Founded: 1125
Status: ???
Travelers’ tales from the Carpathian Mountains occasionally speak of a mysterious castle overlooking a high mountain pass, which only appears at the heart of a storm, and is gone whenever storm-tossed travelers seek refuge there. Locals nod sagely, and tell them they have glimpsed the fabled Scholomance.
The legend of the Devil’s School is told throughout the Balkans and beyond; its name is whispered in the Byzantine corridors of power and even in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor. According to the legend, the doors of this school are open to only the most gifted individuals, who are taught the secrets of nature, the language of animals, and all magic spells by the Devil himself. Only ten students are admitted at a time, and at the end of the seven years they leave brimming with forbidden knowledge; all except for one, who the Devil claims for his own and who is never seen again. In reality, the Scholomance is run by an oppidum in Transylvania and is a school for recruiting agents, companions, and apprentices.
Given its reputation, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Church has taken an interest, and a papal legate has been ordered to investigate rumors of the Scholomance and its devilish practices. He has sought lodging among the Teutonic Order while he prepares his case. Since the only people who know anything concrete about the school are either magi or those who have attended it, the legate has yet to discover anything other than hearsay.
