The Shunned Street

The Shunned Street was the name given to a particularly dangerous alley in Urmlaspyr, Sembia, circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR. It earned this bad reputation because it was the entrance to a secret enclave of the Red Wizards of Thay who guarded it very strictly. Beggars and street thieves were the first to take note of how often people entered the alley and never came back out, and they coined the name.

Location
The Shunned Street was located in the warehouse district of Urmlaspyr. Buildings on both sides of the alley were owned by the Red Wizards. The back sides of the buildings were a short walk down to the first corner in the lane.

Structure
The building on one side of the alley contained the safe house, while the building on the other side was rigged with traps for the overly curious.

Interior
The entrance to the "safe" building was a very wide door in the center of the back wall that opened inward. Inside was a single room that was as wide as the warehouse but only a few paces deep. A solid wall separated this area from the rest of the building, forming a false back wall to the warehouse space. To the left of the entrance at the end of the room was a large crate for holding prisoners or potential slaves. It was outfitted with chains, manacles, and gags. From there to nearly the other end of the long room was storage space for goods, contraband, supplies, and rations. At the far right end of the room was an illusory wall made to look like a dirty stone wall with cobwebs. Beyond this illusion, about one foot (30 centimeters) deep, was a portal to a citadel in rural Thay called Thardaunleiyar.

One of the support pillars in the safe house had a concealed drawer that contained some small, useful magic items. These included three potions of cure moderate wounds and scrolls for casting obscuring mist, magic missile, wall of stone, screen, and rope trick.

Defenses
The main door was usually locked, but kept oiled for quick and silent use. It was hidden behind an illusory wall that matched the back of the warehouse. Inside, between the entrance and the portal, among the boxes of goods and cargo, were two sturdy wooden crates about five feet (150 centimeters) tall that were securely bolted shut but not locked. Each of these contained an undead skeleton that attacked anyone who opened their crate.

The portal allowed for two-way travel and had no restrictions for jumping from Thay to Sembia, but going from Sembia to Thay required each person using the portal to be carrying a piece of green glass. There was an innocuous pile of green glass shards in one corner of the enclave (away from the portal) that looked as if something had broken and the pieces were just swept aside. The Thayan side of the portal was inside Thardaunleiyar, a country fortress maintained by several Zulkirs for the safety of travel. Guards with crossbows, various monsters in cages, and a cadre of low-ranking wizards working their way up the hierarchy all stood by to prevent any unwelcome visitors that might come through the portal and to assist their fellows as needed. The citadel was a nexus for many enclaves and safe houses around Faerûn.

The building on the opposite side of The Shunned Street was a decoy with traps. Another illusory wall concealed a door that was not locked and opened into a ten-foot (three-meter) square room with a fake door on the other side of the room. The floor was also an illusory wall that concealed a pit trap with deadly spikes at the bottom of a sixty foot (eighteen meter) shaft. Hanging over the door frame of the outer door were a number of door spiders that had been enchanted to be animated objects that only obeyed commands from Red Wizards.

Right next to this hidden door was a visible metal door that appeared to be broken, but was in fact very solid, sturdy, and stuck. The stout door presented a significant challenge to find and disable the mechanical impediments, and an even greater challenge for those trying to use brute force, but either way, when the door was finally opened, the investigators were presented with a bricked-up wall inscribed with a symbol of death that triggered upon reading.

All Red Wizards in the city were required to keep an active arcane mark ward that covered a portion of the alley, the buildings, or an approach route to their secret hideout. This ensured that at least one of their members was alerted when a person of interest came near The Shunned Street. He or she then alerted fellow members as necessary and one or more would use a scrying spell to observe the possible intrusion and take appropriate action. Thus, the Red Wizards made a concerted effort to get items with their arcane mark into the possession of their business associates, enemies, and law enforcement personnel, even to the point of selling items at a loss.