School of Sarth

The School of Sarth was one of the two governing organizations of the empire of Sarth, together with The Lords of Sarth . They researched and regulated the use of Magic on the continent of Noria in the young world. The School consisted of several highly proficient magic users and their students. The School was also the organization responsible for The Great Disaster .  

Political Influence and Research

 

Structure

  The School of Sarth was one of the two governing powers of Sarth. They represented the magical matters of the continent. The school consisted of the University of Arth and two governing chambers, one for the research and one for the usage of magic. All members of the governing chambers were scholars at Arth, but not every scholar was a member of one of the chambers.   The chamber of research was responsible, as the name suggests, for the academic research of the functioning of magic in the world. They were mostly occupied with the theoretical implications of magic and the objective functioning of it. The research chamber generally formed the advisory opinions of all magic related matters in the governing procedure of Sarth. This chamber was given two of the ten seats of the School of Sarth in the deciding panel of Sarth's governing procedure.   The chamber of usage researched the practical use of magic, including its influence on society. This chamber was given eight of the School's ten seats in the deciding panel. They normally don't form advisory opinions however, except when working together on the advisory opinions of the chamber of research or sometimes even on the advisory opinions of the Lords of Sarth.  

Academic Achievements

  No other society or organization in the young world was as knowledgeable of the functioning of Magic as the School of Sarth. Their academic research was unparalleled for many centuries, especially due to the world's aversion to magic after the Disaster. While not capable of grasping the full functioning of the universe , they managed to realize certain key concepts including: the existence of several planes, magic being derived from two great forces with opposite vectors and elemental cores being responsible for the elements in the physical world.   They also separated different types of magic, based on which elemental core was responsible for it, according to them. While this classification was not entirely correct, it is still the most accurate classification of magic to date. According to them magic was derived from ether the so-called light core or the dark core in The Highest Plane and was afterwards channelled through the elemental cores in The Elemental Plane to produce magic in our world. This resulted in the common (misleading) classification of 'light' and 'dark' magic. They classified magic as followed:  

Light magic (from the 'light' core): healing magic, defence magic, time magic, beast magic, necromancy

 

Dark magic (from the 'dark' core): ground magic, plant magic, pyromancy, water magic, ice magic, wind magic, dynamic magic, weather magic, colour magic

  The exact classification was often changed by other researchers basing their magical theories on the School's research or even by the School itself.  

The Great Disaster and its Consequences

 

Research gone too far

  Around 100-50 years before the Disaster, the School started to research the possibility of materialising the (then unsplit) elemental cores or energy of them into our world as a way of strengthening the magical powers of the Sarthanians. This was most likely due to the threatening military presence of (????). By simultaneously channelling energy from the Everchanging and the Everlasting, the scholars tried to apply enough energy and pressure on the elemental cores to materialise them into our world. They hoped this would result in a materialization of the elemental energy that could be used even by laymen. However, their research was not only in vain but also of disastrous consequences. The scholars lost control over the huge amount of energy they accumulated. That resulted in the elemental cores to be split and an enormous amount of elemental energy to be released into the material world causing the destruction of Sarth.  

Legacy

  After the destruction of Sarth, the Sarthanian use of magic was made responsible for this ruinous event. The once highly respected School was defamed and the use of magic was not only seen as a disgrace, but also as a danger.   Later the use of 'light' magic became more approved again, due to healing magic playing a central part in Celyrian, Astanyan and Véllkranian culture. The use of 'dark' magic was still frowned upon in those parts of the world however, even resulting in The Great Magical Purge .Thryth and M'lakao never took a strong stance against light or dark magic, so many Sarthanians that were not in Noria during the Disaster took refuge in those continents. Others were banished to the now desolated island of Noria, becoming Norim or even annihilated.   Most Sarthanians still wanted to continue the legacy of the School of Sarth, trying to retain and remember the School's knowledge and saving it from the organised destruction in some parts of the world. Many scholars from all over the world joined them and continued to secretly follow and research the knowledge acquired by the School, organizing themselves in The Order . After the independence of Noria and the establishment of the Union of the Six Cities of Noria with its free use of magic, the Order publicly established themselves in the USCN and thus returned the academic spirit of the School of Sarth to its geographical origins.