Howdy, Roanoke Glass Peeps,
Valerie Hunt, your intrepid girl reporter here, reporting for the Roanoke Glass. Welcome back to my column: “World of the Wise.”
Column Two of my series: The Dormitories of Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts
Poking around, I have been surprised to discover how few people know all seven dorms and their specialties. Thought I would put the information all in one place for you. I will travel around the campus in a circle from the southeast-most dorm to the southwest-most dorm. Come journey across Roanoke Academy campus with me!
Today’s subject:
Raleigh Hall – The second dorm going around the circle is named for Sir Walter Raleigh, the Elizabethan explorer who was the original owner of the land grant that led to the discovery of Roanoke Island. Raleigh himself never visited Roanoke. He was busy discovering El Dorado.
Raleigh is a large sprawling building of a light yellow stone, part of which is covered with ivy. It rises three stories from the ground, except for in front, where there is a high tower with turrets that extends another story. There is also a basement level. The building is located on the southeast side of the commons, just beyond the hidden garden.
There is also a planetarium on the roof, used for both astronomy and alchemical influences.
Alchemy is studied here—the Art of putting magic into material objects. This includes the making of talismans, which we Unwary just call magic items, and elixirs, which are temporary magic you can drink. Personally, your intrepid reporter thinks that this art should be called enchantment, because A) alchemy has a different meaning historically, at least to the Unwary, and B) an object that has been turned into a talisman is said to be enchanted.
But, no one asked me.
So much of the art of alchemy has been practiced upon the dormitory itself that most of the building is animate. The doors have faces and talk. Drawers open if addressed politely. (Apparently, if you are rude, you will never see your sweaters and undies again.) Windows occasionally open on their own. There are said to be four different magical methods of going upstairs. For instance, I have it on good authority that if you sit on the banister, you automatically slide up to the top of the staircase.
Part of Raleigh’s basement houses the Roanoke Alchemical Shoppe. This shop carries both materials for the practice of alchemy and items useful for daily life such as: uniforms, notebooks, school clothing, and gear bearing the Roanoke Seal—a winged island with a seven-branched tree.
Future Careers: The number one future career for alchemy students is: alchemist. Bet you saw that one coming. What does an alchemist do? Make magic talismans. So any kind of magical objects or enchanted items that anyone wants to buy…alchemists make them. Magical talismans include obviously magical items and subtly magical items. An example of a subtle alchemist was Stratovarius. Everyone knows there’s something enchanting about his violins, but no one knows what it is. It’s actual sorcery, but at a very subtle level.
So working in a magic shop as an artificer is the first use of alchemy.
Other jobs include: Doctors, scientists—many of whom work for O.I. Ouroboros Industries, which employs a lot of alchemists. They do a mix of sorcery and science. They are the only company in the world that does this.
Another obvious employer of alchemists is the military, for obvious reasons.
Notable Alumni: Raleigh Hall alumni include Iron Moth, Leonard Locke, and Nikola Tesla—admit it. You saw that last one coming, didn’t you? And, of course, Edison. That one was a dead giveaway. They even called him the Wizard of Menlo Park. Tesla and Edison used sorcery to create their inventions and either called it science or worked backward to discover the scientific principle from the talisman.
Then there’s J. C. R. Licklider, “Computing'‘s Johnny Appleseed,” who many credit for planting the seeds for the modern computer age and being instrumental in starting ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.
Surely, you knew the Internet had to be magical.
And, of course, our own Crispin Fisher, now an alchemy tutor in the Science department. Mr. Fisher used the alchemy taught at Roanoke to craft the talismans used to defeat the Terrible Five. We are all grateful to Mr. Fisher and the other Six Musketeers for saving the world twenty-five years ago!
Want to learn about a future student of Raleigh Hall. Don’t miss your chance to encounter my boyfriend’s future best friend, Odysseus Rune. He appears in the short story “See You Down the Road” in the anthology Fantastic Middle Schools!
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Fantastic Middle Schools
Have you ever wanted to go to magic school? To cast spells and brew potions and fly on broomsticks and - perhaps - battle threats both common and supernatural? Come with us into worlds of magic, where students become magicians and teachers do everything in their power to ensure the kids survive long enough to graduate.
Welcome to ... Fantastic Schools. In this set of stories, welcoming younger readers but still entertaining to all ages, we look at the lighter side of magic schools. Follow a young girl entering school for the first time - and another, desperate to go to a school that actually suits her. Watch a bully get her comeuppance and accompany young students as they go on a field trip, follow an expelled student trying to build a new life, and others learning the nature of magical creatures ... ... And many more.