Robyn Pertolmere was a magic user who founded the School of Draconic Philosophy in Thipbaline. She is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable magic users to have existed during the second reign of magic, if not the most powerful magic user of all time.
Early life, study & travel[]
Robyn was born in [insert year here] to the Third Viscount of Thipbaline. As the fourth child of the Viscount, Robyn was relatively free to follow her own path in life and took to the study of the natural world. Upon completing the schooling that could be provided on the Viscount’s estate, Robyn was sent to apprentice at the Guild of Books in Thipbaline proper. While there she learnt the administration of libraries, the creation and preservation of written works, and had ample time to devote to private study. Despite attaining the rank of Master, Robyn felt unsatisfied with the knowledge and work available to her in Thipbaline. She travelled the continent, meeting with scholars and collecting copies of their work. Her return to Thipbaline was heralded as a new age of knowledge for the city and Robyn quickly set about creating a new Guild of Knowledge and an associated School, for those who wished to teach and study.
Founding the School[]
The creation of the Guild of Knowledge was simple enough, but administration of the School proved a challenge for Robyn. She met with the Prime Master of the Guild of Books, an old friend by the name of Cherus, and he suggested she take on a Master of Books and a Master of Coin. Thus, the founding members of the School are considered to be:
- Robyn of Knowledge
- Alec of Books
- Septimus of Coin
Together, the three secured premises near the Library and began teaching. Through their contacts in the Cult of Dragons, Alec was able to entice several scholars from neighbouring cities to move to Thipbaline and join the School. Alec was also able to convince Robyn and Septimus to honour the Dragons of Old, and so the school became known as the School of Draconic Philosophy.
In the Thipbaleni tradition, all works created by humans were considered magic and the School sought to reflect that in its teachings. Students were encouraged to learn not only magic, but craftsmanship, accounting, and any other subject which caught their interest. Most notably, the study of Mathematics was born out of a group of students attempting to apply principles of accounting to magic and the physical world. From this sprang the disciplines of Physics, Arithmancy, and Alchemy. Robyn herself made great strides in the fields of Ethics and herbal medicine, due to an extended sojourn in Chandor during her earlier travels.
Children[]
During the first year of the School, Robyn gave birth to a child whom she named Odrus. The child was claimed by Cherus and eventually followed in their father’s footsteps to become Prime Master of Books. Several years after Odrus’ birth, Robyn began an affair with Alec of Books and the pair had two children, Eris and Amon’Kur. Robyn’s children grew up in and around the School and are remembered in the names of several dormitory wings. Generations later, administrators of the School would claim that there had not been a time where one of the line of Pertolmere did not attend the School.
Death[]
As Robyn grew older, she began to spend increasing amounts of time in the central garden of the School. She claimed it was the best place to commune with magic and was indeed sighted most often meditating in the very centre of the garden. Today there stands a statue of Robyn in meditation in this very spot; it is said that one day she did not attend the evening meal and was later found in the garden, petrified and finally returned to magic. The veracity of this claim remains inconclusive, though her later writings speak of a ‘oneness with magic’ which she believed could be attained through meditation, stillness, and total attuning of oneself with the magical energies of nature. Many scholars posit that, given the revelatory nature of Robyn’s final works, she herself reached oneness with magic and sought to pass on the knowledge she’d gained.