Obscure Eberron Lore: The Ninth College

Hi everyone! I thought I'd start a little series of posts about little-known elements of the Eberron campaign setting only found in obscure corners of canon. There are lots of interesting tidbits to be found out there that haven't made their way into more recent editions, but some are more usable than others; many authors of Eberron content over the years really whiffed it, so I'm going to be focusing on the good or salvageable stuff. I'm gonna try to make a new obscure lore post each week.

Today, I'll be highlighting the Ninth College, an organization within House Sivis that is only mentioned in the Dragonmarked book to my knowledge.

“You’re quite the sight, with your polished armor and your fearsome sword. But I’ll wager I can reduce you to ashes with just five words. Care to put it to the test?” —Syla Syrralan d’Sivis

The Ninth College is an arcane order within House Sivis which includes the greatest arcanists of the house. The gnome wizards and artificers of the Ninth College, sometimes known as "unbound scrolls," study the transformative (and destructive) power of the spoken and written word, as amplified by the Mark of Scribing. The techniques used by members of the Ninth College are a carefully guarded secret, and cannot be learned without training from a current member of the order.

The Ninth College is based in the Labyrinth, the great Sivis enclave in Korranberg, Zilargo. It receives funding from the Hidden Word (a division of the Notaries Guild) and Tasker's Dream, and members of the order are prominent in both of those organizations. The Ninth College is a center for linguistic studies, and its members have a reputation for eccentricity. Philologist Harlus Haskal d’Sivis once spent twenty years trying to devise the perfect single-word greeting, while Syla Syrralan d'Sivis has spent a fortune crafting inks from the blood of rare and deadly aberrations. Generally, members of the Ninth College spend much of their time crafting spell scrolls and other magic items on behalf of House Sivis, in between researching the words of power which bind reality.

Admission into the Ninth College is extremely selective. After a grueling battery of tests evaluating an applicant's scrollcraft, mastery of the Mark of Scribing, and dedication to the art of language, the admissions board typically assigns applicants a task set by the viceroy of the order himself, Kendal Santor d'Sivis. This might involve anything from creating a new word to recovering a book of forgotten spells from a ruined library in Xen'drik. Any heir of House Sivis can undertake the tests, but only once. Should you fail, the doors of the Ninth College are closed to you forever.

The organization's name is something of an in-joke among House Sivis; the famous Library of Korranberg has eight colleges, and Sivis's legendary scholastic order of magic is "the ninth college."

Notable people in the Ninth College:

• Viceroy Kendal Santor d'Sivis is the head of the Ninth College and a lord seneschal of House Sivis, advising the Doyenne (Lysse Lyrriman d'Sivis) on matters of magic. He is also a skilled wizard, with a specialty in divination.
• Syla Syrralan d'Sivis is a gifted artificer who labors in the arcane workshops of the Ninth College. She has a great interest in the Draconic Prophecy, and has become convinced that vital clues to understanding it can be revealed by the manner in which the kobolds of the Seawall Mountains use the Draconic language. Unfortunately, most kobolds have no great love for the gnomes of Zilargo, and Syla is often looking for adventurers to protect her as she ventures into the depths to debate with scaled mystics.

Next time: Loyal Daison, Aurum Concordian of Karrlakton!