Mountain Fastness of the Hermit Monks

High in the mountains, many centuries ago, the Hermit Monks built a great, stone tower in which to study their arcane arts.

But in the valley below, Duke Wolfram became suspicious of the monks and jealous of their mysterious hermetic powers, and he spread falsehoods about them, and declared war, and his men besieged the great tower.

First the siege engines cast their stones. These projectiles destroyed the delicate stone stairs, which tumbled down the mountain, but they could barely reach the base of the tower. Then the Duke's soldiers attempted to climb to the tower, but a great gale blew up, and the stone was wet and slippery, defying their grasp, and many tumbled to their deaths. Great ladders and ropes and grappling irons were brought forth, but just as this third line of attack was about to be executed, the Duke fell ill with a strange disease, and soon died. In the ensuing succession struggle, the war was abandoned.

The Hermit Monks have shunned the outside world ever since.