Altruis College of Magic

The premier location for learning the magical arts in the human realms, and potentially the entire reality. Once considered a sub-section of the equally prestigious College of Altruis, in the mid 300s, it had outgrown the confines of its parent organisation and broke away, becoming independent. All elemental magic users in Altruis have passed through its doors, and its model of instilling blocks into young magic users which they then have to show aptitude and skill to have removed, has become the standard method for human magic.
For the last fifty years, its Chancellor has been Lucia Collegos of Parethra, Paramount Lava Elemental, and one of the most powerful magic users alive, but most of its day-to-day activities are managed by a bureaucracy and held in place by tradition.

Structure

The leader of the college is the Chancellor, expected to be one of, if not the most powerful magic user in Altruis, and across the various human nations. They technically hold absolute power over the goings on of the college, and can make decisions about the college and its conduct on a whim. In practice, centuries of tradition are hard to ignore, and whilst the chancellor as an individual might be powerful, other powerful members of the college together make an effective opposition.
The Chancellor is assisted by two vice-chancellors; the Vice-Chancellor of Teaching, responsible for management of the faculty and students, and the Vice-Chancellor of Magic, responsible for all matters not related to teaching. To help guide the Chancellor's decisions is the College Congregation, consisting of the teaching faculty of the College and any alumni of the College who ranks as Master or greater. The Congregation is largely responsible for handling disciplinary matters, the long term plan for the college, and votes on the promotion of magic users to the ranks of Grandmaster or Paramount. The leader of the Congregation, traditionally not a member of the faculty, is known as the Registrar, and is considered just underneath the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellors in terms of authority.
The college is divided into four major Houses, and eleven minor Houses, each one representing the elements that are possible through the combination of the Planes. A newly inducted magic user is assigned to the House of the elemental influence to which they are attuned. For base elements such as Earth, Water, Air and Fire, the Major Houses, there are always members, but for the rarer elements like Sand or Volcano, years might pass without a member, and such they will associate with one of the Major Houses that best describes their aspect. Some minor houses have not had a member in over two hundred years, but they are still represented in the College, their adminstrative and domestic tasks filled by non-magic users.
Not all 'members' of a house are involved in regular use of magic; some attended the college for long enough to learn control, and to have the blocks installed, and then returned to a mundane lifestyle. They retain the potential to cast elemental magic, but often have never had reason to. Additionally, a lot of members of a house live away from the capital, or even are foreign-born, and have returned to their nation of birth after graduation, and little, if nothing, to do with the House they are nominally associated with.

Major Houses

Earth

Head:
Current numbers: 32,657
Last Intake: Five years ago
Description: The most numerous of all the Houses, Earth also tends to attract those from minor houses who lack a lot of members.

Water

Head:
Current numbers:16,823
Last Intake: Nine years ago
Description: The buildings of the Water house also serve as Altruis' largest hospital, where elementals can practice their skills on the city's many unfortunates. The second most numerous of the houses.

Air

Head:
Current numbers:9,759
Last Intake: Six years ago
Description: The buildings of the Air house are also the central hub for the Air magic enabled communications hub in Altruis.

Fire

Head:
Current numbers:2,737
Last Intake: Forty-six years ago
Description: Smallest of the Major houses, and smaller than even some 'minor' houses. Many elementals with strong fire influences are enlisted into the armed forces, and as such the Fire house has close connections with the military, with training grounds and such like.

Minor Houses

Mud

Current numbers: 8,780
Last Intake: Fourteen years ago
Major House Affiliations: Earth and Water

Dust

Current numbers:6,102
Last Intake: Forty-one years ago
Major House Affiliations: Earth and Air

Lava

Current numbers:7,131
Last Intake: Two years ago
Major House Affiliations: Earth and Fire

Storm

Current numbers:2,880
Last Intake: Thirty-four years ago
Major House Affiliations: Water and Air

Steam

Current numbers:3,189
Last Intake: Twenty-four years ago
Major House Affiliations: Water and Fire

Smoke

Current numbers:3,669
Last Intake: Thirteen years ago
Major House Affiliations: Fire and Air

Sand

Current numbers:None
Last Intake: 104 years ago
Major House Affiliations: Air, Earth and Water

Volcano

Current numbers: None
Last Intake: 167 years ago
Major House Affiliations: Fire, Air and Earth

Clay

Current numbers: None
Last Intake: 134 years ago
Major House Affiliations: Fire, Earth and Water

Lightning

Current numbers: None
Last Intake: 244 years ago
Major House Affiliations: Fire, Air and Water

Public Agenda

The offical aims of the College are to further the knowledge of magic and how it relates to humanity, and to control, teach and manage the use of magic across Altruis and beyond. Within Altruis and its allied states, it has almost unfettered authority over magic, those who can use it, and its usage. It is responsible for the binding and control of the magic of youngsters, preventing uncontrolled outbreaks and ensuring that only those with appropriate training and mindsets are allowed access to the most powerful levels of magic.
Almost all other human nations, where magic is not forbidden, they either allow the College to conduct their practices (usually with supervision), or the nation has a very similar method in place. Human nations that allow the unfettered emergence of magic tend to not to exist coherently for long, descending into magical anarchy and chaos.
It is the College of Magic that has kept humanity at the forefront of magic and technology, rivalled only by a few other species, most of whom have had access to magic for far longer, or enjoy natural advantages regarding its use. Some see the College as unecessarily interfering, and its practice of blocking magic for those it deems 'incapable' of using it correctly has often been accused of being a way to keep the magical ability of the commoners supressed. Indeed, the number of graduates from middle and upper income background is far greater than the poorest, even though there is proportionally just as many from less advantaged upbringings.

Through Power, Knowledge

Founding Date

345

Type

Education, Magic

Leader

Lucia

Leader Title

Chancellor of the College of Magic

Location

Altruis

Notable Members

• Lucia

Related Species

• Human

Related Ethnicities

• Altrusian