Arcanum Academy
Arcanum Academy stands on the moors against Lord Morvain's Shadowblades in a war fought through stone corridors and common rooms as much as across open ground. Witches and wizards duel with wands drawn in haste, portraits whisper from frame to frame, and the Whisperwood holds its breath. The Silver Order answers hex with hex, but every spell costs the hand that casts it. This is a boarding-school gothic — candles and winding staircases, duels that settle old family ledgers, and a war measured in detentions, funerals, and the quiet of an empty dormitory.
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The Silver Order
Archmagus Aldric Stormveil
KingMaster of Arcanum Academy
Quiet, watchful, and three turns ahead of the wand he can see
Wants: Keep the school standing and the Veil from tearing
Lyra Brightstar
QueenThe Star-Marked Apprentice
Stubborn, loyal, and uneasy with the prophecy stitched into her name
Wants: End the Shadow before the Shadow ends the school
Lionheart Tower
RookThe West Spire of Arcanum
Warm-walled and loud with hearth-song, its windows lit late
Wants: Shelter the brave and keep their oaths
Stargazer Tower
RookThe East Spire of Arcanum
Tall and luminous, humming with the breath of old books
Wants: Guard the school's secrets and its sky-charts
Professor Idris Veilkeeper
BishopMistress of Transmutation
Stern in classroom, fierce on the parapet, a hawk in cardigan
Wants: Hold the line her own teachers held before her
Professor Cassian Ashbrook
BishopMaster of Elixirs
Cold to the touch and hated by half the school, bound by an oath nobody guesses
Wants: Honour a vow spoken long ago in a room he can't enter again
Dorian Wildmane
KnightWarden of the Silver Order
Reckless, laughing, all teeth and loyalty, hates the Bone Court more than he fears it
Wants: Protect the children he counts as kin
Roan Greycoat
KnightThe Cursed Warden
Soft-spoken and tired, carrying a moon-curse he never asked for
Wants: Prove the cursed can still be counted on
The pawns
- Bramwell Tendrillton — Lionheart First-Year
- Finn Goldhare — The Loyal Companion
- Imogen Quillwright — The Brightest of the Houses
- Rosalind Goldhare — Lionheart Chaser
- Wren Hollowmere — The Stargazer Dreamer
- Tobias Quirkfoot — Mischief of the Hearth
- Tristan Quirkfoot — Mischief of the Hearth
- Pim — The Free Hearthsprite
The Shadowblades
Lord Morvain the Hollow
KingSovereign of the Shadow
Brilliant, sleepless, incapable of love, terrified of his own death
Wants: Conquer death and bend every wand-hand in the isles
Vespera Blackthorn
QueenLady of the Bone Court
Fanatically devoted, theatrical, dangerous when bored
Wants: Serve the Hollow Sovereign and break what he points at
Ironvault Prison
RookThe Tomb of the Living
Cold and soul-thinning, ringed by wraith-keepers
Wants: Break enemies of the Shadow into something quieter than dead
Hollowhall Manor
RookSeat of the Bone Court
Opulent, perfumed, every doorway watched by something that doesn't blink
Wants: House the Shadow's power behind a guest-list
Lord Cyrus Vellem
BishopAristocrat of the Veil
Polished, condescending, holds a title like a hex he can throw
Wants: Keep the old bloodlines on top of the wand-world ladder
Magister Quintus Veylan
BishopThe Infiltrator
Brilliant, broken, wears another face the way most wizards wear robes
Wants: Restore the Hollow Sovereign — any face, any cost
Skar Bloodtooth
KnightBeast-Knight of the Shadow
Hungry, gleeful, treats cruelty as a craft
Wants: Spread terror, gather feral recruits, feed the dark army
Pettric Ratbane
KnightThe Coward Knight
Trembling, treacherous, survives every room by selling whoever's in it
Wants: Cling to whichever boot is heaviest in the moment
The pawns
- Murdrec Ashen — Bone-Headsman of the Shadow
- Grumb — Sworn Brute
- Vol — Sworn Brute
- Caspian Vellem — The Reluctant Heir
- Lethra the Coiled — The Serpent Familiar
- Adelmar Vex — Tormentor of the Veil
- Adelina Vex — Tormentor of the Veil
- Yax Borogove — Mole at the Ministry
Recommended settings
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A school on the moors, friendship and sacrifice, and the long battle with the Veil
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