The Last Standing Tower

Written by Kilroy

My Grandfather was a brave and honest man. He worked in his fields all day, and found Grandma's smile to be the greatest blessing a man could receive. He said he had no need for chests and keys, for his most precious things were playing outside, and he called them Sons. He ran away from the city, and thought the evil things he saw were past. Then, when I was young, a shadow reached us from the North, and the City's demons lured their victims one by one. Drinkers, Gamblers, Traitors, Perverts. All fell like cards, fooled by the shiny coin and the sparkling wine. I was asked for help, and the more I used my magic the more suspicious they became. People didn't heal, and blamed my kind to be the the reason for their suffering. Until, eventually, the siege began. We tried to gain time, but soon the Time passed, and our hearts did stop. I was sick and tired. Sickened by the still rain water, and tired of the tasteless taste of conjured food. I spent here three months alone, cuddling myself to sleep, ignoring the screeching crowd underneath my window. Nights were cold, and darkness embraced this tower, already painted dark gray by her stones. Eight settlers were killed under my watch. They were faces among the crowd last year, nobody I knew personally, but were the only ones I had left beside me. They're all dead. Some fell, some jumped, one was shot down, and one starved. How ironic, starving just to end up feeding the crows. But I won't feed them. I promised I would have made it, that I would have brought peace back to this kingdom, and I will accomplish my mission. Not in the way I wanted, not in the way I could make it out alive, but in a way. The prey, hidden in its nest, ready to fall, will become the living nightmare haunting their last sleepless night. The wings of smoke will carry their lost souls where they belong, and I shall reach my ancestors in peace, knowing that my last days of shame were repaid. Good night, dear reader. Tell the World this had been my Gift, for the town carrying its name.

These were the words found in a crystal sphere, last artifact recovered from the blackened ruins of the unknown castle, south towards the mouth of river Caval. The night before the First day of Spring, the young mage heard the boulders falling, and he knew that it was only a matter of hours. For an entire year he and his companions planned a way to cleanse their land and banish the Demons from the town, but all of them have failed. That night, the glum boy looked up and raised his hands to the cloudy sky, and spoke the words he used to fear. The wind became warm, a sinister laugh filled the air, and the crowd went silent. The grim dragon soared through the sky, and circled the Tower once, to petrify his victims. The ones below the walls knew they had no chance, and they rushed in all directions, bumping and falling and stepping one over the other. These were the first to be cleansed by the green blaze, lit beneath the Tower. The ones inside remained silent and hoped that the mage would have spared them, and called his Beast to retrieve. But no master was known to the dragon, and this was perching on top of the Tower, cracking the wooden planks. Its majestic wings closed on its spiked back as dark as tar; its purple chest was shown as it drew a deep breath, and the eyes gleamed like stars of jade above the young mage's head. In a moment, the cone of flames pierced through each layer, slaying each man and woman left inside the Tower. At last, peace was brought back, and the pale Moon grinned above the ruins of Gift and the Last Standing Tower.

Purpose / Function

Once part of a great and impregnable castle, this tower is all that's left of a region fell under the weakness of Man. The stones are blackened and covered by creepers; the thick walls are either in ruin or hidden by barracks, arranged by the intruders; the fields all around look like cemeteries and the river sobs like a widow's chant. That's the image you could see, if you were the one living on the top of this tower. A rough wooden structure was added, in order to gain more room and use this place as a home. Home for the last mage of the kingdom, sieged by the inhabitants of this forsaken land, now demanding the mage's head. This young boy has been living between these walls for a year now, and all hope is lost. The Last Tower still standing, will be the tomb for this mage, during the days of his Last Stand, the first days of Spring.

Entries

There was no way into this tower, only a way out: the void. The door below was blocked by boulders, and the wooden structure was the only safe place left in the World for the 9 settlers still untouched by Evil.

Contents & Furnishings

As one could imagine, the settlers did not carry that much on the Tower. They needed a laboratory, where the mage could study the Evil and a way to stop its demons; they needed books, where the mage could read a solution; they needed food, for the food conjured by the young mage was tasteless; and finally they needed rags, where they could all finally rest at night.

Alterations

The square-based tower was once the highest place of this castle, which name is bound to be forgotten. One year before the events of the First Day of Spring, the young mage, helped by the last survivors of the castle, sealed the bottom entrance to this tower with massive boulders. Before that, they gathered every possible book they could gather, and as much material as they could carry. With planks and nails (and a bit of magic) they replaced the old pointy roof with a wooden structure big enough to shelter them all, for a while at least. There were eight civilians, with no food nor water, but the young mage was there to help. They built some bookshelves, a small laboratory and a stair to reach the half-upper floor, designed for the rag-piles that shall be called beds. The sloping roof could be open, in order for the smoke to exit, when the mage and his assistants would be preparing potions in the big cauldron set in the middle of the floor. Red, green and purple flames painted the large window of the wooden structure, now a nest on top of the Last Tower.

Architecture

The Tower has a squared base, ad it is made of stones gathered from the banks of the river or the rock formation facing south, towards the river mouth. It was built a few years before the events of the First Day of Spring, when the young mage was the last dweller inside of it. Primarily a status symbol, it served as a watch-tower perching on the left bottom corner of this castle, built and upgraded during the decades by the Men came down the River.

History

Before the events of the First Day of Spring, the region was green with grass and trees, and yellow for the wheat. The river fed these land and was called Caval, and the first town was named Gift, since the Men were tired and short on hope before laying their eyes on her soil. These settlers stopped to build their own farms, far from the dirty cities where men usually lived. A time of peace began, and these people were light-hearted and well-fed. Of course, evil was always lurking either in the woods around, or swimming down the river, causing the richest folks to decide and begin the construction of this castle. For a century they managed to create a place where children could run and swim, catch bugs and sleep outside, without ever fearing the Man behind those city walls, frames for the filthy streets covered in blood and sins. The farms were made of solid wood offered by the ancient trees of the forest, and protected by the new castle built between the river and the rocks which embraced the southern face of the land. The castle of Ryan, Boar-Tamer. He was the first ruler proclaimed after the construction was over, but his name will soon be forgotten.

RUINED STRUCTURE
The First Day of Spring

Alternative Names

The Blackened Tower

Type

Tower, Mage