A Dragonsfoot Challenge post (I'm going through the old challenges and finding my things I haven't posted yet).
The North [Location*] College of Lore is one of the new wave of Bardic Colleges that aims to take advantage of a bard's eclectic pursuit of knowledge, becoming a clearinghouse of those things of interest to adventurers. Its symbol is a blue river on a field of green, inside a circle of gold, representing a few of its most cherished beliefs. Like a river might be, it is broad, but not necessarily terribly deep, and it flows through the portal to everything: gold. There are few more perfect symbols in all the planes.
The North [Location] College of Lore attracts priests, wizards, rogues, and warriors. Some stay as faculty, training younger members of the college and paying a portion of their fees to the college itself. Others come to study, seeking information in its broad library, or even paying for the privilege of copying spells from its spell tomes. Want to learn to protect yourself from pickpockets? The North [Location] College of Lore is always looking for people to be marks for pickpocket classes, and they'll be happy to teach you to avoid being pickpocketed at the same time. Need information on an obscure ruin or ancient dragon? The North [Location] College of Lore has a large library and librarians eager to help you.
While many pay in coin, the North [Location] College of Lore also takes payment in service or kind. If you want access to their spell library, they may charge you fees, or request that you scribe some scrolls for sale in their Scriptorium, or simply copy over books and spells in a fair hand. Fighters who wish to train may be drafted into training themselves, especially if they have expertise in rare weapons that they can pass on. Rogues might be hired to improve or test security, and there's always a need for priests to heal up injuries taken in training. Even psionicists with the power of Psychic Surgery may find breaks on tuition if they can help others unlock their own wild talents.
Prices at the North [Location] College of Lore are reasonable, by adventuring standards. If engaged in level training, prices are as in the DMG. Learning a spell from their library costs the same as having an NPC cast the spell (at the minimum level that spell is available; Remove Curse, a 4th level spell, will run 3500 gold), plus providing a copy of another spell of similar level that the library does not possess. If you don't have a spell the library needs (or don't wish to trade it), then the price triples. This is for the attempt, only; there's no guarantee that you will learn the spell. The library attracts sages for study, and so they are often available for consultation, at the usual rates, or the library may be able to provide referrals to sages with a given specialty (often asking for a few tens to hundreds of gold for the courtesy). Simply making use of the mundane library requires a monthly subscription of 100 gold pieces, plus an initial 200gp fee to be entered into the rolls as accepted subscribers (the 200gp fee involves the casting of a Wizard Mark on said rolls); the monthly subscription might be pro-rated down to 40 gold per week, but the fee is non-negotiable. Writing materials for taking notes costs extra.
Most mundane equipment is available at close to list price. Scrolls and potions are frequently available from the Scriptorium or Apothecary, and will cost 50% above the market value laid out in the DMG (page 121 of the 1e DMG). If offered in trade, they bring in the market value; if outright sold, the College will usually only pay 75% of market value. More exotic items are seldom available; the College keeps such items offered in trade or sale for the use of its faculty and staff.
History:
The North [Location] College of Lore was founded by Kappelheim Tavartarr, a gnomish professor (bard kit) of great experience. He secured the location for the college (an old moathouse he cleared early in his career), and slowly built the college around it, encouraging his followers to study and teach; some of the 0-level fighters that formed his initial entourage became sages in their own right, while others became Weaponsmasters, scribes, or any of the other positions needed by the college. As this was more than 100 years ago, some of the gnomish and elvish followers remain on staff, while human followers have children and grandchildren who have entered into Kappelheim's service. Now a small town in its own right, with about 200 permanent residents (85% human and half-elven, 5% elven, 3% gnomish, 6% halfling, 1% dwarven), and between 20-50 transients at any given time. Joining the college as permanent faculty is difficult; Kappelheim and his associates will subject you to a lengthy and invasive magical, psionic, and mundane investigation, and generally only hire those who are committed to the college and of a steady temperament. 90% of those accepted as permanent faculty will be of lawful alignment, and less than 20% will be of evil alignment; more chaotic or malevolent individuals may be accepted as adjunct faculty, but seldom as full-time members of the community. Even still, faculty members must accept a geas to serve and protect the college.
*Plug in your favorite location; I considered both "Faerun" and "Flanaess", but you can plug in most anyplace. I kept almost writing "Texas".
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