Welcome to the Scholomance
On behalf of the Banned Library and The Faculty, we would like to extend an invitation to you to join the 2023-2024 admission class to the Scholomance! As one of the sacred thirteen, we are excited to have you!
Your application and interest in learning the dark mystical arts impressed the admissions staff and The Faculty! We especially loved hearing about your willingness to see through any hardship to triumph for both power and domination of your enemies. Also, the part where you talked about teaching your dog to hunt the small wild fae was adorable.
Now, before you accept we must lay out the terms and conditions of service at our school. While you may be very aware, we like to explain our history as well to give context to practices some call "outdated" and "barbaric" but which we feel gives our institution a feeling of cohesive tradition. Plus, some things have been carved in stone and flesh that do not behave according to "time" or "progress."
History
Started millenia ago, the Scholomance began as the Solomonaire. The king and magician Solomon (yep, same guy!) founded our sub-mountain home as a place to teach those with power to control their desires and to harness the thunderbolts of the dragon who sleeps in the nearby lake. Upon his death, the wise "chopper of babies" Solomon entreated the care of the students and the dragon to an entity that has incorrectly been labeled "The Devil." We simply refer to them as "The Faculty" to disregard such disrespectful historical inaccuracies.
Student Body
Every seven years, thirteen students are chosen to form the current class. The study lasts for the duration of seven years, or until the individual student can no longer perform daily tasks in a corporeal form. Some students may not complete their curriculum and serve as a learning experience for the rest.
Curriculum
Under the tutelage of The Faculty, students learn earth and animal magics as well as control over the elements. Special courses and independent study have been available in the past and included topics such as blood rites, potion making, and various enchanting and quest-centric magics. While no formal classrooms exist, we believe every moment of every day should be a learning experience. When a student leaves our institution the power they wield will possibly control the fates of millions, and that's pretty cool but also terrifying!
All materials are available through a joint collection development with the Banned Library.
Tuition
The Scholomance has no formal fees or expenses for students. All room and board is complimentary, split between the corporeal souls that remain. At the end of their tenure at the graduation ceremony, one student will be chosen at the behest of The Faculty to remain behind while the others are free to leave, called the Caretaker. For the next seven years, the student will then forge thunderbolts and care for the dragon at the pleasure of The Faculty. Should no student make it to the graduation ceremony, the present Caretaker will remain.
Don't worry, the longest anyone has remained Caretaker was 154 years. His name is lost to history, however, as he went mad and burned most of his personal items along with himself the moment he was replaced.