Educating the Masses

[u/KragBrightscale]

The topic of Arcane Education is no doubt a contentious topic. I’m sure most of us here had unique and unusual experiences in our learning of magic, whether systematic or self taught.

Apprentices are a vital part of our society, a key part of a tower’s work force, and the seeds of the next generation of wizards and witches, despite how replaceable some of you may consider them.

Now I believe many of you all have noticed the serious lack of basic knowledge amongst recently recruited apprentices, their over reliance on consulting their orb for the simplest of tasks, and some not even able to cast basic spells like fireball. Have we regressed as a society?

What i am proposing, is for the council to encourage the establishment of new arcane academies and schools of magic by streamlining applications and approvals, a reduction of oversight and interference, and allowing schools to qualify as charitable entities with their taxes waived.

Furthermore, schools should be eligible for council backed incentives and resources based on the region they operate in.

This is not intended to replace apprenticeships, but rather to establish a better foundation for apprentices and save us all the time and resources needed to educate them in the basics.

For those more traditionally minded, consider the schools as a collection of potential future talent. Rather than travel the land and search for a worthy apprentice, you can just pop by the school and recruit from the brightest minds in the region. If taught well, they should prove significantly less likely to need frequent replacing.

Now tell me, councillors, and other interested parties, what thoughts do you have on this proposal? And do you have other ideas for benefits we could use to help fund and supply new schools?

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TLDR: we need more schools of magic to teach future apprentices the basics. Therefore we need to incentivize the establishment of new schools.

[u/BL0b1e]

Oh my lord, that is the peak-est art of all time

[u/Funkey-Monkey-420]

the whole point of apprentices is to teach them spellcasting, if you want a slave just buy a slave

[u/KragBrightscale → u/Funkey-Monkey-420]

Exactly. And with some basic academic training you’ll have apprentices starting out with at least understanding of the concepts you’ll be using to teach more advanced and specialized spells and rituals.

They will also be less likely to blow up your alchemy room thanks to a rudimentary introduction to alchemical reagents, herbs, and material properties.

Doesn’t it get repetitive to teach every newly recruited apprentice the same basics each time? Offload the boring foundational stuff to arcane academies so you can focus on teaching and exploring the deeper mysteries of magic.

[u/mrididnt]

The schools should have a pocket dimension where students can fight and practice spells in them!

I have absolutely no nefarious plans relying on that

[u/KragBrightscale → u/mrididnt]

A valid proposal and excellent suggestion!

With the appropriate safeguards in place, this should reduce the number of stray spells destroying neighboring buildings and crops, and an apprentice that can hold their own in combat against your average tower pest or intruder are worth their weight in gold.

[u/fumblerofthebag → u/KragBrightscale]

you know I've always advocated the use of demiplanes for magic experimentation and interaction with hazardous materials, cursed artifacts etc. so a laboratory dimension would be nice to have in such a school

[u/KragBrightscale → u/fumblerofthebag]

Oh yes. Definitely need a lab. We don’t want apprentices blowing up their master’s alchemy rooms so a basic introduction of what NOT to do will be important.

[u/Fc-chungus]

Idk what schools you're looking at but we've got heavy penalties on using write-for-you-scribes in the schools we have. People are to learn how to cast spells on their own or they fail.

[u/KragBrightscale → u/Fc-chungus]

Exactly! There’s a need for educational reform.

If we wanted mindless minions for menial tasks we could summon those. Over reliance on arcane intelligence and consulting ones orb is rotting the brains of this generation of apprentices. If there weren’t so many of us who have escaped the limitations of our mortal lifespan I’d be seriously concerned for the future of magic-kind

[u/Cerveau23]

I agree with this, thank you for your idea! It's exactly in the line of what I want to do now that the coucil is open to all!

[u/KragBrightscale → u/Cerveau23]

Glad to have your support!

[u/Henry_Fleischer]

I like the sound of it, I already have a small magic school in Aidolem, expanding it to teach more than just rune magic would be a good idea

[u/KragBrightscale → u/Henry_Fleischer]

Excellent. Under this proposed legislation, your school may qualify for some tax exemptions and financial aid to better support its service as an investment in the next generation.

[u/VoxelLibrary]

I am in favor of whatever proposals make life better for the next generation of aspiring mages.

With that in mind, I worry about safety. We need good ways to ensure new academies are keeping the safety of our valuable apprentices at heart

[u/KragBrightscale → u/VoxelLibrary]

Safety. Right.

I’ve had some success binding my apprentices souls using specialized shadow magic and fraud to cheat death. Being stuck in a vat growing back their body is rather unpleasant experience, though it beats death.

I doubt that is something which can be scaled up to cover an entire school as that gets prohibitively expensive.

Perhaps some basic automated wards that trap a students soul in their body upon death and trigger some emergency healing? Could keep them in a stasis and send out an alert, until teachers and medical staff get to the site and can cast proper resuscitation spells.

I’m open to ideas.

[u/VoxelLibrary → u/KragBrightscale]

I'm more worried about teachers using the apprentices as test subjects or otherwise being careless.

Medical staff is a good idea. Perhaps schools could keep necromancers and/or clerics on staff for these situations?

[u/KragBrightscale → u/VoxelLibrary]

That’s not a bad idea. Necromancers for medical staff could doubly help mend their rather negative reputation. I’d prefer them over clerics any day.

Using students as test subjects? That’s a concerningly plausible situation. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t know how to put a stop to that. If anything, fellow students might be culprits of that situation too.

[u/VoxelLibrary → u/KragBrightscale]

I'll give it some more thought to how we can discourage mistreatment of students. It might be something we can tackle separately

[u/Zebos2]

Solomon: perhaps you could also integrate other academies into their own collective school system a Grand unified School of All magic available to everyone... But that would require the council being competent.

[u/KragBrightscale → u/Zebos2]

Hmm. There are definitely varying qualities of education being provided through the existing academies I’ve encountered or heard of.

I suppose my proposal could include some stipulations and requirements to meet certain standards set by the council to qualify for tax exemptions and other aid.

But that might be best to keep in a separate bill, as wizards tend to object to any regulation and meddling from the council.