[HN Gopher] Is there a functional reason for wizards to live in ...
___________________________________________________________________
Is there a functional reason for wizards to live in towers so
often?
Author : tech-historian
Score : 147 points
Date : 2022-03-05 14:11 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (rpg.stackexchange.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (rpg.stackexchange.com)
| bryanrasmussen wrote:
| Maybe, the wizards I've known were all of a very paranoid type,
| and the towers they lived in did not have stairs, meaning that
| the only things these wizards had to worry about, pretty much,
| were griffin variants, dragons, and other wizards and witches.
|
| I heard of an alchemist once that lived in a very nice townhouse,
| and was driven nearly mad by the incessant visits of tax
| collectors. But a tower without stairs wouldn't of been much use
| to him either, given the limits of what he could do.
| gpderetta wrote:
| I think because the hero ascending the tower to go slay the evil
| wizard and encountering stronger and stronger opposition as he
| ascend is a powerful and symbolic image.
|
| Specifically in D&D dungeons have levels, similarly to heroes,
| and get harder the higher (or deeper) you go.
| mLuby wrote:
| I like to think of wizards as lone scientists like Galileo or
| Faraday or Tesla--dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge--where
| the wizard's tower is the scientist's laboratory. It's where they
| conduct research into arcane phenomena and invent weird new
| spells and artifacts.
|
| Occasionally wizards venture out of their lab to conduct in-situ
| field research or collect rare materials for experiments.
| Adventuring wizards are kind of an oddity, like Indiana Jones is
| to most archeologists.
|
| Evil wizards are mad scientists: their twisted experiments may
| inadvertently or intentionally create undead abominations or
| unfeeling automatons, unleash dangerous magical effects in the
| nearby lands like poisoning water or blighting crops, and luring
| criminals to buy or steal the fruits of the wizard's research for
| ill ends.
|
| And yeah, the tower keeps the wizard safe from harm and
| distraction. No open tower floor plans please.
| _0ffh wrote:
| Well, maybe the adventuring wizards are like the engineers of
| the wizarding world, applying their acquired knowledge to
| concrete, real life problems. Meanwhile, the secluded wizard-
| in-a-tower is the scientist dedicated to pushing the boundaries
| between the known and the unknown. Also, I expect them to visit
| conferences, though not in person but by using telepresence-
| spells.
| goldenchrome wrote:
| I'm pretty sure wizards are based on high IQ autists. Towers are
| strange and isolated, like many high IQ autists.
|
| Isn't Richard Stallman a modern wizard?
| staticman2 wrote:
| They are closer to the stars and further from the worldy concerns
| of men. It can symbolize some sort of wisdom or power found in
| "higher" concerns than that of our day to day life.
| maerF0x0 wrote:
| Towers improve the range of vision (at least in terms of distance
| of the horizon) . In mythology vision is often used as a proxy
| for wisdom -- the eye sees things, it points out things, and then
| wise thoughts (&actions) come forth to enact the will of the
| viewer (the wizard) .
|
| As the stackexchange answer says it's a trope, but I think it's
| much richer than that. The territory covered by the field of
| vision represents the depth of wisdom and domain of the wizard.
| They are in a sense able to "rule" (or influence) over the area
| through a perspective and foresight that others do not have on
| the ground.
| ecocentrik wrote:
| Exactly. Altitude improves visibility and gives humans (wizards
| included) improved perspective. The view from the top of a
| ziggurat, Mayan temple, wizard's tower gives the viewer
| perspective over their domain while also allowing them
| unimpeded access to the sky so they can keep calendars,
| predicting the seasons and astronomical phenomenon like
| eclipses, or even see a storm coming before anyone else.
| bell-cot wrote:
| In any vaguely medieval setting, a tower is a conspicuously high-
| status abode, with both "loner" and "don't mess with" vibes.
| Whether looking down at us from a window, or up at the stars from
| the parapet, the Wiz is both physically and metaphorically above
| us mere peasants.
|
| And, when story-telling, a wizard's tower is a _very_ cheap bit
| of the narrative. The audience visualizing a mere house might
| need mention of the size, materials, style, color, etc. - not so
| the tower.
| AtlasBarfed wrote:
| And it references the "ivory tower" of academia, the pursuit of
| "higher learning". In the age of skyscrapers we don't
| appreciate the inherent power/awe that tall structures likely
| had on people. It symbolically indicates power from ability,
| technology, competence, engineering, and use of resources.
|
| Actually, skyscrapers ARE the modern equivalent. The "wizards
| of finance" and the like inhabit them, exerting power with the
| magic spells of technology, finance, bribery, influence, and
| organization. Corporations seek them for the same reasons that
| fantasy wizards, kings, and churches used to.
|
| And duh, Tolkien. It's the title of the second book.
| shagie wrote:
| An older asking of the question from sci-fi stack exchange rather
| than world building - https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/12379
| satisfice wrote:
| I am surprised no one has mentioned what is most likely to be the
| actual answer: towers are closer to heaven.
|
| In medieval thinking, the ground is less prestigious because it
| is closer to hell. "Lower" forms of life are called that based on
| the high-is-close-to-god metaphor.
|
| When wizards draw pentagrams on the ground they are doing darker
| magic that invokes the powers of Hell.
|
| So, a tower is like an insulator. Great and good magics will need
| to be invoked up in the air.
| krapp wrote:
| It's an interesting theory, unfortunately none of the magical
| texts from that period that I'm aware of actually work that
| way. Many occultists of the time believed magic and demonology
| was justified by Christ giving his followers power to command
| demons and the elements in the New Testament.
| jelliclesfarm wrote:
| I can't speak for wizards but I have a work in progress storybook
| about witches who adopt a strange feral boy.
|
| He has a strange power as the colour of his hair changes with his
| moods..from blue to red when he is sad or angry etc.
|
| So they keep him in their 'Witches Hat Tower'..(which is actually
| a legit architectural design for tower a pointy top and no
| parapet) and I had to do a ton of research for that.
|
| Tower tops are good launch off pad for broomstick flights.
| Perfect for stargazing and the crystal mirror gazing.
|
| The witches hat tower is supposed to symbolize the witch's pointy
| hat as the tower itself is the physical body of the witch.
|
| Turns out pointy witches hat have been around since 2-4th century
| BCE. Mummified remains of witches in China have been found with
| pointy hats.
|
| Here is my theory..you see, witches(and wizards) have to beckon
| lightning. When lightning strikes them, they'd end up as charred
| sticks if not for their pointy witches hats.
|
| The hats have a lightning conductor at the tip. Sometimes you
| will find it broken..you know that this witch has attracted
| lightning but hasn't had time to repair the conductor at the tip.
| Witches be busy.
|
| Of course..I know everyone will think that it's also useful while
| flying the broomstick. But this has nothing to do with the
| broomstick flying. As it was a children's book, I didn't think it
| was age appropriate to explain the dynamics and purpose of flying
| high on broomsticks. That's another short story. For adults.
|
| Of course, not all witches live in towers. As Terry Pratchett
| informed us..Nanny Ogg lived in a townhouse. Even Granny
| Weatherwax(Esme Weatherwax) lived in a cottage in the woods.
| Pointy hats are only for witches who can summon lightning.
| D13Fd wrote:
| > Turns out pointy witches hat have been around since 2-4th
| century BCE. Mummified remains of witches in China have been
| found with pointy hats.
|
| I feel like the line between fantasy and reality has blurred
| for a lot of people lately.
| jelliclesfarm wrote:
| https://www.historicmysteries.com/the-tarim-mummies-of-
| xinji...
|
| [..] Other Tarim mummies have also been found wearing
| decidedly western clothing. One of the oddest bits of
| clothing found any of these mummies are the flat-brimmed
| pointy "witch hats" that were discovered on the "Witches of
| Subeshi."[..]
|
| https://mummipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Witches_of_Subeshi
|
| [..] Three female mummies of Subeshi were found wearing tall,
| pointed black hats of felted wool that resemble the
| stereotypical headgear of traditional witches, and dated to
| between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC They were located in a
| high gorge just to the east of the city of Turfan.
|
| It has been suggested that one of the three, wearing a heavy
| glove, may indicate that she hunted with a raptor.
|
| The headgear worn by the Iron-age mummies were fashioned from
| black felt, the steep spire tapering to a peak nearly 60cm
| (2ft) high.[..]
|
| https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/ancient-mummies-
| of-...
|
| [..] The most intriguing mummies in ECA may be the "witches"
| of Subeshi, who wear very tall, pointed black hats that
| resemble the iconic headgear of their sisters in medieval
| Europe. Subeshi, dated to between the 4th and 2nd centuries
| BCE, is located in a high gorge just to the east of the
| important city of Turfan.
|
| Historian and author Adrienne Mayor has recently suggested
| that the single heavy glove worn by one of the female mummies
| may indicate that she hunted with a raptor such as a golden
| eagle. A number of impressive male mummies have also been
| excavated at Subeshi, including a man who wears a felt helmet
| and another man whose chest has been stitched up with horse
| hair in what must be one of the oldest (4th century BCE)
| examples of surgery in the world.[..]
| morelisp wrote:
| These seem to be mummies wearing pointy hats that were
| therefore called witches as shorthand for identification,
| not mummies of supposed witches who happened to
| mysteriously share millinery choices with 16th century
| European imagery.
| lioeters wrote:
| Hats in general seem to have a history of being associated with
| some kind of magical power. Egyptian royalty wore hats, the
| Pope wears a hat, and I suppose the crown of a king is also a
| kind of a hat.
|
| About the pointy hats of wizards - in addition to conducting
| lightening and inspiration, I imagine it can serve as an
| antenna also, as a tranceiver that receives and transmits
| aethereal vibrations.
|
| Why they often live in towers.. I think they like to breathe
| the atmosphere high above the mundane. It's where wizened
| philosophers, academics and scholars pursue their thinking and
| magical meditations, closer to the stars.
| Findecanor wrote:
| The classic image of a witch wearing a pointy hat comes from
| 16th century England.
|
| Beer was the staple drink as it kept better than water and had
| nutritional value. Brewing beer was women's work in every
| household. Some expanded to sell beer at markets, and the
| pointy hat became a marker for a woman who sold beer.
|
| When men started breweries, it was about the time of witch
| hunts, and they started to accuse women brewers of witchcraft
| as a way of removing the competition -- and that is how the
| pointy hat became associated with the image of a witch. Also,
| the beer was brewed in cauldrons, and cats were used to keep
| mice away from the grain that the beer was made of.
| Terry_Roll wrote:
| The tomato plant and its alkaloids were also experimented
| with, hence the witches potions.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato#Plant_toxicity
|
| The Salem Witch trials is because the tomato was considered
| the devils fruit, but it was the plant alkaloids which caused
| the real trouble (hallucinogens) and libido raising, hence
| riding the broomstick. Even in the 1930's Bella Donna was
| used to dilate the pupils to make a woman more attractive but
| it could also hide Argyll Robertson Pupil (a sign of
| neurosyphilis)
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna#Toxicity
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyll_Robertson_pupil
| Telemakhos wrote:
| The Salem Witch trials were very recent; witches and fun
| drugs go much further back, as documented in Renaissance
| medical literature on "flying ointment" (see
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ointment for a pretty
| decent overview, albeit for some reason excluding medical
| texts and concentrating on esoteric and legal texts). It's
| a lipid-based ointment with some sort of drug, applied to
| the temples, causing either hallucinations or at least a
| "rushing" feeling and high accompanied by catatonia, as if
| the soul were flying around having left the body. It seems
| to have been used by women who were bored and wanted to
| feel like they were flying.
| jelliclesfarm wrote:
| salem witch trials happened right after an outbreak of rye
| ergot. Ergot is a fungus blight..can make one trip due to
| it's hallucinogenic effect. the accusers were tripping
| heavily.
|
| you are mixing up entirely different kinds of plants.
|
| https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/witches-curse-clues-
| evidenc...
| paulbaumgart wrote:
| This article makes a pretty convincing argument that this
| connection, while a fun story, isn't supported by the
| historical record: https://braciatrix.com/2017/10/27/nope-
| medieval-alewives-are...
| jelliclesfarm wrote:
| It's 'classic' because it was recorded and the recent. Pointy
| hat witches mummies were found in China and dated 2-4 BCE.
|
| https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/ancient-mummies-
| of-...
|
| [..] The Witches of Subeshi
|
| The most intriguing mummies in ECA may be the "witches" of
| Subeshi, who wear very tall, pointed black hats that resemble
| the iconic headgear of their sisters in medieval Europe.
| Subeshi, dated to between the 4th and 2nd centuries BCE, is
| located in a high gorge just to the east of the important
| city of Turfan.
|
| Historian and author Adrienne Mayor has recently suggested
| that the single heavy glove worn by one of the female mummies
| may indicate that she hunted with a raptor such as a golden
| eagle. A number of impressive male mummies have also been
| excavated at Subeshi, including a man who wears a felt helmet
| and another man whose chest has been stitched up with horse
| hair in what must be one of the oldest (4th century BCE)
| examples of surgery in the world.[..]
| pfdietz wrote:
| I assume it's to get away from the stench of the peasantry.
| logicallee wrote:
| first of all this is absolutely not true, any good wizard
| spends 99% of their time in the most inconspicuous dirty
| clothing. Where do you think they get their spells, just lie
| down and think "I wonder how I would summon a polar bear?" They
| have to go out and learn that stuff in dirty bars tracking down
| people who once knew a guy who knew a guy who once thought they
| saw a polar bear. You try turning that into a summoning spell
| my friend.
|
| Secondly, as for the actual tower a wizard's tower just
| reflects their power, the more they've learned the more they
| see. There is a tower that is a vertical line up to heaven
| itself, you could stand next to it crane your neck up until it
| hurts and ask "how the fuck did _she_ get up there? " The
| answer was that she read every book in the library.
|
| these other answers about status or power miss the big picture.
| wizards are not elected nor appointed by any king. They go out
| and they learn magic based on what is real and what works.
|
| If it doesn't work, it's not magic. Anyone can be a wizard
| based on casting spells that work. It's the most egalitarian
| profession that ever existed.
|
| The tower is a natural byproduct of commitment to the craft of
| skill and magic.
| 300bps wrote:
| Wizards are physically weak, have finite spells to use and
| require solitude and rest to regain them.
|
| Living in a tower gives them substantial physical security. You
| can have one point of entrance at ground level that is
| significantly guarded.
|
| A typical house has numerous points of entry. Not as big of a
| deal for a fighter that can defend him/herself at a moment's
| notice but much riskier for a wizard.
| corysama wrote:
| Towers are expensive and difficult to construct. A lone tower is
| highly unusual and suspect. Towers are looming and ominous. All
| of these together help the writer convey that the character
| within the tower is powerful, odd and scary.
|
| They also set up the story of adventuring through the tower,
| floor by floor, in increasing levels of difficulty --as
| illustrated in the great fantasy movie: Bruce Lee's _Game of
| Death_. :D
| captainmuon wrote:
| zhte415 wrote:
| A powerful wizard emerged from the darkness designed a tower to
| differentiate themselves from the other wizards, wizards of
| fruit, friendship, neighbourhood or next door. They cast a
| partial specification that stirred anger in other wizards but
| gave away a bag of spell tricks for free to the carpenters.
| Quirks such as only wood from the initial wizard's forest fitting
| the door frames correctly, or occasionally the height of the
| tower obscured by the blue sky, were fixed over the years.
|
| As time went by, various other wizards devised new but still
| similar with variations on visual appearance and potion
| specifications, or even giving away wind chimes so visiting the
| forest to hunt song birds was no longer necessary, or imposed
| medusa-like speaking curses so that only those in the villages
| following them could use a mutually understandable tongue,
| locking out others for security, but resulting in many wars of
| flame.
|
| As wizards are a vain lot, they employed wordsmiths to spread
| messages of lore when they added an extension to their tower.
| Sometimes they step too far, for example one wizard long long ago
| started living in a collection of fields, but this was too flat
| for even the townsfolk. They moved back into their old tower,
| sulkingly changing the entrance door to a doormat and fiddled
| with rivet shapes 11 times.
|
| And as it was, so it will continue to be. Wizards will continue
| to live in towers that are minor iterations of each other, all
| imitations of The Mother Of All Towers from times long ago that
| only stories are told of.
| quadcore wrote:
| The wiz can put traps on each and every towery level!
| VoodooJuJu wrote:
| I believe it's a symbolic reflection of their knowledge and
| wisdom.
|
| Low to the ground, you can't see much. There are obstructions in
| the way. What lies beyond those mountains? Ascend high and find
| out. Atop the tower, there is nothing obstructing your vision.
| You can see for miles. One who has scaled the tower is all-
| seeing.
|
| Wizards have reached great _heights_ of knowledge and wisdom.
| They are all-knowing, or _all-seeing_ , as is the one who's
| scaled the tower.
|
| Now why a tower rather than something like a whole castle? Towers
| are a bit more humble, independent, and potentially isolated, as
| the wizard himself often is.
| steanne wrote:
| controlled environment for book storage.
|
| https://critical-hits.com/blog/2017/02/22/the-wizards-and-th...
| YeGoblynQueenne wrote:
| Last reply is the most well-sourced:
|
| _In short, according to official Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks,
| powerful wizards often live in towers because they can create
| towers quite easily using magic, and have need of a highly
| defensible home for reasons of security and privacy. They have
| many valuable belongings which they need to protect from theft or
| harm, especially while they're away. They often undertake long
| periods of research or item crafting where they don't want to be
| disturbed, and often have enemies or rivals who want to attack
| them or steal their magical research or items. They may also
| wield significant personal and regional power and require a base
| of operations from which to control the local area. All these
| things necessitate a defensible home, and a tall tower or castle
| of some sort is a time-tested solution to this._
|
| https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/196562
| jonathf wrote:
| According to my tour guide at the Bodleian Library at Oxford
| University, preservation of books back in the olden days was all
| about reducing humidity. And the best way to achieve this before
| proper isolation were invented was to bring them up as high as
| possible. Rich people who collected books therefore always kept
| their books upstairs.
|
| Also the curators of such collections are also often scholars.
| Old men, going up stairs to read their old books.
|
| An hypothesis on my part of course, but to me I can se how this
| over generations gets morphed into "wizards in towers".
| unfocussed_mike wrote:
| Line of second sight?
| orcasushi wrote:
| I would like to add: Increases range for sending and receiving
| communication via air.
|
| This in addition the the already mentioned: - greater field of
| sight (eye of Sauron) - greater range of fire - symbolic (to
| heaven) - status symbol - defense against enemy
|
| I remember this scene from movie 3 lotr where the 2 wizards
| communicate to each other to invade, by shooting beams from their
| towers.
| Timpy wrote:
| It's a shame this was posted on the rpg stack exchange and not
| the world building stack exchange, I understand they're
| moderating it to keep it on topic but they're suppressing what
| could be some really great ideas and conversations.
| smoldesu wrote:
| "Because they can't afford houses."
|
| - Response attributed to Talk to Transformer/InferKit
| ffhhj wrote:
| Aren't wizards based on astrologers/astronomers? They would need
| a high place so trees or other buildings don't block their view.
| Might also be useful to have a well positioned window to get the
| light of the sun or moon in specific angles, to make calendars,
| horoscopes, or other tracking. Also could be useful to keep
| adversaries from spying on research, might have made it difficult
| for thieves to enter and steal valuable instruments. People with
| enough time to research might have been wealthy and able to build
| these buildings that required more engineering. Could have also
| been a "showroom" for monarchs/warlords to display
| castle/fortress engineering.
| krapp wrote:
| Yes, the ancient Magi were the astrologer-priests of Persia,
| from which we get the root for "magic."
| tshaddox wrote:
| Is there a reason NBA players live in houses that have swimming
| pools?
|
| Why don't I see anyone mentioning that wizards are rich and
| powerful (because they have magical powers), so they live in
| large expensive houses, which in a medieval setting are often
| castles with towers?
| lewispollard wrote:
| Well, no one said anything about castles, and I don't think the
| wizard trope generally includes "rich"
| bidirectional wrote:
| The trope is not 'castles with towers' though, but thin, tall,
| vertical structures.
| TheAceOfHearts wrote:
| A wizard builds a tall tower to test themselves and to
| demonstrate their powers to the universe. In order to build a
| tower that reaches into the heavens you require a strong
| foundation and the capability to enchant the building against the
| elements.
|
| In a way, it's a fitting example of how perspective can shape
| your perception of reality. From the ground you can't see far but
| the details are easy to make out, as you rise you're able to see
| further away in less detail, but as you continue rising your
| vision eventually becomes obscured by the clouds, and finally you
| reach the vastness of space.
| mkl95 wrote:
| Living in a tower allows wizards to focus on spellcrafting at the
| top while business analysts and product owners make
| unintelligible noises in the basement.
| cushychicken wrote:
| It's effectively the opposite arrangement of a modern bank's
| headquarters skyscraper.
| newsbinator wrote:
| When early tall buildings started to rise, you would find the
| most expensive lawyers and bankers in New York and London with
| offices on the ground floor, while admin staff toiled away on
| higher floors, having to walk up and down those stairs all day to
| move paper and transmit messages.
|
| With the invention of the elevator, that pyramid was inverted.
|
| Whereas Wizards, as everybody knows, have never required
| elevators.
| PeterisP wrote:
| IIRC it was similar in ancient Rome with their multistory
| insula residental buildings - the higher floors were cheaper,
| with smaller rooms and worse in all aspects.
| Eddy_Viscosity2 wrote:
| It's pretty obvious that its because 'tower' rhymes with 'power'.
|
| Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
| MikeDelta wrote:
| Maybe the origin is symbolical because they are different than
| regular humans and not taking part in normal society?
| blaxis wrote:
| prevents the trees from blocking their astronomy
| gostsamo wrote:
| Magicians and strologists where pretty close in the past. Many of
| the magic powers were related to celestial bodies and hence
| astronomical observations were part of the job. Hard to do
| astronomy from the ground if your neighbor's henhouse is stopping
| you from observing the raise of Mercury.
| Supermancho wrote:
| I always thought portals or alternate methods for travel to/from.
| It's also highly defensible from a medieval perspective and
| easily identifiable (don't mess with wizard towers).
| User23 wrote:
| There wouldn't be stairs to the upper quarters, just a ladder
| that gets pulled up. Even wizards need to sleep.
| shantara wrote:
| Observatory towers like Copenhagen's Rundetaarn are probably the
| closest real world inspiration.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rundetaarn
| drcode wrote:
| I always assumed this dates back to the mystery of ziggurats
| (tall temple structures) in ancient Mesopotamia, back when ideas
| of magic and religion were still heavily interwoven.
|
| In ancient cultures, towers were directly associated with status,
| because at that time it was still impressive to construct tall
| objects, and tall objects were used by ruling classes also as a
| tool to help during defensive military emergencies.
| tcbawo wrote:
| I think also in the days before garbage collection and
| sewer/water management, being above the ground level had perks.
| Being high above the fray is still a luxury that denotes
| status.
| Tyr42 wrote:
| On the other hand, Romans did not have elevators, and the top
| floors of the townhouses were the cheapest to rent.
| lotroneoff wrote:
| D&D (& most modern high fantasy) was heavily influenced by LOTR.
| Saruman lived in Isengard (a tower), therefore the common modern
| high fantasy trope is that wizards live in towers.
|
| Here's a thread explaining why Saruman lived in the tower of
| Isengard.
| https://www.reddit.com/r/AskScienceFiction/comments/33b4v3/l...
| bombcar wrote:
| Fantasia has a wizard's tower and it predates LotR, it's an
| older trope.
| teddyh wrote:
| > _Fantasia has a wizard's tower_
|
| Does it? It has a wizard, and later there's the mountan peak
| with Chernobog, but no wizard's tower, from what I recall.
| bombcar wrote:
| Mickey is in a tower it seems based on the stairs the
| buckets are being carried up. But maybe it's just visually
| some stairs.
| GeoAtreides wrote:
| I don't remember Chernobog or a Mickey or buckets in An
| never-ending story... The Empress had a tower, true, but
| I wouldn't call her a wizard per se
| 3np wrote:
| A lot of things popularized by Tolkien and later trickling
| into D&D lore have very old roots.
|
| If it weren't for Tolkien there may not even have been a D&D.
| I'm in line with Saruman.
| shagie wrote:
| We can go back further to Mark Twain with Chapter 7 of A
| Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court titled "Merlin's
| Tower" https://www.gutenberg.org/files/86/86-h/86-h.htm
|
| I'd also point to the towers of ancient times being places
| where astronomy and astrology where practiced and the linkage
| between astrology, divination, and wizards.
| Aerroon wrote:
| Wizards are the scientists of fantasy worlds. They study the
| world to figure out how it works. An astronomy tower sounds
| quite useful to have.
|
| A single tower that you live in is also a castle.
| KineticLensman wrote:
| > Saruman lived in Isengard (a tower)
|
| He was the only one of the three named wizards in LOTR who
| lived in a tower. Gandalf didn't really have a fixed abode and
| Radagast lived in tune with nature, on the western side of
| Mirkwood.
| ewindal wrote:
| Radagast fits the druid archetype more than the wizard
| archetype nowadays. Gandalf is a unique case in my head. He's
| more of a battlemage, the way I see it, if you ignore that
| he's basically an angel.
| tasha0663 wrote:
| Isolation, better observation of the heavens, doubles as a
| rookery for sending and receiving _grim tidings_ , proximity to
| the dungeons and/or tower prisoners in case you need a research
| spec-*ahem* volunteer.
|
| And if you blow the place up running arcane experiments or
| attempting congress with demons, hopefully the damage is
| contained.
| protomyth wrote:
| Sometimes you just need to have some help with power from
| lightning or moonlight. You just don't get that with some ground-
| hugging hovel.
| kingkawn wrote:
| In medieval times living in such a tall building itself probably
| seemed line wizardry
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| Better reception obviously. Also phallic symbol. Warriors don't
| have anything to prove physically.
|
| So the wizards have the "hey you wanna see my tower" routine. A
| nice cup of mind control potion seals the deal.
| jaggirs wrote:
| what
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| Hey don't blame the messenger. What do you expect from an
| evil wizard?
|
| I tried complaining to the magic council but they turned me
| into a toad. Took me 30 minutes to write this lol. Webbed
| feet are shit. And you can forget using speech input.
| staticman2 wrote:
| From a fruedian perspective a wand and a tower can both
| represent a penis. Also a witch's broom.
|
| TV tropes cites two references to this in Terry Pratchett
| Discworld novels in the Freud Was Right article:
|
| "Going Postal: As she looks over Moist's ideas for stamp
| pictures, Adora Belle Dearheart notes that the stamp with the
| highest value has a picture of the Tower of Art at Unseen
| University -- the tallest building in the city.
|
| Adora: Oh, the Tower of Art... How like a man.
|
| Lords and Ladies: Naggy Ogg tells Casanunda "Magrat says a
| broomstick is one of them sexual metaphor things." (Footnote:
| Although this is a phallusy.)"
| js8 wrote:
| or the "looks like I am gonna erect my tower in this forest, to
| get a nice view of the two hills" routine
| sineroth wrote:
| cause thats where the sexy princess is
| dylan604 wrote:
| Sorry Mario, the princess is in the other tower
| hackerfromthefu wrote:
| The view is really great!
| rr808 wrote:
| To get some peace and quiet away from the wife.
| pvaldes wrote:
| Mud. Lots of mud. And flooding is bad for the books
| 1970-01-01 wrote:
| The Wizard of Oz lived in Emerald City. He wasn't actually a
| wizard, however.
| verisimi wrote:
| Magic works better in rarified areas, away from the oi polloi?
| JoeyBananas wrote:
| I'm pretty sure this trope started with Tolkien, like so many
| other DnD tropes.
| hotsauceror wrote:
| Wizards perform manipulations of the basic structure of the
| physical world. This may include dangerous chemical reactions,
| warps in space-time, and high energy physics. A lab on top of a
| tower provides a buffer zone and limits the scope of damage from,
| say, a fire or a lightning bolt. It's also like an antenna, in
| that regard, so it may help to channel, tune, and concentrate
| energy.
| kderbyma wrote:
| strategic defense. towers provide options to cast Magic in 360
| degrees, gain visibility from on high to see approaching
| caravans, psychic falloff is less with LoS
| wintermutestwin wrote:
| No door at ground level > Wizard casts Levitate.
| shrimp_emoji wrote:
| Some Telvanni towers in Morrowind don't have stairs for this
| reason (more out of magocratic elitism than defense concerns).
| scsilver wrote:
| I would assume it gives them unobstructed views of the land and
| sky. Helpful for channeling solar or moon beams, general
| foresight, and good positioning to launch spells.
| ineedasername wrote:
| Easier to see the local villagers coming for you with their
| torches and pitchforks.
| nkingsy wrote:
| Reading this thread, it's funny how universally identified with
| wizards software engineers are.
|
| It's not just the arcane knowledge and elaborate incantations. I
| actually think musicians and athletes possess more of this type
| of ability. Movie magic to me seems to involve timing and
| physicality.
|
| I think the real connection is that programming truly is a
| generalizable tool. A wizard can apply magic to all kinds of
| general situations. Similarly, a programmer can apply computation
| generally. A musician can make magical, mind-blowing music but
| they can't use music to make a dishwasher.
| adastra22 wrote:
| We are literally wizards. We use a strange language to entice a
| rock filled with electricity to do our bidding. We speak to
| golems.
| webmaven wrote:
| > We are literally wizards. We use a strange language to
| entice a rock filled with electricity to do our bidding. We
| speak to golems.
|
| Yup. Steve Savitzky's song _The World Inside the Crystal_
| uses a similar metaphor:
| https://thestarport.org/people/steve/Doc/Songs/world/
| webmaven wrote:
| _> I think the real connection is that programming truly is a
| generalizable tool. A wizard can apply magic to all kinds of
| general situations. Similarly, a programmer can apply
| computation generally. A musician can make magical, mind-
| blowing music but they can't use music to make a dishwasher._
|
| In Alan Dean Foster's _Spellsinger_ series the protagonist is
| able to conjure up (on separate occasions) a Jeep and a boat
| using music magic. A dishwasher wouldn 't have been much of a
| challenge (other than their usual difficulty in getting the
| result they were aiming for and the fact that there wouldn't be
| electricity or plumbing to hook it up to).
| dymk wrote:
| I'm almost certain my ability to program will help me make a
| dishwasher about the same as my ability to play the guitar.
| mwint wrote:
| If you're able to program, you're in a much better position
| to figure out control flow, sensor feedback systems, etc.
| Certainly your programming experience would help make a
| dishwasher more than your guitar experience.
| monetus wrote:
| Buttons based on a fretboard, triggered with pickups...
| Timers sounding off with chord progressions... Seems fun.
| tryauuum wrote:
| They actually don't live in towers by choice. The truth is, magic
| affects the reality around them. Buildings get taller, clothes
| baggier, hats siller.
|
| Hopefully this affects human height and dick size as well
| carlos__sorry wrote:
| I'm an MIT-educated (vi) paranoid schizophrenic and I can
| attest that, after ten years of hellish voices lurking behind
| every real-world cupboard, my "mental palace" did evolve to a
| tower. This eventually deferred to the ageless and permanent
| shelter of a pyramid: we're much more happy with the sand and
| silence.
|
| My dick size, for what it's worth, has not changed.
| tzs wrote:
| A tower might have advantages against long range ballistic
| attacks.
|
| Consider a wizard who owns a building that is being attacked by
| an enemy lobbing projectiles, and assume that the building is
| either box shaped or is a cylindrical tower.
|
| If it is a long range attack all the projectiles arriving in the
| target area of the building will be traveling almost in parallel.
| Due to uncertainty and imprecision in aiming they will be
| randomly distributed over an area.
|
| Suppose the sun at the time of the attack happens to be
| positioned such that sunlight near the building is moving in the
| same direction as the projectiles.
|
| A projectile that would have hit a given point on the ground if
| the building had not been present hits the building if and only
| if either that point is directly under the building or that point
| is in the building's shadow. Let's call the area directly under
| the building plus the area in shadow the building's target area.
| The chances of being hit by a given random projectile are
| proportional to the target area.
|
| Now lets compare towers with boxes. Suppose the projectiles are
| coming in at a 45 degree angle.
|
| Consider a wizard with a cylindrical tower with a radius of 10 m
| that has 10 floors with 3 m between floors. The gives floor space
| of around 3100 m^2.
|
| A one story box with the same floor space would have a target
| area of 3250 m^2, assuming a square floor plan and the attack is
| coming in from a direction perpendicular to one of the sides.
|
| The tower, if I've done the math right, has a target area of
| around 900 m^2.
|
| If we double the height of the tower, making it 20 floors and
| ~6300 m^2, its target area is ~1500 m^2. A 6300 m^2 box with a
| square floor plan has a target area of ~6500 m^2.
|
| Note that doubling the area of the box doubled the target area,
| but doubling the area of the tower only made the target around
| about 67% bigger.
|
| For the one story box, target area is always larger then floor
| area, and the ratio approaches 1 as floor area goes up.
|
| For the 10 m radius tower with floors 3 m apart, the ratio of
| target area to floor area goes to ~0.19 as the number of floors
| goes up.
|
| Although tower wizard's chances of getting hit by a random
| projectile are lower the box wizard's chances, it should be noted
| that a hit on the tower is potentially more damaging than a hit
| on the box. Box wizard doesn't have to worry about a lucky shot
| collapsing his building. When deciding which kind of building to
| build, you need to take into account your enemies and decide
| whether whether a higher chance of a hit being a critical hit is
| worth a lower chance of not getting hit.
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