Palace of Three Crowns

Aspect: Earth

Rating: •••

Hearthstone: Stone of Temperance

Bearer: ?

Attuned: Ragara Raman, Cathak Curuk, Nellens Birane, Ragara Glossa, Ragara Farath, Ragara Jaqal, ?

The Palace of Three Crowns is a manse-estate in rural Juche Prefecture, under control of House Ragara since the fall of House Jerah during the early centuries of the Scarlet Empire. The walled estate is home to a primary school of the same name, to whom the House has leased the grounds.

Curriculum

The Palace of Three Crowns school is well-regarded for the quality of its curriculum when it comes to training bankers and logisticians. In addition to counting amongst its alumni a constant flow of Spiral Academy graduates and many who have achieved great wealth for themselves and the interests of their House or Clan, the Three Crowns has sent numerous students on to key posts in the Thousand Scales, particularly the Humble And Honest Assessors Of The Imperial Tax.

The final examinations at the Palace of Three Crowns include the first level of the Imperial accounting examinations, so that even the rare graduates who do not go on to the Spiral Academy or higher accounting examinations are licensed for accounting professions.

Layout

The Palace of Three Crowns is named for the three towers of ivory-coloured marble that are its most notable feature. These contain classrooms, dormitories, teacher quarters, & libraries. From the top of these towers, between sharp merlons, the view of the Imperial Mountain is said to be breathtaking, and even elsewhere on the grounds continues to be spectacular. The headmasters of the school are often heard to proclaim that the constant presence of Creation's center in the vision of students drives home the lessons of measured thought and calm needed to achieve consistent prosperity in commerce.

The circular towers are linked by a low square hall, set partially into the ground, in an architectural shape derived from the Heaven and Earth geomantic form. This hall serves as a meeting and dining hall, and is ringed by rows of work desks: at each meal students must practice the art of sating their hunger and thirst without stopping their work, nor soiling the documents before them.

The large hearthstone chamber is located deeper in the ground below this hall, and is the only part of the school which remains exclusive purview of House Ragara, even the headmaster not having access (which is granted only to the hearthstone bearer).

The school's location in a manse allows it to provide its students with a number of features. The ceilings of rooms glow with a yellow-white light, brightness lowered or ended with a verbal command. Each desk features a projection of essence, that can display a simple abacus for calculations as well as clocks tracking time to tenths of a minute.

Rivalries

The Palace of Three Crowns is known to have a rivalry with the Arjuf Foundational Collegium. Amongst the primary schools of the Realm, both are held in highest esteem for sending graduates into careers in finance and trade. Most in the Scarlet Dynasty and Patrician Clans of the Realm note that the school in Juche is sponsored by House Ragara, that in Arjuf by House Ledaal, and so the rivalry between the schools makes sense as one derived from that between those ancestral foes.

However, those more versed in the matter know that scions of both Houses can be found numerous amongst attendees of either school. The rivalry instead is one of teaching technique: The Arjuf school places its students in the setting of a busy port, filled with baubles and distractions that can tempt minds away from proper focus on their studies, a weakness that will carry into their commercial decisions after graduation. In the serenity of a rural setting, beneath the steady gaze of the Imperial Mountain, students of the Palace will not only master their texts and sums, but will also emerge clear-headed, not distracted by flashy investments that look good but are untenable in the long term as will be the alumni of the Collegium, ensuring accounting without error, profit without bankruptcy.

Selected Alumni

Ragara Raman, Cathak Curuk, Gemstone Opal, Ledaal Dirasha, Peleps Abassa, Nellens Birane, Carpenter Reason, Ledaal Yupitara, Ragara Glossa, Ragara Farath, Nellens Razorneedle, Ragara Jaqal, Nellens Alyana, Ragara Jenaq, Mnemon Arvil (deceased prior to graduation), ?