Academy of Wizardry

The story ...

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Jawnyash Talbor b'Drus enrolled in the Academy of Wizardry by sheer, dumb luck.  To hear him tell it, by sheer, dumb, bad luck. At the tender age of fifteen, Jawn ran away from home to avoid the fate of learning and academics, becoming a caravan guard and finding that, though it lacked the romance of the storyteller's view, he rather enjoyed the martial arts and the vast view of the world afforded by such employ.  Seven years later, he was an established and rather well respected member of the Guild of Warcraft when he hired on as guard-commander of a modest cattle caravan containing Enaka'ee coursers, a special shipment for the Headmaster of the Academy of wizardry.  They were so special, in fact, that one of the Academy professors rode along to see to their safe delivery into Delios.

Just as they were almost through the Deep Wood, some trifling of the wizard's set off the Wood itself.  Jawn was credited with saving the caravan by some magical means, though to this day he dismisses it as sheer face-saving by the wizard.  He swore that no magic influenced him, but the Professor is positive that only an innate magicallity could have guided someone so ignorant of Guardian Spirits to make just the right appeasement – Jawn, by accident he maintains, sliced his hand as he drew his sword, sending a spray of his blood in an arc that splashed on the wizard. Regardless, the blood upon the wizard was enough to quiet the wood and they made haste away from the sentient wood.

The wizard, Professor Gilgish, upon discovering that Jawn was a mere two and twenty, badgered him to apply for entrance to the University.  He was so persistent that none of the merchants in Delios would hire Jawn, even going so far as to warn him that, until the wizards were through with him, they wouldn't hire him in any city.  Frustration led Jawn to pounding on Gilgish's door late one evening after his last rejection.

Spitting spite, Jawn denounced the Professor as only a professional sell-sword could, much to the amusement of the Professor's staff.  The wizard made a deal with Jawn – Jawn would apply to the University and enter if accepted or, if rejected, the wizard would personally see that Jawn's employment woes were removed.

Despite his best efforts, Jawn was accepted on as a scholarship student.  The first year he spent trying his hardest to fail only to find that wizards don't think like 'honest' folk. Half his teachers openly praised his exploits whilst the other half found in them reasons to challenge him, with derision, to do better.  At the beginning of his second year, Jawn had the brilliant idea to do nothing and simply fail by lack of action.  However, with his mind freed of finding ways to sabotage his academic plans, he found that quite a bit of what he was learning was fascinating stuffs.  And so he began to study in earnest, albeit with discretion as he still had hopes of returning to his former profession.

Midway through the year he chanced to overhear the conversation of two Professors, one being Gilgish and the other Dravencort, a man whom Jawn found particularly vile.  Dravencort was berating Gilgish for "setting that sell-sword mongrel" upon the University.  His rant only degraded from there.  Jawn's pride was pricked, especially when Dravencort began on about how only the greatest of men may be wizards and only the lowest of scum would sell their sword and then how much lower Jawn was for having sold his sword as a "craven caravan leech".  That wouldst not have made much difference overall but for the next statement of Dravencort's was such that Jawn found his soul speared for Dravencort made much of how little Jawn appeared to have learned and that such must be the caliber of men who run from brigands whilst the bounty they are paid to guard is looted.

Jawn had lost friends to brigand's blades whilst standing and fighting, good men and most literate.  That Dravencort would so basely dishonor their memory brought the spite from Jawn and, despite his own desire to be rid of wizardly trappings, ignited a burning determination in Jawn to make the man eat his words. 

The change in him was subtle to outward appearances for Jawn was ever most vigilant when he appeared most blasé.  However, he began to speak up when none of the other (younger) students could answer, shocking his teachers with the depth and breadth of his knowledge.  Being so very well traveled and having made the long acquaintance of a wide ranging of peoples from all sorts of backgrounds had honed an innate curiosity about the world around him and Jawn was not shy of appearing the ignorant nor of being branded a bookwyrm.  He questioned what he knew naught of and sought his answers in the people around him and within the texts of books passed from guard to guard.

Several months after the chance eavesdropping, Jawn spoke up in Dravencort's class.  The professor used his speech as a pretext for further quizzing the young fighter, seeking to humiliate Jawn.  Jawn gave a rather good accounting of his knowledge and refused to be humiliated. 

When Dravencort asked where he had learned what he knew, Jawn answered, "I've been from one sea to the other and from the deserts of sand to the deserts of ice within the past seven years.  I've seen what you're teaching us of and what these young pucks will never learn in a classroom.  Those on the caravan circuit have many long and dull hours to fill, so fill them with word of what we've seen, the land we travel, the peoples and customs we've encountered we do. 

"And when that palls, there are always the books.  Guards generally pass along books along the way so we've all had the chance to read and re-read them numerous times. Take the Herbal Codex of Bivarium there on your shelf.  Did you know it lists four and ten ways to prepare Heartsbane for over thirty-odd ailments?  When you're not drilling, you're looking for anything to keep you from being bored stupid."

"If you know so much, then why bother to take this course?" Dravencort sneered.

"For one, I was informed this is a required class.  For the other, despite having been from sea to sea and ice to sand, I'm still learning.  The education of a caravaner is not as formal as that provided here and some of the 'whys' slip through when you're mainly concerned with 'what' and 'how'."

The Background ...

Concept

Throw together one inept (?) wizard-probationer, a handful of mischievous gods, a set of "buxom" twins, a virgin-loving dragon, the Right place, the Right time, and the wrong people (?)

Plot Outline

• University of Wizardry final of a more brawny than brainy mage is to retrieve an artifact from the House of the Rising Sun and the Watch Tower at the End of the World
• The wizard-probationer summons help and gets the Buxom Twins
• Encounters dragon on their way to the village
• • "Eat the virgin!"
  • Ice twin chews dragon ass
  • Dragon agrees to help
• Brigands, or the Dragon takes a lunch break
• Town
• Antiquities Dealer has map to find house
  • Fire twin charms dealer, steals the map and gets the Thieves' Goddess' attention
  • Dealer posts reward notice
  • Thieves guild upset by unauthorized attempt
• Meet up with wizard's friend @ arms, who is charmed by Ice
• Bounty hunters attack, friend and wiz dispatch them

Fantastical Magical Structures

Wizardry

Trained. Magic forces utilized by directed intellect through the use of incantations, ritual and mystic ingredients

Witchcraft

Semi-trained. Magic forces utilized by directed passions through the use of incantations, ritual and potions.  Associated with nature lore.

Shamanism

Semi-trained. Magic forces utilized by association with spirits and/or demons. Associated with barbarians.

Magecraft

Semi-trained. Bastardization of wizardry, shamanism and/or witchcraft.

Sorcery

Untrained. Magic forces utilized by directed will.

Psychics

Untrained. Life force utilized by combination of directed intellect and will.

Mysticism

Semi-trained. Life force utilized by passions and will

Divination

Varies by type. Ranges from those trained to interpret omens to Seers, those born about to "see" into the very fabric of the universe.

Clerical Mysteries

Semi-trained. Divine magics on loan from the gods.

The Lands of Cammarill

A land/world where all forms of magic are prevalent. Tech base is bronze age to pre-industrial.

Sarakos

• Primarily agricultural and resistant to change.
• Monarchy with feudal system. No serfs or slavery.
• Practical people not given much to superstition
• Each village has a witch who serves as much as a healer as a mystic.

Sarakos is a land of mystics. Primarily agricultural, Sarakos is laden with traditions that have served the people well. As such, the people are somewhat resistant to change. The national deity is Rambon, the God of Harvests, and his consort, Tanisla, Goddess of the Hunt and Hearth.

Somas

• Military dictatorship
• Strong relations with the Dwarves of the Morning Moutains

Primarily an agricultural society, the Somans desposed of their noble and tried a republican form of government. However that failed miserably and they were plunged into a century of civil war. They were finally united by General Tuon, who instituted mandatory military service for every able bodied man from the ages of 16 to 26.

The Eastern continent used to be roughly equally divided between Somas and Sarakos, but during the Great Civil War, Sarakos pushed the borders down to the Soman Sound. After two centuries of peaceful governing, relations between the countries have gone from hostile to wary and little love is lost between the nations.

Somans hold magic users in contempt, despising the ostentatious displays of mages and sorcerers. They frequently burn witches at the stake, despite the outlawing of vigilante "justice". Psions and mystics are dismissed as demented fools. The Church of the God Who May Not Be Named is the only honorable way a Soman may use magic.

There are rumors that Seers may be found in the Mountains of Morning, lying on the eastern edge of the world. These Seers are said to seek out those born with the gift of future sight and steal them off to the House of the Rising Sun, there to live apart from their fellow man as they seek to See the End of Days.

Andolfheil

Like Sarakos, Andolfheil is a monarchial state and holds the hearth of the Thunder and Frost God, Bulleck. The land is a frozen tundra for the better half of the year while farmers wage a bitter war to pull sustenance from the earth for the other half. This has lead to the institutionalization of raiding into their lives. More often than not, an honest Andolfian merchant on shore turns into a fierce pirate at sea.  In fact, though home life in this kingdom is primarily agricultural, the main export of Andolfheil is mercenaries.

Andolfians abroad are either mercenaries or "merchants" and very rarely anything else. Their patron god is noted for his love of boasting and brawling, a love shared by his people. Perhaps living so close to the specter of Death gives the Andolfians their fatalistic view point. They are an emotional people, quick to anger and slow to forgive. This is often commented on when mention of their high population of witches is made.

Delinar

Delinar is ruled by an ogilarchy whose members are elected from each of the nine major Guilds, which are (in no particular order): Traders, Spies, Artisans, Educators, Smiths, Wizards, Healers, Fighters and Prostitutes. Delinars are a very religious people. That's not hard to understand when the worship of the Delin, God of Trade and Information, has such tangible rewards. In fact, Delinar boasts the best universities, including the only university for the study of Wizardry.

Fenjar

Fenjar boarders Delinar to the west and north. Not much is known about the Fenjari. They are a clannish people who harbor a bone deep mistrust of strangers. The Deep Wood covers approximately half the country and few dare to cross the forest without a Fenjari guide-claw (a triad comprised of two Fenjari men and one Fenjari woman) and at least a company of fighters. The Fenjari are noted for their excellent archery. It has been observed that when the gods are mentioned around Fenjari, they have a tendency to spit and walk away.

Meskull

A good three-quarters of the world's most deadly poisons are native to the Meskull Jungles and Swamps. Meskers are highly acclaimed apothocaries as well as the world's most notorious slavers. Their research into potion making and alchemy can be quite fatal – for the test subjects.

Suprisingly, Meskers are highly intolerant of illicit drug trading and anyone even suspected of having a drug addiction finds himself a likely candidate for stoning (the biblical kind, not the Mary-Jane kind) or lynching.

Enaka'eil

The Enaka'ee are a nomadic people. They follow their herds of cattle and sheep through hereditary grazing lands and have extremely strong clan ties. Perhaps because of their close proximity to the Utaki, the Enaka'ee are extremely resistant to progress merely for the sake of progress. Their lives are steeped in traditions and they hold these traditions in great respect. These nomadic herder have  ahigh proportion of psions, whom they believe are the Blessed of their Trinity – Tendosi, Anacrete, and Merinos.

Tendosi Arabecks (arabeck = "disciples" in the Enaka'ee language) are prized as Herd Masters for their ability to communicate with the horses and work dogs. Thanks to their abilities, the horses of Enaka'eil are famed throughout the known world for their quality and the dogs for their intelligence and loyalty.

Anacrete Arabecks can heal most minor injuries instantly. It is a generally held belief that, given sufficient time and experience, an Anacrete Arabeck can heal anything that does not kill their patient outright.

The Merinos Arabecks are perhaps the most feared individuals in all of Cammarill. The most skilled among them can kill with a thought while those of lesser skill often fight with multiple weapons and constantly trip their opponents.

Utak

Utak isn't so much a country as it is a loose confederation of independent city states. The most powerful of these are ruled by Sorcerers an they include Kail, Corum, Feir, and Pornak. It is the only "nation" without a formal head of state. 

While all forms of deity are welcome, the most prevalent appears to be Andelania, Goddess of Thieves and Travelers. Given the fractured nature of their government, it is somewhat surprising to note that Utaria is the seat of the most modern advances seem in Cammarill.

Gods of Cammarill

Reembon (m.) – Harvests, consort to Tanisla

Tanisla (f.) – Hunt and Hearth, consort to Reembon

Bulleck (m.) – Thunder & Frost

Delin (m.) – Trade & Information

Andelania (f.) – Thieves & Travelers

Tendosi (m.) – Domesticated Animals, brother to Anacrete & Merinos

Anacrete (f.) – Healing, sister to Tendosi & Merinos

Merinos (f.) – War, sister to Anacrete & Tendosi

He Who May Not Be Named (m.) – Unknown