Starless Nights Tower and the Black Stone Trail
Few places in the northern Successor States inspire more unease than Starless Nights Tower, the solitary fortress of the necromancer Hakluyt. Rising from the lonely moorlands between Logjam, the Dark Forest and the Accursed Bayou, the tower has stood for over two centuries, its summit forever hidden within a swirling cloud of supernatural darkness. To many it is little more than a distant landmark, a place wisely avoided by sensible travellers. To others it is a constant reminder that some evils are tolerated only because they are more useful than the dangers beyond them. Hakluyt first came to the region after fleeing the County of Malchin, where local authorities had uncovered evidence of his increasingly disturbing experiments into life and death. His dealings with grave robbers and the disappearance of numerous corpses had finally attracted official attention, and before his hidden laboratory could be discovered he abandoned everything, disappearing into the wild northern frontier beyond the reach of civilised law.
There, amidst the empty lands bordering the Dark Forest, Hakluyt undertook the greatest work of his career. Local legends claim that he purchased more than a hundred animals of every imaginable species before vanishing into the wilderness. On a single moonless night they were sacrificed simultaneously by his undead servants as part of an immense necromantic ritual. When dawn finally broke, Starless Nights Tower stood where no building had existed before, its black stone walls already complete and surrounded by enchantments whose full power has never since diminished. The tower itself resembles an immense black chimney rising from the barren earth, built from a dark stone unlike any naturally found in the region. Around its summit swirls a perpetual vortex of magical darkness that neither sunlight nor starlight can penetrate. This unnatural gloom extends for almost a mile in every direction, creating a permanent twilight where no shadow ever changes and no true daylight has been seen for over two hundred years.
Animals refuse to enter the darkness. Horses panic long before reaching its edge, birds alter their course rather than fly overhead, and even wolves avoid the surrounding ground. Within the perpetual night wander scores of undead guardians, silent skeletons standing watch amongst the rocks, shambling corpses patrolling forgotten paths and darker servants glimpsed only briefly before disappearing back into the shadows. They attack any who approach without invitation, ensuring that few visitors ever reach the tower itself. Having secured a refuge beyond the reach of his enemies, Hakluyt saw little reason to conceal his presence. Instead he turned his attention towards making the wilderness more accessible. During another moonless night he raised a narrow road stretching between his tower, Logjam and Three Rivers, a feat of magic almost as remarkable as the tower itself. Known today as the Black Stone Trail, it appears to have been carved from a single unbroken seam of polished black rock emerging naturally from the earth. Although the enchantment that created it has long faded, the road itself endures, providing a firm route across marshes, streams and uneven ground where no ordinary road could survive.
One of the Trail's greatest achievements is the crossing it forms over the Silver River. The shallow ford created by Hakluyt has become indispensable to traders, scouts and patrols travelling between the northern settlements. Caravans use it regularly despite their unease, whilst rangers guarding against incursions from the Dark Forest often rely upon the Trail to move quickly across otherwise impassable country. Many who curse Hakluyt's existence quietly acknowledge that the Black Stone Trail has saved countless lives over the years. Relations between the necromancer and the surrounding settlements remain uneasy but surprisingly practical. Hakluyt himself is seldom seen, conducting all business through living servants bearing his unmistakable arcane seal. He purchases food, books, tools and alchemical supplies at generous prices, often paying far more than their true value. In return, his servants are left largely undisturbed. Local people have learned through bitter experience that anyone interfering with Hakluyt's agents soon attracts the necromancer's attention, and his retaliation is rarely swift but almost always unforgettable. Strange illnesses, impossible misfortunes and lingering curses have convinced even the most sceptical villagers to respect the old wizard's boundaries.
The rulers of the Oligarchy of Zinkst have attempted on several occasions to destroy Starless Nights Tower. Every expedition has ended in failure. Whilst a generous reward still exists for anyone capable of slaying Hakluyt, enthusiasm for such attempts has gradually diminished. The tower now serves an unintended purpose, standing as a formidable barrier between the settled lands and the horrors that emerge from the Dark Forest and the Accursed Bayou. More than one statesman has quietly observed that so long as Hakluyt remains occupied defending his own domain, the frontier is considerably safer than it might otherwise be. Those who fail in their attempts to destroy the necromancer seldom disappear entirely.
Within a few days their bodies are usually seen once more, marching silently amongst the undead guardians that patrol the everlasting darkness surrounding Starless Nights Tower.
Amongst the people of Logjam there is an old saying: "If you see stars above the Tower... run."
For the only thing more frightening than the darkness surrounding Hakluyt's home is the thought that one day it might finally disappear.
Created by M Ellard
