The Ebon Academy is a prestigious institution of higher learning located around the Citadel of Shadows, renowned throughout the region as a center of arcane knowledge, necromantic studies, and esoteric arts. It serves as both a university and a magical conservatory, attracting scholars, mages, and seekers of forbidden knowledge from all over Gloomhallow and beyond.
Faculty and Teaching Methods The Academy is staffed by a mix of venerable necromancers, seasoned alchemists, spectral librarians, and enigmatic sorcerers. Each faculty member brings unique expertise and often a mysterious past, with some rumored to be centuries old or to have come back from death itself. Teaching methods range from traditional lectures and study groups to more unorthodox practices such as spirit communication, ritual circles, and fieldwork in haunted locations around Gravewatch. Some of the prominent figures in the school are:

• Headmaster Xelara Nightshade
• Professor Kaelan Morgrave
• Mistress Elara Voss
• Master Arcturus Thornwell
• Commander Tiberius Vale
• Lady Seraphina Blackwell
• Librarian Meliora the Veilbound

The Ebon Academy is both respected and feared, with a reputation for producing some of the most powerful and knowledgeable mages in all of Gloomhallow. Graduates often go on to hold significant positions within the city’s ruling council, serve as advisers, or become leaders of their own covens or secret societies. The Academy's influence extends throughout the Territory of Gloomhallow, and its alumni are known for their loyalty to Gravewatch and its mystical traditions.

Structure

The Ebon Academy is split into seven distinct disciplines that are taught and mastered through their curriculum.

• Necromancy and Soul Crafting
• Occult Studies and Ritual Magic
• Alchemy and Apothacary Arts
• Spectral and Spirit Studies
• Grim History and Dark Lore
• Runic Magic and Arcane Geometry
• Art of the Silent Blade

Each discipline has a Dean that oversees the general student body, and then there is a Headmaster that oversees the Deans. Aside from this there is a student group known as the Dark Seven. These seven students represent the absolute best of each of the disciplines and act as a decision making body when it comes to student activities and outside influence. Many of the members of the Dark Seven graduate and are immediately swept up into positions of power in various fields throughout Gloomhollow. The Dark Seven are typically selected during the interim break between years in a competition held within the Blackstone Arena. 

Students are free to choose which discipline they wish to compete in and there are always a few who change disciplines each year.

Culture

The culture of the Ebon Academy is one of disciplined ambition, intellectual rigor, and reverence for the unknown. Here, students and faculty alike are driven by a thirst for knowledge and a willingness to delve into the mysteries that others might fear. The academy values both academic study and practical application, encouraging its members to experiment with arcane arts, necromancy, alchemy, and ritual magic while maintaining a deep respect for the delicate balance between life and death.

Coming from the guardians I was expecting a lot more cut throat competition from the students, however now that I am instructing I can see that each student pushes themselves to their own edge and then beyond.

— Inquisitor Vale

Students are expected to embrace the darkness as a source of strength, facing their fears and pushing the boundaries of conventional magic. The atmosphere is one of respectful camaraderie, where secrets are shared cautiously, and wisdom is earned through persistence and daring. Tradition is honored, but innovation is celebrated, fostering a community where old and new forms of magic coexist and evolve in harmony within the academy's shadowed halls.

Public Agenda

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow. In order to change the public's opinion of us, we must be willing to face the light as faculty so that our students can brave the darkness.

— Headmistress Nightshade

The Ebon Academy’s public agenda is focused on fostering arcane education, preserving mystical traditions, and promoting the responsible use of necromancy and other magical arts within the Territory of Gloomhallow. The academy positions itself as a beacon of knowledge and a guardian of balance, seeking to dispel misconceptions about its practices by emphasizing the following key objectives:

Education and Scholarship: The Ebon Academy aims to be the foremost institution for the study of the arcane, necromancy, and the occult. It offers a structured and comprehensive curriculum designed to educate and train the next generation of mages, scholars, and alchemists, ensuring that the ancient arts are preserved, understood, and ethically practiced.
Promoting Balance and Harmony: The academy advocates for a balanced relationship between life and death, magic and the mundane. It teaches that necromancy, spirit work, and other dark arts are not inherently evil but are tools that, when used responsibly, can bring balance, healing, and understanding to the world.
Community Engagement and Protection: As a respected institution within Gravewatch, the academy actively engages with the community by offering public lectures, free consultations on magical anomalies, and protection against rogue spirits and dark forces. It seeks to maintain a harmonious relationship with the city’s residents, ensuring they see the academy as a protective force and a source of wisdom.
Research and Innovation: The Ebon Academy is committed to advancing the frontiers of magical knowledge. It encourages research into new magical techniques, rituals, and applications that can benefit Gloomhallow and its people. By fostering innovation, the academy aims to maintain its reputation as a leader in arcane studies.
Guardianship of Forbidden Knowledge: While open about its role in education and research, the academy also emphasizes its duty to guard dangerous or forbidden knowledge. It seeks to ensure that powerful, potentially harmful magic does not fall into the wrong hands, presenting itself as a protector of the realm against misuse of the arcane.
By presenting itself as a scholarly, ethical, and community-minded institution, the Ebon Academy aims to maintain its influence and respect within Gloomhallow while furthering its mystical goals.

Assets

Aside from boasting enough wealth to fund itself for several generations over, there are a few physical assests that the Ebon Academy has that make it unique:
The Void Library: A vast, underground library said to contain every forbidden tome and scroll ever written. Access is tightly controlled, with only the most accomplished scholars and students allowed within its shadowed halls.
The Shadow Spire: A towering structure used for rituals, stargazing, and practicing advanced spells, as well as for studying celestial alignments and their effects on magic.
The Hall of Echoes: A mysterious chamber where voices of past necromancers and spirits can be heard, providing wisdom or cryptic warnings to those who listen carefully.
The Blackstone Arena: A training ground where students practice combat magic, test their necromantic abilities, and participate in controlled duels to hone their skills.

History

The Ebon Academy was founded over two centuries ago by a coalition of powerful necromancers, arcane scholars, and visionaries from across Gloomhallow. At the heart of this alliance was Archmagister Xelara Nightshade, a young and ambitious necromancer who sought to create a haven for the study of the mystical arts and to ensure that the secrets of life, death, and the arcane would be preserved and shared among those worthy.
The academy was established on the ruins of an ancient fortress near the center of Gravewatch. The site was chosen for its proximity to potent ley lines and its long history as a place where the living and the dead coexisted in delicate balance. It is said that Xelara, along with a circle of like-minded sorcerers, performed a great ritual to consecrate the grounds, binding powerful spirits to the foundation stones to protect the institution and its knowledge.
The early years were fraught with challenges—supernatural attacks, political intrigue, and skepticism from the city’s rulers. But through perseverance and the arcane prowess of its founders, the Ebon Academy flourished, becoming a center of learning, power, and mystery, its dark spires casting a long shadow over Gravewatch ever since.

In Darkness, Knowledge; In Knowledge, Power.

Type

Educational, School/Academy

Alternative Names

Shadowhold, E.A., The Acadamy

Controlled Territories

• Novice Forest