With the reopening of the Gates of Azyr, the scholars of the Collegiate Arcane have been granted an opportunity forbidden for centuries. Generations have passed since they had anything new to study, but now the God-King’s irresistible vengeance has opened the door to an infinite sea of discovery. As the people of Azyr march to reclaim their ancestral homes and settle the Mortal Realms once more in the name of peace and Order, scholars of every school and class are rushing to stake their claims, desperate to make names for themselves in this new Age of Knowledge.

Druids of the Jade Orders collect plants for Azyrheim’s Grand Arboretum, and the Amber Orders send back reports of new beasts every day from Ghur. In Aqshy, initiates sift through exotic gemstones, while apprentices in Chamon work to refine mysterious ores. Never before has so much been learned so quickly.

But opportunity is seldom unaccompanied by risk in the Mortal Realms, for every new revelation draws covetous eyes ... 

Founded at the height of the Age of Myth, when the great Pantheon remained unbroken and peace reigned in the Mortal Realms, the Great University of Azyrheim was a monumental testament to cooperation at an unprecedented scale. Intended to transcend kingdoms and Realms, race and creed, the University took centuries to build. For an Age, it stood as a beacon to those who cared only for the pursuit of pure knowledge.

But such things never last. The Pantheon fell apart, and one by one the kingdoms of the Mortal Realms were overwhelmed. Scholars became refugees, and in the hallowed halls where theory had once reigned, a grim practicality was now demanded. Terrible spells were developed, unspeakable war-machines built, pacts made and secrets better left unknown revealed. And all for naught -- the tide of Chaos would not be turned aside. The God-King sealed the Gates of Azyr. 

Trapped in the Celestial Realm, study began to stagnate. There was only so much knowledge to be gleaned from things already discovered and before long research delved into matters increasingly esoteric. Belief became truth, and the University, founded to encourage free thought, condemned those who questioned tradition.

With this shift, the concept of general education was largely abandoned. Only initiates, not yet knowledgeable enough to specialize, bother with such amateur behavior, and for a more experienced Magister to dabble outside of their discipline is regarded with intense suspicion. Groups of like-minded experts drifted further and further apart, obsessed with the intricacies of their own research and entirely uninterested in the efforts of others. The jump from discussion group to insular academy was small, and so the first of the scholarly orders were born.

At first, there were nearly as many Orders as there were opinions, but over time they gradually drifted together to form the eight Colleges of Magic. Order houses were built, enlarged, and eventually combined to form the Sky-Towers of Azyrheim, home to the Collegiate Arcane. The great University campus, home at one time to ten thousand scholars, now plays host only to those who have not yet found a more permanent home.

Each College, and their synonymous Orders, is dedicated to the study of a single field of magic. The Jade Orders, for example, and the College of Agrology by extension, is focused on the druidic arts, while the College of Astrometeorology (and the Celestial Orders,) study the magic of the Heavens.

With the opening of the Gates of Azyr, there has been a push among some of the younger members of the Collegiate Arcane to reform the Great University in more than name. The Orders, they say, should be relegated to simple social groups rather than active policy makers, and cooperation between them should be encouraged by a centralized administration dedicated to an egalitan distribution of resources between all eight Colleges. Needless to say, this viewpoint is neither popular nor widespread, but with the flood of initiates pouring in from across the Mortal Realms, the idea is beginning to gain traction.