College of the Esoteric

Under the Empire
"The College had been used as a prison by the Empire, but the building was commandeered for liberal, academic endeavors in the Solar Year 2. It is a two story building, not including the basement, which is off limits to students and non-pertinent staff. Students believe the basement, where torture experiments took place, remains haunted.

For a college, it has very few closed classrooms. This is a result of the building being a former prison. The cell walls and bars were knocked out and replaced with open floor classrooms. Lectures often took place simultaneously with crisscrossing information distracting students. More renovations are planned by the Solar Year 30."

[excerpts from an academic journal]

In Solar Year 2, a battery of changes for Durno came down the line quickly after Lord Dredd ascended to power. He turned the former prison into the College of the Esoteric and appointed four founders, who had autonomy over what their “houses,” or schools, would focus on.

Founding of the Houses
The founding of the Houses was fundamental to keeping order among different races and creatures in Durno’s diverse population. Lord Dredd appointed four outstanding leaders that had proven themselves as key members to society before and after his sacrifice.

The four Houses are/were:

· House Aviaks – founded by Vorona, the ancient eagle warrior. Winged creatures had watched the expansion and destruction of the Empire from all angles for as long as anyone could remember. They mainly nested in the Sundered Spine Mountains in the East. Vorona’s research focused on military history and strategy as she was once a glorious warrior herself in battles long forgotten.

·House Icebloods – Sebilisk, a great political figure and historian himself, founded House Icebloods. It represented reptiles of all shapes and sizes under one species umbrella. Their motto, “Natus Est Draco,” asserted that all reptiles, amphibians, etc. had descended from a great dragon. His research focused on reptile rights and cultural interactions with the warmbloods aka non-reptilian species.

·House Stargazers – Ori was a human mage that studied astrology. Ori’s publications focused on universal truths and harmony among all species. However, she had a major problem remembering anything. Her students once said that she wrote and lost a book every day. “If it’s worth remembering, you won’t forget what you forgot to remember,” claimed Ori. She was particularly loved by students for never remembering to collect homework or check attendance.

·House Plagueis – House Plagueis (nicknamed “Spore House” by its own members) was founded by Doctor Dima. Dr. Dima was a dedicated scientist and to the idea that ignorance was the greatest weapon societies used to kill themselves. “In Virus Veritas” is the House’s motto and embodies Dr. Dima’s pedagogy to a T-cell. He worked closely with Lord Dredd in developing an inoculation against, as Dr. Dima put it, “Morons.”