El'Alcar Tower

Standing close to 300 metres in height, at the head of the Grand Rift, east of Valliné on the north-western corner edge of the Auric Wastes, is El'Alcar Tower.
Largely undisturbed for the past 2700 years, and sealed from the inside by a powerful magical field, the tower has remained an enigma to contemporary historians and archaeologists. Expeditions to the tower for study have been deterred by the tower's location adjacent to the dangerous Auric Wastes.

Purpose / Function

El'Alcar tower was constructed around 2700 years prior to the current time, for the express purpose of staging a unique and terrible ritual known by some as the 'Eye of Contempt', in an effort to end a decades-long war between the people of a magical kingdom located in the vicinity of modern-day Duskwick, and another magical kingdom in what is now the The Amethyst Isles, centred around the city of Solara.
The tower was constructed in secret in the north-western peninsula, before being transported through magical means to its final destination.
Consisting internally of a series of circular arcane concentration chambers, each taking up an entire floor of the tower, topped on the roof by an immense crystal focussing array, the tower was designed to collect an immense amount of magical energy, and redirect it in a single massive blast at the conclusion of the ritual.
The ritual was completed successfully, and the blast of magical energy which it released carved out the Grand Rift (forming the Rift Mountains in the process), and completely shattered the peninsula on which Solara was located, leaving only what is now known as the Amethyst Isles. This unprecedented magical attack killed countless people, and ended the war as planned.

Architecture

Wider at the base than at the top, El'Alcar Tower is constructed from solid marble, covered in a thick layer of obsidian cladding. Both the inside and outside of the tower is engraved at both a macro and a micro level with innumerable arcane symbols, designed to aid in the one-time ritual for which the tower was built.
The tower has few windows to the outside, and only a single entranceway at the base, consisting of a pair of stone doors forty feet in height. The doors have been sealed by a magical field since the acolytes who were to take part in the ritual were sealed inside.

Alternative Names

Rift Tower

Type

Tower, Mage