Tower of Life

The Tower of Life, also known as The Homunculus Tower, is a tower south of Ardougne and is home to the Well of Life, a powerful spring of Divine Power. It is currently the headquarters of Mephiles’ Paradigm.

Creation of the Well
During the Third Age, the God Wars saw Gienior’s terrain reshaped by constant conflict between the gods. The site of the Well was home to a dramatic battle between Armadylians, Guthixians and Serenists, who were trying to secure a tactical stronghold that prevented Bandosian invasion from the south. Bandosian forces attempted to turn the tide by using Earth Magic, invoking the titanic earthquake that created the Arandar Mountains.

The Bandosian earthquake weakened the crust enough to create a small passageway from the surface to the Elder Halls, which would then become flooded by underground rivers and streams that flowed from Guthix’s resting place. The water which came into contact with the Halls where infused with copious amounts of divine energy, creating the Waters of Life. However the water would take thousands of years to flood back up to the surface, during the Fifth Age.

Founding of the Original Tower
The Following events are part of the Canon Runescape timeline, during the events of the quest “Tower of Life”, and are only subject to change by Jagex.

During Year 169 of the Fifth Age, three alchemists known as Effigy, Transmute and Currency discovered the Well. Hoping to capitalize on their discovery, they design and fund the construction of the Tower of Life, but are setback by a strike by their contractors. The World Guardian agrees to help by finishing the tower’s alchemical systems. With the systems completed, the trio create the Homunculus, but begin to abuse their creation in the name of science, before the creature lashes back with powerful magic. Effigy convinces the World Guardian to confront the Homunculus and tame it so they can continue their work. However the World Guardian disobeys, helping the Homunculus to escape the tower, teach it some basic personality traits, and then scare off the trio.

Sometime after this incident, but after an unspecified period after, they eventually returned, but the Homunculus transformed Transmute and Currency into a unihuman and chickalchemist respectfully. Effigy finally abandoned the venture after the incident, disappearing, but alive when the World Guardian accidently contacts him using the lunar contact spell.

'' End of Jagex canon. ''

With Effigy abandoning the tower, the Homunculus occupied it alone for months, warding off intruders by himself and the various creatures he conjured by the Tower of Life’s alchemical altars. The East Ardounge government would issue a warning to the public following the Homunculus’s acts of aggression to outsiders, along with redirecting trade caravans, ironically closer to the Khazard battlefields.

Rediscovery
Sometime later in the Year, Mephiles heard rumours of the tower’s creatures while couriering research material back to the temporary Immortues headquarters in Draynor, reporting them to Ares. Curious, the two decided to investigate during a period of downtime between operations. As they investigated the tower, they were briefly assaulted by the remains of Transmute and Currency, before being put down by an incineration spell. Venturing further down, the duo encountered the Homunculus, who immediately turned hostile. While defeated, Mephiles and Ares discovered that he was indestructible, and so instead forcefully teleported it to random co-ordinates.

With the inhabitants disposed, they discovered the Well of Life, with two copies of the Frostentome being created by submerging frost-enchanted spell tomes within the water. With this, they left with samples to begin experiments. Mephiles and Ares would return several more times to continue research, along with securing the area from other competitors.

Mephiles’ Imprisonment
With Mephiles now dying from a lack of life energy, Ares would move him to the Tower, developing the rituals to sustain the decaying form. But as Ares noticed Mephiles growing erratic and disobedient as the effects of the life-bond failed, he installed magical safeguards to prevent Mephiles from leaving. However, these soon failed as Mephiles began to reshape the well’s divine power.

Mephiles converted much of the Antechamber’s and altar chambers into alternate facilities, such as laboratories, morgues and a library. With the foundation of the Paradigm and the creation of the Necroviles, these where expanded with chambers for the hives, accommodation for his followers and an armoury.

The tower fell into disrepair when Mephiles lost control of the lesser Necroviles with the destruction of The Stem, with the remaining hives tearing apart the original chambers, while the hives themselves grew out of control, causing major instability to the external tower integrity.

Construction of the Second Tower
Returning after Ascendence on Freneskae, Mephiles commissioned the entire reconstruction of the Tower of Life into the current structure, using both his personal fortune on Asylum and investment from his ally, Lord Mox of East Ardounge. Mox also fronted the cover story for the reconstruction, convincing the local government that he was constructing a new fortress-palace to defend against a potential Khazard invasion, along with a possible royal residence.

While the exterior structure was constructed by the public, the underground chambers where constructed almost exclusively by the remaining Necroviles, with architects, stonemasons and specialist artisans either kidnapped, or converted, to create the real sanctuary of the “God of Rejuvination”.

Exterior
The original Tower of Life was a simple, wide-based tower, constructed from local granite and stood just a little taller than Ardounge Castle, with arrow slit windows and a single wooden entrance. The pinnacle of the old tower was also accessible by an open stone archway from the Homunculus’ cage.

The current Tower of Life is a much grander structure, mimicking the “Art Runica” style of the Wizard’s Tower and mixing elements of the conical structures native to both halves of Ardounge, which stick out from the main tower itself, constructed from thousands of tonnes of Limestone, imported from quarries in Kandarin.

The current structure stands at almost twice the height of the original, rivalling the Wizard’s tower for height, and is possible to see from East Ardounge and Yanhile. The views from the top of the tower is said to be unique for the entire region.

Tower Interior
The Interior of the original tower was bare, as much of it was still under construction when abandoned. It consisted mainly of the complex piping system that pumped the Waters of Life around to the various Altars of Life and the pinnacle itself, where the cage where creatures could be animated from laid. The remainder of the space was often filled with crates of unused components and building materials. Vertical access was only available by flimsy ladders.

The modern tower itself is better furnished and constructed, but still bare compared to the Wizard’s tower. The majority of chambers have been converted into apartments and dormitories for followers of the Paradigm, along with stocked libraries, mess halls and storage rooms. The vast piping system continues to exist within the new interior, having being integrated into the stone masonry, with removable panels allowing for maintained access.

The main vertical access is via an open spiral staircase in the central column, which also functions as the focusing chamber for energy projection. The titled floor at the bottom of this chamber, which bears Mephiles’ seal, acts as a secret short-range lodestone, allowing access to the Paradigm Sanctum.

The Paradigm Sanctum
Underneath the Tower is the true sanctuary of Mephiles’ Paradigm: a complex, ornate labyrinth of caverns and carved chambers that house Mephiles, his Emissaries, the Necrovile Hoards and miscellaneous followers and cultists. The majority of the structure was constructed deep underground, in the fault line that created the Well of Life, and is designed that all other chambers are built around it, using dense granite and naturally carved walls.

Antechamber
The Antechamber acts as the central hall that connects all the other chambers, along with being the access point to the Paradigm Lodestone. It is finished in polished black marble, with a centrepiece vaulted marble door, and carved with an image of the Tree of Life: the only access to the Well of Life Chamber. 4 side chambers leads to other rooms in the sanctum. It is manly lit by an ethereal gas, but some blue-burning pyres also run along the perimeter.

The Antechamber also functions as a throne room for formal occasions, with Mephiles either raising an angular throne built in the marble floor, or constructing a crude one from the Well of Life’s water by opening the piping that is contained in the pillars.

The Well of Life Chamber
The chamber for the Well of Life has been restored back to a natural state, with the only light source being the well itself. A few systems of pipes culminate in the chamber, allowing the sacred waters to be diverted from the spring and into laboratories for experimentation.

A small section has also been turned into a decked, open library that contains forbidden tomes and two armchairs: One very used, and one in a brand new condition.

A faint, ghostly line surrounds the Well itself, as part of the Permafrost Line enchantment.

Anima Laboratory
Mephiles’ personal Laboratory is a secondary spring, diverted from the original by the piping system into a clear, artificial pool. It functions as a “divine reactor”, with machinery processing Divination Energy and Divine Shards into the pool to enhance the effects. It also functions as the tower’s Energy Projector and control centre, operating the extensive piping system.

The Anima Laboratory is also used to manufacture resources though transmutation on a industrual scalem allowing the Sanctuary to run with minnimal supply runs. These include ores, herbs, wood and fish.

Miscellaneous Facilities
The Sanctum contains various halls, purposed for accommodation, public spaces, training halls, nesting grounds, armoires and storage, all connected by a elaborate system of tunnels.

The Labyrinth
The Labyrinth refers to the complex series of caves and tunnels that where constructed to secretly transport building materials to the Sanctum. They continue to be used to transport supplies, along with housing the Necrovile hoards. They are also an emergency escape route, in case the Sanctum is compromised.

The majority of them run under the coastline and ocean, allowing for salt and fresh water to collect into the underground rivers and streams.

Defences
The Tower and Sanctuary are formidably defenced, both physical and magically, to prevent incursion either by the Ardounge Army, Ares and other forces.

The external tower itself is reinforced to assault due to the use of limestone in its construction, and is tactically designed so that windows can be converted into arrowslits for defence. All main hallway doors are reinforced and can be deadlocked by a gear mechanism, preventing access without either a battering ram or explosive force. As a failsafe, the tower can also be self-destructed in sections, by over-pressurizing the internal piping systems from the Sanctuary’s Anima Laboratory.

Access to the Sanctuary is heavily protected, with the lodestone only being accessible within the tower, and able to be disabled. The Labyrinth caves are heavily infested with Necrovile nests, deterring intruders, and also the tunnels can be caved in with the use of Nitro-glycerine Flasks. The final physical gateway to the Sanctuary though the Labyrinth is carved from solid rock, and can be deadlocked from inside.

A series of magical wards also prevent unauthorised teleportation or matter-phasing methods, such as an Abyss Disruption Field and a Shadow Barrier. However, a lesser god would be able to pass such wards.

Walls within the Sanctuary are carved from solid bedrock, preventing any kind of physical assault or tunnelling. The door to the Well Chamber is the strongest defence of all, being carved from solid marble and reinforced with high-grade steel. It is reinforced further with a heat-resistant coating, a separate Abyss Disruption Field and Shadow Barrier, and a mechanical deadlock. There is also no physical keyhole or locking mechanism, with only Mephiles and Grand Emissary Talos being able to conduct the spell to open it. It also automatically closes behind the caster.

The Well chamber itself also contains a final defence known as the Permafrost Line, a powerful enchantment that would freeze any unauthorised being or object that passed through it, encasing them in ice. Victims are expected to either freeze to death or suffocate. The Permafrost Line is passive when Mephiles occupies the chamber, though it can be manually triggered by him.