Starfell University

Starfell university is the oldest and most prestigious universities for mages and sorcerers in all of Salia. First founded to teach the broader masses about magic, nowadays the school is quite selective about its students, only allowing nobles or those who have already proven themselves at magic.
Often referred to as the "Flying University" due to it literally flying. The school's fifth headmaster grew tired of having to pay transport costs for having goods delivered, therefore he cast a powerful spell lifting the university up into the air like a flying island. Nowadays the university floats around the skies of Salia, restocking its supplies wherever it happens to be located for the time being. Traveling to the university is done by griffin, supplies are usually brought up by tying a large bag to the feet of multiple griffins and sending them up towards the university. The university has quite a large griffin rookery, for all of its transport needs.

Student life

The everyday life of aspiring magic users is full of research and lectures, but even though free time might be hard to come by many students still regularly enjoy a pint down at the local pub. It is not uncommon having to take an extra year (or a few) due to excessive amounts of just having a good time, many students also choose to join one of the societies at the university.

Wizards

Oldest of all the societies are the Wizards, this elitist group only allow purebred aristocrats. They also have a reputation for being sexist due to them only accepting male students, the Wizards themselves claim the only reason for this is because traditionally the school was male only. The Wizards are traditionalists, and their main purpose is to discover long forgotten spells and to perform ancient wizardly rituals.

Witches

Heralds of new times. The Witches were created by women who disliked the elitist Wizard society. They only accept women and are known as new-thinkers. Often trying to find new ways of doing things, and criticising old-school teachers and professors.

Divines

Some students choose to focus on their studies, and for some the studies don't go far enough. The Divines are frequent visitors of the school library, often looking for more knowledge and sharing it with each other. Besides studying magic the divines have an internal debate club and poetry competitions.

Nocturnals

A pint at the pub is often more entertaining than hitting the books, and Starfell University at night is a very interesting place indeed. The Nocturnals enjoy throwing wild parties and take a great pride in being the tricksters of the school. If something has mysteriously disappeared only to appear at the other side of the university grounds, or if the Wizards junior students have been transformed into lizards overnight you can bet one of the Nocturnals are behind it.

Dusk

Not much is known about the mysterious Dusk society. Its members never tell anyone about their membership, and no one knows how to get in contact with them. They're mostly known for donating magical items to the university, and according to rumour some of the teachers are part of Dusk. There's a popular theory that Dusk recruits out of the other societies.

Purpose / Function

Starfell university is where licensed mages and sorcerers get their education. When applying to the university there are a mandatory three years of training before you get your mage exam and the right to bear a mages ring, after this you could choose to study for an additional two years for a sorcerer exam and the sorcerers ring. It is also the main location for magic related research.

Architecture

Almost all buildings at Starfell University are built out of some type of stone and are well known for the ivy growing all over its walls. An exception to this is the university pub, which is built out of timber. The main university building closely resembles a castle, the library is built in a similar style. Student dormitories are mostly large barracks built out of stone. Teachers live in small cottages built in whatever style they prefer.

History

Starfell University was founded year 827 as the School of Wizardry and had its roots in the original Wizards Brotherhood from 798. Its first buildings were located centrally in the city of Starfell, this location was chosen due to the city's large supply of Manastone.
The school was created to make magic less exclusive and teach the broader masses how to use it. In the first few years, the school didn't have any prerequisites for enrolling, there wasn't even a minimum age. This led to an overwhelming amount of students for the two wizards teaching at that time, and they were only able to teach the very basics. In year 833 the king visited the school in order to decide if there were any way to improve the teaching conditions. To make the school more efficient it was decided that the number of teachers was to increase to twelve, and in 846 the school decided to only allow noblemen aged sixteen or older. After three years of studies, one would have earned the title wizard.
In the 850s Salia experienced an economic boom, expanding its infrastructure and seeing an increase in the demand of magic users. The applications to the School of Wizardry increased rapidly, and in 863 the school moved to larger facilities outside Starfell. The School of Wizardry changed its name to Starfell University in 877 to differentiate itself from the much younger School of Sorcery and the Magic Academy. Almost 50 years later in 922, it was decided that women of noble blood would also be able to study magic at the university, and the title of wizard would be exchanged for the more modern term mage. 924 it was decided that the university would teach more advanced magic, now one could decide to study for two more voluntary years to earn the title of sorcerer.
Year 927 the headmaster Eric Warepond tried to find a solution to the ever-increasing amount of money the university had to pay in order to have magical items and other supplies delivered to them. To solve this problem he gathered all the teachers at the school, and together they cast an incredibly powerful spell that flung the entirety of the university grounds into the air. Unfortunately, the spell didn't grant them control over where the university flew, and it seems the university now has a mind of its own and simply travels wherever it wishes.

Alternative Names

The Flying University, the Floating University.

Type

University / Educational complex

Related Materials

• Manastone