Old Owl Well

Built thousands of years ago by a long-vanished empire, Old Owl Well is a ruined watchtower that now consists of little more than a few crumbling walls and the broken stump of a tower. In the tower's courtyard stands an old well that still delivers clean, fresh water. Old Owl Well lies in the wild and rugged hills south of the Triboar Trail. 

• The site is relatively easy to find, and any NPC in Phandalin can provide directions to the ruins.
• Recently, prospectors in the area have noted that someone has set up a campsite at Old Owl Well, and that undead guardians have been posted to keep intruders out.

As you crest a low ridge, you spy the crumbling ruins of an old watchtower standing amid the rugged hills. The place is so old that the walls are only mounds of rubble enclosing a courtyard of sorts, adjacent to the broken stump of an old tower. A colorful tent has been set up in the middle of the courtyard, but no one is in sight.   The ruins are currently occupied by a mage who is busy exploring the site in the hope of gleaning arcane lore left behind by its builders. 

• The characters can enter the site from any direction, either following old footpaths or scrambling up the slope and finding a gap in the surrounding walls of rubble.

  Twelve zombies lurk inside the crumbled shell of the old watchtower and can't be seen from outside. 

• Any character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 10 or higher smells a deathly odour wafting from the tower's direction. 

When characters approach the tower or the tent, the zombies shamble out of the tower.   If a battle erupts, Hamun Kost, the evil mage, emerges from his tent and asks, "What is the meaning of this?"

• Kost is a stout, red-robed figure with sallow skin, a shaved scalp, and a black tattoo on his forehead. 
• A character who succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) check recognizes Kost's tattoo as a necromantic symbol from the wizard school of necromancy.
• A successful DC 10 Intelligence (History) check verifies the garb as that usual for Thay, a land far to the east where wizards pattern their flesh with tattoos.

  If any character attempts to talk to Kost, even by calling out a greeting or answering his questions during combat, he temporarily calls off his zombies. 

• The Red Wizard is not particularly aggressive, and he is willing to strike a deal that advances his interests at the same time it helps the characters.
• Kost stays tight-lipped about the reason for his presence in the region. 
•               He is, however, willing to provide information the party needs if it does a favor for him. 
•               If the characters give Kost some indication of what they want, he shares one or both of these requests:

Bandits at Wyvern Tor  

• He wants the bandits at Wyvern Tor removed, since they have scouted out his camp and seem inclined to cause trouble.

  He wants to ask a question of Agatha the banshee:

• "What is the name of the wizard who built the tower at Old Owl Well?" Kost won't risk the banshee's anger, but the characters could ask the question for him. (Agatha knows the name: Arthindol.)

  TREASURE Hamun Kost's tent contains a comfortable traveling suite, including a cot, a chair, a writing desk, supplies, and a chest of clothes. In the chest is a leather bag containing 20 gp, 5 pp, one pearl (100 gp), a potion of healing, a scroll of darkness in a bone tube, and a ring of protection from ancient Netheril, the Red Wizard's most interesting discovery so far.