Education in Adrasil
The Kingsmen Academy
The Kingsmen Academy is a sacred place that many Kingsmen consider a second home. It is a guiding light when no king sits on the throne, and a center of purpose tying the Kingsmen to their calling as Knights and their commitment to a better world.
While many of the Kingsmen are from noble households, any child eleven or older that comes to the academy and passes the tests for entry is trained to become a Kingsmen.
Kingsmen students officially live in the academy from the age of their acceptance until they are sent into the world to their various postings. The newer students, pages, take courses in statecraft, martial fighting, and academic pursuits. Their instructors range from Senior Kingsmen, to seasoned diplomats from the King’s court, to Hearth-Guard warriors, and Sea Lord mariners. In short, they are trained by the brightest and wisest leaders from across the whole of Olaran.
Older students, squires, reside for many months of the year at the Academy, but are sent out frequently with Kingsmen knights to assist with their posting. Here, squires learn the day-to-day realities of the Kingsmen life… including their commitment to sacrifice. These older students narrow their area of focus to one of the four Kingsmen pillars: Strength, Mercy, Wisdom and Justice. Their commitment to one of the pillars doesn’t lessen their belief in the others, but instead allows them to lean into their areas of interest and giftings to better align them with their roles as future Kingsmen.
Students of Strength learn advanced battle formations, the use of siege engines, construction of fortifications and studies how the other factions of the Olar army fights and how to utilize them effectively on the battlefield. These students also study advanced martial arts and weaponry fighting and are trained in Hearthguard, Sealord, and Ranger hand-to-hand combat. As students of strength, they also commit themselves to discipline and knowing when to strike and when to hold back.
Students of Mercy learn diplomatic tactics and can specialize in a variety of technical skills including that of Science and Medicine through the use of Potions, Herbs, Blacksmithing, Surgery, Poison, and their Antidotes. These Kingsmen are known for their courtesy and kindness, while also displaying surpassing courage on the battlefield.
Students of Justice learn the philosophical, moral and legal implications of the law. Both practical and idealistic, these young Kingsmen seek a good and fair Olaran for all people - both common and noble alike.
Students of Wisdom - the smallest of the areas of study, Kingsmen who follow this path are more often than not philosophers bent on seeking what is good, right and true. One part diplomat, one part warrior, the students of Wisdom pour over the histories of Olaran while building close friendships with Kingsmen from other schools in order to help them understand how every virtue works together for a whole and healthy Olaran. They seek first to listen and understand, but never compromise on the values of their vows as Kingsmen.
The Academy serves as a home for one of the largest libraries in all of Adrasil and has a Map and Chart collection only surpassed by the one in Thirese.
The Nautical Academy in Thriese
Built high on the hill overlooking the Harbor of Thriese, the Nautical Academy of the Sea Lords is one of the oldest buildings in Thriese, or of all the Three Realms for that matter. It is believed that the building used to be the royal palace of the First King of Throi, though when a new fortress was built under the reign of his son, the older building was converted to house the maps and charts the sailors of Throi had already begun collecting.
Once the collection of charts, books, maps, and texts outgrew the space available in the building, a library was built nearby. As of YL 1123, it remained one of the largest in the known world. When the Sea Lords became part of the realm of Olaran under the rule of its first King Alirion, Barca Saelithend (second king of Throi, and the first First Sea Lord) decreed that a Nautical Academy be created in Thriese to train sailors and cartographers. The Nautical Academy soon grew in fame, and sailors from around the known world would come to study the arts of celestial navigation and cartography that were taught there.
The building is made of stone and has several domed roofs; the largest dome was converted in ancient times to house a magnificent telescope. Many of the other domes are painted to represent the night sky in various seasons. The main building is large and columned, with many beautiful arches and cloisters. Much of the more decorative aspects of the building were thought to have been added after the Nautical Academy was formed.
Also within the grounds of the Nautical Academy are a large hospital set aside for the use of the sailors in Throi’s fleet, and an orphanage set up for any lost or abandoned child that may need its refuge. From this orphanage has come many a great sailor or navigator, who have in turn helped supply it and keep it clean, beautiful, and well-stocked with exotic toys from far lands for the amusement and education of the children within. Attached to the academy is one of the largest temples in Thriese - and smoke rises constantly on its alters, particularly to those dedicated to the salt gods Thriese and Scytere, beloved of sailors.
Not far from the Nautical Academy lie the shipyards of Thriese, and much of the training of the skilled shipwrights of Throi takes place at the academy and in the shipyards themselves. The finest ships in the known world are designed and built in the shipyards of Thriese: they are as beautiful as they are swift. Many of the designs were brought from all over the world and researched by the librarians and shipwright-scholars of the academy.
Before the Sea Lords left Olaran in YL 1120, the Kingsmen Academy would send its members to study under the teachers of the Nautical Academy and the librarians in the great Library of Thriese. To this day, despite the war between the two realms, friendship still exists between many of the scholars of Olaran and Thriese.
In these days of strife, the Academy is more of a hive of activity than ever before: new ships are being built, new sailors trained, and the ships of the Sea Lords travel far and wide seeking allies and treasures to support their reborn kingdom.