Thallen Watchtower

The Thallen watchtowers are massive stone towers of ancient origin, and they can be found nearly anywhere. Whether deep in a forest, perched atop a mountain, standing on the edge of a desert, or even miles out to sea; these towers are all identical in size, shape, and construction. How they were constructed, or what their original purpose was has been lost to history, but what is known is that they are all of ancient origin.

Basic Construction

Each of the twelve floors has a celling of just under ten feet in height. There is an enclosed spiral stairway in the center of the tower, which goes from the ground floor up to the twelfth. A narrow stairway continues along the outer wall to a wooden door leading onto the roof. There are no windows on the first two floors. Starting on the third floor, there are bow slots set into the walls. These cross-shaped openings have a heavy wooden "door" that can be put into the opening, and can be pinned to secure it shut. Bow slots are also found on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors; also with fitted closures. There are no openings on the seventh floor, but small grilled windows (with hinged, interior shutters) are found on the eighth through eleventh floors.

There are small metal grates in the floors and ceilings of all but the top and bottom floors. The first floor has gratings in the celling adjacent to the center column/stairs. The second floor has floor grates from the floor below, and celling grates along the outer periphery. The floor/celling grates thus alternate between inner and outer vents.

Furnishings

While no one is really sure if these towers had any sort of "original" furnishings, most that are found seem to have a similar layout. At least part of the first floor (and occasionally parts of the second and perhaps even third) were used for storage. There is commonly a large table on the second or third floor, and often a bookcase as well. There will usually be an armory on the sixth floor (if only one), or smaller armories on the fourth and ninth. Bunks or cots tend to be found on the fourth through eleventh floors, although sleeping areas on the eleventh seem less common. The twelfth floor commonly is used for storage for whenever men on the roof might need (heavy fur robes in cooler climates, foul weather equipment in rainy ones, etc.). Large footlockers are exceptionally rare, as is anything that could not be carried up the stairway in one piece (it is thought that the large tables and bookshelves were built wherever they are found).

Defense

The towers are proof against almost any and all natural destruction, having survived hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and even volcanic eruptions. Non-magical weapons cannot even scratch the tower. They are also proof against disintegrate, polymorph, and even wish. It cannot be dispelled, and spells such as dimension door and passwall either fail outright, or will create a passage that leads to the opposite outside wall. Scrying spells will not pass through the walls of the tower, and any sort of teleport will either act as if it were a False destination, or the caster will land on the teleportation circle on top of the tower. The inscribed sigils on the top of the tower do not appear to resolve to a valid destination. A portion of the sigils are identical on all of these towers (roughly a third of the glyphs in the sequence are common to all Thallen Watchtowers).

Quick Facts

Height: 127 feet (first floor to top of merlons)
Diameter: 71 feet, 5 inchs (at base)
Wall thickness: 10 feet, 8 inches (at base)
Number of flooors: 12

Type

Tower, Guard

Scrying spells will not pass through the walls of the tower, but anyone inside the tower can freely scry on any interior portion of the tower. The top of the tower is considered outside for purposes of scrying.

For all intents and purposes, the interior of a Thallen Watchtower can be considered another plane of existance.