Academy of Stargazers

The Stargazer Academy was an all-female school for astrology and magic in the mid–14 century DR.

Base of Operations
The Stargazer Academy was formerly based in Waterdeep. The organization later moved to Castle Naerytar in the Mere of Dead Men.

History
After leaving Zazesspur, Adele Astrolara formed a small academy in Waterdeep to share her knowledge of magic and astrology. She maintained the school there for several years until the mysterious disappearance of one of her students, who was also the daughter of a powerful noble family.

Seeking a new place where she could conduct her business in more privacy, Adele heard of the work of Sir Justin Melenikus in the Mere of Dead Men and of the abandoned Castle Naerytar in the swamps. Adele and her group of wizard-students cleared the castle of a tribe of bullywugs and moved in. Soon after, she hired a group of workers from Waterdeep to clean and repair parts of the castle and to build a road from the High Road to the academy.

Starmistress Adele brought with her materials she acquired in Skullport to transform a dome in the castle into a magical viewing hemisphere to study the stars and secretly spy on the surrounding area. She also had a magical telescope, the Farseer of Illusk, brought to the academy and set it up in the domed room turned observatory.

Of particular note was the discovery by some her students of the celestial event known as the Eye of Myrkul, which would trigger other events in the Mere.

The Academy of Stargazers remained in the Mere of Dead Men for several years until it mysteriously disappeared and left Castle Naerytar abandoned once again, as it was by the 1480s DR.

Rules of the Academy
There were several rules established by Adele and posted in every room of the Academy. Foremost amongst these rules was that every member of the academy had to be female. Adele had her own reasons for this that only she knew. Other rules involved the order and discipline required of all students and visitors alike. Some of these rules included that no student could leave the Academy unless dismissed by the Starmistress and all members must remain chaste. The rules also outlined dress codes, promotions, and disciplinary actions.

Each student was required to swear an oath to adhere to all of the rules or face expulsion. Their families were also required to sign an agreement that waived their rights to remove their family member from the Academy. Upon reaching a high enough level of mastery, members were also required to swear an oath of allegiance to the Mistress and a vow of chastity.

Members
Membership in the Academy of Stargazers was broken down as follows from top to bottom with known members of each rank listed (as of the mid–14 century DR):


 * Starmistress:
 * The head of the academy, which was Adele Astrolara


 * Star-sister:
 * Students who had achieved significant experience as arcane spellcasters and stayed on to become teachers.


 * Almeira
 * Bernadette
 * Hendris
 * Pernasia


 * Stargazer:
 * Students who had achieved the same level of arcane prowess and decided to leave the academy. Such former students did not have to swear the oath of allegiance to the Starmistress, but did have to swear to come to the aid of the Academy and were expected to send potential recruits and money to it.


 * Melissa
 * Four unnamed Stargazers throughout the Realms


 * Star-child:
 * The novices of the academy. Life was often full of hard work, hard study, and harder discipline for these students.


 * Basheeba
 * Carnice
 * Danielle
 * Emily
 * Helen
 * Hirakkala
 * Kristal
 * Rhoda
 * Rizmet
 * Zorien


 * Academy guards:
 * Though not students at the Academy, there were two female guards who were expected to follow many of the same rules as the members.


 * Julianne
 * Shadra

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dungeon #72: "Mistress on the Mere"