Vijnul Tower
The Vijnul tower is an imposing stone structure in the port district of Wijt. It is one of the major landmarks of the city and has a reputation as a place of safe-keeping: originally for merchandise, then for people, and finally for knowledge.
As one of the oldest buildings in the city, it has served many purposes, before eventually becoming the headquarters of the Gavrilites and the location of their archives.
Purpose / Function
The tower has always been a place of safekeeping, although the things being kept safe have varied throughout its history. The place has a hold on the popular imagination to the point that "Safe as the gold in Vijnil Tower" is a regional idiom to describe something as completely secure.
Architecture
The building is a large stone tower connected to a pier. It has a flat roof from which members of the organization study the stars at night.
History
The tower started as a wooden warehouse by the water in the port district of Wijt, but was seriously damaged in a storm that flattened much of the district. It was purchased by an enterprising merchant who rebuilt the place in stone at great expense. Since there are no local sources of stone, it had to be quarried far up-river and shipped down. The tower was the first, and for a long time the only, stone building in town. As such, it quickly gained the reputation as the most secure place in town and merchants would pay a fee to store their most valuable cargo here.
A few hundred years later, the building was confiscated by the city government during a time of civil unrest. The city turned it into a customs house and a place of confinement for high-profile prisoners. After the introduction of coinage it became the location of the city's first mint.
Several generations later, the building was gifted to the Gavrilites in recognition for their services to the state during a war with T'omba. It soon became their headquarters and the home of their fabled archives.
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