Learning new skills
Schools and Universities are where you go to learn new skills. For each of the seven disciplines (Architecture, Art & Music, Body, Conflict, Leadership, Thought, and Worship) there is one type of school, and one type of university.
Schools:
- All schools of a type have the same set of skills available.
- For each skill, there is a tuition fee. The fee is different for each skill.
- Skills available from schools are listed here under Skills.
- Most school-taught skills can not be taught.
- Schools also allow you to start the Initiation into that discipline.
Universities:
- Each university only has as many skills as have been researched at it to date.
- Any skill available is offered for free.
- Skills available from universities are often refered to as Techs.
- All (most?) university-taught technologies can be taught.
- Universities are also where you go to start Tests of that discipline.
Universities and Research
A given technology must be researched at a University before it will be taught there. People must donate goods to meet the (often very expensive) research cost. Once the research cost is met,
that University will begin researching; the new technology will become available one day later. (If you hear that a particular technology is "on timer", this means that the research costs have been paid and people are waiting for the research to complete.) Note that the technology does
not automatically become available at other universities.
Often, the first time a new technology is unlocked, new related skills will become available at Schools everywhere.
Some technologies depend on others, so one has to be researched at that University before another becomes available to be researched. Sometimes, a new technology become available only after its prerequisite is available at 7 different universities (of the same discipline, of course).
Teaching skills
Skills learned from Universities may be taught. A person may teach or receive one lesson every ten minutes, and it will take several lessons to teach a skill. The number of lessons depends on the skill. A teacher can teach only one student at a time, and a student may only learn from one teacher at a time. A person may be both a student and a teacher at the same time, however, the time limit restricts teaching immediately after learning, and vice versa.
If you are currently taking lessons from someone and someone else offers, the lessons taught so far vanish.
If you learn the skill (by visiting a place that teaches it), you need not finish your lessons. Note: the next time someone offers to teach you, you will still get a dialog that says "you are currently being taught XXX skill". Don't worry about it, the university taught you everything you needed to know...
More information
For more information on what options a specific School teaches, look on the Skills page.
For more information on what skills a specific University teaches, look at the Research page, and select the region you are interested in. (All universities in that region appear on that page.)
The map at http://www.atitd.info/ contains a list of what universities have what technologies available. The links from Techs and Research give deeper information about the current state of research in Tale 2. Skills will lead you to greater understanding of the skills available in our time, or those merely whispered of from days long past.
Other reasons to go to Schools and Universities
Aside from information about tests...
Architecture
The Free Jug: To learn pottery, you need clay. To get clay, you need jugs, which you make with pottery. The proctors of the school take pity upon you, though, and give you a jug when you first ask to learn pottery.
Arts and Music
Flax seeds (of the Old Egypt and Nile Green varieties) are available from the Schools of Arts and Music. Which is reasonable since they are required to learn Flax Processing and Clothmaking skills (also available there).
Probably everyone affected has picked theirs up by now, but the bonus for preordering was available from the University of Arts and Music.
Leadership
Laws: You can start a petition by visiting a University of Leadership. See
Laws for details.
Worship
Veggie seeds: For paid accounts, each different University of Worship will offer 4 vegetable seeds of a random variety (Cabbage, Carrot, Garlic, Leek, or Onion).
Vine cuttings: Each University of Worship that has researched Viticulture will offer a vine cutting (varies by university, from among about 6 varieties). See wine for more information.
Thought
Cuttable Zircon: Schools of Thought will give out a bag containing 43 pieces of
Cuttable Zircon. However this resource is currently obsolete.