{"id":1437,"date":"2020-04-05T19:10:44","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T19:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/?p=1437"},"modified":"2020-04-05T19:10:44","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T19:10:44","slug":"a-school-called-laughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/2020\/04\/05\/a-school-called-laughter\/","title":{"rendered":"A School Called Laughter"},"content":{"rendered":"

This school is in the Nameless world from our own Christopher G. Nuttall’s Schooled In Magic<\/a> <\/em>series. It appeared first on his blog at Chrishanger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Background Notes: Laughter Academy of the Magical\u00a0Arts<\/a><\/h1>\n

More nonsense has been written about Laughter Academy, also known as Laughter School, than any of the other schools of magic within the Allied Lands.\u00a0 This is perhaps unsurprising, given that it is the only school that refuses to accept male magicians as students (and senior teachers).\u00a0 Rumours of everything from rampant lesbian orgies to forced gender transfigurations surround Laughter, all of which have very little basis in reality.\u00a0 In truth, Laughter is very little different \u2013 apart from the female-only student body \u2013 from Whitehall or Mountaintop.<\/p>\n

\n

Politically, Laughter enjoys the same level of near-complete independence as Whitehall and Mountaintop.\u00a0 The school does follow the White Council\u2019s standard curriculum, wherever possible, with a handful of tiny modifications.\u00a0 The majority of the tutors are accredited by the council well before they\u2019re invited to join the staff.\u00a0 However, it inspires somewhat mixed feelings within the White City.\u00a0 Both aristocrats and magical families are often reluctant to send their daughters to the school, although for different reasons.\u00a0 The former feel the school\u2019s education will give their daughters ideas, and an unhealthy degree of independence; the latter believe Laughter isolates its students from the patronage networks that dominate magical society.\u00a0 This does not, however, keep the school from having more applicants than it can handle.<\/p>\n

The origins of the school \u2013 and particularly who built the twin castles \u2013 are lost somewhere in the mists of time. The officially-accepted story states that a powerful witch, the sister of a king, defeated a banshee-like creature that plagued the Howling Peaks and, in reward, was given the region as a personal fiefdom.\u00a0 This witch, whose name has also been lost in time, went on to found Laughter, first as a retreat for her fellow women of magic and later as a full-fledged school.\u00a0 The more dubious stories suggest the founder was, in fact, the banshee herself, who made a deal with the king for reasons of her own.\u00a0 A final version of the story, told by the local men, speaks of a powerful and haughty witch who was bested by the kingdom\u2019s prince and swore herself \u2013 and her sisters \u2013 to his service for the rest of time.\u00a0 It is difficult to know, now, which version of the story is correct.\u00a0 The only thing known for certain is that the Howling Peaks, and the town of Pendle, have effectively been ceded to Laughter Academy.\u00a0 Those who do not care to live under a witch\u2019s rule have no choice, but to leave.<\/p>\n

Laughter Academy consists of four separate buildings, resting on the two highest peaks within the fiefdom.\u00a0 The Keep \u2013 a sinister-looking castle \u2013 houses the school itself, as well as most of the teachers.\u00a0 The Retreat provides accommodation for Sisters \u2013 see below \u2013 and other women, mainly magical or aristocratic, who wish to retire from the world.\u00a0 The Guesthouse, positioned between the Keep and Pendle Town, houses male tutors and guests who, by law, are not allowed to be within the castle after dark.\u00a0 The Redoubt \u2013 a ruined castle of uncertain purpose \u2013 dominates the other peak.\u00a0 It is normally deserted, save for martial magic-style training sessions.\u00a0 The girls claim the castle is haunted and make a habit of daring their fellow students to spend the night in the region.\u00a0 This is officially discouraged, but \u2013 in practice \u2013 tolerated as long as it doesn\u2019t get dangerous.<\/p>\n

On the western side of the castle, a narrow road leads down to Pendle, a town resting within the valley.\u00a0 Home to many former students \u2013 and merchants who make a living from selling to them \u2013 it is a peaceful place to live, even during the worst periods of unrest.\u00a0 It is generally self-governing, although the headmistress has the right to step in if matters are deemed to be getting out of hand.\u00a0 In recent years, the New Learning has spread to the town, bringing with it ideas and concepts from the outside world.<\/p>\n

On the eastern side, a rocky path leads down to the Silent Woods, a valley that cannot be reached save by passing through the school itself.\u00a0 The hidden forest represents both a source of potions ingredients and a place for the girls to test themselves against nature.\u00a0 Men are not barred from the woods, but their presence is strongly discouraged.<\/p>\n

By long-established custom \u2013 precisely who established the custom and why is hotly debated \u2013 the school is ruled by the headmistress, who is known as the Old Woman (this is more of a nickname than a formal title).\u00a0 Her deputy, and presumed successor, is known as the Young Woman.\u00a0 The Young Woman is elected by former students, who will generally confirm her as headmistress when the older woman retires or dies in office.\u00a0 (If there is a challenge, by custom it has to be made before the succession has to be settled one way or the other.)\u00a0 The Head Girl, elected by her fellows as they complete their fifth year, makes up the third of the triumvirate, but she doesn\u2019t have the power to override the other two, merely make her opinions known.<\/p>\n

Below the triumvirate, there are the senior tutors, each of whom is a specialist in her subject and has a junior tutor to assist them.\u00a0 The tutors have very little weight individually, but collectively can vote to override, suspend or outright expel the headmistress.\u00a0 Some of these tutors are male, but they can never rise any higher than senior tutor and have a number of other restrictions placed on their behaviour.\u00a0 It\u2019s rare for any of them to last more than a handful of years.<\/p>\n

The student body is composed of young witches \u2013 the term is not seen as derogatory in Laughter, unlike the other schools \u2013 who come from all walks of life.\u00a0 Students \u2013 Little Sisters \u2013 are considered equals once they walk through the doors, although it isn\u2019t hard for students with powerful connections to establish themselves as leaders within the school.\u00a0 The school does go to some effort to make everyone\u00a0act\u00a0<\/em>as equals, from a deliberately bland uniform to a rotating system of chores that everyone, regardless of their birth, has to do.\u00a0 There are no servants within the school, save for the cooks.\u00a0 Their duties are shared amongst the junior students.<\/p>\n

There was one boy who studied at the school.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t work out.\u00a0 It is flatly forbidden to bring a boy\/man into the school without special permission and\u00a0no\u00a0<\/em>male is allowed to remain in the school after dark.\u00a0 Students have been expelled for trying to sneak their boyfriends into the school (although the horrific tales of what happened to those poor boys are\u00a0largely<\/em>\u00a0exaggerated.)<\/p>\n

Junior students \u2013 years one to five \u2013 are expected to fetch and carry for the senior students, although there are consequences for any senior students who abuse this privilege.\u00a0 Years two and above are allowed to elect their dorm heads; those who do well in the role are generally re-elected, although they know better than to take re-election for granted.\u00a0 They also elect the Head Girl as they complete their fifth year, as well as the prefects.\u00a0 Senior students have a lot more privileges, ranging from being allowed to stay up late to wearing their own clothes outside school hours, though they can lose them quickly if they misbehave.<\/p>\n

The school uniform is universally regarded as ugly, although \u2013 after graduation \u2013 it becomes a badge of honour.\u00a0 Junior girls wear grey: grey floor-length skirt, grey shirt, grey blazer.\u00a0 Senior girls wear black, save for when they attend formal functions when they are allowed to wear aristocratic-style dressers.\u00a0 (Students who enter as senior girls are expected to wear a grey blazer or shirt.)\u00a0 Trousers are explicitly forbidden, outside sports and games.<\/p>\n

The lessons themselves are not that different from Whitehall, although there\u2019s more focus on politics, land management and other gaps in more customary (i.e. traditional) forms of female education.\u00a0 (The school is noted for producing more healer candidates than any other.)\u00a0 Outside classes, the girls are free to do what they like \u2013 within reason.\u00a0 Senior girls are free to visit Pendle at will and many of them form relationships with boys from the town; junior girls are only allowed to visit on weekends, under supervision.<\/p>\n

Unusually for a magic school, the students are taught to levitate \u2013 and fly \u2013 from a very early age.\u00a0 The dangers inherent in any form of flying spell are noted, and there is usually at least one serious accident every year, but the school refuses to rethink its policy.\u00a0 Indeed, it is often seen as something that sets Laughter apart from the rest.\u00a0 The tutors do, however, maintain careful watch on the students, and any student caught trying to disrupt someone else\u2019s spell is instantly expelled, without appeal.<\/p>\n

Upon graduation, either from the junior or senior school, a student is inducted into the Sisterhood, a quarrel (association) composed of former students.\u00a0 The Sisterhood serves as a combination of Old Girls Network and political pressure group, which \u2013 given the number of magical patrons and aristocrats within its ranks \u2013 gives it a surprising amount of clout.\u00a0 It rarely shows its hand openly, if only because the Sisterhood is structured to make action difficult without consensus, but is feared by many throughout the Allied Lands.\u00a0 Sisters are expected to help other sisters, although they are also supposed to bear in mind the political consequences of their acts.\u00a0 When Princess Joanna, daughter of King Edwin, married against her father\u2019s will \u2013 to a rebel lord, no less \u2013 the Sisterhood helped her and her husband to safety, but refused to interfere further.\u00a0 (The Elders reasoned that it would lead to a clash with the aristocracy, which would be a breach of the Convent.)\u00a0 They have far fewer qualms about assisting common-born women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This school is in the Nameless world from our own Christopher G. Nuttall’s Schooled In Magic series. It appeared first on his blog at Chrishanger. Background Notes: Laughter Academy of the Magical\u00a0Arts More nonsense has been written about Laughter Academy, also known as Laughter School, than any of the other schools of magic within the Allied Lands.\u00a0 This is perhaps unsurprising, given that it is the only school that refuses to accept male magicians as students (and senior teachers).\u00a0 Rumours of everything from rampant lesbian orgies to forced gender transfigurations surround Laughter, all of which have very little basis in reality.\u00a0 In truth, Laughter is very little different \u2013 apart from the female-only student body \u2013 from Whitehall or Mountaintop. Politically, Laughter enjoys the same level of near-complete independence as Whitehall and Mountaintop.\u00a0 The school does follow the White Council\u2019s standard curriculum, wherever possible, with a handful of tiny modifications.\u00a0 The majority of the tutors are accredited by the council well before they\u2019re invited to join the staff.\u00a0 However, it inspires somewhat mixed feelings within the White City.\u00a0 Both aristocrats and magical families are often reluctant to send their daughters to the school, although for different reasons.\u00a0 The former feel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boarding-schools"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1438,"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions\/1438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.superversivesf.com\/fantasticschools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}