Once In A Lifetime

The greatest and most profound events happen perhaps once in a lifetime. From the Hermetic perspective, the founding of a new covenant within the tower is something that changes the dynamic, perhaps forever. Suddenly, with the aura growing, the tower more sparsely inhabited, and magical power growing, a new wave of young magi looks to the tower. Perhaps they are the apprentices of the original magi, keen to govern themselves. Or perhaps they are magi with nowhere else to go, looking to the Great Tower for refuge.

Such events may either be the result of, or precipitate, Wizard's War within the tower. The conflicts of magi rarely escalate to violence, but the confines of the tower increase the dangers, as the magi put aside concerns for the structure and its people and seek to destroy each other. And the vendettas carried out by magi of Verditius, though not deadly to the participating magi, pose the same dangers to innocent bystanders as a full-blown Wizard's War.

Angelic Influence

As the tower grows closer to the heavens, encounters with angels become more common and their secrets may start to be revealed. Members of the covenant magi, companions, or simple grogs — may now throw off their earthly guise and show themselves to have been angels all along, watching from within. Or characters may see increasing opportunities to atone for past sins, as though the world is conspiring to have them confess themselves and be absolved.

But the magi of the tower may discover that the conflict between angels and demons still rages, unseen to those many thousands of feet below. The magi are faced with protecting their tower and their covenfolk from powers they now realize they do not understand.

The End of the Tower

The last and greatest story of the tower is its ultimate fate. Each troupe must make their own way when introducing the Great Tower into their saga, but the two archetypal fates are the final breach of Heaven by the tower, or its toppling.

What happens when the Great Tower breaks through the earthly sphere, what the magi experience, and what there is to greet or challenge them, is for each troupe to determine. But such events almost certainly mean the end of the project, and the magi, craftsmen, and the covenfolk must find ways to come to terms with that.

But there is a precedent for what happens when mankind tries to build a tower to reach Heaven. The tower at Babel was toppled, its people scattered across the land, and the common language sundered. Babel was founded out of the unity of mankind, and as a result, mankind was fractured. The Great Tower was founded by the ambitions of the Order of Hermes, so will the toppling of the tower also resonate through the Order? Will Divine judgment fracture the Hermetic Arts, scattering the magic of the Order across the land? The magi of the tower must face this possibility. And their choices and their actions, at this point, will decide the fate of the Order.