World Literomantic Academy
The World Literomantic Academy is the successor organization to the School of Worldcraft and Wordmancy, which was officially retired upon the death of its founder and Headmaster, WriterGreg. It has officially been granted charter in the Lapin Protectorate. Ailurus Protectorate, and Sauropoda Protectorate, and is considered the world's premier source of training in Literomancy.
Structure
The WLA has a two-pronged approach to instruction in the literomantic arts. It is their contention that literomancy starts with the art of writing, so creative writing classes are a strong focus. Some students come simply for the creative writing training, and never cross into becoming Literomancers. Either way, literary skills are the foundation on which the curriculum is built.
The Academy offers classes from grade school to university level. Students are encouraged to board with the Academy dormitories, but off-campus students are also welcome. However, because they cannot train everybody, they only accept students who have won scholarships or who have shown signs of already-existing literomantic ability.
All WLA campuses follow the curriculum established by WriterGreg before his untimely death at the end of The Third Word War. All, however, also have additional parts to their curriculums that serve the needs of the Protectorate they are in. Lapin's curriculum, for example, also involves military tactics and strategy, and works closely with the Lapin Royal Military Academy, which is located near its campus.
The Academy is led by HRH Erin Righ, who stepped into the Headmaster role after WriterGreg's passing. He coordinated with some of WriterGreg's original batch of students, including his son HRH Prince Jean, his daughter Panda Polemarch Senna Nightshade, and Buddha Kwake, Duke Sacramento, to maintain WriterGreg's legacy.
Most WLA campuses are funded and run by the Protectorates they are located in. Instructors, as a result, tend to be famous Tome Knights who are veterans of the Word Wars, who donate their time to instruct in peacetime. Instructors who are not otherwise employed by the state receive a generous salary.
Culture
WLA strongly emphasizes a team-based approach. Camaraderie is actively fostered between the students. While each student is nurtured in developing their own writing and literomantic processes, they are also instructed on finding ways to make those specialties work in compliment with other students and other literomancers.
So basically what you're saying is this is the Charles Xavier School for the Gifted?
Public Agenda
The World Literomantic Academy is looking for the next generation of literomancers. They offer instruction in all aspects of the literomantic arts, from developing magic powers to developing skill with prose. While it's no secret that this is, in part, because literomancers are essential to protecting the world against the The Undead Horde, and they do hope to develop new Tome Knights for the war efforts, it is also their belief that writing for its own sake is important and valuable, and teaching literary acumen is an essential work for the public good.
Assets
At the moment, WLA has three major campuses; one on the grounds of The Warren in Okanagan City (Lapin Protectorate), one at the base of Mt. Mitchell in Jurassica (Sauropoda Protectorate), and one in Penwall (Ailurus Protectorate). Technically these buildings are owned by their respective states, mostly in order to make them tax-exempt, but they are privately administered by the Academy. However, after The Fourth Word War, the current Sauropodan campus is essentially a bunch of tents and temporary trailers, since their building was destroyed. Their other assets were safely secured before the building's destruction.
Most campuses, recognizing that budding literomancers would be an obvious target for the Undead Horde, are well equipped for defense, if necessary. Buildings are solidly constructed, and come equipped with solid doors and defensive, impact-resistant shutters for any windows.
Some of the Academy's most important assets includes the most impressive literomantic library in the world outside of a Great House. Most of it was either acquired by WriterGreg and Erin Righ in return for their mercenary services during the first three Word Wars, or donated by other literomancers, especially the Great Houses. Some books were purchased from the proceeds of the GoFundMe campaign that WriterGreg and Erin Righ ran when the WLA News branch parted ways with the GOT News Network, which received overwhelming public support in the form of donations that far exceeded expectations.
History
The loss of WriterGreg in the Third Word War hit the Tome Knights of the Realm hard, since he was highly regarded and much loved. It became especially important to Erin Righ, as a surviving faculty member of the School of Worldcraft and Wordmancy, to carry on with the work Greg had started.
Conceived in the first few days following the end of the War, he, his brother-in-law Duke Sacramento, and two of his children immediately decided that they would preserve and maintain the school he had begun. However, they did not feel comfortable holding on to the concepts that had been purely WriterGreg's, so they rebranded under a new name.
The first WLA campus (re)opened at the site of WriterGreg's original school in the following January (2023,) after the Tome Knights had somewhat recovered from their significant war wounds. However, they soon decided to move locations, both because the school building had since become a hostel to people displaced by the wars, and because it was more convenient, as leaders of sovereign nations, for the faculty to have campuses near to their government and military seats. Also, enrollment has grown considerably, and they needed more space.
The Great Houses were quite generous in helping to fund these efforts, and in providing space for the new campuses. The first class of WLA graduates joined the war effort in The Fourth Word War. Of note, Salali Nutcracker the Captioner is currently a student at the Mt. Mitchell Campus, seeking a Graduate Degree in Filking Studies.
Ethics
The WLA teaches Tome Knights a sense of responsibility to defend the populace, and instructs them in the ethical use of magic, such as avoiding mind control, and trying to minimize collateral damage. Recognizing that it may be tempting for literomancers who are growing in their power to develop a superiority complex, they also teach that literomancers are part of a machine that works in conjunction with other roles, and literomancy is more of a specialized trade than a "talent" per se. Students who graduate from the Academy tend to work very well in group environments.
This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.
This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.
Atramento Ad Paginam "Ink to Page"
Founding Date
January 1, 2023
Type
Education, Magic
Predecessor Organization
Training Level
Trained
Leader
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Senna Nightshade
Prince Jean
The Bard with Many Names
Sable Aradia
Barbarossa the Wayfinder
Dazzlinkat
Duochanfan
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