The Scholar's Asylum
Overgiving is a common occurrence with most magic users, although it is always dangerous, most who experience it do so in mild forms. Many only have to fall into the scary situation of overgiving a few times before they either discipline themselves against it or hit rock bottom and let overgiving consume them. Still, more drastic overgiving is hard to avoid in a place with so much magic being practiced, and so the University has created a safe place for these people to recover, or to be retired until death due to their danger. Some go deaf, blind, or mute. Some lose limbs, memory, or their minds completely. When a person overgives with magic, their mind can splinter into various parts, causing multiple personalities or extreme lunacy. Although mental illness is not inherently dangerous, mental illness caused by overgiving almost always is. These people must be kept in the asylum for their own, and others' safety. There is a mixture of students and staff incarcerated in the asylum. Many over ambitious students have fallen foul to the whispers of temptation, and scholars have broken their own minds with experimental magic use.
The Asylum contains secured living spaces for these patients and the necessities to care for them. To keep good faith with the citizens, victims of overgiving are both given adequate care, and kept safely locked away from the public eye and out of their access. There is a kitchen, dining hall, common room, bathing rooms, and temporary quarters where the Asylum guards and caretakers can rest and refresh during their shifts. More dangerous patients are kept more securely and isolated in the towers, in order to ensure safety.
New Djed students are always given a tour of the place, shown how the facility works, and what happens to those who find themselves in sever overgiving. Often this is enough to scare potential students into taking magic cautiously, if they had not already taken it so seriously. Sometimes it is enough to scare potential students off from the discipline all together, but it is always effective in reminding budding mages that the discipline they pursue is dangerous and not to be taken lightly.
Bethany Bat
Date of Birth: Fall, 478AV
Place of Birth: Zeltiva
Title: Head Caretaker at the Scholar’s Asylum
Skills: Subterfuge (65), Medicine (60), Herbalism (55), Philosophy (50), Persuasion (40), Muscial Instrument: Flute (30)
Language: Common (Fluent), Nader-Canoch (Poor)
Concept: Bethany is a woman of average height. Her youthful face is considered by many to be attractive and is often slight accentuated with cosmetics. Smiles and compassionate expressions fit naturally on her face and her green eyes seem to be willing to accept most anything. Her red hair is often kept just at her shoulders, and though she is not technically a professor she often wears robes that would denote her as one.
Bethany was born to a rather wealthy member of the Sailor's Guild, the youngest of three children. She was originally sent to the University to study at the College of Navigation, like her two brothers, that she might one day pick up the family tradition. Her interests, however, were quickly wrapped up in the Arcane. Despite the disapproval of her family, Bethany entered the College of Djed and attempted to learn more of the ways of magic.
Hypnotism became the primary subject of her studies, she looked apt to one day become a professor herself as her way with handling others and breaking up conflict was looked upon with approval. That all changed when she pushed herself far too much one day, almost shattering her mind completely. She spent the next two years of her life in the Scholar's Asylum, screaming and raving.
After those two years her stability had been somewhat returned to her and she was considered no longer a danger to society as a whole. Due to her Overgiving however she received a need to dominate the minds of others, learning their secrets and playing with their emotions. The woman also gained an obsession with figuring out exactly what caused wizards to be as they were, and to understand Overgiving itself. She kept her urge to dominate hidden and with her new knowledge and skill in handling those whose minds were fractured with Overgiving she was essentially given oversight over the Asylum, although under the watchful eyes of the Board of Regents.
Bethany herself is all smiles to patients and students, a pleasant person with an outwardly positive outlook. She is often considered infectiously likeable, rarely getting down or depressed. Her insight into the minds of mages is considered second to none in Zeltiva, the reason she is so valuable to the Asylum. However one should be careful about extended dealings with her as her desire to dominant others is very strong. She won't give a second thought to crushing another's hopes and dreams if it makes them have to rely on her more. However she is very careful about this urge, she toes the line and makes very certain to choose her targets carefully. Bethany is a wolf in sheep's clothing in most any sense of the phrase, but a careful wolf.
Jordon Rayner
Date of Birth: Summer, 491AV
Place of Birth: Syliras
Title: Patient at the Scholar’s Asylum
Skills: Voiding (50), Glyphing (45), Auristics (40), Writing (30), Copying (20), Brawling (10)
Language: Common (Fluent)
Concept: This promising young student from Syliras had been renowned for his public speaking, and efficient learning of the magical skills of reimancy and voiding. But this only pushed him to try harder. He experimented with both arts all day and all night, determined to master each far sooner than any other student could, or should.
One morning, despite exhaustion, he attended a voiding lecture. His fellow students noted he was deteriorating, and encouraged him to go home and rest. Ignoring them, he tore a void open in the middle of the lecture hall, killing three people, including his teacher. It was only the quick actions of his fellow students that prevented more deaths.
Once he was restrained and taken to the asylum, it was discovered that Jordan's mind had splintered into two. One half was pushing him to use his magic with the purpose of becoming a God. He was dangerous, and so he was given a permanent position in the asylum.
Some days, he seems perfectly fine, chatting away to all who care to speak to him. Others, he can be violent, threaten to kill, and display his broken mind to fresh magic students, warning them of the dangers of overgiving. Although it has been years since his admittance to the Asylum, and he is once again allowed to associate with the other patients, it is still a relatively common occurrence to see the man gagged and restrained by shields after having a tantrum and opening the void, either on accident or purpose.
Xailus Wakefield
Date of Birth: Summer, 457AV
Place of Birth: Zeltiva
Title: Patient at the Scholar’s Asylum
Skills: Arcanology (65), Reimancy (60), Research (50), Writing (40), Philosophy (35), Shielding (25)
Language: Common (Fluent)
Concept: Xailus was once a professor of Reimancy at the University, and highly respected among his colleagues for his dedication to his work. Unfortunately, this exact dedication lead to his downfall. He was known for pushing his limits, and had made many great discoveries as a result. With years of experience and understanding of magic under his belt, no one expected him to fall so heavily into overgiving.
Early one morning, in the fall of 510, a fellow professor went in to check on Professor Wakefield, who had been working all night on different intensities of Reimancy-produced fire. He discovered him a blubbering incoherent mess, one eye on fire and and the other pouring out a dark black res. While his eyes were fixed fairly quickly, Xailus had lost his sense of sight from the ordeal, with one eye socket nothing more than a scar, and the other eye so damaged even the thickest spectacles do not give him much improvement. His mind has not been quite the same though. Although not drawn to violence or lunacy like most patients, Xailus must be carefully watched for his many attempted suicides, some of which involve other patients.
In the asylum, Xailus could be considered one of the calmer patients despite this eternal depression. He spends his days speaking to himself in mumbled, jumbled words and stays relatively still, talking no one if he can avoid it. No one, not the most sociable or understanding soul, has been able to have a full coherent conversation with him, or even exchange more than two sentences. He is largely left alone to mutter himself into madness and wallow over his situation.
Note
Original location credit goes to Paragon.
