School of Theoretical and Practical Application of Colors

Mia entered through a gate. She was finally here, at the place she dreamed of for so long. The school where she would learn how to shape her ability to control the Yellow and Green Color. While she experimented a little on her own, she didn't want to harm anyone should she try to do something too complicated. Since her family didn't have much money, she had to study hard to even have the slightest chance of getting in here. After all, there would be many more people coming from different parts of the continent with the same goal as her. And yet, after all the hardships, days and nights of studying, and stressful exams, she got a response, a Letter of Admittance to STPAC - School of Application of Colors. When she got it, she was on cloud nine.
In the last few days, she visited the school's recruitment office multiple times. There was a lot of paperwork to be finished before she could even enter the school properly. But now, it was all finished, and so it was her first official day in the school, an opening ceremony, after which she, and other students who have some proficiency in Color magic would be shown around the building complex, they would have their dormitories assigned to them (at least those students who don't have money to rent out the private quarters), and they would get schedules for their introductory lessons. Those would be the lessons they'll have for the next month or two before they will be able to pick their own subjects or programs they'll want to study.

The ability to control Colors through Color magic is very dangerous, to a caster, to other people, and to the environment. Its improper usage brought many disasters throughout the Age of War.
STPAC (which the students often say by adding vowels between the letters, like Setopac, Sutapac, etc) is a building complex large enough to be considered a town, with the status of a city-state granted to it. It was formed by a Witch at the end of the Age of War, a gift to the people of Urnketh, where beginner casters could learn and practice their abilities under the supervision of both the specialists and Witches. As the Age of War ended, the school started taking in students from wider and wider areas, its influence soon encompassing most of the continent.

The building layout

While seemingly simple at first, especially to the first-year casters and non-magic students, for whom all the buildings required to study are placed quite close to each other, with every next year and new possible classes, the layout of the magic university becomes more and more complex. It is not uncommon for older students to serve as guides for the right price or sell maps with all the shortcuts and best routes to each class.
The main entrance to the grounds of the school is located on the eastern side. There are a few more entrances, but those are mostly used by staff and for deliveries of produce and materials. The whole complex is surrounded by two protective layers of wall, with various farms, fisheries, tree farms, and many other complexes meant to feed the school and grant it all the necessary building materials. Both the inside and the outside walls are covered with various defensive spells that would stop most of the attacks (maybe besides really concentrated ones coming from a hostile Coven of Witches. But if that ever came to be, the Witches who are members of the school's faculty would probably help with fighting them off.
All of the facilities related to non-magic sciences are located in the northern part of the school complex, while all the magic ones are located in the south. Both of them have their own hospital wards specializing in the ailments and injuries most common to each side. Just to the east of those facilities, there are dormitories, where students who don't want to pay astronomical amounts for their lodgings can live. Each dormitory has its own canteen, and each 4- to 6-person room has its own bathroom The students often plan around visiting the canteens that will have the best chefs or menu that day. The dormitories are surrounded by all kinds of shops, both the ones students would need and the ones the richer ones can spend their money on, taverns, and hotels, the last two where the richer students might rent their rooms. Many of those places as well as the ones between the protective walls and the ones within the faculty buildings hire students who would want to gain experience and get paid while doing so. Those of the students who got in through entrance exams almost always have to find some kind of work fairly quickly if they want to stay in school for any longer period. After all, school materials, additional courses, food, and clothes, all have a cost.
The learning facilities are separated by an enormous courtyard, with gardens and parks, that leads to the western side of the complex, where all of the offices, teachers' homes, and their private chambers are located. The headmistress has her own manor, the westernmost building, almost touching the mountainside. While it belongs to her, it is said that the Doubled Witch and another person lives there, with many other Witches often visiting, both the ones working as school faculty and the ones coming from the outside.

Geography

Most of the school's building complex was already built on a fairly flat but sloped down towards the east terrain. In places where the natural unevenness of the terrain would be an obstacle in expanding the buildings, the terrain was flattened, mostly using magic. Just to the west of the school, there is an almost vertical slope of the mountain. There is a river that passes through the school's grounds, from the northwest side of it, towards the southeast. It separates the offices and teachers' living area from the rest of the school complex so multiple bridges were built to connect those two parts. Between the protective walls, the closer it is to the mountainside, the more trees grow there, creating natural, dense forests.

Number of Colors and student ranks

Depending on the number of Colors a student can manipulate, many additional possible classes might be accessible to them. Additionally, the students capable of using three or four Colors at once might be eligible for special stipends, better accommodations, and additional training that will help them control varying numbers of Colors and will be observed by both the Witch teachers and Witch department in case they might go through a Witch transformation.
On the other hand, while STPAC is adjusted towards teaching the manipulation of Colors, as the number of nobles wanting to send their children to the school grew, even the ones who can't use Color Magic at all, the school had to adapt towards them too. Especially since most of the funding for the school comes from those noble families. And so, at first the school created facilities teaching the basics of Color Magic. But when a lot of the noble students didn't want to learn it, and their money was still welcome, additional facilities and even more teachers had to be employed.
And so, a school that at first was only for those capable of using magic now teaches most of the subjects, such as social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, formal sciences, arts, many trades, and even athletics (both magic-enhanced and traditional), everything theoretical and practical. From its humble and narrow beginnings, it became the most famous and prestigious educational institution in the whole world.

The Witch department

The school has its own department related entirely to studying the Witches. It was created to create and spread the propaganda about Witches gather and verify all the information on the Witches that is currently known around the continent. The Witches themselves don't join the STPAC, relying on their own understanding of their powers instead of being taught them by someone else. The only exception happens when one of the students already in the school becomes a Witch. They can then continue their studies, however, they will be transferred under the care of one of the other Witches working in the school.

School council

The school is ruled by a council with the Headmistress at its head. Each of the departments of the school has its own representative in the council, each changed only when their predecessor decided to step down or whenever the rest of the council decided they were unfit to continue their role.

Alternative Name(s)

Color School, Magic university

Location under

Urnketh

Characters in Location

• Lena and Tanya, the Doubled Witch

Penal department

With the number of students, the school also has its own penal department that seeks out any rule-breakers and students behaving in a way unfit to represent the school. The smaller rule-breaking will often finish with a warning but if a student really messes something up or endangers other students, they are brought before the court that will decide their punishment. The punishments vary a lot, from public apologies, and fines, to being banned from specific departments, courses, events, or facilities, corporal punishment, expulsion, and in cases of real crimes, incarceration

The unwritten rivalry

As one could expect for the school that was at first created mostly to house the potential Color casters, there are some disagreements between students who can use magic and had to go through various trials and exams and the ones who are here to study only non-magical subjects and are students only thanks to their money. The first ones consider the rich kids privileged snobs, too lazy to even pick up the simplest Color Magic, while the rich kids don't want to have to deal with the poor kids and the ones who stand in their defense. It is a common occurrence to hear about fights, pranks, and schemes the two groups launch against each other. Still, the most important unwritten rule of this unwritten rivalry is to do everything just discreetly enough that one won't be punished by the penal department. The rich kids who actually want to learn Color Magic are usually excluded from being "victims" of those pranks, especially since a lot of the casters are still nobles, but once in a while, someone who hates all the nobles will take things too far. Not that the rich kids stray away from using all of their parents' money and influence to get rid of the other students that they don't like.

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A weird professor

One day, when she was walking back to her dormitory after her classes, Mia noticed one of the professors behaving in a weird way. It was the professor of the History of Colors, Professor Ellis, pacing around the courtyard, counting his steps, as he created some unusual patterns known only to him. At some point, he even went straight through a flower bed. Mia heard some things about him. He was the newest addition to the school's faculty after the old teacher, Professor Haggard, who taught History of Colors got too old to continue teaching. Compared to the old one, this man was fairly young, in the middle of his 20s, judging by his appearance. He had long, light blond hair made into a thick braid that stuck out from underneath his blue, pointed, and wide-brimmed hat. He also had a short cape of the same color, which he wore over his white shirt and black pants. And yet, the most interesting thing about him was his eyes. Completely Gray, both his irises, the white of his eyes, and the skin around them. He had Gray spots. Apparently, while not painful in any way, that stopped him from ever being able to use Blue, if he even ever could.
Mia was so focused on recollecting what she knew about the teacher, that she didn't notice when Professor Ellis stopped doing his weird measurements and instead started observing her looking at him. When she finally noticed, she almost jumped. But the professor just waved towards her and went in the direction of his private chambers, though it looked like he still counted something, this time using his fingers.