Spire Of Light

When leaving Fellport Harbor, on the Breakwater to the right stands a 60-foot-tall stone tower known as the Spire of Light or the Lightspire. At the top under a slate roof, a small chamber lies open on all sides. On a pedestal in the middle of the chamber, a spinning apparatus holds the Scepter of Light, its radiant beam sweeping the horizon as it slowly sweeps the horizon day and night.

After the six spires were built by the Little Potter, each of them took on a different role. The lowest pair of towers served the harbor. The Pirate's Spire found fame as a prison and execution grounds, but the constant ship traffic had different plans for her twin. Ships entering or exiting the harbor kept to the right to avoid oncoming traffic, so the Spire of Light made a convenient last stop before heading out to sea. Sailors took the opportunity to give thanks and ask various deities for protection. Small shrines sprang up around the base of the Lightspire, and more appeared with each passing week.

Eventually the clergy at the Mithraeum got involved. They started taking control and clearing out non-approved shrines, but they would reappear with the next outbound ship. They made peace with having a place to worship other gods, and eventually moved some of the bigger shrines inside the spire. Many believed in the priests' altruism, but they started strongly suggesting a donation to maintain the spire along with the offerings to the heathen gods.

When the Divinity Sanctum opened 200 years ago, the Divinity Circle expanded to reorganize the shrines in the Lightspire as well. "Reorganize" doesn't quite fit; the priests squabbled and barely kept things running as more sailors paid their respects. All that changed when the Godstorm hit 30 years ago.

The signal bonfires in both spires had been replaced by illusion magic decades before, which helped when the waters rose. Both spires barely had their roofs above water after days of gale winds and deluges of rain, but the signal fires sill glowed, even when under water. The shrines of the Lightspire washed away when the waters receded, providing a clean slate and a break from the years of organic growth and graffiti. The divinity Circle took a greater leadership role in recreating the shrines in the Lightspire, making sure that nobody took more than their fair share of space.

Twenty years ago, to stop the growing frequency of undead attacks on the ocean, the Divinity Circle commissioned the Scepter of Light to calm the waves and dispel undead before they could disrupt shipping. It made sense to install it in the Lightspire, as the name already fit. It worked for a while, but the undead attacks have become more frequent in the past few months, most recently with the juggernaut attack just before dawn a few weeks back. People worry that something even worse will arrive sometime soon.

Note: My first adventure in what ended up being Fellport was A Hero's Journey (affiliate link) by David Flor. It covers zero-level characters well, and provides a framework for apprentices to survive the loss of their masters on the path to becoming adventurers. I recommend it for anyone wanting a D&D 5e intro adventure. The Macguffin for that fetch quest, the Scepter of Light, lives in the "highest spire" in town. Thus, the Spire of Light exists in Fellport with some added loreflesh on its bones.

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.