Acropolis of Kereskaa
The Acropolis of Kereskaa was an institute for the study of magic and a stronghold for dangerous magical artefacts. It was destroyed in the 576th year of the Age of Enlightenment, split in half and abandoned in an underground chamber far beneath Kaarst. In 1853 Post-Accord, it was used by the Knives of Mystra for the manufacture of ashfire oil until their planned attack was interrupted by Grokko, Kham, Mira and Vichthart.
Early history
According to Suithrathus Luirmo, the Acropolis was built on the site where Kereskaa and her most devoted followers contained the Dragon Orb of Drimysthonontas. It later also contained the Obsidian Claw and a third artefact (so tempting that Master Luirmo refused to describe its power), kept in a vault and behind doors that required multiple Seals to unlock and guarded by giant constructs of metal and wood. Above this was built the central structure and its eight spires used by the Masters and their students.
The Acropolis was located in the city of Farankaars, although it is not known which existed first.
Suithrathus Luirmo described how students would travel to the Acropolis from all over Elengon. Judging by their skeletal remains, they were mostly older teenagers, and a significant proportion of them were dragonborn. The students dined in the Great Hall and attended lectures and demonstrations in the Amphitheatre. The Orchard of the Acropolis was where students and faculty relaxed, the central tree of which had been a gift to the Acropolis from the Fey before Luirmo's tenure.
Masters
The Masters (and Mistresses) were the leading teachers of the Acropolis, with each of them specializing in a particular school of magic, and residing and working in the corresponding Spire. According to Suithrathus, the Masters did not share with each other what they were working on in their respective catacombs. However, Elgrex Anderra left a recorded message that seemed to be addressed to an unknown lover, almost certainly another of the Masters.
The Masters at the time of the Acropolis's destruction were as follows.
| Name | School | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Elgrex Anderra | Abjuration | A brass dragonborn woman |
| Cansa Cinsmic | Conjuration | A gnome woman with a friendly expression |
| Befrir Dalovamri | Enchantment | A dwarven man with an impassive but soft expression, and jewellery woven into his beard |
| Suithrathus Luirmo | Divination | A broad and bulky green dragonborn man with a stern expression |
| Teklanna Morantine | Necromancy | A human woman |
| Farlu Naenreh | Illusion | An androgenous drow with a smug smile, usually depicted with poorly defined features |
| Toross Rhistel | Transmutation | A tall elven man with an aloof expression |
| Vithra Rutgeth | Evocation | A muscular gold dragonborn man |
Destruction
Suithrathus learnt that the Kytherans, the population of a flying city to which he'd previously visited, had come to desire an object entrusted to the Acropolis, possibly the Dragon Orb of Drimysthonontas. He was trying to divine their intentions in his Hall of Prophecies when they attacked, aided by a traitor. Suithrathus survived by transferring his mind into his black quartz divining mirror, and Elgrex Anderra was kept safe inside the Spire of Abjuration. Trapped in there, Elgrex was able to hear Teklanna Morantine speaking to unfamiliar voices in the corridor outside, and determined she was the traitor. Suithrathus would later discover that the Dragon Orb of Drimysthonontas had been taken from the vault using Morantine's Seal.
Another survivor of the initial attack was a tall elven figure who became trapped inside the mirror contraption in the catacomb of the Spire of Transmutation, likely Toross Rhistel; however, unable to leave, he expired inside his invention. Large numbers of skeletons of the students were left in the Great Hall and the student dormitories, which had scratch marks on the insides of the doors.
Either as part of the attack or at some subsequent time, the Acropolis itself was moved into an underground chamber, and was split into two parts down its middle. The Spire of Necromancy collapsed onto its side, connecting the two halves of the Acropolis. The plantlife in the Orchard became petrified, although the feywild tree kept itself and nearby plants alive.
Architecture
The Acropolis was a large octagonal stone building with eight octagonal spires located on its edges. The entrance to the main building was by a single door at ground level on the western corner, between the Spires of Transmutation and Enchantment. This lead directly into the outer corridor which ran around the entire circumference of the ground floor, as well as to a straight corridor leading by double doors into the floor of the Amphitheatre. Between the central Amphitheatre and the outer corridor were a ring of rooms: the Grand Library, the Great Hall and its kitchen, and a set of student dormitories.
Grand Library
Occupying the entire northwestern quarter of the ground floor between the Amphitheatre and the outer corridor, in a wide chevron shape, the Grand Library has an entrance into the corridor at both its northeastern and southwestern ends. Originally it would have been filled with tomes of magical knowledge, none of which were inherantly magical. However, when the party explores the Acropolis, the room is filled only with ash, and the northern quarter of the room was separated by a huge fissure (although nothing compared to the fissue between the two halves of the Acropolis). The only surviving item was a charred, rusted and grimy chest, as well as its contents: a small collection of leatherbound books. Vichthart secures most of these in the Bag of Holding, although he hands one to Mira when the twinned red flame on its cover catches his attention and he requests it.
Great Hall
The Great Hall is the dining room in the northeast quarter of the ground floor of the Acropolis, between the Amphitheatre and the outer corridor. It contains a fireplace and dining tables. Many students were in the Great Hall when the Acropolis was attacked, and their skeletons remained sheltering underneath tables when the party were exploring the ruins, leading the party to wonder why no one had ever removed them. These skeletons were visibly older teenagers, and included a significant number of dragonborn. The party wondered why nobody had ever cleared out the bodies. The Great Hall connected to the octagonal corridor, as well as to a kitchen adjoining it, which itself connected to the outer corridor.
Amphitheatre
The amphitheatre is where lessons and demonstrations take place for students. It is surrounded by seating that looks down on its circular floor, and is located at the very centre of the Acropolis. Around its inside wall are eight alcoves housing statues of the current Masters of the Acropolis, spaced evenly around the circumference. Between many pairs of the statues are short phrases carved into the wall in a language Mira doesn't recognize (but can read using his Eyes of the Runekeeper).
When the party explained to Master Luirmo that they needed to reach the Altar of Evocation, not knowing the current condition of the Acropolis, he first suggested that they travel via the Amphitheatre, it being central to the building on the floor that all spires connect to the main building. Unfortunately, when the Acropolis split down its middle, so too was the Amphitheatre, preventing it from leading to the Spire of Evocation. The statues of Befrir Dalovamri to Suithrathus Luirmo remained on the northern side of the fissure, where Mira first used his levitation to scout alone and read the phrases on the wall. The statues of Elgrex Anderra to Farlu Naenreh (as well as the alcove where the statue of Teklanna Morantine would have stood) remained on the southern side, but when the party reached the southern half, Mira did not take note of the remaining phrases on the walls.
| Direction | Master | School | Depiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| West-northwest | Toross Rhistel | Transmutation | Tall elven man with an aloof expression and holding one hand aloft in an open-palmed gesture |
| ‘Seven stars light the night sky’ | |||
| North-northwest | Cansa Cinsmic | Conjuration | Gnome woman with a friendly expression, hands behind her back, one foot forward |
| ‘Seven eyes perceive what hides’ | |||
| North-northeast | Suithrathus Luirmo | Divination | Broad and bulky dragonborn, holding an orb at chest height in front of him, with a stern expression |
| ‘Seven hearts yearn for—’ | |||
| East-northeast | Elgrex Anderra | Abjuration | Feminine dragonborn |
| Not examined | |||
| East-southeast | Vithra Rutgeth | Evocation | Muscular dragonborn man |
| Not examined | |||
| South-southeast | Farlu Naenreh | Illusion | Drow, not just androgenous but with poorly defined features and a smug smile |
| Not examined | |||
| South-southwest | Teklanna Morantine | Necromancy | Missing from the amphitheatre having been moved to the collapsed Spire of Necromancy |
| Not examined | |||
| West-southwest | Befrir Dalovamri | Enchantment | Dwarven man with a thick beard with jewellery woven in, and an impassive but soft expression |
| Entranceway, no phrase | |||
A longer passage runs around the entire wall underneath the statues, much more spaced out than the other phrases. Again, Mira only read the start of the phrase on the northern half of the Acropolis, which reads ‘Seven stars and seven—’.
Spires
There were eight spires located around the periphery of the Acropolis. Each spire was divided into an equal number of storeys, being taller than the central structure of the Acropolis, each with a similar floorplan. The topmost floors were living quarters for each of the Masters. Below those were chambers containing the Altars of the respective schools of magic, each altar resembling a 10-foot wide sculpture of white gold. The patterns of each altar resembled those on each of the Master's Seals, as used in conjunction they amplified the magic of their respective schools.
Below the altar rooms were the atria connecting each spire to the central building, on the same level as the Grand Library, Great Hall, student dormitories and the floor of the Amphitheatre. On the floor below this, each spire was connected by catacombs, which held a unique chamber for each Master. For example, the chamber underneath the Spire of Divination was called the Hall of Prophecies, while underneath the Spire of Evocation was a firing range for spellcasters to practise their aim.
| Direction | School | Catacomb |
|---|---|---|
| West-northwest | Spire of Transmutation | Mirror device |
| North-northwest | Spire of Conjuration | Vastren |
| North-northeast | Spire of Divination | Hall of Prophecies |
| East-northeast | Spire of Necromancy | |
| East-southeast | Spire of Abjuration | Passage under cathedral |
| South-southeast | Spire of Evocation | Firing range |
| South-southwest | Spire of Illusion | Farlu's bust puzzle |
| West-southwest | Spire of Enchantment | Spiderweb shield |
Orchard
Outside the Acropolis building was a large outdoor area filled with grass, flowers, and trees, as well as a stream of water that flowed north to south. One of these trees was a gift from the Fey before Master Luirmo's tenure, specifically from a servant of Corellon as thanks for ‘a good deed done.’ This orchard was teleported along with the building, ending up in an underground cavern. Somehow, the plantlife of the orchard became petrified, which Master Luirmo was not able to attribute to the time it spent underground. When walking through the petrified orchard, Grokko alone could hear many overlapped whispered voices, which became clearer as he approached the Feywild tree, saying things like ‘How much time?’ and ‘The pain!’ in a language Grokko doesn't recognize but can understand.
The tree gifted by the Fey is the largest in the orchard, with many roots exposed above the ground, and despite the attack on the Acropolis and the passage of time, has not only remained alive, but also kept some nearby grass and flowers clinging to life. Suithrathus speculates that this is caused by some form of fey magic. As Grokko nears the Feywild tree, he begins being able to communicate with it in Sylvan. It describes itself as being trapped and wounded by a stone far to the southwest, and offers its life to provide Grokko with its ruby red apple, which it claims will heal the damage done to the Feywild. When Grokko picks the apple, the tree dies and the surrounding vegetation begins to wilt.
Later history
The journal of Irann Rhogar describes how he and Etorn Hadaran explored the sewers of Kaarst and eventually made a significant discovery, that presumably being the Acropolis or certain of its contents. Of all the contents of the Acropolis, Rhogar and Hadaran made use of several rooms and entities.
- The Spire of Conjuration contained a teleportation circle to which Rhogar could travel via a similar circle in his house.
- The catacombs below the Spire of Conjuration held Vastren, a captive devil summoned by the students of Conjuration before the Acropolis was attacked, who had remained trapped ever since. Rhogar made an unknown deal with Vastren, the specifics of which are not known. However, several devils did fight to defend the Knives of Mystra, which may have been related to the deal made.
- The collapsed Spire of Necromancy was used as a bridge to reach the Spire of Abjuration, as well as a chokepoint to guard against anyone who came after them.
- The Altar of Evocation was used by Leagallow Tiaathque to manufacture ashfire oil. They refered to it as the ‘Seventh Altar’.
- The Spire of Abjuration's secondary function as a stronghold in case the Acropolis is attacked was used to barriade intruders from accessing the planned point of detonating the ashfire oil.