 The greatest minds in the multiverse meet at Strixhaven University. Professors convey fantastic secrets to eager students and life on campus is frenetic, but danger lurks even here. Campus hijinks mix with mishaps and sinister plots, and it's up to you to save the day. Strixhaven, a curriculum of chaos, introduces the fantastical setting of Strixhaven University, drawn from the multiverse of Magic the Gathering. Each adventure describes an academic year filled with scholarly pursuits, campus shenanigans, exciting friendships, hidden dangers, and perhaps even romance. Join me as we explore the adventure held within Strixhaven, a curriculum of chaos. Chapter 1 and 2, Strixhaven and the Colleges A magical world boasts many places where students can study magic in many sages who take eager learners under their wings, but being accepted to Strixhaven University is a special honor, the dream of many young students. Strixhaven is a place of enlightenment, and both its graduates and delegates are typically welcomed and respected wherever they go. Founded seven centuries ago by five ancient dragons, Strixhaven is the premier institution of magical learning, drawing promising young mages from all over. It is located on a world called Archavios, which according to legend formed from the merging of two other worlds. At the center of the university is the Biblioplex, the university's main library. A star art called the Donvo curves across the sky above the library, marking its location as the center of mystic learning. Five lines of beacon towers radiate from the Biblioplex like enormous spokes. These torches of enlightenment stretch out to the five college campuses and beyond. The five colleges are Lorehold, Prismari, Quadrix, Silverquill, and Witherbloom. Each specializes in its own unique study. Lorehold The Lorehold campus is situated northwest of the central campus in a region of stark vertical relief. Rugged messes and steep hills rise from a wide plain and a great chasm holds the excavated ruins of an ancient settlement. Several star arches encircle rocky peaks and outcroppings testifying to the powerful magical energy in the vicinity, energy once harnessed by the ancients who used to inhabit the area. Lorehold is the College of Archaeomancy, a term that describes the exploration of ancient things through magic. Its mages explore the past by pouring over archeological sites, calling forth magical energy from old tomes and summoning spirits from long dead historical figures. Lorehold mages travel far and wide across the world, gathering rullets of bygone ages and learning dead languages to unpack the secrets of history. Lorehold's two deans carry the titles Dean of Order and Dean of Chaos, as Order versus Chaos encapsulates the fundamental conflict at the heart of Lorehold's philosophy. This conflict revolves around the forces that underlie and drive history. The perspective of order emphasizes the structures that pull people together, law, religion, economics, education, social class, and so on, and how those structures drive historical events. The perspective of chaos, by contrast, emphasizes individual actions, personal bonds of families and friends, and the disruptive force of lone, passionate people in history. Regardless of the perspective, students of Lorehold are deeply passionate in the broad field of history. Prismari The Prismari College is located southwest of the central campus, situated in a region of jagged rocks, rugged spires, and intense geothermal activity. Prismari, the College of Elemental Arts, is devoted to the study and practice of arts intertwined with magic. The mage students of Prismari wield magic and spectacles of creativity. They use elemental magic to express who they are and how they see the world, often combining different types of energy, fire, water, earth, lightning, heat, and cold, and powerful expressions of conflict and harmony. Its scholars view art as the fundamental form of self-expression and magic as a tool, a medium, and an inspiration. Prismari's two deans carried the title Dean of Perfection and Dean of Expression, and they often express the fundamental conflict of their philosophy as perfection versus expression, or sometimes as intellect versus emotion. The perspective of perfection focuses on technique, analysis, theory, aesthetics, and universal principles. The perspective of expression, instead, emphasizes the portrayal of personal emotional truths. Either way, students of Prismari are artists through and through. Quadrix The Quadrix campus is situated in a coastal area to the northeast of the central campus, surrounded by lush woodland and abundant rivers and streams. Quadrix is the College of Numeromancy, a term that encompasses the study of patterns, fractals, and cemeteries to wield power over their fundamental mathematics of nature. Quadrix mages can summon creatures made of fractals or turn abstract theories into towering spiral patterns. They love to expand and multiply. They can increase their knowledge or size by bending numbers. They dwell in the overlap between the theoretical and the natural, from the fabric of their robes to the nature of their spells. They make use of repeated elements, clever cemeteries, and surprising geometry to express the complex truths they study. Quadrix two deans carry the titles Dean of Substance and Dean of Theory, reflecting the philosophical division within the college. Their perspective of substance emphasizes physical reality. The perspective of theory focuses on the abstract realms of conjecture and possibility. While each perspective is different, the students of Quadrix all concentrate on the mathematical principles and patterns found in the natural world. Silverquill The Silverquill campus is located due north of the central Strixhaven campus and looks much like an extension of it. Silverquill is the most urban of the five colleges, with a campus that features buildings of stately elegance. Silverquill is the College of Elegance and its mages, stylish, intimidating, and driven are masters of the magic of words. They create spells from spoken word battle poetry or magical manifestation of the written word, scribing patterns of runic ink in the air. These mages make for natural leaders, fiercely competitive with a piercing wit and a never second place attitude. The two deans of Silverquill are called the Dean of Radiance and the Dean of Shadow, highlighting the college's use of metaphors in describing its philosophical differences. The metaphor of Radiance and Shadow takes concrete form in Silverquill magic as students learn to manifest brilliant light or inky darkness with their spells. The fundamental argument among Silverquill scholars centers on the purpose of communication. The college's perspective of Radiance envisions language as sunlight emanating from the speakers or writer to illuminate others and make the world a brighter place. The college's perspective of Shadow focuses on the power of language to stab and to expose stinging truths. In the end, Silverquill students focus on language, literature, and the power of words both magical and otherwise. Witherbloom Witherbloom's campus is tucked away in a wide bayou to the southwest of Strixhaven central campus. At Witherbloom, the College of Essence studies mages draw power from the opposing forces of life and death. These mages brew their spells from natural components in the essence of living creatures, using that power to heal or harm the living or to raise the dead. They can cause entire forests to blossom out of nowhere or call down old curses that scourge flesh from bone. The two deans of Witherbloom are traditionally called the Dean of the Root and the Dean of the Vein. These titles are a somewhat abstract way of framing the core division in the college's philosophy. Is growth or decay the driving force in nature? The philosophy of the root focuses on life and its irrepressible drive to thrive. The philosophy of the vein focuses on the eventuality of death and decay. Regardless of their own personal philosophy, students of Witherbloom focus on the life sciences including biology and necromancy. Chapter 3 School is in session. The day has finally arrived. You have moved to campus, picked up your tomes in uniform, and are about to embark on your academic career at Strixhaven University. Your first order of business is to attend orientation for the new students located at the Biblioplex. As you reach the Grand Library, you see majestic marble arcways, tomes seemingly stacked for miles, and the infectious energy of hundreds of young adults filled the Biblioplex. The sights and sounds and sparks of magic in the air are wondrous. You step into the Hall of Oracles to begin orientation. Brilliant scholars, says a rich soothing voice radiating from the Hall's central snarl of glowing energy. Your attention please. As you are now Strixhaven University students, this storied Biblioplex will be your second home for research, studies, and even lectures. There is just one task to accomplish before you officially embark on your academic journey, a scavenger hunt. A small parchment materializes in front of you. It presents a list of clues. The rules are simple, the voice says. Each clue on this list will lead you to a different location in the Biblioplex. Only travel to the area, each clue references, and perform the action the clue suggests. You have only until the end of the day to finish your hunt. Now then, off you go. You begin the scavenger hunt, traveling to the many rooms within the Biblioplex. After completing as many as you can, you return to the Hall of Oracles only to hear a panic shouting. The sound emanates from nearby shelves on the main floor. That trunk, a young elf screams, pointing towards the stacks as she runs by. That trunk has teeth, please anyone stop it. Chaos erupts in the library as students stream in all directions, their books and papers flying as they shout and fear. The only faculty mages in sight are trying to deal with panic students. You can't just let some monster ruin the first day of classes. You rush off into the fray and, with the aid of others, defeat the creature. Soon, a bird-like figure appears and you recognize her as Professor Mavinda Sharkby, the school's guidance counselor. It's well done, Professor Sharkby exclaims, ruffling her feathers with pride. Such bravery in this incoming class. What a bizarre occurrence. I can't remember any of those old costume trunks ever bearing a hint of magic, let alone that manner of transmutation. I will be having a word with the equipment managers over at the rose stage. They're supposed to keep the sort of thing from happening. She reassures you that this was an unfortunate incident but not one to worry about. You examine the trunk and notice that the wood and leather have been rubbed with the black oily substance, a suspicious observation. With the conclusion of an exciting day of orientation, you begin your classes and acclimate yourself to the students of Strixhaven. During the weeks that follow your orientation day and the start of classes, you're hanging out with some students on the central campus. Murmurs of excited curiosity ripples through the clusters of students around you and another student suddenly barrels towards you, laughing merrily. You've got to see this, the student exclaims. He found these weird frogs and snuck them into Fire Jolt Cafe and now we're going to race the little hoppers. Quick, come see before the professors find out. You decide to tag along with the student to Fire Jolt Cafe out of curiosity. Fire Jolt Cafe is the most popular place at Strixhaven to grab tea or coffee, chat with friends or study among the hustle and bustle of a typical business day on campus. The cafe's interior is clean and well-lit and its walls are decorated with fun cartoonish scenes animated by permanent illusion magic. You follow the student into the fireside lounge. The air buzzes with excitement and the smell of coffee as you make your way towards the back of Fire Jolt Cafe and duck into the lounge to witness the scene. Hidden from the view of the barista station, the lounge's central table has been pushed towards the wall and its chairs tossed out of the way. In the middle of the room, hop four unusual frogs. Each is glowing in vibrant colors, red, blue, violet and orange. Has been outfitted with a tiny costume. No one has news chalk to mark lanes on the floor and multiple students are trying to corral the frogs into a starting location. You watch as the frogs leap into the race, magically leaping towards the finish line. After the race ends, the four frogs start belching strangely and their eyes turn red. As the other students and you look on, the frog suddenly grows into four giant frogs shredding their makeshift costumes and fiercely lashing out at the crowd. The other students scatter and is up to you to subdue the giant frogs. Eventually, you return the frogs back to normal. Once the frogs are no longer a threat, they belch out the black oily substance you found on the orientation day. This time, you notice a sweet scent from it, likely to entice the frogs into eating it. Quite strange. Days pass after the event and you find yourself in your first exam. That of magical physiologies. It is hosted by Professor Veralda Lang, a respected arcane biologist. A short while after your first exam, you find yourself relaxing at the central campus. As students mill around the central campus, whoops of excitement filled the air. It's 6pm and Bose and Tavern is now open. On the tavern's patio, three student mages with brightly colored hair begin to sing a jaunty tune and pluck at dulcimers as the crowd heads in that direction. A student next to you shouts, I heard they finally got some wizard gizzard machines in there. You have to come play with us. You decide to tag along and join them for their leisure. Bose and Tavern is Strixhaven's most popular late night hangout. The tavern is a squat, a comfortable looking building. It's gleaming wooden exterior carved in overlapping Strixhaven star motifs. The interior is dim and cozy, if loud, featuring rich mahogany floors and well-worn furniture of oak and black leather. Live musical acts often set up on the tavern's patio, including performing groups made of students, faculty, and staff alike. You follow the student into the main dining room of Bose and Tavern. Along one side of the tavern's main dining room area, an area has been cleared with the exception of a few buckets. It seems to be set up for a game. You watch as the game unfold, observing students lob a sphere into the bucket on the floor. This is the game of wizard gizzard. As the game of wizard gizzard ends and a winner is declared, panic shouting erupts from the tavern's kitchen. Chef Curdie, her braided hair flapping wildly emerges at a run, shouting and waving her arms. The steam, it's too spicy, she cries. It's trying to kill us, someone, please help. The tavern is so busy that most of its patrons don't immediately notice Curdie's panic. You rush off into the kitchen to find four steam methods flying around some cauldrons. With the aid of some nearby students, you defeat the steam methods. Once the methods have been spatched, you find the same oily black substance on the cauldron. This is certainly getting out of hand. A few days pass after the incident and you take your second exam in magical physiologies. You complete the exam and go about your day. A short while later, a random student rushes up to you, stuffs a handwritten note into your hands, wings and dashes away. The note reads, big heroes on campus. You're the talk of the school, what with your monster dispatching ways. But can you recover the legendary sassy Sally Jane? Many have tried. All have failed. Meet us outside, Captain Dapplewing's manner at midnight tonight to see if you got what it takes. You prepare yourself for the event and make your way to Captain Dapplewing's manner at midnight. As the bright light of the central campus fades into the verdant grounds of the manner, you see a small group of your peers congregated underneath a massive oak tree in the manor's front yard. One student turns to another and says in a stage whisper, I told you they'd arrive. Now pay up, you goof. Turning to you, the student points to the manner and says, this is it. Sassy Sally Jane is up there in the attic. For years, people have tried to liberate her. For years, they've failed. But we think this year is different. This year, you're on campus. You're looking for a pink-haired doll wearing a patchwork tartan dress. Now, go in there and become a campus legend. If you can bring her back, we'll all pay for your lunch for a week. No, for a month. You figure that it's a pretty sweet deal and sneak your way into the manner. Once inside, you explore the house and make it to the attic, where you find the doll the student spoke of, known as Sassy Sally Jane. You sneak your way out of the manner and back to the congregation of students who all cheer quietly. The students are true to their word and pay for your lunch in the following month. A short while later, you take your third and final exam. Soon afterwards, you become aware of the buzz on campus regarding the Rose Stage Festival. Yodeling, mocking chants, dramatic intonations, baritone singing, and other enthusiastic sounds reach your ears as rowdy, laughing groups of students come into view. A student sees you and shouts a greeting. Beckoning you to come closer, the student says, we're on our way to the Rose Stage over Silver Quills campus. The Rose Stage Festival is finally here. Everyone's already practicing their performance. The festival is all about improv. The drama guild gives out prompts and anyone who wants to take the stage can deliver these lines, however they please. It's hilarious. You've got to check it out. You tag along with the students and make your way to the Rose Stage. In a popular outdoor performing stage, the Rose Stage holds benches for spectators, an orchestra pit, and a large main stage decorated with a huge rose. Cheers, jeers, and the buzzing of kazooos ring out as you draw near the Rose Stage. On the main stage, several students play act histrionically. Whether you decide to partake or just watch, the performances all end in cheers and laughter. Suddenly, confused gaffas followed by screams of terror ring out. One of the stage props barrels away from a tanler, monstrous shrieks coming from its frothing beak. What used to be a comically opposed albear painted on wood is transforming into a real and enraged albear. You fend off the albear, barely scraping by and defeating the creature. Once the threat descended, you examine the albear and find more of the same oily substance you found earlier. Professor Totski arrives while you examine the substance. Professor Joheen Totski is the Silverquilt Professor of Shadow and loves a good performance. She initially shrugs the oily substance off as irrelevant given that its magic has already faded. You explain everything you've seen to reveal the unseen connection between the multiple incidents throughout the year. Professor Totski realizes what's going on. She begins to explain of a substance known as Eldridge Balm. Used as trick-saving for decades, Eldridge Balm is an alchemical salve made from the sludgy, acidic waters of Sledgemore, the bayou that encompasses the Witherbloom College Campus. Once these waters undergo an alchemical process in Witherbloom's faculty laboratories, the resulting Eldridge Balm is used to magically treat and strengthen objects from storage trunks to cooking vats to stage props and more. Professor Totski says she believes it's likely that the Sledgemore waters used to brew the latest batch of Eldridge Balm were corrupted in some way. She doesn't necessarily suspect foul play but mentions that in the past, students have been caught practicing forbidden magic in the more remote parts of Sledgemore. Such sinister magic might be responsible for the Balm's corruption, but a random surge of wild magic is an equal likely explanation in her mind. In any case, this corruption must have caused objects treated with the Eldridge Balm and creatures that encountered it to take in temporary and dangerous magical properties. Professor Totski gives you a flask of holy water and explains that pouring it into the underwater spring whose waters are used to create Eldridge Balm will settle the waters and prevent further corruption. She urges you to take on this task so that you can immediately track down the rest of the contaminated Balm and remove it from the objects on campus. You agree to do so in the following day, you rush towards Sledgemore and the Witherbloom College campus. Your expedition has brought you to one of the more dismal parts of Sledgemore, the bayou that encompasses the Witherbloom campus. Muddy swamp water flows between raised eyelids covered with fungi and foliage, large tree stumps jut out of the water in random places. A pair of rickety wooden dogs and two wooden huts are the only indication that people ever come here. Here, you discover an underwater spring that has been corrupted. You pour the holy water into the spring, thus clearing it of its ailments. Additionally, you spot a small oil skin wrapped journal sitting atop a small stump. Water damage has rendered much of the journal unreadable but what remains reveals sinister thoughts. Some individual has been experimenting with life-draining magic in the marsh and has been doing so for some time. The journal notes that the individual's last step in the scheme involved the Rose Stage Festival so it's clear they have no more immediate plans to threaten the campus. After you complete your investigation of Sledgemore Spring, no more significant events happen for the end of the year. Thanks to the central role you played in dealing with the outbreaks, you have become well-known across the entire campus. Professors, thank you for your bravery and you are named student of the year in a lavish ceremony on the central campus. Thus ends your first year at Strixhaven. Chapter Four, Hunt for Mage Tower. The academic year has barely dawned when you wrap up a day of your new courses. Your peers' shouts of camaraderie punctuate the air as you finish your first second-year classes for the day. Suddenly, a student runs up to you, shouting and waving a flyer. It's happening, the Mage Tower game. The professor invited the student body to feel two Mage Tower teams for a game at the end of the year. It's the Battle of Strixhaven and the winners and the supporters get bragging rights for life. We all think you'd win for sure. If you're in, you can register your team with Professor Sharpbeak. Come on, we'll talk you into it over Curtis Caster stew. You tag along with the student to Bose and Tavern, have some stew, decide to form a team with a few of the students. The game revolves around mascots from each team that are stolen by opposing teams to gain points. At the end of an hour-long game, the team with the most points wins. Once you decide to form one of the two Mage Tower teams for the Battle of Strixhaven, you rush off to find Professor Sharpbeak and register your team. When you find her, you tell her of entering the Mage Tower game. The counselor's eyes have briefly dart about with trepidation. She asked you to walk with her outside the biblioplex to discuss an important matter. It's unfortunate you found me now. This Mage Tower game is my event to organize, but everything is already going wrong. You see, I need to tag the college mascots on campus, those little magical creatures that roam the grounds. We can use them as mascots for our Mage Tower games. If the deans find out that some of the mascots aren't catalogued, my reputation will be ruined. Before classes began, I corralled the mascots on an island in Sedgemore, but before I finished cataloging them, a half dozen escaped and vanished. The professor rifles through her bag and pulls out a cheesecloth sack filled with small woven bands, each embroidered with a number. She continues, each of them must be tagged with these bands. I can't do it myself. With the start of classes, I'm buried under work. I've seen how you handle yourself and I'm impressed with your skills. Could you head to Wilt Root Hall on Weatherbloom's campus and discreetly slip these bands onto every mascot you find? I'd be grateful. What's more, I'd owe you a favor. What do you say? You agree to her a task and go about to the Wilt Root Hall, tagging various creatures. While most creatures are tame, some are strangely hostile towards you. You subdue them and tag them all the same, finding little pieces of chitin that seems to have caused them to turn hostile. Once finished, you head to the Biblioplex to report back to Professor Sharpie. You tell her of the strangely hostile creatures and she is shocked. She promises to have faculty members secure the area promptly. Professor Sharpie then smiles. You've saved me a lot of effort, she says. Now I don't need to track them all down. She thanks you for your assistance and you carry on with your year, consisting of your new classes. One evening, a short while into the academic year, a student rushes towards you. The student says through the laughter, you've got to see what's going on at the road stage. Someone's cooked up a batch of mascot bait and now the place is crawling with the little critters. They're as happy as baby boars and mud and we're going to try a game. It's mascot stacking and the winner gets a fancy prize. You tag along with the student to the road stage to see what all the fuss is about. You hear the party before you see it. Laughter, whooping and shouting waff from the stage as a chaotic scene comes into sight. On the main road stage, a dozen students playfully dart away from several pests while other mascots watch nearby. The scurrying students hold goopy substances in their hands that look like honey mixed with mushroom pieces. Off to the side, more students stand laughing and holding curious looking wands. A student shouts through uncontrollable giggling. Gross, look at those goofs covered in pest bait. I don't know what's in it, but the pests love it. We'll give them their snack. We were just waiting on you. We knew you'd want in on this mascot stacking contest. The other mascots wants to play too. Joining in on the game, you partake in the mascot stacking contest. As the winners declared, the pest and the mascot stack suddenly transform into a hostile creature. The cheering from the students on the road stage suddenly turns to panic shouts. The normal croaking, chirping, and screeching of pests turns into guttural groans. The pest amalgamate, their bodies fusing into a multi-headed hole while the other mascots scatter. The fused creature roars spewing spittle from one of its head. Everyone on stage is in danger. You fend off the amalgamated pest and with a bit of help and luck, defeat it. You investigate the pest to find little pools of regurgitated bait on the floor near the pest. Mixed in the pools are small, sharp pieces of the same chitin found in Wiltrute Hall. The pest ingested this chitin leading to their strange transformation. Once you resolve the altercation, the party on the road stage resumes. Before you leave the area, Rosie was Fedlums, a gnome lowerholder apprentice approaches you. As a student referee, Rosie is tasked with helping you understand the game and set up a practice date. Your designated practice slides at the end of this week. You agree to the time and the school week progresses until the day of practice. On that day, you and your team head to the Aerojohn Field. Before you is a carefully maintained dirt field. Right now, the most prominent feature is a gnome dressed in black and white striped shorts and a matching tunic. A knapsack hangs at her side and a large whistle dangles from her neck. This is Rosie dressed in her referee garment. Friends, she shouts. Stupendous timing. Oh, this is going to be great. You and your team get to practicing, splitting off into two teams and doing the best you can. Once practice ends, something terrible happens. Without warning, the joyous look on Rosie's face changes into terror. Flinging an arm towards the field's Eastern dugout, she stammers wildly. Monster, she shouts, then runs for cover. Emerging from the Eastern dugout is a hulking blue slaw. The enraged creature fights you and your team till it's death. Examining the slaw's body, you see superficial claw wounds all over its skin along with the presence of chipped chitin embedded in these wounds. You continue your year, eventually taking an exam in Professor Brenneth Blackstone's class of scrivening and symbology. Professor Blackstone approaches you after he's done proctoring the exam. Once the other students depart, the professor addresses you. Well, you've managed to impress me or else I wouldn't be asking you this favor. I've been guest lecturing in Colama Hall on Lorehold's campus this term. The administrators love my popular series of scriptology in Archimansi, but it's eating into my prep time for my classes. I need you to track down a tome in the bibliopleic scriptoria collections. Trouble is, no one knows where the book is hiding and I can't prepare your upcoming exam without it. Find it and bring it to me and extra credit for the rest of the term is yours. You make note of it and continue on with your week. Sometime after the exam, you notice a commotion near Beau's End Tavern in the late afternoon. Hey, friends, says the student. The retention pool behind the tavern has been drained for cleaning tomorrow. For a few hours, we've got a perfectly smooth empty pool. You know what that means? Mage skate park, baby. Come on, let's see who'll pull the wildest moves and win the prize purse. You follow the student to see this wonderful skate park. Behind the tavern, several groups of students cluster around an empty pool, laughing and waving and provide skates made from wooden planks and wheels. One student approaches you, holding a wand and two skates. We were hoping you'd turn up, says the student. See these skates? On their own, pretty difficult to use, right? But check out this training wand from spellcasting class. Someone figured out that a skater can use the wand to help pull off the sweetest tricks. What better way to try it out than a contest? There are bets going around and the crowd is sure to take your side. Wanna pull off some wild moves? You join the skating contest, showing off what you can. The crowd roars as the winner is announced. A student waves their wand in celebration and shockingly, a thunderous clap echoes from it. Your fellow students quiet in confusion. Suddenly, a creature erupts from the ground causing nearby students to scream and scatter. That rock thing, the student shouts. It's heading into the tavern. The wand has summoned and angry and confused Gaelib Dorr. The creature fights with you until it sees there's no victory in sight, then flees. You examine the wand the student used to accidentally summon the Gaelib Dorr. It reveals that it's different in weight and texture than the other ones being a summoning device that only works once. Covering the wand is a slimy substance similar to that of the algae found on the Weatherbloom's campus. After the event, a few more days pass and you're ready to search for Professor Blackstone's tome. You head to the Scriptoria collections where the book may be found. As you make your way down the winding staircases, the passage glooms gives way to warm light. The room before you is spacious and comfortable with gleaming bookcases, wide table, luxurious chairs, an inviting lounge, and a hearth. You search the many books for hours until you eventually find the tome. Soon, it grown echoes throughout the quiet room like metal grinding upon metal. You spot movement from the largest astrolab along the north wall as the device overlapping copper rings become lashing barbed tentacles. Defeating the creature, you notice the presence of chipped chitin embedded in claw wounds on the creature. You return the book back to Professor Blackstone and he lights up with relief, thanking you for your help. Soon afterwards, the last day of the term has finally arrived and it's time for you to crush your opponents at Mage Tower. You've prepared all year for this, the battle of Strixhaven is upon you. Gathering your gear, you hustle towards Strixhaven Stadium. Time to show everyone what you're made of. You and your team battle through a hard fought contest eventually winning the competition. After the competition, you and your team return to the locker room to freshen up. Without warning, two mage hunters emerge from hiding places in the locker room in attack. You prevail through the ambush and defeat the two mage hunters. Examining the corpses reveals that these are the creatures that have been stalking you. Their chitin matches the type you found throughout the year. Once word gets out about what happened in the locker room you are celebrated as a hero on campus. From here, you move on towards your third year at Strixhaven. Chapter five, The Magister's Masquerade. Your third year of school begins with you arriving a bit early at Strixhaven. Classes haven't even started at Strixhaven yet but excitement and magic are already in the air. Amid the bustle of students reuniting after time away and preparing for the new year you find your new lodgings. Inside the small clean room is a thick piece of parchment, carefully rolled, sealed and bearing your name. Nestled next to it is a silver pin shaped like the Strixhaven Star, the symbol of the university. It reads, you are cordially invited to the annual Strixhaven University Magister's Masquerade, a starlet night. Kulema Hall, Lorehold College. Formal costuming required. After reading the letter you make note of it and travel to Bosen Tavern to do some relaxing. A crowd of boisterous third year students fill Bosen's Tavern, a buzz with conversations about Magister's Masquerade and dream outfits for the events. Among the crowds of chatting friends and mingling students are decorated tables. One is surrounded by the Masquerade's student organizers and the others are covered in outlandish snacks. A wave of shouts rises from the back of the tavern where high energy games are underway. You meet with a few friends and a student walks up to you offering you a challenge. They wish for you to meet them at the Furrigale Repository at midnight. While ominous, you decide to accept their challenge and head to the location at midnight. When you arrive at the Furrigale Repository you find a warehouse-like structure with walls that slowly change shape and color as if melting and reforming. Here you find a group of students who challenge you to a magical duel. Soon, bolts of a variety of magic flings across the air. At the conclusion of the duel, before you leave the Furrigale Repository one of your opponents collapses. A moment later, another opponent falls. In seconds, all the opponents but one have collapsed. Well, what are you doing? You're remaining opponent's dammers. Cut it out, cheater. You can't do this. Suddenly, in a poof of magic, an oni appears and begins to attack all on sight. With the help of the opponent, the oni is defeated and the unconscious students are rushed to the infirmary. With that, the start of your strange year begins. Throughout the year, talks of the masquerade plagues the minds of students. You are no exception as you find yourself designing your own costume and taking practice dance lessons and helping organizers prepare for the event. Also throughout the year, you hear some strange rumors regarding a teacher of yours, Dean Tollis. It seems like Dean Tollis is always working. She rarely leaves her office. The Dean is rarely seen without a relic from her recent expedition to the Fortress Badlands, a misty green orb. Dean Tollis seems to be suffering from some malady. She has been uncharacteristically short of her students and seems to have frequent headaches. The Dean has relied on teaching assistants to cover several of her lessons, sometimes missing class without warning or explanation. These rumors are quite prevalent and you'll soon learn why. As you work to help prepare Kilema Hall for the masquerade, some students complain about headaches and go to the infirmary. You go to the infirmary with the six students and find Professor DeSanto's concern by the sudden influx of patients but can't find anything wrong with them. She insists they rest in the sick room until they feel better. 10 minutes later, these six students are back on their feet though something is clearly wrong. They're delirious and hallucinating, shouting things like no, stop, and keep away. Reacting violently to whatever they're seeing, they attack anyone near them as they try to escape. You calm them down as they wreak havoc on the nearby area, eventually getting them to come to. The students have all been spotted recently visiting the Bozan Tavern. Figuring to be too strange to be a coincidence, you travel to the tavern to inspect what is happening. Here, you find Curdie, who tells you the following details. She was the only chef on duty when the students in question came in. Dean Tollis was at the tavern and spoke with the students. The Dean seemed uncharacteristically friendly, chatting and shaking hands as they parted. You keep this in mind as the year progresses and soon enough, the day of the masquerade has arrived. Kolema Hall has been transformed. Music, color, and laughter filled the airy space as masked and impeccably dressed students and faculty mingle. Beyond a check and stand attended by student hosts, tables are arranged with whimsical ice sculptures and ornate refreshments. A band plays energetic music near the demonstration stage which has been turned into a dance floor. Above it all, banners depicting Strixhaven's heroes hangs amid drifting lanterns glowing with soft light. The music then falls silent and a spotlight shines upon a second floor balcony as Dean Tollis approaches the railing. Students, faculty, honored guests of Strixhaven, welcome to the Magister's Masquerade. I know many of you have been looking forward to this night as much as I have and I promise it will be a night to remember. She gestures towards the massive statue in the Hall's center. Centuries ago, wise Kolema established this masquerade as a Strixhaven tradition to bring students of all colleges together to show the potential of our university's mission and to create a night of magic. Tonight, we are honored by the presence of his spirit and wisdom once again for history lives here at Strixhaven and nothing is ever truly forgotten. Now you've all been promised a starlit night so one and all, come dance among the stars. You dance among the students and have a merry time during the masquerade. At the final hour, the music fades and the Hall falls silent as light rises to illuminate the towering statue of Magister Kolema. After a moment of stillness, the statue speaks. Students of Strixhaven, wise Kolema says and a voice that booms through the Hall yet echoes as if coming from afar. Always remember the chain of which you are apart. Wisdom is shared, learn, add it to and passed on. Links are added and lost but the chain of tradition connects us all. Those of us who were, who are and who are yet to come. You are bonded, students of Strixhaven to one another and to those you'll never know. Never doubt the wondrous of what you've learned or the remarkable places you hold as the link between the past and the future. This night, we are one community knowing no boundaries of role, college or time. The Hall then burst into applause. But be warned, the statue of Kolema unexpectedly continues. There is a harsh lesson you have yet to learn. When the mistakes of the past are forgotten, the dire past will return to haunt the present. Beware, mages, of the shadow that reaches for you even now. The Hall falls into silence as the voice of Kolema fades followed by the muttering and the drawingly jaunty notes of the band playing anew. Questions about Kolema's pronouncement run through the crowd. Some faculty members report that the Magister spirits often offers cryptic advice at the event, but they've never heard of anything as ominous as this. After Kolema's pronouncement, the students begin slipping away. Within the next couple of hours, half the guests funnel out, heading back to their lodgings or to clandestine after parties. You decide to follow suit wishing to retire for the night. Even considering the late hour, the walk across campus is unusually quiet. But as you round a corner, a flickering magical lantern illuminates several bewildered students standing in the path. As you approach them, they suddenly attack. The state in which they are in is similar to that of the students in the infirmary earlier in the year. Once calming them down, the students say Dean told us requested they assist her with an errand at Archeo Memorial Hall, but along the way, a strange headache left them dazed. One of the students reached out to the Dean for help, snagging her dress, but she left them. You decide to investigate this further and travel to the Archeo Memorial Hall in the Loreholds campus. Once there, you find the grand building that is used as the primary administrative building on Loreholds campus. A double door opens onto a stately, carpeted hall hung with unlit lamps and fine portraits. Exploring the building eventually brings you to Dean Tolstice's office. The desk and his office is barely visible beneath heaps of books, papers, and knick-knacks. Here you find papers on Dean Tolstice's last expedition to the Fortress Badlands. It reads something about a glass relic ore, but as the entries become more recent, they descend into a maddening gibberish. After you read the papers, you head to the Dean's repository where you face Dean Tolstice. Dean Tolstice is sitting in one of the chairs by the fireplace when you arrive. Her face is lit by the eerie green light of the glass orb she holds. Dean Tolstice says, "'You shouldn't have come. "'Ancient ones, take them.'" Four of the statues around the room respond with their eyes flaring with amber light. You try to convince the Dean to come to her senses. After a while, your voice finally reaches her and she screams, "'No!' and drops to the floor. A hazy image of a figure then appears, hovering above the green glowing orb. The ominous shape wears hooded black robes, which disguises all but the figure's warty green hands and broad, fraud-like mouth. "'Worthless, pathetic meddlers,' the figure croaks. "'I won't have my plans stored again. "'I'll have my vengeance on Strixhaven soon enough. "'You all will pay.'" You begin to question the figure about who they are and the situation and the figure begins to gloat. You should already know the name R'gaxor Grenshell. It should be recorded as the name of the greatest mage Strixhaven has ever known. Instead, those cowards blotted it, outstruck it from the pages of history. But soon, all the world will know my name. This is my act of vengeance. I have what I want for now. Dear Professor Tolstice has served her purpose. My magic has spread across Strixhaven and soon the rest of my plan will be a success. After some banter, Morgaxor shouts in frustration. In response, the image of Morgaxor vanishes and the orb cracks, releasing a threat from within. After Morgaxor's image vanishes, the cracked orb releases a cloud of mist that transforms into an entity composed of equal parts noxious wind and crackling green energy. You rush to the orb and destroy it, thus defeating the entity. After your encounter with Morgaxor, you realize that the evil mage has had in hand a numerous threat that you have experienced both during this academic year and before. Eventually, the Dean comes too. Dean Tolstice makes sure the rest of the faculty knows about Morgaxor's threat to the university, a threat every professor takes seriously. You learn that a Strixhaven student named Morgaxor Grinchel was expelled long ago for using life-draining magic on his fellow students. Morgaxor was thought defeated, but clearly he has somehow returned. The academic school year ends with everyone on edge. Chapter six, a reckoning in ruins. When you arrive for your fourth and final year at Strixhaven, the mood is muted. As soon as you arrive on campus, it's clear that something is very wrong. Instead of the usual cheerful bustle, students know about campus nervously. Here and there, you hear frightened whispers. I heard his name, Morgaxor. I heard he wants to hurt us all. The mood on campus might be gloomy, but as you cross the central campus, you see a few of your classmates smiling and gesturing outside Virgil cafe. The student jogs up to you, waving and smiling in relief. It's so good to see you. Things have been dire around here lately, but some friends inside are about to start playing a game they call scuffle cup. Apparently, they found a box of animated tea cups and they figured out how to control the little buggers. Come on, let's go check it out. You play with the friends in Bozen Tavern, even if it's to alleviate the solemn mood of the campus. Afterwards, the year continues and you have your first exam in the class of arcane herbology with the familiar Professor Varelda Lang. At the end of your exam, Professor Lang takes you aside with a grave look on her face. She waits for the other students to leave the room before she addresses you. It is as we feared, Morgaxor has been lurking around campus ever since he dared to manipulate Dean Tullis, she says. We still don't know his plans, but we've traced his most recent activity to the detention bog. Our best faculty researchers are digging through Strixhaven's Pass, but we can use your help searching for clues. I've arranged for you to oversee tomorrow's detention bog activities. Needless to say, there's extra credit in it for you if you help us once again. You agree to do so and head to the detention bog. The smell of petrification overwhelms your senses. Ahead, a knot of solemn students and one faculty member stand on a wooden pathway over the reeking muck. Grinning, the Orc faculty member carries a satchel brimming with scrolls. The faculty member in charge is a Presmari instructor named Arkand Manexis. Instructor Manexis is a recent addition to the faculty who is enthusiastic about learning and team building. After introducing himself and welcoming everyone to the detention bog, he says, I'm so pleased to have you all here with me today. This is an opportunity for all of us to learn more about ourselves, our fellow students and the amazing world around us. Today, we'll be heading out into the bog to recover some lost supplies and return them to dry land, he says excitedly. You are tasked with helping the students recover supplies from the upsettingly fouled bog. While doing so, you encounter a hydra and an exploding crate of supplies, both of which you managed to deal with. When you rendezvous with instructor Manexis, he asks if anything about the crate seems strange. You report about the exploding crate and he shows concern. I'll report this to the faculty, he says. The day after your time in the bog, you are summoned to Professor Varela Lang's office. It's far more terrible than we thought, she says. The crates you've found have been tampered with. We have evidence of a strange magical signature left behind by the culprit. We now believe Morgoxer Grenshell is responsible, he has hidden himself from all known forms of divination magic. It's clear that Morgoxer has enacted a protection ritual against all spells and effects cast against him by a faculty member. It gets worse. Morgoxer's influence over Dean Tolis coerced her into tainting the spell components, food and drinks of nearly everyone on campus last year. Anyone who came in contact with these are now threatened by the ritual Morgoxer is conducting. Once complete, this ritual will drain the life energy out of everyone affected. Some will die, others may not. Either way, we believe the ritual will transfer that energy to Morgoxer, making him immortal. Morgoxer's plan is clear now and we faculty members are powerless against him, but you are not. At this point, you realize that your Strixhaven's only hope to stop this terrible plan. You must face Morgoxer. Once you are ready to venture into the Fortress Badlands, Professor Lang provides direction but warns you that this location might be dangerous. You thank her for the tip. Take the 20 mile trip off campus to the location of the Fortress Badlands. Judding from the cracked earth ahead of you is a network of reddish sandstone hillocks. What little vegetation exists here is blackened and wilted. Three wooden guard towers flank a trail that leads through the hills. Each tower sports a knotted line of glistening rope ascending 20 feet to a broad-winged kite. You traverse through the Fortress in underground cavern, fighting off dark creatures and rescuing some students along the way. From your time here, you learn that Morgoxer's ritual will go underway in about a week at the location the Badlands is known as the Ruins of Carradune. You decide to head back to campus for a bit and rest up before you venture to end the ritual. Before you leave the campus and embark on your next journey, a student approaches you and tells you to follow them to Bose and Tavern. Once you arrive there, you are greeted by a warming sight. Inside the normally raucous Bose and Tavern, the mood is somber. Your peers are here and they've heard about your dire mission to head into the Ruins of Carradune. They have organized a feat to send you off. Banners that read, we all believe in you and Hero of Strixhaven, hang all about the Tavern. Friends, tearfully wish you luck. Everyone knows what's at stake and they're all counting on you. You thank your friends to begin the final stage of your journey, traveling to the Ruins of Carradune. At the Ruins of Carradune, you find a fortress being guarded by strange creatures. You defeat them all the same and confront Murgoxor in the basement. Battling with Murgoxor in his minions, you manage to destroy the ritual stones that he was using to conduct his ritual. A warbling, high-pitched whale escapes Murgoxor as he crashes to the floor with a wet blum. A rush of air and a concussive blast momentarily replaces all sounds. Then the drum of magical power is gone. When the ritual was disrupted, his powers dissipated as well. In this state, he no longer possesses a threat to anyone. You decide to take him back to Strixhaven to stand trial for his crimes. You have won. After having stopped Murgoxor's ritual, the mishaps plaguing Strixhaven University sees and the corruption affecting Strixhaven scholars vanishes. News of Murgoxor's defeat lifts the gloom on campus and restores its typically joyful atmosphere. Professor Sharpbeak tells you that the faculty plans to honor your heroics on your graduation day with a celebration. Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed my story overview of Strixhaven. It was one of the ones I was hesitant on doing since I know absolutely nothing about magic the gathering. You'll have to forgive me if my knowledge on it was a bit lacking. I often find myself playing a lot of card games but not magic. The next adventure I wish to cover is the Dragon Lance Adventures. I'll probably wait for that to come out. Now that I have what I feel like enough of these videos out, I may make a video before the Dragon Lance Adventures ranking the current Adventures. We'll see. I still feel like I need to cover more of the Adventures before I can make a list like that. Anyways, thank you all so much for watching. I really appreciate all the support I've been getting in the videos. If you're new and enjoy the video, please give me a like and subscribe. Hopefully you have a wonderful day. Until next time, thanks.