Tower in the Wastes

A stone tower off the northern shore of Lake Claret in Greysalt Wastes. It is protected by an opaque black barrier like a shimmering star-field and stands in sharp contrast to the salt flats surrounding it.

Purpose / Function

The Tower, for all of its owners, has been a place for secluded research and experimentation. In Rudy's time, it was also a place for the villagers of Steepwick to bring mined Autunite for him to refine to use as fuel to power his time machine. Its next inhabitant, a young mage named Falk, continued to have the crystals brought to the tower by constructs, though as he seemingly tore apart the time machine for scrap, he did not appear to continue Rudy's research in that regard. Falk also seemed to be looting the tower, taking inventory of valuable tomes within the library and tossing away those deemed to be less valuable.

Alterations

Rudy: Found the tower as a ruin and sought to make it a space he could live and work in

Cast a protective spell on the exterior of the tower to create the barrier (permanent)

Added a wooden staircase to the exterior of the tower to reach the door

Created a password system for the door

Added a lead drop-box and chute outside the barrier for villagers to dump Autunite into the tower basement

Added lead-lining to the basement to protect upper floors from radiation

Added pulley-based lift system and lead aperture to raise crystals up to the first-floor lab

Converted the first floor into a laboratory space to refine crystals, built a prototype time machine

Added books to the library on the second floor

Converted the third floor into a kitchen and potion-brewing area

Built a winch in the third-floor window to lower supplies through the barrier and to the villagers outside

Covered the hole in the third-floor ceiling/fourth-floor floor with tarps to protect against the weatehr

Built a cottage on the fourth floor, decorated the inside in 70s shag carpet, wallpaper, and leopard-print bedding

Falk (?):

Broke the password plate outside the door, replaced it with an Arcane Lock on the door

Tore apart the time machine in the first-floor lab for scrap, stored mining constructs there

Rummaged through the second-floor library, sorted books by topic/usefulness, threw unwanted books onto the floor

Converted the third-floor kitchen/potion area into a living space by boarding up the window and setting up a hammock between the winch's crank and the staircase railings

Converted the hole in the fourth-floor walls into a bathroom

Architecture

A stone tower, with four stories above the ground and a chamber below. The ceilings are high and the walls curved, and there is only a single window on the third floor on the western side. The only entrance is a door on the second floor on the eastern side. A rickety wooden staircase curves around from the south to reach the door.

History

The tower's last two inhabitants have been squatters living in the ruin. The Great Wizard Rudolphus was clearly not its first inhabitant, though its original owner has been lost to history. The presence of old, rotten tomes of forbidden magics in the library and the shattered walls of its top floor suggest whoever lived here before was likely also a powerful mage, and may not have vacated the tower peacefully. Rudy suggested that the tower was the home of a necromancer lost to history, and the damage to the upper floors was caused by a dragon attack. It is unclear if he was telling the truth.

Alternative Names

Rudy's Tower, The Tower of The Great Wizard Rudolphus

Type

Tower, Mage

Parent Location

Greysalt Wastes

Characters in Location