Mobius Tower

The Mobius Tower was a tower that existed in its own, closed plane. One of the Guardians of Time had made it his home for a while; the wizard Martek had hidden one of his miniature crystal minarets in there.

First Level
Most of the tower was frozen in time, and could only be moved through teleportation. Those who arrived from the Grand Hall of the Crystal Prism came into an ample room, where the crystal minaret they needed in order to reach the Inner Sanctum of Martek lay, though time-trapped. From that room, they could reach the firstwife's room, where an elven woman at the edge of an oval bed contemplated a dagger laced with a clear liquid; a bead curtain blocked the way to her closet. Her room also held a staircase, which led to the treasury in the second level. On a door opposite the firstwife's room lay the festhall, with long tables, pillows, guests, food and drink. The festhall led to a cloakroom, where a single cryptknight stood guard; past the cryptknight was a staircase leading both up and down. Another door led to the buffet, where the tables continued; a servant girl there was frozen mid-slapping a man in rich robes and a turban, presumably a lecherous diner. Beyond the buffet were a kitchen and a pantry. There was a door past the pantry which led to a room empty, except for a small bottle, which contained a djinn.

From the cloakroom, it was also possible to reach the Sheik's room, where a man of the desert was being attacked in his sleep by an assassin armed with bow and arrow. Past the sheik's room was a guardroom with four defenders watching the other staircase. All of them were frozen in time. The staircase was only capable of accessing the fourth level.

Second Level
The stair from the firstwife's room led towards the treasury; there were eight time-trapped guards, and three cryptknights, not time-trapped, hostile to anyone else who wasn't time-trapped. To the south, a guardroom held six time-trapped guards and a corpse, not time-trapped: that corpse belonged to Al-Dolak, captain of the guards, and a party to the assassination of the Sheik. He had been the one to pull the guards for inspection for that particular moment. If his body was disturbed, his ghost would arise, and could be made to talk. East of that was a guardroom for the harem, and further east, the harem; to the north was a hall where an efreet watched over a staff of teleportation which hung on the wall.

Further north was a room of state, with an open sarcophagus in the middle of the room; that sarcophagus held a mummy, which was not time-trapped. East of the room was a room where some men and women were frozen mid-laugh. Near them lay the skeleton of an armored adventurer, carrying 400 platinum pieces and 3 gems worth 500 gp each in his rotten pouch. Thoe were not time-trapped. In the center of the floor was a procession, where a few people were time-trapped, laughing.

Third Level
The third floor, the furthest from the arrival point, held only a few notables: a time-trapped orchestra on the center of the room, and about forty men sitting on couches and pillows north and south of the orchestra while a number of girls in veils danced for them. On the southern one, the umoving figure of a man danced with one of the girls; it was actually an adventurer. If touched, the adventurer would disintegrate, leaving behind only a map. Interestingly, a door leading to a throne room was not time-trapped; the Guardian of Time sat on the throne in there.

Fourth Level
The floor immediately below the arrival point held a single, tall octagonal room with a pillar in the center. The pillar laid on top of a tall base, which had a north and a south entrance; a hole was hidden in an alcove within the space of the northern entrance. If anyone plugged the hole, time would resume in the tower for a few minutes; a building-up pressure would soon expel any plug. The Tome of Time was in the same level. Nothing in the level was actually time-trapped; a tapestry in the main room showed the Cathedral inside Martek's Tomb.

Inhabitants
A Guardian of Time had made its home in the third level of the tower, and two ghosts had sprang since the freezing of the tower: one of them belonged to an elven woman, while another belonged to the captain of guards, Al-Dolak. A number of cryptknights had arisen since. A mummy, somehow, was unfrozen in the Room of State.

History
At the moment when the Mobius Tower became frozen in time, one of the Sheik's guards had been slain without waking up the Sheik, who himself was moments away from being struck by an arrow in his sleep. The firstwife's involvement in an attempt on the Sheik's life had been discovered, and she had been sent to her room, where she was examining a wicked blade. A feast was going on at the same time, along with music and dancing; given the number of people laughing in the tower, the assassination attempt likely occurred during a celebration.

Only a few things were spared the freezing of the tower: a djinn bottle brought by an adventurer, an efreet along with the staff he was given to guard, the captain of the guards, Al-Dolak, the doors of the audience chamber, a mummy and the entire fourth floor. At least two adventurers had died in the tower since the time-freeze.

In, the crystal minaret of Martek was removed from the tower.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Desert of Desolation