An Institute is a safe house for Shadowhunters. They are found in all large cities and are often located in churches. The entire point of an Institute is to lodge and assist Shadowhunters from around the world in their quest to kill demons.

ProtectionEdit

An Institute is a place for Shadowhunters to find safety in the event of danger. It is a stronghold for the Shadowhunters that live there.The hallowed ground prevents vampires from entering. The bricks have been blessed with deceased Shadowhunter blood, that in and of itself being a powerful protection. Every metal rod is made out of iron and every nail silver, protecting against faeries and werewolves respectively. In addition, the doors cannot be opened without Shadowhunter blood, thereby stopping anyone but a Shadowhunter from entering. Also, it is glamored. Any mundane that looks upon an Institute would see nothing but, for example, a rundown church.

LayoutEdit

Inside an Institute, there are many amenities that are the same. An Institute is supposed to be lived in. Therefore, it has a kitchen. These kitchens are quite large and well put together. There's also a formal dining room, able to seat over two hundred comfortably. Additionally, in the residential wings, there are over two hundred bedrooms. These room are always open to Shadowhunters that wish to take up residence there. They all have an infirmary to heal injured Shadowhunters. There is a library filled with books always open for the Shadowhunters' use.

There's also a training room. Shadowhunters are at liberty to enter the training room and develop their fighting skills at any given time. There are usually beams along the ceiling to allow Shadowhunters to practice flips, and a locker room attached to the training room for the Shadowhunters to store spare clothes while they train. Additionally, there's an armory filled with all sorts of weapons. They have everything from bows to seraph blades at the disposal of the Shadowhunters.

Outside of the hallowed ground is the Sanctuary. This area is purposely put outside the hallowed ground for meetings with Downworlders. Vampires and demons cannot enter hallowed ground. Therefore, the Sanctuary is the meeting place with downworlders and the holding cells of demons that are being interrogated.

Additional DutiesEdit

Additionally, the Institute is the seat of power over a given area. They are the authority force for the city in which they reside and they oversee all tactical missions. They report directly to Idris and are often Council members.

To be a head of an Institute indicates a great deal of power. Though most Shadowhunters are paid roughly the same, Institute heads are paid more because of their difficult position. They deal with many administrative tasks: communicating with Idris, Downworlder negotiations, etc. Therefore they are rarely seen going out on a hunting mission for no reason. They generally take on the more dangerous missions, such as raiding a large vampire nest, and don't often do much else.

WardsEdit

Orphaned Shadowhunters, wards, are given into the care of Institutes. When someone leaves the Clave, the one thing that they must give up is their children. Every year, until the child is eighteen, the Clave will ask the child if they would like to join the Clave and become a Shadowhunter. If the child answers no every time until they are eighteen, they are free. At any point during the eighteen years, the child can go to any Institute and ask for training.

Additionally, if the former Clave members die, their children become the custody of the Clave. They are given to the Institutes to be watched and raised until they are eighteen, when they can decide what they want to do. This holds true to children whose parents haven't left the Clave. If they have no close relatives, they are given to an Institute to be raised and trained.

ProfessionalismEdit

An Institute belongs to the Council. The guardians of it may live there, but it isn't actually theirs. Therefore, it is considered unprofessional to decorate an Institute as one would a family home. The halls and public rooms should be kept clean of all family portraits.

A good example of an unprofessional Institute would be The York Institute in 1878. The Starkweather family had run the Institute for centuries. Therefore, they decorated it like a family home. Institutes aren't supposed to be passed down from generation to generation. When the former head of an Institute dies, a new one should be appointed without being a member of the former's family. The change of hand allows new ideas to enter seats of power.

ResidentsEdit

The New York InstituteEdit

• Jace Lightwood
• Alec Lightwood
• Isabelle Lightwood
• Maryse Lightwood
• Robert Lightwood

The London Institute (1878)Edit

• Charlotte Branwell
• Henry Branwell
• Will Herondale
• Jem Carstairs
• Tessa Gray
• Sophie Collins
• Gideon Lightwood

The Los Angeles InstituteEdit

• Emma Carstairs
• Helen Blackthorn
• Mark Blackthorn
• Julian Blackthorn
• Olivia Blackthorn
• Tiberius Blackthorn
• Drusilla Blackthorn
• Octavius Blackthorn
• Ariadne Blackthorn

Known InstitutesEdit

• The New York Institute
  • The primary Institute from TMI
• The London Institute
  • The primary Institute from TID
• The Los Angeles Institute
  • The primary Institute from TDA
• The York Institute
  • Run by Aloysius Starkweather (1878)
• The Shanghai Institute
  • The Institute Jem came from.
• The Madrid Institute
  • The Institute Gideon visited to learn about different Shadowhunter cultures.
• The Dublin Institute
  • The Institute Bridget Daly, the London Institute's cook, came from.
• The Cardiff Institute
  • A smaller Institute that reports to the London Institute
• The Cornwall Institute
  • A smaller Institute that reports to the London Institute
• The Edinburgh Institute
  • A smaller Institute that reports to the London Institute
• The Beijing Institute
  • Run by Jia Penhallow
• The Paris Institute
  • Run by Elodie Verlac. Sebastian Verlac was born and raised here
• The Mumbai Institute
  • Run by Nasreen Chaudhury
• The Lisbon Institute
  • Run by Senhor and Senhora Monteverde
• The Buenos Aires Institute