The Known World Gazetteer #1

So as I continue to blog and run a LOT of D&D I decided I could sort of combine the two.  So about two times a month I want to put up a bit of information on the setting in which my Homebrew Campaign, The Known World, takes place.  For those of you who play in my any of the 3 games I run solo, OR in the game I co-run with Master Ked 4.0 feel free to contact me if you have things you'd like to add and if they fit with the theme, the idea, and the fun of the campaigns, the worlds, and the Blog then I'll post them.  I'm thinking that in this Gazetter I'll be posting tales of events that have taken place either in the history of the Known World, perhaps the background of NPC's, teasers for other People, Places, & Items, and maybe even the occassional Monster stat block as I start to delve more and more into that end of DMing now that the 5E DMG is on its way to my grubby Ginger paws.  If you don't play in any of my games, feel free to still contribute!  I'm always open to new ideas and inspiration.  Or just steal liberally because that is what it is here for.  So without further ado, let's talk MAGIC!

There are 7 Arcane Universities on the continent of Raduenz and its outlying Islands.  These are by no means the only institutions of higher and Arcane learning, but they represent the most famous and infamous known publicly.   

- Lord Carter’s Enchanted Institute– Is located in Dunnsmouth, and is even sometimes referred to as Dunnsmouth University by the masses. Lord Louis Carter was a devout follower of Alora and her teachings. He established his Institute with Anton Dunsay. Dunsay soon split and the two schools became rivals, this spurred the creation of the Arcane Accord in Dunnsmouth which forbids Magic Assaults in the city limits. Instead a steady shadow battle is fought between Headmasters, Professors, and even Students. This keeps the Bigby Watch, the ‘Magic Police’, extremely busy. Lord Carter’s Institute specializes in Abjuration, Illusion, & Enchantment, although all schools of magic are represented in the curriculum. The tuition is relatively cheap, and many are allowed to forgo payment for work or servitude. The current Headmistress is Madison Carter, a descendent of the school’s founder. She is known for her skill in dueling as much as her fervent desire to create a spell that will mark her as one of the great practioners of her time. It is rumored that the Madison Family of Red Timber headed by their current patriarch Thaddeus Madison is who continues to keep Lord Carter’s Institute fiscally afloat. This could be in part due to school founder Lord Carter’s shared history with Marcus ‘Mad Dog’ Madison as part of the Rusty Swords adventuring party over 200 years ago.

- Dunsay School For The Arcane Gifted – Is located in Dunnsmouth. Founded by Anton Dunsay another member of the Rusty Swords and former apprentice of Lord Carter. He founded the school after his bitter split from Lord Carter regarding the ‘fair distribution of accumulated wealth’ from their many adventures. The verbal conflict escalated until Decker The Dark, the Rusty Swords apprentice Rogue, was killed in what was deemed an ‘accident’. This event broke up the Rusty Swords adventuring company. With his wealth now established, Dunsay sought to teach only the most talented and advanced students. Whereas Lord Carter’s Institute is open to all with a desire to learn, the Dunsay School is only for those who already have shown their skill and who have a heavy purse. The Dunsay School specializes in Conjuration & Evocation, although like their rivals they have accomplished professors in all schools on staff. In the last 50 years the Dunsay School has been an integral part of the formative years of many practioners such as Dr. Herbert Grubb, Dr. Anton West, Delron the Brown, Barrack ‘Barry’ Charminson, Savin Romero, & Landri Korvin. Lord Evanston Dunsay is the current Headmaster at the Dunsay School. He is a former student of The Esoteric Halls who made his vast fortune adventuring before marrying into the Dunsay family and taking their last name. He is said to be an extremely skilled Artificer, and has a rumored predilection towards collecting ‘Artifacts Of The Ancients’ which has put him at odds with cadres of Drahjar Seekers in the past.

- The Esoteric Halls – Is located in Barbican Shade, the city that surrounds the Bleak Tower. This is the largest of all of the Arcane Universities, but completely at the whim of the Iron Mage. Those who wish to share in the ‘Infinite Knowledge’ of the fickle Iron Mage can look no further than The Esoteric Halls that lay at the foot of his Bleak Tower. Here the apprentices ruthlessly via for the attention of his Acolytes, who in turn backstab and attempt to hinder one another in the hopes of gaining even a moment of the Iron Mage’s time and dread focus. Few prove worthy of this, and even fewer survive. All schools of magic are represented in The Esoteric Halls, but none is more prized than Divination. This is currently taught by Madame Marie Verice, the current Headmistress. She has been her position longer than any of her predecessors and is said to dine with the Iron Mage himself once per month. She is also responsible for the establishing of the attached Trial Of The Song, Bardic College. This has been done independently of the local Church Of Krixmas causing a schism in amongst those who follow song by faith and those who practice songs by trade.

- The White Lotus Academy – Is located in the Great & Celestial Jade Empire to the east, but they maintain Shrines Of Knowledge throughout the coast of Raduenz. These Shrines are operated by Librarians who accumulate and disseminate information, while Shrine Adherents teach to those who show a willingness to learn, the strength to meet the rigorous requirements, and readiness to declare loyalty to the White Lotus Academy. Even with up to 30 of these Shrines operating on the coast of Raduenz little is known of the White Lotus Academy proper as few who go ever return.

- The Wellspring – Is located in the lands of Karlot The Undying, in the capital of Perpetuity. The Wellspring has long been a fertile ground for merchant companies, such as The Collus Shipping Guild, to gather up ambitious and creative practioners of many different forms to drive up their profits. With his dreams of conquest of the mainland on hiatus Karlot oversees The Wellspring personally. Inspiring, testing, and ultimately culling the weak form the ‘herd’. Any Necromancer who wants true knowledge need look no further than The Wellspring.

- Factorus Arcanum – Is located on the border between the Gnome Lands & the Drahjar Republic. A joint effort by two governments who are obsessed with the ‘Artifacts of the Ancients’ the Factorus Arcanum operates as a school, a refinery, a church, and a university. From its steam belching innards has spilled many of the current technological wonders of the Known World. Between the daring intellectual prowess of its Gnome Professors to the zealous intensity of the Drahjar Instructors many a keen mind and fantastic machine and creator has survived rigorous testing and trials to emerge with a Certificate of Creatorship and the allowance to continue their experimentation under the watchful eyes of either the Gnomish governments Department Of Innovation or the Drahjar’s Division For Artifice.

- The Lost Words – Is located on the edge of the Godfall Vale in Dustkeep. Barty Bellwiggins is the Headmaster and the former The Master Of Book of Dustkeep a roll now taken by his most accomplished student, Cala Urshevin. Barty is a graduate of Lord Carter’s Enchanted Institute and adopted most of his ‘Teach All’ policies upon opening The Lost Words, including establishing a small branch of the Bigby Watch, in order to police students and faculty from taking things into their own hands. As the closest University to Alora’s Arcanum there is a great deal of shared information between Mages from the Elven Homelands and the faculty of The Lost Words. There is also a heated rivalry between some of Barty’s more boisterous students and Elven practioners who tend to look down their nose at the school. Even with this constant tension, every year 5 Elven students attend and 2 Elven instructors teach at The Lost Words in order to ensure cooperation and collaboration between the mages of many races and ‘Alora’s Chosen’, the Elves.