Overview
Below the high cliff that hugs the coastline, an outcropping of rock is nearly surrounded by water, with only a narrow causeway connecting it to the beach below. Atop this outcropping is a stone building surmounted by a lighthouse tower. A red light pulses from this tower, shining westward out to sea.
The Tower of Storms is more than just a lighthouse - it was formerly a temple dedicated to
Talos, the evil god of storms. After adventurers recently cleared the lighthouse of its
half-orc priest, a dying
bronze dragon named Kaldrith moved in. The ruby glow comes from the Kaldrith's heart, as he lies atop the tower.
The lighthouse is built atop a barren, 80-foot-high outcropping of rock. At low tide, a narrow causeway extends from the shore to this outcropping, allowing easy access to the lighthouse. This causeway is 5 feet above sea level at low tide. At high tide, the causeway and the sandy beach are submerged under 5 feet of water.
Anyone searching for a safe way down the cliffs discover a staircase carved into a narrow fissure. They can follow these steps all the way down to the shore just east of area T1.
Tower of Storms Locations
T1: Elemental Cave
Rough-hewn steps climb a 7-foot-high tunnel that passes all the way through a 30-foot-tall natural pillar of rock. A damp, 8-foot-high cave encrusted with lichen is connected to this tunnel. The cave remains above sea level at high tide, and a
water elemental resides in this cave and attacks passing adventurers.
T2. Plateau
Rough-hewn stairs climb the eastern face of the rocky outcropping. The
harpies in area T5 attempt to charm adventurers with their singing as they climb these steps.
At the top of the stairs, a rocky plateau spreads out some 80 feet above the water. Wooden doors leading to area T3 have rusty iron hinges and handles, as well as decorative lightning bolts carved into them. All other doors in the Tower of Storms are of similar construction and ornamentation. None of the doors are locked.
T3. Foyer
This 15-foot-high room is empty. Through a dirty window in the south wall, adventurers can see two ships’ masts jutting crookedly from the water.
T4. Shrine of Talos
The walls of this fifteen-foot-high room are adorned with paintings that depict ships being tossed on stormy seas, with a dark and terrible god looming above them and smiling. Set into the west wall is a dirty, salt-encrusted window. A stone altar with lightning bolts carved into it stands against the south wall. A metal rod descends from the ceiling above the altar, splitting in two before it embeds itself into the stone.
The smiling figure depicted in the paintings is the chaotic evil storm god
Talos, who can be recognized with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check. Clerics of the Tempest domain succeed on the check automatically.
Through the window, adventurers can see the broken masts of several sunken shipwrecks jutting up from the water.
The lightning rod on the roof (area T8) channels electricity into the altar, which converts that raw elemental power into magical energy. The first person to touch the altar gains the Charm of the Storm, which allows them to cast the
lightning bolt spell (3rd-level version) as an action three times.
Once the altar bestows this benefit, it can’t do so again until it recharges. The altar recharges when the lightning rod on the roof (see area T8) is struck by three bolts of lightning from a storm and channels that energy down into the altar. Lightning from other sources doesn’t count.
T5. Harpies' Aerie
A ledge enclosed by a 3-foot-high stone retaining wall serves as a nest for three
harpies. The harpies line their nest with rotting vegetation and the bones of previous meals, which they hunt up and down the coast. A harpy reduced to 10 hit points or fewer tries to fly away on its next turn, hoping to live to fight another day.
Anyone who searches through the harpies’ nest finds two
shortswords, a
potion of greater healing, and a
ring of water walking.
T6. Lighthouse Interior
A spiral staircase with an ornate stone railing climbs up the inside wall of this round stone tower. Each staircase landing is 20 feet higher than the one below it.
T7. The Dead Priest
This 15-foot-high room has two north-facing windows. A barnacle-encrusted chair stands against the south wall. Slumped in the chair is the rotting corpse of the former
half-orc priest of the temple.
T8. Rooftop and Lightning Rod
From this vantage point, adventurers can see the shattered masts of the five shipwrecks west of the lighthouse (areas T10 to T14). Enclosing the rooftop is a 1-foot-high stone wall with a 2-foot-high iron railing atop it. A similar railing circles the walkway of the lighthouse beacon (area T9), which is 20 feet above this area.
A 10-foot-tall, wrought-iron lightning rod reaches toward the sky. During a thunderstorm, lightning strikes the rod at random intervals, and is channeled through the roof to the altar in area T4. A creature that happens to be in contact with the lightning rod when it’s struck by a bolt of lightning must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d10 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
T9. Kaldrith
The pinnacle of the lighthouse beacon is partly open to the elements and surrounded by a narrow walkway topped by an iron railing. Three open archways allow the beacon’s pulsating ruby light to spill westward over the sea.
The light originates from the dying form of Kaldrith, a
young bronze dragon. Kaldrith's line is sworn to protect the Sword Coast, but while fighting strange
half-orc spellcasters in the
Neverwinter Wood, Kaldrith was cursed and has been slowly dying. He has settled here on this lighthouse to die peacefully, and if he encounters adventurers, Kaldrith desperately tries to convince them to deal with the half-orcs. He can offer them two
blue spinels, a
cape of mounteback, or
mithral plate armor, which is all that remains of his horde.
T10-T14. Shipwrecks
The crews aboard these five vessels perished when the
half-orc priest altered the lighthouse and compelled the ships to crash into the rocky outcropping. Fish have picked clean their skeletal remains, which lie scattered throughout the doomed vessels. Four
merrow are divided into pairs, combing the wreckage for treasure.
Anyone intent on searching the ships for treasure will need darkvision or magical light sources to see, as the wrecks are submerged in murky, 20-foot-deep water.
Adventurers atop the 80-foot-high lighthouse outcropping might try to climb down its slope to reach the water. The slope has abundant handholds but is wet, so that ascending or descending it requires a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check every 10 feet. Anyone who fails the check slips and falls, landing in the water below and taking 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen.
The table below gives the name of each ship and the treasure that can be found within it. Anyone can spend an action searching the inside of a shipwreck. As part of that action, they can make a DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check, finding the ship’s treasure on a success. Once a ship’s treasure is found, nothing else of value can be retrieved from that wreck.
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