Tower to the Heavens

Deep in the forest clad hills between Depavata and Axarsú lies a mysterious building. Known as the Tower to the Heavens this stone monument is older than both countries combined. No one really knows when it was built or who built it, but it is now an attraction for interested people to visit when travelling through the area.

History

Even though the origins of the tower is unknown, it was forgotten for a long time. It was re-discovered about two hundred years ago when a time of peace between the countries brought with it the building of a road to encourage trading. The people building the road thought the tower was haunted and diverted the road to go further away from it but it didn't take long for words about it to reach both countries.
Groups of historians and other scholars were sent both from Depavata and Axarsú and the examination of the mysterious building proved to be a better way to keep the peace between the countries than the road itself as neither country wanted to risk getting shut out from the area. Although technically in Depavata the area had been contested several times and throwing out Axarsú again could very well start a new war.

The Tower is the most remarkable thing I've ever seen in my years of research! It reaches over 10 stories high, higher than we are able to build our buildings even now, and the outside surface is smooth, smoother than I've ever seen stone to be. Whoever built this had technology we can only dream about. We've been here for two months now and we have still not been able to tell how old it is, nothing about it reminds us of anything we've seen in ruins or buildings from either country before.
We have yet to find a way in. There are no visible openings anywhere, although the work of cleaning of plants and the like that has covered it for possibly centuries is going slow. Maybe there is a door or windows higher up? We've only gotten to about the third floor.
One of the reasons why it's taking so long is the fact that we stop to study the walls of the tower. Every bit is covered in art. There is patterns, drawings, everything you could think of. The decorations are exquisite! And to think they've lasted through all this time! Of course some is gone, plants have destroyed the stone in some places and weather and wind have taken its toll. But there is still so much left! It will take years to catalogue all this.
If you have the time and ability to get here you should, nothing else will be this important in our life time!

— Letter from a historian to their colleague

Importance today

The Tower to the Heavens is still today seen as a wonder. It has become somewhat of a tourist attraction in academical circles and if you live in Depavata and Axarsú it is seen as quite weird to not have visited the tower if you're of decent means.

The knowledge that has been learned from the inscriptions of the tower is interesting. There are a lot of pictures of animals that has never been seen, suggesting that they have either died out or that the climate was very different when the tower was built. There is also a lot of pictures that has been interpreted as religious, but not to any religion that is still known.

The fact that the tower is completely alone has made it hard to draw any definite conclusions from it. No other buildings have been found with similar design, patterns or inscriptions in the whole of the Southern Union, despite numerous expensive expeditions.

Of course all of this means there are a lot of rumours and myths about the tower. People living in the area has attributed everything from failed harvests to twin births to the tower and whatever it may have been built for.

One thing that is certain however is that the finding of the tower did stabilise the area. Before it was highly contested by Depavata and Axarsú but after the find they started to focus their wars on other areas. Some historians have found this very unusual since an important thing like this should have encouraged more fights, not less, but the people in the area are not complaining.