Cotnor's Tower
A slim tower rising more than a hundred feet into the air, this building has been standing there, alone, for more than a thousand years. It is mostly ignored; superstition scares away those who even know of its existence. Built in the northern reaches of The Impenetrable Forest of Birkwud, spells ensorcel the landscape for a mile or more around it. It takes a strong will, indeed, to continue on past the feelings of dread and misgiving that would suddenly assault anyone daring to trespass. Even the animal life around the tower is subdued, as if they, too, feel the impending doom one feels as they near the structure. Only the beasts of the trees, and the birds, seem unaffected by this miasma of the soul. There is no road leading to it. There is no path, other than sparse game trails, and the way is often blocked by a dense thicket of razor sharp thorns and brambles.
Yet someone goes in there. Wagons have been espied riding towards the tower, but most witnesses have, we believe, been murdered in their sleep. Smoke has been seen rising from the chimneys, and the roof is in good repair. The glass of the windows at the top level remain unbroken. In all, the place is in far too good repair to be abandoned. Some few of the Rangers employed by The High King's Seat have snuck into the vicinity of the tower at various points and survived, and have reported dead game in the clearing around the building. Huge through-and-through wounds, holes really, had been punctured through the unfortunate creatures. Light shines through the arrow slits, they have reported, and shadows moving within. Eldritch lights of some sort have also been reported, but nothing more of note has been gleaned from the sparse reporting.
Purpose / Function
The tower was originally built as a retreat for the Cotnor Royal Family, but the funding and construction of it were surreptitiously overseen by Lady Corrine Cotnor, who quickly stopped all talk of the project. She swore the artisans who built it to secrecy, yet they were murdered anyway. Most of them, anyway. She created a place for herself, a place wherein she could perform her perverse experiments, and make her dark pacts, privately. She fitted it out well and comfortably, with servants and guards who would live and die at her word, so loyal were they.
Alterations
In time, it became apparent that Corrine Cotnor was outliving her family, and when that began to get more and more suspicious, she moved full time to the tower, slowly erasing all memory of her within the realm. There was a state funeral for her and everything! Except, the corpse had not actually been her. It had been a random woman Corrine had seen on the road as she left Cotnor City for the last time. Magicked to look just like (or like enough) to Corrine, the people found her and had their closure. Which is exactly what Corrine wanted. She fit out a bedroom and suites quite comfortably for herself on the top three floors. But she had not really needed all that space,and a ghost of an idea had been corporealizing in her mind for quite some time. With one final dark pact sealing the fate of her soul, Lady Cotnor refitted the tower as a place of torment and evil. Invoking fiends and hellish monstrosities, she built a temple dedicated to her new god, Vekheteshaynaralax-Shayna. The final sacrifice, her final act of betrayal to seal the deal with her new patron, was to build a prison on the top floor and imprison her son, Justinian Grey, until the day he died. She complied, contriving a sick and twisted ploy to both capture Justinian and prove his death to the masses.
Architecture
The tower is built entirely of fitted stones, mortared together with a thin layer of limestone mortar. The stones are fitted so well, no spall or fill was needed. It was originally faced with a smoothing coat of limestone, as well, but this has worn away over the years. The first few floors are accessible by ladder only. The remainder have a circular stair of polished teak and mahogany. Each floor is supported by a system of intersecting arcs and massive beams made of white oak. The top two floors have windows of both stained glass, and clear. The other eleven floors have shuttered arrow slits, only, as a means of fresh air. Rain gutters, and a pipe system for wastewater, have of course been installed, and the arched tiles of the roof itself are actually quite nice. It boasts seven chimneys, and a couple of plumbing vents, upon the roof.
Defenses
There are arrow slits on the first four levels, each armed with ballistae and crossbows wielded by highly trained weapons specialists. There is a circle of dread that surrounds the tower for a mile out. The forest surrounding it changes nightly, and sometimes sprouts a thicket of slashing razor-ivy along any route being taken within that mile radius of the Zone of Dread. Supply wagons and etc. move smoothly through the enchanted wood, which opens the way like a river being parted, for them. The route snaps shut once the wagons pass. The woods are haunted with terrors and wraiths. Ghosts are often seen upon the periphery, which was a brilliant move, as it keeps the hoi polloi at a distance simply through the use of superstition.
If one were to somehow survive all of this, and make it inside, one would have a host of issues to resolve, but that is a whole different hill of wax.
Tourism
It has been sought by Pilgrims seeking Ravelous Nil for centuries. It is a pilgrimage, and a test.
Founding Date
2022
Alternative Names
Lady Cotnor's Retreat
Type
Tower
Parent Location
Included Locations
Owner
Owning Organization
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