Draconian Academe

It is a citadel of robes and scrolls, of science and magic and murmuring bells. A draconian metropolis, bristling with spired academies and domed observatories. Whispering libraries, clinking laboratories, and muttering menageries rise at every turn.

The city of Betik has for centuries stood as the arcane heart and intellectual jewel of the Eastern Dragon Empire. This sprawling capital of the “Province of the Book” is a shining urban testimony to the heights (and depths) to which the Dragon Lords have gone to pursue advancing horizons of knowledge.

As renowned scholar and wandering historian, Lucano Volpe wrote, “I can tell you that never before have I found a more literate people. Even the common ox drover not only reads and writes but can hold discourse on topics both common and esoteric” (from “The Travels of Lucano Volpe”).

But you are no over-educated ox drover, nor even a well heeled collegiate. Whether through lineage or political-connection, a philanthropic master’s wealth or influential favor, you were accepted from among countless supplicants for private, more esoteric studies usually reserved for the elite.

Were years of your life spent ritually ascending the rocky trails and stone ladders of the sacred mountainside, braving discomfort and danger for the honor of attending the Hidden University of Parsis?

Or did ambition and aptitude soar higher, literally into the clouds? Were you among the super-elite (dragonkin) to be accepted to the hidden Wizard’s Collegium in the stolen city of Ashadar hovering invisibly in the skies above? In that Collegium, where they say ley-line lectures take place in alternate dimensions and every window looks out onto a different world.

In either case, you have been ceremoniously and officially recognized. You are now not only graduate but scholar, an imperially sanctioned, master academician in your chosen field.

Draconian Academe (Variant Sage)

Skill Proficiencies: (See below.)

Tool Proficiencies: (See below.)

Languages: Mharoti (Draconic), Trade Tongue, and one language of your choice.

Equipment: Traveler’s clothes, a satchel containing academic certifications and diplomas, graduate’s cap and gown, and a belt pouch, containing 5gp.

Feature: Alumnus of the Hidden Halls

You have received a graduate’s Mark of Parsis, a magical tattoo, authenticating your mastery of the disciplines indicated, along with your other more tangible, badges and certificates of scholarly achievements.

To reflect the exceptional levels of intensity and discipline your studies entailed, any skill check or saving throw relating to your Major Field receives double the proficiency bonus for the roll. If the roll fails, you may re-roll with advantage but no bonuses.

Anytime you make a skill check or saving throw related to your Minor Field, you make the roll with advantage. Additionally, all Intelligence-based skill checks or checks related to the lore, history, or arcana of Midgard’s dragonkind are made at advantage.

Tool Proficiencies

Sample Fields of Study (with Major/Minor focuses) and their associated tool proficiencies. Choose one or create your own curriculum:

• Alchemy/Magic (Arcana/Investigation): Alchemist’s equipment; Dragonchess
• Astronomy/Mathematics (Arcana/Perception): Cartographers or Navigator’s tools; Dragonchess
• Athletics/Physiology (Athletics/Survival): Vehicle (land)
• Biology/Botany (Medicine/Nature): Herbalist; Healer or Poisoners kit
• History/Art (History/Performance): One musical instrument; Painter’s, Jeweler’s, Glassblower’s, or Weaver’s tools
• Politics/Psychology (Persuasion/Insight): Vehicle (land)
• Theology/Philosophy (Religion/Insight): One musical instrument

For a more in-depth look at the “Province of the Book” and other lizardly locations of the Eastern Dragon Empire, be sure to check out the Midgard Campaign Setting.