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Table of Contents
That's What Grad Students Are For player-space
The characters are students at University of Salamander. They are being sent out to do research, exploration, and occasionally retrieval of artifacts of the past.
The Town Of Salamander
The mountain range that defines the Western border of the kingdom of Riparialand hosts the dwarven city-state of Dunkelangsam down much of its Southern range, but nearer the Northern end a flow of magma rises through it, emerging occasionally from the cone of Salamander, an active volcano.
Since a variety of alchemically-useful materials can be found around volcanic sites, it was a natural location to site the kingdom's major repository of knowledge and seat of learning.
Shops
Lodging
Services
Town Government
Public Spaces
Religious Facilities
Greater Temple of Foosh (the Fire god)
Temple of Ok (the Earth goddess)
This setting is virtually soaking in various minor dieties, so there are little shrines and a few small temples to various other ones all over town.
University Of Salamander
Originally a small settlement where alchemists, apothecaries, wizards, and general scholars gathered to do research and learn from each other, it only took a few years to organize into a formal university. It is just now nearing its 1-century mark in age since its founding.
It's not large in absolute terms, mainly because Riparialand is a small kingdom to begin with and only a small minority of any typical population is academically-inclined, but it is remarkably busy for its size. Its faculty, staff, and students tend towards enthusiasm for research, and it attracts learners from not only Riparialand but Dunkelangsam and even a number of refugees from the Republic of Sabbatalia.
The University is more of a legal entity than a specific set of buildings - its facilities are thoroughly integrated with the town and instruction is frequently carried out in multi-purpose buildings, sometimes rented or used for normal commercial use by the professor. There are a few dedicated university buildings scattered here and there as well. The Library, for example, is an independent facility funded by membership fees, but students' tuition and instructors stipends/grants includes cost of membership. Private citizens may also be members.
Each “college” or “department” is its own Scholar's Guild, each of which has a seat in the overarching University Guild that oversees them all. The individual college/department guilds determine when students/apprentices are qualified to call themselves (whatever the department/college is), while the University guild determines who is qualified to instruct at any department.
University Administrative Building
Colleges and Departments
College of Natural Philosophy and the Practical Arts
Department of Alchemy and Material Philosophy
Wessex Hall (Summoning Department)