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Lore:Crystal Tower

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Crystal Tower
Type Tower
Continent Tamriel
Province Summerset Isles
Appears in Arena, ESO
The Crystal Tower circa 2E 582
The Tower during the Imperial Simulacrum

The Crystal Tower (also called the Crystal-Like-Law[1] or Lawful Crystal[2]) was an ancient, mystical structure located near the northern tip of Summerset Isle, northwest of Cloudrest. It was built by the early Aldmer as a monument to their ancestors, and was considered sacred to the Altmer.

Before the construction of the Arcane University, it was the pinnacle of magical learning in Tamriel. The top of the Crystal Tower was reserved for interring the dead. While describing the tower, Ria Silmane mentioned to the Eternal Champion a claim that the southernmost tips of the Dragon's Teeth Mountains of mainland Tamriel could be seen from the top parapet of the tower.[3] The interior of the tower was white and radiated light. It contained a Great Library and a treasury with many ancient tapestries and other relics,[4][5] such as Topal the Pilot's old maps.[6] The Crystal Tower was also famed for The Bestiary, a menagerie of many dangerous creatures which were tended by trolls.[7][8]

The Crystal Tower was one of the mythical Towers that stabilize the Mundus. It was present in all realms of the Aurbis simultaneously, acting as a gateway to all realities. The Tower's Stone was called Transparent Law, which was placed at the Tower's summit on Nirn, and anchored the Tower to other realities. The Tower provided mystical protection to the whole of Summerset.[9] Its Stone, Transparent Law was theorized by the Sapiarchs to be a fragment of divinity given physical substance, and thought to absorb the "drive for perfection that marks the Altmer" and reflect it back thus "driving away any imperfections that would weaken or endanger the island". It has been theorized that control of the Crystal Tower—through Transparent Law—could grant one omnipresence in the entire Aurbis.[10][11] In order to prevent its misuse, the Sapiarchs created a key in the form of the two Resolute Diamonds, artifacts that required one to be attuned to both before being able to enter the Crystal Tower.[12]

HistoryEdit

During the construction of the Crystal Tower, the system of "inter-evocative hermetic harmonic resonance" was developed and persisted into the Second Era.[13] The magical Sword of the Magus-Lord was forged in the Tower, and was said to be a gift from Auriel to one of his most powerful battlemages.[14]

I'ric Harad Egun was once the Archmagister of the tower.[15] Sometime in the early-mid First Era, he inducted Moraelyn into the Crystal Tower, making him the first non-High Elf to learn from there.[16] In his time at the tower, he utilized trolls as guards, to keep festering rats away. Many years later, both I'ric and Moraelyn traveled to the Kingdom of Daggerfall, to take the eight-year-old Prince Edward from the castle, and reunite him with his mother at the distant city-state of Firsthold.[17]

Second EraEdit

Some after the founding of the Mages Guild, Gyron Vardengroet studied at the Crystal Tower. His coming was supposedly foretold by which told of the Gods sending one of their own down to Nirn to provide guidance, knowledge, and aid. Though Gyron found this hard to believe, he agreed to stay and study at the Crystal Tower for some time. Eventually Gyron surpassed even the mages of the Crystal Tower, and Esthlainder of the Council of Wizards informed him the Tower could offer nothing more for him that he did not already know. Esthlainder told Gyron that only by traveling throughout Tamriel itself could he seek further wisdom and knowledge. Though he was sad to see Gyron leave the Crystal Tower, the Elder gave him three gifts: an indigo robe trimmed with gold, a pointed wizard's hat, and an intricately carved staff, all identical to those in Esthlainder's possession. From that point on, Gyron would be known as The Sage.[18]

The TriadEdit

 
A memory of Clavicus Vile bargaining with the Sea Sload K'Tora

At some point in the Early Second Era, three Daedric Princes, Nocturnal, Mephala, and Clavicus Vile, formed a secretive alliance known only as 'The Triad'. Their goal was to acquire the means to remake reality by any means possible.[19] Their first known target was the mythical Crystal Tower on Summerset. As part of their scheme, Clavicus Vile made a deal with the Sea Sloads of Ul'vor Kus—he would give them the island of Summerset in exchange for a piece of Transparent Law, the 'Stone' of the Crystal Tower. The Cabal of Sea Sloads brainwashed the Ritemaster of the Psijic Order, Iachesis, into stealing Transparent Law, but Nocturnal secretly betrayed Clavicus Vile and Mephala and helped Iachesis hide the Stone from the rest of the Triad, providing him with a spell that would hide the Heart from everyone, until such time as she could move forward with her own plans. Iachesis then moved the island of Artaeum off of Nirn entirely to avoid falling under the influence of the Princes yet again. With the Triad's plan seemingly foiled, they moved on and began to plot their next move.[20][21] As part of the Triad's deal with the Sea Sload, they promised them the island of Summerset itself in exchange for the Heart, something which would've been achieved through the Abyssal Geysers activated by the followers of the Princes, the Court of Bedlam, that were intended to sink the island into the sea.[22][23][24][25][26]

 
Mephala and Clavicus Vile attempt to remove the Transparent Law from Ritemaster Iachesis
 
The Crystal Tower under Nocturnal's control, within the Fields of Regret

The Triad turned their attention once more to the Crystal Tower following their failure to take control of the Clockwork City,[27] seeking some way to find the missing Heart of Transparent Law or otherwise gain entrance to the Tower. Clavicus Vile would send the Abyssal Cabal to Summerset once more, to work with his agents in the Court of Bedlam in an attempt to hunt down Iachesis and pull the location from his mind. In preparation for the completion of their plan, the Triad invaded Meridia's realm, the Colored Rooms, and she was imprisoned within Nocturnal's darkness to prevent her from interfering further.[28][29] This chase would eventually lead into Nocturnal's realm, Evergloam, where her treachery was revealed and it was discovered that the Heart was hidden within Iachesis himself. Clavicus Vile and Mephala both immediately manifested within the realm to claim it, only for Nocturnal to banish them both and rip it out of the Ritemaster herself. With the Heart, Nocturnal briefly took control of the Crystal Tower, hoping to use its properties of existing in every reality simultaneously, enhanced by the life force of Nirn which she'd drain through the use of a secret life draining technique she'd stolen from Sotha Sil's Clockwork City, to achieve omnipresence in the entire Aurbis. In this manner she'd absorb the power of the other Daedric Princes as she invaded their realms, thus gaining infinite power through the infinite connections made, and ultimately unravel reality itself to wait for the next one to arise. Nocturnal's shadow enveloped the Tower and transformed the Sapiarchs inside into shadows, while she attempted to repair Transparent Law by reconnecting it with its Heart, making the Tower whole to complete her plan.[21][10][19] At the same time, her forces started invading the realms of the other Princes.[30]

At the same time, Nocturnal's forces started invading the realms of the other Princes.[30] However, her plans were foiled by the Vestige and the Psijic Order, assisted by the two betrayed Princes and the champion of Meridia. After Nocturnal's Earl was defeated, the Prince attempted to consume the Vestige and the Golden Knight with her shadows. It was than that the true nature of Meridia's champion as a living Light of Meridia manifested, allowing him to repel the darkness, and to restore Dawnbreaker by sacrificing himself. The Vestige than used Dawnbreaker to restore Transparent Law which banished Nocturnal, allowing the Heart to be returned to the Crystal Tower. Nocturnal's banishment from the Tower also restored Meridia.[31][12]

Following Nocturnal's defeat, the Sapiarchs conceded to seek outside help, in order to better protect the Tower and prevent future danger.[32][33]

Third EraEdit

The Sapiarchs would find themselves needing to work alongside the Mages Guild to devise new ways to protect the Crystal Tower from the public in the wake of these changes. During the Imperial Simulacrum, the Tower itself was hidden and its location was forgotten by all, making it the perfect spot for the usurper Jagar Tharn to hide a piece of the fractured Staff of Chaos. The Eternal Champion would eventually locate the tower by recovering the Resolute Anchor from the Temple of the Mad God after it was stolen from the Mages Guild of Lillandril. Utilizing the diamond and a map specially prepared by the Guild, the Champion re-discovered the tower and recovered the piece of the Staff of Chaos after surviving yet another attack from Jagar.[7]

With the tower's location once again known, it became an early target for a radical sect of a group called The Beautiful in the years leading up to the Oblivion Crisis (known to the Altmer as the Great Anguish). Under the belief that the only way for the Altmer to move forward was to let go of the past, they attempted to destroy the Crystal Tower itself. Though these attempts would end in failure, the organization would go on to commit many other acts of terror, the most notable of which was the murder of the princess of Shimmerene.[5]

Unfortunately, the Crystal Tower's luck would end during the Crisis itself. Refugees from all across the Summerset Isles poured into the Tower, believing it to be impenetrable to the invading hordes of Daedra. When the armies of Dagon inevitably arrived, they turned their full attention onto the destruction of the monument. The Altmer attempted to hold the line against the invaders, but even they couldn't stop the Crystal Tower from collapsing from the tremors the daedra had caused.[1]

GalleryEdit

  • The Crystal Tower (Summerset Official Cinematic Trailer)

  • The Crystal Tower under Nocturnal's control (Summerset Official Cinematic Trailer)

  • The Crystal Tower (Arena)

  • Tower entryway art

  • The Tower in the Fields of Regret while under the control of Nocturnal

  • Transparent Law, the Stone of the Crystal Tower

  • A Resolute Diamond

  • Resolute Anchor (ESO)

  • The Crystal Tower's wayshrine

NotesEdit

  • The Heart of Transparent Law, the core of the Tower's Stone is said to awaken a dark urge to seize it for themselves in those who look upon it.[34]
  • Though the Crystal Tower on Summerset fell during the Oblivion Crisis, the Tower exists simultaneously in all realities, which might mean it still exists intact in those other realms.[10][35][9] Indeed, the Towers are said to exist beyond the physical and in some sense apart, or detached, from ordinary space and time.[36]

See AlsoEdit

BooksEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ a b Rising Threat — Lathenil of Sunhold
  2. ^ Telenger the Artificer Answers Your Questions 2 — Telenger the Artificer
  3. ^ Ria Silmane's dialogue in Arena
  4. ^ The Sage — Aegrothius Goth
  5. ^ a b Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition: The Blessed Isle: Alinor and the Summersets — Imperial Geographical Society, 3E 432
  6. ^ Father Of The Niben — Florin Jaliil
  7. ^ a b Crystal Tower quest in Arena
  8. ^ A Dubious Tale of the Crystal Tower — Bibenus Geon
  9. ^ a b Ritemaster Iachesis' dialogue during Buried Memories in ESO
  10. ^ a b c Sotha Sil's dialogue in ESO: Summerset
  11. ^ The Crystal Tower loading screen in Arena
  12. ^ a b Events of ESO: Summerset
  13. ^ Fairwen's dialogue in ESO
  14. ^ Trials and Tribulations sword descriptions
  15. ^ King Edward
  16. ^ King Edward, Part IV — Anonymous
  17. ^ King Edward, Part I — Anonymous
  18. ^ The Sage — Aegrothius Goth
  19. ^ a b Leythen's dialogue in ESO
  20. ^ Events of ESO: Summerset
  21. ^ a b Ritemaster Iachesis' dialogue in ESO: Summerset
  22. ^ Battlereeve Tanerline's dialogue in ESO: Summerset
  23. ^ K'Tora's dialogue in ESO: Summerset
  24. ^ Indirim's Journal, Assembled — Indirim
  25. ^ Grog's dialogue in ESO: Summerset
  26. ^ Sinking Summerset quest in ESO: Summerset
  27. ^ Events of ESO: Clockwork City
  28. ^ Meridia's dialogue in ESO
  29. ^ Nocturnal's dialogue in ESO
  30. ^ a b Barbas's dialogue in ESO
  31. ^ Darien Gautier's dialogue in ESO
  32. ^ Events of A New Alliance in ESO
  33. ^ Sapiarch Larnatille's dialogue in ESO
  34. ^ Replica of the Heart of Transparent Law description in ESO
  35. ^ The Crystal Tower loading screen in Arena
  36. ^ Loremaster Celarus' dialogue in ESO: Summerset
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