The Wyrdtower
The Wyrdtower is the tall pillar-like mountain that rises up from the center of the Shimmering Sea, reaching above the clouds. It is impossibly straight, though steps appear to have been carved around it to allow passage along it's side. It is said that these stairs reach all the way to the summit of the Wyrdtower, but none have been verified to reach the top of the pillar since the Empress at the Age of Storms. At points, the ledges are wide enough for entire villages or camps to be built. There are a few communities that reside on these steps, often utilizing the remains of the camps the Empress and her legions built as they fought in the Final Storm against the Mistwalkers.
Geography
Though it looks to be a straight pillar from a distance, when one stands besides the Wyrdtower, they can see that it does still have an incline, if one that is impossibly steep for humans. The diameter of the pillar very gradually decreases, especially on the 'steps' where there is room enough for small villages and camps. Along the side of the pillar are carved 'stairs', though it is more accurate to call it a clearly made trail. At times, there are literal steps carved from stone and rock. At others, it is simply a hill that one must climb. There are caves in the sides of the mountain, and at times a cave will lead to a greater cavern, but as far as any have been able to tell, there is no great system through the mountain. Only pools that may lead to another chamber. As one ascends the Wyrdtower, the Wyrdwinds grow stronger. Those who have climbed to the upper reaches (where the air becomes too thin to continue) say that they have seen impossible things from its height, like rocks that talk and teleport, spiked fish that fly with colorful wings in schools through the air, and armored arthropods that glide upon wind currents, feeding on seemingly the air itself.
Ecosystem
There are plants that grow along the mountain and many of the steps have caves beside them, as if carved by hand, where pools of water form, clean and safe to drink for all animals. Chiru and mountain goats have evolved to reach ledges where humans cannot as they graze on the sedge that ekes its existence in the rock. There are a number of bird species that have likewise made the Wyrdtower their home, though even they do not seem to reach the very top of the mountain. After one reaches a certain elevation, the Wyrdwinds blow almost constantly, and one is at risk of being transformed into a Wyrding. The farther one travels up the mountain, the stranger its creatures become.
Localized Phenomena
Wyrdwinds are common at the Wyrdtower, for it seems to be the center where they are drawn, but the island base itself is almost devoid of them. Scholars theorize this is similar to the idea of the Eye of the Storm, but rather than a pillar of calm, it is that the wyrdwinds are pulled up, towards the summit. Thus, the area at the base has no Wyrdwinds for they have curved upwards, drawn towards the peak. As one ascends, the Wyrdwinds grow stronger. Close to the top, the Wyrdtower is very similar to a Wyrdhold. The Iron Empire supports a small force of soldiers here to keep watch for signs of Mistwalkers. Should one be seen, the Empress is quick to dispatch one of her Chosen or two to rid the Wyrdtower of them.
Fauna & Flora
At the base, the flora and fauna of the Wyrdtower is almost mundane. There are many birds and fish species that are similar to that of the mainland. There is the Wyrd Osprey, an osprey that is native to the Wyrdtower that feasts on the fish of the Shimmering Sea. Sea turtles will often lay their eggs on the rocky shores of the Tower and there are even large cats that patrol the treelands along the coast, feasting on the dwarf buffalo that graze in the narrow fields around the pillar itself.
Climbing up the steps, one sees fewer cats and buffalo, though the birds remain, many making their nests on the ledges and cliffs. The grass is replaced with sedge stubbornly growing where it can. Chiru and mountain goats become more common, though never in large groups, as they tend to be more solitary creatures outside of their mates and offspring. Grouse are common at this level, feasting on insects and the sedge, their only predator the Red Eagle, which is considered the apex predator of this region. The smaller Black-winged Kestrel is the other common predator at this level, but it focuses its effort on the voles and marmots that try to hide from its fast, deadly, talons and beaks.
As one goes higher, the birds get smaller, as there are fewer insects and mammals and vegetation to allow them to grow. Near the highest reaches were humans live, there is the Wyrd Shrike, a bird that will use its call to entrance and stun its prey, before it grabs them and impales them on sharp rocks that it prepares before hand with a strange level of intelligence. These birds have 'feeding grounds' that they are fierce to protect, with blood stained rocks and sticks gathered and set up, bones scattered about. What's odder still is that it seems they have picked up a teleportation ability that allows them to begin to sing their strange song, then teleport away while the song continues to be sung from the same spot, getting behind their prey.
Beyond the point where humans can settle, the animals become stranger still. Sky Lobsters, giant gliding arthropods with the claws around their mouth that bring food from seemingly the air itself to their mouth make their roosts along the Wyrdtower's side. Flying Fish with colorful wings, the size of whales, float on gas bladders, protected by outer scales as they fly in schools through the clouds. Talking rocks that appear and disappear as they please. And even stranger things yet. The top of the Wyrdtower is almost like traveling through the Mistlands.
History
The Wyrdtower has always stood in the center of the Shimmering Sea for the length of human memory. It has always drawn the Wyrdwinds towards its pillar. It has withstood the fall of the Demon Gods at the end of the Days of Blood and Smoke. It has persisted through the Age of Storms when the Wyrdwinds brought the Mists deep into Terraneus. The Mistwalkers had claimed it in the days of the Final Storm and it was there that the Empress fought her way with her legions to reach the summit to finally break the Storm. The World Pillar, as far as any are concerned, is as eternal as Terraneus itself.
Alternative Name(s)
The World Pillar, Mistwarder
Type
Mountain / Hill
Location under
