The Tower of Arcane Wisdom
The Tower of Arcane Wisdom is a school of magic, located on the north bank of the stream roughly equidistant between The Dwarven Forges and The Feygrove. Its date of founding, history, original purpose and current population are all unclear.
The Tower is a monastery-style complex - as well as the eponymous tower, the site also includes a sprawling maze of classrooms, refectories, dormitories, kitchens, bakeries, fishponds, chapels, baths, apiaries, aviaries, libraries, breweries, studies, butteries, workshops, common rooms, undercrofts, shrines, laundries, laboratories, storerooms, dovecotes and other buildings of less obvious purpose. There is a watermill and at least one forge, and the site is crisscrossed by channels for water diverted from the stream, both open and covered. Fields for livestock and crops surround the site on three sides, dotted by farm cottages.
As well as faculty (variable) and students (confidential) there are an uncertain number of stewards, bursars, assistants and craftspeople coming and going on errands mysterious or mundane. The complex is probably large enough to support two or three times its current population - though it's not obvious why somewhere like the Valley would ever have needed such a facility - so rarely feels crowded. Wizards are the most common class at the school, but there are also sorcerors, warlocks, an occasional bard, and sometimes a cleric or two. There are rarely more than half-a-dozen students in any given class, and classes occur on a complicated and irregular schedule that means neither teacher nor pupils can be relied upon to attend. Much learning is therefore self-directed.
The Tower itself is one of the few buildings to rise above two stories, though nobody seems entirely sure of how many levels it has. It is known to contain the Headmaster's study, the Advanced Spellbook Depository, an observatory, a clock which gains or loses time unpredictably, a sundial, a moondial, various warded casting chambers, and the Faculty Lounge.
Most buildings are constructed of a warm yellow sandstone quarried locally, but there is a considerable variation in architectural style. Much of the campus is run-down and exists in a sort of ramshackle comfortableness until something actually breaks. One exception is the Quadrangle, a large grassy lawn in front of the Tower, shaded by mature trees and bordered by neat gravel paths and bright beds of flowers, which is watched over by the Head Gardener. Students swap rumours of the Head Gardener's murderous tendencies but it's still a popular place to read or socialise.
The Tower tends to be an insular place; largely self-sufficient, students are discouraged from wandering far afield and the Valley as a whole pays the place little attention.
