Glasrunan’s manor:
*Note: the bottom picture is a side view of the ruins, cliff and sea below.
Up until about three years ago, the wizard Glasrunan lived a fairly quiet semi-retirement in his cliffside manor. While he occasionally helped the local lord with raiders, for the most part he kept to himself and spent his time reading, researching and taking the odd trip.
But then Yilmorda, a wild sorceress from the southern realm moved to the area. She felt uneasy about the presence of another powerful mage so close by, but as she had inherited a tower within a few miles of Glasrunan, she was determined to make the best of it – so she set up a meeting.
At first things went well, but the paranoia of power crept into the psyche of both the magic users. Over the next few months small slights grew into larger ones until something had to happen.
That something was Yilmorda executing a direct assault on Glasrunan’s manor. The fight was over quickly, but it devastated the area. Yilmorda, bloodied and drained of power, only had time for a small sigh of relief before something unseen finished her.
Today the manor sits crumbling on its cliff. Some scavengers have tried to loot the ruins and paid the ultimate price – with their bodies showing up broken on the rocky shore below the manor.
You see, before his death, Glasrunan had been growing a clone in a secret compartment hidden under the floor. Unfortunately, he died just before the clone achieved full growth – but the container it was in allowed it a form of life that continued even after his demise.
Because of this, the Invisible Stalker, a servant Glasrunan created to protect him a few weeks before the battle, still thinks the wizard is alive and so it continues (albeit not happily) to ‘protect’ the manor.
If a party comes to investigate the ruin, the Invisible Stalker will allow them to do just about anything – provided they do not find the tiny, hidden runes on the floor that can lead to the opening of the secret compartment. If the adventurers do start nosing around the runes, it will attack – starting by trying to push them through the holes in the floor to the craggy rocks 150’ below.
Should the party defeat the stalker and open the compartment, they will find a solid silver sarcophagus. While it does have a top and bottom, it was obviously meant to be opened from the inside. Inside they will find a nearly fully-formed Glasrunan, which will wither and die shortly after being exposed to the environment.
The wizard also put some valuables and magic within the compartment – for his clone to find and use should it come to that. What exactly he left behind is up to you, the DM.
This map was made by me using Inkarnate.