Editing Diaphane (section)

====Schools of the Eikonic Arts====

The Invisible College is not the only school for the teaching of the eikonic arts in Diaphane. Because it teaches foreign magic, it is obviously the better known to foreigners – but for the same reason is of questionable reputation in Diaphane. Schools change over time: older schools become unpopular, newer schools schism from established schools, or merge, or even go into exile in one instance. Membership in most of the schools is secret, in theory – only other magicians will recognize the school of another, or know the location of the schools.

'''the Invisible College''': The only school that teaches more than one type of magic is the Invisible College. Originally founded just prior to the Second Shattering, it was an ambitious attempt to unify pellucid, reflective, and chromatic magic. Although that goal was never attained, it is the only place to learn all four types of magic. Its students, having split their studies so widely, tend to be broad generalists rather than thorough specialists.

'''the Paramanteion''': Oldest and most traditional of the schools of Diaphane. Its students learn in the Aeologion – the temple of the wind god. To outsiders they are not distinguished from the temple’s priests, and many of the priests are also students of the Paramanteion. The school’s magisters focus on the philosophical ramifications of pellucid magic, and tend to neglect the practical. The school often accepts foreign students from the Silent Brotherhood or from other friendly cults.

'''the Calyption''': This school meets in the Crystal Grottos, where the crystal trees were first discovered. It disbanded during the Second Shattering, at which time it was known as the “Cryption,” but was refounded after the Third Shattering in its current form. Originally the school studied and tended to the crystal trees, and transplanted groves of crystal trees elsewhere for cultivation. In its current incarnation the school teaches glass-wrights, and led the development of glass golems and similar automata.

'''the Glass Libraries''': The Glass Libraries are not as formal a school as others – it is more a loose alliance of various repositories of lore in Diaphane. By agreement, each allows the students of the others free access to study from the crystalline plates inscribed with various lore. This agreement dates back to the construction of the first helioscopes (which focus sunlight as weapons) before the Second Shattering, and students of the Glass Libraries tend to specialize as lens-wrights and the design of telescopes, microscopes, and helioscopes. It is said that the Glass Libraries stole the idea for their helioscopes and Sun Towers from the Mirror Towers of Narcissus – an accusation that they angrily refute.

'''the Agoric College''': The only school officially sponsored by the Worshipful Archons of Diaphane, and one of the few whose students are known and registered. Its masters teach openly in the Crystalline Agora, and the unlearned who listen nearby are either discouraged, or invited to join as students, according to their aptitude. The school focuses mainly on interacting with the invisible Neighbors that also inhabit Diaphane, and there are always rumors that one or more of the school’s magisters are actually Neighbors made briefly visible.

'''the Skolomanteion''': The only school to have been exiled from Diaphane, in the Time of Clarity when the albino cult was reestablished in the city. The offense or heresy committed by the Skolomanteion was purged from the records of the Worshipful Archons, so none now know what it was. Rumors as to where the school went in its exile are wild and endless, but it is not even certain that the Skolomanteion even survives in any form at all.

-- by Kakita Kojiro