Melfia is a land to the south of where sorcery and pyromancy prosper, primarily known for the Melfian Magic Academy. Its origins can be traced to Drangleic, before it was known by that name, where a king wracked with fear and suspicion, and his kingdom plagued by the curse of undeath, grew paranoid about its source, imprisoning his citizens inside the Lost Bastille to be forgotten or petrified by Basilisks, however, with time, anybody found undesirable, cursed or no was seized.
*NOTE: Drangleic is a continental kingdom, with all previous kingdoms also being used to name the continent during their respective eras. In this case, Olaphis.
Sorcerers in particular suffered severe persecution; the infame Straid of Olaphis was among them, but as the Bastille saturated with undead, the king of Olaphis used artificial creatures known as Flexile Sentry to cram them into crude ships and sent them to the sea, condemned to certain death.
Most drowned or starved, but a few survivors made land to the south, Melfia, and imparted their knowledge of sorcery to the locals. It may be that the original inhabitants of Melfia were prodigious users of pyromancy already, which would explain Melfia's dual interest in the arts, or perhaps the survivors of Olaphis brought pyromancy with them, though dark sorcery remained taboo and those who chose to study this type of magic were admonished and distanced by fellow sorcerers.
*NOTE: Some rumors say that the founders of the academy were sinful men, probably an attempt of the king to slander the survivors who prospered, who came from across the northern seas.
The sorceries they left behind were few, scattered and barely legible, leading to the loss of precious knowledge, for they suffered heavy persecution while in Olaphis, and whether they hid, burned or took their sorceries with them, it contributed to the great loss of sorcery to the extent that it was never fully recovered, with the basics being taught to certain Operator by Carhillion of the Fold, an ex-member of the Melfian Magic Academy.
The very history of the Magic Academy of Melfia has become blurry as the details of its establishment have become unclear, due to the frequent dissolution and re-establishment of its faculties throughout centuries.
*NOTE: Despite the great steps taken in studying and developing sorceries, their history remains clouded. An unspecified "great white being" is correctly credited as the founder of sorcery, but the academics cannot confirm their suspicions. They are also aware of the existence of primordial flame sorceries, the predecessors to pyromancy, though no such sorceries have survived through the ages, with their pioneer also lost to history.
Supposedly, Olenford the Sorcerer was the leader of the main group that survived the exile, reaching Melfia's shores. Revered as the father of sorcery, legends state that he searched for knowledge that surpassed mankind's and so returned to Olaphis, venturing into the Undead Crypt and ceased with his humanity.
*NOTE: If Operator Alden's accounts and the artifacts and individuals he encountered are correct, the Undead Crypt predates the various kingdoms that ruled the continent, and is likely a creation of the Old Dead, one of the three main deities.
What this means is unclear. Olenford was a sorcerer who explored the limits of sorcery and likely established the roots of what would one day become the Melfian Magic Academy, but in the end, his vision was twisted and all destroyed throughout Melfia's history.
It is peculiar that in Melfia miracles hold no place within society. Perhaps from disgust with Olaphis whose dominant power may have been miracles. The members of the Melfian Academy went as far as to deny the very existence of gods, which in a world where they exist, could be seen as madness or heresy. Interestingly enough, it is in Melfia that the Lightning Urns originate, maybe a way to use the power of miracles without acknowledging its origins.
The Academy also has a dislike for anything vaguely linked to sword-fighting. The purists view it as barbaric in nature, and scoff at those who pursue it. There is some evidence that at one time sword fighting and sorcery were combined within the land of Melfia, perhaps in the time where the new survivors and the old inhabitants were merging into one people.
*NOTE: Operator Alden possesses a Sorcerer's Twinblade originating from Melfia, doubling as a catalyst for sorcery, a rare weapon used by few due to its dependence on skills with both staff and swords, and the sorceries Soul Greatsword, and Magic Weapon, corroborating to this theory.
*NOTE: The origins of Melfia's disgust with sword-play may be linked to the treatment the sorcerers received in Olaphis before their expulsion.
Below are some of the areas of study and creations from academia that have survived the passage of time.
1 - Attempts to alter the state of titanite by imbuing elements to it, supposedly failing, but given that several types of elemental titanite stones imbued with powers such as bleed, poison, dark, fire, lightning, magic and more exists, some other scholars likely finished the research.
2 - Studies of the celestial bodies; with Astrologists establishing rules for the movements of the sun, moon, stars, and that magic power could be obtained from their alignments. However, they were unable to acquire sorcery from the cosmos, but their ideas and study led to the creation of several magic devices.
3 - Infusion of different spells into crystals, creating quartz rings that were bestowed upon students that reached a certain level in their studies.
To the frustration of the old guard, the pyromancy master Glocken crafted countless replicas of these rings, being scolded for undermining the lessons gained from harsh training. However, he continued his work, to the point that the rings became widespread and famed for saving the lives of many travelers, while also making him very rich.
*NOTE: It seems that I finally found the one who inspired Operator Alden to build his merchant empire.
Below are some of the individuals found that originated from Melfia.
1 - Carhillion of the Fold, a member of the old faculty, the Fold, but atypical of the general culture found there.
2 - Pyromancer Glocken, another teacher at the Academy. His achievements are indicative of the state it is in, and the reason for Carhillion's departure.
3 - Rosabeth of Melfia, a student of Glocken. A prodigious pyromancer without talent for sorcery, despite her interest in it.
4 - Felkin, the Outcast, once a member of the Academy too. He left due to neither pyromancy nor sorcery appealing to him. It was within the academy that he discovered the Dark, and this discovery led him to Drangleic where, quote: "Dark runs deeper than anywhere else."
5 - Royal Sorcerer Navlaan, he may have been a fellow student of Felkin, but now he is the enduring will of a man executed long ago, taking control of another's body. While his vessel slept, he would take over, seeking people out and murdering them.
*NOTE: Due to the temporal and spatial distortions caused by the extinguishing of the First Flame in Drangleic, it is difficult to say whether the kingdom of Melfia and the Academy of Magic still exist in present times, for while the individuals mentioned previously seem to come from an era where the kingdom still thrives, the few memories of Operator Alden seem to reveal that the kingdom fell long ago.
Although the Magic Academy was largely presented as an institution devoted to the pursuit of truth, there were some who were discontent with the dynamics within their ranks. Claiming their scholars as being uninterested in truth, lacking ambitions and more engaged in petty squabbles, making the academies a terrible place to learn magic.
END OF FILE