Ruined Tower of Zenopus The Known World & Raging Swan Press The current year for our homebrewed campaign setting is set during 672 CY (Common Year). Inspired By Gary Gygax

Several miles southeast of Dulwich, beyond the outlying farms and woodland clearings, a neglected trail descends into a broad hollow sheltered by low, rocky slopes. Underground springs and rainwater collect in the depression, turning the ground into a cold marsh of reed beds, dark pools, and half-submerged trees. Broken paving stones occasionally emerge through the mud, marking an old approach that few travelers now follow.

At the center of the hollow stands the Ruined Tower of Zenopus, rising above the wetlands from a low mound of firmer ground. Much of its height survives, although great cracks divide the masonry and sections of its upper walls have fallen away. Tangled vegetation covers the remains of surrounding courtyards, while fragments of stained glass, broken statuary, and carved stone lie scattered among the reeds. Under Ashlar’s overcast skies, the ruin can appear almost indistinguishable from the dark woodland behind it until a traveler draws close.

Stories told in Dulwich attribute the tower’s destruction to a magical disaster, although accounts differ considerably over what Zenopus attempted and what became of him. Some hunters claim to have seen a faint green light in the upper windows after nightfall. Others insist that animals avoid the mound and that birds never settle upon its broken battlements. Such tales have helped keep the hollow undisturbed, and even those who dismiss them seldom have pressing business among its flooded ruins.

Near the foot of the mound, beneath the fallen stones of an old bridge, a vaulted opening leads below ground. Worn steps descend into a damp passage whose construction appears older than the tower above. Water gathers along the edges of the stair, and cold air rises from chambers beyond the reach of daylight. Local accounts describe this entrance as an old burial place, although no reliable record in Dulwich explains who built it or whom it once served.

The oldest stories suggest that Zenopus deliberately raised his tower over ruins already ancient when the first settlements occupied the surrounding countryside. Their builders have been called dwarves, giants, serpent-folk, and peoples whose names have disappeared entirely from Ashlar’s histories. Rumors speak of enormous foundation stones, unfamiliar carvings, and passages extending far beyond the tower’s boundaries. How much of this comes from actual exploration is uncertain; the people most willing to repeat these stories are rarely those willing to enter the hollow and investigate.