The College of Witherbloom

Demographics

Studies and Philosophy. The curriculum of Witherbloom College focuses on various sciences, revolving around the life sciences. Biology, ecology, botany, chemistry, and related sciences combine with the study and manipulation of the magical energy of the Positive Plane and the Negative Plane, the primal forces of life and death. Witherbloom's curriculum shares some overlap with Quandrix's analysis of the manipulation of the mathematical patterns in nature.
Growth and Decay. The Two Deans of Witherbloom are traditionally called the Dean of the Root and the Dean of the Vein. These titles are a somewhat abstract way of framing the core division in the college's philosophy: is growth or decay the driving force in nature?
The philosophy of the root (growth) focuses of life and its irrepressible drive to thrive. Ths view celebrates the diversity and adaptability of lifeforms, from the tiniest cells to the most complex networks of living things. The growth philosophy asserts that the urge to survive and reproduce is the most essential principle in the cosmos. Mages who adopt this view wield positive energy and practice healing magic.
The philosophy of the vein (decay) focuses on the inevitability of death and decay. Its traditional name comes from the prominence of vampires within the college, whose conceptions of draining life through the vein have long proven an important counterweight to the growth philosophy of Witherbloom. The decay philosophy sees life energy as a resource to be consumed, rather than a good to be nourished for its own sake. Mages who adopt the view wield negative energy and practice necromancy.

History

At Witherbloom, the College of Essence Studies, mages draw poer from the opposing forces of life and death. These mages brew their spells from natural components and the essence of living creatures, using that power to heal or harm the living or to raise or entreat the dead. They can cause entire forests to blossom out of nowhere or call down old curses that scourge flesh from bone. Some Witherbloom mages defend ecosystems from pollution, while others revel in the power of corruption. They're at home riding zombie crocodiles down a languid river, picking herbs for a potion or treat a disease, brooding over a chorus of swamp frogs, or summoning fearsome avatars of nature.

Points of interest

Witherbloom's Campus is tucked away in a wide Bayou through south-east portal of the central campus.
Sedgemoor. Sedgemoor, the bayou area that encompasses the Witherbloom campus, is known for a range of swamp creatures: bats, crocodilian monsters, zombified animals, lumbering beasts called brackish trudges, and canine creatures called groffs. Sedgemoor is an excellent place to find pest mascots, herbs, spider silk, fungi and other ingredients for potions and spells.
Widdershins Hall. The center of the Witherbloom campus is Widdershins Hall, a bog mansion that looks like it grew out of Sedgemoor itself. Widdershins is a network of interconnected wooden pods, with planked walkways leading out of it like tendrils. The Hall has a cozy inner chamber where students gather for classwork.
Detention Bogs. A stinking, thoroughly unpleasant marshland lies adjacent to Sedgemoor: The Detention Bog. Witherbloom faculty members send misbehaving students to this bog as punishment, but it's also an excellent place to gather herbs for certain cures and curses.
Wiltroot Hall. Located in the trunk of an enormous, dead tree, the hall acts as a meeting space for students and faculty looking to venture into the Sedgemoor and Detention Bogs. It is surrounded by a number of twisting walkways formed by magically-manipulated roots, making the journey into these places slightly easier.
Dean Valintin's Office. Valentin's office is located in a blackened and withered, wooden pod in the canopy of Widdenshins Hall. Inside, the air is cold and it is nearly pit nearly pitch-black, save for a number of candelabras affixed to the thorn-covered, vine walls. The shadows cast by the candlelight appear gaunt and occasionally seem to move by themselves. There are two levels, the first by the entrance houses a long, dark-wood table and chairs for the purposes of meetings or possible meals. The second is located 20ft. above and towards the back, accessible by a pair of staircases on the wall opposite the entrance, which each have a creeping fog cascading over their steps to the lower floor, currently sitting about an inch thickness. The second floor houses Valentines personal study. The walls have a number of glass-fronted bookcases placed around them, filled with old tomes and eclectic items, and there are three tables set up in the space: a writing desk, facing into the chamber toward the furthest wall; and two tables perpendicular to it filling the center space. These two tables are covered in numerous vials of thick, red liquid alongside various small swamp creatures pinned to board by larges metal pins, each in various states of decay. The remaining wall space is decorated with dark paintings of bats, rats and wolves, while the ceiling is obscured by a thick layer of slowly swirling mist.

Maps

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  Witherbloom Campus

Location under

Faerndaar, Phrontistery of Arcana

Characters in Location

• Aurora Luna Wynterstarr
• Gyome, Master Chef
• Lisette, Dean of the Root
• Melwythorne
• Tivash, Gloom Summoner
• Urzmaktok Grojsh
• Valentin, Dean of the Vein
• Verelda Lang, Arcano-Biologist
• Willowdusk, Essence Seer
• Yedora, Grave Gardener

2nd Year Modules

• Positive and Negative Energy (Tivash)
• Prime Material Creatures (Verelda)
• Medicinal Herbs (Willowdusk)

3rd Year Modules

• Negative Energy Applications (Tivash)
• Inner Planar Creatures (Verelda)
• Plant and Animal Cultivation (Willowdusk)

4th Year Modules

• Undeath (Tivash)
• Outer Planar Creatures (Verelda)
• Exotic Ingredients (Willowdusk)