We differ on what history teaches us. Is time a chaotic dance of coincidences and conflicts, or does civilization gradually progress toward an ordered ideal? But we agree that the past holds the answer to every question, so we must revive it and discover its truths.— Teruud, Lorehold pastraiser
The College of Archaeomancy
Lorehold is the College of Archaeomancy—a term that describes the exploration of ancient things through magic. Its mages explore the past by poring over archaeological sites, calling forth magical energy from old tomes, and summoning the spirits of long-dead historical figures. Lorehold mages travel far and wide across the world, gathering relics of bygone ages and learning dead languages to unpack the secrets of history.
Studies and Philosophy
Lorehold College is devoted to the study of history, broadly understood to include the various aspects of culture, behavior, and social relationships that shape historical events. Its studies include various subdivisions of history (military history, social history, cultural history), archaeology, anthropology, psychology, sociology, religion, and economics. It overlaps with Prismari College in the field of art history, with some students splitting their studies between the two colleges. Lorehold mages use their magic to unearth secrets and share illumination.
Order and Chaos
Lorehold’s two deans carry the titles Dean of Order and Dean of Chaos, as order versus chaos encapsulates the fundamental conflict at the heart of Lorehold’s philosophy. This conflict revolves around the forces that underlie and drive history. Is the course of time driving toward a well-ordered ideal state or slowly devolving into chaos? Are deep patterns hidden in historical texts, or is time a series of coincidence and happenstance?
The perspective of order emphasizes the structures that pull people together—law, religion, economics, education, social class, and so on—and how those structures drive historical events. Order focuses on systemic changes and the actions of people collectively.
The perspective of chaos, by contrast, emphasizes individual actions, personal bonds of families and friends, and the disruptive force of lone, passionate people in history. Scholars of chaos gravitate toward reckless discovery and the spirit of adventure in their research of the past—the essence and emotion of history over precision or procedure.
THE DICHOTOMY OF LOREHOLD
Red
The red mages of Lorehold gravitate toward reckless discovery and the spirit of adventure in their research of the past: the essence and emotion of history over precision or procedure. Cliffbusters and ruin shamans wield magic that helps them delve into the remains of ancient sites. Chaos scholars, trivialists, and absurdophiles chase down anecdotes of history as a ridiculous litany of chance happenstance. Warlores get excited about the magic that was used in the wars of the Blood Age. Dustspeakers and heroscorns love to converse with the spirits of the past to find the whole ugly truth about them—foibles, frailties, and all. Scrollbashers and tomewielders use history in a pretty literal way: by summoning magic directly from the characters scrawled in their pages, or by bashing fools with heavy books!
White
Antiquarians, truthfinders, and archaeoscribes love to uncover and record the past; they're often surrounded by lengthy scrolls and tomes in which they chronicle historical truths for posterity. Relic readers, aeonmancers, and monument priests uncover ruined statues of ancient historical figures, divining wisdom from the past from the context of ruin sites. Iconologists, pastraisers, and ghost advocates bind spirits into the monuments that bear their likeness, conversing with them to learn about their great and inspiring deeds. Battle mediums and spiritualists can actually strengthen and empower summoned spirits for use in battle. Conservators, pastquoters, docents, and curators preserve and care for ancient spell knowledge, artifacts, and other relics of the past on the Lorehold campus. Honorbringers and allusionists can draw on the truths of history to enhance, inspire, or empower allies, whereas ruleciters and canonists use historical precedent to enforce magical laws.
Lorehold Faculty
Augusta Tullus, Dean of Order
Augusta Tullus (human Lorehold professor of order) is the current Dean of Order. A professor of spirit studies, she has been called the college’s most talented pastraiser. She can conjure entire legions of ghostly apparitions to reenact historical events for her lectures.
Augusta believes that history repeats itself as an orderly progression toward an ideal. In her view, the mistakes of the past can inform the choices of the present, creating a world of peace and order. She plays things by the book and frowns on students who embark on Dean Plargg’s dangerous field trips.
Plargg, Dean of Chaos
Plargg (orc Lorehold professor of chaos) is the current Dean of Chaos. Specializing in military history, Plargg is known for his perfect recall of historical stories, as well as his potent scroll magic. Blind himself, he invented a form of magical embossing called heat lettering, which provides a tactile way to read texts.
Plargg believes that history is full of unpredictable, war-filled chaos and that his students must be ready for anything. He teaches that no rewards come without risk, and his excursions typically end with students heading to the infirmary. He pays little attention to Dean Tullus’s work, usually dismissing her attempts to find order in chaos as foolhardy.
Hofri Ghostforge
When Hofri (dwarf Lorehold professor of order) first enrolled in Strixhaven, he believed his future lay with Prismari. A diligent student, he quickly mastered the technical skills of art, but his magic left something to be desired. After talking with the school’s counselor, Mavinda, Hofri decided to try his luck with Lorehold. It turned out he had a natural talent for Lorehold’s spirit magic.
His time at Prismari was hardly wasted, however. Combining his artistic skill with his keen spiritual sense, Hofri could visualize a spirit’s mortal appearance and construct a viable statue form for them to inhabit. No one in Lorehold’s history had previously created a spirit statue from scratch, and Hofri was offered a professorial position after graduation, which he happily accepted.
Osgir, the Reconstructor
Even by Lorehold standards, Osgir (stone giant) is obsessed with relics of the past. A professor of order, he treasures every connection to old civilizations, whether it’s a magnificent jeweled crown or an old shovel. As a student, he constantly spent time in detention for hoarding the best finds from Lorehold dig sites in his room; he lost count of how many times he was sternly told, “History belongs to us all!”
So, naturally, he mastered the magical art of duplicative restoration. Not only can he perfectly recreate an ancient object or device from the smallest scrap, but he can also produce a second, identical version for his personal collection. He displays something different every week in his Lorehold office, from a mighty sword of demon-slaying to a delicate elven music box.
Losheel, Clockwork Scholar
Losheel (loxodon Lorehold professor of chaos) is a Humanoid resembling a bipedal elephant. She proudly admits that she is willing to work hard to be as lazy as possible. She turns her brilliant mind to constructing increasingly efficient mechanical helpers, with the goal of one day being able to do anything she wants without standing up.
LOCATIONS
Lorehold Campus
The Lorehold campus is situated northwest of the central campus in a region of stark vertical relief. Rugged mesas and steep hills rise from a wide plain, and a great chasm holds the excavated ruins of an ancient settlement. Several star arches encircle rocky peaks and outcroppings, testifying to the powerful magical energy in the vicinity—energy once harnessed by the ancients who used to inhabit this area.
Pillardrop
Part natural chasm, part archaeological excavation, and part new construction, Pillardrop is a series of buildings excavated out of cliffs on the Lorehold campus. Ruins and upgraded halls together are now used for research, classwork, and housing. Precarious bridges link one neighborhood of Pillardrop to another, often directly passing the enormous stone faces of old statues. Every Lorehold class has a story of some careless student making a misstep on one of these bridges or in some particularly crumbling section of the ruins, sometimes with disastrous consequences—and sometimes finding deliverance when a spirit statue appears from nowhere to catch the hapless student before they suffer serious harm.
Travelers walk along treacherous bridges from one "neighborhood" of Pillardrop to another, often passing directly by the enormous stone faces of ancient, excavated statues.
Effigy Row
The main campus area of Lorehold. Its pathways are lined with monuments of famous historical figures, including past professors and prominent mage-students as well as war heroes and heads of state from ages past.
Kollema Hall
A grand, multi-tiered gallery where Lorehold mages gather for large lectures and demonstrations. Thousand-foot-long scrolls spill over the balconies as mages study ancient texts. The center of Kollema Hall is the magnificently restored statue of Kollema, the wise monk who was one of the first Lorehold professors at the founding of Strixhaven.
COLLEGE MASCOT: SPIRIT STATUES
Lorehold mages supplement their study of history by calling on the spirits of the ancient dead. While dustspeakers and pastraisers conjure spirits and interview them for knowledge of the past, battle mediums and other Lorehold mages sometimes draw on the magical power of those spirits. . .or turn them into hardy soldiers by housing the spirits in statues depicting their living selves.
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