#80 The Phantom Vault of Glass Lake

Age: 2,000 Years

Hidden or Lost?: Hidden

History: Many think that Glass Lake gets its name from the unusually placid waters on its surface, but the truth of the strange, silent waters is only revealed beneath the pale light of the Ghost Sun. Under this rare light, the surface of Glass Lake and all of the waters below turn to slick, solid glass. The origin of this incredible transformation can be found beneath the surface in the hollow halls of The Phantom Vault.

Adventurers brave enough to track out along the surface of Glass Lake while it is solid will discover a tunnel in the very center, leading down into a gleaming labyrinth in the depths. Slick, shining corridors lead down into massive vaulted chambers that seem like they were once delineated by stone walls, but are now miraculously formed by the suddenly static waters. Through the translucent walls fish, plants, and detritus can be seen frozen in the warm glass created by the Ghost Sun. Keen observers will note that the voids in the lake are formed around the phantom form of a building that once stood in the spot.

In its day, the Vault of Zax was the grandest, most jealously guarded storehouse of magic items and plundered treasure anywhere in the world. Its fame made it a tempting target for thieves, and during one grand heist, the vault met its demise. In order to protect the precious items inside, the mageguard tasked with watching over the vault had cast a killswitch spell that would bring the building down on itself in the case of a robbery. When the thieves triggered the failsafe, a portal to the plane of water was opened, unleashing a torrent that destroyed the building and drowned the rubble (along with the thieves). But the vault had become so legendary that it developed a spirit all its own, and when it finally fell, its ghost lived on.

After the building fell, the Vault of Zax was thought to have been lost but no one foresaw that its form would return under the rare celestial phenomenon of the Ghost Sun. And after millenia with no one left to remember it, the vault and its treasures were forgotten.

Today, brave travelers who attempt to navigate the glass halls of the phantom vault will have to contend with the roving undead heist crew, the creatures of the lake that have become trapped in the glass voids (including a massive, vicious leviathan trapped in one wall) and the greatest danger: time. If they can't escape before the passing of the Ghost Sun, Glass Lake will return to normal, surely drowning all inside.

1. Glass Chimney

2. Vaultmaster’s Office

3. The Leviathan Tube

4. Exchequer’s Trap

5. Glassguard Ranks

6. The Invisible Keys

7. Transparent Universe

8. The Ghosts of Thieves

9. The Etched Ledgers

10. Breathless Aquarium

11. Grand Atrium

12. Brittle Garden

13. Sleeping Mageguard

14. True Treasury

15. Secrets of State

16. The Last Vault