The Forgotten Academy Adventure

Long ago, before the gods went to war and brought the Great Strife to Cartyrion, the most promising students of magical arts were sought out and invited to further their studies in a very special place. This magical university was simply called "The Academy". Its masters and students pursued varied fields of study, attempting to understand the Six Energies that made up the world and everything in it - magical or not.

Some students sought to master innate abilities possessed by virtue of bloodline. Some learned the forms of magical prayers required by the gods to grant abilities. Others sought to learn subtle gestures and sounds with which they could manipulate the invisible energies around them to create magical effects. Still more studied the properties of materials and their interactions with the energies in order to learn how to create powerful effects by mixing the correct agents together.

Some students came to study magic in all its broad applications. Others came to focus study on particular aspects of magical manipulation. Some came with noble purpose in mind, others with selfish or even evil intention. The Academy accepted them all, concerned only that they were teaching "the best".

Date Founded

<enter date here>

Date of Ruin

<enter another date here>

Last Headmaster

<name of headmaster>

Major Buildings

Main Hall

Dormitory

Library

Kitchens

Underground

Lecture Halls and Laboratories

Location

The Forgotten Academy is located in the mountains west of the Orclands, which are themselves just west of the kingdom of Tyrnabay. It is situated on the banks of a river that feeds down from the peaks and feeds into Evermist Lake. The Orcs now call this river, the Weirdflow - a name coined after the carcasses of a few dead creatures - misshapen creatures unlike any that lived in the wilds that the Orcs frequented - were carried downstream. The upper reaches of the river are taboo lands to the Orc clans living along the shores of the lake.

The Academy was situated in a basin surrounded by the mountains on three sides, with the river on the fourth. Several massive stone structures were erected there, most likely with the aid of the Dwarves from the nearby Waking Delve. These buildings are now ruins, partly because of the passage of over two thousand years since they were occupied, and partly because of whatever catastrophe befell the Academy to cause its demise even before the Great Strife. Despite the years of neglect, though, the buildings are more or less intact - a testament to both Dwarven stone skills and the strength of magical wards placed on the buildings by those who kept the Academy.

Arriving at the Academy

Rounding a bend in the river, you suddenly see spread out before you a region covered by trees and undergrowth. Standing majestically tall above the treetops are the spires, towers, and walls of several massive stone buildings. Even from a distance, the place appears to have been long-deserted. Weathered and cracked stone, tendrils of vines and creepers reaching onto the roofs and over walls, and the invasiveness of the forest itself suggest centuries of neglect.

Above ground, there are four main structures to be explored:

the Main Hall

the Dormitory Tower

the Library Tower

the Kitchens

Credits

Side panel dungeon passage image by Evelyn Chai from Pixabay
Banner image by kalhh from Pixabay