Ruined Tower of Zenopus The World of Greyhawk & The World of Greyhawk Wiki The current year for our World of Greyhawk campaign is set during 579CY. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Just over 100 years ago, the sorcerer Zenopus built a tower on the low hills overlooking Saltmarsh. The tower was close to the river that runs into the Azure Sea just west of Saltmarsh and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard that has been unused for many years.

Rumor has it that the wizard made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower. Saltmarsh is located on top of the ruins of a much older city, a city dating back centuries. Zenopus was said to have excavated beneath his former tower in search of ancient treasures but this is just a rumor talked about in taverns.

Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, the wizard's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower.

Needless to say the tower stood vacant for some time after this, but then the citizens of the settlement of Saltmarsh began to complain that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower at all hours, and goblin figures could be seen on the tower roof in the moonlight.

Finally, the authorities of Saltmarsh had a catapult rolled through the streets of the settlment and the tower along with its nearby structures was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings, but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who have descended into the crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.

Other wizards have visited Saltmarsh since the towers destruction but the site of the old tower remains abandoned. Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and unspeakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, prehuman city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.

Saltmarsh is a small but busy settlement linking the caravan routes all along the coast. Mostly humans inhabit this quiet town that but it is sprinkled with a dwarf or two and possibly a gnome.

At the Green Dragon Inn, many stories and rumors circulate about this ruined tower, "some true, some not" but regardless, the stories are enough to peak the interest of those foolish enough to explore the towers underground complex, if it even exists.