The Tower of High Sorcery at Istar is one of the Towers of High Sorcery on Ansalon. It was located in the city of Istar and was the tallest building in the city at 500 feet tall until the Great Temple was built. It was made of white crystal that would catch the sunlight and make rainbows from the light. On the top of the tower was a black marble dome surround by five red torrents that bent slightly inward. Istarans would call the tower Pulmo spo-ponires or the Bloody-Fingered Hand. This name sprang from a description of the tower in Trella’s Ode to the Lordcity poem.
On certain nights of the month the torrents on the tower would look like it was holding the moon Solinari. Magic would run strong on these nights and the torrents would glow and shadows would dance across the tower’s walls. The Balakan Grove guarded the tower. Past the grove was an inner courtyard and an alabaster wall separated the two. The wall had silver gates.
Inside the tower there was a large central stairway. The white opal Globe of Solinari was hung in the shaft of the stairway. The wizards smashed the globe when they abandoned the tower to honor that its sister globes were destroyed in Losarcum and Daltigoth. The private quarters and studies of the mages were on the eastern side of the tower, while the workrooms and archives were on the west side. In the landings between floors were welcoming statues of the past masters of the tower.
In the Age of Mortals, Nuitari had the tower rebuilt underneath the Blood Sea and it became known as the Tower of the Blood Sea. The main physical difference between the old tower and the new is the top of the tower. No longer does it have the five red torrents. The top is a black marble dome with a circlet of red-gold intertwined with silver. The red-gold represents Lunitari, the silver represents Solinari, and the black dome represents Nuitari.
History of the Tower[]
Age of Dreams[]
The Highmage Kharro declared that four more towers be built after the Tower of High Sorcery at Wayreth. The White Robes were given the eastern part of Ansalon to find their location. Asanta did not decide on a large city as the other orders did but a small fishing village called Istar. Asanta was a seer and saw a vision of how great Istar was going to be in the future with the Gods of Good. Kharro demanded an explanation for the choice of location, but once Asanta shared her vision with him he allowed the construction. Forty years later around 2550 PC Asanta led the spell that created the tower. She then told her wizards to teach the people the ways of light and to protect them. Asanta died that night.
With the wizards help the people of Istar gave up their practice of ancestor worship. Over the centuries the wizards of the tower helped Istar grow and conquer their nearby rivals and became a kingdom.
During the Third Dragon War, the desert people of Dravinaar set its sights on Istar but waited until the mages of the tower were distracted. Their chance came when the Conclave met in Palanthas. Dravinaar attacked and when the Istarans went to the tower for help they received no answer. The people then turned to the clergy for help and a cleric of Paladine saved the city. This began the Istarans turn from wizards to the clergy.
Age of Might[]
In 574 PC, the War of Bones occurred when a Black Robe Salius Ruven raised an undead army and attacked Istar. The Emperor of Istar, Lannis the Blind, sent the First Son of Paladine, Eldan, to ask the wizards of the tower for help and they refused to attack one of their own. Eldan returned three times and each time they refused. The Knights of Solamnia rode to the city’s rescue and after Salius was defeated some Istarans wanted war on the tower. Eldan had the undead bodies piled in front of the tower and warned them that if they betrayed Istar again they will be the ones whose bodies will be piled up. This incident only solidified the people’s distrust of mages and also helped the empire’s relationship with the magic distrusting Solamnia.
In 280 PC, the Emperor of Istar was overthrown by Symeon I and Symeon became the first Kingpriest of Istar. The wizards of the tower became less involved in the empire’s politics but still had an emissary in its court. In 212 PC, the Great Temple construction finished and it eclipsed the tower for the tallest and grandest structure in the city.
During the Three-Thrones War, the wizards of the tower tried to get involved in Istar politics again. They decided to support Vasari II. When Ardosean IV won the war, he tried to attack the tower but could not get past the Balakan Grove. The empire and the tower then reached an uneasy truce.
Around 61 PC, Marwort was given mastery of the tower of Istar and the place of envoy for the Kingpriest. In 40 PC, Marwort withdrew the support of the Orders of High Sorcery from the Kingpriest Kurnos to support Beldinas Pilofiro. Beldinas later became Kingpriest and over the years Marwort would often side with the Kingpriest over the Conclave. Kingpriest Beldinas Pilofiro disliked dark magic due to circumstances early in his reign. In 20 PC, the Highmage Vincil da Jevra met the Kingpriest to talk about peace at the Eusymmeas Fountain in the city. Beldinas wanted to have all Black Robes removed from all the Towers of High Sorcery except the one at Wayreth. Before Vincil could discuss this further, a magical duplicate in the form of the cleric Suvin controlled by the Black Robe Andras Rannoch stabbed the Kingpriest Beldinas Pilofiro. Many died in the battle including the Highmage Vincil da Jevra and so the Lost Battles began.
During this war, troops invaded the Tower of High Sorcery at Daltigoth and the Tower of High Sorcery at Losarcum. The wizards of the towers destroyed them to stop others from getting a hold of the powerful items and secrets stored in them. A peace was later agreed to in 19 PC. The wizards would abandon the two remaining city towers including the one in Istar and they would be left alone in Wayreth. The Highmage Jorelia handed over the key to the gates of the tower to the Kingpriest.
At some point in the years prior to the wizards vacating the tower, the Speaker of the Stars Lorac Caladon came to the tower to take his Test of High Sorcery. While there the tower’s Dragon Orb lured him, and convinced Lorac to take it away from the tower.
In 18 PC, Beldinas made the tower into a repository for artifacts of the Gods of Evil. Eventually the tower became filled with the relics of the Gods of Neutrality and all those of the not recognized faiths of the gods of good with the exception of Paladine. The tower became known as Solio Febalas or the Hall of Sacrilege.
Cataclysm[]
During the Cataclysm, the tower was split in half and fire spread through it. It was carried along with the rest of the city to the bottom of the newly formed Blood Sea. The Gods of Magic had Zeboim bury the ruins of the tower using the Maelstrom. The ruins became cloaked from both mortals and the gods.
Age of Despair[]
Prior to the Chaos War, each head of the orders approached the Sea Elf Steward of Istar Apoletta for help locating the tower at the sea bottom. She was unable to help them.
Age of Mortals[]
After the War of Souls, Nuitari secretly rebuilt the tower to be a stronghold and became known as the Tower of the Blood Sea. The holy artifacts survived the cataclysm and Nuitari kept them in the Chamber of Relics (also called the Hall of Sacrilege) guarded by the Sea Dragon Midori. He and the other two gods of magic agreed to let him patron the new tower and in return they would each get to patron the other surviving two. In 422 AC, Mina raised the tower so that it rests on an island and all other gods were barred entry. Shortly after raising the tower Mina entered the Chamber of Relics and left with two artifacts. The High God then took the hall and all its contents. Nuitari then reclaimed his tower from Mina after she left it on her journey to Godshome.
Sections of the Tower[]
First Floor[]
- Common Room
- Hall of Records
- Meeting Rooms
- Storage Rooms
Tenth Floor[]
- Laboratories
- Student Dormitories
- Work Rooms
Seventeenth Floor[]
- Library
- Master's Meeting Room
- Statuary
- Warding Chamber
Twenty Third Floor[]
- Master's Chambers
Twenty Sixth Floor[]
Underground[]
- Heartchamber (Istar)
- Chamber of Relics – Tower of the Blood Sea
Torrents (pre-Cataclysm)[]
- Meditation Chambers
Miscellaneous or Floor Unknown[]
- Balakan Grove
- Hall of Audience
- Laboratory of the Highmage
References[]
- The Alien Sea p. 188
- Amber and Ashes (HC) p. 254, 255, 262, 291, 310-311, 317, 320-325
- Amber and Blood (HC) p. 30-33, 80-81, 117-119
- Amber and Iron (HC) p. 122-126, 334
- The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles, Winter Night p. 581-582
- The Annotated Dragonlance Legends, Time of the Twins p. 157
- Dalamar the Dark (Novel) p. 44-45
- Divine Hammer p. 49, 147-148, 217-227, 322
- Legends of the Twins (Sourcebook) p. 50-51, 55
- Sacred Fire p. 101, 129
- Tasslehoff's Map Pouch: Legends, Tower of High Sorcery at Istar map
- Towers of High Sorcery (Sourcebook) p. 109-113