The Citadel

The Citadel is a militaristic magical fortress and training academy for wizards, strategically placed in the middle of the Irulian Desert. It serves and defends the populace of the Kehmsarazan Empire.

Exterior
Viewed from a distance, the Citadel resembles a glass tower over a mile high. Close up, the central tower known as the Erien is just the tallest; the base of the Erien is surrounded by "jagged crystal structures" crafted by magic, which sit at angles to the ground.

Floating amongst these crystalline structures are several massive platforms. These platforms house the populace, ornate buildings, gardens, and other structures of the city intended for the wizards' use. Residents range from young wizard students to elderly archmages, with some working as adventuring wizards and some as simple servants. The platforms can be raised and lowered; for example, there is a vast glass gate sitting on the ground, and any given platform may lower down to use it.

Interior
Rooms and buildings include lecture halls, cafes, large hangers for arcane machinery, and glass towers. To protect some buildings and inhabitants from the harsh desert weather, massive water domes are conjured from lakes to provide cooling. Illusions of greenery and wildlife appear across campus as well, as they cannot sustain naturally in the climate.

One platform in particular houses the Citadel's elite leadership. It typically rests a half mile above the ground, and is a quarter mile in size.

The Erien
The Erien is the largest, most prominent tower of the Citadel. A glass gate at the base permits entry onto its platforms. Due to the glass construction of the Erien, it is "really goddamn bright" inside, though significantly less so than outside.

Halls of teleportation
There are multiple halls of teleportation throughout the Citadel. Each hall contains a runic teleportation circle, manned by a teleportation specialist donning dark blue robes. Across the ceiling is a moving visual of a night sky that changes to the respective constellations of the teleportee’s destination.

Hall of Heroes
A portion of the Citadel with villas where decorated war heroes live when they return.

Function
The Citadel educates and trains all Kehmsarazan wizards. Those wizards who pass many levels of rigorous examinations become Citadel wizards. Any student who fails an examination, at any level, must leave the Citadel. Because these "dropouts" are still highly trained, many go on to become Guild Mages in one of the Crown's many wizard's guilds.

Education
Citadel wizards are divided into different tracks or courses of study based on their work. At least three tracks are known: leadership, researcher, and war-wizard. It is unclear if a wizard joins a track upon entering the Citadel as a student, or if their assignment is contingent upon successful graduation.

Leadership Track
Wizards in the leadership track appear to all use names beginning with "S", perhaps in homage to the name of the Imperial family.

Of the three tracks, the leadership track appears to be the most prestigious and difficult to get into. Wizards typically join the leadership track after rising in the ranks of one of the other tracks. Suvi, however, is the first wizard in the Citadel's history to be placed into the leadership track immediately after beginning her formal studies.

Researcher Track
A track that appears to specialize in training the Empire's best arcane researchers. This track may also be called the Researcher's Corps.

War-Wizard Track
A track that appears to specialize in training battle mages.

Wizards of the Citadel
The Citadel is inhabited by the many wizards who work as or are training to become the Empire's premier arcane researchers and magical special ops.

Culture
Wizards of the Citadel are the best wizards in the Empire and view themselves as such. They view wizards that aren't affiliated with the Citadel (i.e. Guild Mages) as less than, similar to how Guild Mages view hedge mages.

Because of the prestige associated with the Citadel, its wizards seldom leave. When they do it is most often for work, like a covert mission, always some act of war.

Named Citadel Wizards

 * Suvi, prodigy apprentice to the Archmage in the leadership track
 * Stone, former Sage of the Fundament
 * Soft, former Provost of the 8th
 * Steel, Sword of the Citadel
 * Archmage Silence
 * Silver, a decorated evoker in the war-wizard track
 * Galani, a high-ranking abjuror of the Citadel's Researchers Corps (likely researcher track)

Trivia
The Citadel's colors (as used in uniforms) are blue and white.