ReasonLight Towers
Two elegant Light Towers stand on the high, rocky cliffs to the Coast Road side of the Port bay. Three more look down from the narrow opposite crags to a sweeping view of the city and lower coast: fishing villages, pebble beaches and the beginnings of swampland. The Towers were constructed long ago by seafarers from the Vanished Isles, formed from weathered blocks of green stone quite unlike any found in Enclave lands. Moss and climbing plants, and in one case an entire tree, have colonized the lower stonework. Worn steps circle each tower to the upper platform.
Each day - under summer sun or rain, in winter snow or storm - the elderly Lightkeeper Nalaan and his apprentices climb to the Light Towers to tend the ancient wizardry of the lights. The post of Lightkeeper is a traditional one, supported by the Seafarers' Guild and held by the descendants of those Magi who sought to retrieve lost secrets from the Datarii. While the Vanishing stole everything from these proud seafarers, the stonefolk still held hints, stories and lesser wizardry from the generations of trade.
Nelaan, like the long lineage of past Lightkeepers, practices what little is known of the old ways in the hope that the Magi of the Vanished Isles will one day return to the Enclave, guided by the wizardry of the Light Towers.
The Crumbling Tower
This tower, reputed to have once stretched a mile into the sky, now stands testament to the power of time to destroy all. However, it is not entirely gone; the magics that kept the building soaring, while weakened severely, manage to keep parts of the structure up. What remains of the walls and floors is a form of glassy rock that is translucent with a sheen of rich red flecked with gold. Occasionally, there are floating sections of wall or floor that are open to the air, which proves handy for flight-capable guests to use when they wish to visit.
The stone comprising the remains of the tower is warm to the touch, suggesting that the original inhabitant did not enjoy the cold, and even now, in the quarters of the sorcerous owner of the tower, tapestries illustrated with the Crumbling Tower's image throughout the ages adorn the walls and floor. It's previous appearance shows it's true grandeur, stretching higher than the clouds, and forming a nexus point to concentrate the magical energies of the area to aid it's owner's attempts to master the arcane.
It is traditionally held by the Sage of the Red Tower, a position whose origins have been lost in time. Selection of the next sage is done by the current Sage on the eve of their death with divination magics used to determine the suitability of potential candidates for the position. The Sage's main duties are threefold: to serve as an advisor to the royalty of the kingdom of Lasantia, to spread knowledge of magic across the land, and to sustain the nexus point that is the tower and keep magic alive.
The current Sage is a man named Keldinn Thusgood, who is considered to be one of the most knowledgable of the Sages in the ancient lore and in the laws of magic, although somewhat weak magically compared to most who have held the position. Physically, he is about 5'4", walks with a slight limp in his right leg, but is otherwise quite fit. To compensate for his leg, he uses a cane, which is inscribed with his monogram and what appear to be vines. He has brown hair with occasional grey strands, hazel eyes, and a short, well-trimmed beard. He keeps a ferret named Roslyn, and is very attached to her, often treating her with more apparent kindness than he does for most people in his service.
ReasonAnd Stars Came As Men Upon Beasts
The Stars of the Mountain Tower know all, for how else but sorcery to see when the Winter Sickness took me from life? Three lesser Stars came from the forest to carry Emmen and I away, shining in the form of men atop great deer of the Deepened Places of my grandfather. All shed tears save for we, the Dead, for all such of blood and heart is for the living and the Land.
The bright Star of the Lower Mountain hangs yet above the Open Hall, bright as bright, far below now and cold upon the Dead from across the Land. The Star of the Lower Mountain chose me from the Open Hall and spoke my name to the shelved skulls of the Old Dead, who do naught but count and recall. We who could as well be Hungry Dead, driven out into the forests, are honored and fortunate. We could as well be deep and far in mines beneath the mountains, not to see the Land spread before and about beneath the clouds. Our flesh has not yet fallen from us, and we will carry diamonds for new wall-tops high as is high, to the Mountain Star who fell here and now shines bright from the Tower top.
The Mountain Star will tell what will become of us, how long it will be before the Dead are guided from life by Stars once more. This, I hold and know in all the time we have climbed and carried, and in all the time we will yet climb and carry.
Stood the Dead, Bartered For Their Virtues
The Stars, they send to one and another, Mountain Tower to Spider Tree Tower - we will see them though these walls of diamond, when the clouds part over the Land. Lesser stars in threes and fours fly though the forests, over cliff and vale as owl and great deer, fast as the wind.
Emmen had the touch of Deepness about him when blood and life ran through and through us both; many and much he Deepened after the ways of our fathers. The Deepness flows away from we Dead, for it is of the blood and the living. How long it was we both stood within the Open Hall, waiting to be counted, and so cold and high where the Old Dead stared.
The Star of the Lower Mountain shone bright to barter such Dead as Emmen to form webs into a Tower to reach the sky. From the Spider Tree Star are sent the strong for the dark mines and climbing. Lesser Stars of the Spider Tree came then. They shone forth long arms, legs and great webs, and carried away those who once bore blood to touch upon the Deepness.
When we come to the last step, to the Dead who build anew, when we place these many great diamonds before the Mountain Star, then I will ask of Emmen.
Tower of The Furrow
The stone-walled tower of The Furrow, red iron shutters covering its few windows, looms over the common folk of Mirael in more ways than one. The tower stands atop a hillock a little way from the scattered village dwellings, giving it a commanding view of the Odan River, the River Road and the surrounding fields. Indeed, the tower was built by spearmen from the King's Keep in the time of Tean's youth, and served as a winter staging post until the The Furrow claimed it for his own.
The Furrow was once a sage of the Black Tower in Three Stones, until his departure the better part of a generation ago. He is rumored to hold the keys to powerful wizardry; the threat of The Furrow's Refutations casts a longer shadow than does his tower. The Furrow is neither vindictive nor vengeful, but quite capable of momentary or lasting cruelty without a second thought.
The Furrow makes few demands of the folk of Mirael; privacy and provisions are chief amongst them. The cost is not great, and stories are still told of the fate of those spearmen and common folk who once stood up to The Furrow. No-one knows how the Ammander sage spends the passing seasons hidden away inside his tower - few folk in Mirael care to speculate aloud.
ReasonLove
[COMMUNICATION 7b5810ad1f172, Structure 642fa004 to Structure 0037b719:
There is something quite delicious in roping you in to my little distractions. In particular, this business of delivering messages between City Souls - it turns out there is quite the demand, even amongst my admittedly limited coterie. (We cannot all be great Structures, spanning the sky in our magnificance). Who would have thought it? I am becoming something quite like a confidant - a hundred times over. Such insight into the workings of the City Soul mind! How could I not share? Without further ado, I present this latest component of my ongoing investigations, a piece I choose to call "Message 1374 from City Soul 3f558a1d2 to City Soul 732c0a945."
You do possess the Identifying Arts do you not? (I jest!)
END COMMUNICATION]REF Structure 642fa004:554364ff0-5543652a5
I miss you terribly. From my windows, I see over the lesser cubes to our Wall; it is hazy and far. The familiar curves and apexes above are even less distinct - it makes me sad at these moments. I sit watching as each day fades, looking for your light amid the thousands that glow and flicker in the distant darkness. I wonder how high our Wall really is. Could you be far above me, looking down? It feels that way - you know how I adore you - and seems somehow appropriate.
The Curved Tower, this district, is full of wonders and ideas - each new room is like stepping into a new region. It is everything I could have imagined and more! I hope that you are happy for me, but I wish more than anything else that you would choose to be here with me to see it for yourself.REF Structure 642fa004:5543a1822-5543a1825
Yet another lovesick City Soul come to my Curved Tower from your great demense - it has been an exodus of late. Are you feeding them poorly?
I experienced love once out of a misplaced sense of completeness in research; who hasn't been curious about the existential nature of City Souls? I can report that it is a singularly unpleasant state, and only hope that the true magnitude of my noble - albeit brief - sacrifice in this matter will eventually be appreciated. You should try it! (I am not serious. I cannot conceptualize of you considering it with so much as a single supporting strut of your great self).
As a side note, while I recognize that you appreciate neither my wit nor my comments, please remember to remove them from the missive this time.
END REF
I have been using a truly astonishing device that makes the distant appear nearby,
watching the air vessels everyone has been talking of - they drift gracefully back and forth between the Grey Heights. I think of you seeing them better than I, even though I can pick out banners and windows when they are mere specks in the haze. Their movements remind of your friends dancing, but then everything comes to remind me of you. I miss you - the absence of your voice is a hole in my life.REF Structure 642fa004:55f7002a1-55f7002a2
Carefully constructed from the first principles of Natural Law, using derived refractive properties and a great deal of ingenuity. Does he even mention the kind Structure who gave him the FarNearer - an elegant term, of my own coining needless to say - and the room facing your great demense? Selfish, selfish, selfish.
END REF
The air vessels are just a part of the immense knowledge of the Shades. I am privileged to be accepted here, but the distance weighs on me. I can scarcely wait to return - and yet I have only just arrived. Why must this tear at me so? Why do we put ourselves through this?
I most often turn the distant viewerREF Structure 642fa004:55f7002a1-55f7002a2
Immense knowledge? Those designs were pulled from larchives at random by a Shade Soul barely capacious enough to remember them all at once, finding their way to City Souls by fickle chance. Where is the virtue in that? Do any of those industrious City Souls know why air vessels fly? Could they design a new one without their precious plans? Of course not. Do they get all the attention? Absolutely. Where is the recognition for the fine arts of discovery and invention from Natural Law? It is enough to drive a Structure to document and experience the inner nature of City Soul despair - I am almost sufficiently motivated in this matter.
END REF
to the Wall, and my thoughts to you. I am certain I can see the high arch in which we used to meet during the wind dances and the sun platform where the Speakers for the Dead once were. I am so far from you! My thoughts are with you, however, beside you every waking moment.REF Structure 642fa004:55f7087d3-55f7087d4
I despair of ever effectively teaching the merits of standardization to a given set of names. City Souls are in love with coining names, a task for which they simply lack the faculties. Bluntly, the results are abominable. "Distant viewer?" How can that in any way be compared to "FarNearer?" It is prosaic! It provides no reference to the history of enquiry into magnification through refraction! I could go on, but I am sure you see my point. Still, this City Soul is a new arrival and I must be eternally optimistic of my capacity to change ways and inculcate new behaviors.
END REF
But I must tell you something of the Curved Tower. The Shades gather close here, and I have never seen so many Larchivists and Speakers for the Dead together in one place! Emanations from the Shades converse with men and women through the Curved Tower each and every day,
bringing new knowledge and Art. The Arts! I am excited, anxious all at once - I am soon to learn Natural Law and then the Larchivist Arts. I cannot wait to tell you all of this and more in person; my passion for learning cannot begin to match my passion for you. We will speak again all too soon.REF Structure 642fa004:54a29791
I can't imagine why. Perhaps my scintillating presence and great wit? For all of the ingratitude and whining exhibited in this rather prosaic message, I must admit to a certain sense of accomplishment: discerning City Souls with an appreciation for Natural Law come to me. Let the others chase their air vessels; it certainly won't last. It was self-propelled biwheels only too recently, was it not, and an unhealthy, overly long fascination with combustion prior to that. Or was it democratic representation that had the City Souls so rapt? I confess to giving the matter little attention; from my limited exposure to all the noise, I see no practical differences between larchive designs utilizing combustion and democracy.
END REF
I remain eternally yours, in hope that you are thinking of me.
END REFREF Structure 642fa004:54a29791
They do go on, don't they? I cannot understand what they see in this terrible affliction.
END REF
[COMMUNICATION 7b581155bc047 Structure 0037b719 to Structure 642fa004:
Desist. Extrapolated responses.
END COMMUNICATION]
[COMMUNICATION 7b581155c730a, Structure 642fa004 to Structure 0037b719:
You have no sense of humor, no sense of identification. Some of us struggle, but it seems to be an absolute absence in your case. At least I can say that I have tried - valiantly and extensively - to bring you around. "Extrapolated responses" indeed!
END COMMUNICATION]
ReasonThe Black Tower
The Black Tower of Three Stones is an uneven, rough crag jutting from the ornate, worn paving stones of the Tower Court, the work of Draugh or long-departed Datarii if the old tales are to be believed, made of the same black stone as the Three Stones that give the city its name. The Black Tower looms high and broad over the surrounding buildings, a invulnerable monolith writ large or fragment cleft from a greater mountain. The thin windows of its highest crags look down on even the vaulted dome of the Temple of Powers.
As for many remnants of the long-distant past, there is a potency to the Black Tower - more than just the nature of its stone. Commonfolk tell hushed stories of what might lie within the darker spaces of the tower of sages; stonefolk wizardry from long ago, things best forgotten or left well alone. The wizardry of the Tower drew The Denier and other sages to it many generations ago, before the city of Three Stones came to be.
The Black Tower has neither door nor gateway, yet sages, scribes and lesser folk have come and gone across the generations - and come and go still, even now. The Expected Smile once wrote of The Denier that "he quested mightily and for many seasons to find one beneath the mountains who knew the secret of the black crag and stones. Yet he had carried the secret with him all along, that entrance is given to those who need." It is today just as it was then; those who need to be within will find the way. For those who do not, the Black Tower remains a rough-walled mystery of high windows and no door - as much a secret as the activities of the remaining sages of Three Stones who dwell within.
The Secrecy of Sages
There was a time, not so very many years ago, when sages of the Black Tower walked openly about the paved streets of the City Within. They orated in the Court of Three Stones, debated in Lord Verden's private park, and declaimed from the raised platform at the center of the Great Way, where wealthy merchants now sell their wares. It was not unusual in those seasons to see robed sages arguing points of philosophy with priests of the Seeking Vessel on the grand Library steps, or for noble gatherings to be enlightened by a reading of the latest treatise from the white-bearded thinkers of the Black Tower.
Tales are still told of commonfolk and traders who crossed the Black Tower in those seasons gone by; The Refutation of Othel's Greed is a favorite with troubadors throughout the Enclave, and a statue in the manse of Lord Verden recalls the supposed fate of ten rude Talmur retainers. The subtle wizardry of Ammander sages is known, respected and feared, whether or not those within the Black Tower make use of their talents.
A generation ago, in the wake of the terrible Year of Winter and the victory of the Emerald Company over Trespassers from the Farthest, Guard spears patrolling the Great Way at first light found the body of The Awl. An old, bearded sage of character and tradition, The Awl had been favored by priests and nobles alike. His words were respected and his presence in demand; as for all the Black Tower sages, however, little had been seen of him while Farthest Winter failed to give way to warmer seasons. Shortly thereafter, while the rivers still ran high with meltwater, The Locked Heart left the Black Tower for Port, and The Furrow for Mirael. Other, lesser sages departed or vanished before the following winter; those who remained no longer walked the streets of Three Stones, nor came forth to orate on philosophy and the nature of Creation.
So it has been from then until the present day; scribes and servants carry forth treatises, declaim before nobles and search the gloomy shelves of the Library, but the old whitebeards of the Black Tower remain within - as do their secrets.
