University of Xyrneiros

Stock Photo of Mont St Michel on Earth. Placeholder image to evoke Xyrneiros' energy

Map of Campus in mid 300s PR

The University of Xyrneiros is a prestigious magical university just off the northern coast of Osugbo, with a lauded but historically embattled reputation. Built on an artificial, magically created island, and linked to the mainland via a causeway passable at low tide. On the mainland, the small town of Presmarivale sprung up around the university to support campus life and visitors to the university.

History:

Foundation (Realm War Era, 28 PR-380 PR):

The University of Xyrneiros was one of the larger magical universities on the continent of Osugbo which emerged in around 28 PR following Glendoveer’s destruction and subsequent absorption of Champerty. Constructed on a magically-made island just off the coast of Osugbo and reachable by causeway, Xyrneiros was originally constructed as a defensive outpost during the first Realm War—originally only reachable by teleportation circle. With the conquest of Champerty by Glendoveer, Glendoveer began to increasingly regulate the formerly unfettered magical developments of Champerty’s magical universities and enclaves to reduce avenues for rebellion and regional destabilization.

Other magical institutions and outlying local mages guilds saw an increased degree of surveillance and regulation by the Elven Monarchy, with particularly dangerous or revolutionary organizations having their archives and materials seized by the government to pre-emptively mitigate risk of revolution.

However, the Northwest Treaty of 25 PR, the treaty which formalized Champerty's surrender of all lands previously seized in the realm war to Glendoveer, contained a special provision calling for the establishment of a repository of magical texts seized by the forces of Glendoveer during their growing control of the region. This heavily-negotiated provision was intended by the Paragnosts of Champerty to minimize the loss of centuries of magical research, but functionally resulted in the creation of an offshore magical storehouse explicitly under the control of Glendoveer’s monarchy.

Following the Realm War’s conclusion, this militarized storehouse began to attract mages and researches from across Quelmar, eventually leading to Glendoveer opening the island to select academics by establishing it as a university—the University of Xyrneiros. However, as the University began its initial recruiting push, its administration was slowly infiltrated by sympathizers to the cause of Champerty, resulting in the creation of a secret enclave of professors and academics known as the “Order of the Dreaming Eyne.” This group covertly operated within the University to shield the greatest magical advancements from use by the Monarchy, and slowly erase them from the university’s records--hiding them in a subterranean safekeep deep below the Island.

The disappearances of 321 PR

"They are gone...all...gone"

In 321 PR, the enclave known as the Order of the Dreaming Eyne had taken dramatic measures to protect the university and the entire realm as a whole, using the vast resources of the school to fight back against an approaching entity known as "The Mists, which hailed from a demiplane of dread known as Barovia. After an attack on the university which stole away many of the school's greatest minds and students, absorbing them into Barovia, the survivors (mostly those enclave members housed underground) took to controlling the University for a short time, until the mists were confirmed driven back, at which point reconstruction could begin.

Rise of the Order of the Dreaming Eyne: (Cavalry Rush Era, Dissolution of Glendoveer, 380 PR--390 PR)

During the Cavalry Rush era which saw the dissolution of Glendoveer’s kingdom holdings, and the creation of the Alest domain, the University saw a great degree of internal debate and conflict. With their grip over the peasantry slipping, nobles in the monarchy of Glendoveer sought to access the college’s trove of arcane weapons seized in the assimilation of Champerty to suppress the rebellion. However, Emissaries of Glendoveer attempting to reclaim select tomes and orreries often found their efforts frustrated by overcomplicated library classification systems, labyrinthine archives, and even outright subterfuge by members of the Order of the Dreaming Eyne.

News of this inquiry quickly reached the masses and catalyzed even more segments of the population to the antimonarchist cause—ironically shifting the balance of power in the conflict. Without access to the most powerful weapons and enchantments from the conquest of Champerty, the monarchy lost both their assumed military advantage, as well as their reputation among magical academics; who assumed the monarchy had broken the terms of the Northwest Treaty and covertly destroyed all seized artifacts.

For their part in the monarchy’s undoing, the Order’s politics had shifted greatly during the intervening three hundred and ninety years. Originally the organization formed as a pseudo-revolutionary enclave, comprised of Champerty’s arcane elite. Its more reactionary members in the early days discussed plots to violently overthrow the monarchy, use magic to retaliate against Glendoveer on the whole, or even restart violent attacks against the Troverth Dynasty. However, as generations passed, and those with firsthand memories of the Realm War died out and were replaced, the philosophy of the organization underwent a sea change. Catalyzed in large part by The Archivist, newer generations of Dreaming Eyne leadership more carefully debated the risks of widespread use of the Lost Relics of Champerty.

They came to the conclusion that such uses of magic had devastated the region and plane enough during the duration of the Realm War and preceding BR era and should not ever be repeated. A vocal contingent frequently noted in discussion the Champerty Mages’ implementation of the ice wall embargo, using the island itself as a bastion for arcane focci, indirectly leading to the genocide of the elven refugees resultant from Drake’s Deal. In response to the rising tensions between the monarchy and peasantry, the Order resolved to remain politically isolationist—concealing the Lost Relics and the existence of The Archivist from both the monarchy and the outside world, lest the university become a target for military aggression.

When faced with inquiries for access to the Lost Relics of Champtrey in the mid-380s PR, members of the Order frequently attempted to subvert, sabotage, and misdirect the same officials and regents that their predecessors had deceived seven generations prior. What once were some of the most astute court mages of Glendoveer assigned to oversee the University had grown wizened and dottering with age, even their own personal archives now mismanaged and ill-maintained. While generations had developed organization infrastructure and dutifully maintained the labyrinthine stacks of Xyrneiros, the arcane court of Glendoveer and its emissaries within the University often looked for texts in places they were housed 200 years prior, and were frequently derided behind closed doors by student workers when they tried to requisition spellcasting components using forms dated 75 PR. Due to the insulation of these elite classes of the court, and a culture of deference to seniority, it quickly became an open secret that the University was growing too quickly for the slackening grip of the monarchy’s governance.

These tensions reached a head in 392 PR with the appointment of human Professor Muriel Elkhlore to the position of Monarchic Liaison—a position within the college previously occupied only by elven officials from the Court of Glendoveer. The Monarchy of Glendoveer erroneously assumed that appointing a supposedly sympathetic ear from the current roster of university professors would serve as a concession to academics critical of the court mages and the monarchy as a whole. In reality, Professor Elkhlore was a ranking member in the Order of the Dreaming Eyne. Her tenure saw monarchist officials refused entry to campus, and some historians even believe that some of the early records proving the monarchy’s conspiracy to seize and use the Lost Relics of Champerty against the peasantry were written on stationary from her on-campus office, though this remains hotly debated.

In any case, as Glendoveer crumbled and Alest was founded, the administrative forces at Xyrneiros tried to steer the institution in as “politically neutral” a direction as possible—endorsing the creation of a new regional government only after the tides of revolution began to shift. Conscious of the arcane secrets they protected, the Order of the Dreaming Eyne endeavored to slowly die out and be forgotten with the foundation of a new regional government. They viewed their role as that of a silent custodians over the relics and caretaker of the Archivist—the quicker those secrets were forgotten to history, the better. However, rumors of the society had become somewhat of a campus urban-legend, and still endure in regional talks about the University. Mercifully, the rumors of the organization have overshadowed the magical advancements they conceal, and The Archivist living in the vaults beneath the island.

Immediately prior to the Arctic Autumn (390 PR--466 PR):

In the intervening 60-odd years between the Cavalry Rush and Arctic Autumn, Xyrneiros and the adjoining town of Presmarivale thrived as both an academic hub and sightseeing destination. While too far afield to become a major shipping hub, Presmarivale is frequently buoyed by the influx of tourists and scholars venturing to the University. The university frequently oversaw magical experiments, conferences, presentations, and publishing operations, buoying the local economy. Xyrneiros today thrives off of its history as a massive repository of arcane texts, its academic rigor, and even quiet whispers about the “Lost Relics of Champerty.”

During the Arctic Autumn:

The freezing of Quelmar wreaked havoc upon the relationship between the university and town. While famine was less prevalent in the university and surrounding town due to the mages’ ability to magically conjure food, the difference in quality between magical food created for the university and town began to build tensions. The town, historically rather trusting of the University, began to be rattled by rumors that the University may have had some part in catalyzing the freeze via an experiment gone wrong. These rumors flourished in part because of the abrupt halt in visiting/tourism. While several of the luxury lodgings still managed to eke by due to the ability of certain gifted magical alumni to teleport onto campus under their own power and visit their usual haunts, many of the more traditional lodgings and stores which thrived upon the tourist economy were struggling.

Additionally, the supply chain disruptions which were throttling the town’s tourism industry also threatened the college’s ability to remain self-sufficient. Although food was far from scarce, consumer goods needed for the day-to-day maintenance of the University quickly began to dwindle in supply. Some students, lacking an understanding of the supply chain necessary to maintain the university, began to accuse the townsfolk of hording supplies for themselves. Quickly, the symbiotic relationship between the town and university devolved into mutual distrust.

The University’s administration has largely scaled back classes during the freeze, instead mobilizing students to use their magic and help the town keep from starving in an effort to win back goodwill. However, many of the professors are concerned what may happen if the freeze continues onward for too long, as the ramifications of an entire population subsisting for a prolonged period on magical food have never been comprehensively documented.

To try and restore the town’s economy and the university’s prospects, many of the school’s resources have been dedicated to the creation of a long-distance, mass-teleportation array which would allow for the restoration of supply chains. However, progress has been slow given the logistics of transporting shipments of mixed life forms, inanimate objects, and even potentially livestock across great distances. Not to mention the lingering diplomatic issues of traveling great distances to contact other large city centers/nations, and requesting to install a colossal and experimental piece of teleportation infrastructure in their city.

Relations With Other Institutions:

Xyrneiros’ relationship with other universities across what used to be Champerty is best described as complex. Though many scholars gravitate to Xyrneiros for its collection of pre-Glendoveerian magical literature, talks are ongoing between the school and universities such as Drȳcræft Drīfan to return texts confiscated by Glendoveer. Xyrneiros’ possession of these texts for many years was a source of friction, but progress has been accelerated with the creation of Alest. The one sticking point for some mages remain the Lost Relics of Champerty—with some skeptical of their absence during the dwindling days of Glendoveer’s Monarchy. While some mages view the search for these lost tomes and artifacts from the genuine lens of historical inquiry, others (such as the La Croix family’s antiquarians at Xircola College) have far more covetous intentions. In any case, any such legends are only speculation among academics, who have no knowledge of The Archivist.

Geography/Layout of Campus:

The campus of the University sits upon a hilly plateau on an outcropping off the cost of Osugbo. The outer cliffs and inclines of the island are ringed by ruins of defensive parapets—some of which have been converted into study spaces—and guard houses which now serve as housing for off-campus guests. Because of the island’s unique history as a military bastion and later a defensive stockpile, much of the university’s archive infrastructure lies under the island’s surface, though the university has built newer buildings above-ground. For a visual reference from earth, imagine the French city of Mont St-Michel.

Much of the architecture has been said to have a sort of "glimmer" about it, which some believe has to do with Wovenstone cornerstones, brought over from when Glendoveer was located across the ocean in Isonhound.

The Gates of Xyrneiros:

The first glimpse of campus many see, as the water-worn stones of causeway to Presmarivale give way to the well-maintained flagstones of the Pathway of Knowing, The Gates of Xyrneiros are a large stone gatehouse leftover from the island’s time as a defensive encampment. When the island was converted from a military stockpile into a university, many of the defensive posts were removed, and the outer walls which ring the main campus of Xyrneiros were re-finished to look far more impressive to visitors.

Part of this process included carving a series of stone reliefs into the walls of the gatehouse and adjoining walls depicting the life of Queen Xyrneiros, and the story of Champerty’s fall. In the early days of the university these reliefs were frequently vandalized or altogether destroyed--prompting administration to enchant the walls with a perpetual charm of mending to repair vandalism attempts as they happened. However, this only led to a perpetual arms-race, with generations of students trying to figure out workarounds to the charm. One of the more notable instances in this tug-of-war included a student from the College of Illusions creating a paint out of ground-up enchanted bronze, which not only confounded a loophole in the mending charm, but significantly damaged the masonry of the relief upon removal. Such attempts have somewhat diminished in recent years, but informal vandalism has been replaced by a formal movement by students and professors to replace or remove the reliefs—especially following the fall of Glendoveer.

The Hall of Corellon:

Hall of Corellon, set for a communal feast at the top of the school year

The highest point on the island, and the building hosting its tallest spire stands at the apex of the plateau’s largest hill—the Hall of Corellon. The hall contains several floors of large lecture halls, student study-spaces, and quarters for the University's administration at its highest floors. These quarters are coveted by faculty for their beautiful views—the cream of the crop being the archmages’ quarters, which sports 365-degree views of the university campus, sea, and town of Presmarivale. However, any magical experimentation is expressly prohibited in these quarters by university policy. Administration must reserve laboratory or studio space elsewhere on campus, but get priority in these reservations.

First-year orientations, alumni banquets, and large lecture courses from all Colleges of the university are often held on the lower floors of the building, with professors and students alike enjoying the high ceilings, natural light, and good acoustics of the lecture halls. Additionally, the first floor contains a rather large mess hall and kitchen, which serves as a popular destination for on-campus lunches, though most residence halls have their own kitchens as well.

The building itself is enchanted with a perpetual charm of feather-fall, to prevent fatalities in case of an accidental fall from the upper balconies. It is an infrequent practice by seniors to scare prospective students and their families by “accidentally” falling from the top of the atrium, only to slow into a hover ten feet from the ground, and gently land on their feet. This practice caries harsh disciplinary consequences for the offending students, as it has scared off several wealthy families over the course of the university’s history. Of course, because this enchantment applies to the outside of the building as well, the much more “allowed” tradition of scaling the building under cover of night is passively encouraged by the university—with the Archmage traditionally publicizing their intent to schedule a trip into mainland Osogbo two weekends before graduation.

The Archive:

The pride and joy of the University, The Archive is a massive, underground library spanning the entirety of the island. Walking around campus, one will frequently spot small gatehouses with staircases which lead down into The Archive, which students frequently use to get between buildings during the winter months. The complex is divided among five known levels accessible to students, and two more secluded sections which exist largely outside of the public eye.

The first floor of The Archive house primarily student study spaces, small classrooms for courses with smaller class sizes, the offices of the Archive Staff/Librarians, some smaller displays of books and course reserves, and two galleries with skylight domes for student exhibitions or displays of the university’s art and sculpture collection. Additionally, a wing to the northwest corner of the first floor contains a series of woodblock printing blocks, ink, and parchment which comprise a burgeoning student press. These resources are available for reservation through the university for students to print and publish their own small batches of manuscripts, short books, or even reproducing excerpts of existing texts for remote research.

The second through fourth floors comprise the accessible stacks of the library. These are complimentary to students and alumni with tuition, but also for the public with a one-time library card fee—usually of thirty gold. The archive is organized around an organizational system akin to the Dewey Decimal system. All tomes in the library are modified to feature raised lettering on their spines, with tanks of Scroll Snails available upon request. Primarily comprised of tomes, but with a dedicated scroll and other print section on the fourth floors, these stacks are all linked through a large central atrium ringed by balconies and tables, with levitating discs scattered across eight different points around the circular floors acting as elevators. These disc elevators are also color-coded to indicate which of the cardinal and ordinal directions they’re aligned with, allowing for an easy visual navigation around the library in addition to the call-number system.

The fifth floor of The Archive constitutes the university’s restricted section. While the three previous floors contain a healthy mix of spell tomes and non-magical writings on subjects such as the sciences and humanities, the restricted section contain books on more esoteric spells and subjects-- including more advanced destruction spells, the creation of dimensional portals, contacting the outer planes, pact magic, and some of the university’s spell tomes which touch on the foundational principles of necromancy. Additionally, many of the texts originally seized by Glendoveer currently reside here, though some have been returned to their institutions of origin in recent years. The texts in this section are available to students and professors on the conditions that they do not leave the floor’s study rooms, and that no reproductions of their contents are made by members of the student body.

Below the fifth level of The Archive lies a sixth, secret level housing the University’s private collections and storage—including magical tomes, scrolls, and many of the arcane items seized from Champerty by the government of Glendoveer. While the exact contents of this level are considered classified information, with only professors and select graduate students able to access it, its existence is known by many across the region and part of the longstanding tension between Xyrneiros and other academic institutions. It is here that the majority of the University’s spell tomes on necromancy are stored to both minimize the risk of undergraduate students attempting such rituals and corpse-stitchings, as well as the public relations disaster such lines of inquiry would bring upon the University’s reputation.

Even further below this level lies the University Vaults—known only to the heads of each college, select administrators, the Archmage, and of course, members of the Order of the Dreaming Eyne. This colossal vault, with ceilings nearly four stories high house the most dangerous of the Lost Relics of Champerty and serve as home to The Archivist.

Outer Rings:

Accessible via the first and third levels of The Archive, as well as by several of the academic buildings dotting the periphery of campus, the Outer rings are a series of renovated guard parapets designed to include larger semicircular protrusions from the wall as well as small, insulated rooms dug into the rock. These spaces serve as magical “practice rooms” for evocation, illusion, and abjuration mages—allowing them to practice conjuring flames or lightning, creating illusionary summons, and creating domes of anti-magic facing outward towards the sea—not posing any risk to other students or townsfolk.

Additionally, these renovations mean that looking out towards the island of Xyrneiros at any given day, one might glimpse bursts of fire or strange creatures flying about these stone balconies. What once were guardhouses along these walls have been renovated into lower end housing for guests to the university, and storage for the College of Artifice, Mathematics, and Material Sciences.

Cathedral of Erudition:

Though Xyneiros is a secular university, the Cathedral of Erudition serves as a hub for both the College of Clerical Studies, Religion, and Philosophy, as well as the College of Restoration, Medicine, and Botany. The building’s first and second floors house both the campus’ hospital and chapel. Examination rooms unused by patients from the university, Presmarivale, or surrounding towns are often used for practicum teaching for healers.

The hospital also contains a wing dedicated to housing a campus morgue, and occasionally sources cadavers of humanoid creatures and beasts for dissection. The morgue of the Cathedral of Erudition is kept under constant surveillance. The hospital wing also contains one large operating theater for demonstrations of healing techniques and also nonmagical first-aid and suturing technique.

The Chapel wing of the Cathedral of Erudition contains small shrines to the divines of Quelmar’s various Pantheons, providing options for students to learn about and pray to a deity of their choosing, should they seek to venture down the path of clerical magic. Because Xyrneiros is primarily focused on the arcane arts rather than the divine, this setup is less robust than some of the other Colleges or Monasteries, but still sufficient enough to support students hoping to study magic of the divine.

The top two floors of the Cathedral consist primarily of department-specific faculty offices and lecture halls, as well as an alchemy laboratory stocked with ingredients for brewing potions of restoration. These floors are primarily where most of the specialized classes and seminars in the two Colleges which call the building home are held.

The fourth floor also sports access to a greenhouse and the campus’ clock tower—a tower which both tells time itself, and overlooks a semi-circular quad opening onto campus, allowing the tower itself to serve as a sundial. The sea-facing side of the Cathedral opens onto a large flower garden which serves as a popular place for students to lounge in the summer, but also a resource for the College of Restoration to grow some of the mundane flowers and plants needed for their potions.

Hall of Eve:

Student Xuut stands amidst an artistically decorated lounge in the Hall of Eve.

The Hall of Eve plays host to both the College of Illusion, Visual Arts, and Art History, as well as the College of Enchantment, Literature, and Anthropology. The first floor of the building primarily houses the offices of both departments, while the second floor opens into spacious studios with hardwood floors and large windows. The topmost floor contained dormitories in the 300s PR, but student housing would be moved offsite to nearby Presmarivale by the mid 400s PR, to make room for more studios.

The more unfurnished of these are perfect for the paintings and spells of the College of Illusion, while the rooms sporting comfy chairs, rugs, and bookshelves often serve as classrooms for the College of Enchantment.

The hall also features one large lecture hall shared between the departments—notable for its high ceilings, but comparatively shallower incline to seating and larger stage area— designed primarily for demonstrating spells with larger areas of effect—both vertically and horizontally. Occasionally, student groups will reserve this auditorium and the larger studios of the College of Illusion for musical or theatre rehearsals--sparking friction with Illusion majors who assume they have unfettered access to the building for craft spaces.

Crucible of Innovation:

A three-story building at the southern end of the Pathway of Knowing which bisects campus, the Crucible of Innovation is built more firmly into the rocks of Xyrneiros than some of the other academic buildings, and plays host to the College of Artifice, Mathematics, and Material Sciences, as well as the College of Transmutation, Chemistry, and Architecture.

The former's workshops and laboratories occupy the ground floor of the building, as well as its slight overhang above the sea below. Some of the College of Artifice's workshops contain an intricate series of pulleys and levitating discs to lower crafts to the beachfront or sea under their facilities. The building only has two in-built lecture halls for the College of Artifice, specifically equipped with loading docks into the facilities larger workshops, with most classes in mathematics and physics held in The Archive or Hall of Corellon.

The College of Transmutation, however, is based almost entirely out of the building's smaller second and third floors--with the second floor hosting many of the arcane laboratories for potion brewing and the third hosting drafting studios with high ceilings and large skylights for architectural projects. The exception being one large, first-floor studio with an unfinished floor and loading dock access to serve as a studio to teach lithomancy.

Lathor Tower:

A tall, circular tower at the southwest edge of campus, housing the College of Divination, Political Science, and History. The first few floors of the tower house small, divination-specific classes and a medium-sized lecture hall with basic scrying equipment for demonstrations. The higher floors contain a college-specific lounge, as well as professor offices. The top floor of the tower houses an observatory and telescope array to interpret predictions in the stars. It is rumored that tea brewed in Lathor Tower is the best-tasting on campus.

Sapior Hall:

A small, square building two-story building two doors down from the Hall of Eve which houses the College of Abjuration, Humanoid biology, and Linguistics. The first floor mainly contains classrooms, a lecture hall, and a small study room, with the second floor housing professor offices. It is said that non-abjuration majors get somewhat drowsy from looking at the building for too long.

Center for the Evocative Arts:

A multi-story performing-arts building on the south-east corner of Wisdom's Walk, and Integrity Way. The building is home to the College of Evocation and the Performing Arts. Though not as tall as the Hall of Corellon, it is still a massive building, with the ground floor playing host to a large proscenium theatre, a concert hall, and a small, black-box theatre space. The upper three floors of the building house some classrooms, dance studios, ensemble rehearsal rooms for musical ensembles, and professor offices. The building also contains a small lounge with hand-me-down playscripts and sheet music known only by mages in the College of Evocation. These texts are left on a take-one, leave-one basis and a cherished memory of many Evocation majors.

Hall of Multitudinous Magic-Weavers:

Home of the College of Psionic and Innate Arcane Studies. Located in the triangle intersection between Integrity Way, Wisdom's Walk, and the Path of the Psionics.

Olzaford Bestiary and Botanical Garden:

Home of the College of Conjuration, Natural History, and Environmental Studies. Located along the Pathway of Knowing, to the South of the Hall of Corellon, on the west side of the street.

Pelor's Pond:

An enchanted spring on western end of campus, water from Pelor’s Pond when filtered and purified in an alchemy laboratory, provides a base for potions nearly clean of any impurities. The spring’s enchantment renders the water both always potable, and capable of curing surface-level wounds or muscular aches of those who wash themselves in the spring.

It is not an uncommon sight to see a student emerge from The Archives, dip their hands into the pond, and return to their studies having healed their paper cuts and hand cramps. It is also not uncommon to see at least one first-year student futilely attempting to dunk their forehead into the pond after a long night out, only to find out the hard way that the pond’s effect does not extend to hangovers.

Notable Staff and Faculty

• Quimbleton
• Professor Darwin
  • Student advisor, disappeared (presumed dead) in 321 PR.
• Professor Rayburn
  • Professor of Interplanar Studies
  • Member of the Order of the Dreaming Eyne, a secretive organization that operates under the University's nose.
  • During the great disppearances in 321 PR, Rayburn took over headmasters duty, and used the university's resources to try to train and push soldiers into The Mists to save Quelmar from the looming threat of Barovia.
• Master Greyfeet
  • disappeared (presumed dead) in mid 321 PR.
• Associate Healer Castin
  • disappeared (presumed dead) in mid 321 PR.
• Professor Talon
  • disappeared (presumed dead) in mid 321 PR.

Notable Students

• Xuut Syth Ment
  • disappeared (presumed dead) in mid 321 PR.
• Isadora de Carlyle
  • disappeared (presumed dead) in mid 321 PR.
• Wynter Fatiun
  • disappeared (presumed dead) in mid 321 PR.
• Willa Fatiun
  • disappeared (presumed dead) in mid 321 PR.