I am so fascinated by the history and culture around Elderwood. It is one of the most important institutions in the country. It is less than 20 years old. The most powerful people in society send their children there. The death rate is usually around 33%.
(Let's connect some dots and extrapolate some information!)
"Three hundred arcanes enroll every year."
The most interesting aspect to me is the speed at which it all happened. Sure, in our world, schools like the University of Oxford are incredible prestigious and coveted. But Oxford started giving organized classes around the year 1200. Elderwood was founded after the Massacre, which occurred 20 years ago. That's a lot of reputation to gain in very little time.
How did we get here so fast? Well, we start with a swell of patriotism and anger following the Massacre. Everyone wants to do something to repair the Wilderlands left by that horrible traitor Andros Dreadbane. So someone takes that energy and channels it into new pursuits, including a school.
Maybe there weren't organized universities before. Maybe it was all private tutors, locking the lower classes out entirely. I don't think we know for sure at this point.
Now, are all arcanes required to attend? My guess would be functionally, yes. The Children of Flame have something to prove, like Talyn, or are forced under the threat of death, like baby Dreadbane. Any dirtmage who causes a scene, like Niel, is forced to attend. The nobles all want their children to attend.
Well, because they're the best the world has to offer. Obviously. Why else would they be nobles? Other people's children might die at Elderwood. But every noble thinks their kid is special. Their kid will graduate, and in a top-tier house that will set them up for success. And it's not like you can have your neighbors gossiping about how you're a family of cowards or traitors because you didn't send your child to Elderwood.
"About two hundred will graduate."
The system could be so much better. In general, but let's focus on the expeditions into the Wilderlands for a moment.
It is brutal. Learn how to fight and kill, or die. It seems designed to weed people out, regardless of rank. There is no supervision from the professors. They would probably say it's because people over 30 can't tolerate the raw magic, but I'm not sure I believe that.
They could wait longer to send students out. They could make sure students reach a baseline level of competence before going out. They could choose teams, or at least ensure every team goes out with 3 people.
But they don't. Just the most token effort to reduce fatalities.
All these choices could be justified. But it sure feels like it's designed to kill anyone who doesn't suit the institution's needs. Especially given how we know the Children of Flame are regularly targeted within the walls and no one does anything. If anything, the professors seem to encourage it.
"You alone will decide your fate."
There are rumblings that the country could run out of arcanes. People's magic manifesting later and later. Tightly arranged marriages to produce more arcanes. So why let so many young arcanes die?
My personal take is that Elderwood is designed to do one thing: keep the current government in place. They do this by turning the compliant arcanes into loyal soldiers who can restore the dangerous and shameful Wilderlands. And by letting anyone else, anyone volatile or unpopular with the elite and therefore the students, die before they gain any real power.
Unfortunately for them, this system provides exactly the conditions to create more rebel arcanes eager to tear it down.
