The Amethyst Academy
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 (detailed in Appendix E). 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.
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