Academy of Kirít Nalam

Pryr Drāūn Academy

The Academy is an elite seminary for aspiring priests of Drāūn, located above the Town of Kirít Nalam. Acolytes of the Academy are selected from the rolls of other academies throughout Ildûn. Unlike other seminaries, admission into the Academy of Kirít Nalam indefinitely separates the aspirant from his or her home and family. Admission is a great privilege, but all that are sent go knowing that they may well never return from their obligations.

Students of the remote Academy receive an education in all manners of the Dekàli theology, as well as basic military, survival, and diplomatic training. Graduates from the Academy are sent around the world to continue the work of Drāūn in foreign lands. Travel is typically limited to regions within the Old Empire. A select number of graduates receive further training as Riverwalkers; that education is continued at temples throughout Ildûn and stations abroad.

The Academy itself is a fortress, believed to have built upon an even more ancient Ēōyn temple that predates the Dekàli occupation.

People

Faculty

  • Sarétas of Drāūn. The acting headmaster of the Academy is a tall, thin, older man that walks the stone hallways with two canes. He wears a long dark overcoat, heavy boots, and his thinned gray hair falls tousled over thick spectacles. Sarétas has been the Acting Academy Headmaster since 637 DR. Students joke that he made a deal with Drāūn so that he would not be delivered into the River. Sarétas is believed to be an accomplished Riverwalker though none of the current faculty remember seeing him cast more than simple ritual incantations. His pockets are filled with inscribed bones and fetishes should the moment require it. Curiously, Sarétas has been holding the Headmaster position in an acting capacity for almost 20 years. During presentations, he consistently notes that he is only the acting head of the school, until his predecessor Alàtyraç I returns.

Students

Each student of the Academy is granted a trident upon their graduation. The top graduate of every class is given a special trident that is forged by a Cult weapon-master in the City of Savris. These special tridents are made entirely of iron and can be dismantled to look like staves. These are usually given to someone about to embark on Riverwalker training, but are occasionally granted to a mundane priest that is to be sent far abroad.

Others

  • Ingun of Palæð. A researcher that has lived at the Academy for several years, taking advantage of one of the largest libraries in all of Ildûn. Ingun has contributed greatly to the library during his stay. The magician has financed several expeditions into the Western desert to retrieve caches of books that were scattered after the fall of Ildûn. He has established business contacts with a number of traders in Nyl, Ilûwyr, for this very reason. His goal is retrieve the Codex Yrygarmàndralyð, which was supposedly written in ancient the Dragul’s “hand”. The book is reported to hold mysteries first given to the Council of Ildûn, and was the prized possession of that body.

Rumors

Students of the Academy have long believed that access to the old temple is still possible through a series of tunnels that wind beneath the heavy stone walls. The story, passed down through generations of students, claim that a pagan altar still lies at the heart of the old hill. Animal sacrifices made upon the altar are said to “awaken and torment” the savage spirits. It is not uncommon for the Academy priests to uncover clandestine attempts by senior students, picking locked gates and attempting to lead goats (or other animals) into the hill’s labyrinthine interior. When discovered, such students are publicly disciplined. Despite this, there is belief among the students that reaching the altar is an unwritten test of the Academy, and that those that succeed are given special duties and assignments following ordination.