What school(s) of magic would be the best place for an Academy Master to have attended? Conversely, if you were going to use the White Lotus Academy as presented in Dragon 374, where would you put it?
There are a great many places WLA could be placed in FR, it would help to narrow it down with some information from you.
The White Lotus Academy feels southern. I don't know why. So I'd keep it out of the North. Seems to be in a reasonably civilised area. Somewhere in the heartlands? South of Cormyr? Dalelands? Baldur's Gate? I'd lean in the direction of Baldur's Gate myself, or the eastern Dalelands.
Since the chaos of magic running wild likely has made magic schools run by the Arcane Brotherhood, clerics of Mystra, philosophers of Magic and other arcane guildlike organisations potentially hazardous sites the earlier research of magic took a hit. In the first few decades after the Spellplague one did see a comeback of magic schools. Among the ruling figures the need to control the newfound type of magic was greater than the fear which it had instilled in the general people. Rulers who had forseen the rise in arcane research would likely be mostly situated in the areas with less extensive damage. Some places with extensive lore on past magic would have an advantage if those documents where still around. So I would think places such as Luruar, Waterdeep, Silverymoon and Thay will have a larger amount of academies then elsewhere.
White Lotus academy sounds like it has some oriental flavour, which would work well if the academies would be located near magically adept immigrants from Kara-Tur like the Shou, or wu-jen from Wa. There is this newly established region in the Dragoncoast near Westgate that has a large amount of eatern people. This state could house the largest academy of the White Lotus.
- Thay
- Durpar
- Semphar
- Khazari
- Ra-Khati
- Shou Lung
- T'u Lung
- An isolated citadel in the Hordelands
There aren't really mage schools in the Realms that I remember - though I'm missing most of the 3e period.
-Both Thay and Sshamath were governed by magocracies that were split into divisions based on schools of magic. Thay has changed since, but Sshamath has not.
- Thay
- Durpar
- Semphar
- Khazari
- Ra-Khati
- Shou Lung
- T'u Lung
- An isolated citadel in the Hordelands
There aren't really mage schools in the Realms that I remember - though I'm missing most of the 3e period.
-Both Thay and Sshamath were governed by magocracies that were split into divisions based on schools of magic. Thay has changed since, but Sshamath has not.
Really, the White Lotus Academy would be at home in any major city that promotes the use of magic.
Some cities, such as Mulmaster, seem too wicked and selfish to promote an academy of wizards gathering in the spirit of collaboration and learning. It would definitely NOT fit in anywhere in Amn. Thay is out, too, of course. Cormyr has the War Wizards, which I imagine have a monopoly on training programs for arcane casters in the Forest Kingdom. Oh, and lands controlled by the Empoire of Netheril would probably not allow such a place to exist.
I hope that's helpful!
But then the whims of my players led them to needing a library while they were near Baldur's Gate, so tra la, the bard is a graduate and it's now in the Cloakwood.
So, yeah, I vote "put it where you need it."
There aren't really mage schools in the Realms that I remember - though I'm missing most of the 3e period.
The White Lotus Academy feels southern. I don't know why. So I'd keep it out of the North. Seems to be in a reasonably civilised area. Somewhere in the heartlands? South of Cormyr? Dalelands? Baldur's Gate? I'd lean in the direction of Baldur's Gate myself, or the eastern Dalelands.
This is 4e, right?
Eastern (Shou) peoples have been migrating west since the Horde war, and Thesk is filled with Shou expatriates (as are a few other places in 4e... but I won't get into that...)
Set it down in Thesk - proabably Teflamm - and then keep the oriental flavor of the place. If you say it was established immediately following the Spellplague (because certain eastern mages didn't use the Weave, so they had a head-start on everyone else), then by the year 1479 their should be a good mix of eastern and western students, and even quite a few western (Faerûnian) teachers as well.
Because of the timeframe, you needn't lose the eastern flavor to place it in the west.
Also taking the year into account, it is also reasonable to place it even further west, in Tantras, or Raven's Bluff (Koja of Kazari was in that area for awhile). Then again, lie I said, you can keep the flavor and place it anywhere, what with Shou Tongs in Luskan.
Waterdeep, of course, is at the bottom of the sea.
I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the
sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eater,
who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower.
And so on.
Not that that has anything to do with the White Lotus Academy either, beyond some nice synchronicity with the Headmaster's mental state in the adventure.
From what I've read, they aren't thought to be closely related to water lilies.
*EDIT: I should clarify something--I've read that the American lotus has a range down into Central America as well.
"White Lotus". Several of the people commenting haven't even troubled themselves to read the article they're talking about.
No... I haven't troubled myself to pay for a service that is for an edition I don't use.
I was going by someone else's comment. The name does sound Oriental, though, and if it isn't, then someone has problems coming up with Faerûnian sounding names, is all.
Waterdeep, of course, is at the bottom of the sea.
When did THAT happen?
Boy... this just gets worse and worse...
So, if we located the Lotus Academy near Rose Keep, would we have a 'Garden of Evil'? :D
Nice idea.;)
I was going by someone else's comment. The name does sound Oriental, though, and if it isn't, then someone has problems coming up with Faerûnian sounding names, is all.
To be fair, though, I think this article is supposed to be a "generic" core article about a locale that can literally be placed anywhere, in any setting.
But yes, definitely, the article in question was designed to be generic, as the original poster made clear, I believe--that being the whole point of this thread.
So, if we located the Lotus Academy near Rose Keep, would we have a 'Garden of Evil'? :D
-Rose Keep, which is located in Thay, which would keep the area in Eastern Faerûn/The Hordelands.
-Rose Keep, which is located in Thay, which would keep the area in Eastern Faerûn/The Hordelands.
"For purposes of official game and novel continuity, Rose Keep is sited in the city of Veltalar in Aglarond." --Cordell, Bruce R. "Rose Keep: A Red Wizard Enclave." Dragon 366, August 2008. p. 43.
But still in eastern Faerûn, sure.
And the White Lotus Academy is still setting neutral--and not "oriental" flavored in its text as near as I can make out--until individual DMs choose otherwise.
-Right, right...Red Wizards aren't necessarily Thayvian anymore...Aglarond is still in Eastern Faerûn, near the aforementioned Eastern Faerûn/Hordelands suggestions.
Sure. And, of course, their enclaves (maybe technically that should be "exclaves?") were never in Thay to begin with, which is kind of the point. Is there any list or map showing the various 14th century enclaves from second and third edition lore, I wonder?
-Individual enclaves are mentioned in the descriptions of their host cities/towns. The list isn't very large, being a recent 3e plot that never saw much development, and the fact that the terms that the Red Wizards demanded of their host cities would make allowing such an enclave a bad idea, prompting rulers to tell them to go shove it.
Hmm. I could have sworn I'd read about some Red Wizard enclaves in second edition lore. Okeydoke.
Hmm. Well, I thought "water lily" was a catch-all for Nelumbos and Nymphs alike, but I'm a dabbler when it comes to gardening, and will bow to your expertise.
Sounds like you know more than most people. Although, I'm still mostly a beginner myself.
"Water Lily" is catch-all term, but I tend to be precise about those things (just ask LK!).
Some cities, such as Mulmaster, seem too wicked and selfish to promote an academy of wizards gathering in the spirit of collaboration and learning.
How about in place of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose? In 4th Edition that is far enough east to make it kind of oriental. It is also near Mulmaster so it can be a great place to have adventurers head into the city for some bad guy beating up or intrigue.
Not bad at all.
How about in place of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose? In 4th Edition that is far enough east to make it kind of oriental.
That monastery is Damara (or close to it), which is a Realm that is "oriental" only in the sense that it is on the eastern side of the continent. It is not "oriental" at all in terms of what we think of when we imagine an oriental culture.
And of course, as mentioned before, this academy wasn't described as being particularly oriental, although you could make it that way.
For the White Academy, I was thinking someplace convenient to travel and yet off the beaten path, and still midway between Waterdeep and CandleKeep - the Isles of Orlumbor are perfect.