Nadir's Zenith

**Nadir's Zenith** is a wizard's tower on the southernmost coast of Halintar, on the border between the Southwestern Fringe and the Southern Mantle. It's the home of Gustave, and by extension the primary base of operation for the Brigade. A town of the same name has begun to sprout outside the Zenith itself, a result of a period of "glitchiness" within the tower caused by the assault from Dinante.

## History

### Origins

The creator of the tower is unknown, though it in itself is vastly ancient. It was built even before Gustave was born, making it at least 3,000+ years of age- predating all of recorded history.

### As the Brigade base

Gustave lived in the tower for ~5-10 years before the founding of the Brigade, using the spring at it's base to extend his lifespan beyond the length of a normal dragon. After taking several Daggerhart refugees under his wing and discovering the existence of Curunthsh, he founded the Brigade and began taking in members. High-ranking members of the guild may have entire floors to themselves, while "civilians" or anyone who chooses to share a space with others live on the same floor in rooms of various shapes and sizes.

#### *Visit From a Sickened God*

Whilst on their travels, the Knights of Nadir went to the biannual Conclave, a meeting of the leadership of the Cabal of the Brass Arrow. After the meeting concluded Dinante himself requested to visit the home base of the Brigade, much to Gustave's chagrin. The party later met with Dinante again as well as Paradoxie, as the two of them met to discuss the revelation of Karomatzu's death and the rising threat of Curunthsh. Paradoxie had planned to visit the Brigade as well, but was halted due having to deal with the aftermath of the Temporal Storm.

On 27 N-US 905, two weeks later than expected, Dinante showed up at Nadir's Zenith in a Dragonsbane-induced rage. The present Brigade members swiftly evacuated the vulnerable people within the tower, and fended his long-range assault off long enough for the Knights to use the remainder of the Pirene Spring's water to temporarily calm him. However, this attempt to satiate his insanity was in vain, as soon after he stopped he was attacked by the Dragon-God Tephra, who is afflicted by a similar non-Dragonsbane frenzy. The goddess threw her sickened older sibling into the sea before pursuing in a frothing rage, leaving those who witnessed this primal clash shaken and awestruck.

## Composition / Mechanics

(See: Floors of Nadir's Zenith)

The tower itself is highly magical in nature, with unique mechanics for entering, leaving, or transporting between floors.

### Exterior

The exterior of the Zenith is impressive, appearing to be 10 stories tall with a shimmering opalescent luster. It is shaped vaguely like a chess piece, with a tapered middle/top and a "crown" of two wing-like structures emerging from it's peak. A gemstone of a similar composition floats between the two structures, an augment that allows mages who utilize it to extend the range of spells used to message and/or view other creatures.

An illusory field protects the Zenith from distant view, masking it's presence from any creature "unknown" by the tower looking at it from over a mile away. Those who have entered/been welcomed into the tower by the leader of the Brigade can see the tower even from far away.

### Interior / Entering the Tower

To enter the tower, one must touch it's side or stand within a yard or two of it and verbally request entry. The tower's magic then sweeps them up, bringing them to the floor they requested if they have permission to enter. As there are 100 floors to the Zenith itself, it has it's own dedicated page here.

The interior of Nadir's Zenith hosts 100 separate floors, many of which are vacant. Several of them have been claimed by various Brigade members, primarily the Knights of Nadir, who were some of the first people to join.

There are no stairs or naturally occurring windows in Nadir's Zenith- instead, to navigate from floor to floor you must verbally or mentally request to be taken to wherever you wish to go. While you can specify floors directly, you can also be more vague, requesting instead to be taken to the floor of another known Brigade member. As long as the one requesting the move is allowed to go to the given location, they are transported to the requested location via Teleportation magic.

#### The Core

The central power source of Nadir's Zenith is it's core, a large mirror-coated sphere that floats within a room coated ceiling to floor in a similar mirror coat. It enables the teleportation magic that allows navigation throughout the tower, as well as the illusory field that protects it from infiltration.

##### Long-Distance Messages/Sending

Mages that touch the sphere may use it to contact outside sources
**❕IRL** - Basically a FaceTime call with whomever they can reach ❕
 though they must have both an external source of contacting others (ie a Sending Stone) and consent to being contacted before the connection is established. Anyone can, with the assistance of a Keeper, send a simple Sending spell to someone they know. Finally, Keepers or Assistant Keepers can also use it to cast mass-scrying spells, transforming the entire room to reflect the area that's being viewed to anyone else in the chamber.

##### Teleportation

The Core has several runic circles scrawled in glowing lights on the floor. These arcane sigils allow Brigade members to instantaneously teleport to and from other "activated" towers connected to the Zenith proper. These activated towers are listed below.

If there is an appropriate location established and fortified, as well as a mage that can continuously cast Teleportation Circle and generally maintain the circle itself, an exterior teleportation circle can be established at an outpost or other location outside of the towers.

The circle must be cast every day for a month after the building is made, and while Brigade members may teleport to the circle from one of the towers with no issue, they require the spell slot of a mage in order to teleport back to one of the towers, and can only teleport straight to one of the towers by using one of the connected external circles.

#### The Pirene Spring

The lowermost floor of the Zenith was once home to a "fountain of youth" of sorts called the Pirene Spring. This potent fountain was the source of Gustave Theldirk's intensely long life, though it drained him of his quintessence over the centuries of use. Eventually, the spring was the only thing keeping him alive.

Due to the attack from Dinante that caused the Knights to drain the last of the spring's waters, there is no longer a spring left to speak of. Gustave has continued to live in the space regardless, his days most certainly numbered without the magical life support.

## Connected Locations

### Connected Towers

Several other towers, presumably made by the same individual who created Nadir's Zenith, are scattered throughout Halintar. As Brigade members find these towers, they can connect them to the "primary" tower, thus creating a network of teleportation circles that allow them to travel quickly through the continent.

Each tower has a similar shape to Nadir's Zenith, though their height and contents vary. Each of them is made of a different material, and has it's own "satellite" gemstone, though the location of the gemstone may vary. The other towers also have a single teleportation circle within them, allowing them to reach Nadir's Zenith once the circle is activated.

#### **Opaline Tower**

Nadir Zenith itself is referred to as the "pearl" tower, with a shimmering white luster to it.

#### **Onyx Tower**

The Onyx Tower is located in the High North, directly south of the capitol city of Cinadaria. It was discovered near the end of the Indurate Infinitum arc of Halintar: Respite of the Gods, and connected to the Zenith after the passing of the temporal storm. It only has three floors, though each of them are wide and house many cremated remains in jars.

It has a smooth black surface, with an interior (top floor) satellite gemstone of a completely smooth, round onyx.

The onyx tower allows entry via a large door that can be magically locked by adept mages. Transport between floors is done through simple stairwells.

#### **Larimar Tower**

This tower is located in the wilderness of the Great Northwest, nestled between the Vekikra Highlands and Vekikra Lowlands, in view of the coast. It was unlocked during the oneshot Siege for Tower Larimar. It has six floors, each of which hosts an illusory fairy tale story that can be activated or deactivated by opening the large book in each room.

It is the only tower so far that appears to be made of separate "bricks" of a smooth light blue (larimar) material, rather than a smooth carved tower or underground chambers. It's satellite is exterior, with similar wing-shaped extrusions hosting a floating teardrop shaped larimar gem.

A set of heavy wooden doors guard's Larimar Tower's entrance. A ladder or rope extends from each higher floor to the lower ones.

#### **Amber Tower**

Hidden beneath the sands of the Northeastern Badlands, the Amber Tower is buried beneath what was once Santriga, though it has since been flattened in an attempt to combat Dragonsbane's proliferation in the southern parts of the country. It was unlocked during the Hypochondria multi-shot.

Unlike the other towers, the Amber tower is actually underground, with no means of viewing the tower's exterior. It can be assumed, however, that it's amber colored, as it's interior satellite hosts a marquise/navette cut amber gemstone on it's lowest floor.

A circular platform that can hover upward or downward (similar to an elevator, a rather new invention) allows access to the tower and it's lower floors.

### Outpost/Other Locations

Given the time, resource, and magical investments, other bases outside of the mage towers can be established as connections to Nadir's Zenith's network.

#### **Icefoot Fortress**

The teleportation circle at Icefoot Fortress has only begun being established, and will be powered by the combined efforts of Seth & Sophia. It will be completed at the end of the Neck of the Silver Solstice 906.

#### **Valjean**

After attempting to find Malik's mother and instead finding his half-sister, Isabelle von Theldirk, the half-dragon decided it would be best to stay in Valjean with his sister to talk about their shared heritage and have him re-learn about the world he's been gone from for so long.

He has begun establishing a small, secretive teleportation circle there, but due to it not being in a Brigade-fortified structure and only being powered by himself, there's no telling when the circle will be stable enough to use.