| The new Woldipedia with 5e content is available here |
DMs Only: Legacy of Heroes
Modules
Campaign Background
Maplehurst Academy is a special boarding school exclusively for the children of adventurers.
It began as an estate--a manor house with stables and other outbuildings--but new buildings have been added over the years. There’s a mishmash of architectural styles, reflecting not only different time periods, but different Woldian races as well. There’s at least one secret passage, which was discovered during the tapestry game.
There is a Lower School and an Upper School. The Lower School is for the younger kids, say 8-12. Their instruction is elementary-school-style, with one instructor teaching all subjects for the class for that year. The Upper School has different instructors for different subjects. Lower School and Upper School kids share dormitory, dining, and recreation facilities.
The original estate had: a manor house, a dower house, a carriage house, stables, a gatehouse, a chapel, an outdoor kitchen, and miscellaneous outbuildings and sheds. The (indoor) kitchen of the original manor house--already pretty large--has been expanded to cope with the challenges of feeding an entire school. The original formal dining room has also been expanded to serve as the school’s dining hall. There is a smaller dining room for faculty. The rest of the original manor house is classrooms and offices.
The original dower house has been converted to faculty housing. The gatehouse is now a residence for the Headmaster (or Headmistress) and family. The carriage house and stables are still there, and still serve their original purpose. The chapel also serves its original purpose, but it has been expanded to the point where the original structure is difficult to pick out. The outdoor kitchen was torn down.
New construction (since the school’s founding) includes two dormitories, one for girls and one for boys. Each year, a junior member of the faculty (of the appropriate sex) is assigned to live in one of the dorms and keep an eye on things. This is not a popular position.
Also built for the school are the library building and a classroom building, which houses most of the Lower School classes. Both buildings also contain faculty offices.
Each class that goes through the Academy has a Dean--a faculty member who is responsible for them, and is their main point of contact with the faculty. The PCs’ Dean is Cuarthin Lobrian, professor of Elven Language and Elvish Literature. Professor Lobrian is not a likable person; he is arrogantly convinced of the superiority of elves over all other races, and is in a more or less continual state of pique that nobody else seems to recognize this fact. He is fussy, set in his ways, and not overly fond of children (in that regard, the PCs may actually have a slightly better relationship with him now than they did when they were 12 and he first became their Dean).
Not all students at Maplehurst go on to become adventurers; some merely get a good education and go on to other things. For them, their Dean is the only faculty advisor they have. Students who intend to become adventurers, however, are assigned to faculty advisors who can assist them in their chosen specialty. These advisors are not intended to replace the Dean of the class; students with an advisor have both an advisor and a Dean.
Gurdebringkt Lumkornig, a gnome druid, is the school groundskeeper. He is also the faculty advisor for students wishing to become druids or rangers. He leads advanced-study seminars in tracking, herb lore, understanding animals, and similar topics. An essential part of qualifying for these courses is realizing who the instructor is, and approach the cheerful, low-key little figure they have seen working around the school nearly every day.
Similarly, the human woman named Poppy appears to be a maidservant in the main administration building. She is quiet, tidy, and self-effacing. She is also a rogue of considerable skill, but those who want her advanced training need to be able to spot her talents and approach her about it.
No such mystery surrounds Myrtle Bounderly. The very busy human woman is in charge of all arcane magical instruction at the school, and acts as advisor for students wishing to become wizards and alchemists. Professor Bounderly is a round, gray-haired bundle of energy who always seems to be doing ten things at once. Her scattershot approach draws a great deal of disapproval from her more organized colleagues, and she only ever seems to get anything done at the last possible moment.
Jamiston Decket, a halfling man, is the faculty advisor for students wishing to become summoners and witches. He is a decidedly odd fellow, given to muttering to himself as he paces the corridors, or randomly wearing some new charm or totem because it “feels right today.” He almost never asks or answers a direct question and his lectures tend toward the cryptic. Despite all this, his students graduate with a full and confident knowledge of their subject matter, so somehow his strange instruction seems to be working.
Gavin Silver, a half-elf man, teaches writing, composition, art, and music. He is the faculty advisor for students wishing to become bards and sorcerers. This is a cause of some friction among the faculty, as he has less seniority than the other faculty advisors--in fact, less than most senior instructors.
Ganz is a minotaur, whipcord-lean, one-horned, and scarred by countless battles. He teaches all manner of physical prowess: climbing and balancing, archery, stealth, weapons combat, hand-to-hand, and so on. His stern demeanor and fearsome appearance terrifies younger students (and not a few older ones as well). His bark is worse than his bite, but that is scant comfort because his bark is pretty fearsome. He is the faculty advisor for students wishing to become fighters and monks.
Brother Vessix, a surface-drow priest of Alemi, runs the school chapel and infirmary. He teaches religion and the healing arts, and is the faculty advisor for students wishing to become clerics and oracles.
Also at the chapel is Darra Brightseeker, elven paladin and champion of Domi. She is a formidable lady, working ostensibly under the supervision of Brother Vessix. In reality, the two are more of a team. Dame Brightseeker is intense, and can come off as intimidating, but she has a kindly streak and a true soft spot for children. She is the faculty advisor for students wishing to become cavaliers, paladins, and inquisitors.
Aside from the faculty advisors, instructors at the school include:
Lianneth Farvin (female elf)--Woldian history and geography
Krik Krakjaw (male goblin)--engineering and mechanics (i.e., disable device)
Winter Night (female centaur)--nature and astronomy
Lord Bydrian Henderly (male human)--etiquette, diplomacy, and royalty. Lord Bydrian is the only professor who commutes; his estate is nearby.
Jervis Goodnight is a Drow rogue who has been traveling throughout the dungeons of the Wold for many decades. He was hired by the headmaster when the school was first formed and has been a loyal instructor ever since. He is known for his kindness to his students and for making many “Field Trips” to the monster reserve to see active dungeons in use by the monsters there. He relies on (Goblin Monstrologer) to gain safe passage for the trips but a few have ended with a fight, nothing he, the chaperones and students cant handle though.
