The Academy of Lookinghaven

[Tybalt]

Discussion Thread: http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?29274

On the sea cliffs in the southwest of New Edom is a walled town. This is a grey place, with mists, lonely cries of sea birds and during high tides the rumbling crashing of the waves against the jagged rocks beneath it. Curious steps formed before man ever came lead down to where piers of stone have been constructed by ancient and unknown means, that are used by fisherfolk that live along the cliffs. Lookinghaven is one of the several lonely places of New Edom, and is unusual in that it is not a center of commerce or government but of education.

Over the years of running this campaign various players have had their characters begin and even have their first meeting here. Whether they are aristocratic warriors training to be military officers or wizards studying ancient lore it is here that they form their allegiance to the Republic in exchange for skills. They can also return to teach or to gain more abilities and knowledge.

During the invasion campaign it was sacked and became a haunted ruin. It was claimed that the enemy Celts and Humanoids who overran it were cursed. Certainly some of the leaders went mad. Certain legendary magical devices or lorebooks are said to still be in the ruins. Scavengers, predators, rogues and cultists have come and gone from it. During the year or so of occupation of the western part of the Republic it became known as an accursed place to the enemy, but a place yearned for, dreamt of by the New Edomites themselves.

New Edom and the Pursuit of Magical Knowledge

The loremasters of the Republic chose a remote location in which to pursue their craft. One of the reasons for this was the need for a lack of distraction. New Edomite magic is largely based upon the discovery of ancient lore of a bygone civilization. Some detractors of this pursuit (some of the temples in particular) worry that this civilization may not have been human. (stating that for example there are disturbingly no images of the people who practiced it, and that the means of incantation and meditation largely involve the use of astronomy, mental detachment and dreaming)

Nevertheless this magic is part of what has made New Edom both powerful and coveted. The wizards of New Edom claim that they have only begun to glean the knowledge they have gathered from the peculiar ancient ruins in the region, and that if they only had such knowledge they could easily win the war...and now much of it is lost. In the suddenness of the attack on Lookinghaven much had to be abandoned as the original occupants of the Academy were slain or forced to flee.