Phylund Hunting Lodge

The Phylund Hunting Lodge was a stone keep in the western Ardeep Forest east-southeast of Waterdeep. It was built by the noble Phylund family in the mid–14 century DR and was used as a base of operations for the family's monster-breeding and monster-hunting safari business. It also served as an alternate residence for some Phylunds at various times. By the late 15 century, the Lodge had been abandoned and a Red Wizard named Thegger Grynn had moved in with the help of some gnolls.

Location
The Lodge was reached by traveling south from Waterdeep on the Trade Way, over the Zundbridge, and then taking an unpaved path to the east for about. Halfway to the Lodge, the path forked toward the south but either branch eventually reached the lodge. Some older maps showed the Lodge as being well inside the Ardeep Forest, while newer maps indicated it was on the verge. The approach to the Lodge was through wild, uncultivated countryside and the forest was dense with trees, shrubs, and creeping vines, often shrouded in mist.

Structure
The original building was constructed of stone and underwent a few expansions and fortifications as the Phylund's businesses thrived. As of the, the Lodge had three main sections connected on the second floor, leaving passages between them for carriages or people to pass through or shelter from the weather. At one time, the entire compound was surrounded by a wooden palisade with watchtowers placed at intervals, but by this time they had all rotted and collapsed. There were courtyards on the east and west sides of the structure.

The northern section of the building had a large menhir that formed much of the southwest corner of the two-story structure. It was haphazardly carved with symbols and oaths to Tempus and Malar. On the opposite corner of this section was an apple orchard with perhaps ten trees that were inside the palisade. There were doors on either side of the cornerstone in the west and south walls that accessed the original main hall. Two more doors entered the kitchen from the orchard and the east courtyard.

The middle section was the formal entrance, with a set of large double doors on the west wall, and the great hall beyond it. Behind the great hall was a single-level stable that accommodated about a half-dozen mounts, with double doors to the east courtyard. A stone-lined well across was built in the north wall in the corner where the chimney for the fireplace in the great hall jutted out.

The southern section connected to the middle building with a full room on the second floor. There was one door in the middle of the north wall on the ground floor under this overhang.

Interior
When the Phylund family actively used the Lodge, it was furnished and decorated in rustic luxury. After years of abandonment, creatures had crept in and the structure became dilapidated in places. By 1485 DR, gnolls and Thegger Grynn occupied the building. All ceilings were high unless otherwise noted.

First Floor
The old keep in the north section was all stone and anchored by the huge rock in the southwest corner. A large niche had been carved into the rock and made into a fireplace. A grand staircase on the north side led up to a lounge and some guest rooms. A spiral staircase in the southeast corner led down to the wine cellar, storage, and the family crypts.

The entrance hall in the middle section was paneled with wood and decorated to look like it had columns and arches, suggestive of a royal palace. Through a set of double doors was the great hall. It was adorned with painted plaster frescoes. A table nearly half the length of the room sat adjacent to a huge fireplace in the north wall. Two pillars held up the ceiling and a large staircase on the south side led up to a sitting room. The stables to the rear could be accessed by a door in the southeast corner and were as big as the great hall, but instead of a ceiling it had a shingled roof. By 1485 DR, some of the plaster had detached and fallen, revealing bare stone, and the stable roof was badly in need of repair.

The lower portion of the southern section was a service room for washing clothes, with tubs, buckets, brooms, and other household accoutrements. A long stair on the east side led up to a trophy room, the Lord's bedchambers, and the sitting room.

Second Floor
At the top of the stairs from the old keep was a spacious landing with walls covered with hundreds of wooden plaques bearing the coats-of-arms of many of the nobility of Waterdeep. Each plaque also had the name of a noble who joined in one of the Phylund's hunting safaris. By 1485 DR, the roof of this room was also in need of repair. Off of this landing, doors led to a tiled privy, two "small" guestrooms, a large guestroom, and the lounge. The lounge had wooden walls mostly covered in tapestries. From the lounge, one could access two more guest rooms and a bath room, complete with a large copper tub.

An open passageway led south from the lounge across the gap to the middle building. Windows looked out of the hall to the east and west toward both courtyards. At the end of this corridor was the sitting room, with a large fireplace (similar to the one directly below it in the great hall), a round table, and a suit of armor. A staircase arrived in the southeast corner and led down to the great hall. A window at the top of the stair overlooked the stable. A portion of this room was walled off to form a good-sized storeroom. In the opposite corner was a small cloakroom. To the west was a set of double doors that led to an opulent suite the same size as the entrance hall below it. Another door in the south wall opened into a large trophy hall with various book shelves, beast heads, pelts, skulls, and taxidermy.

The trophy hall spanned the gap between the middle and south units of the building. The stairs from the service room arrived in the trophy hall in the southeast corner. On the south wall was a door into the Lord's bedchamber. The spacious bedroom had a south-facing window, in front of which was a writing desk. On the east wall was a cupboard.

Cellars & Crypts
Down the spiral staircase from the old keep was the wine cellar. Wine racks filled the west wall and a door in the east wall led to a hall that turned a corner and opened into a storage room. A passage south of this room led to a larger storage room lined with shelves, and to the east was the Phylund family crypts. From the larger storage room, a passage south led to another rectangular chamber with a pool occupying half the room that was refreshed by water flowing in from the south and out to the north through culverts. A door in the west wall of the large storage room opened into natural caverns with a small stream (part of the flow coming from the pool room). After crossing the stream, the path forked—the right-hand passage led to the pool (really a wide spot in the stream) at the bottom of the well, and the left-hand passage crossed another branch of the stream and dead-ended at another, natural, pool with running water, but with only a ceiling.

From the chamber of the well, a westward passage crossed water again and opened into a small cavern that contained a very old shrine to Malar. A stalagmite was crudely carved to resemble a bestial humanoid in a crouched stance. The claw symbol of Malar on a red background was painted on its chest and the muzzle was also splashed with red. The walls contained rough drawings of humanoids hunting beasts. A twisting passage to the south led to another chamber also decorated with cave drawings of hunting scenes. A stone was buried in this room, its hemispherical top was engraved with Malarite prayers in Old Common. A somewhat straighter passage led southeast to a third chamber with cave drawings, another spherical prayer stone, and a great number of bones from animals and humanoids. Another branch of the underground stream passed by here, entering from the east and leaving to the north. It was bordered by a narrow ledge that disappeared into the eastern tunnel.

The entryway and vestibule to the Phylund family crypts was lined with fine marble. A few steps to the north of the vestibule was the tomb of Bartos Phylund, his name and family coat-of-arms delicately chiseled into the marble door. To the east, a longer passage led to an open area where several members of the Phylund family or their honored dead were interred. Along the way, another hall went north to the tomb of Urtos Phylund I. And finally, at the end of the passage and off the north of the open area, was the tomb of Urtos Phylund II.

The common crypt was large enough to require two pillars to help hold up the ceiling. A short passage south led to another crest-carved door and opened into a square room with six loculi in the walls. According to the engravings on each slab, the interred were Namynie, Nydurra, Urta, Lythis, Reata, and Bartos. This room contained one central pillar.

Down the south hallway from the vestibule was a cleansing chamber with a bronze brazier in one corner and workbenches on the west wall. Another vault, the same size as the Lords' crypts, was accessible on the south wall. A short hall leading east turned south and ended in a door. Behind the door was a circular room that served as a shrine to Tempus. The walls were carved with various hunting scenes with prey ranging from boars to owlbears. A branch of the underground stream flowed in from the east, spread into a shallow pool in the middle of the room, and then exited through a channel to the west. In front of the south wall was a pedestal in the shape of two warhorses and the blazing-sword-on-shield symbol of Tempus. On the pedestal was a statue of a warrior in plate mail with hands placed on the haft of a battleaxe. Both the armor and the weapon were styled to show heavy use through many battles. Behind the pedestal was a secret panel.

The secret door opened into a square room that was a newer, less primitive shrine to Malar. Like the Tempus chamber, it had clear water flowing through the center of the room, but the walls were rough and unfinished. An altar on the south wall was decorated with the large hand or paw of a beast with long talons. In the center a basin was carved with a channel to the front of the altar, down to the floor, and across to the water.

Activities
In its heyday, the Phylund Hunting Lodge was the center of activity for the family businesses of breeding, taming, and training a wide variety of beasts and monsters, and hosting hunting parties that mixed luxurious leisure with thrilling adventure for the idle rich of Waterdeep. Some of these events lasted a tenday or more. For a time, it could be considered the primary residence of the Phyland clan, particularly when Urtos Phylund II made it his home after a rift between him and his father developed, mainly caused by his new, young stepmother Aridarye.

Treachery within the family eventually caused their fortunes to wane. When the servants employed to tend the Lodge stopped getting paid, it became abandoned. By 1485 DR, a local gnoll tribe were using the Lodge as a base for raiding caravans along the Trade Way, and the necromancer Thegger Grynn was experimenting on the deceased residents of the Phylund crypts with plans to take his creations to Bloodgate Keep.

Defenses
The Lodge was built almost entirely of stone and had some windows on both floors that allowed archers to cover portions of the courtyards. A wooden palisade with guard towers was built around the keep, intersecting with the building at the old keep, stables, and service room sections. By 1485 DR, the wood had decayed and the fence and towers had collapsed.