Tower — RPGaDay #19

John Dee and towers happen to be a fairly easy match.

For one, John was born in the Tower Ward of London, in 1527. Tower Ward is one of five within the Ossulstone division, a large swathe of the capital that stretches south from Finchley to the Thames.

The Ward owes its name to the Tower of London, the grand fortress overlooking the river. Dee had the displeasure of spending time in the Tower under the charge of being a sorcerer, imprisoned on the word of Queen Mary, in 1555.

Not to fall short on towers, Dee and Kelley’s adventures in scrying, in the 1580s, charted the Watchtowers from which the angels of the compass points overlooked the mortal world. Each Watchtower supported an array of lesser entities, each with their own name and purpose.

At Dragonmeet, I had a partial map of east London, both north and south of the river, including the Tower Ward and the Tower of London itself. Twenty generous souls laid claim to twenty dubious traders, with the opportunity to name them at a later date; whether they figure in an adventure or as part of the planned Ossulstone Hundred supplement. The Hundred will provide information on some of the sights in Dee’s old haunt and beyond, along with non-player character traders, hooks for adventures and more. I feel some carefully crafted random tables coming on…

Every day during August, I’ll be writing something new on The Dee Sanction and aim to connect the word prompt of the day with the development of the game. Check out the concept, the list and the graphics over at AUTOCRATIK.