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General Worship Taverns/Inns NPC's/Shops |
The heart of all arcane studies in Rakore -- and in all
the free world -- is Lok Magius: the Fortress of Magic. The Mages'
Academy (as it is more commonly known) serves as a library, laboratory, training
ground, and general purpose institution geared towards teaching magic in all its
forms. Access to Lok Magius is restricted, and only select people are
allowed to even make the long journey up Mount Rilan to visit the Mages'
Academy.
Founded in 1321 Avard by Mistress Brin of Vridara, the academy has grown from a collection of individual and unique towers, to a true fortress. In 1316, when Chief Ulrich Graniteshoulders declared himself King of all Rakore, he foresaw the need for an institution of higher learning, dedicated to mages. Funds were set aside, but a site was not found until 1320, when King Feldspar Graniteshoulders granted the Baron-and-the-Bishop Dwarfendale the lands surrounding Mount Rilan. Dwarfendale's own fortress would guard the road leading to the Mages' Academy, and the site for Lok Magius was carefully surveyed. A temporary set of towers, and an amphitheater, were crafted across from the pinnacle of rock that would become all of Lok Magius. The towers -- varied in construction method, as well as height and function -- served as the Mages' Academy, while construction of Lok Magius went on under the supervision of the Baron-and-the-Bishop. The facilities were completed in late 1328 Avard, and opened for use in early 1329 Avard. The 'temporary towers' that had once been all there was of Lok Magius continue to be used as laboratories and storage facilities, despite the protests of the permanent guard. The academy's defense is built around extremely stout and solid walls, and the myriad constructs that students build or help build. The academy itself is on the edge of a cliff, with a 300 foot drop surrounding it on three sides, and a stout bridge 50 feet long to get to it. The armory holds an arsenal of wands and scrolls available for use, and the permanent guard is always on standby for Inquisitors or even orc-laden rocs.
General Characteristics Population: 1, 500 (1,000+ mages of varying races, 50 cooks, 10 groundskeepers, 50 cleaning staff, 1 steward, 15 stable personnel, 1 head butler, 1 stable master, 15 smiths, 300 guards, 1 guard captain, 30 guard sergeants, 3 guard lieutenants, 12 clerics and healers). Mage Breakdown: 190 1st-level sorcerers, wizards, bards, and multiclassed characters, 170 2nd-level, 205 3rd-level, 140 4th-level, 90 5th-level (Lucian Naillo), 70 6th-level (P'Arkon), 50 7th-level, 30 8th-level, 20 9th-level (Misstress Brin), 15 10th-level, 10 11th-level, 5 12th-level, 5 13th-level, 2 14th-level, 2 15th-level, 1 16th-level (Delbin Arcanus). Spending Limitations: 250,000 silver maximum. Economy: The Mages' Academy is partially funded from the Rakoran treasury, from Gideon Enterprises, and from the personal funds of the Baron-and-the-Bishop Dwarfendale. The academy does generate some of its own cash flow, from adventuring mages, the contributions of its tenants, and from selling magical items to approved customers. Rulership: Lok Magius is run by Mistress Brin, the Head Mage. Mistress Brin is a half-elven wizard from Vridara that fought her way free of the Inquisition, and helped in the founding of Rakore, and the academy. Mistress Brin occasionally ventures out on special missions, but spends most of her time administering to the academy and its mages. She is a combat-proven wizard with considerable back-up and contacts at her disposal. Her familiar, a large Isboitan parrot named Oliver, is capable of casting spells with verbal components. Mistress Brin reports to the Baron-and-the-Bishop, as well as the King of Rakore. Alignment: The Mage Academy is an institution, dedicated to higher learning and the studies of magic. As such, it is a Lawful Neutral alignment. Defense: The positioning of Lok Magius on a pinnacle on the east side of the mountain makes it unassailable by any conventional army. A small stone bridge connects the mountain road to the fortress' pinnacle, with a pair of golems and a pair of sentries on the mountain's side of the bridge. The fortress itself is composed of three separate, walled enclosures, that slowly rise up to the top of the pinnacle some 80 feet higher than the bridge. Each of the three walls is sturdily built, with nearly 50 feet between each wall. The outer wall is 20 feet high and 10 feet thick. Between the outer and middle walls lies the gardens, orchards, and gathering grounds. The middle wall is 50 feet high and 20 feet thick; the middle wall has barracks inside the towers, with armories built into the towers. Between the middle and inner walls lie the barracks, kitchens, living quarters, and stables of the fortress. The inner wall is 100 feet tall and 50 feet thick; the inner wall is also honey-combed with corridors, apartments, and living quarters. Inside the inner walls lies the mass of towers and buildings that make up the academy, including an amphitheater, the wells, cisterns, armory, and more, adding up to about 4 acres of well-trimmed, grown-in area. The armory is protected by an iron golem and a half-a-dozen guards, and stores scrolls of burn to bare rock, wands of fireball, scrolls of animate undead legions, enchanted ammunition and weapons, and several artifacts. The gates in the walls are off-set, with murder holes where the road goes through the walls. The walls and towers have ballistae and light ballistae, as well as storage facilities for longbow arrows, ballistae bolts, and even crossbows with ammunition. Many of the projectiles are upgraded with alchemist's fire, in addition to the murder holes full of pots of alchemist's fire. The Mages' Academy has 300 dedicated guards, with 1/3 on duty, 1/3 on call, and 1/3 off at any given moment. Each shift of is broken down into 3 platoons, each headed by a sergeant. The 12 platoons are all headed by a leftenant and several aides. The Captain of the Guard is a battle-hardened veteran of the War of the Undead, and appreciates mages and magical tactics. 300 Lok Magius Guards, human Ftr3: CR 3; Size M; HD 3d10+6; hp 28; Init +0; Spd 20 ft.; AC 17 (+5 breast plate, +2 large shield); Attack +5 melee (longsword, 1d8+2, crit19-20x2 or ranseur, 2d4, crit20x3), or +3 ranged (mighty composite longbow +2, 1d8+2, crit20x3, RI110ft); SV Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +1; AL LN; Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10. Languages Spoken: Common. Skills and feats: Spot +2, Listen +2, Climb +8, Intimidate +6, Jump +8; Power Attack, Cleave, Alertness, Endurance, Weapon Focus (longsword). Possessions: masterwork breast plates, longswords, large shields, ranseurs, mighty composite longbows +2, longbow arrows. 30 Guard Sergeants, human Ftr4: CR 4; Size M; HD 4d10+8; hp 37; Init +0; Spd 20 ft.; AC 17 (+5 breast plate, +2 large shield); Attack +6 melee (longsword, 1d8+4, crit19-20x2 or ranseur, 2d4, crit20x3), or +4 ranged (mighty composite longbow +2, 1d8+2, crit20x3, RI110ft); SV Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +1; AL LN; Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10. Languages Spoken: Common. Skills and feats: Spot +3, Listen +2, Climb +8, Intimidate +7, Jump +8; Power Attack, Cleave, Alertness, Endurance, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword). Possessions: masterwork breast plates, longswords, large shields, ranseurs, mighty composite longbows +2, longbow arrows. 3 Guard Leftenants, human Ftr6: CR 6; Size M (5'10", 170lbs); HD 6d10+12; hp 49; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 21 (+9 full plate +1, +2 shield); Attack +10/+5 melee (longsword +2, 1d8+6, crit19-20x2), or +6/+1 ranged (mighty composite longbow +2, 1d8+2, crit20x3, RI165ft); SV Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +2; AL LN; Str 14, Dex 11, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 10. Languages Spoken: Common. Skills and feats: Climb +6, Handle Animal +9, Jump +3, Listen +4, Ride +8, Spot +4; Alertness, Far Shot, Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Endurance, Weapon Specialization (longsword), Weapon Focus (longsword). Possessions: full plate +1, longswords +2, large shields, ranseurs, composite longbows +2, longbow arrows. Captain
of the Guard Errol Helmbreaker, male slate human Ftr12: CR 12; Size M
(5'8", 190lbs); HD 12d10+36; hp 117; Init +4 (Improved Initiative); Spd
20ft, fly 90ft (perfect); AC 24 w/ damage reduction +5/magic (+10 invulnerable
dwarven plate +2, ring of protection +2, amulet of natural armor
+2); Attack +23/+18/+12 (keen greatsword +2, 2d6+10, crit15-20x2), or
+12/+7/+2 ranged (mighty composite longbow of distance +5, 1d8+5,
crit20x3, RI220ft); SV Fort +11, Ref +4, Will +5; AL NG; Str 21, Dex 10, Con 16,
Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 10. Languages Spoken: Common, Dwarven.
Skills and feats: Climb +9, Handle Animal +8, Intimidate +15, Swim +9, Jump
+9, Ride +9, Craft (Trapmaking) +4; Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Diehard, Endurance, Great Cleave, Greater Weapon Focus
(Greatsword), Greater Weapon Specialization (Greatsword), Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical
(Greatsword), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Greatsword), Weapon Specialization
(Greatsword). Possessions: custom invulnerable dwarven plate +2
(23,500gp), custom keen greatsword +2 (10,000gp), custom ring of
protection +2 (8,000gp), custom amulet of natural armor +2 (8,000gp),
custom winged boots (12,000gp), custom gauntlets of ogre strength
(4,000gp), custom mighty composite longbow +5 of distance (2,600gp). An eclectic collection of golems guards the academy, as well, from golem swarms to stone golems, shield golems to iron golems. The most common are the shield guardians, of which there are probably close to seventy.
Shield Guardian: medium-sized construct (6ft, 850lbs); HD 6d12; hp 71; Init +0; Spd 20ft; AC 34 (+22 natural, +2 shield); Attack +14 melee (fist, 1d6+10, crit20x2) or +14 melee (shield bash, 1d6+10, crit20x2); SA Construct special traits, Darkvision 60ft, 360-degree vision; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +1; AL TN; Str 30, Dex 10, Con NA, Int 2, Wis 8, Cha 2. Skills and Feats: Improved Shield Bash, Improved Unarmed Strike. A myriad of spells protects the academy, as well, from glyphs of warding to explosive runes. The mages and clerics of Lok Magius routinely refresh the spells. The inner facilities are protected from teleportation and dimension door, save for a special teleportation circle linked to the Silver Gauntlet in Rilan.
Worship Lilliana Ravenwind,
female sylvan elf, Clr12: CR 12; Size M (5'0", 85lbs); HD 12d8; hp
59; Init +3 (+3 Dex); Spd 40ft; AC 17 (+4 mithral shirt, +3 Dex); Attack +9/+4
melee, or +12/+7 ranged; SV Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +12; AL CG; Str 10, Dex 16,
Con 10, Int 12, Wis 19, Cha 14. Languages Spoken: Elven,
Common. Skills and feats: Heal +12, Knowledge (religion) +11,
Spellcraft +5, Concentration +14, Knowledge (arcana) +4, Craft (painting) +5,
Knowledge (history) +3; Athletic, Craft Wand, Extra Turning, Improved
Counterspell, Scribe scroll. Domains: Magic, Knowledge.
Spells: 6/6+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/3+1/2+1. Possessions: boots of
striding and springing, mithral shirt, ring of feather falling, minor
ring of spell storing.
Taverns and Inns Camariel Tone, female slate human Com2: CR 1; Size M (5 ft., 5 in. tall); HD 2d4; hp 5; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 10; Attack +1 melee, or +1 ranged; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; AL CG; Str 11, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 10. Languages Spoken: Common. Skills and feats: Craft (Brewing) +3, Craft (Winemaking) +3, Listen +7, Profession (barkeep) +4, Spot +2; Alertness, Endurance. Possessions: ring of antimagic (SR 41).
NPCs & Shoppes Thedlar Doomar, male slate human Brb3/Sor6: CR
9; Size M (6'6", 302lbs); HD 3d12 + 6d4 + 36; hp 76; Init +1 (Dex); Spd
40ft; AC 14 (+3 armor, +1 Dex); Attack +11/+6 melee (grapple), or +7/+2 ranged;
SV Fort +9, Ref +4, Will +7; Str 20, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 15.
Languages Spoken: Common. Skills and feats: Bluff +6, Concentration +13, Craft (leatherworking) +5, Intimidate +14, Listen +11, Spellcraft +5, Suvival +6; Alertness, Combat Casting, Craft Wonderous Item, Improved Unarmed Strike, Quicken Spell.
Possessions: amulet of health +4, belt of giant strength +4, boots of the
winterlands, bracers of armor +3, ring of regeneration. The Hoard has all items listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide, up to 250,000sp (25,000gp) in price. Items that cost more, or custom-made items, are available only for those characters that have accomplished some task for Lok Magius, Rakore, Gideon Enterprises, the Baron-and-the-Bishop, or for similar actions for which the players have received special dispensation.
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