Tower at Dromund Peak

The Horrors of this tower began with Vhaskus, but they didn't end there...

I've been there, you know.

Dromund.

Yeah, I got held over the summer floods of '81. They do something weird then. I think it's a scare tactic, but it's so hard to tell. When you challenge the Internment Office... Well, they turned the pumps off. You could hear them stop.

Even though the water was over the top of us and there was no way out. They turned them off. They let us watch the water start to rise from the lower floors. And they... They assured us that they'd block off the sections once the water got bad enough. They said the lower floors already had.

When they locked me in, they said they'd unlock me when the waters dropped. Assuming that they did. I... Couldn't take it. I snitched, bailed, gave them everything. They never touched me, but they instilled such a terror.

So yeah, I've been there.

To Dromund.

It's horrible, and I never even got to the lower floors.

— Tales of Dromund

Tower at Dromund Peak (Pre-Orcish Incursion) by JeeZ

The Craggy top of the Dromund Peak stares down into it's associated crater. The site of an ancient act of cataclysmic destruction that some say aided in the sinking of the Southern Floodlands. A hole that some say has cracks that rival the depths of the Sea of Hearts. Yet, it has been largely smoothed by time. Within this ancient crater is a tower of some regard.

Built out of the blackest of diorite, the Tower stands tall enough for someone standing on the upmost floor to see over the lip of the crater and for the lowest floor to only see the sun during a brief point of mid-day. Not that someone on the lowest floor could hope of seeing the sky. No, the crater itself is almost constantly filled with a vast amount of water. Filled from run-off and topped off by the Yearly floods, this keeps the majority of the tower submerged and inescapable. The doorways and balconies of the various floors are all carefully sealed against the pervasive elements.



The construction is reminiscent of the many walled cities of Forkden, leading any experienced mason to attribute it's construction to those that followed Vhaskus. In fact, following those rumors finds a bit of truth as records carved in the walls of the Tower attribute it to being built for Vhaskus to coalesce within during his descent into lichdom. And then again as he made his sacrifices to MerGus, the lost thoughts for his blessing of demi-godhood.

Even while Vhaskus is said to have departed the tower long before the Fourth Fleet of Iwa landed on the shores of the Dytikan Coast, it retained an active Orcish compliment of OwkZugai as an honorary guard. This compliment of warrior-priests kept the tower whole with constant maintenance and use. Setting up new traps as word of them came through the tower and finding entertainment in the region. At least, until Hongden swept through the Southern Floodlands and eradicated those living there. After which, the tower was abandoned to the wastes of the Floodlands. The tower wasn't re-discovered until a survey for a water-proof Rail System passed through the region.

The tribe that inhabited this tower were known as the "OwkZugai". According to recovered records, the Tower was a central location for the organization, where new members grew up and were trained to be the bearers of a long tradition. The OwkZugai were bodyguards, personal servants and consorts to Vhaskus. As well as being devout priests of MerGus, the lost thoughts. Even after the abandonment of the tower, the organization is thought to have existed until at least The Orcish Incursion.

The water-proof rails were never built, especially following the calamity that was the Funeral March and the intense technological recession that followed it. However, the water-logged tower wasn't forgotten. The rooms were cleared in the following years and a small trading community sprang up, mustering the intrigue of the underwater tower to make it a solid community fueled by trade. And it remained that way for the longest period of time. New additions being constructed and new floors and secrets unearthed every so often.

But all good things come to an end. When the orcish tide that made up The Orcish Incursion made it to the depths of the Floodlands, they forcibly reclaimed the Tower, slaughtering the traders and demolishing the inferior additions to the masonry. This new breed of OwkZugai was ousted themselves mere years after as Forkden forced their way in and banished the last of the orcs in their land.

During the incursion, the Internment Offices had lost their main base of operations, and so claimed the Tower for themselves.

The Sunken Tower that none escape.

The Tower holds it's own in a mix of notoriety and obscurity. Those that know of the Sunken Tower shudder at it's mention, while those that don't think of what those words could mean. For the Sunken Tower is the construction of a Mad Lich, filled with traps and unreal things. Said to contain cells for thousands and torture devices that can make any man scream.

None escape the Sunken Tower.

Outer Architecture

The Tower is vaguely pyramidal in shape, with the base being many times the size of the final top-most floor. Each floor acts as a balcony for the floor above, making a staggered descent capable when the crater is emptied of water. The doors that lead inwards are round, made of metal, and sealed with ancient heavy clamps that keep water from flowing through the tower.

Each level has various fashions of mooring for boats, Airships and other types of vehicles. Only the top-most levels have windows, and those are small and slotted. Built to be impermeable, built to resist the insatiable forces of nature.

Inner Architecture

Those few that have entered the Tower describe it as not unlike a ship in construction. It has holds and various portions dedicated to pumps that lead out of the Tower. Magic lights the hallways and every ten feet there is a bulkhead with a new massive doorway with clamps to seal off the rest of the tower. The floors themselves are labyrinthine. As in, they are maze-like. Built to help defenders defend, or to entrap those within?

Each Level has as many sealed bulkheads as they do open ones. And prisoners are never stored in the same cells twice. The Tower is the perfect prison, impermeable and nearly inescapable.

Alternative Names

The Sunken Tower, The Tower of Internment, The Resort of Vhaskus

Type

Tower, Water

Parent Location

Dromund Peak

Owning Organization

Forkden

Escaping the Tower

By the official records, no one has ever made an unsanctioned departure from the depths of the Sunken Tower. However, every lowlife knows someone who claims to have heard of an escape or two.

Where are these quotes from?

The Tales of Dromund were written from collated interviews just after the turn of the 12th century. The government of Forkden issued a comment on the work; stating that it was full of unsubstantiated slander. Of course, that made everyone want to read it.