Tower of Wisdom
The Tower of Wisdom or the great library is one of the largest institutions of scholars and higher education in the federation, historically has it even been considered the centre of learning and lore in the entire current federation. It is only in the latest centuries and Scanderan dominance the Grand Royal academy, the University of Vinland, and the Haraldsudde university with royal and ducal backing have been able to rise to comparative status as the tower of wisdom. While all four schools are generally seen as equal, does the tower of wisdom still retain a higher prestigious position due to its ancient roots, something that tends to outweigh the status of being the only institution not bound to Scanderans in any way bar the patronage it currently enjoys. However it should be noticed that this involvement is something the royal family inherited and took in conquest and nothing they established on their own.
The tower is ancient and predates human civilisation and the knowledge of who built it remains unknown, some suggest connections to the forbidden city and others suggest that the underwater ruins that litters vattnafalten and their builders were connected to it’s construction.
Common accepted wisdom is that it was originally constructed as a military fortress against the Wharen by whoever lived this far south but the builders must have been conquered and destroyed by the northern empire. This is however challenged in recent days as no real military connection to the complex has been established through archaeological study. Especially bunnygirl researchers have suggested that this theory seems more based on confirmation bias from the more martial minded cultures that currently inhabit the region like the Scanderans and the Izunzhal. As a alternative theory have some, especially fruitsmile auf softlips put forward the theory that the building could have been an aristocratic or royal abode intended to enhance the prestige and legitimacy of the dynasty of whatever forgotten folk that built it and she has written several treatises where she accuses the commonly held wisdom to be based exclusively on confirmation bias of martial cultures.
As one of the most ancient and prestigious institutions in the federation does it place high barriers on entry and academic excellence as well as bloodlines are heavily scrutinized, however in accordance with ancient treaties between the federation and the tower does it get to pick and chose it's own faculty, student body, and headmaster meaning that there is less bias towards Scanderans than in other institutions however bloodlines are still very heavily favoured, and non-humans are less represented than in the other great universities where royal decrees have been made to accept scions of more recently established noble houses and merchant families.
History
While the ancient nature of the structure means that it’s prehistory is unknown but even the most ancient runestones in Scandera and clay tables of the izunzhal mentions it’s existence means that it has been well known and documented. Even archeological investigation shows tools and other evidence of human habitation stretching back before recorded history meaning that it’s origin must be older still, while some suggest that this could mean it predates even the Wharen and the peoples that contended with the Wharen empire before the dawn age has this generally been considered unlikely, still that means that in addition to the northern civilisations that the Wharen broke must there have been peoples to the south that wretched race also obliterated.
The earliest records of the structure mentions it being used as a refuge and a centre of power for centuries and many dynasties and even kingdoms were centred around it. It was however during the 6th century and the Shiloshi dynasty that the tower became associated with learning and became the library it’s considered today. The Shiloshi dynasty was open promoters of scholars and as the tower had lost its strategic connection in favour of the city of Masho’ghash where the Siloshi dynasty made their seat of power, did the tower become a repository of their literary collections and where they allowed their scholars to settle. The library was even given land grants to support it as was commonly given to temples in the day. As the dynasty ultimately faltered and was replaced did the great library continue as an important vassal in it’s own right to the rulers of Masho’gash. It’s prestige and wealth continued to increase as it was granted further land grants and was able to invest in more profitable sources of revenue which allowed the scholars to increase their library as well as their political influence in the region.
When the city of Masho'gash was later on conqured by the Scanderan lord Harald Erikssen in the first era of conquest were the Scanderans unable to secure the dominion of the tower of wisdom and the library became an independent state with large economic holdings over the entire region. Making many people quip "There are many a state with libraries, but never before has there been a library with a state" this dominion of scholars however became absolute and the state was able to flourish even if it never were able to influence hard power in the region, however it's soft power was immense.
At the unification of the region under karash Shan did the tower of wisdom swear feality and sent support to his conquest attempt of Scandera. However as he fell and his dynasty was extinguished on the sword side and continued under the Stjärnkhrone dynasty on the shield side did the tower of wisdom once again become independent. This lasted until the year 1721 when the Scanderans once again got into conflict with the library and the library as well as a coalition of Shans, mayors, and tribal leaders were defeated by Scanderan troops. The library was put under siege but the Scanderans were unwilling to storm it's formidable defences nor to put it's great collection of books at risk. Instead did a prince, Karl auf Stjärnkhrone that was a scholar approach the gates and demand audience. He said that if he could write an essay better than the scholars in attendance would the federation gain the library's subjecation but if one of their numbers were able to produce a better one would he tell his father to withdraw their troops. For 5 months it was said that the two researched and wrote their works. Ultimately both produced their works in song and in poetry before gathered observers. The prince was begrudgingly selected as the winner and the library swore fealty but with generous autonomy that it retrains to this day.
Buildings and sites
The most noteworthy building is the tower itself and it's formidable walls built in ages unknown, the building material is a white stone of unknown origin that is said to suck moisture out of the air, indeed the building is noted for it's dry air and cracking the rock causes a foul odor to be released which in general causes the air to normally have a bit of an odd smell to it. However this has been mitigated by perfume being used to clean the walls and floors and the harsh stone floor is in a lot of cases covered by Scanderan hardwood and carpets to make sure the stone don't crack, similarly are flowers commonly grown on the premises and in the building which further help alleviate the situation. No depiction of the builders of the tower remains but instead are the walls commonly carved with images of Sealife both modern and extinct and statues of these beasts also serves as gargoyles.
More modern buildings also exists outside of the walls and both botanical and zoological gardens have been built to support the library's collection as well as a modern museum wing. Servant quarters have also been constructed and a small Ikashur garrison is kept per tradition as defenders harkening back to the day when the library employed it's own elite slave fighting formations. However the largest part of the campus nowadays are the several student quarters that are meant to represent Scanderan, Blalander, Giel, Izunzhal, and leaopdottir students. However in the modern day have these distinctions become a bit blurred as Blalanders are part of the Scanderan world and most new students not from any of these groups tends to just be lumped in as Scanderans meaning this quarter is the largest one in the modern day and age as well as the most diverse one.
Student life
Students are required to wear robes for men or dresses for women, they have historically been of izunzhal cut but over the years have more Scanderian influences become apparent and there is not much difference between the robes designs compared to other scanderan universities fruther north or south. However the requirement for men to wear turbans is still a must which separate the dress from other institutions however women are free to keep their hair either free or wear hats meaning that the women tends to reflect either their local customs or federal wide fashion. There are numerous clubs, lodges, and ancient fraternity organisations that dominates the student life organising everything from places to spend the day or relax in the evening to organised clubs based on sport, cultural presuits, or religious worship. Indeed the religious life of students are also very vibrant and diverse with temples dedicated to a lot of federal and foreign religions having been built around the complex.
As a result has this grown into a cultural hotbed of it's own right and fashion trends started here tends to spread out over the federation as a whole meaning that it's role as a cultural centre remains even to this day.