Umbral Essence Winery
Type: Estate / Outbuilding complex Location: Hill above Evernight, Shadowfell outskirts Controlling Power: Nominally the Bone Claw caretaker (and an unspecified "old master"); practical occupying force was Mithraides' gnolls Status (latest): Gnolls in the barn as of Session 054; party used the site as staging area and passed through without engaging. The estate may still be occupied. First Appearance: Session 054
Description
A large barn bearing the Umbral Essence label — a well-known premium Shadowfell wine brand. Umbral Essence is famous for its unpredictable effects on mortal drinkers; the wine's potency is reportedly subdued when consumed in the Shadowfell itself, where the dark grape is grown.
Dark grape vineyards drape the craggy slope below the hill. A stomping clearing littered with old campfire ash and heavy footprints (heading toward Evernight) indicates significant recent traffic — the gnoll staging operation. A wizard's tower stands nearby, its stones visibly seeping arcane energy; this tower was not investigated.
The site sits at a strategic position overlooking Evernight — high ground with sight lines into the city.
What the Party Knows
- It was a gnoll staging area. 5,000 gnolls cycled through the hill and winery before transiting through the Evernight portal to the Dessarin Valley. Some stragglers remained in the barn.
- The Bone Claw caretaker is here. He manages the estate and its wine operation; he serves Mithraides reluctantly and resents the gnolls' destruction of the property.
- An "old master" is "still around, in a way." The original estate owner's fate is unknown.
- The wizard's tower was not investigated. It seeps magic.