The Gryle Academy
Near the sleepy community of Stillwater on the island of Salixis (formerly known as the Undying Pact-Land) resides the Gryle Academy, a recently revitalized institution dedicated to education and research in the magical arts.
Previously known as the Stillwater Academy, the Gryle family recently obtained the house and lands with the intention of establishing a learning environment with a mission rather different from more standardized - dare I say, more stodgy - magical education centers.
Martin Gryle is the current headmaster and primary instructor. He runs the academy with the help of Laura (Martin's wife), Nora (his stepsister), and several close friends from Martin's adventuring days.
Purpose / Function
Dimitri Gryle's intention in establishing the Stillwater Academy was to set up a standard magic academy, do all the typical things that the other academies of the day were doing, and somehow be the best of them all. Whether he had any actual plan or vision on exactly how to accomplish this is not known.
Having taken over the academy after his father's death, Martin wasted no time establishing a new purpose for the academy. Martin has certain suspicions regarding various events that have taken place across Armea, and he fears for the future of his students. He wants to provide education that prepares people as broadly as possible for the future. Every academy will test a student's abilities, but Martin insists on *stretching* their abilities, helping students develop new applications of traditional abilities, thus providing a better foundation to weather future storms.
In Martin's short tenure as headmaster, the Gryle Academy has already begun to build a reputation for developing new methods of using magic, new combinations of skills and abilities, producing remarkably flexible and capable students. Whether or not the rest of Armea is ready for this kind of growth remains to be seen. Bucking aeons of tradition surely will not be taken lightly by everyone.
History
The history of the Gryle Academy begins with the history of Stillwater. Nearby to the eventual sites of the school and the village lies the Lake of Reflection. Roughly 80 years ago (circa 1860), monks and religious attendants began making pilgrimages to the Lake upon the rumors that answers could be had and internal peace could be found. Over a short period of time, word spread across monasteries and eventually beyond them. Pilgrimages began happening with greater frequency, bringing with them the inevitable camp followers and attendants. As the number of monks present at the Lake became steady and reliable, people simply chose to stay, serving the needs of the area. Thus was the beginning of a permanent settlement, only ten years after the initial visits by the monks. Due to the arable nature of the region, a minor farming community was born, eventually to be named Stillwater after the enormous placid pool that began it all. The pilgrimages still happen, but with significantly less frequency.
Enter the Wilcobs, a noble family that arrived about fifteen years after the establishment of Stillwater. As nobles do, the Wilcobs built a large manor house, invested in the local economy, and infused Stillwater with a higher commercial spirit, elevating the community into more efficient and substantial farming. In essence, the Wilcobs are singularly credited with helping Stillwater bloom. With great shock and no notice, the Wilcob family suddenly disappeared one dark and stormy evening twenty five years ago. No evidence was ever found to explain their sudden absence. The manor house remained empty for a very long time, rumored to be haunted - anyone entering the house did so under the risk of dying or disappearing like the Wilcobs.
News of the manor house and its sordid story eventually reached Dimitri Gryle, an unimportant noble with an unimportant posting as an instructor at one of Keldan's many magical academies. Seeing an opportunity to make a name for himself, Dimitri cashed in his holdings and carted his family, including his son, Martin, and his adopted daughter, Nora, to distant Stillwater. Dimitri's plan was to cleanse the manor house, stabilize it magically, and establish the Stillwater Academy as a significant center for magical instruction. He hired a group of adventurers to facilitate the process and, upon their success, bought the manor house and its associated holdings.
Gryle's first few years were quiet, days and months occupied with standard academy activities. Not having a deep well of funds to begin with, Dimitri began hiring out groups of higher-level students to various wealthy patrons in order to make money for the academy. Additionally, Dimitri chose to break up the few hundred acres of original holdings, parceling and selling them. Currently, the Gryle Academy owns the manor house and seven acres of wooded land.
Easily the most shocking event during Dimitri's tenure was the reappearance of Tok Wilcob, the youngest scion of the Wilcob house. By all appearances, he simple returned 4 years after his family vanished - without having aged a single day, and with no memory of the missing time. No other Wilcob family members have been seen since. Louie, one of the older students and a peer of Dimitri's son, Martin, took in Tok, raising him along with his own son, Louis.
Not long after Tok's reappearance, approximately 5 years after the academy opened, students mysteriously began disappearing for days and weeks at a time. A sense of relief washed over Dimitri and his staff when the students reappeared, but it was short-lived - the students were returning with black oozy disease, dying every time. Not a single case was cured, and no direct cause was ever found. Fortunately for the academy and its remaining occupants, the problem seemed to go away after a few months. It should be noted here that the academy did not shut down during this time; Dimitri was determined to keep the doors open.
When Norstir invaded for the first time, Dimitri was called to join the defense forces. His reasoning for choosing to leave the academy at this time is not known to his family and does not seem to be documented in any public records. Sadly, Dimitri Gryle died in action. Martin was away from the academy when the notice came, on yet another of many quests for strange and unique magical items with Laura, Nora and Riggs. The academy's remaining senior instructor, Arwel, managed to get word to Martin. Though he and his father were never very close, Martin did feel honor-bound to return to the academy to continue running it. His loyalty to the academy seemed to belong equally to the remaining staff and students, and to his vision of what the academy could eventually become.
The Stillwater Academy shut down for one year, being restructured and refurbished during that time. When Martin reopened the school, he christened it the Gryle Academy. The current batch of students is the first class since restarting the school.
With the most recent invasion by Norstir came much destruction and chaos. While the Gryle Academy suffered no physical damage, it has been shaken mightily by the abduction of Martin by Tok. Martin's current whereabouts are unknown, and rescue efforts are currently in full swing. No one has openly considered the impact of a long-term absence, but, should rescue efforts fail, the academy's future will need to be addressed eventually.
Alternative Names
Stillwater Academy (former title under Dimitri Gryle)
Type
College / Academy
Parent Location
Owner
Characters in Location
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