Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #194

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #194 

July 13th, 2023 

• Number: 194  

• Name: Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: Lake Natia Vai of Taodeas Part 5: Spire of the Ancients 

• Location: Central Tuton Maug mountains on the slopes of Lake Natia Vai 

• Population (approx.): none known 

• Brief: There is a legend related by the wildfolk of the Tuton Maug, that in the beginnings of time, before Kin walked Aenwyld, a great argent wurm swam through the molten rock below the surface of the world. One day it encountered the blood of the earth and felt that power trying to consume the wurm’s essence. The wurm turned and burrowed skyward trying to escape by boring through the magma and stone, but the earthblood pursued, the flow slowly turning the wurm solid and immobile. It burst through the surface but could not escape and all that remained, after its lifeforce ebbed away, was its towering corpse. Time and weather picked at the tower, pieces sloughing off. A later battle, still millennia from the present day, caused the mountaintop to collapse about the spire. Lake Natia Via began to form with the rain and snow that fell over the years to follow. 

• Geography: The Spire of the Ancients appears as a massive outcropping of stone rising above the surface of the lake. About 200 feet wide at the water’s edge, it rises 600 feet to the tallest irregular point. The Spire is mostly white with streaks and whorls of silver and gray. There appears to be patterns in the colors, but the surface seems to change before the meaning can be discerned. The supernatural pillars resemble a cluster of towers, and some have claimed to have seen lights dancing about the tops in the dead of night. Locals avoid the Spire as the stone has strange effects such as the changes to Galgrim Caveshaper of the Dwarves (#192). As the rim of the ridge about Lake Natia Vai rises 500 to 1000 feet above the surface of the lake, the tallest point of the Spire cannot be seen except from the air or if standing on the ridge. 

• Next Article: Notable persons and sites of the Arc part 6.