Tempest's Fury

Tempest's Fury was a great stone tower in the hidden nation of Samarach, surrounded by a magical maelstrom that turned the forested lands around it into a dangerous swamp.

Location
The swamp and the tower at its core stood south of the town of Torich and southeast of the city of Taruin.

Interior
Past the keep's main gate stood a wide hallway that sharply turned right, past statues and magically lit candles. On the left side stood a small alcove separated from the hallway by a metal fence. Behind it was a pool of water with swamp trees and plants growing in a terrarium. At the center shone a small arcane nexus, one of the magical disturbances caused by the Shadovar threat half a world away.

Past the entry hall, past the sharp turn right, the interior opened into a large chamber filled with rune-carved pillars, magic circles, and endless bookshelves and arcane paraphernalia. Several rooms surrounded the chamber, including a vault hidden beyond a false wall on the northern side.

History
By the late 14 century DR, Tempest's Fury was the center of arcane research ran by a wizardly cabal. One of its members was a man named Foseth. The group performed research for hire including the faithful 10,000 gold coin contract with a black market mind flayer Zhiir in the. The illithid client paid a hefty sum to the cabal to develop new summoning magics and ways to empower summoned elemental creatures, "enhancing" them to be better servants.

The mage cabal spent as much time bickering, trying to one-up each other, and even claiming credit from each other. Their sloppiness lead to one of the prisoner elementals inevitably breaking through containment spells. The elemental was powerful djinni Shamal, brought forth using a ring of djinni summoning. When Shamal was first summoned to Tempest's Fury, he was a kindly creature; however, magical empowering rituals that the cabal performed on him twisted his mind. The processes developed by the cabal involved torture, confinement, and extremely painful procedures that drove most who survived utterly insane. It turned the djinni into a spiteful and cruel man. In retaliation, Shamal murdered every member of the cabal, including Foseth, claiming its magics and arcane secrets.

Unleashed, empowered, and unbound, djinni Shamal took over the tower. He claimed control over mephits and other elemental creatures within the keep while dominating others, such as a sylph who once served the wizardly cabal. The sylph was terrified of her new master and tried to persuade any visitors and adventurers to leave the tower well alone. The swamp outside the tower was expanded and made even more dangerous by Shamal's elemental magic that summoned storms and tempests. The djinni enjoyed staying outside the tower, basking in the wind and rain.

Later in 1374 DR, Zhiir grew impatient. The contractually-specified timeframe of six months came to an end, yet he received no word from the cabal. Zhiir hired a band of adventurers who aligned with Sa'Sani, a well-known merchant of Samargol. The hirelings were to travel across the jungle and retrieve the research compiled into a book for the illithid. The group came face to face with Shamal and his elemental servants, with the conflict ending in the djinni's removal from the Prime Material plane.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir