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Solovan

The town of Solovan is not particularly impressive. Sitting just west of Cherak, on the edge of the Inner Sea, it is a small agricultural community lying in the foothills of the local Kanahaken Mountains. With a population of just under one thousand people, unaffiliated with the Realm despite its nearness to their satrapies, Solovan would be almost entirely uninteresting if it weren't for their only feature; the Twin Dragons Academy, a school for the martial arts.

The Twin Dragon Academy

The Twin Dragon Academy is a half-hour's walk up the road from Solovan. Surrounded by pine and birch trees, the high walls of the Academy conceal its interior from the merely curious; those who wish entrance must step to the front gates, at which a pair of guards are also in attendance. Inside, there is a large outer courtyard, laid out in brickwork, along with pathways leading to the main building, the side building, the stables, and paths around to the small gardens in the back.

The main building of the Academy takes up the bulk of the space. On the ground floor of this building are the training rooms; in here, students train in the martial arts and study whatever else they may have come to learn. The rear area of the ground floor also includes the private chambers of the Academy's masters. The second floor of the Academy contains two large dormatories, where the students who have chosen not to live in town sleep; there is no particular privacy, so many students prefer the long walk to and from the Academy each day.

Essence-wielders who enter the Academy recognize instantly that it is a Manse, and a powerful one - however, no student has ever found its Hearthstone chamber. It is possible that the Hearthstone chamber lies within or beneath the Masters' chambers, but no one is quite certain. Regardless, only the masters of the Academy are attuned; students are never attuned to the Manse, regardless of how much easier it might make their training.

The Academy serves primarily as a school for the martial arts; however, students can also learn the rudiments of thaumaturgy and sorcery, provided that this does not interfere with their primary training. The masters decide who will be taught from applicants, and their fees vary depending on the promise of the student. The bulk of the students are mortals who work to enlighten their Essence and practice the Terrestrial Martial Arts, but a handful of Dragon-Blooded also train at any given time.

The Twin Dragons

The twin masters of the Academy are Master Jacuir and Master Shining Thread. Jacuir (who answers to no family name) is a middle-aged Fire Aspect, a skilled swordsman whose martial arts techniques all use his reaper daiklave - he admits to being a master of Even Blade, Golden Janissary, and Five-Dragon Style, and suggests that he has studied other styles, though not enough to be confidant teaching them. Jacuir has also mastered a technique that makes it easier to train and enlighten mortals, which he uses for his students. He is a gregarious and easy-going master, although this does not translate to a lax one; he simply has an encouraging style, pushing his students to advance.

By contrast, Shining Thread is the winter wind. An Air Aspect, she speaks little, using clipped sentences even when training, and rarely seems pleased. She gives compliments and encouragements only grudgingly, and even the slightest praise from her is something the student knows is well-earned. Shining Thread fights entirely unarmed, having mastered the Terrestrial Hero and First Pulse styles, as well as being a sorcerer of some skill. She is always observant, and rarely lenient when she finds something she doesn't like.

No one is certain how it is that Jacuir and Thread are such close companions - no one is even certain how close they are. Some say that they are married, or simply romantically involved, while others claim they are merely good friends. Either way, they have run the school together for over forty years, having arrived one night and declared the school open. Their history before that is unknown, although persistant rumours state that they are both former Dynastic Wyld Huntsmen who fled the Realm after some sort of political disaster (or who eloped, depending on how fanciful the rumourmonger wishes to be).