Above the city of Lodban are the White Downs, a series of hills that rise above the marshs to the west and buffer the Mannic Woods to the south. Mining towns dot the rugged ground in that area, which is rich in animal and plant life, and all of it lies under the gaze of the Tower of Dawn, standing tall on the peak of the highest hill in the Downs.
The Tower of Dawn is a complete ruin: the walls have been battered away by the storms that sweep annually into the Valley of Endon. The defenses completely gone, holes worn into the great granite walls, this Tower is a sad monument to the eventual fate of all of the Towers. However, this Tower’s fate is happier than most: in its twilight years, it has once again become home to a goliath, just as in the days of its youth.
On Climbing the Tower
"The winding road that leads around the outside of the Tower curls up to the top, where rests the shining celestivere. The stone has become overgrown, and weeds and trees have begun to worm their way between the enormous stone blocks. At the top, the bronze wedge seems to shine more brightly than it should, and a line of runes is carved on the edges of either side. A workshop has been set up: tables laden with glass instruments and books sit on the western edge of the summit, and a circle of runes has been drawn in blood around the lip of the entrance to the interior. A small wooden bridge has been built out to the petrified wooden stem of the celestivere."
Open to the World
Most of the Towers are to this day still the colossal fortresses that the giants built: entry is too difficult to make habitation easy, the walls still thick and strong, and their position means that each commands a view of their surroundings. But this Tower, beaten down by the centuries, is open to the world. Any creature that wanders across it can enter and wander around as they see fit.
For this reason, the interior carvings of this Tower are the best recorded in Endon – they depict the early history of the Goliath Dominion: the creation of the world, the Elder Giants, the formation of the Henges, the War of the First Ones, and the planting of the Stone Trees.
Stoneblooded Inhabitant
Just as in days of yore, the Tower plays host to a goliath traveller: a stoneblood from the Stein tribe, named Oograglah. The locals are all familiar with him, though few are certain why he remains in the area, away from the rest of his people. He has made his home in the ruin of the Tower, protecting it from interlopers in its final days.
He will provide succour and wisdom for any travellers that he comes across, but the scholars from the University of Talbot, who come to examine the carvings – and occasionally try to remove sections of the interior walls for their museum – are not permitted.
The Cult of the Storm
In more recent history, strange happenings at the Tower have begun to arouse suspicions. Lightning strikes the tip from a cloudless sky, and more and more bandits and mercenaries prowl the lands around the White Downs, seemingly having appeared from nowhere. It is a perilous time for all, and something must be done.
The Tower of Dawn adventure concerns the Cult of the Storm, a group of fanatics who believe that the lost secrets of the Giants are their route to dominating the modern era. They believe that the ‘humanoids’ (humans, goliaths, and Giants) are the supreme beings, while the other races are lesser creatures. The Cult is being led by the scholar Revak, who has discovered how to activate the celestivere at the top of the Tower of Dawn.