As has been mentioned over in the Symphony of the Sword, the WDF Academy campus is distinctive when seen from the air primarily because the Quad in the center of campus is designed to look like the WDF seal (the red parts are Martian redgrass; the white delta is crushed rock). At the head of the Quad stands the Academy's administration building, rather prosaically known as... well, the Administration Building.

Since it's where the Commandant, Registrar, and other luminaries have their offices and also where the Department of Public Affairs is located, Admin is one of the few campus facilities open to the general public. As such, it's one of the only buildings on campus where there's much emphasis on making things shiny and pretty for visitors; the rest of the Academy's facilities are, while among the best in their class, largely utilitarian.

The shiniest and prettiest of its features is the Great Rotunda, the entrance hall through which all Academy visitors must pass. It's also an area that sees a lot of cadet traffic, since Admin is a convenient shortcut through the center of campus. Here, under a dome inspired by the Pantheon in Rome (given the WDF's roots at WPI, suggestions that it's intended to imitate the dome on Building 10 at MIT, or the smaller one on Building 7, are met with considerable indignation), a visitor can find the Academy's only significant accumulation of artworks, in the form of paintings, a few busts and statues, and a couple of holofriezes depicting significant moments or persons in WDF history.

Amid all this, there's a brass plate affixed to the Rotunda wall, near the archway that leads back to the Commandant's office. It's a humble-looking thing compared with the holos and the paintings, and most visitors never notice it, but every cadet knows it well. It's pointed out to them on the first day of orientation, and throughout their careers, many cadets will return to it time and again to read it over, ponder its message, and perhaps draw inspiration. (Actually, this phenomenon isn't limited to cadets; a good many alumni come back to have a look at it when they're in town.) The lower left corner, where it's become traditional to touch the plaque for luck when reporting to the Commandant's office, has been worn shiny and smooth over the years since the new Academy opened in 2383.

The plate reads:

Among WDF Academy graduates, this is known simply as "the Creed".

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

The WDF, from the top down, seems to understand that.

And we love them for it.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter

Just reminded me of my own Academy thoughts of long ago.
Thanks.