Highmoore Academy of Specialized Magics and Arcane Traditions

I say this with all respect to the current headmistress, but the most dangerously reassuring thing a mage can say is "I went to Highmoore."

— Jasper Cameron, Leader of The Bronze Ravens

The Highmoore Academy of Specialized Magics and Arcane Traditions is located (somewhat counterintuitively) on the coast nowhere near anything that one might consider a moor. It is also purely a coincidence that its current headmistress has the surname Highmoor (no e at the end, as you can see). Highmoore started with the lofty goal of proving false the common phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none, but still better than master of one," at least when it comes to magical disciplines. They have met with... mixed success over the centuries.
One could argue that there are certain benefits to learning and studying one single spell over the course of a lifetime. Many of the strongest spells known today only exist because of the advances made by Highmoore graduates. There is some controversy in magically blocking and removing knowledge of all other spells, but that hasn't stopped the practice yet. Just so there is no confusion, at Highmoore a "spell" here is narrower than a school of magic, but more broad than what most would consider a spell. A "spell family" if you will.

Artificially limiting the scope of magic that our students can access encourages creativity, and where creativity meets necessity miracles bordering on the divine can happen.

— Autumn Highmoor, Headmistress of Highmoore Academy

Of course, this is in following with the school's founding principle "There is only one spell." Most who have devoted their life to the study of magic scoff at this, for there are 10 widely accepted schools of magic, not including those more "fringe" schools, like infernal magics and psionics. Of course, most people are also content to never leave their homes, living their life in a village or town with no concept of the possibilities of the wider world.

Highmoore According to Students

History of Highmoore

"I must admit, despite being one of the more esteemed living alumni of the Highmoor, I don't know much of the history. There is the Dwarven Entrance Hall of course, which I must have passed through hundreds of times over the years that I studied there, to say nothing of Alberich Frostmead's truly exhaustive lectures on the subject. There was a bit about Shape Stone... or maybe Flesh to Stone? It also could have been passwall experiments. Oh, the memory removal thing, no that doesn't remove knowledge that spells exist. We still know what the spell is, and generally what it does, just the "how" is removed. There was the bit about...Calder Blackthorn I think, back in the 2800's... or was he the 3800's?" - Paxton Shackle, Binding Mage

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The Curriculum at Highmoore

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"It's not like we have any real mandatory classes, other than old Alberich droning on about this mage in that century. Mostly we are left to our own devices. Could account for the slightly higher casualty rate than other schools. Of course, a Highmoore healer is the next best thing to a miracle. I once seen... saw, sorry professor, old habits. I once saw Strabbeus, that's one of our healers, I once saw him re-grow a hand. He has patched me up more than once as well. Learning to channel natural lightning is significantly more dangerous than conjuring it from magic, but I think I'll have the hang of it in another two or three years. After that I'm going to try bottling it, not even Sonja the Flash managed that." - Aboc the Lightning Rod

A Hazardous Reputation

Ah, wonderful, the HASMAT has arrived. better make sure everything breakable is hidden away...

— member of the Society of Wizards and Other Related Disciplines

For the majority of its history, Highmoore graduates had a rather dubious reputation. Going back several millennia, they have been called HASMAT derived from HAZMAT, short for hazardous material and slang used by the Outh Dwarves to describe something that is dangerous enough to be thrown away. Considering the history involved, such a classification is not necessarily without some merits. We will briefly look at that history here.

1197AF Violent earthquakes cause thousands of miners to be trapped across the Outh Mountains. Gromren Mudmage is sent to help from Highmoore. Gromren is Exiled from the Outh Clans (a sentencing unrecognized by Highmoore) after his magic, which temporarily converts solid stone into a liquid before re-hardening it, caused the deaths of almost as many dwarves as it saved.

1534AF A Grand Forge is commissioned in the city of Osect, however, no mages can conjure a flame to keep the forge lit. In desperation, the king sought out Highmoore. Thranebella Magmatalker warned that her magic was unsuitable, but was told she would be executed if she did not use her link to Elemental Fire light the forge. Thranebella's spell summoned an elder elemental that rampaged against being bound to service. A mage known only as the Endless Stream managed to produce enough water to subdue the elemental, but also flooded out all the levels of Osect below the Grand Forge, pumping the water out was the work of centuries. Nearly 3,000 dwarves lost their lives.

1969AF Jak of the Rime uses his ice magic to walk across the Blackberry River rather than travel 50 miles downstream to the nearest bridge. This is the first recorded incident of a shard of Living Ice being produced since the Fall of the Storm Giant Empire. The river remained locked behind an ever-growing wall of ice for nearly 70 years, causing drought and famine downstream.

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These are just some examples from the early years of the Academy. During the Necromancer Wars graduates and students acquitted themselves well, but often as a last resort. The unleashed spells were a danger to allies as much as enemies, reshaping the land for miles around. The spells cast then left lingering traces seen to this day, and are spoken of in whispers even by archmages: Pyre of Lightning, Obsidian Bramble, Ravenous Shadows, Contagious Petrification, Murderous Moss, those who have traveled the world widely enough have no doubt heard of these and others, monuments to the bittersweet miracles sparked by that meeting of creativity and necessity.
That is all ancient history, Highmoore Academy's reputation has been disaster-free for almost a full century thanks in large part to the guidance of Autumn Highmoor. So, do you want to spread yourself thin like most mages, or are you willing to brave the depths of magic and see what mysteries true mastery can unlock?

There is only one Spell

Lecture on Spell Families

One of the best examples of a spell family is to trace the history of that much-maligned spell, fireball. As with many spells, fireball traces its lineage back to prestidigitation. From the relatively simple party tricks it evolved into produce flame. Here we see the first split. For while it is somewhat useful to produce a harmless flame from my hands, wouldn't it be more convenient to actually burn things with that flame, or if I could just start a fire over there? Or better yet, what if I could throw the fire at any target I choose? And so we get burning hands, bonfire, and firebolt. From firebolt we then jump 2 orders of magnitude to Flaming Sphere which regressed (in terms of power) to chromatic orb and nearly simultaneously evolved intofireball. Of course, the innovation did not stop there, from fireball, we derived first Wall of Fire, then with inspiration from the diving magics flame strike came along. Most recently, thanks to Igotak Aboom, we have the delayed fireball. There are, of course, several other branches along this tree, but those are for you to explore in the archives as you have the time.

Founding Date

1103 AF

Alternative Names

HASMAT, Highmoore

Notable Members

• Jak of the Rime

Staff

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The current headmistress of Highmoore Academy is Autumn Highmoor, a half-drow Path Mage. Typically, path magic shows the caster a path (usually direct) through the world to an object, both the goal and the path there being physical, though the magical indicator is usually only discernable by the caster. Autumn spent the better part of the last century tweaking the spell. First, so that she could cast the spell but have the guidance be given to others, and then so that a more cerebral goal could be the objective, such as bettering one's self, or learning a new skill. After teaching herself this spell, her goal was to find where she could do the most good in the world and after crossing most of it she arrived at Highmoore three weeks before the Autumnal Equinox in 4902. Kordeng Mountainmaster died a week later. Her nearly constant use of what others have dubbed "Guidance of the Stars" has led to a bit of a resurgence in Highmoore's reputation, enough so that most recent graduates aren't even called HASMAT.

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"Alberich Frostmead has been lecturing us students on the history of Highmoore Academy for longer than most human dynasties can trace their lineage. When he's not lecturing us, he can be found in the records room, updating and maintaining various volumes and codices with the achievements of the many students that have passed under his eyes throughout the years. Although... come to think of it those records contain things he shouldn't have any right knowing. I mean, I read the most recent entry on Raina of the Darkening Flower almost a year ago, yet the sailors at the docks are just now spreading rumors of the Cherry Blossom Massacre." - Interview with Highmoore Academy student Mortimer of the Briar, "Histories Historians, First Edition" by Waves-Against-the-Hull published 3303