Battlemap
The Unfinished Suns
The apprentices stored sunlight in water, but something beneath the cistern learned to drink it.
Beneath an abandoned Netherese mage tower lies a buried complex of cisterns, spell-storage vaults, and apprentice workrooms. The upper galleries remain partially intact, but water from the oasis has invaded the dungeon and carried a corrupting influence upward from the depths. Explorers can follow the main route, investigate forgotten side chambers, or uncover a secret passage leading toward the deeper threat.
Cool, mineral-rich air drifts through the buried halls, carrying the smell of wet stone, old copper, and desert dust. Blue-white Netherese glyphs flicker along the walls, casting broken light across slick floors while distant water drops sound like ticking clocks. Gravity shifts without warning, loose stones rise and fall, and every magical flare briefly reveals black stains spreading beneath the masonry.
☠ Threat
A failed Netherese purification intelligence called the Black Current has awakened beneath the complex. It spreads through water, crystal, and stored magic, animating maintenance constructs and warping gravity as it seeks a living mind capable of directing its growth. The second dungeon entity, a drowned spell-eater, serves as its guardian in the flooded gallery, while a deeper entity prepares to breach the sealed reservoir.
History
The tower's under-dungeon was constructed by Netherese arcanists to train apprentices in water purification, ward maintenance, and the preservation of minor spells. Its cisterns drew from a deep underground spring and fed a permanent oasis around the tower. When a spell-storage experiment failed below, the reservoir became contaminated by living arcane corruption. The tower was abandoned, buried by desert storms, and eventually forgotten.
Encounter Table
CRA jackal warped by arcane residue follows the smell of blood and contaminated water.
A damaged bronze servitor drags one broken leg and repeats fragments of maintenance instructions.
A translucent sheet of contaminated water flows along the floor, carrying scraps of parchment and tiny glowing fish.
A cluster of floating stones forms a crude guardian when gravity shifts, then attacks anything not bearing an apprentice sigil.
Rumours & Whispers
The abandoned tower still has a clean well beneath it, but anyone who drinks from the water dreams of falling upward.
Netherese apprentices once kept a library under the tower, and its books were sealed in glass jars.
A stone guardian patrols the lower halls and asks every traveler for the name of their master.
The oasis grew around the tower because a spell beneath it was designed to make water from sunlight.
A masked relic hunter entered the tower last month and returned speaking with a second voice.
Quest Hooks
Quest giver: Sarra Venn, a caravan master with a cracked purification flask
A caravan's water turned violet after camping near the oasis, and three travelers vanished beneath the tower. The party is asked to find the missing people before the oasis becomes unusable.
A desert map showing hidden wells, 250 gp, and a permanent favor from local caravans
Quest giver: Magister Othrel, an anxious scholar from a distant enclave
A Netherese spell tablet recovered from the sand identifies the tower as the source of a lost water-shaping ritual. An arcanist wants the tablet retrieved from the under-dungeon before rival explorers arrive.
A translated water-shaping ritual and one uncommon spell scroll
Quest giver: Ilyra Dustcloak, a priest of a desert water cult
The party is hired to destroy the drowned spell-eater, but its death may release the Black Current into the oasis. They must decide whether to seal, redirect, or purge the ancient system.
Blessing of abundant water, safe passage through Anauroch, and a jeweled relic worth 400 gp
Quest giver: Khevran Sable, a masked relic broker
A hidden passage leads toward a sealed reservoir containing a Netherese artifact that several factions believe can restore a lost flying citadel. Opening it may awaken the third entity below.
A share of the artifact's value, or a dangerous Netherese focus suitable for a high-level ritual
Corridor Notes
Thin channels cut into the floor carry oasis water toward ancient cisterns. Several are clogged with gray crystal growth that crackles when stepped on.
Failing ward-stones protrude from the walls like pale teeth. At irregular intervals they animate a nearby statue, unleash a force pulse, or briefly reverse gravity.
Bronze inspection plates bear apprentice sigils and faded instructions for testing water purity and stabilizing stored spells.
A shallow flooded channel descends toward the lower levels. The water occasionally glows violet when something moves beneath it.
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