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NotScaryBats
2012-12-31, 09:19 PM
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HISTORY
Dire Tortoise Academy is a school for truly gifted students of magic -- either arcane or divine. It is said that the headmaster and founder of the Academy, Ignaceious, discovered the ultimate form for everyday comfort and flawless protection in the dire tortoise. Since that fateful day, the master wizard has continued to search for magical perfection.

Believing in the importance of peer review and helpful dialogue, Ignaceious founded a hall of magic where learned scholars of all types of magic could safely interact for posterity. Though his peers have different ideas about his dire tortoise form, there have been many positive results from the sharing and pooling of knowledge. Eventually, Ignaceious's hall of magic became the Dire Tortoise Academy.

IN THE CAMPAIGN
The Dire Tortoise Academy can be as big or as small as meets a campaign's needs. It could be introduced at its inception, with Ignaceious looking for students to pass along his knowledge to, or it could be a sprawling Hogwarts-esque university with dozens of teachers and hundreds of students.

Throughout the thread, Dire Tortoise Academy is assumed to be run in a high magic world, been established for many years, and involve the cooperation of several high level spellcasters. Feel free to use as little or as much of the Academy as presented in your campaign.

Strictly apolitical and neutral in its dealings with nations, Dire Tortoise Academy cannot be bought. It exists as a place of learning and debate between the magically excellent, and has thus far carefully avoided taking sides in mundane matters like who will ascend the throne in which kingdom. Duels and violent disagreements are strictly prohibited within the halls of the Academy, and each instructor upholds and enforces this policy.

INSTRUCTORS
Ignaceious "The Dire Tortoise" is a lawful neutral wizard of considerable power and is the founder and headmaster of Dire Tortoise Academy. No one knows precisely how he 'discovered' the dire tortoise form he now possesses -- some say he was Baleful Polymorphed in a wizard duel, others that he researched it to win a bet against a master swordsman in order to prove magic's superiority over physical might, and others say that he is actually an Awakened dire tortoise. Whatever the case, Ignaceious isn't telling, and has never been seen in any form but his signature dire tortoise.

Pursuing magical excellence is Ignaceious's goal in life. His demeanor is inquisitive and he loves to learn new things. Ignaceious believes firmly in magic as a solution to life's problems, and has yet to be proven wrong. He is not humble, and does not tolerate ignorance. Ignaceious takes pains to preserve his school's delicate balance as a safe place for powerful minds to work.

Nu is a Spellweaver that was attracted to the Academy by its race's intrinsic curiosity. After being caught purloining magical items from the Academy's vaults, Nu has set up a small laboratory to perform its esoteric arcane research. Nu often works closely with Braya Ironmane in the creation of and experimentation with magic items.

Although Spellweavers are a mysterious race, Nu has joined the Academy and communicates with others (although its cryptic words are often mystifying at best). Nu's goals are as esoteric as its speech -- is it here simply to develop new arcane tools, or is it planning the heist of Dire Tortoise Academy's vaults?

Braya Ironmane is a neutral good dwarven artificer that has left her homeland to perfect her craft among similarly gifted individuals. Her enhancements of the grounds have aided in the school's neutrality by protecting it.

Braya is primarily interested in the preservation and protection of knowledge. As a dwarf, she has a strong sense of community and responsibility. Her goals are to permanently record her experiences for future generations, as well as teach them how to responsibly use such information.

STUDENTS
Excellence is not just expected but required of students. High standards start at application, and continue throughout a student's career at the Academy. Testing of applicants ensures only the creme de la creme are admitted.

DIRE TORTOISE ACADEMY ALTERNATE CLASS FEATURE
Prerequisites:

- 16 or higher intelligence
- at least one level in a spellcasting class that prepares its spells
- middle aged or lower
- Summon Familiar or Dark Knowledge Class Feature

By trading her ability to have a familiar or her close study of beings, an Initiate of Dire Tortoise Academy instead focuses on magical mastery. She gains the Arcane Thesis Feature.

Arcane Thesis / Divine Thesis
The character begins to produce a Thesis Book. This is an item, similar to a spellbook, that contains the character's personal reflections on magic. At each level where she gains access to a new level of spell, the character may choose one spell she can cast of that level as her Thesis Spell for that level. Any metamagic applied to a character's Thesis Spells has its cost reduced by 1, to a minimum of 0. The character must possess and be able to consult her Arcane Thesis when she prepares a Thesis Spell to gain this effect. She may recreate her Thesis Book if it is destroyed by spending 8 hours a level and 100 gp in materials rewriting it.