Wahlannde Suleyk

"Yer in luck, boy. Climb this ridge quickly now, there's a wee break in the clouds comin', and unless my recollection's off ye'll be able to see clear to the top of the Worldspike. A rare gift, that. Spent my whole life in these mountains, only seen it twice before. Best omen ye'll find, I guarantee it. First time I saw it was only hours before I met his lordship and he gave me my freedom. I've worked it out since, and I swear the second time I laid eyes on it was near to the moment when my daughter Jess was born, may Lynna ease her crossing. Don't ye worry none if ye don't believe in such things: ye soon will. Besides... the sight is mighty worthy all on its own."

— Steven of Highcrossing, moments before his charge was revealed to be his daughter, returned alive

Purpose / Function

The oldest and greatest of wizard's towers sits atop the world's largest intersection of leylines, making its construction enormously more difficult due to their arcane influence, but now that it is completed provides enormous benefits to the surrounding area, the tower, and those inside it. Linking such a large nexus of leylines has essentially welded two continental shelves together, greatly reducing the incidence of earthquakes in what was once a very seismically dangerous area and reinforcing the tower by making it the linchpin, for all intents and purposes a fixed point. The tower constantly channels the leylines' energy through its foundation, monitoring the flow of magic throughout the world even as it siphons power into its upper reaches for use by its masters.
The tower is the primary research venue for the Wizards of Wahlann, housing dozens of libraries, alchemy labs, and other arcane facilities, while also serving as the headquarters and primary way-station for their more outwardly focused members. Finally, it also carries out the more mundane functions required of a structure filled with so many souls: it has living spaces, common areas, dining locations, storage, etc.

Alterations

None are known, but the tower has stood far longer than the memory of the mortal races extends and the wizards do not share their records with outsiders under any circumstances.

Architecture

Wahlannde Suleyk pierces a full kilometer into the heavens, making it the tallest man-made construction in the known world. It is a hexagonal based pyramid that changes in material and construction as it reaches ever skyward. The base of the tower appears to be carved from a single grey stone and merges perfectly with the ground; what was once a mountain has been carved away, leaving only the tower. This section bears thousands of runes and arcane circles carved into its sides, the most famous of which is the Seal of Wahlannde Suleyk, a circle of ancient text carved into the rock just above the ending of the path leading to the tower. The circle appears to change in size based on its beholder, and legend states that for those who know its secrets, it serves as the only entrance to the tower.

The next section begins almost four hundred meters up, and appears crystalline in structure. The walls here are perfectly smooth and colored a slightly translucent blue streaked with purple that seems to glow at night. The crystal continues upwards for around three hundred meters, reaching a total height of seven hundred meters before giving way to two hundred meters of white marble decorated in the ancient sun elf style, littered with columns and statues of what are assumed to be important figures of the era in which the tower was raised, perhaps even the original members of its namesake organization.

With exactly one hundred meters left to rise, the tower abruptly transitions into a brilliant silvery metal theorized to be platinum or even mithril. The metal cap of Wahlannde Suleyk is unadorned, nearly featureless in comparison to the tower's vibrant lower sections. At its very peak, the six sides converge to a point so sharp, it's rumored to have pierced the hide of an ancient dragon trying to roost there in ages past. The top of the tower is often above the cloud layer, leading to many superstitions in the surrounding area about what it portends when the sky is clear enough for the gleaming metal to show through.

History

For as far back as mortal memory can reach the Worldspike has been the headquarters, laboratory, and home of the Wizards of Wahlann. The wizards are known to serve a master known as Cilnethi Glearthumnal Leanvina, but it has never been clear whether this is a god, a person, or a title. Mysterious as they are, they remain one of the most powerful organizations in the world and the oldest by far, being the only one known to have continued uninterrupted through the Dark Ages.

Its more common sobriquet is a source of continual amusement to the inhabitants of the tower, and fuels more than a few good-natured jokes at the expense of the Orsskan in their number. It's really not their fault that their accent makes the words sound like "world spike" and it was just the luck of the draw that the wizard the world remembers was fresh off the boat, so to speak. In any case, the name stuck; now it's too common and frankly too apt for even widespread knowledge of the original name to dislodge it.

The tower itself has stood through seven Great Demon Wars, once weathering a siege commanded by Molvan the Breaker for over a decade. Wahlannde Suleyk bears the marks of these and countless other conflicts, but is as structurally sound as the day it was raised. In fact, it is commonly thought that its scars make it even grander.

Alternative Names

Worldspike

Type

Tower, Mage

Parent Location

Ostder Mountains

Owning Organization

Wizards of Wahlann