Ok, I got a basic description written up:
Sorcery University
History, myth, and folklore as we know them have always been filled with those who perform, or at least claim to perform, magic. For the most part, they have been laughed off as superstitious charlatans. But, what if they were right? What if magic does work? What if it just went away for a time?
This is exactly what happened. In the early days of Humanity the world was a magical place. Power came to those who knew how to tap the planet’s magic field (similar to its magnetic, electrical, and other fields). Then, around the 8th century C.E., the power fizzled. Only the most powerful could still tap the energy, but even the simplest spell required an awesome amount of power to fuel it.
Then, in 1912, the power suddenly and inexplicably returned. Thaumaturgists are still studying this question. The power was accepted by the scientific community in 1927. A year later Pendragon University, a.k.a. Sorcery U, was founded in what was then West Virginia. By 1954, the whole former state was owned by the university and turned into a preserve for magical creatures and experimentation. Today, Sorcery U. is one of the largest and most respected thaumaturgical universities in the western world, second only to Oxford’s Merlin College of Magical Studies. Students and faculty of all magical traditions are admitted and hired, from Hermetics and Wiccans to PanAfrican shamen and Buddhist semi-monastics, from NeoDruids and Mahotsukai to Kabbalist and Nauallis.
As with any instituation, though, not everything is fun and games. And Sorcery U.’s problems aren’t merely limited to underage drinking, drug use, and vandalism. Since the 1980s there have been increasingly common rumors of cover-ups, missing students, secret instruction in necromancy, unnamed students and staff using magic to commit crimes, and the like. All of these rumors have been quite vague and nothing concrete has come to light yet. Still, there are an awful lot of them moving around in certain circles, perhaps too many to ignore.
Today is August 27th, 2005. Welcome to school . . .
