The Auspicious North

The valley of Quorn had once been the caldera of a great volcano. Now it held a forest lake, and at the lake's center the immense island on which rested The Academy. When the school was first built three great bridges crossed the lake. Five more were built during the dark reign of the "'Arch-Dean'mon" Haguathis to make the bridges into a 'star of chaos' , while four of the total were destroyed during his defeat by the School's Alumni Association. Three of those new bridges were among those that still stood, as did one of the original ones, marking out the four cardinal directions. All of course had needed parts of them rebuilt over the years, and had been thoroughly tested for demonic taint and cleansed of any found. It was still considered auspicious to enter the Academy by the 'Old North Bridge' rather than the other three, however.

It was for this reason that most prospective students climbed up the North slope of the mountain rather than any other, even though it was a harder climb, and so the Queen and her court had done. Now they started down the slope into the valley, crossing "the Mistlands" which tested the resolve and determination of prospective students.