Academy District

The Academy District is located on the western or Dusk side of the city of Omrazir, where it is situated on an eminence overlooking the Strait of Sorrows. It is reached by way of the Via Lucis, or Way of Light, and lies only a short distance from al-Ruviyyah Plaza and the palace gates.

The district consists of the Elucidarium Academy itself, including the Great Mosque and library, along with apartments for resident and visiting scholars and a number of terraces and small courtyards. Like many other parts of Omrazir, it is a mishmosh of building styles representing numerous cultures, historical periods, and personal whims, and is clearly subject to no coherent long-term plan. For all that, it can never be said that a walk through the Elucidarium grounds is uninteresting or monotonous, although those familiar with the more aesthetically sophisticated madrasas of Sirdab often bemoan the lack of attention to design.

Stair of Learning

From the docks, access to the Academy District is provided by the Stair of Learning, a city landmark in its own right. This long gently curving stair leads up from the dockside promenade to the high terrace above. The stair is lined with blocks inscribed with passages from the writings and speeches of famed scholars from throughout history, starting with the most ancient at the bottom and ascending gradually through more exalted levels of learning. A triple-arched colonnade spanning the top of the stairs is ornamented with recesses containing statues of six of the caliphate's most famous scholars in a startling classical Elukoi style -- an indication of the stair's origins in the days of the Ruvan Empire. Although more properly part of the Via Lucis, the Stair of Learning is inevitably associated with the Academy itself and is generally considered to put both visitors and students in the proper frame of mind to enter upon its grounds.

The Elucidarium

Not an establishment with any inclination towards false modesty, Omrazir's illustrious university boasts the full name of The Illuminated Academy of God's Elucidated Wisdom, but is generally just referred to as The Elucidarium. The school draws students not only from the Sirdabi Caliphate but from across Idiri, and even occasionally from Ruvera. Its academic specialties are theology, law, astronomy, mathematics, physical mechanics, architecture, and both pure arcane and spiritual magics. However, a number of renowned polymaths serve as instructors at the academy, so other schools of learning are also represented here to a lesser degree.

The administrative faculty and student body consist most prominently of Sirdabi from the upper echelons of the bureaucratic service and the more intellectually ambitious mercantile class. Given this makeup, admission is heavily biased in favor of children -- particularly men -- from families of relatively substantial means or reputation, though in theory the academy is open to anyone regardless of sex, ethnicity, or class.

The Library

The Elucidarium is perhaps best known for its immense library, containing volumes spanning an expansive range of topics far surpassing the school's own concentrations of study. The library's collection has been assembled over many hundreds of years, starting as the personal collection (and perhaps personal mania as well) of Ghabreil Pisciculus, one of the early governors of Ruvan-era Omrazir and originally the son of an al-Sakhna fisherman.

During the time of Ghabreil and for a few hundred years afterwards it was a somewhat hazardous thing to travel through Omrazir while in the possession of books, as port officials were authorized to confiscate any written materials for possible inclusion in the library. Usually a copy was made of any confiscated work and given to the owner in place of the original, but especially in the case of the rare and valuable materials that the library most coveted, this was not always the most agreeable resolution for the one-time book owner. Many other works were never returned at all. However, it was as a result of this practice that many books were preserved that might otherwise have been lost due to the chaos and displacement of the Great Dark. To this day it remains one of the most solemn duties of the Omrazir Customs Authority to inspect all written materials coming into the city and ensure that arrangements are made with the library to copy any manuscript deemed worthy of its possession.

It is rumored that the Elucidarium still has a secret deal with the pirates and smugglers that pass through the port, guaranteeing them a fine price paid for any books, scrolls, or manuscripts that come their way, no questions asked. This is perhaps part of the reason that the matter of obtaining books is still almost literally a cut-throat business in Omrazir, with genuine copies of important works fetching exorbitant prices, and the rightful owners of them occasionally coming to bad ends. On the other hand, stealing books from the library itself is a crime punishable in Omrazir by death.

Thanks in part to these policies and the efforts of generations of scholars and bibliophiles, the library now boasts works written in dozens of languages and dialects and from all corners of the known world, and perhaps a few parts beyond. Scholars and researchers come from all around to study at the library, and copies of works may be made by skilled scribes in exchange for either payment or service. Payment may be made in cash or through the exchange of works of sufficient value, while service may include a stint of teaching or research conducted at the university.

The Elucidarium library is usually just known as The Library, as if it were the only such institution in the world worthy of mention.