The Borrschildren

After King Kirk's defeat in the year ??? questions began to arise about the subterrian monoliths that had burst from the earth during the adventurers' siege of the capital. It was not long before thieves and archeologists alike decided to crack in and began to work their way both up and down the newly erected pillars. While ascents were uneventful, groups daring enough to descend deeper infrequently return whole, and those who surface returned even less frequently with their minds intact. Survivors ramblings detail a wide variety of "barriers" impeding progress as the spires expand into sprawling labyrinths of stones and echoes. The most common, cave-ins and collapses, can most likely be attributed to the aged structures' weak integrity. The recurrent accounts of stone monstrosities dragging the living into walls and floors, however, have become much more difficult to explain away. Nevertheless, foolhardy adventures continue to brave and chart the lower levels, and enough progress has been made mapping the layouts to identify the similarities in design: From buried summit to now exposed peaks, all tower consists of 13 to 15 levels, with ground access most commonly on 6-8, and though the edifice's state of ruination makes each floor a dangerous maze in its own right, no attacks by the gravelly animations have been recorded on or above the 4th floor. Those saved by rescue parties in the pitch black of final levels rave of an empire of stone just beyond; looming citadels in silent darkness piercable only by their own mad eyes, now long since forsaken by light of sun. While unverifiable, the increasing frequency of these whisper have finally unsettled the plebeian society of the continent's capital, as they begin to wonder what truly lies beneath their feet. No attempt has been made to seal or guard any obelisks, despite their potential danger to the public, besides the few found in near proximity to the Royal Palace. In the wanning days of the second summer after the capital's siege, at the height of the tower exploring craze, the new royal council finally elected to assemble an force to conduct a full exploration and confirm the structures were in no way detrimental to the castles defenses. Three days after this decision, at dawn's first light, an incision was made into the closest spire to the palace and 40 of the most elite royal guardsmen and 5 of the king's best cartographers entered with orders to ascend and map all the upper levels. Near noon of the seventh day, the platoon returned unscathed and turned over their findings before restocking and beginning their descent belowground. It was not until the 20th day that the council thought to send a scrying orb to check the progress of the expedition. On the 21st day the orb found 45 corpses rotting just one level below the tower's entrance point. Examination of the previously recieved mappings revealed the team could have made it no lower than the 7th floor. CHAPTER XIV OF THE KRONICLES OF THE CAPITAL, 43RD EDITION