Post by wordy on Aug 31, 2010 23:51:00 GMT 10
Education in Tortall
by rachy
Tortall has a well-educated populace, a fact that is criticised by fellow nations as a weakness and mistake. Tortall offers a wide range of trades and apprenticeships across all classes; ranging from a knighthood or a university student for the wealthier classes, enlistment in the King’s Own, the Queen’s Riders, the Provost’s Guard, following the family trade or careers in farming, housekeeping and the like for the middle and lower classes. Tortallans can also receive specialised education if they have the Gift, and other education opportunities exist for those in convents, monasteries or the Shang.
All common-born Tortallans, and presumably the nobles and merchants as well, are given the opportunity to be educated. An initiative introduced by Queen Thayet, and established by the Queen, Gary of Naxen, Myles of Olau and Eleni Cooper in 440 HE; students attend the schools for a period of five years, completing their education sometime before they turn fifteen. The schools are opened within the vicinity of most major towns or fiefs, and are run by priests, most likely those of Mithran faith. The schools teach basic education, enabling their pupils to read, write, and figure.
After their completion of schooling, common-born Tortallans have several career avenues open for them to pursue. Apprenticeships in areas such as administration open from about thirteen years old, and indenture as a maid or manservant begins around that age as well, if not younger. The Queen’s Riders accept Tortallans from the age of fifteen, and their school training allows for their education to continue in the arts of survival. The Provost’s Guard accepts from fifteen as well, and trainees in both cases must complete a year of training before being inducted into service. Trainees in the Provost Guard learn skills in addition to their training that will help in their uphold of justice, such as memory exercises, descriptive skills and the law of the realm, as well as self-defence training. It can be assumed that the King’s Own, as well as the Tortallan Navy and Army, accept from fifteen or older as well, although there is no mention of this.
For the wealthier classes, university, knighthood or a convent is also an option to pursue further education. For young ladies, a convent provides the training in skills that enable them to become ladies worthy of Court, in areas such as sewing, dancing and basic healing and magic for those with the Gift for a period of six years. Young men can enter the military, a knighthood or a monastery, such as those in the City of Gods. In the monasteries at the City of Gods, the Daughters of the Goddess instruct in sorcery, while Mithran adepts instruct in priesthood, culminating in a Masters examination and resulting in a fully trained sorcerer-priest. Further education for those with the Gift can be found at the royal university, and also at the school for shamans established in the Great Southern Desert amongst the Bloody Hawk tribe of the Bazhir.
Knighthood is also an avenue for education in Tortall. The training for a knighthood begins from ten years of age or older, and is open to both male and female and overseen by the training master. The first stage of a knighthood is as a page. Page training lasts for four years, in which pages are further educated in reading, writing, mathematics, plants and animals and history and law of the realm. Pages are also instructed in sword and staff fighting, tactics and strategy, archery, basic Shang fighting, wrestling, tilting and horse riding. Pages then sit an end of year examination for the first three years, and at the end of the fourth year a major examination is held, in which some of Tortall’s most respected and aristocratic nobles preside over. After a page passes their examination, failure causing the page to either repeat or resign, the page becomes a squire. Squires are then chosen by prospective knight-masters, and their knight-master instructs them in all they feel is necessary to be a good knight and to respect the Code of Chivalry until their Ordeals, at Midwinter in the eighth year after they first became a page. The squires then enter the Chamber of Ordeal, where they are confronted with their greatest fears, and the Chamber passes judgement upon them. If they succeed, they are then knighted by the monarch as a Knight of Tortall, and presented with their shields.
The university is also an option for further education with those with the Gift, and for scholars as well. The university was established by King Jonathan and Numair Salmalin, and offers a wide variety of courses: teaching, philosophy, geology, engineering, agriculture, music (for those who are travelling musicians, court musicians, noble musicians or young ladies looking to improve their skills) magic, history, economics, noble arts (heraldry, swordsmanship for non-knights, calligraphy, needlework, etiquette), languages. The university also features mage instruction for those with the Gift, taught by instructors with honours from the University in Carthak or the City of Gods. 1
Overall, there is a fantastic choice of education opportunities available in Tortall. Tortall’s education is sophisticated, with a modern basis of equality across all classes in providing basic education. Whether common-born or noble, there are many opportunities that result from Tortall’s basic schooling, and an even wider range of intriguing careers to pursue, from being a clerk to being a Rider.