The Concord Academies

The Academies operate as a single institution with distributed authority. There is no regional independence; each branch repeats the same hierarchy and curriculum precisely.

Central Body – The Council of Stewards

There are nine senior instructors, one representing the Process that first manifested in their territory. They meet once each century in Midmere to review interpretation and ensure no Process overshadows another. Decisions require unanimous consent, symbolizing the balance of the Nine.

Regional Custodial Colleges

Each territory maintains a Custodial College responsible for logistics, teacher training, and record-keeping.
These colleges enforce the “Ninefold Accord,” the set of procedures governing daily lessons, architecture, and bell synchronization.

Process Houses (Local Academies)

Every settlement maintains at least one Process House—nine halls built to the standardized plan.
A Process House answers jointly to its territory’s College and to the Council of Stewards.

The Academies define what “normal life” means on Aureth. Their culture is one of calm discipline, collective purpose, and the quiet joy of routine.

Life within an Academy is rhythmic but gentle: the nine bells mark time, meals are communal, and silence is as sacred as speech.
Students greet each other with, “Steady mind, steady world.”

Teaching is the highest civic honor. Stewards are treated not as clergy but as caretakers of reality itself.
Outside Academy walls, citizens still mirror its customs: morning recitations, communal meals, evening gratitude.

To maintain stability by teaching every citizen the Nine Processes until adherence becomes reflex. The Academies are not religious—they are the scaffolding of reason and rhythm that keeps the world remembered.

In the aftermath of the Dissolution, envoys and scholars convened at Midmere and Southsound. Their discussions produced the Nine Sanctioned Processes and the Oath of Stillglass:

"We bind the world by what we share."

To preserve this unity, they created a standardized school—the Concord Academy—then replicated it across every territory. Smaller settlements were required to maintain at least one Process House. The Council of Stewards standardized blueprints and lesson cycles, cementing the Ninefold design. Over centuries, minor regional drift in interpretation accumulated. The Council met for nine days to recalibrate teachings, reaffirming that no Process may dominate another. The Academies remain the most trusted institution in Aureth. Attendance is universal; even monarchs and Custodians submit to annual reviews by visiting Stewards. Citizens describe the ringing of the bells as “the heartbeat of the world.”