White Grotto

The premier bardic school in Absalom, and one of the most revered of the Inner Sea, the White Grotto is a large manor with many outbuildings and secluded rock gardens, with a winding creek traveling through the grounds. An amphitheater that can seat a few hundred patrons sits next to the Grotto for the school's use, but is not officially part of the grounds. though not controlled by any guild, the Grotto pays hefty fees to the District Council and a few of the shops and playhouses in the Ivy District to ensure their students are not hassled or pressured to join other organizations. Upon graduating, students must deal with the normal difficulties of earning a living, but while enrolled in the Grotto they are allowed to practice their student trade without worrying about political repercussions. Students are required to wear simple tunics to denote their station within the school. Apprentices wear green (and are often called "greens" by natives of Absalom), journeymen blue, and masters black. Tradition dictates that all other clothing be white, at least during performances, but no rules exist regarding anything but the tunic. (Indeed, some wear the tunic by itself, belted and treated as a short dress.) Most students also carry a white cloth satchel bearing the tools of their trade, be those books of music, instruments, brushes and pigments, or flasks of lemon tea to keep their voices crisp. Their distinctive dress allows the students to sing and otherwise perform without interference by any guild, but it also ensures tavern-keepers and patrons know to pay only "apprentice" rates, usually a few copper pieces a night. Of course better students can command higher prices, but it is always a fraction of what a guild performer commands. The school is broken into five conservatories, each dedicated to one branch of the performing arts. They are Voice (which includes singing, acting, and spoken performances such as epic poems), Drum (including all percussion, as well as the basics of cadence, timing, and the basics of orchestration), String (including all stringed instruments and the basics of orchestration), Pipe (including all wind instruments), and Script (which includes both composure of music and the written word, as well as all visual mediums from sculpture to painting). The Master of Voice, Roscierre Ibanc, is also the grand master of the Grotto. An older human nearing the end of his career, Master Ibanc does his best to avoid confrontation and politics, but supports his students absolutely. The other masters are the sturdy dwarf Durga Den (Drum), the half-elven Etrenne Rylwynne (Strings), the dashing fencer Jaren of House Wycomb (Pipe), and enigmatic Tia Yi Gan (Script). Only Durga Den has been at the Grotto longer than Master Ibanc, and the stolid percussionist shows no interest in doing anything but mastering his own war-drum skills, and teaching students only when they dare to point out they are waiting on him. The other instructors all seem to take real pleasure in training a new generation of artists and have very few interactions outside the Grotto. However, rumors constantly swirl around the staff, driven kat least in part by the nartural imagination of a few dozen bardic students. Hearsay claims that Master Ibanc traveled with Lord Gyr, that Jaren spent a stint as a pirate (which is where he learned he fencing skills), and that Tia Yi Gan cannot return to her home for fear of being killed for dishonoring her family. Of course students have also claimed that Etrenne is secretly a silver dragon, so their imagination clearly knows no bounds.