The second character I'd like to introduce is Sir Villem Tathis. He is a 15-year-old from the small city of Iskimir in the western part of the Known Lands. He grew up believing he was the heir to Iskimir, but after his rite of passage to manhood at the age of 15, he learned that he was actually a bastard and his younger brother was in fact the actual heir to the lordship. This knowledge, along with learning that the woman he had always thought was his rather cold mother was not actually his mother (and now he understands why she acts so coldly toward him), came as a huge shock to Villem. Naturally, he was quite bitter at the overturning of everything he believed about his life.
The Known Lands are dominated by the huge magical spire of the novel's title. The magic causes surges of strength to those with good hearts, and causes weakness and fear in those with bad. Not that Villem truly had a bad heart, but the means by which the magic detects what is in a person's heart is not a perfect system. It sees that Villem is filled with bitterness, anger, resentment, jealousy, etc., and thus it adversely affects him. Like all others who are affected thusly, Villem sets out to depart the Known Lands to escape the horrible feelings that overwhelm him.
At the start of the story, he has escaped the sphere of influence of the spire and is approaching the great fortress of East Gate, where he hopes his status as a knight will allow him a place of honor within the exile army there.
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