The Continental Academy (also called the Wandering School) is an organization that educates and trains promising weavers, researches weaving and stores special objects, and passes global regulation on all blood weaving related things.

History

It was founded in 1747 by Helios¹ and Francisca Azeem. Its purpose was to bring back blood weaving to the glory it held in Europe and the Americas before being persecuted by the Church. A lot of negotiations were held with European kingdoms, where heresy was still persecuted with execution.

The school was built on the island of the Floating Temple of Athee, an ancient incarnation, so that it would not be subject to any state or any border or war. It was meant to be a place far from politics, where weaving could be studied and practiced in peace. It was a refuge for any weaver escaping persecution.

In the 19th century, weaving became much more popular. Francisca Azeem passed away in 1801, leaving her successor Carlo Azeem to lead the school alongside Helios. But with the increase in popularity, they were unable to accomodate everybody who requested a stay. An entry test was established that would select only the most promising weavers to study at the school.

When the Weaving Association² was founded in 1835, he directed the Academy’s resources to aid its creation. The two organizations have pledged to work in harmony in 1838 and have done so ever since.

Organization

The Academy is divided in departments, each with a specific function and role. The Teaching Committee, which governs the Teaching Department, is the highest organ in the Academy, having power over all other departments.

The Academy is governed by the Teaching Committee, which includes those who have taught in the Academy for at least eight years. Subordinate to the Teaching Committee there are other organs of the Academy which deal with other kinds of work: the Research Department, the Regulatory, and the Service.

Teaching Department

The Teaching Department is tasked with organizing all teaching and training matters, including selecting new students every year. There are around 190 teachers in the Academy, but the number varies every year as new teachers are hired and others leave.

There are currently 35 members of the Teaching Committee, all have either the rank of Master or Grandmaster, which is required for teaching at the Academy, and have taught for at least eight years at the Academy. The TC deliberates for all of the Academy’s business, including public relations. Every year, it prepares an updated teaching curriculum, it selects new students, and hires or fires teachers.

Research Department

The Research Department is tasked with studying and cataloguing all weaving-related phenomena. It was the first to be created in 1842, when the Academy’s organization was still being worked out. Both students, teachers, and other weavers work in the RD. Since it was founded, it has expanded the knowledge of blood weaving faster than at any point in history. The Research Committee governs this department, it approves research projects, allocates resources (and grants permission to access restricted ones), and hires new staff. The RD is also in charge of keeping the Repository, a deep area of the Academy where all kinds of special objects, incarnations, and weaving-related textbooks are kept safe and maintained.

Regulatory

The Regulatory examines incidents and cases related to blood weaving and occasionally passes or updates regulations on its practice. This regulation applies to all signatories of the Charter of the Continental Academy, which, among other conditions, makes the regulations passed by the Academy legally binding for its signatories. These regulations are enforced by the police of each state or, in many cases, by the Weaving Association’s international police force.

Service

While the Continental Academy is mainly interested in educating weavers and researching weaving, they also provide active service to partner states and organizations when possible. The Service is a small taskforce of highly capable weavers headed by Helios that is dispatched for any exceptional weaving incident that requires the direct attention of the Academy.

Footnotes

1. Helios, the most famous weaver in history. He’s an immortal grandmaster, born in ancient Greece who has lived up until today. He founded the Continental Academy and contributed to the creation of the Weaving Association. He aided the development of most common techniques and many traditional ones as well. ↩

2. Weaving Association, an international organization tasked with the allocation of resources for weavers across the world, especially for the collection and extermination of incarnations. It also runs a police force that deals with all weaving-related incidents internationally. ↩