Called ‘Majesty’s’ for short, this is one of Britain's most prestigious magical schools. (And art school, of course: but in this world, those two things are one and the same.) Majesty’s is an old fashioned boarding school, where children of all genders attend to learn how to master their magical and artistic abilities.
Historically, Majesty’s was distinctly upper crust, with only the children of the upper classes attending. But since creativity is most certainly not exclusive to the aristocracy, over time the school’s makeup has changed to include more students of all backgrounds. Upper class children still attend the school in significant numbers, but many get in on family connections rather than creative ability, and the least talented students will be part of this group. Meanwhile, the bulk of the school population is made up of the most creative children in the country. Most of the students end up here because they displayed powerful feats of accidental magic while doodling.
Take the fanciest and most aristocratic traditional boarding school building. Something like this, perhaps. Then stick that castle on big massive fluffy white clouds, and send it floating around all over the place. This, is Majesty’s.
Despite their fluffiness and apparent insubstantial nature, the clouds are perfectly safe to walk on. Students can wander around them as they wish, and the grounds include features such as cricket, tennis, and croquet courts. There’s also a fluffy cloud forest, which has been populated with game (because surely no one could expect the aristocratic students of years past to not be able to hunt foxes while they go around floating all over the place. The horror).
Inside, the castle is fabulously decorated, with secret passageways and magical secrets hidden all throughout. Each house has their own dormitory, with students typically rooming with three others.
Lone Star Academy
Back in the days when Texas was still its own country, a powerful artist created their own dormant volcano in the middle of the state. No one really knows why, or how, but after the artist’s death the volcano became the home of Texas’s first school for magic: the Lone Star Academy.
The volcano’s changed over the years - over time other artists have decided to reshape it, first into the shape of a star, and then later by carving famous figures from Texas history into the side of it like Mount Rushmore. But it’s still a school, and still one of the best places to learn magic in North America. Inside the volcano, in caverns carved into the walls of the crater, are classrooms and dorms and even a McDonalds (because of course there is a McDonalds) - not to mention hidden tunnels and places to explore; spelunking is a popular hobby here.
One of the things Lone Star Academy is most famous for is its annual magical rodeo, a tradition that dates back to the school’s founding. In preparation for the rodeo, sculptural students craft horses and other livestock from clay and wood and metal, enchanting them to liveliness and giving those crafted steers various magical abilities to make them more of a challenge. Leather- and clothworkers create enchanted gear for the human participants in the rodeo--usually students whose artistic mediums fall under the category of performance magic. The rodeo itself is held at the end of the school year, as a reward for the students who’ve made it through their final exams and evaluations.
Originally, only Texans were allowed to attend Lone Star Academy. These days, however, it’s open to anyone in North America, as long as their magic is powerful enough. Although it does charge a tuition to those who can afford it, Lone Star receives enough donations from wealthy former students to offer partial subsidies or full scholarships to those talented students who demonstrate clear need.
Teikoku Majutsu-shi no Gakuen
Founded by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1607, Teikoku Majutsu-shi no Gakuen was originally intended to train those of noble families, but currently, it will accept anyone who can pass its torturous, highly competitive entrance exam. Getting accepted to the school is a Big Deal, and it's not uncommon for young children to spend a lot of time in cram school studying and preparing for these exams. Families with a graduate of the school often try to make sure the next generation gets accepted as well, even though in the modern day, lineage doesn't matter as far as admission is concerned.
The school is in the shape of a magnificent giant koi fish, occasionally affectionately referred to as Dai-kun, that swims around the Japanese archipelago, thus ensuring that no part of the country is left out. The school is entered through the fish's mouth. From the outside, it looks like a normal orange-and-white spotted koi (albeit an enormous one), but inside, the fish's sides are transparent save for its ribs and overall support structure. This gives the students a constant view of the ocean or other scenery that might be around when the fish surfaces. (Private quarters and many of the inner classrooms do have solid walls that cannot be seen through, however.) Though the fish is constantly in motion, once inside, everything feels just as stable as though you were walking on solid ground, and over the years, it's gained impressive modern benefits like electricity and wi-fi.
It's a common prank to try to get Dai-kun to magically wear a tiny hat of some sort for a few hours or days. This prank is tolerated largely because successfully pulling it off is an impressive feat of skill and also because most of the instructors can remember doing it while they were students here. School legend also says that Dai-kun has a gekirin, a single backwards scale, that, if touched, will send Dai-kun into a thrashing rage that would put the school's magical stability to the test. (It is not widely known, but said legend was confirmed true in 1857 by one particularly bored student, who discovered that this unimpressively gave Dai-kun hiccups for three hours.)
Once a month, the school surfaces so the students and faculty can get fresh air and so that any supplies can be replenished. Depending on where the fish surfaces, these outings can take the form of beach holidays, hot spring visits, summer festivals, or educational historical field trips where everyone ends up in period clothing for some reason.
THE SCHOOLS
Called ‘Majesty’s’ for short, this is one of Britain's most prestigious magical schools. (And art school, of course: but in this world, those two things are one and the same.) Majesty’s is an old fashioned boarding school, where children of all genders attend to learn how to master their magical and artistic abilities.
Historically, Majesty’s was distinctly upper crust, with only the children of the upper classes attending. But since creativity is most certainly not exclusive to the aristocracy, over time the school’s makeup has changed to include more students of all backgrounds. Upper class children still attend the school in significant numbers, but many get in on family connections rather than creative ability, and the least talented students will be part of this group. Meanwhile, the bulk of the school population is made up of the most creative children in the country. Most of the students end up here because they displayed powerful feats of accidental magic while doodling.
Take the fanciest and most aristocratic traditional boarding school building. Something like this, perhaps. Then stick that castle on big massive fluffy white clouds, and send it floating around all over the place. This, is Majesty’s.
Despite their fluffiness and apparent insubstantial nature, the clouds are perfectly safe to walk on. Students can wander around them as they wish, and the grounds include features such as cricket, tennis, and croquet courts. There’s also a fluffy cloud forest, which has been populated with game (because surely no one could expect the aristocratic students of years past to not be able to hunt foxes while they go around floating all over the place. The horror).
Inside, the castle is fabulously decorated, with secret passageways and magical secrets hidden all throughout. Each house has their own dormitory, with students typically rooming with three others.
Lone Star Academy
Back in the days when Texas was still its own country, a powerful artist created their own dormant volcano in the middle of the state. No one really knows why, or how, but after the artist’s death the volcano became the home of Texas’s first school for magic: the Lone Star Academy.
The volcano’s changed over the years - over time other artists have decided to reshape it, first into the shape of a star, and then later by carving famous figures from Texas history into the side of it like Mount Rushmore. But it’s still a school, and still one of the best places to learn magic in North America. Inside the volcano, in caverns carved into the walls of the crater, are classrooms and dorms and even a McDonalds (because of course there is a McDonalds) - not to mention hidden tunnels and places to explore; spelunking is a popular hobby here.
One of the things Lone Star Academy is most famous for is its annual magical rodeo, a tradition that dates back to the school’s founding. In preparation for the rodeo, sculptural students craft horses and other livestock from clay and wood and metal, enchanting them to liveliness and giving those crafted steers various magical abilities to make them more of a challenge. Leather- and clothworkers create enchanted gear for the human participants in the rodeo--usually students whose artistic mediums fall under the category of performance magic. The rodeo itself is held at the end of the school year, as a reward for the students who’ve made it through their final exams and evaluations.
Originally, only Texans were allowed to attend Lone Star Academy. These days, however, it’s open to anyone in North America, as long as their magic is powerful enough. Although it does charge a tuition to those who can afford it, Lone Star receives enough donations from wealthy former students to offer partial subsidies or full scholarships to those talented students who demonstrate clear need.
Teikoku Majutsu-shi no Gakuen
Founded by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1607, Teikoku Majutsu-shi no Gakuen was originally intended to train those of noble families, but currently, it will accept anyone who can pass its torturous, highly competitive entrance exam. Getting accepted to the school is a Big Deal, and it's not uncommon for young children to spend a lot of time in cram school studying and preparing for these exams. Families with a graduate of the school often try to make sure the next generation gets accepted as well, even though in the modern day, lineage doesn't matter as far as admission is concerned.
The school is in the shape of a magnificent giant koi fish, occasionally affectionately referred to as Dai-kun, that swims around the Japanese archipelago, thus ensuring that no part of the country is left out. The school is entered through the fish's mouth. From the outside, it looks like a normal orange-and-white spotted koi (albeit an enormous one), but inside, the fish's sides are transparent save for its ribs and overall support structure. This gives the students a constant view of the ocean or other scenery that might be around when the fish surfaces. (Private quarters and many of the inner classrooms do have solid walls that cannot be seen through, however.) Though the fish is constantly in motion, once inside, everything feels just as stable as though you were walking on solid ground, and over the years, it's gained impressive modern benefits like electricity and wi-fi.
It's a common prank to try to get Dai-kun to magically wear a tiny hat of some sort for a few hours or days. This prank is tolerated largely because successfully pulling it off is an impressive feat of skill
and also because most of the instructors can remember doing it while they were students here. School legend also says that Dai-kun has a gekirin, a single backwards scale, that, if touched, will send Dai-kun into a thrashing rage that would put the school's magical stability to the test. (It is not widely known, but said legend was confirmed true in 1857 by one particularly bored student, who discovered that this unimpressively gave Dai-kun hiccups for three hours.)Once a month, the school surfaces so the students and faculty can get fresh air and so that any supplies can be replenished. Depending on where the fish surfaces, these outings can take the form of beach holidays, hot spring visits, summer festivals, or educational historical field trips where everyone ends up in period clothing for some reason.