Latest revision as of 16:45, 8 June 2010

Back toCrownedSun/AbyssalLocations

the Mouses' Roost

the Tower of Dallajin

It is a squat and ugly thing, on a low gray hill overlooking the city and kingdom of Palitae. One can see it's dark obsidian walls and empty battlements from any corner of the city below. No soldiers rest within the fortification, and no lord views it as his domain; all know the tower for what it is, a symbol of their servitude and obedience. Yet for all that the Tower of Dallajin appears abandoned and desolate, the people of Palitae fear it no less. Those few souls that have trekked up the hard rocky hills for the black tower never return; their screams sometimes echo over the city in the dark of night for weeks or months after their ill-omened trip.

The Tower of Dallajin is not, in any way, impressive to look upon. It is a squat square tower, four stories in height with a single under level and a compact dungeon. Caverns under the hill-fort descend even deeper, hooking eventually into the Labyrinth, though those connections are soundly secured with massive wrought iron gates.

Top to Bottom: the Tower of Dallajin
The tower is topped with uneven black stone, across which a chill ghostly wind frequently blows. The footing is too uneven for the tower's top to serve it's traditional purpose of defense, but one none the less commands an impressive view of the city below from the battlements. Once a banner of some sort flew up here, but it's long since worn down to threads and flittered away in the harsh wind.

The ground floor is largely barren, consisting of a gatehouse and a small hall. While quite adequately fortified, neither is particularly attractive or impressive. One entering the tower from the hill can’t help feeling somewhat dwarfed by the edifice itself, but other than sheer size little effort is made to cow or intimidate visitors. In addition to the main hall, side rooms provide an unused barracks and armory as well as a few other miscellaneous rooms.

The first and second floors are given away to living quarters entire, providing a number of uncomfortable rooms for guests and visitors to stay within. The furnishings are sufficient, though the beds are lumpy and the rooms cold and damp. Winds often blow through the rooms as well, and mysterious noises during the night are commonplace. The second floor also contains a small dining room, a kitchen, and a pantry. Surprisingly, there is quite a store of various spectral foodstuffs.

The third floor is given away to the master of the Manse, and thus is typically empty except on those rare occasions when the Eye and Seven Despairs chooses to come here. Unlike the lower levels, the furnishings here are both luxurious and comfortable. It is still quite cold, however, and the nightly-noises get steadily worse as you ascend the tower toward the Hearthroom. A small study and library rests on this level as well, containing a number of texts on first age lore and history.

The fourth floor is mostly given away to the Hearthroom, with the rest of the rooms on this level serving no purpose but to channel the essence of the manse into the hearthstone. Thus the rooms on the fourth floor can seem quite confusing, both in layout and furnishings, designed as they are to a very inhuman aesthetic. In particular, a number of dark grottos and shadowy alcoves dominate.

Below the ground floor, accessed from a simple ramping staircase in the barracks, lay the cellars -- and the dungeons. The Deathlord keeps a small collection of wine here, of numerous and occult vintages. The cells of the dungeon are cramped and lightless, reinforced with soulsteel. Only one guest currently lingers; a white skinned fellow with eyes long unaccustomed to light. The slightest sound or movement near his cell causes him to cry out for aid or mercy. How long he has lingered in these lightless depths is uncertain. The drop into the caverns is not far from this ones' cell.

Secrets of the Tower

the Tower's Guardian
The Tower is not as abandoned as it might seem; somewhere within lurks it's ancient and powerful guardian. Never seen, it's presence can none the less sometimes be felt when it is nearby. It is responcible for the disappearances of those who trespass on the Manse, and keeps such unfortunates in it's hidden lair somewhere in the caverns under the tower, where their screams echo up into the manse and are heard even in the nearby village. It patrols the halls of the Manse at night, responcible for many of the strange sounds that sometimes lurk just out of sight, but hides away in the caverns during the brief Underworld day.

The exact nature of the Guardian is unknown; it might be a powerful spectre or nephwrack, or maybe a demon left over from when the Manse was created. None the less, even the Deathknights are in the dark regards it's nature -- or even the threat it might pose to them.

the Library and the Wine
The small Library on the Third Floor is filled with texts largely filled with First Age lore, specifically along the topics of the history of the region where the Kingdom of Palitae (now a empty and desolute hilly region, with a few ruins) rested. The scope for finding information on the Kingdom of Palitae in this Library is 0; it's Scope is 2 for historical First Age information on the Southeast in general. The difficulty of finding any particular item of interest in this small library is +1, due to it's small size.

The winery is of less immediate interest, and is strictly off-limits in any event. Most of the wines are quite mundane, but a few are actually necromantic in origin or vaguely magical. This includes at least one vintage that the Deathknights have seen in use before, which takes the "loosening of inhibitions" to murderous extremes (drinkers temporarily loose all Temperance, and typically a good deal of Compassion as well). Attempts to steal such wine without it being noticed involve Intelligence + Larceny, and generally require replacement bottles or other elaborate obfuscations. The difficulty to steal the mundane wine is 3, while the magical wine raises to difficulty 5-7 depending on it's power and rarity. In any event, even if the attempt is failed, such attempts won't be spotted for months or longer (when the Eye and Seven Despairs pays a visit).

the Hearthstone
Type: Abyssal (Bone)
Level: Four
Theme: Foreboding
Expression: the Creation of Nightly Noises

The bearer of this Bloodstone (a glossy black stone with lines of blood-red hidden within) has utter command over the natural sounds of the night within the Underworld or the Shadowlands. He can cause floorboards to creak ominously, create the sounds of snapping wood or slamming doors, or even conjure up half-heard words in the nightly wind or ghostly whispers. He cannot actually create physical effects, nor can he create any actual conversation at a volume higher than a low mumble (requring a Perception + Alertness roll, difficulty 1, to understand). Other than volume, however, there is no limit on these sounds -- he can create as many as he wishes.
The Bearer can also use this stone to throw his voice as he wishes, and he gains full control over where is voice does and does not carry -- he cannot extend the effects of his voice further than one mile, however, nor can he exhibit pinpoint vocal effects on targets he doesn't see. These powers merely require the bearer to concentrate for a moment.