and informal primer, a school partner and a mentor. Familiars are not allowed until the fourth year or if they have passed the necessary qualifications for the College of Animal Magics.
Achievement within colleges is indicated by the accrual of spells and knowledges in that areas arcanum, with sigils being blazoned onto their mages caps as they progress. (Go here for more information on hats.) Students usually wear the hats when they are off premises, with more comfortable and informal wear being the norm. Class and study hours are whatever is dictated by the curriculum.
Inasmuch as there is an enormous amount of material necessary to cover the basic precepts of magic, the average student at the Biblioteca will spend upwards of eight years just to be proficient in the basic areas of several colleges, with specializations or broadening of his/her knowledge base adding even more time. Since an applicant can be any age at all, there is very little to separate students from faculty, and indeed the lower levels of magical studies are often taught by gifted or senior students who need the money for tuition or drinking or whatever. Some famous previous Masters have completed a basic course in as little as three years, while others are known to have studied a decade.
Those students possessing the necessary skills to negotiate the guards and wards that constantly protect the Biblioteca (those innocuous-looking hedge mazes) are allowed into the town proper. There they may behave as ordinary citizens (albeit citizens with some strange stains on them at times).This is actually one of the few benchmarks of competence for a student, as once they have successfully dominated the three Wards, they are now regarded as fit to be proctors for new novices, and therefore granted the title of Noumenon, or senior student.
There are very, very detailed rules about casual spellcasting but none against drinking or substance abuse, the cardinal requirement being that a student must be fit for lessons when they are taken. Duelling of any kind is absolutely forbidden to students, for the Masters take any crimes perpetrated against their wards very seriously. As a result Noumenons are quite unmolested as they range through the environs of the city of Landsrue.
Competition within the Biblioteca is constant. Those who excel in their classes or at a particular college will be sought after by Masters seeking to add a coterie of intelligent and motivated students to their current research pool and (in future) their array of mentored Journeyman or Masters. Often the alliances or rivalries the student creates will determine much of his future within the Biblioteca.
There is a type of ritual hazing that passes for blowing off steam amongst the seniors and the novices. The Masters turn a blind eye to most of it. There is one notable holiday enjoyed by all students where participating seniors are allowed 24 hours to create barriers (physical, mental, magical or otherwise) for the students to penetrate within the following eight hour period. This is known as Pillage Day, which generally describes what happens to the losers. Those who create successful traps are regarded with favor among their peer group.
The masters tend to concentrate on the accumulation of knowledge, research and seniority (some of them), teaching the dangerous or upper level skills when necessary. Students who wish to aspire to the status of master are invited to either undergo a further series of tests (which, considering the by now well-developed political atmosphere most academic institutions are beset with, can be a seriously dangerous challenge) or alternatively they can turn in their academic properties and magic items, assume the title of Journeyman Mage and leave with only the possessions they entered with, their spellbooks, hat and their familiar, if any. These journeyman may never return, or conversely they can appear with something new -- a new spell, a heretofore unresearched area of magic (or one sorely lacking at the Biblioteca) or a wonder. Said discovery to be defended before eight masters in a closed session. Or the Journeyman can merely take the Masters Examinations, perhaps this time in a not so hotly politicized environment.
Often there are disagreements or outright rivalries in the Biblioteca's somewhat homogenous organization. These usually fall into bickering or petty remarks at some of the larger functions, but more serious incidents have been known to happen. Masters are allowed to petition the Council of Mages for the right of satisfaction. This is usually an agreed-upon magical duel which occurs within the first Ward, within the Grand Ring of Containment (a scruffy-looking patch of worn stones with a true iron ring set into them -- it is about 40 feet across) at an agreed-upon time. All masters present at the Collegium and the palace are summoned -- any Grand Masters in the area are welcome. The conditions and spoils of the duel are set by the Council beforehand. Fatalities are rare, but the academic rancor of losing a formal duel in the presence of peers and grand masters is enough for some losers to take their own lives or leave the Biblioteca forever.
The Biblioteca produces a certain number of battle-trained Masters for the King of Landsrue, which can be called upon at need. In return the Biblioteca enjoys certain privileges in the city, among which are its own courts, some prime real estate (the Biblioteca occupies some of the most expensive land in the city) and a certain latitude granted towards the habits of the novices.
Each center for magical learning, the Biblioteca, Tellek, the Mages Quarter in Ramsgate and the numerous independents tend to put a stamp or style upon their alumni. Biblioteca alumni tend to cluster in some of the more aggressive disciplines, and it is known that knowledge, enchanting and illusion-based colleges are better taught elsewhere. Nonetheless, Biblioteca mages are known for precision and a methodical approach to spellcasting -- an approach that although staid ensures longevity for its adherents. Biblioteca alumni also tend to be more likely to cooperate amongst one another (than say Tellek Wanderers) when out in the world.
The Biblioteca is ruled by a council of Grand Masters. This number
is always at least three and never more than eight. Aside from the very
detailed written strictures regarding casual (unsupervised) spellcasting,
novice allotment and interdepartmental budget allocations, there are few
hard and fast rules for the novices. The ones that they will encounter are
deemed enough, and it is unusual for any serious novices to have enough
free time on their hands to create trouble.
Background adapted from the original by S. John Ross, creator of the Blue Room, and used with permission.