New University of Stormwind

The New University of Stormwind is a non-monastic institution of learning and debate, a forum for individuals who view the pursuit of knowledge as a disinterested pursuit, not subject to judgments about good or evil.


Type: An interest guild that considers itself a professional guild

Trade: All manner of knowledge, focusing on history.

Motivation/Goal: To promote the advancement of knowledge, and formalize and treat these studies with professionalism.

How to Join: One may perform exemplary deeds and be asked to join, or one may petition to join the ranks.

Tiers/Ranks:
 * Guild Officers: Headmaster, General Secretary, Treasurer
 * General membership divided into Full members, Associate members, and Affiliates

Symbol: Twin serpents facing away from each other.

Alignment: Lawful Neutral. Lawful in that they respect the hierarchy of their organization and most at least pay lip service to the ideals of their professions. Neutral in that they see knowledge as a disinterested pursuit, not subject to judgments about good or evil.

Meetings: Full membership meets monthly, and officers shall meet on an ad hoc basis.

Description
Description: The University of Stormwind is a non-monastic institution of learning and debate, a forum for individuals who view the pursuit of knowledge as a disinterested pursuit, not subject to judgments about good or evil.

The guild's emblem is a pair of white serpents on a blue background, with a Draconic phrase that translates roughly into “Let it Not Be Forgotten” in Common below it. The use of Draconic, a language associated with obscure knowledge (particularly arcane magic), in the logo emphasizes the University's elite self-conception, as if the knowledge in which it trades can only be discovered and interpreted by skilled academics.

The guild aims to not be terribly large, and operates primarily out of the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences in Stormwind (near the Stockade). There are six senior officers. They are, in descending order of seniority: The Headmaster, the General Secretary, the Treasurer, the Senior Officer, and two Junior Officers. The three Officers oversee the operation of the guild's library, which is its most important material resource.

The guild has three levels of membership. Full Members are the most senior, and they may never have their membership revoked except under the most extraordinary circumstances. Associate Members may apply for Full Membership after having been an Associate Member after an extended period of time.

Affiliates are, for the most part, citizens with an interest in education and are willing to hang around the guild. They receive access to the guild's library and may use receive formal invitations to the guild's public functions. But they have no voice in the guild's internal affairs.

The guild does not screen its members by alignment or motivation, but in general by ideals and philosophy. The University stresses the importance of independent-mindedness, the guild charter itself stating that, “The discipline of the scholar must be objective and disinterested if it is to arrive at the pure truth of any matter.”

Members of the University strive for the ideal of steering free of any partisan bias (especially bias in favor of their patrons). It should even avoid any bias in favor of what is considered good or evil.

To this end, the University hosts public lectures and debates on various subjects, from history to magical theory. Admission to these events is free, but the University uses them quite shamelessly to solicit donations and connect members with wealthy patrons.

The University generally takes friends where it can find them. They ask for friendly patrons to help shield individual members from threats to their livelihoods (or even lives), and sometimes extend this protection to the entire guild.

As such, the University tries to avoid long-running enmities. In part, this is due to the fact that many see academics as a resource that may be useful for their own purposes, and the guild sees no point in antagonizing anyone uselessly, because there is a possibility that each may be needed to propagandize for the other.

That said, the University may have uncounted localized disputes. This generally arises from patrons unhappy with work that they had sponsored, or important individuals who feel that a historian has written something that threatens to subvert their image or authority.

=OOC Information=

Who we are
The  is a guild based around the framework of an institution of higher learning in the world of Azeroth. It is intended to be a forum for the discussion of happenings in the World of Azeroth. Dissenting opinions are welcome, as being unpopular does not mean the ideas can be discounted.

That said, it's not “college rp" as it is often known as, our goal is to offer the backdrop and support of a guild that specifically caters to this sort of Roleplay, and further enhancing this experience through offering in-game academia in it's simplest form: people talking about various subjects to expand the common knowledge.

What We Have to Offer
The University offers a neutral ground for the expression and communication of ideas within the context of the World of Warcraft. History, engineering, medicine, etc. Including Magic where it may be applied.

Furthermore, we also offer the following:


 * Social events
 * Guild repairs.
 * Guild Tabards. Fly your colors and show your school spirit!
 * Supply Store. Items of varying quality and availability related to professions will stocked in the guild bank and offered with significant discounts to all guild members. Common items will have the deepest discount (usually about 50% of the going AH rate), while more rare items will understandably be pricier. We will also do our best to help obtain certain items within reason. All proceeds will go solely to help develop the Guild. As we progress, the more we will have.

GHI Books: In the near future, we'll be supporting GHI books and other odds and ends related to the school.

What we're looking for
In-character, primarily we're looking for pretty much anyone with the goal of seeking or spreading knowledge. Pretty obvious with a guild based around what would be called a University. But OOC, we're more than just that.

That said, we're not looking specifically for people who want to do schoolwork, not at all. We also want to provide a more dedicated backdrop than 'college rp' - WoW's fantasy version of college social life. Go to parties, meet new people, go on adventures through the magic of archaeology and with one of Harrison Jones' colleagues.

To this end, we are also looking for, but are not limited to:


 * Players who'd like a bit of help or advice getting used to roleplaying. One does not have to be in the guild to be involved.
 * Experienced roleplayers who are also looking to develop an alt or a personality for their characters.
 * Collaboration with other roleplaying guilds for events and other activities. The intent of greater inter-guild interaction is not simply limited to guest lecturers, however. Students may be tasked with helping another guild study an artifact that's come into their possession.
 * Mercenaries and other adventurers may be hired by a teacher to retrieve the aforementioned artifact from Scholomance. Etc. Etc.
 * Guest speakers and lecturers. The goal of higher education is to enhance knowledge. Not simply the text found in dusty old tomes, but to expand the viewpoint of students, and that is strongly accomplished by hearing from those who are most experienced in those fields and hear their viewpoints.
 * Mentor and apprentice characters. One goal is to have a list of characters/players who are willing to take on another character in a mentor role, and help characters integrate with each other. A squire has a difficult task of being without a knight, after all.
 * College RP Hosts. There are those who simply like to host College RP. And we'd like to offer the University of Stormwind as a backdrop for them.
 * Lore buffs. The very idea of the guild is the sharing of information, and where else can lore buffs talk about the lore better than with those who want to know more, or how to interpret the lore?
 * Friends. Cross-realm zones and soon to be Virtual realms are an excellent opportunity for a shared roleplay experience. If you have someone outside of Moon guard who you'd like to invite to hang around with, feel free to bring them to events. Or if they want to roll an alt, we will be more than happy to take them on.

Great! I want to get involved! How do I do that?
We're working on a guild website, but for the time being, the simplest way is to contact Leviticasz or Snowlady at this time. Just send a whisper or an in-game mail, and we'll get started!

We do have a guild website, but it's still under construction. Visit from time to time and we'll see it as it progresses!