Troggha's Tower
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Troggha's tomb and area plan (ICE)
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Location of Troggha's Tower (ICE)
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Type
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Ruin, Tower, Tomb
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Region
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Realm
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Troggha's Tower was an ancient Daen ruin situated some twenty miles southeast of Erech, on a hillock overlooking where the road led through the apex of Tarlang's Neck. The tower, built of dry-stone blue-grey granite, was a small, squat, forty-foot tall, round stone structure that looked much like a decapitated bee-hive. Beneath the tower lay a subterranean burial complex incorporating the tomb of Troggha, an ancient chieftain of the Mountain folk, as well as the grave of Aein-gari-Dun, a legendary Drúadan enchanter. A púkel-man stood guard over the hill, but a rock-slide had entirely covered the entrance to the tombs long ago. Only the presence of the púkel-man a few feet away indicated where the entrance might be. Another entry lay concealed by debris, and extremely hard to find, beneath the broken floor of Troggha's Tower.
Layout of the tombs[]
Refer to the plan, above right.
- Entrance. Loose scree completely hides the recessed (and locked) door-stone.
- Passageway. A winding, descending tunnel through the rock, only 5' high and 5’ wide, it leads 40' to a fork.
- Fork. Twin passageways emerge. A Dunnish curse carved into the rock warns all to leave or face death.
- Left Passageway. Winds upward another 50’ before reaching a dark, dank chamber. Empty torch-holders line the rough walls.
- Shaft. This 4' diameter shaft cuts through the rock above and exits through the debris at the center of the foundation of Troggha's Tower, hidden behind a movable ceiling slab.
- Chamber. Littered with cobwebbed skeletons, this pitch-black "room", but 15’ in diameter, is in fact Troggha's resting place. A rusted iron ring is the only indication that something might be hidden within the chamber's walls.
- Crypt of Aein-gari-Dun. One of the post-stones that compose the walls of Troggha's burial chamber is made of a black, glassy rock. This distinctive panel guards the entry to the tomb of the Wose scholar Aein-gari-Dun, the creator of the guardian púkel-man and reputed ancestor of Troggha. When pushed by a strong man, the post-stone rotates on a pin-set housing, revealing a short stair descending to the Wose's crypt. The crypt itself is a 10' diameter chamber with a 10' tall arched ceiling. Its glass-like black surfaces allude to a connection with the hallowed Black Stone in Erech. At the center of the crypt is a 4’ tall, 200 lb. black jar.
- Right Passageway. Leads 20' before reaching another chamber.
- Chamber. Appearing grander (a full 30’ in diameter), this room is nothing but a trap. The wary will note bones and skeletons surrounding the raised dais upon which a man-shaped stone sarcophagus lies. The chamber's stone walls and ceiling are adorned with a “ring” pattern, with hundreds of holes in the inscribed rock. Within the sarcophagus lies the remains of what appears to be a lord.
References[]
- The Legend of Troggha's Tower, "official" MERP adventure scenario by John David Ruemmler, published in Game News #4, June 1985.