Mage School: Umbral Forge

Home: Mighal

Enrollment: ~1,000

Motto: "In Steel We Trust, In Arcana We Forge"

Born of the desire (some say need) for the creation of magical weapons and armor, the Umbral Forge school-slash-guild is one of the more well-known mage schools across Azgaarnoth, if only because the school's distinctive sigil on a weapon or shield or suit of armor is as comforting to the owner as its terrifying to whomever is facing the owner in combat. Renowned for high-quality work, an Umbral Forge weapon, even nonmagical, usually sells for 50% to 100% above "list" (that is to say, PHB- or DMG-listed) price.

All Umbral Forge mage school towers are called "forges" by their members, usually prefixed by its location--the Umbral Forge tower in Cademintal, for example, will be referred to by members as the "Cademintal Forge" or "Cademintal Umbral Forge", and the home chapter in Mighal itself is often referred to simply as "The Forge". An Umbral Forge is usually a short, squat stone building, half arcane tower (where the members sleep, read, and take meals) and half smithy (where much of the work is done). The larger the chapter, the larger both halves of the forge will be, and for the largest forges, most areas will be off-limits to visitors. That said, every forge has a lobby in which some of the best pieces for sale from the forge are available, and helpful apprentices are always around to answer questions, take orders, and discourage larceny.

In addition to purchase and custom contract forging of weapons, an Umbral Forge will usually identify unknown items for a fee and/or the option to examine the item more closely, if the item is unusual or one that the Forge hasn't seen previously. Most Umbral Forges are trustworthy and have only an interest in the item for altruistic or academic purposes, but rumors persist of Umbral Forges "bait-and-switch"ing unique items with less-powerful common ones made to look identical to the one brought in.

Keyed Items

The Umbral Forge school has also been experimenting, in partnership with many Soulbound magi, to concoct new forms of weapons that are not just attuned, but keyed to specific individuals, making them less (or completely un-) usable by anyone other than the individual to whom it is bound. This secrets behind such work is kept under strict lock and key, and no other magi or school has been able to replicate the effort. The Umbral Forge trusts this knowledge only to the most trusted of its senior (level 14+) members, and attempts to pry this away (by force or subterfuge) have yet to prove successful--more than one Umbral Forge magi has taken the knowledge with them to their grave (and beyond).

That said, many variations on the process have been developed, such as blooded weapons or blooded armor, but only the Umbral Forge has developed the specificity of a keying.

Membership

The Umbral Forge school, itself also a Merchant Guild, is Liria's primary supplier of arcane arms and armor. The school will happily take on anyone as an apprentice and teach them the skills of both weapons- and armorsmithing while teaching them the arcane arts, particularly those of Ferromancy, and clerics of the Forge and Arcana domains often find themselves at home here, and this is probably the one mage school where artificers hold as much influence as wizards do.

Sorcerers and druids usually have nothing to do with this school.

Tendencies

Connections

Restricted Spells

The spells of the Umbral Forge school are always available for sale.