At the Unification of Dragons, Year 1, the first Dragon Temple was built in the heart of Warfang lands; a symbol of cooperation between dragons of different Elements, power shared between them. Assuming the ancient role of grotto protectors, the strongest and most selfless of each Element became Guardians, protectors of the egg grottoes of dragonkind, and its leaders.
Where there is a Temple, there are Guardians. As of the 31st century, Warfang has four Temples and sixteen Guardians;
There is the Ancestor Temple, the first built, housing the Elder Guardians and the Warfang Council in the heart of Warfang City, and near it the Warfang City Temple, housing the Mainland’s Guardians and its egg grottoes.
Across the seas is the Titan Fields Temple in Goldencrown, and further south is the Concurrent Skies Temple.
A Temple was built in the Shattered Vale after Warfang had settled its East. This was destroyed by Apes, the predominant clade of the island, in their fierce war against dragons.
Similar Temples were built by the Zephyr Kingdom and the Ocean Domain.
Temples are massive, ancient, and serves many purposes. Chief among them are the egg grottoes, virtually every egg of the island’s inhabitants gathered into the most secure and well protected parts of the Temples. This is the primary duty of Guardians, the securing of the future of dragonkind.
Guardians also serve as local leadership, serving their citizens with diplomacy and protecting them with great elemental power.
Aiding Guardians in the protection of the egg grottoes is the Templar Order; hand-selected, hardened and powerful dragons who can forsake everything else to fulfill their duty. Each Temple, at any given point, has around fifty Templars defending it.
Separate from the main Temple body is the Collegium; the Temples employ the most accomplished and senior scholars and masters of the Realm to spearhead study of all that is important to know, and preserve this knowledge and pass it on. Each Collegium houses massive libraries, with various degrees of access; typically limited to scholars and students, and some sections restricted to only the Collegium’s senior Masters.
Then there are the Temple Schools, where families send their children to be educated by scholars over the course of many years; this has overlap with the Collegium, as some of these scholars teach full-time or part-time. Temple Schools are unique in their methods, as children are typically otherwise taught in-house by their families and hired tutors.
The Dojos are enchanted halls within the Temples where Guardians and students alike train their Elements. Dojos are imbued with powerful Magic that can construct targets and animated training dummies by thought command; a Magic caster need not be present.
Temple Orphanages are fairly recent, created out of necessity at the rapid expansion of dragonkind and the rise of cities; many eggs left abandoned at the Temples, and many children orphaned to war and tragedy.
Warfang’s Temples host schools that its citizens can send their children to. A full education course is the bare minimum of high society’s children and a solid stepping stone for those of more humble origin; empowering the young with knowledge of the realm, their society, and their Magic. Even just the ability to read and write, a skill of less than a fifth of the population, can make a difference in someone’s life.
The year a hatchling turns 6, they are eligible to start schooling at the Warfang Temples. Their families send an application the year before, and this is processed by the Headmaster’s office. The family’s finances is assessed. Nearing the new year, a slot is offered to the hatchling’s family, and they pay for the first year either in full or the first half. Subsequent years can be paid every three moons.
When the student list is finalized, they are split into Flights of 10 to 15 and assigned a Flight Master. Clutch siblings are always grouped together. For highborn Flights, hatchlings are divided based on Clan alliances, and care is taken to avoid conflicts of interest; a Flight Master cannot have blood relations to any of their students, barring very unique challenges where a student requires extra physical care or consideration.
Flights never have students from all leading Clans together; at least one Clan must be left out so that their Flight Master belongs in allegiance to the fifth, ensuring no favor towards any student. Other Clans may insist on similar arrangements, but this is not always granted, or possible. In some highborn Flights, a Flight Master hails from a Family or Clan with alliances or allegiances to the Clan or Family of one of their students. In these cases, the Flight Master is watched closely for signs of favoritism, which if proven, leads to the loss of their title. Only the Temple Headmaster can make this judgment and act on it, but has certainly already selected a Flight Master whom they trust to be impartial.
For Flights less entwined in Clan politics, family connections and existing friend groups may be taken into account when sorting the hatchlings into their Flight. The families of the children must specifically request this.
Once a Flight is finalized and granted a Flight Master, this Flight Master remains with the Flight for all 18 years, barring certain undesirable circumstances.
Flights were once fully economically mixed due to political separation, but over the last 500 years the divide has set in, leading to primarily clanned and clanless Flights, with mixed Flights still being majorly highborn. Truly mixed Flights are more scarce, occurring only when a highborn or Clan Family is indifferent to the origins of their child’s Flightmates, or if they specifically request a mixed flight (usually through desiring their children be raised alongside the children of loyal allies).
For most of dragon history, formal education did not exist. Dragons were taught their family trade (if any) by their family growing up, and they themselves would continue that trade and teach it to their own children. This is true for dragons that lived in towns and engaged in economic trade, however, many if not most dragons simply built their own homes and hunted and foraged for food, never even touching a coin.
Over the millennia as dragon numbers grew and grew, this natural way of living became more difficult as more land had to be purchased and taxed, and prey became scarcer. Dragons were pushed more into farming to earn coin for their taxed lands if they wanted to have a permanent home, others were pushed into dangerous lands.
As towns turned into cities around the 2nd Millennium (Year 1000), economic differences slowly emerged. Some families were luckier, other trades were more prestigious, and both earned more coin. These richer families began to outsource teachings to dragons outside the family. Over the centuries, private tutoring became a trade of its own, and a prestigious one at that.
Around the 3rd Millennium, the same time-frame as the development of the Clan system, private tutors were teaching children not only the family trade, but other subjects such as Element, history, sciences, civics, and Magic. Most dragons remained uneducated, taught by family or self-taught in their trades, or just taught simple survival. To have an education was a sign of wealth. Educated dragons surrounded themselves with and hired other educated dragons. The class divide grew.
With the growing civilization and the rising need for education, the Dragon Temples began an initiative; to make education affordable and widespread. The Temples hired private tutors to teach groups of children instead of only the children of a single family. This allowed the cost per child to lessen significantly, allowing middle-class families to educate their children as well.
Many iterations of this system saw the light through the centuries, but eventually settled on a system similar to the present time; groups of ten to fifteen children, a Flight, assigned permanently to a tutor, a Dragon Master of Education. Initially this one tutor taught all subjects for about ten years, and the students would continue specific teachings by private tutors at home.
For a while, the students taught at the Temples were low-middle to middle class, as highborn families still hired private tutors—however, they grew jealous of this new system due to the cultural and spiritual significance of the Temples. It didn’t sit right with them to not have their own children be taught in such an important place. As such, most of the wealthy and the Clans began to transition to having their children taught in the Temples as well.
The Clans and the highborn, with high standards and expectations, gradually pushed changes into the system. Dragon Masters required more and more credentials, more experience. The full education cycle became years longer, with Flights being taught subjects more and more by experts (other Dragon Masters) as they aged, leading to Flight Masters spending longer with each Flight, and new Masters being on the Temple payroll. The yearly fee for a child’s education increased significantly, pushing out the lowest income class entirely.
At present, education is again sign of wealth or privilege, affordable by highborn families, and too much of a financial strain for the common working family; often not affordable at all. In-between, access is partial. Some systems were put in place to ease the burden; those serving voluntarily in Warfang’s military receive discounts that increase with years in service and rank—or in the case of timely demise on the battlefields of war, a soldier’s children may receive schooling for free.
Education at the Temples is not free, and neither is it cheap. Less than 10% of children receive any education at the Temples, and even fewer get a full 18 years of education. The later years of education become more expensive, and thus less accessible.
Highborn families with generational wealth generally have no issues sending all their children to the Temple for schooling (made easier by having comparatively less children as well). Families of humbler origins need to budget and choose often only a single child to receive schooling, if any.
The cheapest way to achieve Temple schooling is through a military parent’s death in combat, after a minimum of 10 years in voluntary service and deployment. A late soldier’s children receive schooling for free, through the ultimate sacrifice for their nation.
Children of parents in active, voluntary military service receive cheaper education for their children. Soldiers deployed to war zones, and those occupying in-demand positions like magical Healers receive the full discount, while those not deployed receive significantly less. Non-officer ranks (Soldier/Guard) cannot support a child’s education without multiple incomes together, even with these discounts.
Guard Captains can support one child somewhat comfortably, up to two simultaneously after 20 years in their rank. Army Lieutenants do not have a comparatively high income; two Army Lieutenants may together afford one child’s education, or two if they have held their rank for at least 20 years. Commanders have much higher income and can immediately support multiple children’s schooling, and more yet the longer they hold their rank.
Low-income trades cannot support a child’s education alone, this has to be a full family effort. A large family of potters or farmers can, with savings and many adults pitching in, put a child through a partial education. Even 5 years of education for a child is a boon for such families, gaining them a member that is able to read and write, and many other things. If the family is more well-off than others (thus usually already having partially educated members), they may be able to put their first child through a complete education, assuming stable income. Most low-income trades choose to forego formal education as this is not necessary for their field. Putting a child through schooling is generally an attempt to expand the family’s horizons.
Education for the middle class is generally attainable as long as the adults of the family have decent incomes and the children are few. Typically, firstborns are safely guaranteed a full education, while other children are often left with partial education.
Some families of low or middle class trades have generational ties to Clans and highborn Families, through loyal service to this higher Family. It is not uncommon for the wealthier party to sponsor education for a select child of the subservient family, as both incentive, reward, and investment in their own future. A Clan child may share a Flight with a child intended as their future aide, squire, or personal servant/bodyguard. These kinds of sponsorships can also be done as parts of marriage/heritage contracts, or through a parent indebting the child, wherein they are granted education and a position within the Clan/Family’s trade, and they work to pay off the investment with interest as an adult.
The Temple Schools have several recurring subjects divided, not equally, across the full 18 years. Some subjects are only in the first few years, while others are only in the later years.
Subjects that are recurring throughout the 18 years typically start simplified and in small doses, with complexity added on as the students grow older. Some subjects are returned to more rarely rather than every week.
Years 1 to 18 (ages 6 to 23)
Studies of the Ancestors and their gifts in the form of Spirit Gems, the Seers, Sight, the common beliefs, customs, and history around the Ancestors and their interventions, the afterlife, and dragon spirits, as well as secular interpretations and faiths both current and historical. The Temples emphasize the unknown nature of the Ancestors and the afterlife, warning against adherence to beliefs unconfirmed by Seers and studies.
During this class, students have access to a Vision pool and a pure Spirit Gem. Students may pray at the latter, and rarely, a student sees a true vision in the pool.
Years 1 to 18 (ages 6 to 23)
Studies of the Celestial Bodies of the Sun and the Moons Andrano and Zella, and the stars and heavens around them. Each star is thought to be a past dragon’s Spirit, an Ancestor, their mark upon the Realm reflected in their brightness.
The birth and death of the stars are observed with great interest, as are the great auroras, associated with the movement and influence of Ancestors upon the Realm.
Years 1 to 18 (ages 6 to 23)
Study of the other clades; cheetah, mole, ape, atlawa, hyenid, ogre, dragonfly, and dark dragon, teaching students how Warfang experiences these different peoples, and its history with them. In this subject, apes and dark dragons are shadowed by Warfang’s violent history with them; as is the case with hyenids and ogres, though these have left little mark on Warfang’s consciousness.
Moles are presented positively with emphasis on their long-lived alliance with dragons, and their mutual services to each other. Cheetahs are given more nuance than other clades Warfang has battled with, due in large part due to longer history of coexistence and cooperation, and sometimes successful attempts at diplomacy.
Years 1 to 18 (ages 6 to 23)
An extensive class teaching Warfang’s history and prehistory, including the histories of noteworthy lineages. Historical events of highest significance are taught multiple times as students get older, with more in depth or alternate focuses each time.
Years 1 to 18 (ages 6 to 23)
Study of the physical form of dragons and the unique ways their Magic affects their bodies, and how their bodies affect their Magic; the special Ancestral blessing of healing gems and Magic, and the processes of recovery with and without. Students are also taught of diseases and afflictions that can impact them, how to avoid them, and how to keep their bodies healthy.
Years 1 to 18 (ages 6 to 23)
From Year 1, students accompany older Flights to Element tutoring and practice until their own Elements are discovered and they may participate. This class aids children in the awakening of their Elements. The rest of the time, students learn, through demonstrations and tomes, the capabilities of their Elements and their histories, such as historical figures who unlocked the secrets of Elemental mastery. While they spend most time learning their own Element, they also learn and observe the other Elements; barring of course the Dark Elements.
Wind and Water dragons, due to a much lower count within Warfang, are grouped together.
On occasion, the Temple’s Guardians will teach these classes.
Years 6 to 18 (ages 11 to 23)
From Year 6, students begin classes learning about non-Elemental Magic, its histories and many spells and mysteries.
Those who have attained control of their Elements may attempt casting simpler spells with instruction. Magic capability is tied to heritage, and many families, especially those with a chief Element focus and higher mastery in this, have poor or no Magic capability. Applicable students, and students whose families have declined Magic tutoring, are placed into extra Element classes instead.
Students with Magic aptitude over Element may forego Element classes for Magic classes, if available, and may in rare cases do so before Year 6, if they have already learned Magic.
Years 10 to 18 (ages 15 to 23)
A class both popular and unpopular, depending on the student. In this class, students learn to utilize their Element defensively and offensively, and will apply it against targets and the enchanted Dojo dummies, and in spars against other students.
In sparring, students who are especially advanced in Element may spar with older students rather than those their age.
Bruises and Element injury are common, but steps are taken to minimize damage; students are generally not permitted to bite or claw to draw blood. Red healing gems must always be ready in case of emergencies or more significant injury.
While training students for defensive and offensive combat is not controversial, given dangerous beasts and wartime, certain parents may draw lines on how far their children can be pushed. Other parents or families may insist they are pushed further.
Years 1 to 18 (ages 6 to 23)
This class focuses on physical exercise, development of strength, flexibility, and endurance. At Year 4, students will have competition much more akin to play rather than full spars, wherein they do not use their natural weapons but try to push each other out of the field or wrestle each other. Supervised non-Elemental sparring begins by Year 5 and ends by Year 10, wherein spars occur only in Martial class.
This class serves as physical intermissions between studious classes and lectures. By Year 5, students are also being taught how to fly on their own and master their wings. As students grow older, this becomes training for fine control, speed and maneuverability, then exercise and competition.
Years 1 to 6 (ages 6 to 11)
Young students learn how to read and write runes, ensuring perfect capability in this field for the continuation of their schooling. This class is far more common in the earliest years, and students who have already perfected this ability by 4th year are not required to attend all remaining classes. Highborn children typically start schooling with a headstart in reading and writing capability.
Years 7 to 10 (ages 12 to 15)
Older students are taught remnants of past language, both their own and that of other clades, with etymology of their modern words and the origins of their elemental names. Many students wield names derived from old language words, and enjoy learning their meanings and origins.
Years 1 to 4 (ages 6 to 9)
Arts class serves to break up lectures and grant the children an additional energy outlet. Students here create their best paintings, clay sculptures and pots, rock carvings, paper lanterns, custom quills, bind their own books, and much more. They also learn singing (usually choir) and dancing, and some of the children even do it well.
Years 9 to 15 (ages 14 to 20)
Studies of Alchemy teaches students how certain tonics, intoxicants, poisons, remedies, and creams are created, through distillation and careful dosing of primarily plant, fungi, and animal parts and toxins. Students follow instructions to create visually exciting reactions and create basic creams and remedies to take home. Most of this class is theoretical. To many students’ dismay, they do not get to create intoxicants.
Years 1 to 15 (ages 6 to 20)
Studies of plant life and fungi with primary focus on those which are edible or have medicinal properties. This class often ventures outdoor for lectures and exercises around the objects of study, in safe areas.
Years 1 to 15 (ages 6 to 20)
Studies of animals, particularly those used for eating or parts (tools, leather, fabric, etc.), and those dangerous to dragons, especially apex dragon predators like Titan Basilisks and Storm Raptors. Students learn the functions of animal organs and their elemental magic, where applicable.
Years 3 to 18 (ages 8 to 23)
This class teaches young students about manners and courtesy for other dragons, especially those of high stature, as well as traditions and taboo, basic laws, politics, their leaders and figures of power, and their duties as citizens to serve and pay dividends on their eventual income. For older students this goes far more in depth, with primary focus on laws, politics, and trade.
Years 5 to 16 (ages 10 to 21)
Years 13 to 18 (ages 18 to 23)
The intricate functions of Warfang’s commerce (also that of the Ocean Domain and Zephyr Kingdom), and the systems, protections, and laws around it.
Years 1 to 6, then 15 to 16 (ages 6 to 11, then 20 to 21)
Young students learn counting and simple addition and subtraction, then multiplication, division and calculation with unknown quantities. Older students learn trigonometry, physical forces, and some fundamental known concepts of calculus. More advanced mathematics are not taught due to a lack of demand, as most usage cases are deemed pointless, unnecessary in the face of Magic, or unnecessary because applicable fields are dominated by Moles (primarily architecture and non-Magical automation).
At the Temple Schools, different Year Flights attend classes at different days of the week, at different times of the year.
In the first half of the year, Years 1 to 9 attend classes from Day Ignis to Day Solum (4 days). Years 10 to 18 attend from Day Solum to Day Aether. This switches around in the second half of the year. On Day Solum, the younger students have half a day, and the older students start later, so they do not have classes at the same time. No classes are taught on Day Draco, and most of the Temple is closed to Students then.
Students typically still go to the Temple on other days to do school work (effectively homework) and are able to visit their Flight Master if needed. They also have access to the Temple library which they will frequent for studies. They may also simply hang around with friends in the outdoor areas, where permitted. Students may not bring non-students into the Temple without special permission from their Flight Master (who takes on a personal risk if they choose to grant it).
Years 1 to 9 begin classes in the early hours, after being dropped off as most parents leave for work, or having spent the previous night in the Temple’s sleeping halls. Years 10 to 18 begin classes closer to noon, allowing them—if applicable—to aid family in their trade or do other work for some hours before attending classes. More well-off students often arrive earlier and spend this time studying extra or socializing, or if allowed, sleeping in.
On days with classes, students will stay the majority of the day at the Temple. Classes are broken up by free periods, with the middle being the longest lasting. The first half of the day is 5 hours long, with about 30 minutes to 1 hour of it being breaks. Class periods can range from 30 minutes to 3 hours long, but are usually 45 minutes or 1.5 hours long. It depends on the activities for the day; a Flight Master’s classes are flexible around the rigid timetables of other Masters who only teach a few classes or have to accommodate many Flights in a day. Classes like sparring and Element/Magic tutoring last longest.
After the first half of the day, there is a 2 hour free period. Students may return home here if they choose, but most stay on the Temple grounds with friends or relatives (other students). Some may go around the inner district markets for snacks. Students may bring food from home, but will eat in an outside area. They usually won’t eat much, rather having a big meal once home which is typical for Dragons. Students are not served food at the Temple except on special occasions. Students who do not live in the city but stay at the Temple while they have classes typically have coin to buy meals in the city.
07:00 – 08:00 | 1h
Years 1 to 9 begin first period
08:00 – 08:30
30 minutes free
08:30 – 10:00 | 1h 30m
Second period
10:00 – 10:45 | 45m
Third period
–
12:00
2 hours free
–
14:00 – 16:00 | 2h
Fourth period
16:00 – 16:30
30 minutes free
16:30 – 17:15 | 45m
Fifth period
17:15 – 19:00 | 1h 45m
Sixth period
–
Classes are over.
07:00 – 07:45 | 45m
Years 1 to 9 begin first period
07:45 – 08:00
15 minutes free
08:00 – 9:00 | 1h
Second period
09:00 – 09:30
30 minutes free
09:00 – 11:00 | 1h 30m
Third period
–
11:00
Years 1 to 9 finish their half-day
–
12:00 – 14:00 | 2h
Years 10 to 18 begin first period
14:00 – 14:30 | 30m
30 minutes free
14:30 – 16:30 | 2h
Second period
14:00 – 14:30 | 30m
30 minutes free
17:00 – 18:45 | 1h 45m
Third period
18:45 – 19:15 | 30m
30 minutes free
19:15 – 21:00 | 1h 45m
Fourth period
–
Classes are over.
09:00 – 10:45 | 1h 45m
Years 10 to 18 begin first period
10:45 – 11:00 | 15m
15 minutes free
11:00 – 12:00 | 1h
Second period
12:00 – 12:15 | 15m
30 minutes free
12:15 – 14:00 | 1h 45m
Third period
–
14:00
2 hours free
–
16:00 – 17:45 | 1h 45
Fourth period
17:45 – 18:00 | 15m
15 minutes free
18:00 – 19:30 | 1h 30m
Fifth period
19:30 – 19:45 | 15m
15 minutes free
19:45 – 21:00 | 1h 15m
Sixth period
–
Classes are over.
Once classes are over, students still have access to the Temple School until 21:00, and can access it again as early as 06:00.
There are sleeping halls for those who travel far to reach the Temple, allowing them to spend the night rather than commute twice a day. This is in most instances only applicable for students not highborn. The sleeping halls have strict hours for coming and going, and a low tolerance for being disruptive.
The sleeping halls close their doors at 25:00 (midnight is at the 26th hour of the day), and reopen at 03:00, allowing students to leave early if needed.
There are no areas for students to spar during their free periods, as all sparring must be supervised. The Dojos are not freely accessible. Unpermitted sparring between students leads to offending students being barred from the Temple grounds for a time.
Multiple times a year, Flights will visit other Temple Schools for local outings and cross-Flight exercises. These exercises may be sparring, other physical, elemental, or magical competitions, or competitions of knowledge. Outings, exercises, and competitions are also frequent locally; such as a Flight (usually multiple together) traveling to the Ancestor Temple, a leading Clan estate, a different City to visit its monuments and learn its history, or a something like a vineyard to learn about the process, the fruit, and the magic and non-magic involved.
Flights don’t go to places deemed unsafe, but are often still accompanied by a few Temple sentries. Clanned Flights often have more such guards, though these are the private guards of the students attending to their wards, not hired by the Temples themselves.
The Temple Schools close through the Sixth Moon, which is the height of Winter in the mainland. There are shorter stretches of breaks throughout the year, including one in the Ninth Moon before students graduate into their next year.
While Dragon Masters are often teachers at temples, teaching is optional. Many Dragon Masters are dedicated to their studies and only does some, if any, tutoring. Some do an equal amount of studying/research and teaching. Others mostly teach. Masters of Education is a field specifically for the tutoring of students at Temples. These Masters learn fundimentals of everything, then condense and simplify it for children.
In highborn Flights with highborn or especially accomplished Flight Masters, the relationship between student and master is a professional, often strict one, and the student may wear their Flight Master’s name as a badge of honor in early life. In lower born Flights, Flight Masters may be more parental and/or casual, and more often develop emotional bonds with their students where each see the other as family. Lowborn children may introduce themselves as a student of their Flight Master rather than a child of their parent, if for whatever reason doing so is undesirable (for example, “Hayze, student of Master Therris” rather than “Hayze, son of the Dark Lands”).
When a Master’s Flight graduates after 18 years, they start the process over with a new Flight, though some may choose to take a year break or more if able.
Becoming a Dragon Master of Education is extremely competitive, requiring a complete or near-complete formal education of one’s own to even be chosen as an apprentice, including years of private study and/or tutoring. A Flight Master’s apprentice (usually two or three) spend decades aiding their Master in their tasks, such as scheduling, acquisition, and communication. At the same time, the Flight Master assesses their competence. A dragon may be chosen as apprentice as early as age 30, but will not be considered for a Master title before turning 50, though this is the youngest possible age; the age range of 70 to 100 is more normal to become a Master of Education. A Master of Education may not take on apprentices until after 30 years of the role of Flight Master.
When an apprentice is considered ready by their Master, they are recommended for an assessment by the Temple Headmaster, who may then reject or recommend them for the title of Master to the Warfang Council. The Council almost always signs off on this, barring rare situations where the apprentice has controversial heritage or history.
Every year, a number of new Masters of Education are chosen by the Headmaster to be granted their first Flight, either due to retiring or deceased senior Flight Masters. Masters of Education often wait a few years if not many for their first opportunity, during which they may receive other positions within the Temple, or continue to aid Flight Masters. Those who do not have a Flight or other tasks still receive a stipend from the Temple by virtue of their title, enough to continue their studies until their chance comes.
Sometimes, a Flight Master befalls an untimely death in the middle of a year, or otherwise chooses to leave. In such cases, their students may be broken up and divided into parallel Flights, or an available Master of Education is chosen to assume the Flight on short notice. Flight Masters are permitted temporary leave in cases of illness or personal affairs requiring attention, but leaving long term in the midst of a year is in most cases effectively a career ender.
It is not uncommon for lowborn Flights to diminish due to students leaving, their families not able to finance a full education. Often a partial education was always the plan. If a Flight Master’s Flight comes to consist of only six students or less, these will be put into other Flights; ideally all put into a parallel Flight that is also small. This could happen with seven or even eight students as well (split up in this case), depending on the Headmaster, as normal Flights are around ten students to a maximum of fifteen.
When this happens, a Flight Master either ends their cycle prematurely and begins again with a brand new Flight in the new year, or they may take a significant pay cut to simply assist the Flight Master who received their students, so that they may continue to be present for those that remain.
Each of the three Temple Schools has a Headmaster—this is a senior Flight Master that has been appointed as the lead Master of their school. All Flight Masters at their Temple answers to their Headmaster. The Headmaster has no Flights of their own, instead they are in charge of the school as a whole; appointing Flight Masters, sorting students into Flights, ensuring the safety of students and quality of their education.
The Headmaster is the one who may remove a Flight Master from their position, and approves or rejects requests from their Flight Masters; such as requests for travel to certain locations and the funds and escort to cover such an expedition. Only the Headmaster may expel a student, which is done rarely in cases of violent or especially uncooperative students.
New Headmasters are chosen when the old retires or dies. By this point the leaving Headmaster will have a suggestion of current Flight Masters that can succeed them, and the Warfang Council itself selects or approves the successor.
Headmaster Ayrel
of Clan Golden Flare
Headmaster █████ of █████████
Headmaster █████ of █████████