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Alabaster Academy

Overview​

The Alabaster Academy — the White Tower — is the preeminent center of magical learning in all the Greenwold. Anyone who calls themselves a wizard is required to have received training here or from one of its appointed sages. Ruled by a rigid hierarchy of wizards and archmages, the Academy is independent of all nations and seeks to guide the rulers of all lands through its wisdom.

Atmosphere​

The towering spires of the Academy are visible from far off — slender white peaks that rise impossibly high into the air. Though they lie within sight, actually reaching the conclave proves a more difficult challenge: powerful enchantments confuse even skilled navigators, somehow returning them again to the same location, ever further from the Academy. Only members know the path through the protective barrier.

The White Tower itself appears to float in the air from a distance, but actually sits on an impossibly slender pillar of earth in the middle of what appears to be a great crater. Reaching the walls requires traveling over a long bridge of solid rainbow, which the mages can turn on and off at will.

Apprentices and archmages are garbed in colored robes according to their chosen school of study. Occasional "experiments" escape the boundaries of the Academy, wreaking havoc on the Greenwold.

Notable Features​

  • The Misdirection Wards: Powerful enchantments make the Academy nearly impossible to find for non-members, regardless of navigational skill.
  • The Rainbow Bridge: The only reliable access point — a bridge of solid magical light the mages control.
  • Independence: The Academy answers to no city, nation, or ruler. It sends advisors to guide them instead.
  • Ban on Necromancy: The Academy's greatest legacy: necromancy is illegal in every city in the Greenwold, following a series of calamities involving the drow and the wizards of the Gray Tower near Stonefast.

Connections​

  • Located in the central Greenwold, within sight of several cities but difficult to reach without invitation
  • Sends archmage advisors to the rulers of all major Greenwold cities
  • Historical connection to the Sorcerer's Rebellion (which scarred Marshall Toley of Fort Prefect)
  • The Gray Tower near Stonefast was connected to drow necromancy — the event that led to the realm-wide ban

Recent Developments​

The caverns beneath the Academy have become infested with nothics. The wizards manage to kill them, but the creatures return within a few weeks. The source of the infestation remains a mystery — the high council suspects something powerful is living below, attracting them, but has so far found nothing.