Arcane Loch Academy, Session 1.

Foreword: I (Alain Dubois) am writing this report at the end of the first school day of the new year. During the day, I took shorthand notes as well as took up Headmaster Thorbjorn Fredrikson's offer to teach me a novel spell, Wystongiir's Memory Crystal. It allows one to store perfect copies of their memories in a black crystal for later reflection. As such, I am able to quote the Headmaster nearly exactly. He has informed me that a friend of his is in fact the creator of this spell sometime in late FAE, and i plan on transcribing the spell for our archives, with the headmaster's blessing.

1st of Eztar, Moonday, 12 SAE

Class today began at exactly 8 AM, consisting of 32 students. They are mostly what is to be expected of the Arcane Loch Academy (ALH), consisting of scouted magically talented individuals offered a chance to improve their magical talents from within Windari and Kalzarum borders. In addition to the 28 native students, there are 3 "second chance" students from Luraid's Academy for the Magically Gifted, and 1 student that has traveled from Goldscape.
The classroom has been structured in a way similar to Luraid's academy (likely due to the headmaster being an alumni of our academy), in which a small stage with a raised podium overlooks the whole of the room, allowing the teacher to easily see each student and any spells they may be practicing. The room has been arranged as a large collection of tables at which 2-4 students stand. In front of each student is an identical book (which I later found to be new copies of a 25-page collection of poems), as well as a collection of magical components pooled in the center of each table, which are as follows;

• 10 grams of wheat flour
• 1 small piece of coal
• A ruby worth 1 gold piece
• 15 grams of firewood ash
• a silver bell worth 5 silver pieces
• a canine of a wolf
• 9 sticks of incense
• a pebble from a brook

Headmaster Fredrikson began to address the group as such;
"Welcome first years to the Arcane Loch Academy. I know many of you have traveled far, and are nervous to be here. I'm sure that spending your first night in a strange bed meant many of you didn't get a proper night's sleep. Luckily for us, this means we can set a low benchmark for your magical capabilities that can be surpassed as your years here go on. I will not be your normal teacher, but seeing as I am headmaster, I believe it's important I meet and understand every student who passes through the front gates. I encourage each of you to come to me, or any other teacher here with any questions or concerns you may have. Knowledge is the single most important thing one can have when it comes to the arcane. There are no off-limit questions, only off-limit answers, so you may as well ask.
Since many of you are of many different skill levels, I think it is important that all involved understand what levels of power we are dealing with. I'll avoid lecturing you in length, and i promise we will get to practicals in a moment, but i've found this analogy can help you understand why some of you may seem more "gifted" than others, but given time and effort, you shall be able to match any other individual performance today.
Imagine you are tasked with getting enough water from a roaring river to make bread. Some of you are given a bucket, others a canteen, and some are told to simply "figure it out." So, you make your way to the river's edge and dunk your hands, or bucket or cup into the river. For some of you, the river is stronger than expected, and the bucket is dragged away. For others, you will trip into the river and drag yourself out, freezing cold, 30 feet away. Some of you may flinch at how cold the water is, and barely grab any, not nearly enough for bread. Others will brazenly walk in, waist-deep, and manage to walk back out proudly with a full container. You return and give whatever water you can, from your soaked clothes, or cupped hands or bucket to the baker. It may be too much water for bread, and you are told to dump it outside. It may not be enough water, and again, you must trek out to the river as many times as it takes to get enough.
Now, this story might seem odd, but now, imagine that river is magic, raw and unfiltered. In order to make bread, you have to retrieve enough water for the bread you wish to bake. In order to cast a spell, you need the right amount of raw magic to manifest it. Academically, we classify these spells by how much "water" they need. A "cantrip" as they are often called, only requires a hand to be dipped in the river, barely requiring effort or thought. A 1st level spell, required 2 hands to be put in the river. A 2nd level requires a cup, and so on. The so-called "gifted" students start with a bucket, but until they figure out that you only need a cup for bread, they are simply going to find themselves tired with wasted effort. Some of you are given nothing, and until you figure out where the cups are hidden, will have to spend more time to get the same results as others.
Arcane spellcasting, at it's core, is understanding how much power you need to make your spell function. Too much water, and you tire yourself out when you carry the bucket to the baker. Not enough water and you have to repeat the trip many times to get the same results. Now, not to get lost in the analogy even more, but it's not enough to get water to make bread, is it? No. You'll need yeast, flour, oil, and so on. You need to know how long to bake it, and how to tell when the bread is done. A long story short, you'll learn the recipe for bread as the year goes on, but for now, all you have to do is figure out how exactly to get water.
Any questions?"
There was a brief pause, before the Headmaster nodded and resumed, motioning to the tables in front of the students.
"In front of you is a book of poetry. I want each of you to try to in some way, change the book with magic. I want you to focus on it, and imagine in your mind the change you want to happen. Perhaps it bursts into flames, or the words inside of it change. Perhaps the cover changes from cow leather to feathers, or the words vanish. Even if you've never before in your life casted a spell, never once seen magic performed, i want you to try to focus on the book. Imagine you walk to the edge of the river, and carefully dunk your hands in. Imagine the air around you as water, and feel the arcane energy. If you are struggling, if you can feel nothing, no tingle in your fingers, or on your skin, no pressure behind your eyes or at the edges of your sense, please flip your book upside down and wait for further instruction."
Roughly 10 minutes passed and the Headmaster and myself observed the class. Many raised their hand out above the book, or held it in a hand. Some flipped through various pages, briefly examining the contents, and the more meek of the group, looked around at classmates for ideas on what to do. During this 10 minute trial, only 1 student was able to make a noticeable change in the book, shifting the red cover into a sloppy mixture of red and white. His colleagues were amazed, and it redoubled some efforts and caused other students to flip their books, title side down.
When the majority of the class had their books flipped down, the Headmaster again began to speak.
"A fantastic effort by all. Now, if you look towards the center of your tables, you'll see an odd mixture of items, all seemingly unconnected. If you felt no strange sensations, no strange power or energy in the air, i want you to try handling these objects as you do it again. I suggest you go through each item, holding them and again trying to picture the air as water, again trying to manifest or channel some of the arcane energy in this very room, and force your will onto the book. These objects, these components as they are called, help focus and direct your energy. Feel the texture of them in your hand, feel the temperature, the weight, and take a deep breath. Close your eyes if you must, and focus on your breathing. Then, when you feel something, anything, i want you to thrust your hand, palm open, towards the book and again, picture the change you wish to make. We will be doing this process until class is over today. If you have any questions, please raise your hand, it is likely another more shy student has that same question, and may help you and your classmates."
This process then continued for a little over an hour. Of the 32 students, 17 were able to manifest results, all of them requiring some type of component. While I have found this whole method of teaching interesting and would consider applying it to our own academy, It is important to note that one student turned his book into a flash fire that made the majority of the room quite smoky. While the Headmaster quickly doused the flame with a wave of his hand, and dismissed the smoke just as adeptly, he was only able to do so because of the small class size. Considering our academy has nearly 8 times the student body size, putting out 8 fires every class does not seem practical for our applications. It is my personal opinion that our academy continues with its curriculum of book study and theory for the first years.
That said, I did address the Headmaster after his class, and we spoke in his office. I naturally, was curious as to his unorthodox teaching method for what is normally very structured and straight forward school of study. I have transcribed myself as "AD" and Headmaster Fredrikson as "HF"

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AD: What inspired you to allow first years, with no study or practice, to attempt practical magic on the first day?
HF: As our student body is much smaller than that of the Luraid Academy, and our pool of resources much shallower, we often find ourselves with students not within the normal realm of "wizardry". More then once we've had a student arrive with innate magical skill, but as we trained them, discovered they instead had an aptitude for primal, druidic magic, or instead of drawing from the arcane sources around them, would draw magic from their bloodline or other, more outlandish sources. I think it is important for us to understand both the raw power they are dealing with, as well as it's origins. The students of Windari and Kalzarum have no other choice besides this school.
AD: What do you do with students incapable of traditional arcane spellcasting? At what point are they expected the ability to formulate and cast a cantrip, or proper spell?
HF: Once we have properly gauged both the source and level of power within a student, they are placed under one of two teachers. Those with magical talent that stems from bloodlines or outlier sources as I stated before, are suggested to specific locations outside of the Arcane Loch. We have a business relationship with a druidic circle near Skagen, and a noble house in Rosk that deals with divine spellcasters. Those that we find are in fact, traditionally teachable, are given to our Arcane Teacher, Professor Kiri, and those with sorcerer blood, musical casters, or other arcane innate-ness are given to Professor Radagain. Generally, Kiri's students are expected to have "mastered" 1 cantrip by the end of the year, which they choose from a list halfway through the year. As for the innate and flexible spellcasters, i refer to Radagain's skill and expertise. They are not the sort of students we often bring to a full term, but are students that we want to make sure are capable of controlling themselves in the real world. We don't want stablehands burning down barns just because they are bad at reading. *He laughs*
AD: How long are students in school, and how many graduate on average?
HF: Students are considered taught and capable after 8 years, unlike Luraid's traditional 6. During that time we also teach literacy, math, and history. As I'm sure you're aware, Windari doesn't have a public education system of any kind, and we've been trying to raise individuals who can go into the world to make important changes, for both us and other nations they interact with. Since our system clashes with "traditional" Windari values, and culturally we are a bit of a black sheep, of our average 25 new students a year, roughly 13 will graduate. It's a number we are attempting to raise, but many students have struggling families that require hands at home, or are otherwise influenced by their peers that magic isn't worth the effort. It's a cultural problem, and we are doing our best to combat it. Until I returned from my own graduation at Luraid, Arcane spellcasting was limited to maybe 3 or 5 individuals in the entire country, that number is now approaching the triple digits because of this school.
AD: I've been told your academy recently has had a decline in funding from the kingdom. How does the school function economically, and how does that funding affect or otherwise limit your ability to teach arcane spellcasting?
HF: King Sten has been having many struggles with outlawing of traditional raiding and has had to do a lot of political footwork. Luckily, due to donations from our graduates as well as friends I have made outside and within the kingdom itself, we have more then made up for that deficit.
AD: Thank you for your Time Headmaster, would there be any issue with me sitting in on one of Professor Kiri's lessons tomorrow?
HF: As long as you don't mind the occasional judgemental glare, I don't think that should be an issue. *He Laughs*

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The rest of my day included exploring the grounds, barracks, and talking with students from the later years. I'll be filling out another report tomorrow, but as it currently stands, I believe that the Arcane Loch Academy is functioning as best as it can currently, and has overall made positive progress since its opening near 20 years ago. As for the Headmasters request for a professor from the Luraid Academy to help fill the role of "Astrology, Cosmos, and the Divine" classes, I will have to spend at least another week here to give a verdict on if that would prove to be a worthwhile endeavor.