Firmament 0206 — Sky-Wizard’s Tower

A glass island barely a mile wide, from which extends a glass tower. Though the glass of the island is transparent, the tower itself is marbled with colors that obscure the contents of its interior on all but the lowest floor. This is the home of Martikhora (they/them), a wizard (level 9) who considers it their life’s work to keep the low-hanging firmament hidden.

Martikhora does not age, and is older than the ruination of the wilds, but is younger than the low-hanging firmament. They inherited their task of maintenance from an older master, Lakshmi (it/he), who features heavily in their anecdotes and originated the idea that this glass structure fell from the higher firmament. Martikhora is less certain of this, but shares their master’s conviction that the glass structure should be hidden from those who would do harm to it and its residents.

Each floor is connected by a continuous spiral staircase. It begins on the interior of the first floor, but wraps around the exterior of the rest.

The first floor of the tower is a mostly empty room. The glass is crystal clear. In the center of the room, laid face down on the glass so that it may look upon the world below, is the nude preserved body of Lakshmi the Unapproachable, builder of the tower. Tattoos of stylized flowers of all varieties coat the body. Hidden in the tattoos, the formula for the spell Fatal Flaw.

The second floor is Martikhora’s library and study. The glass is amber and dotted with bubbles. The books on the shelves and desks are exceedingly rare, many one of a kind. They primarily are esoteric texts on magic and the otherworldly, but there is also a selection of fictional courtroom dramas from the kingdom of law, following a stunningly clever and extremely attractive scholar and lawyer named Samir Karakhan.

The third floor contains the illusion spell that encompasses the whole of the firmament, making it invisible from below and allowing weather from above to be recreated below. The glass is ribboned with blue and green strands. The focus of the spell is a model canal city, carved from one huge piece of wood, through which a tiny copper steam boat makes a continuous circuit. Once per week, Martikhora deftly adds water and fuel to the boat’s engine without interrupting its progress.

The fourth floor is Martikhora’s personal chambers. The glass is black like obsidian. The room is furnished with an austere cot, but the floor is covered in thick wool rugs. Any Samir Karakhan books not in the library are likely to be lying on the rugs here. A tapestry depicting constellations hangs on the wall, woven of dyed wolf-fur and given as a gift by the Ancient Astrologists of 0204. In chests stacked along the side of the room, the collected treasure of Lakshmi and Martikhora:
(as magic user IV, &treasure)
2000 coins, of a variety of origins
100 coins worth of powdered spices
A God-Casket
3 maps — one leads to a laboratory in the wall of Catage (0314), one to a tomb in the wilds (0203). The third is fake, pointing to a buried hoard at what is now Fort Cygne at 0612 — excavation would reveal no treasure.
13 magic items — 5 potions: potion of inviolability, potion of terrible strength, welkin love potion, hero-mead, reviled ointment. A crystal dagger. 3 staves: Egron, Irosorin, Bashaa. The ring Fist Panoply. A nautilus helm. 2 pearl eyes.

The fifth floor has no roof, and contains Martikhora’s spellbook, a single sheet of vellum lying flat on the floor, held in place with a small river stone of sentimental value to the wizard, and stained by the rain. It contains all spells. It has been defended appropriately against tampering.