Seal

The Seals of the Masters of the Acropolis of Kereskaa are pendants worn by the eight leading scholars in charge of the Acropolis. They are primarily a sign of the wearer's station, but also have limited practical arcane use within the Acropolis.

When the party visits the Acropolis of Kereskaa to stop the Knives of Mystra from detonating ashfire oil beneath Kade Sirrine Kathedrale, they manage to recover seven of the eight of the Seals between them.

Appearance

Even after thousands of years they are untarnished. They all resemble golden discs with a central gemstone, although their individual appearances match the designs of their respective altars within the Acropolis. For example, the Seal of Conjuration is made of white gold filaments in elaborate shapes forming arcane sigils, with its gemstone a multicoloured opal; by comparison, the Seal of Illusion resembles a locket on a gold chain, but lacking a clasp to open it.

Function

Each Seal can be worn in proximity to its matching Altar to amplify the effects of that school of magic. In practice, this allows a spell to be cast without requiring any material components or using a spell slot, once per day.

Some routes in the Acropolis can only be taken with the use of Seals.

• A door in the catacombs leading from beaneath the Spire of Transmutation to beneath the Spire of Conjuration can only be opened while wearing the Seal of Conjuration.
• The silvered dragon statues flanking the entrance to the meeting chamber of the Masters will only permit entrance to those wearing a Seal, blasting anyone else who attempts to pass them with ice cold wind.
• The entrance to the vault can only be opened by a majority of the Masters: It takes five people wearing their Seals and stating the respective Masters' names in unison to open the secret door inside the meeting chamber.
• The containment chambers inside the vault require multiple Seals to be in close proximity before they will open. Those on the left and right require three Seals, while the larger central door requires five Seals.

Additionally, the prison holding Vastren beneath the Spire of Conjuration can only be deactivated using three Seals along with a small incantation.

Seals

School	Wearer	Found	Fate
Conjuration	Cansa Cinsmic	Mira took from Cansa's skeleton in her bedroom	Mira gave to Sable Warden Meriele Berevan
Divination	Suithrathus Luirmo	Mira took from Suithrathus's skeleton in the Hall of Prophecies	Held by Vichthart
Transmutation	Toross Rhistel	Mira took from Toross's skeleton inside his mirror device	Mira gave to Sable Warden Meriele Berevan
Enchantment	Befrir Dalovamri	Grokko took from Befrir's skeletal hand inside the cracked altar in the Spire of Enchantment	Held by Grokko
Illusion	Farlu Naenreh	Mira retrieved from the armour left by Farlu as a prize for completing his puzzle	Held by Anrel
Necromancy	Teklanna Morantine	Picked up by Vichthart from the chamber that should have contained the Dragon Orb of Drimysthonontas	Held by Vichthart
Abjuration	Elgrex Anderra	Mira took from the corpse of Etorn Hadaran	Mira gave to Sable Warden Meriele Berevan
Evocation	Vithra Rutgeth	Kept by Leagallow Tiaathque, having used it to create ashfire oil at the Seventh Altar	Held by Tiaathque

History

Finding Seals at random

The first Seal that the party finds is the Seal of Conjuration, which Mira takes from the chest of Cansa Cinsmic's skeleton, which was lying in her bed in the Spire of Conjuration. He does this without anyone else in the party noticing.

The second Seal they find is the Seal of Divination, which is worn by the skeleton of Suithrathus Luirmo. Everyone sees Mira take this one, and Anrel is interrupted chastising Mira by the trapped form of Suithrathus making his presence known, to their surprise. Among the information he provides to the party is the identity and purpose of the Seals, admitting that he has no use of his own in his current form.

The third Seal is that of Transmutation, which Mira takes from the remains of Toross Rhistel that were trapped inside his mirror device, although only Grokko was present at the time. After picking this up, Grokko recognizes the glyph on a door outside as resembling that on the Seal of Conjuration. After some trial and error, Mira realises he can open the door if he's wearing the Seal around his neck. Unfortunately, his friends grow bored waiting for him to figure this out and head south. On his own, Mira heads north and finds Vastren being held in a prison. She explains that it would take three Seals to free her, but Vichthart and Anrel persuade Mira to leave before he can agree to unleash the devil.

When the party encounters the meeting chamber of the Masters, they decide to have the Seals distributed between them in case they become trapped inside and need to door to be opened again. Grokko takes the Seal of Divination from Mira, but Mira resists letting Vichthart take the Seal of Transmutation. Instead, he gives the Seal of Conjuration to the Raven Guards as they wait outside the council chamber. When the party turns back from the Vault, Mira takes the Seal of Conjuration back from the Raven Guards.

The fourth Seal they find is the Seal of Enchantment, which is held in the skeletal hand of Befrir Dalovamri in an altar of warm water. Grokko takes the Seal after using his axe to remove the bones, and confirms its identity with Suithrathus.

Requiring a fifth Seal

When the party meets Leagallow Tiaathque in the Spire of Evocation, he confirms that Etorn Hadaran is wearing another of the Seals, and says that he can only be reached via the Spire of Abjuration. Knowing the kind of magic used to seal that Spire, Suithrathus admits that the only way they could enter would be to use the Obsidian Claw, which they'll need five Seals to retrieve from the Acropolis's vault.

Anrel uses Locate Object to find any other Seals: At first he can't detect the Seal of Necromancy, but then he locates the Seal of Illusion, which Mira uses Levitate to head towards. Mira completes the puzzle set by Farlu Naenreh that reveals to him a mannequin wearing a set of purple studded leather armour that contains a golden locket devoid of a clasp. When he returns and shows it to Suithrathus, Suithrathus confirms it is the Seal of Illusion.

Now in possession of five Seals, they are able to retrieve the Obsidian Claw. Grokko keeps the Seal of Enchantment for himself and hands the Seal of Divination to Vichthart; Mira keeps the Seal of Transmutation, giving the Seal of Illusion to Anrel, and returning the Seal of Conjuration to the Raven Guards. As they approach the far side of the Acropolis's vault, they find three closed doors, each with a number of gems embedded in them. As they approach these doors, the gems in the doors and the gems in the closest same number of Seals glow sympathetically. The doors to the left and right, each requiring three Seals to open, respectively contain the Obsidian Claw and a pouch in a crystal that Suithrathus refuses to describe.

The central, and largest of the doors requires five Seals to open. At Suithrathus's request, they check inside to make sure that the Dragon Orb of Drimysthonontas also remains in place. However, the pedestal inside is empty, with the Seal of Necromancy lying at its base. Suithrathus quickly concludes that Teklanna Morantine must have betrayed the rest of the Acropolis to work with the Kytherans.

The fate of the Seals

When the party uses the Obsidian Claw to enter the Spire of Abjuration, a hologram of Elgrex Anderra plays, in which she is wearing her Seal of Abjuration while describing how she has heard the attack on the Acropolis from the safety of her Spire, and intends to leave, find any other survivors, and head to Geat-Mea. After the party defeats the bone devil, Mira retrieves the Seal of Abjuration from the boneless corpse of Etorn Hadaran, suggesting that Elgrex never did leave the ruins of the Acropolis. He also takes the Seal of Conjuration back from the Raven Guards.

While Vichthart and Anrel return to finalise their deal with Tiaathque, who has the Seal of Evocation and has been using it to manufacture the ashfire oil at the so-called Seventh Altar, Mira and Grokko go to visit Vastren. They use the three Seals they have between them to release Vastren from her prison, although they do not reveal this to Vicht or Anrel.

When Mira later meets with the Sable Warden Meriele Berevan, he hands the Seals of Transmutation, Conjuration and Abjuration to her. She describes them as having very little function outside of the Acropolis, being mostly badges of office, with what little enchantment they have seeming tied to the inner workings of the Acropolis itself. She says that her recommendation will be for the Seals to be held securely to prevent anyone from making their way back into the vault.

On 19 Thelliea, the Sable Warden and Galesong Thervan Indále hold a final debrief with the party. Vichthart asks Suithrathus Luirmo what he would like done with the artefacts they've taken from the Acropolis of Kereskaa—the Seals, the Obsidian Claw, the Spiderweb Shield and the leatherbound books from the Grand Library. Suithrathus is happy that the shield and books pose no threat to anyone's safety, but requests that the Obsidian Claw and Seals stay in the hands of those respectful of Kereskaa and the dangers of the Acropolis. The Sable Warden agrees to hold onto the Seals until the Mystral pillar can arrive in Kaarst to investigate the Acropolis safely, and the party hand the remaining Seals to her.