Tower of the Hamakei!

Tower of the Hamakei (#29/30; #119/365)

(If the Director has previously created a Hamakei NPC in this area, such as a balloon rider or a customer at Tan-Kha's Tavern, they can assume this tower belongs to that Hamakei, otherwise they can use the Hamakei NPC detailed below.)

This sandstone edifice rises from the desert, looking for all the world to have been carved from a single pillar of rock. There is a battered wooden door at ground level and several irregularly spaced circular yellow glass windows rising gradually up the tower, while at the top is a small cupola of yellow glass, lit irregularly by an eerie white light that can be seen for miles around. A large lilac-coloured balloon may occasionally be tethered to the cupola.

The tower belongs to the Hamakei mage and scholar Selathas Vrint (see below) and is heavily guarded with various minions and traps. Anyone at ground level approaching the tower with obviously hostile intent will be attacked by a pair of Sand Golems that will manifest from piles of sand blown against the tower's walls. Aerial attackers will find themselves dealing with 2 Sand Devils instead, kept in pots of sand outside the cupola on the top level of the tower. The various levels of Selathas' tower are as follows:

Ground Level: This contains a long, low-ceiling entrance hall, floored with terracotta tiles and with a circular staircase at the far end of the hall. Selathas will greet known or friendly visitors here courteously. Intruders will have to deal with an increasingly difficult series of traps on the way to the stairs:

• Trap 1: Cage trap is sprung, releasing 2-7 Iron Eaters which will drop onto any victims and attempt to consume metal armour and weapons
• Trap 2: A troop of 3-18 Mungies will be released via a ceiling chute from a holding pen on the level above. The Mungies are under instructions to steal staves, rings, wands and amulets from the intruders and speedily take them to Selathas, if they are present, or hide them.
• Trap 3: 1-3 tiles will flip over releasing 1-3 Fetch, which will attack anyone still using or displaying magical power.
• Trap 4: For anyone who still appears to be a threat, a pit trap will open, dumping them into the cellar's containment cell.
  

Cellar: The cellar is split into three sections:

• Containment cell: contains a Basilisk and what looks like a lot of broken statuary
• Alchemy workshop: contains plenty of glassware and 2-7 potions, guarded by a Vitriol Essence in a stone basin full of strong acid
  
• Wine racks: contains 4-24 bottles of wine, most of which is poorish quality from Pellod, but 2-7 bottles will be a more expensive type of wine. One of the bottles is actually a Nanka Flask.

Level 1: This is Selathas' work room, and contains a summoning circle surrounded with candles, various magical paraphernalia including a crystal ball and a trapped Tulpa Mirror which activates in the presence of intruders. Also here is a cage of 3-18 trained, well-fed Mungies.

Level 2: The library, featuring mainly vellum and papyrus scrolls written in the scratchy Hamakeian script. There are several older books from Carsepolitan times written in Ancient Allansian, and some more recent titles as well. Selathas' spellbook (actually a collection of scrolls) is here in a leather traveling case. Chained to a wooden lectern is a large, green scale-hide tome - this is a trapped book by Jaiphrai Ah'Cha called Teach Yourself Demon-Summoning that, if read, summons a Fire Demon to attack the reader.

Lever 3: Selethas' living quarters with a wicker cot-nest full of tattered sheets, a table, several chairs, and a cabinet full of jars of food including Desert Bison beef jerky, pickled Dung Beetles, and roasted vipers on sticks. Two Lesser Living Statues will animate on Selathas' command and attack any intruders - they take the form of stone idols of Djaratian deities; one is Khunam the ram-headed god of wisdom, and the other is Tho-Aat, the ibis-headed god of sorcery.

Level 4: The Observatory - which, during the day is guarded by 2 Flying Guardians that appear as mummified vultures, though they are not actual Mummies. At night, there is a white magical signal beacon that is active, as long as Selathas is not using the observatory's telescope. If the light is on, it activated a Shadow Monster trap that is sprung by anyone traversing the tiles between the stairs and the telescope. Selathas' lilac-coloured balloon made from Sandworm gut and named 'Nardris' may also be tethered here (its basket seats four passengers).

The tower's occupant: Selathas Vrint is an accomplished Hamakei Wizard and Conjuror. They carry at all times a Hamakei Staff, a Scroll of Sand Demon-Summoning (one use only, summons a Sand Demon (see Rough Guide to the Pit)), and an Amulet of Ra. 

Selathas enjoys wine, and used to make more visits to Pellod to acquire some, though this has largely stopped since their friend Giblin the Sage was exiled to Dust Town. Now they go drinking at Tan-Kha's tavern or trade for wine from passing merchants. They are occasionally consulted by Desert Elves for obscure scraps of lore, and are intrigued by the new Xoroa colony of Kul-Tha. Selathas remains highly suspicious of the Caarth, and monitors their movements wherever possible.

Where is Selathas Vrint:

1-3 In their tower (see below)

4 In their balloon, floating above the desert

5 Visiting Giblin the Sage in Dust Town

6 Drinking at the Tavern of Tan-Kha

If Selathas is in his tower, he is at (the):

1 Level 1, feeding the Mungies or summoning something

2 Level 2, reading and conducting research

3 Level 3, sleeping or eating

4 Level 4, peering through the telescope

5 Cellar, drinking or making potions

6 Ground Level Main Hall, welcoming guests