Tier Breche

Technically the name of the northernmost plateau in the city of Zhanduril, Tier Breche is also the colliquial term for the city's prestigious Academy. It is comprised of three schools: Melee-Magthere, the School of Warriors; Sorcere, the School of Arcane Magic; and Arach-Tinilith, the temple of Sindrai'el and School of Priestesses. Instructors are known as Masters and Mistresses.

All noble Zhanduran Drow are sent to Tier Breche when they come of age, generally around 25 or so, and train at each of the three schools; wealthy commoners are also sent there, as well as commoners in service to a house. (It is also not uncommon for noble houses to sponsor promising young commoners at Tier Breche, in exchange for service to the house.) The Academy is a brutal environment, for all its beauty, and young Drow minds are molded there into the soulless, power-hungry fiends the larger world know them as. Students are indoctrinated with propaganda, and then begin study in the school that best fits their house's plans for them, spending the majority of their years there before finishing out in the other two schools. Mages usually have the longest tenure at Tier Breche, as their training is the most complex, followed by priestesses.

Tier Breche is also very powerful politically, forming the third leg of the proverbial triad of political bodies in Zhanduril (the other two being Veld'Z'ress and the Council). Houses jockey to have their nobles placed in the schools as Masters and Mistresses, as it is not only a great honor, but also an excellent way of keeping an eye on the future of their enemies. However, like everything else in the city, Lady Ambika is really in control of Tier Breche. Faeryl Everhate, her eldest daughter, is Headmistress of Arach-Tinilith, and thus also carries the title of Matron Mistress of the Academy. Unlike most eldest daughters, however, Faeryl harbors no ambitions of overthrowing her mother and is absolutely loyal to her.

The Academy is responsible for patrolling the immediate environs of the city, known as the Mantle, and is also charged with carrying out justice in the case of a House breaching the delicate rules of engagement in interhouse wars.