Ruins of Kuthrad Ondal and the Tree of Life (A0)

[TheMetal1]

Spoilers Ahead to A0-The Rising Knight and A1-Assualt on Blacktooth Ridge.

I'm reading through the Undying War book from the Kickstarter, and I came across the mention of elvish towers and a Tree of Life. I wanted to get someone's take on it, perhaps even one of the trolls as it seems there is something missing or it is an undeveloped idea that needs more input.

In the A0 - The Rising Knight there is mention of the Ruins of Kuthrad Ondal, an elvish watchtower which is both "...a beacon to elves and, in its own way, points to the Tree of Life." (Undying War, p. 23) It goes on to say that it is one of the Towers of Hithel, designed by elves to guard the Tree of Life. Access to it is guarded by Fey "Travel to the tower is dangerous, as many fey and other creatures of ancient origins now guard it (Undying War, p. 24). At the location is a Lammasu named Nefratel can provide PCs with this information, but the Lammasu knows of no other towers.

However, 150 miles to north along Blacktooth Ridge is another Tower of Hithel, called Fromkin's Eyrie. (Undying War, p. 24) When you look for Fromkins Eyrie in A1-Assualt on Blacktooth Ridge, you only find Fromkins Pass, with a single mention that it is also called Fromkin's Eyrie. It states, "As the path nears the summit of the ridge, the top of a large crumbling tower can be seen: Fromkin's Eyrie." (Undying War, p. 47) There is no mention of it being a Tower of Hithel in A0. The only connection to elves is the statue to the goddess of fey, Wenafar. There is no Fey guardians only striges.

From these two excerpts we know that if one moves in a direct line on the map fround on page 11 in the Undying War 150 miles (arguably Northwest) from the tower in A0 it will lead to the tower in A1. If one moves again 150 miles in a straight line, it leads to A7 located around the Stone Ridge (the end of Blacktooth Ridge. Nevertheless, there is no mention in A7 of a Tower of Hithel.

Here is the thing, it seems that in A0 the tower is a great adventure hook, and was intended to be expanded in A1, but nothing came of it. I think the Tree of Life was supposed to be a big thing as well. Consider the appearance of the Tower(s) of Aufstrag, it looks like a twisted, distorted man-made (or demon made), tree. A mockery, in some way, what the Tree of Life is.

I have my own ideas for this adventure hook, but wanted to see if there was any official information on the Towers of Hithel and the Tree of Life available that anyone knew about, or if one of the Trolls could chime in to comment on what were or are the plans for these things and if my speculation that the Towers of Aufstrag were built to resemble a twisted tree of life...a tree of death of sorts. Lastly, if anyone else has used the towers of Hithel, I'd love to hear about how that went as either a PC or a CK! Thanks for reading and I look forward to the responses.