Kep is at the eastern edge of the Seven Kingdoms. Consisting of a coalition of city-states both on the mainland and the windswept islands of the archipelago, Kep is a down-to-earth kingdom full (for the most part) of honest folk who work at the land or on the waves as fishermen. Keprans are mostly practical folk, with little use for fancy titles or snobbery. Most of their towns and villages have simple names, if any at all. The commonwealth as a whole is officially ruled by a Merchant-King. Or in the current situation, a Merchant-Queen named Alisa Bracknell, from a line of merchant-diplomat-fishmongers who have been overseeing Kep's business since the end of the First War.
A rainy, rocky, sparsely populated country of fishermen seems to be an odd choice for the most prestigious Rule academy in the Seven Kingdoms, but Kep's remote northern island was the ideal spot to stick a city-sized fortress of would-be thaumaturges. Their secrets are protected, and should there be any magical mishaps... well, there isn't much around to suffer the effects.
Incidentally, the establishment of the Academy was the stroke of genius that first put a Bracknelll in charge of Kep. The thaumaturges of the Academy pay very heavy taxes to the crown for the use of their land, and the wealth is put to good use.
