The Tower and Village of Ovas

The Tower of Ovas is legendary among the wizards and tale-spinners of Elion for its unusual magical defenses, including a magical hedge maze that surrounds it.
The wizard Ovas was an extraordinary figure. Beginning as a lowly adventurer, he traveled across Elion and beyond. His work focused on conjuration and elemental evocation, so he often kept elementals and genies for company.
Ovas prized solitude, so he designed his tower and its surrounding hedge maze to deter intruders and unwanted visitors. Over a century ago, the wizard kicked his apprentices out and sealed the tower. No one knows what Ovas has been up to in the intervening decades, or whether he’s even still alive. Some think he must have become a lich, while others believe he’s just dead. All that’s certain is that the hedge maze remains a frustrating barrier, and the spells and wards protecting the tower against entry remain as powerful as ever.
Spreading out along the edge of the hedge maze is a village, called The Village of Ovas. The settlement began as a place where Ovas’ many apprentices established homes of their own. As years passed, more settlers were drawn to the area as word spread that the wizard and his apprentices offered excellent protection against marauding orcs and monsters. The village is smaller now than in the tower’s heyday, but about three hundred people still live there.
The locals are friendly enough, but they’re wary of strangers who ask too many questions about the tower. Things were quiet there for a long time, but for almost a year now, the villagers have seen lights through the windows at night and heard unearthly sounds. A few claim to have seen a blue dragon lingering in the sky high above. Some villagers scoff at that idea, but everyone agrees that the tower has been reoccupied. Once the villagers are satisfied that travellers haven’t come to lay waste to the tower (fearing that an all-out battle would likely destroy the village too), they are interested in talking of little else besides who could be inside. The most popular theories are that Ovas has returned or has awakened as a lich, or that one of the genies and elementals he once imprisoned finally broke free of its restraints but remains trapped inside the tower.
The villagers warn travellers sternly about the danger of entering the maze. Few who enter it ever come back out, and those who do come out are much worse for wear. Even animals and birds avoid the maze. The tower and the maze are protected by brilliantly crafted wishes cast by Ovas. The tower is impervious to all scrying and divination, and invulnerable against all forms of attack and alteration. Approaching through the maze and overcoming the puzzles designed by Ovas is the only way to get inside.

Type

Village

Location under

The Republic of Siressa