Witherbloom

Witherbloom is the College of Essence Studies at Strixhaven University on the plane of Arcavios. It is aligned and uses Pests as mascots. The founder of the college is the elder dragon Beledros Witherbloom.

Description
Witherbloom is the natural sciences college of Strixhaven. Their magic centers on life gain. They draw power from the essence of living beings, whether that means enhancing nature or exploiting it. Witherbloom mages are most at home riding zombie crocs, picking herbs for potions, and hanging out in their swamp making grim jokes.

The Witherbloom college has its students draw power from opposing and rival forces, with the best example being life and death - their conflict is based on whether existence is driven by the propagation of the species (green magic) or escaping the clutch of death (black magic). These spells are crafted using natural components like the essence of living creatures or herbs. While many students use their powers for the greater good - like defending the ecosystem from pollution and/or harmful forces - the college motto of "Get Your Hands Dirty" certainly applies to students who use their abilities for death and corruption.

Colors Dichotomy
Black Black mages of Witherbloom focus on exploiting life energy for their powerful witchcraft. Ritualists, bleed doctors, pestcatchers, dissectors, and vein witches squeeze the essence out of crumbling living creatures to fuel powerful dark spells. Banelocks and cauldron-weirds use foul concoctions of noxious ingredients to weave withering curse magic. Bloodstirrers, skullmancers, dreadbones, and other necromancers infuse dead tissue with magic to do their bidding. The Vampire, Valentin, is the black-aligned dean of Witherbloom.

Green Green mages of Witherbloom focus on encouraging life energy to blossom and grow. Herbalists, boon witches, and leafbinders use medicinal herbs to soothe wounds and empower living creatures. Earthcrouchers, mudmasks, and bayou druids connect directly with the land, literally getting low and touching the living bog of Sedgemoor, to power their nature magic. Boughcallers, trudge gardeners, and pest wardens summon bog creatures and harvest the microlife that dwells upon them. Lisette, a Human Druid, is Witherbloom's green-aligned dean.

Mascots
Witherbloom mages need life essence in order to channel their magic, and the creatures that most frequently do the job are simply called pests. Pests are salamander-like, generally irritating creatures that dissolve readily into magical power for Witherbloom spells. Most mages outside of Witherbloom think of pests as awful creatures: they are disagreeable, hissing, spiky, untrainable monsters that bite without hesitation. But Witherbloom mages often carry pests around, doting on them as pets—pets that also serve as convenient sources of life essence.

College Locations

 * The bayou area that encompasses the Witherbloom campus. Sedgemoor is known for a range of strange swamp beasts: undead animals, bats, crocodilian monsters, decomposing bayoustriders called trudges, and marsh-dwelling canine beasts called bogroffs. Sedgemoor is an excellent place to find pests, herbs, spidersilk, fungi, and other potent ingredients for potions and spells. Necroluminescence is common among the undead creatures of Sedgemoor, giving the midnight swamp an eerie glow.


 * The center of the Witherbloom campus is Widdershins Hall, a kind of bog mansion that looks like it was grown out of Sedgemoor itself. Widdershins is a network of interconnected wooden pods with planked walkways leading out of it like the tentacles of some kind of swamp creature. Widdershins Hall has a cozy inner chamber where professors bring together student witches for classwork.


 * The Detention Bog is a stinking, thoroughly unpleasant marshland adjacent to the Sedgemoor, plagued by cantankerous creatures called vineclingers. Witherbloom professors send misbehaving students here as punishment, but it's also an excellent place to gather herbs for certain powerful cures and curses.


 * Witch's Clinic, Witherbloom’s medical facilities.

Witherbloom Majors
• Agriculture

• Alchemy/Arcanochemistry

• Anatomy

• Botany

• Biology

• Biophilosophy

• Chemistry

• Ecology

• Entomology

• Food Science

• Geology/Mineralogy

• Genetics

• Herbology

• Life Sciences

• Medicine

• Meteorology

• Necromantic Arts

• Paleontology

• Zoology

Founder Dragon

 * Beledros Witherbloom

Deans

 * Valentin (Black)
 * Lisette (Green)

Professors

 * Liliana Vess (originally as Professor Onyx)
 * Tivash
 * Willowdusk
 * Yedora

Other

 * Gyome (Chef)
 * Blex (Pest)

Known Students

 * Dina

Associated races

 * Dryads
 * Elfs
 * Humans
 * Treefolk
 * Trolls
 * Vampires
 * Pests