Amethyst Academy

“Suffice to say, the Amethyst Academy has developed the means to harness the incredible arcane energies contained within delerium. We shall use it to create unfathomable magical wonders on a scale hitherto undreamt of, for the betterment and protection of all people. Only the Amethyst Academy has the knowledge to accomplish such a feat, and the wisdom to temper the wild and destructive potential of this volatile resource.”

— --Archwizard Eldrick Runeweaver

The Amethyst Academy is a research institute, educational organization, and mage guild pursuing the arcane mysteries of delerium. The faction is small and outwardly aloof, yet subtly influential and tremendously wealthy. They are led by a shadowy directorate of powerful archmages who dispatched Archwizard Eldrick Runeweaver to oversee their operations in Drakkenheim. Most of its members are potent arcane spellcasters with access to rare magical resources, but only a handful of agents are active in Drakkenheim.

Background

The Amethyst Academy began as a secret school for young sorcerers during a time when arcane magic faced extreme persecution from the clergy of the Sacred Flame. The mages located children who manifested magical talents, rescued them from their fearful and paranoid communities, and educated them in hidden strongholds and far-away castles so they might wield their abilities with trained and refined control. The secret school gradually grew into a secret society in its own right.

Sequestered in unseen universities to hide from the mage-slaying Knights of the Silver Order, the mages pooled their knowledge. They conducted research into arcane and cosmological phenomena, and developed the modern practice of wizardry. Over time, the Amethyst Academy secured allies amongst the nobility by providing them clandestine magical services and occult counsel, crafting enchanted heirlooms, protecting their castles with arcane wards, and teaching their heirs magic.

When these schemes were discovered by the Faith of the Sacred Flame, a renewed series of brutal inquisitions and vengeful witch-hunts began. What had been a shadow conflict between paladins and sorcerers for centuries spilled into outright war between noble houses who championed the Faith, and those that supported the Amethyst Academy. These conflicts ended with the Edicts of Lumen. Enacted three hundred years ago, this landmark treaty stopped the murderous suppression of arcane magic by the religious ministry, and established a new balance of power between mages, the Faith, and the nobility throughout the continent.

The Edicts of Lumen bestow extensive protections, full autonomy, and economic advantages to the Amethyst Academy, but also require the Academy to observe strict standards of mercantile neutrality and political non-intervention. Most importantly, it grants the Amethyst Academy guardianship of any child who demonstrates magical aptitude until they come of age and master their abilities. In exchange, the agreement stipulates that all arcane spellcasters are disinherited from any land, rank, or titles, including the scions of noble and royal families. Since the Edicts, Academy mages may work magic without fear of oppression from church or state, though the organization remains withdrawn as it increasingly turns its attention to global affairs and extraplanar happenings. However, the direction and focus of the Amethyst Academy has dramatically shifted following the destruction of Drakkenheim, when their greatest stronghold was cut off from them.

While the Amethyst Academy outwardly upholds the Edicts of Lumen, in recent years some have claimed the mages furtively flaunt its restrictions and disregard the terms that forbid dark magical practices. Others suspect the mages are weaving an arcane conspiracy to control commerce and influence politics while shielding themselves from the wrath of the Sacred Flame.

Attire

Agents typically wear purple robes, cloaks, or hoods.

Academy Rings

Members of the Amethyst Academy each wear a set of rings made from exotic arcane metals. The number of rings worn corresponds to the highest level spell they can cast. Known as academy rings, these are magic items that identify them as an Academy graduate, and often permit access to Academy strongholds. A set of five or more functions as a ring of spell storing, and some allow control over a shield guardian. However, each set is made for a specific individual, and only that person may attune that set of academy rings.

Strongholds

The Amethyst Academy does not currently have a dedicated base of operations in Drakkenheim. Indeed, one of their most important objectives is reclaiming the Inscrutable Tower, so it can be used for such purposes!

Emberwood Accommodations. For the time being, most Academy members simply make use of local accommodations: Eldrick and River have booked a permanent suite in the Red Lion Hotel.

Distant Fortresses. Far away from Drakkenheim, the Amethyst Academy has many great fortresses, libraries, and universities. Most notable are the Enigma Ziggurat in the Free City of Liberio, and Paradox Castle in the distant Eastern Vale. Both have well-guarded teleportation circles, and Academy agents working in Drakkenheim usually teleport back and forth between these strongholds and the secret circle in Emberwood Village. The sigil sequences of these teleportation circles is a closely guarded secret known only to Academy mages who can cast 5th level spells.

Objectives

• Collect and Study Delerium
• Reclaim the Inscrutable Tower
• Obtain the Inscrutable Staff

Key Characters

Archwizard Eldrick Runeweaver heads up the Amethyst Academy operations in Drakkenheim and serves as the faction leader. The tiefling mage River works alongside him as lieutenant.

Eldrick Runeweaver serves as the acting Archmage of Drakkenheim within the Academy Directorate, but this is a provisional position. He will not be confirmed to a lifetime appointment until he successfully secures the Inscrutable Tower. He is accountable to the Academy Directorate, but only reveals his true position to close collaborators. Although he does not lead the Amethyst Academy as a whole, his death or defeat would cause the Directorate to seriously reevaluate their position in Drakkenheim.

Eldrick Runeweaver

One of the finest professors in the Amethyst Academy, Eldrick Runeweaver has personally instructed a generation of talented arcane spellcasters. He is the foremost living expert on abjuration magic, but is also highly regarded within the Academy as a dedicated administrator and calculating leader. If Eldrick Runeweaver successfully retakes the Inscrutable Tower, he will likely take up the vacant spot in the Academy Directorate and assume the mantle of Archmage of Drakkenheim.

Eldrick Runeweaver is a towering and broad-shouldered man in his mid-sixties. His amber eyes glow softly behind his circular glasses, and he has a square-cut, greying black beard. He wears nine rings of silver, gold, and electrum: one on each finger except his left thumb. He wears flowing purple garb with golden embroidery, and carries an obsidian staff tipped with a delerium crystal.

River

River is a short tiefling woman in her late twenties. Her attire is practical and professional, a hip-length purple jacket with a high collar, and belted at her waist are several pouches and pockets. She wears five rings on her right hand. Two oddly-shaped dark brown horns sprout backwards from her flowing blue hair, creating the impression of two boats at sea. River has spotted brown skin and impish features: her teeth are too sharp, her tongue too long, and it’s slightly unsettling when she smiles.

Academy Mages

A handful of other mages lead survey teams in the ruins. Here are several NPCs to fill out the various Academy agents the player characters may encounter in Drakkenheim:

• Rufus Stonewall - A grumpy old professor who is looking forward to retiring.
• Nimble Quill - An eager new graduate hoping to prove themselves.
• Cogsworth B. Copperpot - An addled old diviner confused about his own predictions.
• Murdok the Caller - A know-it-all conjurer with a knack for having the perfect spell prepared.
• Corvus Greysky - A grim necromancer with a morbid sense of humor.
• Elvira Evermore - A stern abjurer who takes magic use very seriously.
• Luna Mumph - A young gnome illusionist who seems lost in her own world.
• Harmon Munk - An elf transmuter who is always misplacing his alchemical reagents.
• Neptune Lee - A charismatic enchanter who likes to boast about his accomplishments.
• August “Gus” Elderfire - An experienced evoker who never does things by the book.