Woodland Manse

The Woodland Manse was a manor house built by an unnamed female half-elf wizard in Neverwinter Wood. As of the late 15 century DR, the manor lay in ruins and its real name was unknown.

Location
The manor lay in a clearing in the middle of Neverwinter Wood about due northwest of Conyberry. It sat on a path that connected to Falcon's hunting lodge in the west and the Circle of Thunder to the north.

Structure
The large two-story structure was made of stone and wood with a peaked roof, and had been grand in its heyday. A portico topped with a balcony marked the double doors of the main entrance, and the back housed a well in a flagstone courtyard ringed with pillars. In the years after its abandonment, the structure was crumbling, rotting, and had become completely overgrown with poison ivy.

Interior
The inside contained all of the trappings expected of both a fine manor&mdash;such as a parlor, dining room, and master and guest bedrooms&mdash;and a wizard's abode&mdash;such as a laboratory, a library, and a vault of magic items.

History
The wizard who originally owned the manse was a scholar of ancient elven culture and kingdoms, and built the house to be near to ruins in Neverwinter Wood. After she disappeared during an expedition, her four apprentices pilfered what they could from the manse and abandoned it.

Many years later, in the late 15 century DR, the ruin was claimed by the Anchorites of Talos, a group of half-orc wereboars dedicated to a primal worship of the god of storms, Talos. A handful of the anchorites moved into the manse, began carving or painting crude depictions of themselves and their god throughout the house, and started using the old laboratory as a ritual chamber. They also used the clearing to raise pumpkins and boars, and one of the anchorites, called Grannoc, managed to plant the seeds of a Gulthias tree in the ruined well in the manor's courtyard. This led to the appearance of blights under Grannoc's control being spotted throughout the Woods.

After the white dragon Cryovain drove the orcs from Icespire Hold, many of them fled to Neverwinter Woods and joined the anchorites. This led to an uptick in conflicts with local hunters and loggers, and the residents of Falcon's hunting lodge petitioned the village of Phandalin to send someone to clear the occupants of the Woodland Manse.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dragon of Icespire Peak