Common Worlds

Once they explored the tower which had been barred to their ancestors for generations, the Rass family discovered that the curse on their family included ritual conditions to aid its power.

This curse was engraved on a lead ring worked into a previously existing sorcerer's circle on the fourth floor of the Rass Tower. Within that lead ring a globe of darkness sat suspended from four slowly rotating and skittering legs that always touched some portion of the lead.

Asher's translation of the masterfully explained the conditions for the duration of the curse:

The Curse
Found Fireday/Stasis Week/Storm Season, 1617.

Flies strain and toss in webs, but tangle more.
So here the demon Padaneez, webbed in black and lead.
No joy to its line.
No success to its trials.
No luck to its protectors.

Darkness for its eyes.
Darkness for its food.
Darkness for its drink.
Darkness for its breath.

Until the River reaches the tower's top
shall it have no comfort or joy.
Styx's daughter binds this curse.

Until the Great Seals are broken
Shall it remain in unbroken darkness
Tied to the magic of the Kag Mothers.

Until Great Light illuminates Xentha's Cloak
Shall it live here in darkness
Defeated and bound as was the Great Enemy.

Until wind blows an unceasing year
Shall it be still and unmoving.
Inconstant wind shall blow no good.

Thinking back through their history, the Heroes realized that of the four ritual conditions designed to frame the curse on their family, three of them had already been broken.

During the Chaos Years in the Rubble, the storm bull wind had blown for more than a year straight.
When the moon rose in the 13th century, great light filled the midnight sky.
The Great Seals were broken by the Dragonewt Dream, which freed the Rubble.

So how to get the river to the tower's top? Senech tried a bucket of water, but it had no effect. So the siblings decided to head off to the Zola Fel Temple to ask for help.

It seems they were expected.