Traveling to the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth means you must beagle to find it within the forest of Wayreth, which is easier said than done. Let’s learn a bit about the Forest of Wayreth itself. Buy Towers of High Sorcery: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/2940/Towers-of-High-Sorcery-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
The forest is dangerous, dark and foreboding if uninvited.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Wayreth Forest. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing The Last Tower and Towers of High Sorcery sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
The creation of Wayreth Forest was born out of necessity. The name Wayreth, meaning First Home in Silvanesti, is in reference to the Tower of High Sorcery the wizards built in the center of it. The Wizards of High Sorcery needed a place of protection for their Tower of High Sorcery. WIth the locals warring with the Order, they looked to Kharro the Red. The wizards planted a stone of Threes which in conjunction with initiating a series of spells to raise the Tower, Kharro the Red cast the illusion which manifested this magical forest. The spell was deliberately destroyed so no one would be able to mimic or discover the spell’s secrets. It is so secret in fact that only the Head of the conclave of Wizards knows it through a Geas cast on the Orders. When a new Highmage is placed they automatically learn the spell in order to renew the illusion over the forest every month. When they leave as head of the order, the spell is magically removed from their mind. This makes the magic over the forest of Wayreth the longest continuously cast spell in all of Krynn, even predating the most legendary of artifacts.
The spell that surrounds the forest of Wayreth will allow only members of the Orders of High Sorcery and those exclusively invited by them to find it. You could scour all of Ansalon but without their permission, you would only find frustration. For context, wizards that seek the tower may find it as far north as Darken Wood or as far south as the Plains of Dergoth. From the Algoni Shore in the west to the Forsaken Mountains in the east. It can even be located in several places at once, it is magical afterall. Technically speaking, the spell created a transdimensional field–a pocket of space that doesn’t actually exist on Krynn, but rather adjacent to it. Its original location, in the southern edges of Qualinesti holds no bearing on where it may be found. Weather outside of the forest has no effect on the atmosphere within it.
The forest itself is not the cheeriest of locations. After remaining forbidden to all but the orders, it has adopted that appearance unto itself. The ground is covered in a thick, noxious mist which obscures the light from the sun and moons. It is freezing cold to the flesh and smells of rotting meat. The trees appear dead, twisted and deformed. Their bony knuckled roots are joined by their skeletal boughs which sag to the ground in uneven rows. The sparse lifeless leaves never fall from their branches, as no wind stirs within the forest. There are strange red-eyed shadows that pass between her trunks, confining themselves to the fog and darkness beyond. This is all naturally part of the illusion. For members of the orders, the trees will actually make a pathway to the entrance of the Tower of High Sorcery, for anyone else, they may find themselves eternally lost until the wizards decide what to do with them.
Travel through the forest may result in the traveler passing over the same ground repeatedly, or in circles without ever realizing it. Flying above the canopy is as useless as walking through the forest if the Tower or its residents do not wish to allow you entry. Not even spells of teleportation or transportation will work properly unless approved by the Tower.
Once you pass this threshold, the forest opens up to become a mystical and yet, familiar place. The dark and foreboding trees straighten and bloom. If you are from Solace you will find the forest filled with Valenwood trees with their full golden leaves. If you are from Karthay, you will see mahogany and snowy woods. The fog is burned away by the brightness of the sun or moons regardless of the weather outside the forest. The sounds of wildlife will fill the canopy and magical creatures will slowly reveal themselves. The atmosphere of powerful magic drives away your hunger, thirst and fatigue. But don’t let this stark change in appearance fool you. You are only here at the whim of the Tower and its residents. Should you prove violent, the forest itself is more than capable of defending itself. Every tree, root and branch is capable of detaining and burying an interloper. This is the least of your worries however, as the Wizards of High Sorcery are ever watchful of their forest, and will defend it with their sacred magic.
The forest is rich in natural flora. Any wizard in need of natural spell components is able to wander the forest unmolested, foraging for herbs, fungus and more. Sadly, this practice is lost by most wizards who find the use of teleportation spells a more effective means of transportation, and utilize their apprentices or shops to procure their spell components. The Tower of High Sorcery lies at the heart of the forest of Wayreth, with the forest ending less than a hundred feet from its gates, but the illusion can make that distance seem eternal for those unwelcome. Wayreth forest itself fills an area of ten miles in diameter.
There has only ever been one instance of someone approaching the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth Forest without permission. The renegade wizard Lyim Rhistadt used a powerful antimagical artifact known as Ventyr to paralyze the Towers defenses and attack it. His attempt was thwarted by the wizards of the Conclave with the aid of Bram DiThon, a nobleman from northern Ergoth. From this moment on, the Wizards altered the Towers defenses to defeat any future attempts to circumvent them. It is even believed that the gods themselves before leaving Krynn in the Fifth Age, strengthened the tower and its surrounding forest of Wayreth.
There is legend of Raistlin Majere fathered a daughter with an Irda soulmate in Wayreth forest, though Raistlin himself denies this event ever taking place. Wayreth forest is almost a character itself, like all of the barriers which protect the Towers of High Sorcery. It is necessary to allow the Wizards of High Sorcery to hone their craft without worrying about thieves or intruders. It protects students unable to protect themselves in their study of magic and it may be the very last piece of magic on Krynn if there ever comes an end to it all. Even in the fifth age, when magic was deteriorating in the absence of the gods, Wayreth Forest remained enigmatic and elusive. The great Dragon Overlord Berylinthranox was not even capable of discovering it.
Outro
But that is all I have to say about Wayreth Forest. Have you ever used it in your campaigns? Do you think there might be residents of the forest trapped since its creation? And finally, what is your favorite protective grove around a Tower of High Sorcery? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
…there is always the great worm, Catyrpelius, to protect it, isn’t there, mage?
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