Cactus Game Design Message Boards

Foreign Sword - good (RA2)
Type: Hero Enh. • Brigade: Red • Ability: 3 / 2 • Class: Weapon • Special Ability: Negate an opponent's evil or neutral card. If used by a Canaanite or Philistine, you may return that card to the top of owner's deck. • Identifiers: None • Verse: II Samuel 15:19

Tower of Thebez (RA2)
Type: Fortress • Brigade: Multicolor • Ability: None • Class: Weapon • Special Ability: While occupied and all your Evil Characters are Canaanites, negate Heroes. Protect contents from opponents. If attacked, you may return a card from here to territory. • Identifiers: None • Verse: Judges 9:51 •

 I attack with hero holding Foreign Sword targeting opponents Tower. If occupied, can owner of Tower return a card to territory before I place Tower on deck?

Agree.  Characters have not entered battle until all of their abilities have completed, including on weapons they are holding.  Therefore, you are not 'attacked' until the Character and its Weapon complete (even if banded in).

If Foreign Sword is used in the initial RA (or a band resulting from it pre-block), then it negates Tower and places it (and all contents) on owner's deck.

It actually doesn't matter in the end, though, because even if you could remove the EC and place it in territory (which you can't), that is part of Tower's ability, and would be negated by Foreign Sword.  Everything would still happen as I described.