Long before Bogmire University existed, the castle was known as Aresteras (AIR-us-TAIR-us), a fortified stronghold that played an important role in the Old War.
Aresteras became the headquarters of those who opposed Vex, the Demigod of Death, whose forces sought to destroy magical knowledge and bring the magical world under his control. Books and scrolls were burned, scholars were persecuted, and entire collections of magical knowledge disappeared during the conflict.
The stronghold eventually fell. Queen Isbel, who led the opposition against Vex, was turned to stone during the battle, and Aresteras was overtaken by his forces. The catacombs beneath the fortress were converted into a prison, where many of Vex’s enemies were held during the remaining years of the war.
Vex was ultimately defeated, but Aresteras never recovered. The fortress was abandoned, and over the centuries its towers, halls, and courtyards fell into ruin. Much of the magical knowledge lost during the war remained lost with it. Surviving books and scrolls were scattered throughout the world, often hidden away in private collections or forgotten entirely.
That began to change with Leander Lazarus and Darius Drak.
The two pioneering mages believed the magical world needed more than another repository for old books. It needed a place where surviving knowledge could be collected, studied, preserved, and passed on to future generations. Together, they restored the ruins of Aresteras and established a school within its walls.
Bogmire University was born.
The University took its name from the marshland that had grown around the abandoned fortress. From its earliest years, Bogmire welcomed students from across the magical world and from many different magical traditions. Its purpose was not only to preserve what had survived the Old War, but to continue expanding magical knowledge through study, experimentation, and scholarship.
Much of the original fortress still survives beneath and within the University. The old catacombs remain below the castle, while sealed passages and forgotten rooms continue to be discovered throughout the grounds. Rumors persist of an even greater secret: the Arcanatorium, a hidden library said to contain magical works believed lost during the Old War.
Not every part of the old fortress has been reclaimed. Several towers remain inaccessible, due in part to dangerous gargoyles and bats of unusual size.
One of Bogmire’s most remarkable features was added during its transformation into a university. Through an enchanted dial and key at the main gate, the entire campus can shift between the Otherworld and a location in the Moorlands of Northern Ireland in the Human World. The arrangement was intended to encourage scholarship, travel, and diplomacy between the two worlds.
As a result, Bogmire has developed one of the most diverse student bodies of any magical institution. Humans study alongside elves, gnomes, dwarves, fairies, and countless others who come to Bogmire from throughout the Otherworld and beyond.
The University’s motto, Scientia dentes habet, translates to “Knowledge has teeth.” The phrase dates to Bogmire’s earliest years and is traditionally associated with the survival of magical knowledge after the Old War.
Today, Bogmire University is considered one of the world’s foremost institutions of magical education. What began as an effort to recover knowledge nearly destroyed by war has grown into a center of magical scholarship, discovery, and tradition.
And beneath its classrooms, towers, and libraries, parts of old Aresteras are still waiting to be found.