The Great Tower

Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.' And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the Earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

— Genesis 11:1-9

This chapter presents the building of the tallest tower the world has seen since man sought to reach the heavens at Babel. Such a tower goes far beyond a simple conjuration and becomes the object of a life's work, not just for a single magus but for a covenant of magi, or perhaps generations of magi. While a shipyard, the quest for everlasting undeath, and a covenant hidden within a volcano are welldefined projects that magi and covenants can perhaps cooperate on, the tower provides a setting that grows over time, and against which the troupe can tell stories. The fruits of this project can be harvested throughout an entire saga, and maybe into the next, and become a unique setting in itself.

Such a project and setting also provides an opportunity to inject elements of high fantasy into your Ars Magica saga, offering a contrast with the medieval tone suggested for standard sagas. Once the tower is established, it continues to provide troupes with the option for unusual and unique stories: exploration of the forgotten parts of the tower, beasts and spirits of the four realms claiming territory, and different levels of the tower acquiring their own motifs over time.

The material presented here can be used in two ways. The project can be followed from its foundation through to its conclusion. As the tower grows, both in height and in terms of its enchantments, it provides the impetus for new stories. Over time, the tower itself becomes the backdrop against which the saga plays out. But the various enchantments explored later can also be applied to smaller, more conventional, structures, allowing players and troupes to pick and choose the effects they find useful. This helps support magi and covenants who take on the roles or guises of traveling mundane architects and masons, or even magi specializing in building covenants for other members of the Order. The story seeds and suggestions are also optional and troupes should not feel limited in the stories that they choose to tell.

But what kind of magus would dedicate his life to the building of such a vast tower? A Tytalus might enjoy the challenge, not only to his own power and ability, but to the natural order, eager to seek out and confront such supernatural powers as would oppose him. For a Verditius mason, the tower becomes his crowning achievement and perhaps one day hosts the grand competition. For the politicallyminded Bonisagus, perhaps the tower can offer a shining example of cooperation among individuals, covenants, and Houses. As a House, Tremere may seek to show leadership and power. Such a tower could reinforce the collective strength of the Order. A Criamon may be more interested in sending the tower through the divide between the mundane and the magical worlds, escaping time, or as an extension of their House motto that "The World Within is the World Without". And scholars of magic from any House may look upon the tower as a chance to escape the earthly realm and chart the lunar sphere. But whatever the driving ideology, the magus who controls it essentially rules his own private kingdom.