[centre][h1]The Founding of the Omniversity[/h1][/centre] [colour=lightblue]”So… You all know why you’re here…”[/colour] The stink of alcohol permeated the room as Gibbou wobblingly wagged a wine glass from side to side in her hand, her feet propped up on a large, round table. Seated on each of the other three non-existent corners of the circle were Qael, Artifex and the Patron. Gibbou eyed them all decisively before lifting her glass into the air. [colour=lightblue]”We gotta build a school!”[/colour] Qael had no idea what was going on. He just got an invitation from Gibbou to meet up. Apparently Artifex was invited as well. As was some strange sibling he hadn’t had the time to meet yet. Unlike the laissez-faire attitude of his sister, Qael was sitting propped up on his chair, looking awkwardly around. Four of his six eyes lit up with various shimmering colors. He just hoped it wouldn’t be a waste of time. Well, then finally Gibbou laid the cards down on the table. [color=a187be]“A… school?”[/color] [colour=lightblue]”Da’s right!”[/colour] A burp. [colour=lightblue]”The people of Galbar are stupid, so we gotta educate them!”[/colour] She fisted the air and rose to her feet, one of which was still on the table. Her pose would’ve been impressive had it been a different pose, or no pose at all. [color=7070db]“Weeeeeeeeeell, she’s not [i]wrong[/i].”[/color] The Patron commented as she eyed Gibbou with amusement. She was slumped in her chair, arms stretched behind the backrest, paying attention but affecting the opposite as best anyone could. The olive-skinned woman had been, quite literally, pulled out her realm by the Goddess of the Moon and, while clearly as confused as Qael, seemed to prefer playing along over asking questions. To that end, she added, [color=7070db]“I want secret libraries, though. Maybe forbidden towers? Oh, and some of that wine. Dragging me here and not offering a glass? Pft, rude.”[/color] [colour=lightblue]”Oh, shizz, I’m sorry…”[/colour] slurred the moon goddess and snapped her fingers. A glass appeared before every god, filled to the very decadent brim with wine. [colour=lightblue]”... Also, who are you again?”[/colour] [color=7070db]“Hglprmmm?”[/color] The Patron managed while drinking the glass in one long swig. A pair of rivulets spilled from the sides of her mouth and ran down on her dress, which was fortunately made of what seemed to be [i]wind[/i]. Well, fortunately for her. A small spray of drops almost immediately bombarded everyone else around the table. She paused, carefully put the glass down, and answered while extending her arm and leaning over the table for a handshake, [color=7070db]“I’m me! A god, I think. Who are you? I didn’t drag myself here.”[/color] [colour=lightblue]”Good question…”[/colour] mumbled Gibbou faintly and didn’t shake the hand as much as she limply accepted it, her eyes staring into nothing. She quickly recovered, though, and smiled broadly at the god to her right. [colour=lightblue]”Arty! So nice you could, ‘scuse me - [i]hic![/i] - make it! How’re you?”[/colour] [color=lime]”I’m doing well, thank you for asking”[/color] the goblinoid shaped god replied while attempting to clean the Patron’s spray of wine from his garments with a handkerchief and failing rather spectacularly to do so. He frowned at the wine stains and then gave up [color=lime]”or I was. Till this one’s”[/color] he waved a hand in the direction of the mess making god [color=lime]”complete lack of table manners got in the way of my good mood.”[/color] The Patron, having lazily slumped back into her chair, lolled her head in Artifex’s direction and complained playfully, [color=7070db]“Hey! This is my first table. Did you just pop up knowing everything about tables? Mmm, I don’t know, tsk, seems unlikely to me.”[/color] The goblin raised a finger to object, seemed to think about it for a moment and then replied weakly [color=lime]”well. no. But in my defence at the time of my birth they did not exist,”[/color] before sighing, lifting and sipping at his wine with refined grace before attempting to get back the point [color=lime]”So. Gibbou. This school. Where is it going?”[/color] Gibbou conjured forth a map in the centre of the table. It showed the entire planet, bulging outwards to give a spherical sense. She lifted her finger and, face slammed down on the table, pointed in the middle of the Mydian Sea. [colour=lightblue]”Here!”[/colour] [color=lime]”Well it’s central. if a bit... out in the middle of the ocean?”[/color] Artifex said scepticaly before scratching his chin thoughtfully and then adding [color=lime]”hmmm, though that could be an interesting challenge,”[/color] before pulling out a piece of parchment upon which he began to sketch on while the others spoke. [color=7070db]“Could make it float,”[/color] The Patron noted as she carefully leaned over and grabbed Qael’s glass of wine, giving the God of Magic a little wink as she did. Now doing her best to sip at the liquid she went on, [color=7070db]“Or maybe a volcano? Might get a bit toasty though.”[/color] [color=lime]”Active volcanoes do not make for good foundations,”[/color] Artifex commented, [color=lime]”Floating could work. I believe Qael has already done something in that department?”[/color] the goblin looked up from his sketches and over at the god of magic for confirmation. The god of magic had honestly no intention to drink the strange liquid before him. Especially not considering what it seemed to do to Gibbou. Still, it felt incredibly rude of the strange goddess to just take his goblet. She could’ve asked! No, no Qael wouldn’t make a fuzz of it. [color=a187be]“On air… to be specific.”[/color] He quickly clarified. [color=a187be]“A small island floating in the air. Though I fear mortals have yet to discover any way to fly so I would not suggest it.”[/color] [colour=lightblue]”Wass about a normal island, then, y’know? Jussss…”[/colour] She pointed on the spot again, missing it by a few centimetres, and the map spawned a bump meant to be an island. [colour=lightblue]”Like that, y’know?”[/colour] [color=7070db]“Boooooooooooring,”[/color] The Patron droned, before pivoting to add, [color=7070db]“But maybe it could be underground? Have a portal lead to it, or a whirlpool? Or have a whirlpool be the portal to it. Could work for the floating island too. Oh, or-”[/color] She paused and stared at the empty bottom of her second glass, seemingly rethinking any further suggestions. [color=a187be]“Or an island.”[/color] Qael said in quite a passive aggressive fashion. [color=a187be]“A normal island would be a good place to start.”[/color] The region of Mydia was indeed uniquely suited for such a school. Toraan couldn’t seem to get its act together. Local warlords were fragmenting the land and nobody seemed to be capable or willing to unite everyone for longer than one needed to destroy their neighbors. Meanwhile the goddess before him, the one without a name, seemed oddly out of place within these negotiations. Unlike Artifex and himself, she seemed chaotic. Without structure or organization. She just spouted out her thoughts in a drunken haze. Qael’s remaining two eyes turned to look at Gibbou. Well, the stranger was not alone he supposed. Qael’Naath stood up in preparation of his case: [color=a187be]“Magic should be taught. Obviously. It’s the only knowledge worth knowing. Through it mortalkind will be able to observe and understand the world around it. I thus propose the school to be singly focused upon the arcane studies.”[/color] When he was done he once more sat down. After taking a refined sip from his own wine Artifex said that [color=lime]”I agree with the island. As, mmm, fun as this one’s ideas are, we do want people to be able to get to this school, and those of a scholarly disposition aren't always the most, ah, resilient to the trials of adventuring upon the waves.”[/color] In order to finalise the matter, the god reached into his jacket pocket anr retrieved a pebble, which he placed onto the spot Gibbou had pointed to, giving them a basis for their creation. [color=lime]”That said, I disagree that Magic is ’the only knowledge worth knowing.’”[/color] Artifex did not stand to make his argument and instead maintained a conversational tone [color=lime]”Do not get me wrong, those who master the art can weave wonders most sublime. But it is not the be all and end all of knowledge. You could argue it is the pinnacle if you so desire, but even the glossiest of shining spires need a solid foundation. It is technology with which societies are built, with tools and machines that can be used by the masses. There is overlap of course, magical artifacts blur the lines, but I do not think it wise to ignore the potential of the material world to focus only on the magical.”[/color] [colour=lightblue]”Hear, hear!”[/colour] praised Gibbou. [colour=lightblue]”Oughta have stuff for other people than magicians! Like, like temples to stuff - stuff like us!”[/colour] She fisted the air triumphantly. [colour=lightblue]”Dibs on making dorms!”[/colour] Well… maybe Artifex had a point. Some less magically inclined mortals could benefit from a less magical education. But the god of magic chose not to mix with those. It would seem that Artifex had plenty of his own ideas already. The god of magic was quick to brush aside the trivial ideas Gibbou brought up as well. It wasn’t that dorms weren’t important, it was just that…well they weren’t important to him. [color=a187be]“A greenhouse and orchard for ingredients.”[/color] He mumbled out loud, and as if it was commanded blue glowing flying sand took shape around the god of magic in the form of a greenhouse with an orchard in the back. [color=a187be]“Obviously a star observatory spire.”[/color] A spire took shape from the blue glowing, flying sand that just appeared. Showing it with a dome roof. [color=a187be]“Large balconies suspended in the skies. Choirs. Spell-circles. Dissection altars. Grand dance halls. Runic auditoriums.”[/color] Every room named summoned another depiction of that room. [color=a187be]“Hmmm, perhaps a complete alchemical laboratory for the joined wing.”[/color] He said mostly towards Artifex who suggested the joined wing in the first place. [color=lime]”Glad to see you’re onboard.”[/color] Artifex said, nodding with approval [color=lime]”Now lets see. First, the more practical concerns.”[/color] The god pulled out a small sharp knife and began to slice segments off his sketch paper, each one coming alive for a moment, fluttering towards the pebble island he had made on the map. Wherever the architect’s blueprints landed their diagrams came to life, forming structures from pen strokes in an instant. [color=lime]”First off, docks, for the arriving students”[/color] Artifex explained as the first of his diagrams came to life, creating a sheltered stone harbor, its high walls guarding its ships form storms while its long piers would allows dozens of vessels of all shapes and sizes to dock with the island. [color=lime]”Paths, store houses, plumbing, a place to grow food to sustain them and store water to water them”[/color] the god added, crafting infrastructural buildings around the docks and center of the island that all would need, while also raising up a large swath of fertile farmland that would ensure the island would not be massively reliant on imports to feed itself and building large cisterns to catch rainwater for the people to drink from. The god nodded to himself, before beginning to add the places to learn of the scientific arts, making them a mirror of the magic god’s own structures for sake of symmetry. Spaces of craftspeople of all trades were made, from forges to woodworking shops, glassmakers to potters. places where resources could be shaped and fashioned however the students wanted. Then came the labs and workshops, places for things to be built and assembled. there was little focus on what should be made there, instead the god focused on providing spaces where any kind of invention could be made. He also added a series of wharfs near the docs, so that the islanders could produce ships and a large shallow and especially sheltered section of the docs dedicated to safely testing experiments with new designs. Heavily reinforced places, ones that put the sturdiest fortress walls to shame. Any who had experience with the god’s Inventors knew exactly why this was. He also created a swath of wild land, packed with natural resources, from ores and gems hiding in deep natural caves to woods and glens teaming with wildlife from all across Mydian. any material an inventor might need could be found if they were willing to brave the untamed lands beyond the University. A long twirling wisp of smoke emerged from the Patron’s extended finger, and as it swept over the tiny diagram little mounds of vapor rose on the island. With a little smile she explained, [color=7070db]“Tells. So the students think this island has been around for a while. Also, a good excuse for catacombs!”[/color] The smoke outlined a vast network of interweaving, chaotic, catacombs whose entrances would be focused on the academy and the supposedly ancient tells, but would extend far below the island. As a final touch little spots across the catacombs, hundreds of them, began to glow. [color=7070db]“Tombs, with spell books and treasures and secrets. For the adventurous.”[/color] The Patron openly grinned and leaned closer to the menagerie of pebbles, living diagrams, and apparitions of smoke. She poked the academy in a few places and imposing, gravity defying, spires appeared. Long suspended bridges branched out between them forming a sort of upper academy, connected to the larger structure on the ground by the spindly bodies of the spires. The Patron elaborated, [color=7070db]“And for masters, an upper academy. Somewhere to put all the spells that’d kill the students. It is a school after all. I’d think it oughta be safer than just poking at those spells floating around like everyone’s doing now.”[/color] Gibbou lifted her face from the tabletop in a jolt. She pointed at the model of the academy and, suddenly, a row of large, square-shaped houses popped up by the courtyard, all decorated with gothic statues of muscled men with bat wings and faces like fruit bats. There were at least eighty windows in coloured glass on each side, meaning forty rooms per floor, and each room was furnished with two beds, two desks and a chest for each, from what one could see through the tiny model windows. In total, there were five dormitories. [colour=lightblue]”Yay, dorms!”[/colour] cooed the night goddess before zapping the other side of the campus. There, even more lavish dorms popped up, these ones arranged into three great towers all linked together with bridges on every third floor: Each floor had four rooms, and there were a total of five floors, each furnished with a single bed, a desk, a bookshelf, a cabinet, and, if one looked really closely, the same fruit bat gargoyles over the door frame. [colour=lightblue]”If people feel uncomfortable sleeping -here-, then…”[/colour] She sniffed. [colour=lightblue]”Then I’ll be sad…”[/colour] She had another swig of her drink. The fact that this new goddess was so concerned about hiding spell got Qael a bit on edge. Who was she and why did she care so much for hiding his creations? Perhaps she had a point, but there were less dangerous ways to hide information that should not be known yet. He himself locked it behind trial and tests. Not with hiding and obfuscation. Alas, he did not want to have the discussion now. There were other matters at hand. [color=a187be]“Libraries.”[/color] Qael’Naath mumbled, realizing all of them except the newest goddess had nearly forgotten them. [color=a187be]“Not the hidden ones. Normal ones. Though surely you could come up with an easier to use medium to carry the information?”[/color] He asked Artifex, before returning to his own musings. There was already an archive of magical knowledge. One that had been growing for two decades now. Why replicate such an achievement? From those ponderings appeared once more a blue glow. Though this one did not assume a physical form. Instead it held a concept for a higher realm. One in which people could study the knowledge stored with Sancta Civitas’ Library. [color=lime]”There are many advanced forms of information storage that I have seen down the mortals path, though ironically as record keeping technology improves its ability to withstand the ages fades. Compare stone engravings to writing on parchment for a current example,”[/color] Artifex replied before proposing that [color=lime]”for now I suggest we stick to the classic stone. If we want to give the impression of age then it’s the most logical material to have survived. not that they need to stick to that material once they start adding to the work.”[/color] Artifex proceeded to populate the little libraries with stone tablets featuring knowledge old and new, while also adding saltwater papyrus like plants to the shallows of the ocean, and small colorful diving beetles who protected themselves with ink sprays to live among them, and large wading seabirds who would pray on the beetles and whose feathers would make excellent quills. [color=lime]”hmmm. Though perhaps...”[/color] he then said contemplatively, before plucking out a feather, pot of ink and sheet of papyrus from the parts of their rapidly growing tableaux. Then he put the feathered down on the table, retrieved a fine needle and began engraving runes on it. While Artifex busied himself, the Patron gave Qael an amused look and set about doing exactly what she’d promised to. The god’s playful smile grew and she leaned closer to the little mockup on the table before declaring, [color=7070db]“But also, secret libraries. In the upper academy. Ones that don’t need stone or paper or ink.”[/color] Once more little wisps of smoke flowed from her fingertips, but this time they stilled into a number of pools, each one becoming perfectly reflective. Within the little pools magical symbols appeared and began to shimmer, before the patron tapped each one and watched the symbols rearrange into new ones. The Goddess carefully placed the little smokey pools inside the apparitions that were the planned upper academy and explained, [color=7070db]“Some mortals have been using a book that works like these. So I’ll add a few here. Just plop a spell into the pool and it and all the others will be able to access it.”[/color] Having finished engraving the quill, Artifex picked it up, dabbed it in the little ink pot and started writing down instructions about how to do the bit of magic he had just done. [colour=lightblue]”Humm, what else…”[/colour] grumbled Gibbou. [colour=lightblue]”Oh yeah!”[/colour] She slapped down another building, this one veering slightly off the campus centre. Inside its tiny windows, one could see loads of long tables and benches to boot, and all along the middle of the house were firepits with metal pots suspended over them. [colour=lightblue]”Without their food, a scholar’s no good!”[/colour] she mused happily as she also added fruit gardens and crop fields next to Qael’s reagent garden. [colour=lightblue]”They’ll have to get some foods from the surrounding islands, but I’ve heard the local, whassit, Akwanz? Whatever, there are locals who’d gladly help ‘em out.”[/colour] Artifex finished writing as Gibbou added more agriculture to the island, squinted at it as if unsure if she was adding redundancy or was just to smashed to notice his own plots, and then shrugged. he retrieved a second sheet of paper, dabbed the quill in the pot, placed its tip at its op and then let go. the quill, rather than fall, hung poised above the parchment before it began to write on its own, copying the document Artifex had just written word for word. artifex smiled, then made a second quill with the same runic engravings and repeated the process, resulting in two quills scribbling away to copy the original document. [color=lime]”You can never have too many ways to backup knowledge”[/color] he said to himself, before adding a tablet containing instructions on how to make this text repliating magic to the library. [colour=lightblue]"AH!"[/colour] blurted Gibbou. [colour=lightblue]"Almost forgot!"[/colour] With a slap of her hand on the table, she turned the empty spaces around the university into peaceful gardens for study and meditation. One grove in particular sprouted various tranquil trees with leaves specifically designed to muffle sound and provide the visitors with the optimal quiet experience. Then, around the various hills and groves, she put down small prayer houses and temples. [colour=lightblue]”There we go. I’m good.”[/colour] Qael rubbed the tentacles running off his chin for a second. The gardens, yes. How could he forget!? They were paramount for mental endeavors. Even The Library back in Sancta Civitas had one. A significant one at that. Gibbou’s gardens were no doubt beautiful but they lacked a certain…spark. [color=a187be]“Allow me.”[/color] He said as he extended a single finger at the gardens. They were bathed in a soft blue glow for a second, as certain aspects of them returned. To respect Artifex’s balance (and eventual unity) between magic and technology, he only altered just about half the gardens. Turning them into something more magical. With floating gazebo’s accessible only through floating stepstones, or a meditative place where carved stone orbs would rise up from the ground and orbit around you in auspicious patterns. These would be the places where mortalkind’s serene creativity would flow like water, that in certain places flower up the waterfall now. Artifex, eyeing this magical enhancement to half the gardens, added a few minor touches to the other side. A number of exquisit statues were raised, made of glass, marble and bronze formed into elaborate abstract shapes that pleased the eye. A small river was added running through the gardens, fed from a fountain, that gave the pleasant ambiance of running water to the area. He also added some hedge mazes, sundials and a hedge that could be used to track the time of year. Having watched Qael and Artifex closely, the Patron chewed on her lip and started crafting her own garden, one placed firmly between the two major halves of the academy. It started as a shallow pool of water, no deeper than a few feet but as many as a hundred meters across. From it rose a great plume of fog, but one which grew heavy and clung to the water. The water below it grew dark, and soon it seemed to suck the light out of the already foggy air above it. There, in the dark, little plants took root and grew. They started out as little more than lilies, but soon grew thick purple roots that found the soil deep below. Anchored to the world the plants became trees rising from the water, trees whose leaves glowed a faint blue and illuminated the Patron’s garden. Platforms rose close to them, each one a tiny amphitheatre with a stage of sorts below a descending ring of seats. Around each platform were columns of obsidian, arranged to hold up a covering dome that glowed faintly like the leaves from the trees which loomed above it. From the edges of the garden were invisible stepping stones, as black as the water and just millimeters below its surface. They led to the platforms, and from platform to platform. A nearly invisible network of stones connecting the misty gardens pavilions. The Patron, now fussing obsessively over her mock garden, added all sorts of glowing fish to the midnight water, alongside a number of underwater plants for them to hide and nest in. It was only after she’d spent nearly as long as Qael and Artifex combined on her garden, much of it spent on choosing the particular hues of the fish, that she looked up and, in a remarkably self satisfied tone, announced, [color=7070db]“And done! The [i]central[/i] garden.”[/color] [colour=lightblue]”So… Should we add some staff? Y’know, someone who knows the deal - could maybe tell people what this place is all about?”[/colour] [color=a187be]”Magic within this institution must be overseen by the appropriate agent…”[/color] Qael’Naath mused as he stroked his chin-tentacles. There were no mortals alive whom he could offer the charge. At first he thought about his daughters. Auriëlle could never be chained down to such a place and while Soleira would make a fine guide for mortals, her magical capabilities were still painfully lacking. His mind darted to other places. An Eloxochitli perhaps? No, he needed something approachable for all races. Something that could guide them as well. Someone from Anghebad? Alas, they were only barely scratching the surface of their Labyrinth. They made him proud but were not yet ready for the task. But as his mind went over their Labyrinth, he found his answer. He squeezed his fist for a second, and then opened it again. Showing a fired-clay figurine of one of the axolotl-looking creatures and put it on the table. [color=a187be]”The school’s headmaster of magic.”[/color] He presented it to his siblings. [colour=lightblue]”A frog, huh. Neat.”[/colour] Gibbou conjured forth a slice of bread as she regarded the statuette. [colour=lightblue]”Y’know… A place like this is bound to get pretty dirty. Y’all think everyone would be responsible and clean up after themselves after doing their stuff and things like decent mortal beings?”[/colour] She looked around the table. [colour=lightblue]”Yeah, no, I agree.”[/colour] She took a crumb of her bread and, in a second, it flourished with mould. The mould twisted and turned, eventually shaping into a person-like figure with three legs, two hands - one swallowed by the mushroom growth - and a bioluminescent ghostcap for a head. Gibbou placed it down proudly. [colour=lightblue]”Now we have a janitor!”[/colour] [color=lime]”Well now. that raises all sorts of interesting possibilities. A living member of a species that never existed”[/color] Artifex noted as he looked upon the axolotl Qael had made, [color=lime]”I predict its life will be a rather interesting one. Now then,”[/color] The Artifex leaned back in his char, swirled his wine and then took a sip, clearly contemplating. Then he nodded to himself, before pulling to rings that he was wearing off his fingers. [color=lime]”I think the office of head of technology shall be headed by a mortal. The best, possibly decided by competition, but that does not mean I don’t want them to be completely without the kind of continuity and wisdom provided by magic’s ageless ruler. ”[/color] The smaller was placed inside the other and the space inbetween filled with a black mass as he spoke [color=lime]”So I’ll give them an assistant”[/color] The mass suddenly grew eyes and abstract limbs, propping itself up onto them. The god made a vague depiction of a mortal, their general appearance and even species ambiguous, and set it next to the axolotl. The prototype obediently scampered over to this model, before clambering up it and sitting to rest on its shoulder like a tame raven. [colour=lightblue]”Ain’t that somethin’. This’ll be such a project, y’all!”[/colour] clapped Gibbou giddily. Turning to the Patron, she frowned pensively. [colour=lightblue]”You. You adding anything?”[/colour] [color=7070db]“A librarian would be useful,”[/color] The Patron bit her lip in thought, [color=7070db]“Someone to take care of all the books and tablets, and my spell pools. They’d need to keep the students from killing themselves whenever some master dropped a book in the lower academy too. So not a pushover, hm.”[/color] Her fingers drummed on the table for a moment, before she grinned and set to work on her own little figure. This one was large, far too large to walk about the university. Rather, the giant furball with a mouth full of jagged teeth and two long twisting horns was given a chamber in the catacombs. A vast cavern with glowing crystals, a small lake, and what almost qualified as a forest. However, from the beast’s cavern the patron plucked a little tree. She twisted it until the foliage resembled an old man grown from wood. Growing from the figures shoulders was a long sweeping robe made from yellow leaves, and from its head sprouted two long wooden antlers. Once she was done she pulled a tiny thread from the beast and connected it, not just to her one wooden figure, but to the entire little forest where the beast lurked. The Patron leaned back into her chair contentedly and said, [color=7070db]“Our librarian, and one that won’t die once some angry kid shoots a fireball or drops a boulder on him.”[/color] [colour=lightblue]”How about that… So, how’re we doing, folks? Anymore thinga-magiggs y’all wanna add?”[/colour] She refilled her cup. [color=a187be]“We must find a way for students to reach and return from the school.”[/color] Qael still noted as he observed the wider map. Boats would be fine for the Amazons and the Night Elves. But for the people of Sancta Civitas, Anghebad and civilizations even further the journey would be perilous and dangerous. Once more did he clench his fist, only to reveal a fairly sizable figurine of a giant lobster. From the side though, you could see inside its chest. Which was separated in several rooms and one-way magical windows that showed the ground below and the skies around it. [color=a187be]“An emissary, guide and method of passage. All in one.”[/color] [color=lime]”For a more straightforward bit of help”[/color] Artifex said as he popped a large tower down on the port’s wall, and atop it a beacon that lit up the night, guiding ships towards the safe harbor. Then he enhanced the light so that it could be seen from much further away by any who sought the island, so that they would never lose their way while they sought the island. [color=7070db]“And just to be safe,”[/color] The Patron commented as she placed a room deep below the tower, accessible only through a number of spelled doors in the catacombs, [color=7070db]“Something to keep the island hidden, when it has to be.”[/color] She eyed the little room, and the spells etched both into its walls and the walls of the catacombs that stretched out in every direction around it. With a snap of her fingers the little room glowed and soon a vast blanket of magical, disorienting, fog descended on the little diorama of a school and the mock seas around it. [colour=lightblue]”Neat! Dunno why we’d need that, but neat! Anything else, folks?”[/colour] [color=a187be]“No.”[/color] Qael said, in response to Gibbou’s question. This place of learning had already become quite a grand creation. Uniting four gods their power into it. What more could it need still? [color=lime]”I think these plans are functionally complete. All that remains is to make it real, and to find a way ‘explain’ why there is suddenly a new island with an ancient university complex in the middle of the Ocean where none was before”[/color] Artifex replied [color=lime]”there are, after all, people living in the ocean who might ruin the illusion if we just put it there as a blatant divine act.[/color] [color=7070db]“Oh,”[/color] The Patron stood up and looked down on the table, conjuring a little sparking cloud that grew with every moment. She started twirling her finger in it as she spoke, [color=7070db]“That’ll be easy. Just spin up a little storm, add a dash of magic to it, and tada!”[/color] The little storm grew to cover the entire table, taking on a sickly purple hue. Below the sea’s waves became enormous breakers as the rain that pounded it started to glow like the purple lightning above. The enchanted deluge struck the little mock academy and the false water around it, mixing with the sea and rendering anyone touched by it unconscious. Magic ran deep into the sea. Wherever it went any memory of the expanse of ocean where the academy was to be placed was erased. Washed away in the storm. The tempest grew until it was spilling over the sides of the table. It was only then, when it was finally large enough for her liking, that the Patron sat back down and explained with a content little smile, “And now nobody will know.” [colour=lightblue]”Perfect! And here. We. Go!”[/colour] As if slapping a button, Gibbou hammered the tabletop with her palm. Immediately down on the planet below, the centre of the Mydian Sea began to toss and churn. A gruesome, mighty storm washed over the surrounding islands, flooding forests and villages in rain and seawater. Coastal villages screamed as a pillar of clouds and lightning could just barely be seen at the very edge of the horizon - a hurricane of power as though sent by the gods. Something about the storm seemed to hint that it had not simply gathered there out of natural causes, and as it passed, Akuan communities swimming to the shore told every islander that a miracle had happened: At the center of the storm they’d found an island. One of great development and technology, filled with buildings and landscapes more advanced than anyone had yet seen. All the cultures of Mydia agreed - they needed to hasten to unveil the secrets of this site. [hider=Summary] Gibbou, sad after fighting Neiya, gets hella lit. She's so drunk she invites a bunch of other gods, and drags one she’s never met over to her realm. There, she declares her intent to make a school. The others are pretty into it, even if in jest at first. Anyway, things get going and soon a school is being made. It’s gonna be half magic, half mundane, and teach anything there is to know. It’s got a lower section for students, and upper towers for masters. No less than THREE gardens! It’s also gonna be run by a fun cast of weird spooky people. It’s disguised as being ancient, aswell. A giant storm is created which causes mass amnesia in everyone it touches to hide the creation of the academy.[/hider] [hider=MP Spendage] The Omniversity: Tower of Galbar II - All mortals at this holy site can understand one another regardless of origin, language and biology. It does not translate the meaning of cultural expressions and gestures, however. Scripts of Qael I - Knowledge of magic and alchemy is acquired at an accelerated rate. Tools of Artifex I - Knowledge of engineering and crafting-related trades is acquired at an accelerated rate. Of the Old and the New II: Already discovered technologies spread between societies who have contact with the university at an accelerated rate; technologies that have yet to be discovered can be researched faster at this holy site. Explorers Tale I: Tales told by passing sailors and former students, of distant places or long lost treasures and spells, sometimes find their way into a book at this academy. Though never found until the teller is long gone, these tales will inspire forever. Fog of Confusion I: An ancient spell room in the university contains the trigger to a powerful defense for the academy. When activated it conceals the entire island, and much of the sea around it, in a thick blanket of fog that actively disorients and confuses those within it. The inside of the academy is immune to the effects. Gibbou 5MP/5DP 2DP: Create extraordinary, legendary monster - [b]The Janitor[/b]: The monster inhabits the university grounds, living as a legend in the shadows of the night. When the students and faculty have gone to sleep, the Janitor seeps out from wherever it has been hiding in the day to consume all the filth left behind by the resident scholars. A cursed myth to the daywalkers, and a true nightmare for any nightdwellers careless enough to wander outside their designated quarters. [hider=Appearance] [img]https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/020/843/662/large/conlan-parkman-myconid5.jpg?1569382531[/img] [/hider] 1MP to the Omniversity. 1MP to the magic school bus. End Gibs: 3MP/3DP The Patron: 5MP/5DP 2MP: Create legendary monster - [b]The Librarian[/b]: The Librarian is a beast of extraordinary power that lurks in a vast cavern below the academy. Appearing as a massive furry beast with a maw nearly a quarter the size of its body the Librarian is a fearsome beast, but usually a gentle one. He uses his innate magic to grow the peculiar trees that thrive under the magical light of crystals in his cavern, trees which he can warp into puppet forms to manage the academy in its vastness. The Librarian usually has at least three of his wooden puppets wandering the academy, managing its vast collections. 3DP +1MP: The Fog. 2DP: Mysterious Storm 1MP: The Island End Patron: 1MP/0DP Qael’Naath 5MP/5DP 1MP for the Legendary beast “Duxus” - Duxus is a large, lobster-shaped, golem-like construct that is capable of flight. Its body is hollow and filled with various rooms to sleep or entertain oneself in and also has various one-way magic “windows” so people inside can see the ground below or the skies around them. Several rooms have a masked face carved in its wall. Each allows interaction with Duxus, Emissary and Guide of the Omniversity. While Duxus seems menacing, he mainly exists to ferry those who so desire to the Omniversity. To do this he often lands and stays near larger settlements for several days before he returns to his island home. Duxus possesses magical abilities to expel those from inside of him should they prove to be dangerous or aggressive. 3MP for the Ethereal Vault 1MP to the Omniversity. 3DP to undecided titles for the Headmaster of Magic End Qael: 0MP/5DP Artifex 5MP/5DP 1MP to the Omniversity. 1 MP to teach the ability to make enchanted quills used to replicate texts. 2 MP for assistant 0 mp (ship discount) for lighthouse: II guiding light: the light of the lighthouse can guide any ship trying to sail from the surrounding parts of Mydian islands to the university will be able to see the light of the lighthouse, guiding them to it. 1 MP towards island 0MP/5DP [/hider]