Bridge to the Outer Mythos
The old ones, the elder evils and those that shall not be spoken, are whispered by those shunned by current deities, those seeking revenge and the willfully ignorant.
The most visible connection to the old ones on Grage is Mother Hydra, who came to the planet with an aim to establish new colonies of worshippers. Unfortunately, the Sahuagin immediately cut and slashed those plans, hurting the Mother before she was able to escape and take refuge in a deep trench close to land. The seaport above her new lair was used by pirates, smugglers and haulers looking to avoid taxation/tariffs, and it took only a little over a month to establish control of the port and create her first deep ones followers. Lost to any country, Cracked Seaport now represents a cult commune that sells storage and protection for illicit cargo and outlawed crews.
But deep under the earth are ruins, built by the first human colonizers who hid their worship of the outer entities from the Red Knight, the deity that first introduced humanity to Grage. Though these humans were wiped from Grage by the elves thousands of years ago, these ruins were discovered by Lolthian Drow who established their vault around them. They keep the ruins under heavy guard, selling spells and secrets obtained from runic texts and ancient grimoires.
The Miskatonic River
The Miskatonic River flows from the Everwind Mountains and travels almost the full length of the Nurtured Path before emptying into the deep hollows, a huge group of caverns that push deep into the earthen depths. Unknown to most, the Miskatonic does not pool into the bottom to form some sort of underworld sea, but actually flows through an ancient pre Elf/Dwarf war gate to the River Styx in Stygia of the Nine Hells, it's warmer waters adding to the underground current below the thick burning ice above (fiends chiseled the rock around the gate and rammed it to the bottom of the Styx long ago).
Many cultures over the centuries on Grage have dabbled with insanity of serving the pantheon of Yog-Sothothery. All of them have fallen to ruin, and all of them have had a direct link to the waters of the Miskatonic. Whether lived near, fished on or simply sailed on, this river has brought life to civilizations and drowned them all with the actions of the beguiled and insane. Despite the best of wards and protections that Lolth has established and installed, the influence of things that even she does not understand will doom her people, and perhaps Lolth herself.
Even the Druids of the Nurtured Path hesitate to embrace the life giving waters as the soul source to keep the Veined Desert from reuniting. When a world receives a river with the name Miskatonic, that river has a doorway that makes the Far Realm look tame.
Falumisk to Brainery to University
Somewhere lost in history, but not long after humans began spreading across the continents, a school of eldritch magic called the Falumisk was formed only two leagues from the hellgate. It is said that the practices of these humans were depraved and disgusting to the point the elves of the time killed all within the Falumisk, but the actual truth is lost to time for humanity, and the elves are not talking.
The ruins of the school languished for over untold years, until after the Drowian Wars when Lothian Drow used threats against the Gromish town of Clincherville to access a cave system just past the base of the town's hilltop. These Lolthian Drow scavenged and later rebuilt the school as they tunneled and teleported to places that would eventually become outposts and the Lolthian Vault. A century later when the bulk of the Cult of Lolth moved on, a Drow Matron Mother became the first Magister of the Miskatonic Brainery for Eldritch Fortification. After a century, the gnomes were again appoached by the drow with both bullying and bribes - despite that the original Clincherville was abandoned and the town moved over twenty miles north. After push from the gnomes of Clincherville, it was negotiated that "New" Clincherville would be left alone while selected families of the town would return to the original Clincherville to work on behalf of the rebranded Miskatonic University. Prime targets were humans and goblinkind of the continent, offering access to dark secrets, outer lore and spells for the right price and loyalty.
Admission to Miskatonic U Today:
As it has been said, those who seek knowledge may deliver up more value to those providing it, than any knowledge gained. This is the case for the students of Miskatonic, for those who want to learn more than what many other magic knowledge institutions offer will get much more than gold and magic items. Miskatonic University today still retains it's same goals and methods to serve the Lolthian Drow in regaining control of the entire Drow population on Grage. The teaching methods, practices and classes have changed over the decades, but the goal of recruitment and indoctrination remains mainly intact, with the only recent significant change being bringing high elves into the fold..
Regarding the curriculum, the standard entry level set of classes would include several cantrip courses (assuming that the DM allows cantrip swapping) and different spell school classes of first and second level which are divided primarily (but not always) by spellcaster class. Tutelage includes older incantations (Mordant Arcana) that were altered by the spellplague, but not Outer Mythos Arcana unique to the university. Entry level admission prices can vary, depending on the race, creed and country since these Lolthian Drow are seeking agents and information to further Lolth's agenda. So a human from Chauntless may have to pay 200 gold for six months of schooling, while a Grung from the Fatherlands may be admitted for the same term at a token fee of 15 gold. Schooling at this point is determined by the DM. The D&D Strixhaven book gives a somewhat basic structure of a university of magic: Harry Potter style, but a large amount of 3rd party books/PDFs exist that provide an excellent campaign infrastructure.
Secrets for Loyalty
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Knowledge Taught
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Fobidden Magic
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