The Lighthouse of Aegis
The immense smokestack that acts as a lighthouse for Aegis.
Just a tad over five hours out from Aegis proper, on the line of having departed whichever passage you dropped from, are the lights. Be it through Cliffpass or along Bloodthorne, the first you'll be seeing of the city won't be the pearly walls of it's cliffs, or the lights of it's dock parties.
No, you'll see the furious maelstrom of the Beacon long before that. They glow a bright yellow or blue depending on the time of day and what is cooking within that great elven bewitchment. Not that you'll go there, nobody goes there.
Ever.
Now! On to talking about Aegis, it's a beautiful ci-
"Lighthouse" is often thought to be a misnomer of a name for the massive smokestack that looms in the distance from the city. And it isn't as if the owners of the immense tower mean for it to be a lighthouse. Or, well, it's assumed that they don't. The tower itself is constructed around a massive smokestack that pours a light white smoke from the top of it and is constantly covered in a flurry of activity.
A number of mathematicians and apprentice wizards took measurement of the shadows the tower cast, and then retook them. Then they remeasured it and checked at various points in the day, and in doing so, discovered that "Immense" doesn't quite carry the gravitas that a 600 foot might deserve. Especially one that seems to be filled with countless people that never leave, doing something that merits flames jumping hundreds of feet from the mouth of the smokestack.
The Smokestack that no one ever enters
The Beacon of Aegis. The massive smokestack that stands so tall, spread so wide, and so mysteriously populated. And only a few mere miles from the city of Aegis. It makes people wonder and ponder, fills them with intrigue and attracts those accursed particles of DraKaise. However, it remains a mystery.
The specifics about it's remaining a mystery are also mysterious; with officials that seek answers suddenly resigning, adventurer groups that return with clamped mouths, light scars and noticeably heavier bags, and the odd Warforged that makes it's way in or out. With all this, it seems to be surrounded by a conspiracy that hits close to home for a lot of people in Aegis and the Middling Plains. Spawning countless stories and theater dramas with events spawned from the massive smokestack.
DM Information beyond!
The Real Owners
The Real Owners of the Lighthouse of Aegis are obscured by time and deliberate rumors. However, many hands dabble in keeping the smokehouse hot. Including the Draconic Councils, The Lichdom, and a number of other groups that prefer not to be named directly. The Wizards of the College had a hand in directly connecting portals and establishing wards for the Lighthouse.The Origin
In the early years of Ithungsida, a mere hundred years past the conquering rush of Hongden; many groups found the Smokestack to be a haven of Warforged moving within and using it as a haven on the continent. A place to reforge parts and share secrets in search of building new Warforged. With the addition of portals to the various planes to help heat the forges.Architecture
The tower stands as a massive circular structure with twenty-four levels of open hallways that encircle the smokestack and give off a slight glow separate from the intense brightness from the flame that shoots from the very top of the smokestack.Real life Comparison
The Lighthouse of Aegis looks not unlike the Tower of Pisa, except quadruple the height and much wider.
Alternative Names
The Beacon of Aegis, Shield of Light, The Elven Smokestack
Type
Lighthouse
Parent Location
Owning Organization
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