The village was called Seer, though Soraya couldn’t fathom why. To her eyes, it looked like a basic town with a series of stone structures capped with thatched roofs, wisps of smoke curling from at least half the chimneys. There was one rather odd feature, however: in the approximate center of the cluster of buildings was a tower of sorts constructed of wooden beams connected via a series of angles, joints, crossbeams, and planks. A staircase orbited the outside of the tower’s main structure, carrying one all the way to the top if they were determined enough. As Soraya squinted into the sunlight, she noticed several silhouettes picking their way up the steps. Those closest to the top were stopped, as though waiting for something. A solitary figure stood alone at the apex, head and arms raised to the sky, wind billowing through their clothes.

And then the figure lowered their head and arms, and stepped off the platform, heading down the opposite side of the staircase to those still climbing. The next person in line stepped up. “What are they doing?” Soraya asked.

“Seer was once the hub for the sacred art of clairvoyance. Soothsayers, palm readers, and star gazers gathered here in droves to perform their craft, drawing thousands of patrons each year who wanted to learn what the future held for them. But when King Vedran made magic illegal, most of them were arrested and executed or imprisoned. Some say only the true clairvoyants were spared, as they foresaw this change in the winds and fled Finfalla in advance of the king’s declaration, while all the fakes and frauds paid dearly for their deception.” Shim paused, eyeing the tower once more.

It was all very interesting, but… “What does that have to do with the tower?” Soraya asked.

“After the Great Purge, as those dark days became known, Seer began to fade into the dust. There was no reason for anyone to visit the town, and its population was insufficient to sustain most of its businesses. Trade dwindled to nothing. But then one day, the tower appeared.”

“Appeared? You mean it was built.”

Shim shook his head with a smile. “Not according to local lore. People here will tell you that they woke up one morning to the tower in the center of the square where the day before there was none.”

“But surely someone saw it being built.”

“If so, no witness confessed. The first brave soul to venture up the stairs was a woman named Celinery Airamum, and when she returned to the ground, they say her hair, previously black, had turned shockingly white, her lips filled with tales of the future told to her ‘by the wind’. News of her story traveled like wildfire through the realm, and soon Seer began drawing its crowds once more.”

“But what of the king’s decree banning magic? Surely this would fall under its purview.”