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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11946 Posts |
 Posted - 23 Feb 2025 : 16:18:39
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It's said that the stories told behind the creation of the Twisted Tower of Ashaba are entirely false. I heard that the below tale came from Elminster of Shadowdale, who told it to Staefen Syend of Featherdale whilst he was watching him for his mother, who told his friend Ayaerek Buiweod, who told the story to his children as a bedtime story, and they told their own children and grandchildren.
The story goes that several millenia ago, there was an ancient shadow dragon who sought to convert the local dark elven population of the area into worshipping him in the hopes of becoming a deity. Of course, the dark elves did not want to comply with the wishes of the shadow dragon, and so the dragon sought to teach them a lesson paved in bloodshed.
So, it was that one dark elf prayed for help from Eilistraee the moon goddess while she was in a moon glade with the goddess Lurue. Thus, the two goddesses reached out to Ashabuta "the Storm Horn", a gargantuan al'mi'raj whose horn granted him powers of weather control, and from which it could fire bolts of lightning, thunderous blasts, and radiant energy. The ensuing battle was said to be long and stretched into the night, mainly due to the fact that the two combatants chased each other relentlessly using the shadows of the dales and the hopping via the trees. However, when the moonlight struck Ashabuta, he grew to a size that some would say was unbelievable, and the blazing glory radiating from his horn removed all shadows from the land for miles. It was at this moment that the ancient shadow dragon finally struck, launching itself straight at his opponent's throat with teeth and claws afire. Though the ancient dragon died, it had inflicted a grievous wound upon the gargantuan horned hare, and its blood drenched the land that would become Shadowdale as it slowly hopped to its doom. In the aftermath of this fight, the dark elves returned to the safety of the underdark from whence they came.
Millenia later, the dark elves once again returned to the surface following the stories of their ancestors, where they uncovered a giant twisted horn, eroded by weather and time, sticking forth from the earth. From this great horn, they exacted its marrow, and turned its twisting interior into a grand tower, which would come to be called the Twisted Tower of Ashaba.
Of course, whether this story is true or not is questioned by some, but I ask you.... would Elminster of Shadowdale ever lie to a young child that he was babysitting?
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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The Truth behind the Twisted Tower of Ashaba
