Many rich and powerful men are said to live in ivory towers. For the Arcane, this is a reality rather than a metaphor. The Ivory Tower is both the symbol of the Arcane’s immeasurable wealth and a ship of unparallel luxury.
The Ivory Tower is a cylindrical shaped ship about 250’ across and a like distance in height. It is light gray, almost white, and ribbed by dark bands. The bands are great windows, offering spectacular views of wildspace from within. The windows are smoky dark from outside and transparent from within. From the outside, only vague shapes can be made out, while from within, the glass is as clear as crystal. There are twelve bands, corresponding to the twelve inner decks the ship has. The inner decks are fifteen feet high, with five feet of decking between decks. Arcane prefer high ceilings, given their own great height.
Only a few of these ships are known to exist. They are rare sights in wildspace, flown solely by the most wildly successful and fabulously wealthy Arcane. Even most Arcane cannot afford an Ivory Tower. They instead travel about in “lesser” ships such as yachts, shrikeships, and hummingbirds.
There are twelve inner decks in the Ivory Tower, plus two external decks. The external decks, on the top and bottom, are used as landing pads for shuttles, most commonly dragonflies and like ships. The landing pads are magical, with facilities that will magically mold to the needs of the landing ship. For example, stairs will rise out of the deck and fit to the side of the shuttle. But a small sample of the luxuries to be found within.
Deck Descriptions Deck 1: Private cabins Deck 2: VIP quarters, library Deck 3: Servants’ quarters Deck 4: Arcane’s private suite, treasure vault Deck 5: Helm, bridge, and staterooms Deck 6: Gilded Helm internals and navigation Deck 7: Planar Drive and crew quarters Deck 8: Captain and Officers quarters Deck 9: Kitchens, mess hall, saloons, larder Deck 10: Cargo Deck 11: Escape ships and lifeboats Deck 12: Steerage
An Ivory Tower is never armed. After all, who in their right mind would attack an Arcane? The very act would set the whole of the Known Spheres against the offender, an act few would dare. In the rare occasion that the Arcane feels the need for further protection, he will hire an armada of 3-18 spelljammers, all of which will be heavily armed with the latest weapons and best armor money can buy.
The owner of an Ivory Tower is always an Arcane. He is the ultimate master of his ship. The Arcane will hire a very skilled captain to see to the running of the ship, and an utterly loyal crew. The officers will include the captain, first, second, and third officers, a navigator, a quartermaster, a security officer, at least three ship’s wizards, a “planar engineer”, and a spelljammer engineer. The rest of the crew includes guardsmen, engineers, and laborers. All of these report to the captain through a strict chain of command. Duty aboard an Ivory Tower is highly coveted, far more-so than service aboard any other ship. Many of these crewmen have been magically and psionically charmed to be utterly loyal to the Arcane, willing to die for him without hesitation.
Separate from the captain and his crew are the servants and apprentices of the Arcane himself. He always keeps several dozen to several hundred servants aboard to cater to his every whim. Most often these are slaves wholly owned by the Arcane. Powerful magic and psionics are used to break their minds and make them completely and utterly loyal to the Arcane. Apprentices will the younger Arcane, sent to handle lesser duties and trade deals that support their master’s trading empire.
Gilded Helm: Quite possibly the rarest and most powerful spelljamming helm known, the gilded helm looks much like an enormous throne, sized for an Arcane, made of gold and padded with the finest of cloth. When an Arcane (and only an Arcane) sits upon it, the ship moves with a Ship’s Rating of 6. While the Arcane sits on the helm, he may not use any of his spell-like abilities or any spellcasting abilities he might possess due to class levels. Magic items, of course, work, and the Arcane will be protected by layers of guards, wards, and magical items.
The gilded helm is much larger than it appears. The throne is merely the controlling device for a larger engine underneath. Under the throne is a room filled with dials, knobs, and pipes much like the command center on a modern warship. While the throne gives the Arcane the ability to move and maneuver the ship by will, a crew of engineers is required to monitor the control panels and make adjustments to keep the ship running smoothly. This room also has extensive magical charts and planetary locators that, when used, will chart a perfect course through any sphere and through the Phlogiston.
Planar Drive: At the very center of the ship is a second command room filled with pipes, dials, levers, and buttons in the fashion of a classic mad-scientist’s lair. This is the Planar Drive, which can be used to planeshift the entire ship to any plane the Arcane desires. It takes 2 rounds to start up the Planar Drive, and another round for the planeshift to happen. This device requires no less than ten engineers skilled in planar mechanics and magic to operate. This device is used in cases when the Arcane has dealings in the Planes, or more rarely, when a hasty retreat is required.
Diplomacy: An Ivory Tower is always encountered singularly and only when the Arcane want to make a statement. As such Ivory Towers are used during in critically important trade negotiations (for example, the trading of planets or deals involving the selling of hundreds of spelljamming helms). In such situations, the Arcane wish to present themselves as clearly having the upper hand in any negotiations.
Other Configurations: There are no known Ivory Towers that are anything other than extremely extravagant luxury ships for the Arcane. Although each ship is unique in the pleasures the Arcane is fond of, none can be considered a separate class of ship.
