The College of the Seemly Court.

Stheno is arguably the second most powerful–and perhaps overall most important–member of the College of the Seemly Court, as she is the head librarian. The grand library is her domain, and it is her business to keep track of all scrolls, books, artifacts, and other belongings that are donated and borrowed. She takes her work very seriously, and it is because of her that the academic side of the college runs smoothly much of the time. 

She was born to relatively affluent, well-educated (and very traditionally coatl) parents in the Windswept Plateau, and raised to read a variety of languages: common, Tiānqì (the Wind-localised dialect), and traditional coatl. As she learned, she discovered a love of languages and branched out to include ancient Light, several kinds of arcane runescripts, and the local harpy dialect as well. While living in the Windswept Plateau, she worked as a translator and bookbinder. 

But then she found out about the college and she was quickly convinced by Ghoul to become the librarian there. She’d always had a soft spot for the Lightweaver, being a learned sort herself, but once she moved to the college she officially converted to sharing her time and love equally between the Windsinger and the Lightweaver. Her style of magic is subtle and makeshift, as she’s never really gone in for arcane study; instead, she’s stitched herself into the foundation of the library using cobbled together sympathetic rune-work for the most part. As a result, nothing happens in the library without her knowing about it. 

Thank you for asking! It’s been sitting here for months because I totally forgot that I’d asked for questions. I only just remembered. 

The college of the Seemly Court is Ghoul’s treasured creation. It was her dream to build an organisation of some kind–a school, a collective, something–as a place to foster and protect knowledge. Before she founded the college, she travelled throughout different regions of the world, educating herself and seeking networks to support her vision, and eventually she had pulled together enough interested minds and enough wealth to start renovating a collapsed temple in the Sunbeam Ruins. 

The college is a self-proclaimed neutral zone, built on the south-west corner of Light territory; it looks over the cliff to the Sea of a Thousand Currents in one direction, and over across the Shifting Expanse in another. The trading post is nearby as well. Ghoul chose this location so as to encourage visitors from all over the world, and make them feel welcome: the neutrality of the college means that people of any flight, faith, area of study, and even species (in some cases) will not be turned away, provided they offer a piece of learning in return. After all, two major tenets of the college’s workings are fairness and truth. 

In practice, Ghoul as the chancellor of the college is essentially the monarch and primary guardian of the institution. She wrote the original manuscripts of laws and protocols for organising the college, and major decisions must be approved by her–which, occasionally, is a cause of discontentment. In the interest of giving the people of the college a voice, however, each faculty has a director (usually the most senior and experienced member) who can discuss and negotiate with the chancellor when needed. Most of the time, the college ticks over without needing much negotiation, as Ghoul is often supportive of innovation and prefers not to interfere with the happening of the college’s day-to-day life unless she absolutely has to. 

Mailu is a heartfelt follower of the Windsinger, and his personality and work ethos reflect that belief: he is friendly, gentle, and adventurous. He is fluent in several languages, including Wind flight, coatl, and Maren dialects, as well as common. He is the cultural ambassador for Wind flight at the university.

His primary research is on Maren life and he is passionate about the idea of a harmonious dragon-Maren society. He has spent several years negotiating for peace and cooperation between the College of the Seemly Court and the communities of Maren in the area, and by doing so, he has developed a positive relationship with a number of Maren groups on behalf of the college and, much to his delight, close friendships with a few individuals as well.

Malkin is an anatomist and healer, using her scientific knowledge and divine intuition to understand and work with the fleshier side of life. She is also an oracle: specifically, a haruspex, able to read omens in the blood and organs of other creatures. As such, her more contentious research is often the cause of fierce debates at the college, as some members find her type of divination and experimentation to be, at best, unnerving and ethically dubious, and morally unacceptable at worst.

Malkin is a proud imperial. Her mother, a Plague-born coatl, named her Viver, but when she left the Fire flight, she abandoned this name in favour of the more epithetical style of Light flight imperials. She has refused the position of cultural ambassador for the Fire flight.