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The School of the Flow

by FlowsLikeBits

"I got some of the most wonderful jewelry there."

- Icefire Jasmine, who is a wonderful judge of such things

Go against the flow to reach thy destination.

1. 1. Black: Management
   2. Red: Custom Work
   3. Blue: Enchantment, Alchemy and Training
   4. White: Martial Training
   5. Green: Healing

- Sign in the entryway of the School of the Flow

The School of the Flow is one of the most striking buildings in Nexus. Standing on the edge of the Dancing Plaza, the gigantic jade cube takes up a good portion of an entire side. The building is unlabeled; those inside have no wish to deal with people too stupid to find their destination. Locals giving directions have bought into this a bit; they are almost never more specific than directing visitors to the Dancing Plaza. This is less of a problem than it might seem, as the entire outside of the building is covered with a thin sheet of flowing water. The water spills over the roof and down the sides to form a shallow moat around the building, making it technically the largest fountain in Nexus. The only dry spot on the outside is the single doorway in the exact center of the side facing the square. It emerges from the flowing water and connects a small stone causeway to the Plaza. To date, no one has had difficulty recognizing the School of the Flow.

Students at the school can study Thaumaturgy and Terrestrial Circle Sorcery (if possible). There is even a martial arts dojo for those who prefer a different form of enlightenment (this is not a required part of the occult curriculum, though).

The top of building is black, the front is blue, the back is red, the right side is white, and the left green. Clever observers (mechanically: those who make a Perception + Occult roll, difficulty 2) will recognize that the building is geomantically optimal, although it is not a Manse. The building is also not actually made out jade, but appropriately colored and textured stone. This combines with the flowing water to create a convincing illusion. Although it really looks it, the School of the Flow is not of First Age or even Shogunate construction; it was built about ten years ago by an outcaste Dragon-Blood named Flow of Knowledge. She bought a bankrupt theater and rebuilt it into the school.

Yeddim in the basement power a series of mechanical pumps that lift water from the external moat to the black pool on the roof, from which a small amount flows down the sides; most is heated by the sun. This system provides warm/cold running water to the inside of the building and the nearby Laughing Watersprite Bathhouse. The yeddim also power a few smaller pumps for the numerous internal water fountains and circulation systems.

The inside of the school consists of various stone geometric shapes suspended in a vast open space. These are all done in flowing stone of the five colors. These rooms are connected by spiraling stairways and walkways. A small channel or set of channels goes along each passage. Within these channels flow water of various colors, originating at a small fountain in each department and converging in a beautiful swirl of color in a pool in the entrance hall. As the sign says, following a color upstream will take you to your destination, while going downstream will take one to the exits. There are no other signs in the entry way; vistors are expected to find their way to each department, where polite help is readily available. The departments are:

1. Black: Management -- there are fewer jokes than one would think.
2. Red: Custom Work -- usually geomancy, but enchantment and alchemy are also possible, and the thaumaturges can craft minor artifacts (mostly of jade).
3. Blue: Enchantment, Alchemy and Training -- the most popular destination, this is where new students can enroll. There is also a small store for enchanted objects and alchemical concoctions.
4. White: Dojo -- where one can receive Martial Arts training.
5. Green: Healing -- this also includes some alchemical solutions.

Flow of Knowledge (which is obviously a pseudonym) is the school's founder and headmistress, as well as an attractive and vivacious Water-Aspected dynast. She commonly wears a set of flowing blue robes that move around her in an obviously supernatural way. She quickly turned her school into one of the leading schools of Thaumaturgy and Sorcery in Creation, and is well known in the social circles of the upper class.

Her past is mostly unknown, as is her true age, although it is somewhat remarkable that she has managed to maintain such a public position without it catching up with her. While it doesn't really approach the Heptagram, the School of the Flow is probably the best school in Creation that has not been influenced by the Celestial Exalted. Flow of Knowledge places a considerable emphasis on Thaumaturgy, even for Dragon-Blooded. Graduates tend to be proficient in several Arts and have basic knowlege of the Sciences (effectively, Knowledge •••), as well as sorcery (if possible). Thaumaturgy students learn far more, of course. This tends to make education take a while, but it is very complete. As the sign in the entryway indicates, overcoming adversity is considered a virtue, although the atmosphere focuses more on extracting each student's potential, rather than the competitive philosophy used in the schools of the Realm.

The dojo is mostly separate from the rest of the school. Flow of Knowledge finds the essence flows of martial artists of interest, so she lends space to some teachers for study.

Rumours

• The school is looking for a new master for the dojo.
• Flow of Knowledge is a powerful descendant of a Water elemental, rather than an actual Dragon-Blood.
• Flow of Knowledge is trying to turn the school into a Demesne.
• A secretly imprisoned water elemental runs the water system. Anyone who finds out about it disappears.

Secret

• Flow of Knowledge was born as Mnemon Sierra, a scion of house Mnemon with more ambition than breeding. In her youth she went on a variety of exploratory adventures in an attempt to encourage Exaltation. Naturally, these failed, but she found an artifact she eventually realized was called the Robes of Mela. Wearing them was almost as good as Exaltation - better, in some ways. She figured that when she did finally Exalt, she would have a considerable advantage over her peers. She mostly didn't wear the Robes, but kept up the attunement and couldn't resist wearing them in order to learn on her own - again, figuring it would give her a head start. Eventually she got old enough that the prospect of Exaltuation became dim, so she vanished from her previous life and took to wearing the Robes all the time and faking a Water-Aspected demeanour with minor enchantments. She then moved to Nexus and started the school. Her family considered her non-Exaltation an embarrassment (she actually had fairly good blood), so they didn't put too much effort into looking for her, figuring she probably committed suicide. For her part, Flow of Knowledge tempered her ambitions a bit and is considerably more well balanced. She is now quite happy running the school and splitting her time between study and social callings. Her only regret is having to abstain from having children, so as to not reveal her thin blood. Restricting her choices to those of impeccable breeding has limited the field a bit too much.

Statistics

Robes of Mela (actually, the Robes of Merit -- a scholar at the Academy of Poetics mistranslated the name)</b>
Artifact N/A for mortals, Artifact <b>•</b> for others
A set of flowing blue robes
Commitment: 0 (there are no MM bonuses)

When worn and attuned, these robes are obviously supernatural and flow around the wearer. This is semi-controlable and aesthetically pleasing. It adds one die to social rolls when the character's obvious supernatural abilities are not a problem. This is the extent of this item's benefit for Exalts, God-Blooded, or anyone else with a natural essence pool.

The Robes of Merit could be considered a mortal form of the Mantle of Brigid. When worn by someone without Essence Mastery, they gain an effective Essence rating of 3 (which cannot be increased) and an essence pool, calculated as for Dragon-Blooded. Breeding (if any) counts here. They wearer is considered a Terrestial Exalt for the purposes of learning sorcery, Charm learning, healing, aging and attunement to artifacts. This includes the free use of reflexive charms. All Charms (Immaculate ones included) are considered Immaculate for the purposes of costs and training time. However, they don't have an Aspect, so they must always pay the 1 mote surcharge on all charm activations. On the plus side, their entire essence pool is considered personal, so they never show an anima banner and are not subject to the Great Curse (of course).

This item is very tenacious; it must be separated from its owner for a week before the attunement breaks. Flow of Knowledge has never done this. This is somewhat unfortunate, as being attuned to this item makes one ineligible for actual Exaltation. It is thought that breaking the attunement would cause any Terrestial Exaltation that would have happened to occur, although this has never been tested. Celestials are out of luck; Lytek just chooses someone else, although they could theoretically be chosen after breaking attunement.

         Black     Management 
         Red       Custom Work  
         Blue      Enchantment, Alchemy and Training 
         White     Martial Training 
         Green     Healing 

Shataina - I just wanted the two text collumns to line up and 'fixed mode' was the only way. This looks better in some ways, worse in others. It's probably easier to read, so I'm going to leave it. As for the reproduction thing; I'd say Flow probably isn't entirely rational on this issue, of course ,there is already one rumor and she's faking enough stuff that her fear may not be that irrational. Also my take on Realm society was that, while having one's first child be un-Exalted would be embarrasssing, not trying again would be odd. That's my take on Flow's belief anyway. ;) YMMV --FlowsLikeBits