The Circle of Cartitian Academies
The Circle of Cartitian Academies, commonly refered to as the Cartitian Circle, is a system of Academies insituted by the god Aketos with the help of his daughter Ilya to ensure that wars and disputes would not prevent the intelectual development of Cartitian civlization. The Academies of the Circle are usually complexes of many buildings set in the periphery of their cities, away from the noise and chaos of the Polis where scholars can immerse themselves in their studies in the libraries or in nature without obstruction.
The Circle is notable by the fact that its political neutrality is respected in all cities, their members are always allowed safe passage between Polis' even in times of war. Because of this, there is a lot of mystique surrounding members of the Circle, and access is not easy. Most members enter via several rounds of challenges such as philosphical debates, mathematical problems and artistic expression. The results are judged by older members and students are evaluated on the potential they appear to hold more than the effective result of the challenge.
The Circle accepts new members of age 14 and older. A candidate must present a letter of recommendation from a member, even of low rank, to be admitted to the tests. Lower ranks of the organisation serve as collectors of knowledge, either by searching for other sources of wisdom and or by doing their own research. Either way, most low rank members, known as "eliges" spend most of their time outside of academies, returning only to consult old scrolls, seek advice of mentors or present results.
Once a year, on the day of Aketos, a select number of eliges are promoted based on their achievements and becomes mentees. Mentees are pupil of Sages, and each Sage is allowed only one Mentee at the time. Under the wing of Sage, a mentee dedicate their time to assist their sage in whichever research they choose to dabble in, until the sage deems them ready, which cannot be before 3 years of service as a mentee. After being released, a menteee can become a Sage themselves and be free to choose a project for themselves, or, as many do, they become Alumni and leave the Circle.
Structure
The Circle has many layers of membership, starting with eliges, then mentors, sages and grand sages, the latter ones being part of the Inner Circle, and finally the grand Aketon at the top. The Circle's inner politics often rely on personal recommendations and connections and many members remain frustrated with this system. Nevertheless, attempts at standardising the system more have failed as the members elevated to the Inner Circle who would have the power to reform, would lose much influence from such as change.
The Orders of the Cartitian Circle
The Circle has many internal orders that dedicate their attention to different aspects of reality.The White Compass
The White Compass is the order most dedicated to Aketos. They study the land of Cartita, its natural cycles, its internal politics and its fauna and flora deeply to understand the thoughts and principles that Aketos wishes for them to live by. They often view Aketos as the God that should rule Cartitia, although all other gods dread and a takeover by Aketos due to his (and his order's) rigidity and excessive focus on idealisation of reality.The Hand of Ilya
The Hand of Ilya used to be the biggest order of the Circle before the more radical White Compass took over. The Hand of Ilya follows the precepts of Ilya to be pragmantic about the pursuit of science, to not seek knowledge for the sake of some ideal but to better the life of the people. Members of the Hand of Ilya do not stay in the Circle for long, which is one reason for their dimished numbers, as they often leave in order to help people instead of pursuinf a career in the Circle.The Children of the Spear
The Children of the Spear is a faction of the Circle dedicated to history and military strategy above all. They are intellectuals dedicated to the art of war and follow the ideal of Akkar of a united Cartitia who could follow in the footsteps of the First Empire and conquer the lands abroad on the other sides of the sea. Because of this, the Children of the Spear often become military strategist, experts in navigation, or weapon engineers.The Archivists
The Archivists are the Arcane branch of the Circle, a small order of students of the Arcane bent on recollecting the fragments of knowledge from the Lost God who first created the weave to access Arcane magic. In Cartitia, they are considered strange divine magic is readily accessible in Cartitia due to Dynasty's proneness to take sides in conflicts and advance their agenda by sharing magic power.Public Agenda
The Circle's Agenda was set by the goddess Ilya due to her bing closer to humanity than Aketos, and consists in bettering the understanding of the Cartitian people of the world in order to master it and drive the Chaos of the wilds further back.
Assets
The Circle is always well funded through public funding and donations from worshippers of Aketos and Ilya.
Besides their many buildings, libraries full of ancient tomes and their coin, the Circle has some unique assets which set it apart in Cartitia and the world.
The Demetrian Hawks
Institue by Demetor the 1st, the Demetrian Hawks are an lineage of divinely blessed Hawks that fly at much greater speeds than their natural counterparts and are used to transport information across Cartitia by members of the Circle. The Hawks are fiercly loyal to the order and each member is giften a young newly hatched hawk as they join. The bond between a scholar and their hawk is considered a source of divine blessing and inspiration upon the scholar and a death of a hawk is usually followed by two months of retirement and mourning before a member receives a new hawk.The Starry Pearl
The Starry Pearly is a huge ship owned by the Circle with an observatory tower built in, which allows the Observation of the stars far away from any sign of civlization and any mountai or forest that may obscure the view. The Starry Pearl is said to be blessed to require no wind to move as its sails are always full when they wish to move. While the crew is human, the captain and navigator of the ship is known as the Silent One, an avatar of the sea god Mastedon, as he would not have any other navigate an enchanted vessel in his sea. Most of the research conducted on the Pearl is by members of the White Compass.Returning Scrolls
Due to the attempts at stealing and the distraction of students, the scrolls of the Academy are enscribed with runes that ensure their return at the latest one month after they have left their orginal position in a library, the maximum borrowing time allowed. These scrolls can also be returned instantly if a librarian realises they have been stolen.The mind measures the world
Founding Date
1305 E.o.S.
Type
Educational, School/Academy
Alternative Names
The Circle, the Cartitian Circle
Demonym
Academic
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