Founded by Palin Majere, the Academy of Sorcery was an institution of study and experimentation with the new wild magic of Krynn Let’s learn about the formation and destruction of the Academy of Sorcery. Buy Heroes Of Sorcery: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/216827/Heroes-Of-Sorcery-SAGA?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Nestled in the Sentinel Peaks, It took under three years to erect.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about the Academy of Sorcery. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing Dragonlance: Fifth Age, Heroes of Sorcery, and Age of Mortals sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
The Academy of Sorcery is located just south of Solace, and is the primary source of education for sorcerers who wish to learn and experiment with Krynn’s new Wild Magic in the Age of Mortals. Twenty Nine years after the Chaos War, with the Dragon Overlords dominating Ansalon and magic failing, a new sorcery is discovered by Palin Majere with the aid of the Shadow Sorcerer. The Wizards of High Sorcery convened the Last Conclave just the year prior, where the Orders of High Sorcery were completely dissolved. With no one to truly help teach this new magic, and seemingly no real way of mastering it, Palin sought to add structure and build a location near his childhood home of Solace in Abanasinia where magic users, now called Sorcerers, could help each other in unlocking the secrets of this primordial magic of Krynn.
Though it took three years to complete construction, in less than a year, the shell of the academy was finished and students began arriving. The Academy’s campus sprawls three square miles, located on a natural plateau. While strolling along its grounds you can enjoy the view of the mighty Vallenwood forest nestled against the shores of the pristine Crystalmir Lake. Though the construction seems to have baffled Solace’s population due to the location, size and speed, it took incredible effort from all involved. They leaned heavily on sorcery to aid in the project, and with brick, sandstone and laterite, the foundation was raised. Local artisans shared their talents, decorating the pillars and walls with ornate reliefs which depicted the history of magic on Krynn. It is a shame that such a masterpiece would so quickly meet its end.
At the center of this sprawling complex is the Tower of the World. This massive structure is built of black, gray and white stone and rises hundreds of feet above the plateau. They took inspiration from pre Cataclysm ruins for its architecture. This mix between a tower and a dome houses apartments for students and administration facilities. Exiting the tower like spokes on a wheel, are a series of covered corridors that connect to the outer hall that surrounds the entire campus. These corridors create four quadrants which are named after some famous Wizards from Krynn’s History: Par-Salian, Magius, Justarius, and Raistlin, whose quadrant is a thick, lush forest. The hall that each corridor connects to, acts as the outer wall and spans the entire three miles. Along this hall are evenly spaced towers that rise to half the height of the Tower of the World, and are each devoted to one of the eleven known fields of sorcery: Aeromancy, Cryomancy, Divination, Electromancy, Enchantment, Geomancy, Hydromancy, Pyromancy, Spectromancy, Summoning and Transmutation.
The method of instruction slowly evolved, as this field of study was new to everyone on Krynn. So while it began as an instructor to student organization, it quickly changed to a peer to peer educational experience, with more educated students assisting less educated ones, and everyone was open to sharing ideas. The living arrangements evolved as well, with more than two hundred students living within the Tower of the World, most instructors would move to the lower levels, into more ostentatious apartments. Palin Majere, being a hero from the Chaos War and one of the discoverers of Sorcery, oversees every aspect of operation at the Academy, and his son Ulin, has earned a position of respect within this elite community. Life within the Academy is demanding, and from the moment the sun breaches the eastern horizon to the moment it vanishes in the west, every resident of the Academy is active with study, experimentation, and instruction.
Prospective students must appear before an Entrance Committee once per season, in the Tower of the World’s Great Hall. The committee is populated with sorcerers of every discipline, and a prospective student must showcase at least rudimentary knowledge in some aspect of sorcery. There is also a Governing Council of the Academy. It consists of 22 members in addition to Palin Majere who acts as the tie breaker when necessary.
While it may seem that the life of a sorcerer is contained in this three mile campus, the reality is far from that. The world at large is suffering under the might of the Dragon Overlords, and with the close proximity of the mighty Berylinthranox, Palin and other sorcerers continuously aid both refugees from and residents of Qualinesti, in addition to joining forces with Goldmoon’s Citadel of Light to actively oppose the oppression of the Overlords. Other members actively leave the Academy to search for magical items from the Fourth Age of Krynn, before the Chaos War, as Ulin, with the aid of the Shadow Sorcerer, has learned how to unlock the power within these items to enhance the Sorcerer’s own magic.
This incredible university of learning would only last for eight years, as Beryl the green dragon overlord was convinced that the Academy held magical artifacts that would assist her in opposing Malys or at the very least, positioning herself above all other Dragon Overlords. She ordered a group of Dark Knights to harass Solace while her draconian minions assaulted the Academy. They did not plan on Ulin Majere however. Knowing that the destruction of the Academy was imminent, Palin agreed to allow Ulin to use his knowledge of alchemy to attempt to resist the invasion. Ulin constructed potions and barrels filled with thunder powder which would bring the towers down on top of the Draconians. It was so effective that no one noticed that Palin Majere was abducted by Draconians and Dark Knights in the immediate aftermath but his son Ulin, and with the fear of his experiments being used by anyone else, he destroyed his notes on how to make the thunder powder.
Now the Academy sits in ruins. Former students will annually gather to share memories and experiments, but after the War of Souls and the return of the gods, most former students have joined the reinstated Orders of High Sorcery, with others forsaking magic altogether. The legacy of the Academy of Sorcery is one of enlightenment, camaraderie and discovery. Notions that were shared in the Citadel of Light, but wholly absent from this Age of Mortals everywhere else. It was a promise of a better future and was seen as hope in resisting the subjection of the Dragon Overlords. With its destruction fell that same hope and without the Heroes of the Heart and the eventual War of Souls, Krynn may have remained in darkness.
Outro
But that is all I have to say about the Academy of Sorcery. What do you think about Sorcery in the Fifth Age? Was the Academy around long enough to leave an impact? And finally, do you use sorcery in your War of the Lance era games? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
I have sinned enough against the world. Teaching magic to a kender would ensure my damnation.
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