Ministry of War & Conflict | Founded Year 14 of the Reckoning
“To master battle, one must first master the self.”
Rising from the granite cliffs of Frosthold Range, the War College of Blackstone Bastion stands as the premier training institution for commanders, tacticians, and defense scholars across the Kingdom. Here, beneath soaring spires and stone-carved oath halls, the leaders of Eyehasseen’s armed forces are shaped—not merely to win wars, but to understand them.
Established shortly after the Battle of Hollow Vale, the College has served for over a century as the intellectual and ethical backbone of the Ministry of War & Conflict.
🛡️ Core Mission
Blackstone Bastion is more than a military academy. It is a place of:
- Tactical mastery
- Historical reckoning
- Battle ethics and wartime philosophy
- Arcane threat analysis and beast warfare theory
- Martial diplomacy and ceremonial command
Graduates receive the rank of Strategic Officer of the Realm, bearing the silver braid of Blackstone and the authority to lead forces on behalf of the Crown.
🏰 The Bastion Grounds
The campus includes:
- The Hall of Echoes – a stone amphitheatre where every past valedictory speech is whispered back in faint murmurs
- The Library of Lost Formations – contains centuries of battlefield diagrams, commander’s logs, and still-classified manuals
- The Court of Wargames – a circular arena where students face off in simulated skirmishes using miniaturized enchanted tokens
- Chapel of the Falling Standard – where failed campaigns are studied and honored with solemn reverence
- The Skyview Barracks – home to elite cadets, with open roofs for star navigation and nocturnal drill
🧠 Notable Faculties
- Department of Tactical Theory – teaches flanking patterns, terrain inversion, and the psychology of morale
- Chair of Beast-Warfare Studies – includes guest lecturers from the Royal Cavalry & Beast Corps
- School of Fortification Arts – led jointly with the Bureau of Defensive Works
- Seminar on Warfare Ethics – examines rules of engagement, civilian safety, and the Doctrine of Measured Response
- Office of Dream Combat Studies – a semi-mystical unit exploring conflict through dreamscapes and subconscious battlefield simulations (access restricted)
🏅 Distinguished Alumni
- Marshal Sereth Danwyn – author of Warfare as Weather, considered the Kingdom’s greatest living tactician
- Commander Teyra Harn – famed for the Crimson Circle Maneuver at the Siege of Ashfold
- Lt. Col. Varnel Thrush – first recipient of the Order of the Falling Standard for heroic action in a doomed campaign
- Strategic Officer Ilwen Crowe – chief architect of the Beast Corps’ command structure
📜 Traditions & Ceremonies
- The Oath of the Stone – recited by all graduating cadets at sunrise on the final day, with hand upon the Founder’s Anvil
- Feast of Failed Plans – an annual banquet where faculty and students present their worst tactical ideas, to laughter and learning
- The Silent Parade – held annually to honor all Blackstone graduates lost in service; attended in full dress uniform, no words spoken
🧭 The Bastion’s Role Today
Blackstone Bastion continues to serve as the strategic soul of the armed forces. All commanding officers above the rank of Colonel must hold Blackstone certification unless waived by royal decree.
Its motto—“Victory Begins Before the First Order”—is etched above the northern gate.