The Lost Crown

The Temple Of Eperna

The next day Walliam met everyone at the academy.  Planchiko took him into a room high up in the Archon and he met brother Jeremy, who kept the records.  He was a very short man with brown hair and an ink-stained nose.  He was very matter-of-fact as he wrote down Walliam’s name and information on a piece of parchment.

Walliam had to sign the parchment and he was grateful in that moment for his mother insisting that he learn how to read and write.  Planchiko signed as the Magian who had verified that Walliam was to be admitted as a prospective Seeker of Knowledge.  As soon as they were finished brother Jeremy went back to his desk heaped with papers as though the two men in his office didn’t exist anymore.

They left master Jeremy’s office and went below.  Walliam was surprised that three of the Magians at the academy were women.  Dandrealla was tall and thin and had long, curling blond hair.  Her robe was a deep blue color.  Penelope was short and stout and had short black hair.  Her robe was deep gray in color.  Andromina was tall and thin, but had long, copper colored braids on either side of her head.  Her robe was a pale lilac color.  Walliam bowed to each of them as they were introduced.  

Master Olivier was thin and short but wiry.  He had short, curly black hair and his eyes twinkled with a hidden laughter when he smiled.  He moved with the grace of a panther.  One of the things he taught at the academy was fencing.  He looked Walliam up and down and nodded.  “Have you ever held a sword, brother Walliam?” he asked as he took Walliam’s hand.  He pulled Walliam’s hand towards him and held his arm in a firm grip.  Walliam felt that he had been measured to the tiniest degree and shook his head.

“Come to my chamber and let me test you with the blade.  We only have four who know the dance of the blade.  And you look as though you have the proper build.”

Master Trumble was an older man with gray hair and bushy eyebrows.  He taught charms and spells.  He was pleasant and shook Walliam’s hand absentmindedly.

Master Harknull, the astronomer, was an overweight man who looked like he was the same age as Walliam’s father.  He was taller than Walliam, or his father, and had a kindly face.  His nose was big and he took a moment to think before he answered any question.

Master Cambert, the librarian, was tall and solid and had sharp eyes, like a bird of prey.  He took Walliam’s hand in a firm grasp and stared into Walliam’s eyes for a brief instant, and Walliam felt as though his deepest secrets had all been revealed to the man.

Master Swyvern was not present in the Great Hall when Walliam met the rest of the Magians.  Planchiko told him that he would have to pick one of the Magian’s as his mentor, and he suggested that he should go with Andromina, since she was the one who was in charge of teaching Philosophy, and if he couldn’t make a doorway by the end of the first year he would need her approval to remain at the academy.  One didn’t need to be able to enter the hidden world to be a scholar of Philosophy.  

Planchiko didn’t mention to Walliam that technically Philosophy was not considered one of the Magianic arts.  Philosophers were not Magians.  Planchiko, and the other Magians who supported the Philosophers, were the faction in the academy who knew that their dwindling numbers would eventually lead to their demise, and this faction believed that their survival lay in numbers, and if they could get enough Philosophers in their academy they could keep the King willing to fund the academy.

The academy didn’t run like any of the other schools in the Kingdom.  There was no strict curriculum, other than the reading list, and there were no formal classes, as such.  The Magians who were instructors had set times during the week when they would meet with a group of students and discuss their studies.  Each student learned at their own pace, and concentrated on the areas where they displayed natural talents.