The Anatomical Academy
Since the mutilation of corpses is regarded as anathema in many civilizations,
this secret organization exists to spread the detailed knowledge of the human
body and to provide its members with fresh cadavers on which to practice. The
hierarchy consists mainly of Anatomists, but the Order is open to all wizards,
priests, healers, or surgeons with knowledge of interest in anatomy.
Members of the Academy meet for secret lectures or conventions in secluded
warehouses, dungeons, or even the abandoned classrooms of a university. They
maintain frequent contact through private correspondence, magical spells, and
enchanted devices. The Academy also has established a network of contacts with local
authorities, usually located at cemeteries, morgues, prisons, and poorhouses,
to deliver cadavers to subscribing members. Once these bodies have been
magically embalmed by the Academy’s field agents (low-level Anatomists), the cadavers can be
transported over large-distances by mundane means (usually ship or wagon). In
extremis, the corpses can be animated and disguised to facilitate transport, but such methods carry the danger of
attracting too much attention. The Academy strives to keep a low profile or risk
the swift condemnation (and perhaps persecution) by the most conservative and
righteous (lawful good) members of society.
The Academy is basically a neutral organization that exists merely to
facilitate the collection and dissemination of necromantic knowledge. Bodies are
accepted at the back door for polite thanks, a sack of gold, and no questions. They
have absolutely no interest in learning about the identity of their new
“specimen.” Some scrupulous Anatomists insist that their corpses must have died a
natural death, but other less-principled individuals merely require that their
merchandise be “essentially intact.” It is not uncommon for murderers to dispose of
an unwanted body by selling it the Academy. The organization frequently hires
rogues and adventurers to establish new contacts with potential sources of
cadavers and also to transport large shipments of harvested corpses to its most
secluded members.
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