the maquerie island school is arguably one of the most secluded in the wixen world. known for its archaic methods, it sits south of tasmania, hidden to non-magical folk through use of a confusement charm that degrades over time, but has historically, and occasionally, appeared on human maps as “emerald island”, after the ship that accidentally came across it. its shores are made mostly of rhyolite cliffs, providing a reddish hue to the land year-round. its grass above the flatter mounds of the land also tend to stray closer to warmer tones year-round, with very sparse forests that make it easy to admire the stars and the ocean surrounding.
history
the island began as a refuge for the wix struggling to handle the mainland’s wildlife. the ‘fort in the ground’ it once was soon became closer to a city hidden by the rocky hills of an island. in time, space became limited, and dwellers decided to prioritise keeping children in the safe confides of the hill. by the late 16th century, the island would become established as a boarding school to ensure children would still learn the crafts their parents would have taught them, sending elders to the same safety to provide wisdom to their grandchildren. as the populations grew, so did the wix who attended, and maquerie made for an academy not unlike many others starting up in their time. unfortunately, with its isolation — the school didn’t exactly grow in the same way. once protection acts were safely put in place against humans and beasts, maquerie had long grown away from even its nearest neighbours. what was once a safe refuge eventually sung of a different chord. the remote and secured state of the land made it a feasting ground for magical beasts of the waters; surrounded in constant by serpents, ramoras and shrakes. the interior of the school had been left to be mostly maintained by the growing children in it; leaks and creature infiltrations a common find. not to mention, of course, the constant risk of fighting against nature itself. by the end of the 19th century, young children would no longer be sent to the school at all, with homes providing safer confides until sending them at the age of 15 instead. while the courses and knowledge shared across mentors and students were found powerful — there was no doubt maquerie lacked in areas of advancement or simple, easy living. introduction to new technologies meant other wixen folk could take inspiration and wisdom or shortcuts where maquerie had none. most importantly, those leaving the school, should they manage after graduation, could not match knowledge with any major institute making use of foreign diplomacy. as such, the 1950s made for an attempt to modernize what they could of their teachings, making alliances with foreign partnerships to establish new programs, hire educated professors, and translate what they could of student skillsets for use in international dealings.
core classes
the core of maquerie begins with eight primary classes, all mandatory to this day.
harvesting.
a common favourite among students, letting students go up onto the island grounds to explore flora and deal with teachings of proper care in collecting ingredients and learning their purposes and chemistry.
crafting
all of potions, elixirs, spell weaving, and, recently, simple cooking and creation for the young wixes to follow for independent care.
prayers
spells at the school are nearly all archaic in tongues, often long and detailed and much too specific. recent years have made way of the shorter bursts of charms, but memorization of the power full stories can bring still get taught to students throughout all their years.
defense mana
seminars begin immediately, with practicals following two years after. defense harnesses both spells and instinctual magic into acting in moments of great danger, and make for the most useful classes to graduates planning to remain in the islands or forests of australia.
offense mana
offensive magic has been argued as a class to keep or not, but with the rowdiness the students show, most teachers agree that if they’re going to do it, they’ll be taught how to do it right and safely. thus, students still continue to learn offensive magic of age 17.
shifting
this class covers the wix art of metamorphosis; from simple changes in appearances to outright creature changes. maquerie has only ever taught the subject as being performed on themselves, and the concept of transfiguring another, whether they be an object or, forbid it, alive, is nearly blasphemous.
second sight
predictions and intuition are vital to maquerie students. for the first few years, no real branch is taught, with introspection practices instead being used. once older, true forms of prophecy from natural aspects (trees, rock formations, creature-speaking) are taught. students are expected to create their own prophecies in expected level of attainment; but most only pass the course from basic reasoning and deduction alone.
nature & disasters
this class works purely by seminars, a concept either loathed or loved entirely, with few in between. mentors often work through stories and tales of old, ensuring students are both aware of what the earth around them can do in both magical and scientific ways. students can be caught slacking when told to take stand in retelling a story, or when asked what to do in given situations.
other classes
additionally, maquerie has managed to integrate two new classes since 1950, each taught by foreign professors brought in from england and the united states of america, respectively:
wixen language & history
a stronger focus on refining the written word of the maquerie students, taking this class from a young age gains great help in any future work with heavy travelling, writing, or reading involved.
number applications
the class begins with simple math in applications to arithmancy, moving forward to concepts of statistics and algebra in later years. those who pursue the area will learn calculus and topology for invention or engineering application, especially.
neither class is mandatory in the existing curriculum. students may join and drop the classes at will, even in later years; unlike their cores. this often proves problematic when students who have never considered non-integer division try and understand the concept of integrals.
grading
traditionally, maquerie has never held formal evaluations for their students. they were expected to survive and make it home, and doing so marks their skill. most who attend or teach still hold the belief that only you can judge for yourself the true power of a wix, either through challenge or observation.
because of this, it’s with quite a bit of bitterness that the school put in place a grading system.
maquerie rates its students based on visualised performance, as mentors always teach in very kinesthetic ways. these rates rank students against each other, with three main broken categories when the student can achieve and maintain at least a large majority of teachings:
distinct iota - d𝜄 - a maximum of 3 students can retain iota ranks nowadays, although it’s often still kept for a single stand-out.
distinct nu - dμ - a distinction above a simple ‘achieved’, often given to 4-6 students.
achieved - a - the student can perform, but stops there. this category naturally holds the majority of students.
failure - f - it’s very rare that mentors will let students fail. more often than not, students underperforming simply receive more attention from teachers and other, well-performing students to improve. however, some are simply too reckless or apathetic, often too stubborn to leave the premises and never encouraged due to the danger of it with their grades. often, they become anything from workers to ghosts within the school.
these grades are done twice: once, to determine a beginner obligatory wix level (b.o.w.l.s) exactly five years after joining the school, and again they test for their final obligatory wix level (f.o.w.l.s) right before exiting their tenth.
between wix levels, they test for their wixen expertise branding (w.e.b.s), a test with only two results:
yes - they determinedly excel in this subject, and may proceed to its mastery, or; no - whether they are unadvised to proceed in this area, or the wix themselves chooses not to pursue it.
to pass the webs is most often referred to as ‘weaving’ yourself into a course / specialty. there is no set number of students who can or cannot weave into a course. some years see all or no students managing to do so.
certifications
students are also offered to take the wix certificate after weaving their webs, rather than moving on to fowls; although they can also try for both.
crafting, prayers, defense mana, shifting, second sight, wixen language & history and number applications have all been approved by icw standards to pursue in a wix certificate.
students may only apply having met the following criteria:
woven in the core subjects approved of the wix examination, or;
woven in at least 3 core subjects, then performing an a-rank or higher in both non-mandatory classes.