The Monolith had always been a source of great curiosity and mystery. When blood was shed there the retaliation was immediate. The aggressor had no time to think or react, they just vanished into a puff of smoke and ash. Nothing was left behind to take and even if there was it would be unwise to try. Those who stole met the same fate.
This strange phenomenon was what drew the first scholars to it, and it was through their diligence that the door into it was discovered. Those scholars ventured into the depth of the tower, once thought to hold a great evil because it was so visually intimidating, but what they found was entirely different than anyone had ever thought. Instead of demons and monsters or a being of great power, they found a nearly empty room with a single spiral staircase in the middle.
Upon further inspection, and some torchlight, they found it was not as empty as it had appeared. The walls were covered in small plaques, close together and spanning them from floor to ceiling. They did not know what was written on them, for it was in a language they had not come across before. As they climbed the stairway and visited each floor, it was the same, plaqued wall after plaqued wall, and upon three of the walls on each floor was a locked door.
When they reached the top three floors of the Monolith, they noticed some statues in place of plaques and as they finally stepped onto the top floor there were only three of the statues. Nothing adorned the walls and there were no doors. Just the three statues with the same strange writing about the base of them.
They discussed what they had seen and tossed theories back and forth but the only thing they could agree upon as to what it could be was a hall of records. Who placed the plaques and statues was unknown, in fact, as they watched it seemed the writing changed upon them. Until they came to the upper levels, the changes made there were infrequent and in the highest levels, it seemed the previous markings were constant.
Intrigued by this magic and language, they swore to solve the puzzle of the Monolith and uncover its secrets. The small band of scholars dubbed themselves the ‘Keepers’, Sages of the Black Tower.