The Tower of Dago

A storm‑tossed steamer glides into the Gulf of Finland, and its passengers can’t help but stare at a jagged monolith rising from the sea‑sprayed rocks. The Tower of Dago, a six‑sided citadel of rough stone and red brick, dominates the horizon, its battlements cloaked in juniper and its windows catching the dying sun like a lighthouse. The narrator’s curiosity is sparked by the sailors’ grim warning that only the “shrivelled skin and dried‑up bones” of those who approach will be left behind, hinting at a dark history concealed within the tower’s massive walls and the wreckage scattered on the surrounding reefs.

The story then shifts to the tangled lineage of a German‑Russian baron whose family’s fortunes are tied to the very region the tower watches over. As the baron’s sons grow up—one a fearsome naval officer—the narrative weaves personal ambition with the looming, mysterious structure, inviting listeners to wonder who built the tower, why it stands on such cursed ground, and what secrets the sea and stone may yet reveal.