Difference between revisions of "Unseen University"

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The Unseen University (abbreviated as the UU) is the primary institute of wizardry on the Discworld, located off Sator Square in Ankh-Morpork.

Facilities

The Unseen University's most valuable facility is the library, containing 12 spellbooks and the vast majority of spells available to wizards. Also inside the university is the student lounge (or advancement room) where wizards can be trained in their primaries by the guild. The gym, which contains the beginners' tome and a donation chest, is also a good place for student wizards to get useful items and spells, as well as honing their skills on Dwmmigh.

Joining

Joining the guild is a fairly simple task, achieved by typing 'join' in the hallway outside the student lounge. Upon doing this the player is greeted by Ragnel, who will explain the basics of magic and provide the student with a copy of Master Woddeley's Occult Primer (which is also a talker), and recruit them into the guild to become an 'Unseen University Initiate'. The student can then advance using the guild's student lounge and choose an order when necessary.

Orders

The Unseen University consists of eight specializations, or orders, each led by a senior wizard. They are:

An order can be chosen in the order selection room (inside the order complex north of the student lounge) upon reaching guild level 40. Advancement in the guild cannot exceed level 50 unless an order is joined.

The Library

The library is located on the north side of a courtyard just east of the great hall. It contains the following spellbooks:

As the library has such a high concentration of background magic, spells cannot be cast inside it.

Navigation

Directions within the library are relative to the wizard, and thus consist only of forward, backward, left and right. This means that moving involves turning to face that direction and then proceeding forwards, so the direction the wizard turned to face in the previous room becomes 'forward' in the next room.

The library is 8 columns wide and 160 rows deep, though all known books are contained within the first 22 rows. The columns wrap around such that the rightmost column is adjacent to the leftmost column; moving about in the library is similar to moving on the inside wall of a giant cylinder. A thaumometer may be used to assist in navigation, as the background magic in each room is equal to five times its row number (with the first row having a background of 5 Thaums and the 160th 800 Thaums). This method of navigation does have its perils however, as the divination check required to read a thaumometer becomes more difficult for higher levels of background magic.

Distortions

The library contains several distortions:

 There is a strange distortion in space and time to the right of you!

Moving right in this situation will send the wizard into L-space. Distortions will move of their own accord after a period of time.

NPCs

• The Lecturer in Recent Runes is a high level wizard who automatically teaches commands when you have sufficient skill to learn them. He can be found wandering the university grounds.
  
• The Communications Imp is an enslaved demon who will automatically grant new guild titles to wizards when they reach certain guild levels. He can be found wandering the university grounds.
  
• Dwmmigh is another enslaved demon with a slightly more sinister purpose, that is to provide wizards with a target for offensive spell practise (similar to a training dummy for melee). He can be found chained to the floor in the gym.
  

See also

• Wizards' Guild
• Illusionary Institute of Learning
• Academy of Artificers

External Links

• Wikipedia: Unseen University
• Discworld & Pratchett Wiki: Unseen University