What is in abandoned tower of Netheril? [Faerun]

[Pinjata]

My [lvl3] players will soon encounter an abandoned tower of Netheril (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Netheril). Tower is being explored by a lvl 5 necromancer, so I guess that could be part of a fluff[necromancy-related interiors. Or not.] or a guide, how this tower could be shaped inside. There is a chance for them to kill the wizard and enter tower themselves. I was thinking of giving them "ooh" effect plus necromancy-themed insides.

For "ooh" I think the fact that insides will be much larger, then outsides, will do. To make it Netheril-y - it will float. There will be a crude scaffolding leading to the entry. For insides ... I dunno. Perhaps you guys have some cool ideas? I'd like to make it like this: first few floors are cleared (I was thinking of Tides of Numenera/Planescape Torment style), but levels beyond these have ever-more difficult encounters. The gate that separates emptied levels from unrehearsed ones should have a puzzle. Any ideas? (I was thinking of Diablo 4 puzzle for tomb of Lilith). What should lie beyond? I can kill them allrighty, but I'd make three ever-more difficult encounters, if they shove their noses in too deep. To, encounters should be scalable.

How do I outfit my tower? Surely, there are some Netheril fans here. I'd appreciate any help.

[J-H]

I'm just going to throw out some thoughts here, instead of some single coherent proposal.

Living native encounters are out, leaving you with:
-Undead
-Constructs (golems, animated objects, animated-object servants, carpets of smothering, etc.)
-Immortal summons (Imps)
-Malfunctioning versions of the above
-Scavengers and vermin that have inhabited the place (mutated by strange radiations, the flying giant praying mantis has arms the size of greatswords)

Things that would be there
-Murals
-Tomes and scrolls turned to dust
-Carpets & tapestries that are very fragile
-Statues, jewelry, and gems
-Mineral components used in strange arcane rituals (valuable, or possibly low-level items like knowstones; maybe a pearl of power if they are lucky)
-Storage compartments for some of the above
-Furniture, moldering away
-Graffiti left by previous visitors
-A pantry with runes of preservation keeping all the food inside perfectly intact
-An old, out of date map table that shows where other cities, bunkers, etc. might be found (plot hooks)
-Something in magical suspended animation

[Evaar]

Well, since Netheril’s cities used to float and have fallen, you might consider making it upside down. And I’d look for ways to make clear this thing used to float. This thing should be mostly rubble. Make the floors uneven. Crack it in two.

Consider some constructs and magical technology that no longer function, a massive metallic orb of unknown purpose and origin, maybe even some early Warforged prototypes if you like the sound of that.

Spell books, scrolls, artificers’ notes all damaged, scorched, smeared, or crumbling from sheer age. Hint at knowledge just out of reach. Arcane-minded characters can tell it’s an entirely different approach to magic, but they’d need months of study and a tutor with the complete manuscripts to begin to put it into practice.

I played an artificer in Faerun who learned from a Netherese manual he was painstakingly restoring. The manual was actually one piece of the recorded mind of a Netherese Mentalist - imagine Arnim Zola from Winter Soldier, but with books and scrolls filling an entire library. Of course it was destroyed in the fall, but this one fragment had a seed of usable information. This was an Archivist Artificer from Unearthed Arcana, and the manifested mind was an echo of the Netherese Mentalist.

[Pinjata]

Amazing ideas. Very useful.

[MrStabby]

Well, since Netheril’s cities used to float and have fallen, you might consider making it upside down. And I’d look for ways to make clear this thing used to float. This thing should be mostly rubble. Make the floors uneven. Crack it in two.

Consider some constructs and magical technology that no longer function, a massive metallic orb of unknown purpose and origin, maybe even some early Warforged prototypes if you like the sound of that.

Spell books, scrolls, artificers’ notes all damaged, scorched, smeared, or crumbling from sheer age. Hint at knowledge just out of reach. Arcane-minded characters can tell it’s an entirely different approach to magic, but they’d need months of study and a tutor with the complete manuscripts to begin to put it into practice.

I played an artificer in Faerun who learned from a Netherese manual he was painstakingly restoring. The manual was actually one piece of the recorded mind of a Netherese Mentalist - imagine Arnim Zola from Winter Soldier, but with books and scrolls filling an entire library. Of course it was destroyed in the fall, but this one fragment had a seed of usable information. This was an Archivist Artificer from Unearthed Arcana, and the manifested mind was an echo of the Netherese Mentalist.

I think the idea of a building fallen on its side could be cool. Some staircases could be walked up fine, others run across the ceilings... Lots of climbing and so on. Normal furniture/room features become new and interesting when orientated differently. Traps that would be deadly with gravity aligned differently could be a signal of the power of the tower rather than a TPK (think a pit trap with whiling blades and an antimagic field - less scary if you can just walk out.

[Pinjata]

Allrighty, really appreciated, guys. So I will not make another thread, i'd like to ask another related question here. There will be a few Netherese in the tower - in form of spirits. Could you help me flesh them out? Just two or three traits per person? Now this tower used to be sort of frontier fort. For Netherese this meant impervious, magically crafted (and augmented stone), small army of constructs/elementals/undead, a single Great Guradian (something BIG) and a few communication and fire-support capabilities.

With this said, what sort of spirit-personell could we find in this ruin? I have a NPC necromancer being highly interested in it, so at least some necromantic knowledge should be there.

One thing I came up: COmmunication should be pretty darn difficult. Netherese language should be like Sumerian today.

thanks! :)