Mrelgaunt's Turret
In a wooded ravine northeast of Everlund, above a small, nameless stream, floats a foresters' landmark few have seen. Mrelgaunt's Turret is a crumbling tower lacking its lower levels - they've fallen away to leave the upper floors held aloft by enchantments that could fail at any time.
Once the home of the reclusive, studious wizard Mrelgaunt, the Turret is today a haunted ruin. The collapse of its lower levels happened almost a century ago, of unknown causes.
The few adventuring bands who've reached the floating tower report that unseen Mrelgaunt, now a ghost, whispers fell secrets to those who venture into his uppermost room. No civilized beings dwell nearby, and the wild forest and rugged topography makes sighting the Turret from afar difficult.
The cylindrical Turret is topped by a conical, taper-sloped, slate-shingled roof surmounted by a bare flagstaff. Birds shun the dark, floating tower. They refuse even to fly into it, let alone perch or nest on or in it.
The stones of the Turret's circular foundation are awash in the stream, rising out of the waters like stony fingers to enclose a small, constant whirlpool whose clockwise flow drags down small creatures and stream-borne items, drawing them into the unseen tower cellars. There's no way out but back up through the whirling waters, and there's no air space below. Beside the whirlpool rises the only possible handhold for weak swimmers: a circular stone stair that climbs a few steps up into the air and then breaks off.
Writings preserved in Silverymoon record that Aulstaer Mrelgaunt was born in southern Tethyr of wealthy merchant stock almost four hundred years ago. At an early age he showed a grasp of the Art, wielding magic with astonishing maturity. Certain folk sought to make the boy their servant-mage, but he saw through their ruses and slipped away with a passing caravan, seeking fabled Candlekeep.
What then befell him is lost to scribes, but despite never entering that seashore enclave, Mrelgaunt somehow acquired many tomes of magic, a broad and cultured learning, and a love of research that became the ruling passion of his life; he devoted his time to acquiring knowledge rather than taking an active part in the wider world.
At least the last four decades of Mrelgaunt's life were spent in this tower, studying and modifying spells. Far more than most human mages, he came to understand the ways in which magic harnesses natural forces, enabling him to modify spells "on the fly." It's said that even now, as little more than a voice, he can hurl spells that precisely meet the weaknesses of those who try to despoil his tower or carry away its contents. All accounts agree, however, that the whispering voice in the upper-most room of the Turret seems lonely and eager to speak with those venturing into the ruin, imparting advice rather than seeking battle.
Mrelgaunt's knowledge of passing history ends (with a few exceptions, presumably learned from visitors) about two hundred years ago, when he apparently died or passed into undeath. He gives no coherent answers about his passing or where his magic is stored. Perhaps he no longer knows such things, but he is eager to explain the intricacies of arcane spells of low and middling levels, identify items shown to him, and impart the locations of long-dead sages and caches of lost magic.
He apparently relishes the role of confidant and confessor to wizards who are actively adventuring or grappling with mysteries of magic, and he has carried on friendships with mages for years, sometimes guarding items they leave with him, and in return asking only for news of advances in the Art.
Mrelgaunt can confirm that dwarves (led by a short, red-bearded stonecutter calling himself "Haelburt Downdelve") built the Turret for him and that Mrelgaunt himself cast the spells that preserved it and its furnishings. However, he remains vague about the magic he used. Certain answers he's given in the past suggest he might have forfeited or even traded away such knowledge to achieve undeath -- a fate about which he's similarly cryptic.
Some adventurers say Mrelgaunt never speaks anywhere but in the uppermost room (though his voice can, if he desires, echo down from it, or into the air around the Turret), but his awareness of intruders' actions and movements -- and his spells -- can reach throughout the ruin and for some distance around it in all directions.
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