| Category | Groups | ||||
| Type | School | ||||
| World | Marragh | ||||
| Location | Strongheart | ||||
| Sponsor | independent | ||||
| Size | |||||
| Races |
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| Alignment | non-evil | ||||
| Symbol | Gaff | ||||
| Established | 16 Lunar 234 LE |
In the cloud-scraped ridges of Balforn, a clan of Giff rose to prominence, earning their living through the construction of bridges and the carving of roads across a landscape deeply etched with canyons and towering spires. Traversing from one holding to the next proved a laborious undertaking, as they navigated the ups and downs of the highlands and traversed the yawning chasms. This Giff clan, the Snoutwind, was contracted to improve the transportation links between settlements. They also engaged in battle against the native inhabitants of Balforn, facing off against frost giants, ice trolls, orcs, wyverns, and even the occasional dragon. Moreover, they were the first Giff to take to the skies, mounting wyverns and dragons. A century later, this practice had evolved into a thriving enterprise, the Balforn Sky Academy, or BSA, dedicated to the training of both steeds and their riders.
In the year 921, a giff engineer named Towerfoot authored a book detailing mundane weapons and illustrating the concept of great skyships, which remained theoretical at the time. The BSA, along with numerous others, possessed the capabilities to elevate such vessels aloft, such as the Spire Citadels employing Jurungen or earth motes. However, they lacked the means to provide these ships with movement and mobility beyond crude sails or expensive magic. Towerfoot's initial manual eventually expanded into a comprehensive collection, continued by subsequent contributors and collectively recognized by outsiders as the Giff Treatise.
In 1176, the BSA received a fortunate opportunity when Svirlido traders arrived in their world. The traders possessed a number of ship engines capable of propelling vessels into the Void. However, the notion of voyaging into the Void was still a distant prospect, as they lacked the essential Void Essences required for such expeditions. The traders had none to sell, and even if they did, the Giff League lacked the financial resources to outfit a ship with these rare and exorbitantly priced commodities, which at the time sold for millions of gold per unit. Yet, two centuries later, the cost of void essences became more reasonable. In 1244, largely due to the efforts of the BSA, the Giff League established contact with the Ivory Asylum on the faraway world of Bal-Kriav.
The BSA not only conducts research and production, but also instructs in the art of astrogation (navigating the Void), as well as a diverse array of other subjects pertaining to skyships and voidships.