Was watching an anime and there is a tower of magic, where magical research is done, and it's basically just a set piece but it got me wanting more towers. thanks to dwarf fortress I have been infected with the love of towers. I’m a tower freak. if I was gonna do a story about a tower of magic it would be like

• the tower is located on a bluff overseeing a countryside of hills, gorges, and rivers, behind it is a vast forest. around the tower is a small town.
• the tower is composed of two interdependent schools, one of magic and one of knights. magic users and knights are paired and learn and work together. at one level, the magic user exists for magic research and engineering and the knight exists to further their martial craft and protect the magic user. however, at another level the magic user mostly provides long range DPS and support while the knight works in close range. in this way the tower, the town, and other communities in the area are protected.
• there would be delicious combos of mages and knights
  • female mage, female knight
    • yuri happens, the female knight is tall
    • knight is honorable and polite, mage cusses people out
  • male mage, female knight
    • mage is cute, knight is strong but nervous in social situations
  • male mage, male knight
    • bros broin out bro
  • female mage, male knight
    • platonic, deep friendship
  • non-binary mage, female knight (almost forgot my own gender)
    • muscular mage that changes their nail polish every day and doesn’t talk to people, outgoing knight who met the mage at the gym and drags them to parties
  • insert 400 more genders and combos
• because of their deep bonds the knights know a lot about dealing with mages in combat and the mages know a lot about dealing with fighters. it is extremely difficult for attacks on the tower to succeed and there is a lot of clever strategy and tactics. This naturally raises the stakes and results in bigger and more cunning groups targeting the tower.
• there is a tournament arc where the matches are 2v2
• no nobility/commoner bullshit. No cops. No racism, transphobia or any other form of discrimination based on a person’s identity. Had enough of that already. Think of new sources of conflict.
• joining the tower as a neophyte involves a month long process of education and evaluation, applicants are fed and housed. Process can proceed straight to the evaluation for anyone with experience.
• BIG ASS LIBRARY. Takes up several floors. Bookshelves are in the center of each floor, study and seating areas are at the perimeter. Floor to ceiling windows looking in every direction.
• Halfway up the tower is a large green space with vines crawling up the walls and tumbling over the edge of the open space.
• Tower continues deep into the ground. This space is used for stable, long term storage and also serves as an emergency shelter for the tower, town and guests. A magical reactor is installed at the lowest level and provides district power and heat. The reactor can also supply various types of mana to the laboratories in the tower for use in experiments (think gas supply for Bunsen burners in a chemistry lab)
• Top of tower is another green space, basically like the roof of a Japanese school where you go hide to eat lunch or look at the landscape and think.
• Tower is sustained by a combination of local farms, industry, research consultation, combat and strategic training consultation, and export of magical devices to purchase imported goods.
• lots of clubs for various hobbies and interests, numerous public spaces in the tower and town for general use
• location has all four seasons and there are many events and holidays including a festival that draws in people from miles away
• idk probably more stuff

This originally started as a way to avoid opening Obsidian and make a new note and then I expanded on it and then I wanted to draw it. In my head the style is not quite this, this is a bit forlorn, but this is what I ended up drawing.