Host Tower of the Arcane

The Host Tower of the Arcane was both an academy of magical training and a political and economic power in the city of Luskan.

History
The first known account of the Host Tower's existence comes from a Northlander oral tradition recorded in 1237 DR by a loremaster of Waterdeep.

Erected by the netherese arcanist Melathlar in -354 DR to protect Illusk from phaerimm attack, the effort cost Melathlar his life. Twenty years later, another arcanist, named Maerin, was involved in creating a magical siphoning system that took seawater from the Sea of Swords and transported it via roots 'grown' from the Tower to the burgeoning underground settlement of Gauntlgrym, where elemental magic fuelled by the water kept the primordial Maegera under control.

In 95 DR, the Tower became home to all of Illusk's wizards as it was a refuge from Uthgar Gardolfsson's attacks, however they were driven out instead by an upstart from within Illusk itself. With wizards banned from the city, nobody noticed that the Tower was still occupied by the former wizard rulers of Illusk, the Grand Cabal, but they quietly weathered no less than three orc hordes, who failed to enter or damage the Tower.

It was not until 806 DR, while resettling the ruins, that Laeral Silverhand entered the tower and encountered the Cabal, now all liches. She sealed the ancient spellcasters within the tower for half a millenium until the arrival of Arklem Greeth, who managed to bypass Laeral's magic and free the remaining members of the Cabal, who helped him set up the Arcane Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood became the true rulers of the city, now known as Luskan, and based some of their organization's power structure on the architecture of the Tower. However Greeth, having become a lich himself, felt the need, in 1376 DR to break his staff of the magi. The resulting explosion nearly levelled the Tower and killed most of its inhabitants.

By 1479 DR, the Tower was a strange ruin haunted by undead and the locals would not go near it.