Strixhaven
Founded some 700 years ago by five spellcasting dragons, Strixhaven University is Arcavios's premier institution of magical learning, drawing promising young mages from all around the plane to study in its halls. Strixhaven is divided into five colleges, each with its own campus, faculty, and magical specialties. Each of the five colleges focuses on the clashing of two opposing forces of magic: Silverquill in radiance and shadow, Prismari in perfection and expression, Witherbloom in growth and decay, Lorehold in order and chaos, and Quandrix in substance and theory.
Anyone can Become a Mage
The fundamental work of Strixhaven University is the application of magic to academic study. It is a place that isn't exclusively for students with a magical background, or students interested in becoming a wizard, sorcerer, or some other kind of expert in magic. In fact, most students are planning other professions such as becoming a historian, an artist, an orator, a scientist, or some other interest—while using magic to enhance one’s studies. Anyone can become a mage at Strixhaven!
The university’s understanding of magic is expansive. However, students and faculty aren’t limited to magical topics alone; they pursue studies in every facet of existence—magical or otherwise—applying magic to whatever they study.
Magic is everywhere on campus. The campus culture encourages finding magical solutions to the most mundane problems, and if characters need access to a spell they can’t cast, they have a strong chance of finding someone who can cast it.
A United Cosmopolitan School
Strixhaven draws students and faculty from across the world and from other realms in the multiverse. The university’s students and faculty are united by a desire to learn and include humans, elves, dwarves, beastkin (such as owlin), orcs, trolls, vampires, and studious folk of many other origins.
To the faculty and students of Strixhaven, it is unremarkable to meet someone who hails from a far-off land, since almost everyone on campus is from somewhere else. Strixhaven has a place for anyone who is dedicated to magic-enhanced study.
Principals and Polarities
The colleges and curriculum at Strixhaven are organized around the idea of philosophical principles joined in concordant opposition. Each school embraces the paradoxical unity of two polar principles: life and death, order and chaos, reason and emotion, and so on. The five Founder Dragons are thought to embody the coexistence of these principles, while the ten deans of the colleges stand for the individual principles distinguished from their opposites.
A student’s course of learning at Strixhaven involves exploring the tension between these opposing principles, which typically involves late-night arguments in residence halls and study rooms. The university’s teaching philosophy is built on the idea that exploring opposites leads to an understanding of a greater whole. Most people believe that only a being with the wisdom (and long life) of the Founder Dragons or the archaics can truly master both halves of a school’s dichotomy, but a mage must learn at least the rudiments of those halves. A Strixhaven graduate is expected to leave the university prepared to argue the fundamental issues of their school’s philosophies.
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