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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Aug 2016 : 13:21:33
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What could be seen from the persepctive of a person levitating through the halls of this iconic place in the 15th century realms?
From what I can gather the tower was a huge dark structure resembling a hollowed tree with four spires in a 300 ft wide radius resting on a 150 ft wide trunk. Does anyone know which side of the tree tower got destroyed?
What arcane objects might one find going into an audience hall, teaching rooms or conjurers chambers?
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2016 : 11:34:42
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Notable points I managed to gather about the structure by wringing some old dusty scrolls (like Krash's post in this thread) in these halls:
1.) the stucture is made from petrified wood, wich thickness goes from about 10 feet up to 100 ft in areas of the trunk without hollowed rooms
2.) it was magically grown out of a mythallar present in the roots of an elftower (presumably by a netherese chronomancer called Jeriah), and during its creation it absorbed the arcanists power fully (he could be still surviving inside the mythallar core in the roots of the tower structure)
3.) the place is littered with spellwards of Melathlar aiming to hold out phearimm
4.) there are spellwards placed by Lareal the Witch Queen on Cutthroat Isle that prevent easy entry into the tower, and imprison several netherese lichlords of the Grand Cabal of Ilusk into a "Larnass"; a word-triggered demiplane 'chamber'
5.) Arklem Greeth has a created a similar pocketplane Larnass, that he used to escape into after he destroyed the Brotherhood and most of the Hosttower by breaking a charged Staff of the Archmagi
I found this image, but the hosttower doesn't seem situated on an isle in this picture. |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2016 : 13:33:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind
I found this image, but the hosttower doesn't seem situated on an isle in this picture.
There is no background at all in that image. It's just a snippet of the Hosttower situated on a circular piece of land ... meaning that could easily be part of the island. |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2016 : 14:12:43
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Further Krash lore allows me to try and recreate some rules for the active spell and mythallar wards inside this cursed tower.
The original mythallar placed by the Chronomancer beneath Teldorils elftower had not yet reached it full potential, described as a dormant yet fully functional but relatively great in size. Dwarves helped build the secure chamber for it, after which the Iliyanbruen archmage Teldoril placed additional commandword activated wards around the chamber.
So anyone near the lower parts of the cellar levels of the Hosttower could sense the quasi magical field of the quiescent mythallar, which had effects on enhancing translocation and intra-dimensional magic (all these spells are cast with a one higher level spell slot then the one expended), occasional moving wild magic zones (use the best wild magic chart you can find) and displaying strange magical effects now and then (random prestidigation effects).
The spellwards of Teldoril are probably a combination of guards and wards effects (fog enhanced with confusing magics), while invisible forcewalls create a gated labyrynthine path to the mythallar over several glyphs of warding with high level evocation spells in them.
But this all was twisted into the battlement walls of Luskan and the Hosttowers current form when Melathlar bypassed the elven wards by his own cunning. The harnessing of the quiscent mythallar went awry, only after Melathlar had worked its epic magic into powerful anti phearimm spellwards. These are similar to a Sharnwall, the silvery shimmering magic barriers capable of warding out phearimm bodies and magics (forbiddance and globe of invulnerability keyed to phaerimm), but are invisible and domed around the tower reaching out to Iluskans old battlements. This pervasive effect might be the cause of the uneasy fealing everyone gets when looking up at the Host Tower Arcane from the streets of Luskan.
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 16:29:13
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Walls and Entrance
The main entrance is blocked by a huge hinged and pullied gnarled wooden slab (damage threshold 35) that fits seemlessly in the trunks southern parts. Aside and above the entrance into the massive mainhall are balconies and turrets for observing wizards that enable views over the inside of the hall or over the surrounding isle, accessible through wizardlocked wooden doors (damage threshold 25) that block sub-passageways carved into the trunk around and above the mainhall. These passageways lead to the central stairwell that connects all the way up to the 14th chamber of the central spire (where several archways to the presidences of the overwizards in the four other spires can be taken).
Most of the interior of the Hosttower is made of a gnarled petrified woodlike substance (damage threshold 20), with lots of smoothed out surfaces on the floors and stairs and balconies, and rough trunky growths along the walls and ceilings. Several permanent forcewalls shut off the first few rooms above the entryhall, large halls where prizes, trophies and gifts such as for example chained fiendish hippogryphs are held for future containment. Once on the part where the four spires branches out simple heavy black curtains with the red and purple arcane brotherhood symbols are used to close off room entrances and usually a small banner above the entrance shows the overwizards arcane symbol that currently governs that section. |
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 14 Sep 2016 : 17:21:09
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Depending on what era you play and what parts of the spire one visits, the inhabitants of the Hosttower can be very hard to deal with.
During the rising of the Arcane Brotherhood, the netherese lichlords had already set up the trappings for a school of wizardry in the Host Towers five spires, with chambers redecorated for magical experimentation and summoning circles. Arklhem Greeth worked with the previous overwizards, Jaluth "snakeface" Alaerth, Ornar of the Claw, Deltagar Zelhund and Eltuth "Wyvernmaster" Oyim until the powergrabs of their underlings made him 'cleanse' the Hosttower with infernal fiends and arcane fire causing the other overwizards to flee or be destroyed. The northern tower was later managed by the moon elven Valindra Shadowmantle, the eastern one by the turmish Rimardo Domine, the southern one by the illuskan Arabeth Raurim and the western spire by the chondothan Blaskar Lauthlon.
So I imagine the northern tower to have arcane items and furnishings reflecting snakeface's and shadowmantles' vain personalities; perhaps lots of mirrors that reflect glamored 'perfect' images of one-selves. As shadowmantles activities have shifted to the Neverwinter Wood (and its Dread Ring) I think large parts of the northern tower were disintegrated by the explosion of the staff of the magi. The occasional shadow or spectre can be seen when the flying near the previous location of the spire. The tower shadowfell counterpart is still intact an can be seen at certain astrological conjuctions or visited in the shadow plane, but its teeming with arcanely proficient shadow creatures.
The eastern spire would have housed more laboratories for magical experimentation, as this part had been run by the spellmaking prodigy of Ornar of the Claw, where he had developed his claw based spells. I imagine several internal 'blast-rooms' scultpted, scoured and pitted with arcane energies. Rimardo might have arranged for some guest rooms to be furnished with turmish pleasantries such as 'alchemy bars', enhanced with scented musky candles and turmish artwork. In my 15th century realms this spire is partly exposed to the elements by the explosion but largely intact.
The southern spire has a large collection of foreign ingredients and attire, as the previous overwizards had strong connections to the more distant southern realms either through the cold blooded Yuan-Ti contacts of Deltagar or through the waterdhavian and amnian cabalists as with Arabeth. The upper parts of this spire is largely destroyed as well, but several teleportation circles can be accesed (even some lacking their foundations making for a lethal falling arrival).
The western spire used to have extra branching turrets connceting to the central spire and the southern one, roosting the wyverns Eltuth the wyvernmaster liked to experiment on, and the poison stained 'tunnel-branches' can still be seen dangling at awkward angles from this ruined spire. The later overwizard Blaskar has strong connections to the Luskan fleet and waterdhavian underworld, so swordcoast maps with trade routes and cartograpers tools are strewn about in the guestrooms and laboratories build for the forging and creation of wondrous items. In my realms the base parts of the tower was disintegrated by the staff of the magi's explosion, but the spire still hangs, albeit crookedly, because of the tunnel-branches that connected the spire to the still intact lower southern spire. The upper parts of this spire have been taken over by competing flying monsters, with the flock of wyverns seemingly getting the upperclaw over roosts of gargoyles, shadows and undead winged horrors that emerge by night. |
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Walking the ruins of the Hosttower of the Arcane
