From the introduction:
The Ipsfort Manor School for Arcane Innovation stands isolated in the middle of the vast and ancient forest of Azila. Its founders reasoned, that for the proper education of the arcane arts, no worldly concerns should be able trouble a young mage’s mind. A sentiment very much shared by the school’s numerous rich donors, who were happy to have a place to lock away their more troublesome offspring. Hence, with each successful alumnus inheriting their fathers’ fortunes, Ipsfort Manor grew very quickly both in size and repute. Recently, the school even acquired the famed arcanist Tarek Simar as their dean and head researcher. This also came as a shock to the school’s administration – as it was Tarek himself who asked for the post. Since then, arcane scholars all over the world had been holding their breath – because there could only be one reason why the well-travelled Tarek Simar would choose to seclude himself from the world: He was working on his magnum opus, the holy grail of all of Chronomancy – a spell powerful enough to untangle the fabric of time.