Magic of Ustalav

[Ravingdork]

Lost Omens Travel Guide 75 wrote:

The crown jewel of fear and suspicion around magic belongs to Ustalav. Its people, particularly outside its capital of Caliphas, treat spellcasters with the same distrust they do anything unfamiliar. Aside from Pharasmin clerics, openly practicing magic—especially occult magic—makes anyone a potential target for suspicion and slander. Incidents of necromancy, strange behavior, or otherwise seemingly magical occurrences inevitably prompt someone to point a finger at known spellcasters, leading many Ustalavic spellcasters to practice their arts quietly.

Uh, isn't there a magical university in Ustalav?

[Scarablob]

I'm guessing it's regularly raided by scared townsfolk armed with torches and pitchforks. Or it's hidden in some ways.

But ustalav being "gothic horror land", it couldn't not include paranoid villagers that look upon any scholar and outsider with fears, since half these story have these people be innocent victim of mob justice, and the other half have these people be secret monsters that feed on the people or unleash horrible things upon the world.

[Elfteiroh]

My hometown has an university, but it's people are infamous for being very "anti-intellectual" since a long time ago.
I see no contradiction here. :P

[mortalheraldnyx]

Dunno if you mean the University of Lepidstadt, but they seem to focus more on electricity and medicine due to, again, the Gothic horror influences. Some alchemy seeps in too, but they don't really seem to teach magic in the way that, say, the Magaambya or Cobyslarni.

Also, from a recent blog post: "The University of Lepidstadt blazes at the forefront of discovery, heedless of any obstacles or objections. Even the religious and cultural strictures of Ustalav only drive Lepidstadt’s experiments with crackling Stasian coils and reanimation of the flesh into hiding." Sooo, very much sounds like a 'can't be accused of illicit magic if we hide the experimentation in the basement' sort of deal.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

To be fair, the University of Lepidstadt HAS had wizards as professors like the late Petros Lorrimor (IT'S BEEN 13 YEARS, HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THIS CHARACTER'S NAME WAS AN HOMAGE TO BELOVED HORROR FILM STAR PETER LORRE THIS WHOLE TIME?!).

[Cori Marie]

Also to be fair, there's a high likelihood that if Carrion Crown were written today, Lorrimor would not be a wizard (especially since NPCs aren't built that way in 2E really)