"In the base of that solemn stone had the goliath made his camp: how ironic it was, that the waystation of the giants and the goliaths in their heydey should still provide succour to the weary traveller, thousands of years afterwards. But the walls of that citadel had been worn down by the most indomitable of foes – time. Year after year had patient battered against the stone, until the cracks had widened into rents, until the beasts and the birds could wander freely in and out. And so too could he, that descendent traveller."

-- from Wanderlust, by Wanderlust the Bard

Any adventurer familiar with the lands of the Kingdom of Endon has seen one or more of the Towers. They occupy high places – precipices, crevices, hills, ridges – and generally command a spectacular view of the lands around. In the long years since their use, the Towers have fallen into disrepair.

There are very few in original condition: most are partially or completely ruined, their walls cracking and their secrets disappearing into the mists of time. Their chief mystery, the celestiveres, have been the subject of speculation for as long as there have been outsiders in Endon, and some of the strange bronze sundials have been stolen, though a few remain in their original condition, proudly displayed above the stagnant and derelict remnant of the Goliath Dominion.

Larger than Life

The Towers are a curious relic from a time before, as the goliaths say, the little people arrived. The giants being too large for human designs, they built the Towers without doors, but rather had one large opening at the top which they could climb down into. Because of the scale to which they were constructed, none have ever been used: their size, their difficulty in navigating for a creature which does not stand at 40 feet tall, their remote locations mean that few communities have ever tried to renovate them, and now they are only frequented by travellers, vagabonds, and ne’er-do-wells.

Celestiveres

As the peak of each, in their day, sat a celestivere - a bronze plane forged by the Fire Giants, embued with the magic of the Storm Giants and strengthened by the Stone Giants. In times long ago, they could be used to travel instantaneously from one Tower to another. However, several conditions have made this use non-existent in the modern day: firstly, the destination cannot be chosen, but cycles according to the time of day; secondly, the celestiveres are activately by the use of the uvar rune, which few can now wield; and thirdly, that even the goliaths have forgotten this in the long centuries that have passed.

Tower Network

There are rumours of two more Towers: the Towers of Sunlight and Moonlight, but their existence has only been proposed, and no adventurer has ever found them.

Partial Celestiveres

The celestivere, that relic of the old days, forged by the Fire Giants and enchanted by the Storm Giants, is a tricky and temperamental thing. The ones intact, in their proper places atop the summit of the Towers, are tuned precisely, and retain the properties which still allow them to transport an individual from one place to another instantaneously. The broken or partial celestiveres, though, at the Towers of Dawn and Eve, are slightly more chaotic. When a traveller casts the uvar rune on the partial celestivere, it can have a number of effects:

Destination Determines Result:

If however, the caster at a partial or broken celestivere attempts to use the celestivere at its own time - for instance, if using the Tower of Eve celestivere between 20:01 and 22:00, the caster of the uvar rune or lightning magic takes 9 (3d6) lightning damage.