Mage's Tower

The Mage's Tower was a mysterious tower standing on the edge of the Flooded Forest between the lands of the Vast and the Moonsea.

Geography
It was found within the fringe of the Flooded Forest, west of the town of Kurth and at the end of a quite overgrown trail north from Tavilar.

Structure
It was a lone tower standing some 70 feet (21 meters) high with a spired top and built of massive rough blocks of stone. There was no visible door, but it had three large, arched windows at the top.

Interior
Inside were only empty and dusty corridors and rooms, apparently uninhabited. However, the windows revealed the rooms within were sometimes lit.

Defenses
The base of the tower was guarded by a stone golem. It attacked anyone who tried to touch or climb the walls, or who tried to levitate or fly within 40 feet (12 meters) of the tower. It kept attacking until trespassers were either dead or otherwise unmoving, or until they retreated to over 200 feet (70 meters) away. It never went beyond this range.

For those who made it to the windows, three enormous gargoyles flew out to assault them and chase them away. These gargoyles or their smaller kin patrolled the insides of the tower against anyone gaining access via tunneling or magic.

There were also traps, with steps and sections of floor that flipped over to drop intruders into pit traps and other hazards. There were also magical spelltraps that transported people to the planes and left them in dangerous places.

Rumors & Legends
The Mage's Tower was avoided by local people, and even local adventurers advised against exploring the place. Local folk were unwilling to speak of it; those who did were always found dead shortly after.

The master of the tower was unknown and a subject of much mystery and speculation. It was certain to be someone or something capable of magic. The majority of adventurers believed this master was in hiding somewhere inside the tower's walls, along with all their possessions and treasure. One possibility was that he or she or it used a polymorph spell and took the form of a creature, such as a lurker above, that could resemble the stone walls, or hid in rooms with entrances concealed by a mimic that was intelligent and loyal to the master. Elminster also supposed they might wear a ring of spell turning.

These adventurers generally assumed the master to be a lich or demilich, its name unknown, but others thought that it could as easily be a living wizard or other powerful mage. Sages knowledgeable in the Vast presented a number of theories of their own:
 * The archmage Maskyr One-Eye, supposedly relocated from his former tower in Maskyr's Eye. However, Elminster held this to be false.
 * An exiled mind flayer.
 * Other strange creatures, such as a penanggalan, slithering trackers, weredragons, or wind walkers.
 * Cunning dwarves who'd hired mages to defend the tower with spells, particularly illusions of monsters.

One rumor claimed that Lord Lashan Aumersair of Scardale fled to the Mage's Tower when his brief Dalelands empire fell in the Year of the Worm, 1356 DR, and was still in hiding there by 1370 DR. If so, he could either be the master of the tower or a guest.

Lieshann, a minstrel of Ordulin, told that the tower was only the entrance to the lair or underground kingdom of a gold dragon or some other mighty wyrm. According to her, this dragon shapechanged into another form to enter and descend to the subterranean realm. However, those who'd managed to enter the tower called this story "bardish moonshine". Lieshann admitted she'd only seen the tower from a distance when she took a wrong turning, but still sang of it regularly at inns and taverns.

Elminster, the sage of Shadowdale, once mentioned that the Mage Who Never Dies claimed the tower as part of his domain.