The Old Tower

Walking home late one night after spending too much time in some grubby tavern on Tower Island I passed by that ruined tower. I'd seen it plenty of times before in daylight and thought it nothing more than a pile of rubble with a fancy story. But that night, with both moons just a sliver in the sky, it seemed to have some dark and threatening aura. I'm sure I saw a strange light floating on the top floor and as I hurried on I heard a whisper in some strange language.

— from "Memories of a Caravan Guard" by Clais Hiltprandt

Located in the central square of Tower Island stands the remains of the old tower that gave name to the island. Young people sometimes dare each other to climb the wall or stay the night in the supposedly haunted ruins, and more than one pair of lovers have used what remains of the walls to hide from prying eyes.

Architecture

What remains of the tower today is a cylinder of stone fifteen meters in diameter and between six and seven meters high. The outer walls are about seventy centimeters thick with no ornamentation. Entrance to the tower is through a doorway about one meter wide, the wooden doors long since rotted away. The wooden flooring between the first and second floor is still intact and access between floors is via a narrow stone staircase winding around the inside of the outer wall. The flooring between the second and third floor has fallen in at the center, but it is still possible to walk around the outside of the room.

History

When the fishing village that would one day grow into the city of Potavoli was first established in 18 AtB the abandoned tower already stood on one of the islands in the delta. It stretched thirty meters into the air and was seemingly untouched by time, except for the fact that half of the top floor was missing, remains of it littering the surround area. Over the years several of the locals tried to enter, but powerful magic kept them out and the tower sealed.

Some time around 250 AtB a group of adventurers managed to enter the tower. Stories tell that they returned several days later, missing a companion but with many riches. Whatever the adventurers did in the tower it broke the magic that protected it. Over the next centuries it slowly crumbled, reducing it to the state it is in today. Despite rumors of a curse, most of the rubble left behind by the tower has been carted away and used in other building throughout Potavoli.

The Sister's Market

Twice a month when The Sister is full, a market is held in the square around the tower ruins from sundown to sunrise. The “merchants” who attend these markets don’t own a regular shop and the wares offered are always of a more mystical nature, such as amulets that supposedly ward of curses, dubious potions of love or longevity, and trinkets with fantastical properties.

Rumors and stories

Everybody in Potavoli has heard stories about the old tower ruins. Persistent rumors claim that the tower is haunted. In some stories it is the ghost of the mage who lived there long ago, possibly disfigured by the burns of an experiment gone horribly wrong. Others tell that the ghost is the soul of a young mother who jumped from the walls when her only son was found drowned in the channels. Over the years many people have claimed to see strange floating light in the upper parts of the ruin and some also claim to have heard whisperings in an arcane language.
A different set of tales claim that the tower has a hidden basement that was never found by the adventurers who originally plundered the tower. Supposedly this basement is filled with traps, strange guardians, and magical treasures. A number of adventurous souls have looked for this basement over the years, but no one has ever claimed to have actually found it.

RUINED STRUCTURE
Before the Banishing

Alternative Names

The Haunted Tower

Type

Tower

Parent Location

Potavoli