the first Academy

Nirash, the capital city of Ashar, is home to many beauties: the port, the hill-city, the maze-garden. Nothing, however, is as iconic as the Academy.
It started as a whim of the ruling council, a desire for prestige, when the saelí'tuk who visited described the Order of the Shadow: if the desert people could create something so magnificent in the middle of the sand-sea, then the Ashari should also build such an edifice of knowledge and power. So began the construction of the Academy, and even though it has since moved to its own area, and has grown in power and significance, the first Academy is one of the most famous landmarks in all of Ashar, and, subsequently, the Mainlands.
The first Academy is a building in the shape of a cross, with each of the sides symbolising a discipline that was taught: art, science, magic and history. Each of the four outer "cubes" is made of a different material (wood, stone, brick and a variety of onyx), and their vitro windows depict scenes and symbols from each discipline. The central part, which connects the four others, used to host the library, and all students had access to all knowledge (except the most practical aspects of magic, which were considered too dangerous for the untrained). Around the buildings are gardens, and, when the Academy still operated, grounds for physical training, since it had been made clear by the monks that the body needs as much training as the brain for a truly accomplished individual.
The first Academy became a symbol of progress, of unity and equality, since it accepted pupils from all backgrounds - even though the nobles tried their best to alter that situation. Soon it became so large and popular that a new Academy was built, a proper city outside Nirash, and the first Academy became a museum and one of the most famous landmarks of Eam'Rel.