The Tower of Glass (a campaign element for New Edom)

[Tybalt]

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The Tower of Glass is meant to be a main focus in the Two Cities Campaign. (Campaign as in a military campaign, to be detailed elsewhere)

It is a crystalline tower, some 40 feet high, opaque from the outside, that is located in a memorial park in the city of Glasstower, which is named after it. Glasstower is a landlocked riverine city in the Republic of New Edom. Details on the city can be found if desired here:
 [spoiler][ Troi ] Glasstower

The third important city to be conquered after Harbourtown and Lookinghaven, Glasstower is a landlocked city in lightly rolling country to the south of Touchstone and north of Harbourtown. Surrounded by overwhelming forces, the donjon of the main fortress damaged badly by dragon attacks and magically enhanced siege engines, the city surrendered lest the people suffer the fate of the people of Harbourtown.

Glasstower's burghers and patricians were either exiled with little more than the clothes on their backs (in a few cases smallclothes or less after being robbed on the road) or forced to bend the knee. Those who remain as wealthy merchants or courtiers to the conquerors are called 'the Viles' by the loyalists. More to follow on them.

The city's fortifications have been rebuilt. Where buildings had been destroyed by siege the rubble has been taken away by now and either new buildings or pavilions have replaced them.

Occupation Forces and Leading Factions

A succession of warlords has governed the city, and currently the warlord is Lord Tarley, a bullet headed grim human engine of war in superb mail, wolf furs and sporting a grim disdain for the soft things of life. This stands him in good stead as intimidation might increasingly be the only real hold King Cleothas' old loyalists have over the place. With the death of the King and factionalism breaking out at home Lord Tarley increasingly is only in command of two fo the gates and the fortifications near them. He has about 100 knights and 300 men at arms to hold these positions. Humans try to flock to his area but he has barricaded it, concerned about famine and plague. Harsh he may be but he is human and while very hard he is known to be a man of his word.

The Fivers are devoted to Tiamat, believing that dragons as the symbol of Celtic royalty. They believe with the death of Cleothas that their nation must repent of factionalism and clan loyalties and social impurities. The Fivers dislike certain Celtic customs as well such as promiscuity before marriage, excessive drink and worship of the Tuatha-de-Danan. This cult grew very popular under the prosperity of Cleothas. Recently a number of knights and chieftains as well as common folk have flocked to it out of fear. There are roughly 600 warriors attached to this cult. They control one of the city gates as well as a former temple of Ishtar they have turned into a Temple of Tiamat. Most of the rest of their followers are camp followers of the army who have turned pious. Regular prayers are being done to try to summon other dragons, and lore is being pursued to that effect.

The Orcs of the Red Banner hold another gate and have built a temple to Gruumsh. They number nearly 2100 but are intimidated by Tarley himself and the power of his knights. While rumors abound that the dragons are dead they still look upward warily during strong winds...you never know. The orcs have begun taking over the district they are in. Most of the humans there are little more than slaves to these ravening humanoids. With a hard winter coming on and food scarce, there are dark rumors about the contents of stewpots in this area.

The hobgoblin Spear Regiment in Glasstower is the all but decimated Fifth Hammer (Loyal to Tiamat) Regiment. It only has about 350 hobgoblin warriors left, the rest being female camp followers (all hobgoblin--hobgoblins are snobs) and about 1000 goblin slaves. The goblins are growing restive and a number of them have deserted to become beggars and thieves in the rest of the city. They hate and despise the orcs and distrust the Celts, who they feel betrayed them at Fineberg. However they have little choice for now but to side with Tarley, though they are wary of being made to do his dirty work and act as arrow-fodder. The hobgoblins try to keep the area around the Temple of Tiamat (a former temple of Moradin) clean and organized. They treat the humans in their area as slaves, and cruelly, but there are clear rules and instructions. As far as they concerned people who surrender are mere chattel.

The merchant militias number roughly 600 all told, mostly caravan and warehouse guards. The remaining merchants include slave dealers and moneylenders as well. Two secret factions so far exist among these. One is a group of Yuan-Ti, part of the overall plan to secretly take over the region and plunder it for magic. The other is a front for the local Thieves' Guild, which in Glasstower is called The Harvesters. The Harvesters may be rogues but they are appalled at what has happened to their city. They secretly smuggle out mistreated slaves and help smuggle in spies for the Nocturnal Council.

The Drow form a powerful faction that is very small but feared and respected. It is well known that these fanatics are after something and will stop at nothing to get it. They also act as excellent advisors. They are aloof and neutral in the factional conflict, contemptous of group aims and mostly keep to themselves. However they have already built up an impressive network of favours owed by almost everyone. The Drow also know about the Yuan-Ti, whose presence in this war has begun to disturb them.

Finally there are the droves of small mercenary groups, brigands, thieves, whores, beggars and carpetbaggers seeking to profit off the army like jackals. These never belong to any one faction for a long time (unless the pay is really good--though as things are getting now the attitude of 'you can't eat gold' is starting to prevail) but rather scurry around town fitting in here and there and preying off the hapless townsfolk where they can. Part of the reason why no stronger mercenary groups exist is that most of the mercenaries worth their swords booked ship and went home immediately when they perceived that the coffers had dried up and winter was coming. The ones still hanging around are losers without decent mounts, decent arms and armor or real hope. As a result they are cruel and bitter to those weaker than them or servile and sneaky with those more powerful. Every alley is a potential ambush point or impromptu brothel or snake oil salesman's stall.

City's General Appearance

The walls, towers and gates have been rebuilt, and stronger than before. From a distance the city looks impressive and from the right angle one can see the glint and shape of the crystaline Tower of Glass.

The gates, whether guarded by orc or human tend nd to be rather corrupt and potentially brutally guarded unless bribery or great power (allied of course) is shown. If a strong enemy force arrived it would unite the city temporarily. The Fivers tend to be very pure but also ridiculously strict about searching people and subjecting suspicious people to questioning.

Inside the city streets are strewn with filth and a lot of areas are neglected. It is somewhat overcrowded with refugees from outside and camp followers. The only fairly clean and uncrowded areas are those around the main fortress near the north gate controlled by Lord Tarley and around the Temple of Tiamat, shared by the Fivers and the hobgoblins. (note that these two factions only grudgingly cooperate...the hobgoblins' worship is different and they are perhaps more aware of the true nature of this goddess)

The Great Market, once a bustling area near guild halls and the craft district is now a dirty wretched area that is more of a slave and loot market than anything else. Livestock offered for sale here tends to be thin, sickly and dirty for the most part. Near the gardens that were devoted to Ishtar as patroness of ale is now a set of gambling halls and fighting pits that enable the war weary troops and camp followers to wager away their ill gotten gains.

The homes of the rich are either neglected drafty halls occupied by groups of humanoids and brigands, held by the Viles, or else occupied by Tarley and his followers.

The Viles

There are several kinds of Viles.

False Viles are the best--and the fewest. These include the Guildmaster of Grocers who is secretly the head of the Thieves' Guild, the Harvesters, and is known for being able to find roast goose in the desert as far as Tarley is concerned. Everyone has to deal with him sooner or later, though everyone is also envious and ready to take what he has if only they could. He commands a strong militia force paid for by himself and his cohorts, and his warehouses are never robbed--unpleasant things happen to those who try. He is secretly a New Edomite patriot though reviled by outsiders as a traitor. Few even on the Great Council of the Republic know his true allegiance.

The 'Little Viles' are those who have squirmily attached themselves to one faction or another. They lack the resources to hire their own guards, protect their property or themselves for that matter and so act as advisors and assitants to the conquerors, or mistresses or utter lackeys as the case might be. Some have grown able to grin under various forms of light humiliation. These have believed enemy victory is certain and that strength will overcome all.

The Big Viles sold out big and gained big. This handful of rogues and villains essentially acted like the Little Viles but had more resources to offer. Some of the guildmasters still remaining fit into this category, but also a few patrician families sold out to survive and bent the knee to the King, bringing their households with them. These have now thrown their lot in with Lord Tarley for survival and would readily betray their fellow countrymen.  [/spoiler]

The Tower of Glass represents a powerful spell done by the Tuatha de Danan (ancestors of the current elves)  to hide the memory of certain powerful magics and items. Essentially the result of this was a kind of reality split that placed an aspect of the tower in another world, one with almost no magic in it. Once the other aspect was created the elves who had created the other tower removed pieces of it and hid them with human families they had befriended. The two towers could thus only be rejoined if the pieces were put back in the damaged tower.

However a problem has developed. It seems that this powerful spell has also caused a side effect, a constant drain over life/positive magics in the world, at least in the region of New Edom. Creatures that are inherently good are dying; elvish magic is fading. As a result of this the magics of inherently evil creatures and the undead is on the rise.

[Tybalt]

Tower Lore

The Book of the Dragon
 [spoiler]This is a mysterious mechanical book divided into three parts which were then separated and hidden. It was found recently and is in the keeping of Lord Aholibamah, the Lord High Wizard of New Edom. It contains a number of riddles and strange diagrams which pertain to the origins of the tower, and apparently is meant for use when the tower is reassembled in particular. It also provides lore that indicates how to get inside the tower.[/spoiler]

It is possible that the Tower is partly a gigantic psi-crystal, at least it is so according to certain lore held by the Yuan-Ti and some remaining orders of Witches. (Psionicists of various kinds)

[Tybalt]

A Recent Tale of the Book of the Dragon

As various factions learned of the rumored Book and its connections to the mysterious and much desired Tower of Glass, the three pieces were sought after. One piece, it was discovered, lay in the ruins of the city of Lookinghaven, the former college town of New Edom that had been sacked by Celtic barbarian soldiers and their humanoid allies. It came to be there apparently as a result of an expedition some years ago by Lord Magdiel, then merely Master Magdiel of the Wizards' Conclave, which found the mysterious artifact which had no apparent function--in fact seemed to be missing something--but radiated both psionic power and magic. It was placed in a heavily warded vault in Lookinghaven's college building for safekeeping and further study.

 Lookinghaven
While the area was still occuppied the college itself had magically sealed up with various automatic wards following an invocation by a dying mage as it was overwhelmed by attackers. Following that the attackers within were not heard from by those outside. Superstitious and frightened, the barbarians gutting the rest of the city kept their distance, watching in horror in some cases as the building encased itself in a strange eerie light. Any attempts to get in resulted in the invaders being frozen, electrocuted, burned or stunned depending on which way they tried to go in. A further attempt by a group of hobgoblins mounted on wyverns as an aerial landing failed altogether, resulting in the ice ward covering the entire building.

A successful raid was made by a group of dark elves with certain allies (Grimlock slave warriors and summoned creatures) and the remaining defenders were almost entirely wiped out. However as the drow searched for a way into the vault they found to their frustration that it required a magical password and was heavily warded. Shortly after this a raiding party of New Edomites snuck into the sacked and occuppied city, overcame the drow and managed to get the piece of the book out.

Nala

Nala, a city of great corruption, secret demon worship and drug addiction, was the second resting place of a piece of the Book. A strange wizard called Kedward Bone, a drug dealer and pervert, had the other piece in his collection. While he never revealed how he got it it was found by him in a ruin a few days from Nala which had once been an elvish city. In exchange for a group of adventurers helping him with a Yuan-Ti attempt at a local coup d'etat he gave up the Book, which he suspected would be trouble anyway. The 'problem' turned out to be a powerful cult worshipping Demogorgon in secret and caused a major local upheaval.

The Secret Shrine of Tiamat

The Secret Shrine of Tiamat was the resting place of the last piece of the Book, though again curiously its true purpose was not known. It was simply one of a number of curious but difficult to find a use for items that the Cult of Tiamat had gathered in its subjugation of the region. It was discovered that the major effort at the moment was to raise a very old Blue Dragon as a dracolich. The adventurers sent by Lord Aholibamah used this as a distraction, ending the rite while part of the group stole the piece of the Book.

Hidden Powers of the Book

It has slowly been revealed to Lord Aholibamah that the Tower was in part built by or under the advice of ancient dragons of great wisdom and psionic ability. He has begun to learn something of the secret lore of dragons through this Book. However the main riddle solved so far has been putting it together so it can actually be read. This requires a very high intelligence to even begin to contemplate.

[Tybalt]

The Yuan Ti and the Tower.

There are only a handful of truly psionic races in the world. They are:
- humans (though this ability is held secretively among humans, it is considered suspicious by many societies and is called Witchcraft)

- meenlocks (which are the equivalent of intelligent bipedal vermin of the underworld. They are rare and mostly their actions are mistaken for that of ghosts or locally legendary monsters. Meenlocks are little humanoid creatures that psionically assimilate other humanoids to expand their numbers. They tend to seek out places of despair and darkness--prisons, mines, gloomy woods and sewers)

- aboleths (the weird fish aberration creatures that rule mysterious aquatic lairs.)

- Yuan-Ti.

The Yuan-Ti had almost ruled their own empire, the subcontinental great realm known as Yasg. (which comprises many realms that are provinces, subject states and so on, but that is another tale) However their conspiracy to do so was discovered and they were driven into hiding by a vicious pogrom. According to their legends they are the remnants of a great age of reptilian folk, deprived of their natural right to rule. The visceral horror that humans have upon encountering them is mere jealousy and mental backwardness as far as they are concerned.

The Yuan-ti are aware of ancient artifacts, often crystaline or stone, which predate human civilizations and which were built by themselves, wise and ancient dragons or by aboleths. The aboleth civilization is long decayed and degenerate but now and then the creatures seek to establish centers of power in subterranean or semi aquatic regions. Though dangerous at times Yuan-Ti leaders will try to take these over. Unfortunately others are in human realms. One of the most powerful is the Tower of Glass, whose purpose is shrouded in mystery even for the Yuan-Ti.

A Yuan Ti abomination called the White Shadow has taken up secret residence in the underground beneath Glasstower and intends to plumb these secrets. The White Shadow has to use psionics just to look human, and even so cannot diguise a disturbing albinism and an aura of cold malice. Thus it tends to use agents, ideally purebloods who can pass for human by daylight, and their pawns, to achieve its ends. The Yuan-Ti led by it are known as the Shadow's Nest and had been coming to New Edom since before the war disguised as Yasg merchants.

Whoever wins the war is irrelevant to the Yuan-Ti. They have begun extending their coils into both sides and into factional camps in both sides too, intending to remain in Glasstower as a secret but powerful faction regardless of what happens.

The Yuan-Ti of Glasstower consist mostly of spies and front-managers who are capable of typical Yuan-Ti tricks in a pinch, but also of two important cabals:

The Assassins: these are largely halfbloods who are extremely dangerous opponents, particularly as they have no sense of chivalry or fair play but a very good idea of how to murder effectively and with a maximum sense of either mystery or terror as the case requires. Most are experts in the use of poisons and most are cleric/rogues as well.

The Priests: these priests tend to have levels of rogue but much higher levels of cleric, and tend to be abominations or halfbloods. They avoid being seen by the regular populace of Glasstower since they are a bunch of horrifying freaks. However they all have demonic pacts to one degree or another and are ready to unleash horror and bloodshed if they have to. What they prefer though is to use their clerical abilities and demon-pact powers to further the aims of the Shadow's Nest to obtain power and influence. They are also constantly seeking lore about the Tower of Glass.

Present Aims: aware that the dark elves want the Tower's secrets for the war, they have been using secondary sources to coax them on, including an infiltrator who is working on weakening the security around Lord Aholibamah. They intend to keep a group of assassins watching the dark elves so that they can snatch the Book from them once they grab it. If they grab it. Lord Aholibamah is a very powerful wizard even though he's quite old, and in spite of his oddly plebian habits of going to taverns and wandering around muttering like a senile geriatric he proved in a recent assassination attempt to be a deadly opponent even to a flock of Vrocks.

[Tybalt]

The Great Artifacts

The Book of the Dragon speaks of two important artifacts. The Pool of Memory is one.

The Pool of Memory is linked to the 'forgetting spell' the elves put over themselves to prevent their using powerful magics that could have destroyed humanity. It can only reappear when the Tower of Glass is reformed. It would reappear within it, a crystal clear pool set in a mysterious blue stone circle. Drunk from, it would reawaken in each elf who drank from it the memory of the great ancient magics of the Tuatha de Dannan, and would give the elvish people such weapons as could force other creatures to grovel before them in terror.

The only way to prevent the Pool of Memory from being activated is to bring it into contact with the Egg of the Great Dragon.

The Egg of the Great Dragon is an artifact which is capable of hatching dragons out of the living stuff of chaos when enough sacrifices are performed. Quite literally the master of the Egg could rule an army of dragons. Fortunately it is currently orbiting the planet within a fortified structure.

If both were brought into contact with one another they would both be destroyed.