20 Dressings: Inside a Ruined Wizard's Tower
Within wizard’s towers, terrible, eldritch deeds are wrought and strange, otherworldly research is carried out to its logical, but sometimes unwise, conclusion. Such arcane works leave their mark on the fabric of the place.
Rubble, wind-blown leaves and the detritus of previous exploration and the like cover the floor. Bones lie amid the mess; some are merely the remains of animals who wandered into the tower while others are much larger and have clearly lain here for some time.
Broken, rotting furniture lies scattered about; other smaller remains—perhaps plates, mouldering books or other mundane items—hint at the functions of various rooms and are intermingled with the larger pieces of trash. Many of the pieces bear the wizard’s personal sigil.
Iron torch sconces jut from the walls. Of various esoteric designs some are wrought to resemble skeletal arms while others appear to resemble the arms and claws of terrible, otherworldly beings. A few are in the shape of various forbidden magical runes.
In places, rotting oaken wainscotting hangs from the walls while in others its remains litter the floor. Several missing panels once concealed secret storage niches and the like which are now revealed (and empty). Perhaps some of the remaining panels yet conceal similar niches.
Esoteric symbols decorate the risers of the stairs linking the tower’s various levels. As the stairs rise through the tower, the character of the symbols becomes darker and more unknowable. Magical traps could yet lurk among these symbols. Others could hide dusty, undisturbed storage niches perhaps containing a hidden treasure (see “5: Lost Treasures” to determine what might lie within).
Dusty, water damaged tapestries hang from the walls. None of the tapestries depict normal, mundane scenes. Instead, they show various horrible otherworldly monsters and grim planar scenes of destruction and slaughter.
The remains of a large wooden bookshelf, pulled away from the wall and smashed, cover the floor with shards of soft, mouldering wood. Intermingled with the mess, perceptive characters find the rotting remains of several books all rendered worthless and unreadable by time and weather. The faded titles on some of the covers—The Demonomicon, On the Art and so on—are just legible.
Small sections of stonework appear to have been melted by splatters of some kind of powerful acid or other agent. It looks like the splatters descend one wall before crossing the floor for a short distance.
A faint, unplaceable odour hangs in the air, and seemingly resists dissipation by any wind or airflow short of hurricane-strength winds. The smell is reminiscent of a wet dog or cat.
The shattered remains of two glass vials lie scattered about the floor. In one place, it looks like the glass shards have been crushed into nothing more than fragments by something heavy. A skilled tracker may be able to make out a single footprint among the crushed glass.
The shattered remains of alchemical equipment—smashed test tubes, retorts, and the like—lie scattered about the floor. The trash is quite deep; this might be a good place to find a lost treasure (see “5: Lost Treasures”).
The remains of a stuffed owlbear lean against one wall. The creature is huge and has been posed with its arms outstretched as if it were about to pounce. The creature is now mouldy, missing many of its feathers, and looks in a sorry state. Paranoid characters may think the creature an animated guardian (and they could be right…)
A large tripod, that still supports a gong almost cleaved in two, leans drunkenly against a wall. The gong’s hammer—similarly broken in two—lies on the other side of the chamber. Careful examination of the hammer’s head and the gong reveal small sections of scorched metal.
Many pieces of burnt and scorched parchment swirl about the chamber, caught in the grip of an unseen and unnatural breeze. The breeze emanates from the floor in roughly the centre of the swirling mass of parchment.
A hole in an external wall once held a small forge connected to the outside by a short length of bronze chimney. The forge has been comprehensively shattered, but the short length of bronzed chimney—now green with verdigris—still precariously clings to the wall.
A pile of broken furniture, fallen masonry and the like partially blocks access to the next area the characters try to enter. It looks like the pile has been placed here—perhaps as a rudimentary breastworks.
Carved into the floor in the centre of the room are the words, “The blade overcame the art”, in Common. Unperceptive characters or those moving quickly might miss the small carven words.
An arrow slit or window pierces one external wall. A rusting grappling hook is wedged upon the sill. Outside, a short length of rotting rope hangs from the grapnel. Characters investigating the rope can easily see it has been cut—the ends are not frayed—which hints at foul play.
Dried blood covers the floor and wall. In the midst of the blood lies the cold, but not yet decomposed body of an orc (or other humanoid appropriate to the setting). Strangely, the orc wears only a loincloth. In death, its face is twisted into a savage snarl. A strange, acrid odour rises from the corpse.
A jagged sword blade protrudes from a gap in the wall or floor between two closely set stones. Distracted characters could walk into the blade and injure themselves Of the sword’s hilt there is no sign in the immediate vicinity, but the characters find it in the next area they explore. Its pommel was clearly once set with precious gems—several small empty holes show where they once glimmered.
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This article is an extract from 20 Things #41: Ruined Wizard’s Tower which appears in GM's Miscellany: 20 Things Volume V. Add the book to your GM’s toolkit today! Alternatively, check out the 20 Things Archive for more handy, flavoursome and time-saving 20 Things articles ready for immediate use in your campaign.
Design Creighton Broadhurst
