Designed By: Yseult Concasseur
Guarded By: Patch King Jack
From the early days of the Cathedral of the Moon, four towers have risen above its swamp's bloodcurdling mists like silent sentinels, surrounding the dome that lay at the structure's middle. However, since its occupation by player-made guild, opinion has been anything but united in what exactly to do with them. Following the example set by guild leader Colonel Staffenburg after his wholesale refurbishment of the Tower of the Way, Volaris and Daryl von Madness took hold of the Towers of the Word and Knowledge, respectively, but for a great time the remaining tower remained without master. Called the 'Tower of Might', it played host to a duo of dark artifacts fashioned from ebon steel and blood rubies with the purpose of continually conjuring brutish monsters to slow intruders down. This remained the case for some time, even after the member to whom the tower's responsibility was given had quit the game. Only after the newer member Yseult had found a place at the guild for some time did someone give this viable yet uninteresting zone another look.
Seized by inspiration, Yseult remodeled the interior entirely, throwing out the generic dungeon aesthetic for a sort of setting only describable as 'outdoor garden party'. With plants and furniture arranged and hexes in place to ensure an atmosphere of convincing nighttime even indoors, she installed her first NPC in the place—a Shambling Mound named Jack with a specialty in pumpkins and an affinity for high society. Thereafter the zone took on a new name: the Tower of Dignity.
Upon entering the tower, any intruder would be greeted with the most unusual sight of grassy earth, trim hedges, and twisting plants. Where the tower walls should be are only trees with abyssal blackness beyond. Above them, the growths kept so orderly at ground level degrade into a chaotic mass of root, leaf, and branch as they climb higher and higher. Jack o' lanterns are everywhere. At the room's center lies a long table of exquisite composition, its places set and its host seated at the far end. “You're right on time,” the Patch King would declare. “Won't you put those weapons away? Terribly rude. Though either way, I think, we'll have a night to remember!” Regardless of the route the intruders take to handling him, they can expect to spend quite a while inside the Tower of Dignity, giving other guild members time to prepare.
Clear Conditions: The objective is to recover a piece and proceed through a door, though that exit is blocked by vines that hide it and continuously regenerate as long as Jack is alive, and the piece is a candle inside Jack's head. The Tower of Dignity can be completed without engaging in combat, though that process is rather drawn-out. To do so, the intruders must not attack Jack or his creatures, or engage in what he considers 'rude' behavior too many times (the Tower itself contains a living enchantment to keep track of 'rudeness', recording it as glowing orange marks across intruders' foreheads. One mark is applied automatically upon Jack's first greeting to anyone still holding a weapon at the time. If anyone's tally reaches 5, or everyone has at least 3, Jack gives up and unleashes the horde). Jack promises he won't hurt the intruders should they mind their manners and join his party. Once the intruders are seated, vines spring from the ground to bind them all before lifting the chairs up through the plant tangle to the Great Pumpkin above, inside which the real party takes place. There, pumpkin monsters menace the intruders one after another, and Jack takes them away one by one for a 'private chat' during which he converses with them, trying to figure out their physical and mental weak points, until afterward he returns them. Once he's chatted with everyone, Jack thanks everyone for such a nice time and lowers them all back to the ground for release. At that point, he has his minions serve everyone a slice of gross-looking pumpkin pie that looks like it's poisoned. The pie is actually harmless and quite tasty, and once everyone's at least tried it he bids them farewell and opens the exit. He would have to be asked for the candle in his head, though after the party's over he will give it freely.
If Jack loses his patience due to rudeness or aggression, he simply opens the Great Pumpkin remotely and rains pumpkin monsters on the enemy, filling the garden party with so many that it's difficult for intruders to not be overwhelmed. He can be attacked during this time, but will retreat and attack with chloromancy from afar, then once his forces are depleted use Overgrow to become a giant pumpkin monster in a last ditch effort to take the intruders down. His defeat will cause the vines blocking and hiding the exit to wither, letting the enemies out