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The Tower's Environs

In reflection, the back-breaking weeks he'd spent as a ship hand to pay for his passage were nothing compared to the days of fear and frustration he'd already spent in search of the Tower of High Sorcery. Wayreth Forest was thick, tangled, and difficult to traverse, with few discernible paths. The trees and bushes were twisted into weird, creepy shapes, made even more frightening by the ever-present, distant sounds of wolves and bears.

- An aspirant seeks the Tower,
Night of the Eye

The Tower's location at any given time remains uncertain, because of the transdimensional field surrounding it. The actual construction site was in the southern reaches of Wayreth Forest, which (at the time) stretched from borders of Thorbardin north almost to Solanthas. After the signing of the Swordsheath Scroll in 2073PC, the central and northern portions of the forest became the elven nation of Qualinesti.

After the first Cataclysm, the forest's northern third all but ceased to exist. The New Sea swallowed up large tracts, and shifting weather patterns changed much of the rest into open plains.

With the coming of the Green Dragon Beryllinthranox, the forest surrounding the Tower has expanded south to the shores of Ice Mountain Bay and east almost to the city of Tarsis.

Landscape and Climate

When most people speak of the Forest of Wayreth today, they refer to the area in the Tower's immediate vicinity, not to the entire surrounding forest. This region is bordered on the north by the Ahlanlas River (which marks the Qualinesti border), to the south by the Windsrun River, to the west by the Straits of Algoni, and to the east by the Kharolis Mountains.

The forest contains many types of broad-leafed trees: Oaks, maples, ash, vallenwood, pear, peach, and apple predominate. Wayreth's fruit trees tend to be low and hardy, with small, sour fruit. In higher elevations to the east, the hardwoods give way to fir and pine, while the moist soil near the riverbanks holds stands of poplar, birch, and aspens.

Like neighboring Qualinesti, Wayreth experiences snowy winters and wet springs. Summer and autumn weather tends toward the cool and dry, though sunny areas in the forest can become uncomfortably hot during midsummer.

The Wayreth region is infamous for its rolling hills and misty dells that all seem to look alike. The roughest area lies to the east, where foothills meet the Kharolis Mountains. To the west, the land rises and falls in gentle swells that gradually diminish as land meets sea. In ages past, many aspiring young wizards became tired and discouraged from tramping through the woods toward their goal; just getting close to the Tower requires purpose and determination.

Residents

Wayreth Forest has no permanent settlements other than the Tower of High Sorcery. The sixty or so sorcerers living year-round in this arcane bastion follow the Master of the Tower, a mysterious and powerful figure who serves as the Tower's keeper. The sorcerers mostly remain inside, and seldom wander far when they do go abroad.

The ruins of Mann in the forest's eastern mountains reputedly hold a colony of draconians; if so, they have hidden themselves well. Elven legends have long held that some unknown creature of darkness lurks in the southwestern fringe of the wood, not far from the banks of the Windsrun.

Some elf and human refugees, fleeing Beryl's realm, live temporarily on the fringes of the forest. They seldom stay long, however, as the dragon's minions hunt such insurgents there. The harsh winters make living outdoors untenable even without threats from enemies.

Despite the near state of war in the fringes, most of Wayreth Forest teems with woodland creatures - birds, squirrels, insects, deer, and badgers, just to name a few. Wolves and bears lurk in thickets, seeking prey. The forest's heart, however, houses little animal life. Most natural creatures shun the enchanted depths of the wood, where time and distance become distorted and the very trees seem deadly.

A copper dragon. Clang, apparently disdains the forest's sinister reputation. She makes her lair in the eastern highlands and treats the whole of Wayreth Forest as her domain.

Beryl and the Tower

For a piece of enchanted woodland whose chief settlement is a colony of hermetic sorcerers, the Forest of Wayreth sees quite a bit of intrigue and outright hostility these days.

Beryl, the Green Dragon and overlord of greater Qualinesti, claims all of Wayreth Forest as her own. The whole region does lie within her borders (see Dusk or Dawn, Chapter Two).

It is not only the desire for territory that fuels Beryl's aggression. The Tower of High Sorcery represents a great prize - if Beryl could capture it and master its secrets, she would control a source of power to let her challenge Malystryx and reign over all Ansalon.

On a more immediate and practical level, the Forest of Wayreth has proven a convenient sanctuary for all those who would challenge Beryl's rule. Rebels who disappear into its depths remain out of the Great Dragons reach until they choose to venture out again. The copper dragon Clang finds similar protection in the Tower's shadow, and nowhere on Ansalon does a lesser dragon challenge an overlord as she challenges Beryl. The Green's inability to conquer the Tower provides Beryl's downtrodden subjects with a constant reminder that her power is not absolute.

Understandably, the Green Peril has become frustrated and embarrassed by her failure to locate the Tower. After nearly ten years of effort, Beryl has begun to understand that she will probably never frnd it. She still sends parties of elves to seek it, even though she knows they will find nothing. Abandoning the search would be admitting defeat, however, and Beryl isn't ready to do that. She also reasons that her continued efforts might lead to success in some unforeseen manner.

The Green's Campaign

Recently, Beryl adopted a new strategy aimed at isolating the Tower. Banshees, Dark Knights, young green dragons, and a host of other creatures comb Wayreth's enchanted borders, attacking any rebels or pilgrims who might try to approach this magical refuge. Denying others access to Wayreth's secrets, just as she has been denied, assuages the dragon's anger - and makes the forest a less inviting place for her enemies to hide.

The strategy has been less effective than Beryl hoped, though, because her agents have difficulty pursuing their quarry through the magically shifting forest. These sentries even have trouble maintaining their posts on the forest's borders, as the wood seems to shift inexplicably without warning. However, the dragon's scheme makes any journey in Wayreth's vicinity a perilous one.

While Beryl's efforts have brought her no closer to conquering the Tower, her campaign has made an impression upon the meeker elements within her realm. Beryl commands young green dragons, banshees, Dark Knights, draconians, and other creatures who strike fear into elven hearts.

Beryl also commands a unit of Knights of the Thorn - the order of Dark Knight sorcerers - to use as a foil for the wizards at the Tower. Thorn Knights, also called Gray Robes, often accompany their fellow Knights of Takhisis on sweeps of the woodland border, to help defeat any sorcerers they might encounter. However, Beryl keeps the bulk of her sorcerers hidden away as a secret reserve.

The Master's Response

The Master considers Beryl's campaign against the Tower in itself a small victory for the dragon's enemies. After all, Beryl is unlikely to attack Solace or any take serious action against free realms such as Thorbardin while she remains preoccupied with the Tower. While the Master's overriding interest is protecting the Tower, he also seeks to help the folk of Ansalon survive until they find a way to defeat the Great Dragons.

The Master prefers more subtle tactics in his battle with the Green. He manipulates Wayreth's transdimensional field so Beryl's troops tend to lose the trail when pursing anyone through the wood; her servants literally find themselves running in circles when the Master turns his eye on them.

He gives his first priority to sorcerers traveling to the Tower, but lends aid to anyone if he has the means. He stays in contact with the elves' Speaker, Gilthas, and other leaders of the elven resistance, and stands ready to assist whenever the elves need a little extra help. Palin Majere and the enigmatic Shadow Sorcerer maintain close ties with the Master and lend their talents to his campaign against Beryl.

Refugees who can evade Beryl's troops and enter the forest's depths often do locate the Tower. From there, the Master magically transports them to Southern Ergoth or Abanasinia.

For all the Master's activism, the Tower's other residents remain aloof from the struggle around them. They devote their hours to magical studies and consider the Tower a sanctuary from a world gone mad.

Despite his continuing skirmishes against the Green Dragon and his other concerns, the Master turns most of his attention toward preserving magical knowledge and helping sorcerers explore the limits of their skills. Unlike the Academy of Sorcery in Solace, the Tower serves only those who already have mastered the art of magic and demonstrate an unfailing commitment to it.

The Tower contains laboratories for magical research and a vast library of magical lore. The task of maintaining these facilities falls to the Tower's permanent residents, whose dedication to magic is absolute. Only sorcerers who have passed a Test of High Sorcery can use the laboratories and library, provided they observe the rules (see Chapter Three). Sorcerers born after the fall of High Sorcery still may win the right to study at the Tower, for the Master continues to devise and administer Tests in the Fifth Age. While the old Orders of High Sorcery are no longer a force on Krynn, the Master believes the Tests remain an excellent means of challenging young spellcasters in the ways of their art.

Economy

The Tower provides a self-contained community for its residents. Magic takes care of basic needs such as food, water and waste removal. The residents occasionally collect herbs and hunt game in the forest, but they take care to remain in its depths, where Beryl's servants cannot reach them. A few more enterprising Tower residents also collect fruits and nuts - Wayreth's apples, pears, and peaches aren't good for eating, but they make excellent preserves. (Not every bubbling pot within the Tower contains an experiment.) A few residents also cultivate plants within the Tower (see Chapter Three), but the effort provides more of a pleasant distraction than actual sustenance.

The Tower's laboratories require a steady supply of rare and unusual materials for magical experiments (material created through magic just won't do). The Master uses his magic to maintain a steady trade with the dwarves of Thorbardin, acquiring minerals and crystals in return for spell-casting and food; Palin Majere serves as a mediator. Sorcerers from all over Ansalon contribute other rare and unusual materials as they can.

Notable Sites

Several locales in and around Wayreth Forest merit additional description. The poster map of Wayreth Forest pinpoints each of their locations.

Alhanost

A Qualinesti village with about five hundred residents, Ahlanost derived its name from the Ahlanlas River, whose source lies in the Kharolis Mountains just a few miles east. The river is no more than a swiftly flowing brook here, however.

Ahlanost's two major streets wind through groves of trees, making the place look more like a park than a village. The elves' wooden homes stand amid orchards and gardens looking decidedly treelike, with their curving walls and conical roofs. Sadly, many homes were abandoned when Beryl assumed control of Qualinesti; their residents have become either refugees or casualties from Beryl's conquest and malevolent rule.

The village's location near Wayreth's border would make it an obvious way-station for elf fugitives seeking refuge in the mountains or at the Tower. Such thoughts may have prompted Beryl to keep a strong contingent of Dark Knights quartered here. These Knights disdain the elves' lovely homes and have constructed a timber fort east of the village. A small green dragon, Virtrian (young adult male dragon, dishonest demeanor), lairs near the village. This dragon, called Vale by men and elves, spies on residents and Knights alike, reporting all he sees and hears to Beryl.

Havlinost

Another Qualinesti village, Havlinost nestles in a bend in the Ahlanlas River, which runs broad and deep this far west.

Havlinost supports about eight hundred elves, who live in homes built in the same style as those in Ahlanost. Like that village, Havlinost has lost some population since Beryl took over, and a unit of Dark Knights keeps watch on the Wayreth border. The elves of Havlinost do some fishing in the river, but the Knights keep a sharp eye on all the boats and make sure everyone is docked by sundown. A circle of standing stones less than a half mile north of the village serves as a lair for at least two banshees, once villagers. The lost huldrefolk built the circle, legends say, but it has been abandoned since at least the Age of Dreams.

A Hidden Lair

A family of trolls have made their home in a cave overlooking the Windsrun River since at least the Fourth Age. The family's dominant female wears a magical ring that renders her invisible until she attacks.

These trolls prey on unwary travelers moving along the river. However, since Beryl has extended her forest within the last few years, river traffic has tapered off, forcing the trolls to range farther afield. The Green Dragon's troops know that trolls live in the vicinity (after several unfortunate encounters with them after the Summer of Chaos) and avoid the area when they can. They prefer to leave the trolls alone, knowing the creatures will do some of their work for them.

The trolls use their great strength to roll huge boulders in front of the mouth of their cave, keeping it well concealed. Not even Beryl's troops know exactly where this lair lies.

Lauranost

A Qualinesti fishing village of about two hundred residents, Lauranost contains buildings much like those in Ahlanost, except that many more lie vacant - dozens and dozens of them, in fact. Soon after Beryl took control of Qualinesti, some of Lauranost's fishermen began ferrying refugees to the Southern Ergoth city of Qualimori.

Beryl decided to make Lauranost an example of what happens when her subjects defy her. With one ferocious attack, she killed half the town's residents. Then she and her minions marched most of the survivors inland to serve as subjects for her sinister magical experiments.

The Green Peril allows ships plying the Straits of Algoni to dock here, but teams of Dark Knights carefully inspect every outgoing vessel for stowaways. As they imprison any elf they find aboard - even those not from Beryl's realm - most ship captains avoid Lauranost.

The remaining elf residents still fish, but only from small, leaky boats that wouldn't survive a minute outside Lauranost's quiet cove. The Dark Knights garrisoned here inspect the boats regularly to make sure the elves haven't made them seaworthy.

The Ruins of Mann

The dwarves of Thorbardin excavated a series of tunnels in Mann during the Time of Light some two thousand years ago. This complex served as a defensive outpost guarding trade routes to Ergoth. During the War of the Mountain, Mann became a critical fortification guarding Thorbardin's flank. Humans overran it during the war and, after signing the Swordsheath Scroll, the dwarves decided not to rebuild the fortress, instead concentrating their efforts on building the fortress Pax Tharkas north of Thorbardin.

Gully dwarves soon moved into the ruins of Mann, where they remained undisturbed until the War of the Lance. After Dragon Highlord Verminaard met his defeat at the hands of the Heroes of the Lance, some draconian deserters from Verminaard's dragon-army fled to Mann; the gully dwarves hardly noticed. After the defeat of the Dragon Highlords at the end of the War of the Lance, more draconians fled to Mann, finally driving the gully dwarves into the depths of the ruins.

When the Knights of Takhisis assaulted Qualinesti during the Summer of Chaos, these draconians came out of hiding to assist the dark paladins - but did not reveal where they had come from. After the Chaos War, the surviving draconians returned to Mann laden with booty taken from Qualinesti. There they lived in comfort until the copper dragon Clang discovered them during the Dragon Purge and wiped them out.

Today, gully dwarves are once again the masters of Mann, though Clang occasionally uses the ruins as a resting place. Inspired by the dragon's example during the Dragon Purge, the gully dwarves of the Mann and Thim clans delight in tormenting intruders with simple pranks. They regard Clang with worshipful awe.

The Tower of High Sorcery

The "Tower of High Sorcery" site on the poster map shows where the wizards planted the stone of threes in Wayreth back in the Age of Dreams (see Chapter One). This location serves as the center point for Wayreth Forest's radius of apparent movement.

In essence, the spot marks the true location of the Tower of High Sorcery. In practice, no being can travel directly there, because of the warped reality surrounding the Tower.

Windkeep

Humans built the stone fortification known as Windkeep during the peaceful era following the signing of the Swordsheath Scroll two thousand years ago. Although hostilities between human, dwarf, and elf had dwindled, plenty of dangerous monsters still roamed the land, requiring the fortress.

The castle stands on a spit of land where the Windsrun River and a tributary meet. The Windsrun flows wide and deep along the fort's south wall, providing a formidable barrier to attackers. The tributary, called the Wizard's Run, guards the north flank. The stream is fairly shallow, but the keep's builders dredged a deep channel in the streambed where it follows the castle wall. Invaders trying to wade the stream often get a nasty surprise when they reach the unexpected channel. A moat along Windkeep's west side effectively makes an island out of the patch of ground where the fortress stands.

The castle once guarded a string of farming villages between the Windsrun River and the tundra to the south. Most villagers fled to Tarsis during the Dragon Purge, seeking refuge from the green dragons dueling over the forest to the north.

Beryl's expanded forest has overrun the abandoned farms. Travelers passing through the area often stumble across intact homes and barns caught in the wooded embrace.

A large contingent of Dark Knights serving the Great Green use the castle now. They patrol Wayreth Forest's southern border, in keeping with Beryl's attempt to isolate the Tower of High Sorcery.

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