Amber and Ashes

by Margaret Weis

  nce a powerful bastion of knowledge and magic, the Tower of High Sorcery in the city of Istar rose to glory, then suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of religious zealotry. The structure was almost completely destroyed during the Cataclysm and lay buried in darkness while the waters of the Maelstrom churned around it. Now the Tower has been rebuilt in secret, a stronghold for Nuitari the Black, and it has acquired a new name—the Tower of the Blood Sea.

  HISTORY

  The mighty wizard Kharro the Red sent members of the Conclave to find locations ideal for the construction of the Towers of High Sorcery, places where magical energies would be their strongest. A powerful White-robed wizardess named Asanta chose an insignificant town named Istar as the site of one Tower, much to Kharro’s ire. It wasn’t until Asanta shared her vision of Istar’s future glory that the leader of the Conclave approved.

  Raising the Tower became the life’s work of Asanta, and as an old woman she led the powerful incantation that created the Tower from the bones of the earth. The beautiful, crystalline structure stood in strange contrast to the crude huts that surrounded it. Asanta died in peace, knowing that one day Istar would match her Tower’s glory. Sadly, her foresight did not reveal to her that Istar would also be the instrument of the Tower’s destruction.

  The wizards who dwelled in Istar became instrumental in bringing peace and order to the surrounding lands and contributed greatly in the town’s rising prosperity. For long years, they battled Istar’s enemies and the forces of evil. People looked to magic as their savior, and magic always answered.

  When the world was threatened by the Dark Queen, Takhisis, and her evil dragons during the Third Dragon War, the Conclave of Wizards devised a desperate plan to counter the threat. Meeting in secret in Palanthas, the wizards created the dragon orbs—powerful artifacts that would help turn the tide of battle. Unfortunately, when the armies of evil threatened Istar, the city’s wizards were busy in Palanthas and were not in Istar to render aid. The city’s leaders turned to the gods to save them, and it was the patriarch of the Temple of Paladine who rallied the people and called upon the god’s holy powers to save them. Paladine answered, and Istar was spared. The people of Istar now began to question whether or not they could look to the Conclave of Wizards for guidance and protection.

  Thanks to this victory, the church of Paladine rose to ascendance in Istar and the city’s prosperity increased, so much so that Istar became the capital of a mighty empire. Its leader was the head of the church, who called himself the Kingpriest.

  During this time, a conflict known as the Three-Thrones War (in which three successors vied for the throne) turned popular opinion against the wizards in the Tower of High Sorcery. The Kingpriest actually sent a force against the Tower, but he was unable to penetrate its protective grove. Bloodshed was avoided, and for generations the wizards and the priests continued to live under an unofficial, uneasy truce. Peace came to an end when a Kingpriest named Belindas Pilofiro took the throne.

  Treachery, misfortune, and violence brought about a complete rupture between the wizards and the clerics. Eventually, the Kingpriest formed the Knights of the Divine Hammer and sought to attack two of the Towers of High Sorcery. Rather than allow their powerful magic to fall into the hands of those who might misuse it, the wizards themselves destroyed two of their Towers and the cities in which they stood. Terrified by such power, the Kingpriest negotiated surrender terms with the wizards.

  To save their Orders, the wizards agreed to withdraw to the Tower of High Sorcery in the forest of Wayreth and to abandon the Towers of Istar and Palanthas and give them to the church.

  The Kingpriest was not quite sure what to do with these trophies of his victory. He briefly entertained the idea of making the Tower of Istar his private dwelling, but eventually settled upon an idea suggested by his advisor, the Silvanesti elf cleric, Quarath. The Tower of Istar was rededicated to holding the sacred artifacts of heretical religions. The massive chamber in which the artifacts were stored was named Solio Febalas—the Hall of Sacrilege.

  At first only the prized relics of dark and false gods adorned the hall, but the Kingpriest’s zeal was great, and soon objects sacred to the gods of Neutrality were added to the storehouse as well. Eventually even artifacts of the gods of the good pantheon found their way into Solio Febalas.

  As the power of the Kingpriest grew, so did his pride. He began to see himself as a god. At this, the gods were alarmed, and when the Kingpriest failed to heed their warnings, the gods came together to deliver their terrible punishment. Earthquakes sundered the Tower of Istar. Fire destroyed it from within. The gods threw down the fiery mountain from the heavens, and history records that the remains of the Tower of Istar were completely destroyed, along with the once-glorious city in which it stood.

  THE TOWER RESTORED

  The ruins of the Tower of Istar rested under the sea for many mortal generations, holding within it powerful and dangerous treasures. The gods of magic planned to eventually restore the Tower, planning to direct the Orders of High Sorcery to raise it back up from the sea. They did not believe that the world was yet ready to handle the dangerous artifacts that lay within and so these plans were destined for a distant future—one that would never come to pass.

  Instead came the unexpected release of Chaos and the subsequent war that came near to destroying Krynn. Gods fought alongside mortals and the world was saved, only to be snatched away by Queen Takhisis and carried by her into another part of the universe. An Age of Mortals began, an age presumably without gods, although Takhisis was behind the scenes, working to make the world her own.

  Her reign ended with the War of Souls. The gods found their lost world and the sacred constellations, moons, and planets returned to the heavens above Krynn. Takhisis was cast down from the immortal plane and slain.

  The gods found a world in which sorcery and mysticism was flourishing, traditional magic almost forgotten. The Orders of High Sorcery, founded in the Age of Dreams, were now disbanded; its members were either dead or scattered. The gods went to work to reform the Orders. They forbade Dalamar the Dark from entering the Tower of High Sorcery that had once been in Palanthas, but which he had removed to Nightlund, and they left that Tower hidden until they could determine what to do with it. They set about working to ensure the future of the one habitable Tower that remained at Wayreth. In this, as they had been in the past, the gods of Magic were united.

  Except for Nuitari the Black.

  The god of dark magic still seethed with rage over the deception of his mother, Takhisis. He felt her betrayal keenly. Though still united with his cousins in the bonds of their magic and dedicated to magic’s cause, he wished to ensure his own power and his position upon Krynn.

  The shattered Tower of Istar provided him with the perfect opportunity. Working with two powerful Black-robed disciples, who were unknown to the world and to the other two gods, Nuitari cast the incantation that would not only restore the Tower but redesign it to suit Nuitari’s needs. He had determined that the Tower of the Blood Sea would be a bastion of dark wizardry.

  Nuitari knows that his Tower cannot be kept secret from the Conclave and the other gods forever, but he hopes to keep the fact that it has been rebuilt concealed for as long as possible, until he can build up his strength and make his Tower impregnable.

  Meanwhile, the powerful, holy, and profane artifacts that were not destroyed in the Cataclysm remain hidden in a secret location inside the Tower, watched over by a powerful guardian.

  DESCRIPTION

  The Tower of the Blood Sea looks much like the original structure, retaining the deceptively delicate, crystalline walls. When light somehow penetrates the deep ocean water, it gives the Tower a mesmerizing beauty; its translucent and reflective surface attracts the creatures of the sea, who constantly circle its structure.

  The main physical difference between the Tower of Istar and the Tower of the Blood Sea is to be found on the Tower’s dome. The faceted, cr
ystal walls of the Tower are capped by an orb of black marble, very different from the “bloody fingers” of the original design. The dome is crowned with a circlet made of red-gold intertwined with silver, with a black void at its center. The red-gold honors Lunitari, goddess of neutral magic. The silver portion gives homage to Solinari of the white moon. The black void, central to the crowning circlet, represents Nuitari, who claims the Tower as his own.

  Fish, sharks, dolphins, whales, and octopi swim about the Tower, either eyeing it curiously, or not appearing to give it much notice, as if it were just another coral formation. Some fish, fooled by its translucent crystal, bump into the walls or fight with their reflections. The exception to this is the black void within the circlet atop the Tower’s dome. Though the creatures of the Blood Sea might swim near the red-gold and silver circlet, they instinctively keep away from the black void, as they instinctively keep away from poisonous plants and deadly traps.

  Unlike its counterparts, the Tower of the Blood Sea has many windows of clear crystal, though they are visible when a lamp is lit inside the walls. If many such lamps are lighted, the Tower resembles a field of stars sparkling in a night-black sky. Currently, due to the fact that there are only a few people inhabiting the Tower, only one or two rooms may be lit at any given time.

  The central doorway into the Tower still exists, but is buried under tons of sand and debris. The servants of Nuitari created a new means of entrance and egress—a magical air lock. The wizards created a special chamber that allows them to catch fish and to come and go from the Tower. The air lock is a cylinder created between portions of the crystal wall. At the magical command, a porthole in either the inner or the outer wall starts to swirl and then becomes insubstantial. Upon speaking another phrase, the second porthole does the same. The chamber may be filled with water when the portholes are opened and can be drained when both magical portholes are closed. The portholes are cleverly disguised to appear to be part of the crystal wall. The only time the portholes are visible is when they are swirling open or closed. There are no markers or other symbols to identify their location. The wizards have designed a fish net that is decorated with lights to attract fish to their location. The rope net is concealed by illusion magic until the wizards activate it.

  A large, winding stairway is the central feature of the Tower’s interior, very much like the staircase found in the Tower of Nightlund. Histories report that a magical light source once glowed brightly in the center of the shaft, to light the way of those ascending or descending the stairs. That has not yet been restored and the staircase remains perilously dark. The private chambers of long-dead Istaran mages lie abandoned on the eastern side of the stairwell. Two of these rooms, located about mid-level in the Tower, have been recently cleaned and are now furnished with comfortable beds. Black robes hang in the wardrobes, and each room has a small writing desk. These are the personal living quarters of the Tower’s two new occupants.

  Small laboratories, work areas, and scroll archives are located on the west wall. When the Kingpriest seized the Tower and turned it into the Hall of Sacrilege, these rooms were turned into storerooms that held the minor idols, altars, and artifacts blessed by the various gods. Eventually, all the gods, with the exception of Paladine, were represented in this chamber, including the healer, Mishakal. The objects blessed by the gods of Light were stored in the chambers located in the Tower’s upper stories. Those of neutrality were placed in the central rooms, while the unholy relics of the dark gods were stored in the Tower’s lower levels.

  Only the most minor artifacts are still located in the storerooms. The wizards have carefully cataloged and removed those artifacts of significant power to a secret chamber located beneath the Tower—a chamber guarded by a fearsome protector.

  The Hall of Audience, now empty, holds Nuitari’s throne. Here he holds meetings with the two wizards he has brought to work within the hidden Tower. The Laboratory of the Highmage has also been restored to limited functionality, though currently it holds crates and boxes that have yet to be unpacked.

  The Chamber of Eyes was once known throughout the Orders as the pinnacle of achievement for scrying magic. The original implements of this magic were either removed or destroyed before the Kingpriest claimed the Tower, but Nuitari has placed in their stead an item more powerful than even the Istaran mages would have dared dream—the God’s Eye.

  Now that one of the gods has prematurely learned of the Tower’s existence, Nuitari must accelerate his plans to populate the Tower with loyal followers. He alone knows the secret of transporting wizards far beneath the depths of the Blood Sea and, although he has presumably found a way to control Chemosh, Nuitari knows that if one god has discovered his secret, others will follow. The foreboding black void located inside the circlet atop the dome is thought to be involved in the process. The only two wizards known to have survived the perilous journey have nothing to say on the subject.

  BASALT DARKEYE

  Basalt is probably not the dark dwarf’s original name, but he has used it for hundreds of years and has, by now, forgotten whatever name he was given. The dwarven wizard of the Black Robes serves the god Nuitari and is one of the two caretakers of the Tower of the Blood Sea.

  Background: Basalt is a dwarf of the Theiwar clan, born in the years just after the Cataclysm. Like others of his kind, he studied magic and demonstrated great promise and unwavering devotion to the gods of magic, who granted him the power to battle his enemies. Unlike many of his clan, Basalt wanted to gain in magical power and he believed that the only way to do this was to work with others of his Order. Fifty years before the War of the Lance, Basalt left the mountain kingdoms and journeyed to Wayreth to take the Test. His Test forced him to choose between loyalty to his clan and life under the mountain or the power granted by magic. Basalt was willing to murder his cousins for the power he sought and swore his allegiance to Nuitari upon receiving the Black Robes.

  Basalt sided with the Dragonarmies during the War of the Lance, although he always honored the wizards’ pact to devote themselves to magic first and personal or political animosities second. He had the misfortune to be in Neraka at the end of the war and might have died during the destruction of the Temple, but for a fortuitous encounter with the powerful mage Raistlin Majere. Basalt had thought to try to rise to power by assassinating Raistlin, but he soon realized that his powers were no match for the young human mage, and fearing that Raistlin suspected his plotting, Basalt fled for his life.

  Like others of the Orders of High Sorcery, Basalt was enraged by the emergence of the gray-robed Knights of the Thorn. Renegades whose powers were enhanced directly by the Dark Queen, the Thorne Knights defied the history, heritage, and traditions of the wizard orders established during the Age of Dreams. The dark dwarf eagerly joined with his fellows in attempting to combat the dark knight wizards. The war against Chaos forced everyone who lived upon Krynn, both good and evil, to become allies in a battle for survival. Basalt fought side-by-side with those wearing white and red robes against the shadow wights and daemon warriors. He was terribly wounded and very nearly died.

  Basalt spent nearly a year recovering from the wounds inflicted on him by the minions of Chaos. These were nothing, however, compared to the loss of his magic that came when Takhisis stole away the world. He raged, then despaired, for he was powerless. When the “new magic” of sorcery was discovered, Basalt did not have the heart to try it. For him, true magic came from the power of the moons, and he cursed the pale orb that shone in their stead each night.

  Having lost his power, Basalt became a hermit and a vagrant. He wandered Ansalon in a half-crazed state, constantly peering up in the night sky at the void in the stars where the black moon should be. The War of Souls left him untouched, a pitiful shell of his former self, worthy of neither fear nor respect. Then, a miracle happened.

  One fateful night, the false moon vanished from the sky. The constellations and planets of the old gods were restored. Lunitari and
Solinari shone once more, while Nuitari appeared to those who could look into his blackness and understand. Basalt felt the long-unused power course through his veins. The words of magic that he had mumbled uselessly day by day suddenly burned bright in his mind.

  Basalt was among the first of the former Black Robes to realize that Nuitari had returned. He fell to his knees and cried out his praises to the dark god. Touched by his follower’s loyalty, Nuitari appeared before Basalt in mortal guise to make him an offer.

  A new bastion of magic was being created—a stronghold where dark magic would reign supreme. Basalt could leave the surface world and serve the god of the black moon in his new abode. Honored by the dark god’s trust, Basalt left his life on land behind to move below the waves. The Tower of the Blood Sea is now his home.

  Description: Basalt is an albino, which gives him a truly startling appearance for a dwarf. Both his skin and hair are bone-white; his eyes are pink, tinged with red. He has the short, stocky build of all dwarves, though his pursuit of magic makes him appear thin by dwarven standards. He tends to stand with his arms crossed, warding people away. His fiery-eyed, intense gaze gives him the appearance of glaring malevolently at those he encounters.

  Basalt Darkeye: Male dark dwarf (Theiwar) Rog2/Wiz5/Black Robe 9; CR 16; Medium humanoid (dwarf); HD 2d6+14d4+64; hp 114; Init +2; Spd 20 ft.; AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 15; Atk +13/+8 melee (1d4+4/17-20, +3 keen dagger); SA sneak attack +1d6, spells; SQ arcane research +4, black robe order secrets, darkvision 120 ft., dark dwarf traits, evasion, moon magic (Nuitari), trapfinding; AL NE; SV Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +13; Str 12, Dex 14, Con 19, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 7.

  Skills and Feats: Balance +6, Bluff +3, Climb +4, Concentration +21, Craft (stonemasonry) +6, Decipher Script +18, Escape Artist +6, Hide +9, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcana) +22, Move Silently +8, Search +11, Sleight of Hand +5, Spellcraft +24, Spot +7, Swim +4; Empower Spell, Iron Will, Magical Aptitude, Reserves of Strength, Scribe Scroll (B), Spell Focus (Necromancy) (B), Stubborn, Weapon Finesse.