Starless Nights Tower and the Black Stone Trail
Two Centuries ago a secretive necromancer named Hakluyt fled from the County of Malchin after discovering that the local authorities sought to capture and execute him. They had become aware of his activities in the area and his purchases of bodies from grave robbers, but had not yet managed to discover his base of operations.
Hakluyt fled to a wild area in the far north near the Dark Forest and Logjam. Here he sought to create a secure building to continue researching life and death. The result was the Starless Nights Tower which was created overnight with great enchantments. It is rumoured that Hakluyt bought over a hundred different animals before the tower was created and that they were then sacrificed simultaneously by undead servants as he cast the enchantment which created the tower.
No known animal will approach within 50 yards of the Starless nights Tower and many people won’t go that close when they see the whirling cloud of magical darkness which surround it. The effects of this cloud extending for a mile around the structure creating a large area where there is never any sun or star light. Within this area can be seen a number of shambling corpses and darting skeletons who protect it from attack at all times of day and night. The tower itself has the appearance of a large black stone chimney from the top of which streams the darkness.
Having created a safe location Hakluyt no longer felt the need to hide his location and built a route to Logjam and Three Rivers. He again used magic to create this route during a moonless night. The resulting narrow trail looks to have been created from a single seam of black rock. It is not magical and now in places is showing signs of wear or deliberate damage, but still provides a solid route free from obstructions between the Starless Nights Tower and the settlements. It skirts the edge of the Accursed Bayou and created a ford across Silver River. This ford is regularly used by others either going to trade with Logjam, or scouting the edges of the Dark Forest to protect against incursions.
Hakluyt has dealt with these settlements over the years through various living servitors and although hated is thought to be a generous patron often paying over the odds for supplies. The locals have learnt not to interfere with his servitors or anything wearing his arcane mark as Hakluyt has always retaliated against those involved with magical curses.
At the beginning the Oligarchy of Zingst regularly attempted to drive Hakluyt from the edges of their realm, but found this to be a difficult proposition. The will for more attempts has waned as they have realised that the tower acts as a buffer in that area between them and denizens of the Dark Forest. They still maintain a significant reward for any adventurers who succeed in destroying Hakluyt, but the corpses of those who try can always be seen a few days later protecting the area around the tower.