Blackscale Academy

Blackscale Academy was the first of the great Zevemlyan Military learning institutions, and has consistently churned out the most competent of military members from The Godguard to the members of Band of the Phantom. The testing is rigorous, and children are taken from their families with one visit for one day, once yearly during their 14-year tenure from 4 years old to 18. No one is exempt if they are given the honor of their child's selection, neither rich nor poor, powerful nor weak can deny the call to duty. It is a great honor to be called, though families know that the survival rate is one-in-twenty.

The Alumni and faculty both are known for their cold demeanor, and while no deaths are intended in the first four years... this is not ensured at the academy. Friendships are a luxury for the weak and alliances are only entered with the knowledge that they are only ever alliances of convenience. The school is exalted by the military, but detested by many of the laypeople for its ruthless measures. They study the latest in military techniques from around the world, traditional law and magic, though they expressly forbid anything that would go against the Galvander .

The campus is well-known for the giant dragon statue in its courtyard, that many students (and faculty) rumor to be a petrified dragon. If this is true, it is a massive specimen, towering over thirty metres in height. The innovation of the seige engines and dragon-riders both came about as advancements due to Blackscale academy. While the other prestigious academies of Zevemlya are well-respected, no military leader in the past century has come from an academy other than Blackscale.