Six Towers

Originally constructed in 400 AE by the Thalara, the Six Towers were designed as experimental conduits for early magickal theory. They are places where raw magick could be studied, concentrated, and, if needed, contained. Each tower was dedicated to a different principle of magick (Essence, Pattern, Motion, Mind, Void, and Convergence), making the complex a complete arcane engine for research, calibration, and observation. Their alignment with celestial bodies suggests the towers were also used to monitor astral rhythms and to test how the stars influenced magick flow.

However, due to the secrecy surrounding their creation and the volatile nature of the work within, few outside the Thalara even knew of their existence. Over time, as magick became more widespread, the towers were quietly sealed to protect the knowledge inside and to prevent destabilization of the surrounding region.

Each tower appears almost identical from a distance: smooth, seamless stone with no external markings beyond subtle glowing glyphs that flicker with color based on unknown triggers.

Inside, the design defies standard geometry. Corridors bend but don’t turn. Rooms appear larger inside than out. Certain thresholds rearrange orientation—stepping “down” into a room may deposit one back on a higher floor.

There are six primary doors, one for each tower. All are magickally sealed, responding only to specific resonance patterns or aetheric keys believed to be lost or sealed by the Thalara.

Hidden secondary access points exist, but these are protected by illusion, riddles, and hostile enchantments.

Approaching the towers feels like stepping into stillness. Sound is muffled. The wind dies. The air grows faintly charged, tasting of ozone and salt.

Inside, the silence deepens. Footsteps echo strangely. Walls sometimes shimmer or ripple as if the stone were remembering other times. Faint whispers in unknown languages drift in and out of hearing—many report the sensation that the tower is listening.

Officially, no living beings dwell inside the Six Towers. However, reports exist of:

• Echo Shades: semi-corporeal remnants of failed magickal experiments.
• Chrono-specters: ghostlike images of past Thalara who sometimes reenact long-forgotten rituals.
• The Stone Watcher: a motionless, robed figure occasionally glimpsed at high windows.

Some believe the towers are semi-sentient and generate their own guardians.

Sparse. What furnishings remain are fixed in place—floating desks, stone lecterns, and crystal observation mirrors.

Some rooms contain engraved rings or etched channels in the floor. Others are filled with dust and locked relic cabinets, sealed by glyphs that shift each year.

The towers themselves respond to intruders:

• Hallucination Wards disorient the mind.
• Gravity inversions on stairwells.
• Temporal splits that displace explorers into non-linear timelines.
• Self-repairing stone that seals off rooms or collapses corridors after unauthorized entry.

Even magickally-adept intruders often become lost, mad, or vanish entirely.

The towers shift internally based on the moon phase or solar alignments.

Time passes differently in certain chambers. Minutes may become hours—or days become seconds.

Some visitors experience shared visions or flashes of alternate realities.

Long-term exposure has led to permanent aetheric mutations in some would-be explorers.

Over the centuries, most external modifications were limited to containment seals and protective wards added by later Thalara. These were layered like invisible shells, each attuned to prevent tampering from unauthorized individuals. A failed breach attempt in 733 AE led to a partial collapse in one tower’s upper levels, which was repaired with stonework now visibly different from the original.

After the Ascension Concord in 1092 AE, the Triumvirate added perimeter wards, defensive sigils, and more mundane military outposts to monitor the site. While the interiors remain largely untouched, magickal surveillance charms were embedded into the surrounding terrain to detect fluctuations in magick or attempts to tamper with the seals.

The towers are carved from a seamless gray-black stone found nowhere else in Harjanta—believed to be arcanite, a rare mineral that amplifies ambient magick. They rise with unnatural symmetry, their surfaces etched in pre-standardized glyphs that shimmer faintly under moonlight. Each tower stands at an exact height of 111 meters, their tops cut flat and wide like tuning forks aligned toward specific constellations.

The interior architecture is non-Euclidean—passageways that spiral inward without center, doors that vanish or reappear depending on lunar phases, and staircases that fold into themselves. Most doors are magickally sealed, requiring invocation patterns that have been lost or remain encoded in forgotten languages. Scholars believe each tower’s internal layout changes in response to magickal activity, making mapping efforts difficult and often dangerous.

The Six Towers are protected by a layered system of ancient Thalara wards, some of which are still active and adaptive. These include:

• Magickal seals on all major entries.
• Displacement glyphs that redirect intruders into loops or false halls.
• Runes of Silence that dampen spoken spells unless a correct pattern is uttered.

The outer perimeter is guarded by the Triumvirate’s Arcanum Sentinels, and observation posts ring the area, ensuring no one gets close without authorization.

Built in 400 AE during the Thalara’s early yeats, the Six Towers represent one of the earliest attempts to codify and manipulate structured magick. They were likely never meant for public use—each tower was a proving ground for dangerous magickal experiments.

Over time, several events, including a minor temporal rift in 612 AE and a magick surge in 733 AE, led to the sealing of the towers and the deaths of multiple early magisters. After magick became more widely known, the Triumvirate inherited control and declared the towers off-limits.

Tourism is strictly controlled, but curiosity is widespread. The closest anyone can get is the Observation Ring, a trail encircling the towers at a safe distance. Tours are led by vetted scholars, and they include:

• Lectures on Thalara history.
• Astral alignment viewings during key celestial events.

Unauthorized visitors are prosecuted harshly, though this has not stopped thrill-seekers and conspiracy theorists from attempting entry—many of whom are never seen again.