Location Seed: Gintaurel’s Overlook.

Gintaurel’s Overlook – Google Docs

Gintaurel’s Overlook

This particular wizardly ruin can be found in any even half-civilized or advanced fantasy realm.  It was once the home of Gintaurel the Wide-Eyed, an archmage who specialized in vision spells (and dabbled in bodily alteration cantrips; hence the epithet).  Gintaurel was obsessed with being able to see, as clearly as possible, and with as much detail as possible; he spent an entire decade of his very long life to learn how to see objects by the shadows that they cast in the dark.  Eventually he started looking inward, and nobody was really surprised when, one day, he apparently looked inward so keenly that he and his tower disappeared into their own gaze.

But the Overlook remains, and it has a dangerous power; go to the site, perform a certain ritual, and one can see anything one wishes, no matter how far away it is, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, and even if it’s normally obscured from mortal sight.  What’s more: whatever one sees can be affected by magic as if were right there.  This effect lasts for ten minutes per ritual, but can be broken earlier by closing one’s eyes for a few seconds. This ability sounds great, of course, except for two details: one, as long as one is at the Overlook, whatever one is looking at can see back, and have the same advantage as to magical sight and proximity.  Two, any attempt to magically locate someone using the Overlook automatically succeeds.  Not even a small-g god’s intervention can thwart that.

Archmages don’t get that way by being fools.  Even the nice ones have enemies, and no archmage ever lets a sorcerous enemy be able to target them with pinpoint accuracy.  On the other hand, Gintaurel’s Overlook can be extremely useful. Most wizardly circles and solitary mages handle this problem by sending a trusted retainer to use the Overlook; it’s generally agreed that mages below a certain level of power should not be subject to their superiors’ feuding (nobody would ever get any work done, otherwise), so they can use the site safely.

Safely enough, at least.   Lesser mages have feuds, too.  Although even then someone would have to be foolish indeed to interfere with an archmage’s errand.