Malthuk's Tower

Malthuk's Tower was an abandoned tower complex located in Delzimmer circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR. It was reputedly haunted and the grounds were home to numerous poisonous snakes.

Location
Delzimmer was a trading town located in the Eastern Shaar on the Traders' Way  to the east of Eartheart, to the northwest of Beluir in Luiren, and due north of Cathtyr in Dambrath. Shortly after the Spellplague, it was located on the shores of the Gulf of Luiren. The tower itself was located in the central part of town.

Structure
Malthuk's Tower included the surrounding grounds inside a crumbling circular stone wall. The space between the tower and wall was mostly filled with thorny shrubs and piles of rubble that used to be outbuildings. Clinging vines shrouded most surfaces which provided cover for the few rats and many dusty vipers. In the southwest quadrant were three bitterthorn trees that shaded a well. The trees were stunted and the well water was likely contaminated by dead animals.

The tower rose five stories above the ground and leaned noticeably to the northeast. The walls were greater than a foot (thirty centimeters) thick and still sturdy, but had veins of cracks crisscrossing the surfaces. The first four floors had windows in the shape of tall, narrow arches that birds had claimed for their own, staining the stone with centuries of droppings. The fifth story was completely enclosed, accessible only by the central staircase (or the portal it contained&mdash;see below).

Interior
The tower had a cellar divided into three rooms. One room was intended for storing food or grain. The second room was a cell, probably for holding prisoners, slaves, or beasts. The third room contained a well that, circa 1372 DR, reportedly still contained potable water. Elminster also noticed quite a few spells down in the well, overlaid on each other, possibly protecting something under the water.

A central spiral staircase, also made of stone, led from the cellar to the top room, opening onto the few rooms on each floor along the way. All the rooms were empty&mdash;long since looted of anything of even minimal value. They contained only dust, detritus, bird droppings, and holes in the walls where treasure hunters had probed. The topmost room in the tower spire had no windows and a conical ceiling. A portal to the forest outside of Perendra's Stronghold in Voonlar in north Faerûn (and perhaps other destinations, if activating words existed and could be known) was placed here by persons unknown and was still functional circa 1372 DR.

Atmosphere
The locals all considered the tower haunted, as evidenced by the striking appearances of two human mages embroiled in a spell battle up and down the central staircase, witnessed by a number of people over the years. The scene played out in complete silence but in sharp detail. The two combatants were said to be Malthuk himself and his one-time apprentice Halrith Esral (identified by his flame-red beard). This eerie (but so far, harmless) illusion, the ominous tilt to the tower, the presence of numerous snakes with venom not quite strong enough to be fatal, the courtyard choked with thorny shrubs, and the foul well that reeked of carrion, all contributed to keeping the tower compound uninhabited for centuries, visited only by the occasional spy, beast, criminal, or quick clandestine meeting for dark purposes.

Activities
The portal in the spire of the tower was used by Perendra and other Harpers who knew the activation words.

Defenses
The walls of the compound were broken in places and did not afford much protection. The tower walls were thick and sturdy and, as of about 1372 DR, had not yet succumbed to the blasting spells of impetuous young wizards. The well room in the basement of the tower was probably alarmed and monitored by someone, because entering that room invited attack from unknown agents. Entering any other room in the tower did not attract that sort of attention.

History
The wizard Malthuk either built or inherited the tower compound sometime in the later half of the 10th century by Dalereckoning. He lived there for over forty years before one of his former apprentices, Halrith Esral, attacked him for reasons unknown or unremembered. The battle resulted in both their deaths. The compound was soon looted of most anything of value and allowed to fall into decay as the echos of that mighty battle reverberated in ghostly images up and down the stairs of stone.