Editing Exploring the Halls of Arden Vul: Institutions (section)

=Collegia=
The seven collegia effectively monopolize the formal training in magic use in the Archontean empire. Originally there was but one collegium, the Order of Thoth, and it was strictly limited to the nobly born. Resentment of this stratification was one of the causes of the infamous War of the Sortians and Theosophs, which nearly destroyed the empire some 1,200 years ago. A result of the war, alongside general imperial retraction from Irthuin, was that magical training became more egalitarian. Seven collegia now exist, each with its own identity and/or specialty:

*'''The Order of Thoth:''' generalists; the original order, and still politically powerful
*'''The College of Perception:''' illusionists and magic users interested in illusion
*'''The Imperial Academy:''' generalists; few in number; snobby, limited to uppermost nobility
*'''Collegium of Macrina:''' academics and researchers; their members produce the largest number of new spells
*'''New School of Arcane Might:''' generalists and necromancers; follows a philosophy of domination
*'''Order of the Fifth Circle:''' summoners and those interested in the planes
*'''Collegium of Cinders:''' elementalists

A few well-placed magi suspect that an eighth, secret collegium exists.