Witherbloom College

At Witherbloom, the College of Essence Studies, mages draw power from 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 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 to treat a disease, brooding over a chorus of swamp frogs, or summoning fearsome avatars of nature. 

Studies and Philosophy

The curriculum of Witherbloom College focuses on various sciences, revolving around 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 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 on life and its irrepressible drive to thrive. This view celebrates the diversity and adaptability of life forms, 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 and dhampir 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 this view wield negative energy and practice necromancy. 

Witherbloom Scholars

Scholar	Principle
Banelock, using concoctions of noxious ingredients for withering magic	Decay
Bleed doctor, drain the essence of living creatures to fuel sinister spells	Decay
Boon witch, brewing drafts to empower the living	Growth
Boughcaller, summoning creatures from bogs	Growth
Dreadbones, infusing dead tissue with magic to create Undead servants	Decay
Earthcroucher, connecting directly with the land to power nature magic	Growth
Leafbinder, using medicinal herbs to soothe wounds	Growth
Pestcatcher, harvesting life energy from the pests of the bayou	Decay

Witherbloom Campus

Witherbloom's campus is tucked away in a wide bayou to the southeast of Strixhaven's 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 Bog

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. 

Beledros Witherbloom

Beledros Witherbloom

The dragon Beledros masters the intertwined magic of life and death. Her power taps into the life force flowing through living things and the natural world. She manipulates that energy to give healing and life or to bring death and decay. her mastery of this magic sustains her own life force even without the sustenance of food, drink, or even air. 
She founded Witherbloom College to pass on her understanding of the natural cycle. She hoped to create generations of stewards who would use her teachings to defend nature and help others. In keeping with the dichotomous nature of her philosophy and magic, she views the more dangerous aspects of nature, including the inevitability of death and decay, as natural and integral parts of existence.

Witherbloom Faculty

This section describes noteworthy members of the Witherbloom faculty. 

Lisette, Dean of the Root

Dean Lisette (Human) is a world-class healer and herbalist; it's even said she once cured the Lorehold founder dragon of a secret illness. Lisette's classes lean more toward demonstration and hands-on experience than lectures. When Lisette speaks, her words are soft and full of colorful metaphors. Lisette believes in preserving nature and life, and she instills in her students a respect for all living things. 

Valentin Koshevek, Dean of the Vein

Dean Koshevek (Vampire) is the son of Grand Duke Drago Koshevek, the leader of the province of Soma in Etharis. He drinks the blood of living creatures throughout the bayou. Koshevek is a kind sangromancer - he receives visions from the blood he consumes, which he uses to learn things about a creature or place. he has no qualms about exploiting the bayou's creatures for personal gain. 

Willowdusk, Essence Seer

No one knows how old Willowdusk (Treant) really is. This professor of growth claims to be older than Strixhaven itself, and although many suspects she exaggerates, no one else who has lived long enough to refute her cares to do so. Many years ago, a group of rebellious students got lost in Detention Bog and took shelter in what turned out to be Willowdusk's roots. She protected them from a pack of hungry groffs and shepherded them back to Widdershins Hall, offering a lecture on proper herb-gathering practices during the journey.

Tivash, Gloom Summoner

It's tough to study the secrets of life and death without getting your hands dirty - which is the first thing Tivash (Human) teaches Witherbloom students. Some call the forces he manipulates evil, but he asserts that power is only as good or evil as how you use it. 

Verelda Lang, Arcano-biologist

Verelda Lang (Dryad) is a respected Witherbloom professor of growth who teaches introductory courses in magical physiologies, helping students in every college learn about the many unusual creatures they're likely to encounter, whatever the students' field of study. Her research extends to the vital functions of fractal creatures and other artificial life-forms, leading her to teach courses at Quandrix College as well.

Yedora, Grave Gardener

Yedora (Treant) is the head groundskeeper and unofficial undertaker of Strixhaven. Students and graduates often wish to spend their afterlife at their beloved university, and she honors that wish. Each tree she plants represents the essence of a fallen mage, and she remembers them all by name. 

Gyome, Master Chef

Anyone who thinks a troll can't be a great chef has never met Gyome (Troll). He combines local ingredients with flowers from his homeland of Droaam into an ever-changing menu of delicacies. Students from every college trek through Sedgemoor in droves for his food. The only complaint he ever receives is that he gives out unreasonably large portions.