The Four Towers

Lands: The Imperial City, Prydain, the Hinterlands

Races: Elf (High), Half-Elf, Human

The only source of wizardry outside of the Prydain, and one of the few places of the holy outside the Mysteries, the Four Towers have long represented hope for the good people of Haylene.  However, in recent times, they have fallen far from their once powerful state, and today only one of the Four Towers can truly claim an archmage.  Organized along four cultural lines, each of the towers was led by the Loremasters, and served by an order of holy warriors:

• The Northern Tower, in Prydain, was served by the Akadi Archers (arcane archers).  Unfortunately, the Loremaster of the North was slain over a century ago by the Red Witch of the Western Tower.
• The Eastern Tower, in the Imperial City, has always operated in hiding from the mysteries, protected by the Knights of the Whetted Blade (paladins with an oath of vengeance).  The Loremaster of the East, Valketha, is the last Loremasters in their tower.
• The Western Tower lost it’s Loremaster, Talecka, to the Red Witch (who was once her apprentice). The Red Witch is technically the Loremaster of the West, but no longer dwells in the Tower.  The Horizon Walkers of the West… the handful of planar guides who have always defended the Tower, now serve a lesser mage.
• The Southern Tower was overrun hundreds of years ago prior to the Great Conflagration, but the Warriors of the Wode (ancestral guardians) kept faith and eventually reclaimed the tower.  The Dundrarch, the Heirophant of the southern druids, came to live there in more recent times, and today, the Southern Tower operates independently.

History

Originally, the Towers were built by an alliance of humans and elves, who both risked their lives as traitors to defend against the growing perils that afflicted Haylene.  Over the years, their power waxed and waned, although the loss of the Southern Tower nearly crippled the faction, and the actions of the Red Witch essentially ended it.  Today, they maintain their missions separately, but only the Eastern Tower is able to follow its charter, although the Southern Tower is a formidable force to itself.

Goals

• The Four Towers were established to combat planar incursions into the world of Haylene.  
• The primary concern of the Towers is the land of Darkane and the perils of the Underdark.

Key Individuals

• Valketha, Loremaster of the Eastern Tower: The last true Loremaster, and historically one of the least powerful, Valketha is part of an effort to keep the flame of the East alive.
• The Red Witch of the Western Tower: Reviled for her part in the Reckoning, the Red Witch has reformed and attempts to make amends for her misdeeds.
• The Dundrarch: A powerful opponent of Darkane, the Dundrach is believed to be a hereditary position
• Ophalia, Caretaker of the West: The surviving wizard of the Western Tower, she tries to care for her walkers
• Edgerrin the Well-Traveled: The leader of the Horizon Walkers.
• Allyn Lackland: The leader of the Knights of the Whetted Blade
• Shema of Tulone: The Dundrach’s daughter, and heir to the position.

Rank and Associated Abilities

Associated Subclasses Barbarian (Ancestral Guardian), Druid (Circle of the Land), Fighter (Arcane Archer), Paladin (Oath of Vengeance), Ranger (Horizon Walker), Wizard (Loremaster)

• Apprentice (Rank 1): Barbarian, druid, fighter, paladin, ranger or wizard training available (required for 2nd level of druid or wizard or 3rd level of barbarian, fighter, paladin, or ranger).
• Learned (Rank 2): Barbarian, fighter, paladin or ranger training available (required for 5th level of ranger, 6th level of barbarian or 7th level of fighter or paladin).
• Walker (Rank 3): Barbarian, druid, fighter, ranger or wizard training available (required for 6th level of druid or wizard, 7th level for ranger, or 10th level barbarian or fighter).
• Initiated (Rank4): Barbarian, druid, fighter, paladin, ranger or wizard training available (required for 10th level of druid or wizard, 11th level of ranger, 14th level of barbarian, 15th level of  fighter or paladin). All individuals with this rank are listed above.
• Master (Rank 5): Druid or wizard training available (required for 14th level of druid or wizard).  At any time, there could only be four Masters, right now there are only three.

On the Divide Primordial

As discussed, our unique cosmology was a result of a great division of energy early in our world’s creation… I call this the Divide Primordial, and it relates to Haylene’s formation. The following, of course, is unverifiable, and based primarily on investigations of various Titans… creatures that existed prior to the First Conjunction.¹

In the beginning, there was a singular point where the Astral Plane, rife with portals to the Great Wheel and the realms of gods and belief, came in contact with the Ethereal Plane, the conduit to the elemental planes. Normally, when this happens, the influence of one plane or the other proves dominant, producing a sort of planar gradient, and essentially causing a material world form, like drop of hot wax forming an orb in water.² In our case, however, the two planes were essentially balanced, meaning no great flow could occur from one to the other. Rather than a massive orb coalescing, a bubble formed on one side (and presumably the other) that grew to a small size, and essentially crusted over. This small bubble is Haylene… formed on a completely flat plane, and with a bubble of space over that flat expanse in which it can grow.³

This bubble, of course, is inherently unstable, which is why the primordial forces of our world formed Io and the Dark Moon, and ultimately Titania during the First Conjunction.⁴ These moons function as screens… creatures of spirit or the elements can leave, but not enter, preventing our bubble from popping, for lack of a better word. Without them, our limited space would become crowded with planar interlopers, and ultimately overrun us with otherworldly energies.⁵ Whether or not these moons are sufficient remains to be seen… they are either slowly draining our world of the plots of fiends and celestials alike, or those same creatures will eventually overwhelm the lunar wards and bring about an end to Haylene as we know.

Whether or not that will happen likely lies in the possible existence of our mirror dimension. There is absolutely no reason that the planar bubble ought form on only one side of the Divide Primoridal… indeed, there are many reasons why it shouldn’t. Every piece of mathematical or arcane evidence points to the existence of a twin world to Haylene somewhere in the multiverse. If it still exists, the study of its divergence from this world would offer tremendous insight into our ultimate fate.

Unfortunately, I must admit that after a century of investigation, I am no closer to finding Haylene’s twin sister. As I continue to eliminate possibilities, I am faced with one grim but enduring theory: the mirror dimension was destroyed, as, one day, ours will likely be.

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1 There are seven Titans, each a unique creature described in either the Monster Manual or Tome of Beasts. They are Hraesvelger (a giant, and the only one that actually ages, albeit at a very slow rate), the Elder Brain, the Empyrean, the Kraken, the Tarrasque, the Zaratan, and Acererak (the demilich, the first and only undead created before the First Conjunction).^↩

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2 A crystal sphere. ^↩

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3 Essentially, Haylene is not only coterminous with the Astral and Ethereal planes, but the two are coterminous with each other in this land.^↩

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4 Prior to the construction of Io and the Dark Moon, there was no concept of time in Haylene, and it didn’t full exist as a material world. After those two moons were created, it was still thousands of years before the creation of Titania.^↩

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5 The Red Witch is describing the Ban of Benlyndor, which prevents celestials, elementals, fiends and even fey from entering Haylene under most circumstances.^↩

On the World of Haylene and It’s Unique Composition

A note to Astrel: I assume basic knowledge of the “Great Wheel cosmology” as described by Master Wetet in his well-known manual.¹

Possessed of a unique perspective, having been to other realities entirely, I must say that the most peculiar fact regarding the world of Haylene is that it is entirely flat.

To expand: I have personally visited six other worlds that would be considered “material” and have evidence of the existence of over a hundred others.² Generally, a material world possesses the following qualities:
Mortal creatures, possessed of both body and soul, are native to this worlds.
Creatures of spirit (such as fiends or celestials) are not generally native, nor are creatures of the elements (elementals).
The world connects to the Great Wheel (or aspect thereof) by the Astral Plane, and the elemental planes by way of the Ethereal.
The world possesses a consistent and generally immutable sense of time, as well as common physical laws, including gravity and simple laws of physics.

By these definitions, Haylene is certainly a material world, possessing all the necessary characteristics and existing in the proper “place” in the accepted cosmological models. However, virtually all other worlds I have encountered consist of concentric sphere (more accurately ellipses), with a massive source of energy in the middle, creating a system of such size that any native to Haylene would have problems comprehending it.³ In such cases, great “planets,” orbit this energy source (which serves a purpose to them analogous to our own Sun), the inhabitable ones being thousands of leagues of across. Being spherical, they often have lands ten times the size of our modest world.

By contrast, Haylene is a flat disc, for all intents and purposes circular, that exists on a plane of existence roughly two thousand leagues in in diameter.

The reason for this lies in the creation of the world… instead of forming around a central point, there was a tremendous divide of energy, creating a flat plane and forcing the divine forces of the Great Wheel to organize the matter and energy of creation as a disk. I can describe this disk, and have even been to the edges: it is generally composed of granite, it is at sea level about 30 miles feet thick, dry land (the portion above sea level) is about 800,000 square miles. The rest is covered in water, the vast majority is open ocean.

The disc is bounded by an intense veil of shadow seems to be actually be planar in nature. Approximately a day’s travel from the edge, the veil of shadow intensifies, such that within 10 miles of the edge one transitions to the Plane of Shadow (and can actually travel freely within that plane).⁴ As one approaches the edge, one enters the Deep Shadow and leaves Haylene completely. This veil actually continues into the sky, forming a perfect dome. A brilliant portal to the Plane of Radiance, approximately 12 miles across, travels across the veil from East to West every day, varying in its path on a 363 day cycle.⁵ At night, it seems to disappear beyond the horizon, and it is my personal theory that it illuminates a mirror dimension.

The moon and stars are of particular interest. The stars are each portals to various demiplane, each unique in their origin and history. Our three moons drift in and out of the Deep Shadow according their orbits along the dome, which are neither concentric nor aligned with plane. Their complex motion is what leads to the various conjunctions that have defined our history.

All of these features are unique to Haylene: I have discovered other worlds that are not strictly spherical, but never another flat earth. The circumstances of our creation… of the Divide Primordial, and our mirror dimension… define us, and keep Haylene in a particular peril that may lead to our ultimate downfall.

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1 While any edition that uses the Great Wheel cosmology, Annals of the Last Conjunction assumes the 2nd Edition Planescape version as default. This includes the city of Sigil.^↩

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2 These worlds include Athas (Dark Sun), Eberron (Eberron), Krynn (Dragonlance), Neverness (from Bruce Cordell’s modules), Oerth (Greyhawk, as well as Hollow Earth and Mystara) and Toril (Forgotten Realms).^↩

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3 The Red Witch is, of course, describing crystal spheres from the Spelljammer campaign setting. Haylene is not accessible via the phlogiston, but rather only through the Deep Shadow and spells such as plane shift.^↩

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4 As an exception to the rule, the setting assumes the Plane of Shadow exists as described in the 3rd Edition Manual of the Planes.^↩

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5 This is an error on the part of the Red Witch. Haylene’s sun is actually a portal to a demiplane with significant similarities to the Paraelemental Plane of Radiance.^↩