Tein-Larion
From Zok
Contents |
Expulsion Era
The war-college of Tein-Larion is as old and prestigious an educational edifice as can be found anywhere in the world. Nestled stealthily into the fog-enshrouded mountainside where it was constructed some four thousand years ago, it lies roughly a third of the way between Saltur and Eltrin, in lands belonging to Thurva dar Eltri, who pays homage to the king of Saltur.
Founded four millenia ago by the warlord Larion and his lover, Tein, the college was originally an officer's school for the children of Larion's noble subjects. Larion's intent was to raise these children himself, so that they would grow up loyal to himself and not to their parents. He taught them the arts of governance which he thought would be useful when ruling the lands they'd inherit from their parents, as well as the arts of combat one should understand in order to win a duel of honor. Tein, on the other hand, wanted more from her students. She was aware that Larion would not live forever, and that she herself was barren. Thus, she viewed the school as a useful device by which to find and train an heir to her lover, one who could rule his lands once he fell. She taught her students not just how to fight, but how to command. Her pupils waged mock wars all over the mountainside, and her older students plotted economic alliances and political marriages and the hazing of younger students with one another.
The college's students learned their lessons well. Eltri and Itar were both students there, and good friends, and they split Larion's lands between them after he died of old age. Each founded a city, backed by schoolyard friends who would inherit the helm of a noble house, and their shared youths provided them with a loyalty that prevented a great deal of bloodshed when the two met to discuss where the actual border between their lands should be drawn. Tein-Larion's reputation has grown in the years since, as the rulers of Eltrin and Itarada followed in Larion's footsteps and demanded that each noble patriarch from their dominion send his or her heirs to the school for a ruler's education, and as each generation of students emerged equipped to deal with the practicalities of governance. When Itar's son, Saltur left his father's house to found a city to the south, it was only with the support of his former schoolmates (most notably Eltri's daughter Thurva) that he was able to prevent Eltri from crushing him at the outset.
Since the foundation of Saltur, the college has been on Salturni lands. Its reputation as the educator of kings has grown now to the point where young elven nobles (even ones not destined to inherit) from as far abroad as Hagak and Kashrak travel to the school, to spend decades in an environment of studious toil and militaristic discipline. The expense required to attend even for a year is lavish, so the only ones able to afford an education besides nobles are those the king of Saltur sends on scholarship, who will grow to serve as his personal staff. King Neru's close attendants all attended Tein-Larion, though the King himself attended the Hall of Names in Valtadre.
Structure
The school is run by Thurva dar Eltri, its current owner and Blademistress. She teaches the more advanced arts of personal combat, as well as conducts lectures on proper tactical practice; when she is not too tied up with the important and mundane business of running her family's province of Saltur, of course.
Each student's week is divided into classes. Each class takes a full day, and most classes meet twice a week. This means that a student usually takes three classes in a term, with one day of the week in which he can relax (which is to say, six days of intensive labor followed by a day of intensive studying, if he expects to do well in any of his classes). Classes are offered on such varied subjects as Dueling Etiquette, Provincial Finance, The Art of Marriage, The Tactics of Large-Scale Warfare in Mountainous Regions, Proper Dining, and Administration of Servants. Every class is taught by an impeccably knowledgeable individual who is known (except in those subjects, such as Proper Dining, where to be known proves one's incompetence) as an expert in their field.
School Rules
Tein-Larion has a number of rules, most of which are simple and practical ones without which such an institution could not be operated.
- The preparation or possession of poisons or drugs is not allowed on school grounds.
- Duels to the death are not allowed on school grounds.
- Students are not permitted to leave school grounds until such time as they graduate.
- Failure to comply shall be interpreted as a desire not to complete schooling.
- Students and their servants must wear the colors of their house at all times.
- Students are to bathe regularly, attend classes except when excusably ill, and attend religious services twice per week, in the evenings.
Organizations
Several secret societies and gentleman's clubs have been founded by the students of Tein-Larion, though only four or five have persisted for more than a single graduating class. These fraternities can grow quite powerful, for their members usually become important figures even if they don't inherit the patriarchal seats of their families.
