Category: Cresia

Lucius Valonia

2010-01-10

Name: Lucius Valonia
Race: Human
Location: Warder Keep, Akron

Warder Keep is a small fort in Akron just south of the Witchlight Strand border, some 100 kilometers North-East of the city of Agale. It originally belonged to Groam but as Akron separated from Groam and became an independent kingdom, the fort was abandoned and fell into disrepair for several decades until purchased by the mercenary leader Artor Gambori who renewed the fort and made it the base of his mercenary group.

Formerly a general of the smallish military forces of the independent city state of Karthis (located at around the border of Groam and Akron in the north) , general Valonia fell into severe arguments with the city-state’s new ruler. The arguments were mainly fueled by Lucius’ insistence to grow Karthis’ military presence in the area. Lucius believes that unstable times are ahead and that Karthians should wake up and stop smelling the roses – he thinks that the time of independent city states is running out. Lucius wanted to enhance Karthis’ military by growing all the aspects of the armed forces, forcing a mandatory military service time to all male Karthians and to set clearly defined borders (including peripheral forts and outposts) that the city-state will defend with vigilance and vigor. The soldiers in Karthis are all skilled and honored professionals, but Lucius thinks there are simply not enough of them to meet the challenges of tomorrow which eventually need these professionals of violence.

Lucius was eventually politically crushed over the course of three years and none of his ideas were taken seriously enough by the civil rulers. The mind-set in the city-state is that the skilled mercenary groups present in the city are enough of a military presence. After a time general Valonia found himself time and time again in bitter arguments and one day after a heated discussion with the leader of the city guardsmen – a man blindly loyal to the civil rulers – he simply announced his retirement, packed his belongings and left Karthis.

He rode straight to the Warder Keep where he met several men who he had both fought against and fought with in the past. And of course he knew their leader Artor Cambori very well too. The Warders were commonly used by Karthis to accomplish several semi-military tasks in and around Karthis. And many times Lucius was the final link in the hiring of these mercenaries.

Artor didn’t just embrace Lucius to be one of his mercenaries. He thought that Lucius had too much political baggage and too much enemies and was too proud to become but one rank’n’file mercenary of The Warders. After a night involving much drunken shenanigans, they ended up drawing their swords in disagreement. Other Warders stopped the men and threw Lucius out of the keep. But Lucius had made up his mind … he was to become one of The Warders. He set up camp about half a mile away from the keep. He then marched to the keep each and every day for a duration of almost 8 months to ask for a chance to become one of the mercenaries. Artor was not always there. After refusing Lucius for 99 times, Artor changed his mind and finally Lucius was accepted.

That was 5 years ago. Since that time Karthis has been needing the services of The Warders in alarmingly growing frequency.

 

 

Chieftain Grom

2010-07-03

Name: Grom
Race: Orc
Location: Bloodspires, Witchlight Strand

One of the foremost leaders of the several restless and bloodthirsty demihuman tribes of Bloodspires (the mountainous wilderness in the North-East corner of Witchlight Strand), Chieftain Grom bows for no-one. There is no formal king among the biggering tribes of orcs, goblins, kobolds, hobgoblins and ogres and what-nots of Bloodspires, but if one would be appointed today, Chieftain Grom would be a strong candidate for such a post. Grom probably does not live to see himself rising as the King of Bloodspires since he is not particularly interested in uniting with anybody that’s not an orc and orcs are no more populous than their rivaling demihuman brethren. The orcs themselves are just a fraction – albeit a strong one – of all the inhabitants of Bloodspires and even the different orc clans have blood feuds and ancient rivalries running through their veins. The area called Bloodspires is practically devoid of humans and while most of the lands technically belong to Akron, the kingdom has long since given up efforts to maintain a strong presence there and has withdrawn their forces and outposts to the more hospitable coastal regions.

Chieftain Grom is ruthless, cunning and intelligent. He would be considered an intelligent person even if he was a human or an elf, but for an orc Grom is definitely exceptionally bright. However his conniving brain is constantly under attack by his impatience and bursting temperament that frequently cloud his judgement in all matters ranging from domestic affairs to warfare. Proof to that is his bastard son with the famed gold digger Hym Grog who seduced him to a six month long romantic affair a few years ago and that ended when Hym Grog got bored and caught herself a nice and rich gnoll warlord Gerom Sharg.

Grom has supporters in all the orc clans inhabiting the Bloodspires and several tribes of goblins and kobolds and other demihuman races, but he has not yet been able to show enough leadership to form a solid and wide ranging supporter base that would allow him to claim a more prominent position. Nevertheless he is not just a chieftain among chieftains anymore and anytime the orc chieftains hold meetings of any kind, when Grom speaks his mind, silence falls and his propositions are met with shy nodding and grunting signalling agreement.

Several authorities in coastal cities of Witchlight Strand have seen Grom’s growing power as alarming and a few unsuccessful assassination attempts against Grom have already been attempted. The Liaglades elves are, however, not at all worried about Grom as such, but the possibility of a united demihuman front is what makes the elves more cautious and even frightful. The elves see Grom as too violent and bloodthirsty to be able to form a cohesive union between the tribes and races, but eventually such a person is bound to rise among the demihuman ranks. The elves hope that as long as Grom stays as the alpha predator, rising usurpers – no matter how much potential they would have in forming a cohesive front – are in mortal danger and hopefully that delays the inevitable by a generation or two.

Humans on the other hand more generally acknowledge Grom’s possibilities in achieving some sort of powerful pact or alliance between the orc clans. If such a pact would form, the power of the orcs would grow considerably and might draw the lesser dominant races of Bloodspires towards them. Whatever the future holds for humans and elves, the orc Clan of Grom is enjoying successes after another under the leadership of Chieftain Grom.

 

 

Afra Kartumal, Desert Mystic

2016-06-04

Name: Afra Kartumal
Race: Human
Location: City of Ada Ruwak, Northern Calishem

When the sun escapes behind the ever-shifting shapes of sand dunes, the desert city of Ada Ruwak located in one of the hottest desert zones in Calishem , springs to life. Life in the city is based of an oasis around which the city spans in concentric circles of mostly clay buildings of simple and rugged design. The daytime in this area is simply too exhausting and because of that the city is mostly still from early noon until the sun sets down being more active at night time when the air cools down a bit and fresh winds sweep away the staying heat of the daylight hours.

One of the city’s luminary figures is the city’s long-time sulinar (which translates roughly as “mayor”) Afra Kartumal whose great-great-grandfather founded the city a long time ago. Afra is a famed mystic in whole of Calishem although he rarely leaves Ada Ruwak. His main abilities are foretelling the future and explaining the events of the past. Some of his divinations have been accurate enough to have affected the lives of thousands of people. Some have been able to avoid disastrous and potentially deadly calamities (such as fatal sand storms or rampant monsters on the desert) and some have been able to stay clear from rogue bandit groups while yet others have added extra provisions of water while journeying the desert because Afra had warned them about dried up oases. The stories of survival are thousand-fold and the common denominator is both getting an appointment with Afra and then taking seriously what he has had to say.

Afra is a truly benevolent ruler of Ada Ruwak and has virtually no opposition in the city. He listens carefully to what the citizens have to say and allows public opinion to greatly affect his decision making process. The city is not without it’s fair share of problems, though. One of the biggest issues is the volatile nature of the region which leads to surges of mystical (and often times violent and erratic) creatures raiding the region. It’s not clear where they come from, where they disappear or why they plague the region around this specific oasis. Whatever the case, abnormally cool or warm weather and waiting stillness of air are signs that alert the people of the city to close their doors and shut their windows and sleep warily because odds are great that something peculiar might happen.

Afra can be spotted pretty much anywhere in the city: he might spent his day trying to cure a dying child, help the citizens to repair damaged buildings, assist in removing excess sand from the main roads after a storm or even take part in the miracle of life as an assisting midwife! He doesn’t have a palace or mansion or anything grandiose like that although his family’s set of well-made stone buildings located right at the shore of the oasis itself is finely crafted and the only buildings of the city reaching three floors from the ground with a few simple spires housing lookout points and defensive positions for archers. A visitor can not make a mistake as to where the sulinar lives.

 

 

 

 

Chya, High Priestess of the Dhaira Cult

2010-10-09

Name: Chya, High Priestess of the Dhaira Cult
Race: human
Location: North-Eastern Caheb (somewhere near Dhaira Bay in a secret nest)

One of the young prodigees of Hight Priest Dry’zan, Chya has mastered the secret black art of Nero Arachnitis – one of Syth’s magical spheres. High Priests of Syth generally master 4-5 of the black arts controlled by Syth and their most prominent apprentices learn directly from their High Priest or Priestess. Chya is one of three Syth’s priests and priestessess that Dry’zan has appointed to lead the new cult of Syth in the region of Dhaira Bay, Caheb. The other two are masters of two different disciplines. In this way Dry’zan can establish a formidable power block – each member of which control one important aspect of what it means to be a cult leader of Syth.

Chya was only 10 when her parents were killed in a massive fire that burnt down most of the village where Chya grew up in the north in Zarnova. Dry’zan and 5 of his disciples were staying in a nearby forest clearing at the time and once they realized the village had pretty much burned to the ground, Chya – shocked, dirty, crying and trembling – pleaded the strangers to help her as she was one of the few survivors wandering through the remnants of the village. He was just about to dismiss the wimpering poor little girl when he spotted a black spider crawling upwards the girl’s long flowing raven-black hair. To Dry’zan that was clearly a sign from Syth himself and Chya soon became an integral part of Dry’zan’s group. Chya was not “in the loop” of Dry’zan’s activities until well into her early adulthood when she was officially appointed a title of Apprenticing Priestess by Dry’zan. Chya owes her life to Dry’zan and also everything she knows about magical arts is from her mentor as well. The young girl was easy to influence to accepting Syth as her deity and is thus now a devout follower of the dark deity. She relocated from Zarnova to Caheb at the brink of her ascension to a Priestess in her early twenties.

Chya is today 28 years old and is quite an attractive young woman – except when vomiting black spiders, of course! Her raven-black hair and sensuously soft voice combined with her beautiful shape and delicate face make her a real head turner. Chya also knows her beauty and uses her looks to seduce men in order to exploit the men’s natural weaknesses. A real femme fatale. She has almost no moral boundaries and is famous for organizing foul and depraved all-night long orgies of violence, sex and intoxicants in which the participants willingly get involved in activities best left to imagination … or nightmares. Such festivities usually entail potent herbal concoctions that enhance the feelings of pleasure, pain and ecstasy.

In Caheb Chya has now formed a spider sect. The sect has 20 members – 5 of whom are Chya’s disciples and the rest are mainly younger local men who have been enthralled by Chya and her wild parties. The sect members are not just any random peasants and instead are all carefully hand-picked from an array of potent families. As such, the members are more victims than they themselves realize. The sect has several immediate goals set by Dry’zan and the most important one is to gain total control of the two rivaling thieves’s guilds in the nearby city of Tash. A work already nearly finished. As for the next goals … only Dry’zan knows for certain.

 

Shield of Aldamar

2008-10-11

An illustration to show a typical shield of Aldamar for my Cresia fantasy gaming setting.

Aldamar is the god of Justice and Redemption and his followers (called clerics, healers or arbitrators depending on where in Cresia you happen to be) are usually devoted to either helping people out in general or specifically on matters of justice. The sphere of influence of the god is limited to to kingdoms of Akron, Groam and Calishem with pockets of influence in Caheb and a few travelling healers in southern Gruenroth. The clerics of Aldamar are in grave danger in countries such as Horna (where matters are resolved solely via physical strength) and Zarovna (where justice is merely a distant joke).

Origins of Aldamar are not known but the deity has been known to exist before year 0 and his mission then was to spread the wisdom of rule of law to all people. While the details of his story are vague at best, he still gathered a stout following and attained the status of a demi-god around year 0. His followers today have access to some special magical abilities only available to them and granted only to devout followers. Aldamar has a following of around 300 priests, healers and arbitrators around Cresia and a base of believers in the region of over 80 thousand people (most of which subscribe to many other deities as well).

Followers of Aldamar have no special places of worship and they do not follow any strict doctrines or rituals in their daily life although most have abandoned the pursue of riches and creature comforts. Many of the priests are not at all liked in upper crusts of society since Aldamar does not rank people based on their merits, wealth or bloodline – the lowliest servants are as important as the mightiest of kings even if the powerful people try to pass on laws to secure differential treatment to them. But some benevolent rulers appreciate the followers of Aldamar and treat them in respect because they can provide valuable insight into the mindset of the common folk.

 

 

Milja Markovec

2010-11-13

Name: Milja Markovec
Race: Human
Location: Port Magalie, Witchlight Strand, Kingdom of Akron

All the inns and taverns in all the countries around the continent have one thing in common. They need skilled workers to serve the tables, do the dishes, help the intoxicated to their beds, offer an ear to weary patrons or join in the merry singing. And keep a smiling face through all this to secure a tip.

Milja works in the biggest tavern in Port Magalie. The place, The Wyvern’s Nest, is located in an ideal spot pretty much at the dead centre of the bustling port city and has a constant stream of patrons no matter the day or hour. She has served tables there for three years and is a highly popular figure in the tavern. Well liked, open, chatty, witty and with a hearty laughter she has charmed both the local busy bees stopping for a drink after the day’s work and travelling merchants just spending this one night in the city.

Her position is such that she hears things. Many things. And while not a tell-tale by any means, she has been known to line her pockets by dropping an essential piece of information to needy adventurers who treat her good and respect her hard work.

Milja is an excellent singer and was the founding singer in the events now known as Wyvern’s Tuesdays – evenings filled with laughter, singing, poetry, musical acts and such. The events are free for all to attend but since the place is usually packed on those nights, the performers receive a small fee from the tavern’s owner as well as nice tips from good performances. Milja sings on her own, as part of a choir and with percussionists and string-instrument players. She performs mostly local folk songs but also has been known to surprise the audiences by singing songs originating from far away lands. Calculated as it may be from Milja’s part, patrons such as Calishem merchant sailor crews easily tip much more when they hear a common tune so far away from their homes and when one has a boat load of sailors doing the same … anyone can do the math.

Telos Malkumar

2015-09-09

Name: Telos Malkumar
Race: human
Location: Callistra, Calishem

Leader of caravan guards for one of the most important trade princes in Calishem: Hal B’gohd. It is Telos’ duty to keep trade caravans out of robbers’ hands. He regularly accompanies the most dangerous desert routes (or the caravans with highly valuable cargo). A trusted man of the trade prince, Telos defines the word “loyal” and does not give in to ultimatums, bribery or blackmail. He also expects the same from those under his command and ruthlessly executes any and all who violate their loyalty to the caravan owner – no matter if the target is a child, woman or elderly. He reckons that this is vital to staying alive during dangerous journeys across the desert.

Malkumar was born in the city of Callistra and holds that city in a position of reverence. He clearly despises living in anywhere else and often wonders aloud why anyone chooses to not live in Callistra. He entered the trade prince’s duty on his 14th birthday and has remained there for 20 years climbing slowly to his current position – which is indeed one of the most important positions in the entire operation. He has also invested in the operation setting aside hefty sums and letting Hal do his magic trading and thus increasing his wealth on the side. Although this practice has given him sizable monetary assets, he keeps continuing his work out of sheer love for what he’s doing.

He is a man who takes any and all duties to heart although he does know how to relax and goof around provided all the work has been done. A talented singer, Telos has also memorized a number of old legends that used to be sung in the olden days but more commonly recited as poems nowadays. It’s not uncommon for Telos to charm his fellow travelers with his singing on cold desert nights just prior to when it would be time to retire after a hard day’s work.

Telos is strategically quite competent and has a cunning mind when it comes to carrying out his duties as the chief of guards. He thinks ahead and is usually prepared to even unexpected events in the desert. A quiet and stealthy combatant he has a special ability to join the sands like a scorpion waiting for prey.

Barracus Inctal, a boatswain

2015-08-24

Name: Barracus Inctal
Race: Human
Location: Cuervo Garrac, Ferria

Barracus is a trusted crew member (boatswain in charge of the cargo room) of the merchant ship Raimelho. He has been a crew member in the ship for a few years now and has gained the trust of the ship’s captain and owner Jorge Gel.

Barracus is a typical person of southern Ferrian descent. His upbringing has taught him modesty, respect of life and harmony. As a man he is quiet and his demeanor is modest. He is erroneously considered to be extremely shy by those who do not know him. He just keeps his opinions to himself and works hard instead. He is the kind of person who makes things happen instead of constant bitching.

Barracus is an orphan and has no siblings that he is aware. He moved to Cuervo Garrac with his uncle ten years ago but after his uncle perished from a terminal illness he has been living alone near the dock area of the city. He met his future employer Jorge Gel by accident and Gel was at the time looking for a few able men to man his next voyage. A deal was struck to see how Barracus would fare at sea and he’s been a regular member of Gel’s crew since that day.

As a boatswain it is Barracus’ responsibility to not only make sure that the cargo is loaded and unloaded properly but also to make sure that the goods are secure during the voyage and that the goods arrive as promised to whatever destination they’re heading. When it comes to the space below main deck (ie. the cargo hold), Barracus gives the orders. He has not been able to gather much with respect to personal assets as he commonly gambles and drinks his salary as soon as he gets it. Being a boatswain is a life that suits him just fine making him content and thankful – even happy with how things have turned out.

Sir Welyk Paize

2015-08-22

Name: Sir Welyk Paize
Race: Human
Location: border regions of Groam and Zarnova

Formerly a leader of the mercenary group called The Eighteen Griffons, Sir Welyk Paize rose into fame after heroically saving the life of Lady Angelusia Wermander – the daughter to Lord Mortimer Wermander who is the high ambassador of Gruenroth to Groam and one of the chief counselors and a personal friend of the king of Groam. After that incident – which took place about 9 years ago – Sir Paize was recruited to the king’s guard but soon felt this new life was dull and uneventful and that life in the city with it’s comforts was for sissies and wimps. 8 years ago he was relieved of his guard duties and appointed to lead a newly formed military unit called The Emerald Unit. The unit is a first response group of stout warriors sent to deal with marauding undead creatures from the country of Zarnova. The unit operates in the border region of the two countries.

Sir Paize is a true warrior who lives and breathes action, adrenaline and combat. He does have a softer side to him in that he has a beautiful singing voice which he employs on still, cold nights after the duties of the day are over. Sir Paize leads his unit with a fervor and relentlessness but his men are hand picked by him and each and every man has had to prove their worth prior to being baptized in the unit. He enjoys the utmost respect among his men and his unit is well funded and supplied by the king himself who understands that all-out war with Zarnova is not in the best interests of the country but that still brutal force is required to send a message to the controllers of the intruding undead hordes.

Sir Paize is a skilled tactician and a logistical genius apart from being one of the best swordsmen in Groam to ever have existed. Little is known of his past and childhood but it’s needless to say his tough exterior started to grow at a young age.

He has an imposing figure of 190 cm and a rugged, weathered look in his face. His long reddish aubergine hair is a trademark of his and he usually wears his hair free-flowing.

 

Castle Roskov

2015-08-09 castle roskov

An illustration of a castle for a fantasy role-playing game setting.

Overview

Castle Roskov currently maintains the seat of power in the country of Zarnova. The castle is situated 15 kilometers directly inland from the city of Wila which is the capital city of Zarnova. The castle is home to the current ruler of Zarnova – the vampire queen Lady Anya Voorish herself.

Surroundings

Castle Roskov is situated in an extremely hard to reach place deep within unnaturally dense forest of spruces. The forest goes on for kilometers in every direction around the castle. A number of the spruces tower to heights of 120 meters shadowing the highest spires of the castle quite easily. Thus the castle is not visible from above the canopy of the forest lest one is close enough to the clearing that houses the castle.

Architecture

The castle is built from local stone excavated from the mountains to the west. The quarries are no longer active but still have a hefty supply of cut stone slabs that can be worked when replacement stones are needed in the castle. The workmanship of the castle is extraordinary – the castle was built to last. The general architectural style follows that of established Groam -influenced style that has been prevalent for hundreds of years and that is followed by many of even the newly built castles.

2015-08-12_03

Court yards and gate houses

The castle has an outer court yard which is secluded from the inner court yard by a secondary gate house which makes attacking the actual castle buildings extremely hard. Both gate houses have portcullises and heavy oaken doors. No other apparent entrances to the inner yard exists. The gate house complexes both house only defensive paraphernalia and positions but under the current rule are mostly empty spaces since the undead defenders of the castle can’t boil oil,operate ballistae etc.

Towers and walls

The corner towers are vast and each house living quarters and storage areas as well as defensive positions. The battlements of the castle walls are not covered and the bailey of the castle is part of the castle walls making the walkways on top of the walls harder to operate as there’s no way to walk around the castle perimeters via walkways only. The battlements protrude outwards slightly making it easier to counter attack any climbers. The walls contain rooms and corridors inside of them and defensive slits allow the defenders to fire heavier anti-siege weapons from within but the current castle house no such items – the rooms are now mainly storage areas for arrows, halberds, swords and such items that the undead defenders are able to use.

Bailey and keep

The keep is a 5-story structure with a roof designed for several catapults. None exists currently. The lower floors of the keep are the vampire queen’s main living quarters and the top levels are off-limits to all except the vampire queen. The entrance to underground sections is through the keep only. The bailey is truly a remarkably spacey and even luxurious: the lower floor houses a kitchen and main hall and grand stairs to all the other floors – 3 of them and the attic. The hall is open in the middle for all stories and each story has an impressive walkway circling the entire space – and has yet enough room to house several dozens of rooms that are living quarters. Servants and workers live in the two floors that form the attic and have there quite spacious and comfortable living quarters. Bailey has it’s own small underground section accessible from kitchen and contains the food supplies of the castle. Another bigger underground section was built for excrement and it’s accessible from the inner courtyard (the compost can be removed and used as fertilizer).

2015-08-15 castle roskov

Church

The original builders of the castle had need for a church. The church has separate inner temples for each deity of the old Phylar pantheon and a central hall. The church is now used as storage space and in a state of sad disrepair and neglect. The vampire queen has never been seen entering the church and many say that the ancient sanctum still repels the undead from ever entering the church without burning to ashes. The church has a tiny underground section of it’s own and contains merely crypts of various ages. Entrances to the various crypts and corridors are cemented and sealed shut by the order of the vampire queen and nothing much is known as to who were buried there centuries ago. The church still contains vast treasures of the Theocracy of Phylar period but while the maintenance crew see them daily, none have yet had the courage to steal any of the artifacts. The items seem irrelevant to the vampire queen while she does understand their monetary value.

Other buildings

The inner court yard contains but a few other buildings. The stables can house a few dozen horses, three piggeries and two chicken yards have been built next to the stables under makeshift lean-to structures facing the wall. There are a few dozen chickens, goats, lambs and pigs roaming freely in the inner courtyard. Their well being is under the care of the maintenance crew.

Residents

Maintenance crew, cooks and healers

There are only a handful of (living, that is!) permanent residents in the castle. The castle grounds and environs are maintained by a crew of 12 humans hand picked by the vampire queen and well-rewarded for their creepy duty among the undead creatures lurking in the castle. The crew are on the castle grounds 12 hours a day from dawn and return to Wila via horse drawn carts come dusk. While not a coveted position by any means, the crew do get so amply rewarded that each month they bring home a salary surpassing a farmer family’s annual income. Cooks and doctors are part of the maintenance crew and their job is to prepare meals to the blood supply -members (see below) and see that they are physically well.

The Roskov Ring

Castle Roskov has a large meeting hall in it’s heart. This hall is the closest to government of Zarnova. The vampire queen keeps a retinue of powerful individuals as her aides to control and rule the country. This retinue comprises of 7 members and have regular meetings in the castle regarding matters of state. Some of them occasionally stay for longer periods of time and many bring aides, cooks, drivers, slaves or servants of their own easily surpassing a hundred persons combined when The Roskov Ring convenes. More about The Roskov Ring.

The vampire queen Lady Anya Voorish

The main resident is of course the vampire queen herself. She lives in the castle and only rarely ventures outside. She takes maybe a tour or two around Zarnova annually conducting state matters, requisitioning blood supplies and making her power known to the land lords and commoners alike. Those tours take perhaps a month or two in total but are never scheduled beforehand or timed with any other precision than the vampire queen’s whim. She lives the entire castle and has no preferred dungeon, hall, tower or room. It is therefore impossible to predict where within the castle premises she is located at any given time – excepting the church which she shuns.

The blood supply

A group of 35 to 55 young(ish) adult males (of any race) call the castle their home now. They are all housed in the big bailey. These are the personal slaves of the vampire queen from which she takes her nourishment of fresh blood whenever she so desires and may even offer their blood to other vampires visiting the castle. The men are exclusively picked up by the vampire queen from around the country. They are not allowed to leave the castle – they are essentially prisoners. The alluring magic of the vampire queen further enhances the men’s subjugation but she also treats these men well since the quality of blood is of importance to her. The men are clothed well and attend to maintenance of the castle as much or little as they themselves desire. The men eat regular and well-balanced meals, they can engage in whatever activities they wish inside castle walls (such as healthy sports games in the spacious outer court yard) and the vampire queen has sex with the men to give them pleasure (even orgies with the vampire queen as a center piece are not uncommon) or arranges courtesan visits to the castle. Men that do not accept her rules she just sucks dry and tosses to a pile of corpses down below ground. When she bores with the taste of individual members of the blood supply, she usually releases them from her clutch and sends them back home with a monetary compensation ranging from meager to extravagant depending on how she felt about that individual. This is to encourage the people of the land to accept this strange and foul practice instead of resisting it. After all, should the men never return home, their families would most certainly rebel against her rule. Of the men who return home, most regard their time in the castle as “wonderful” and “well spent” but don’t actually seem to remember the presence of undead creatures and oddly have a greatly distorted memory of how the vampire queen looks and feels. As if they are still under some sort of charm or spell. The memories of the castle fade into oblivion entirely as time passes on.

Defenses

Apart from being in a location surrounded by nigh impenetrable forest, the castle is also well protected by way of combatants of the undead sort. The vampire queen maintains an army of rotting corpses and skeletons manning the gatehouse, towers and parapets. They require no sustenance and sleep, do not care for the omnipresent mosquitoes, never leave their post to take a pee and observe their surroundings with relentlessness and unnatural senses unhindered by foul weather. Half of these unholy warriors are armed with bows and half with melee weapons. They are not competent enough to maintain or work traditional defense methods such as hot oil, fire arrows, ballistae or tar and hence the castle has none of these implemented. Aerial defenses are non-existent but the castle grounds are well built and quite resilient to aerial bombarding by larger creatures dropping stones, caskets of burning oil etc. The number of undead defenders is impossible to guess since the vampire queen may have hundreds of corpses rotting in piles deep beneath the castle in special chambers. They are there just waiting to be animated into duty. A sort of reserve. The undead creatures do not care for any person they are instructed to ignore and will let all those go about their business unhindered – perhaps a turning of the skull, shifting of the pose or a rattling of the teeth making them know that they are indeed sensed but ordered to be ignored. It is uncertain whether or not the vampire queen can spy about using the senses of any undead creature she has animated. Such is the story anyway.

Weaknesses

There is no moat around the castle. The forest has grown quite close to the castle and the closest tree branches literally touch the castle walls. The proximity of big trees to the walls is giving possible attackers an easy vector in trying to climb the walls. Although the forest is extremely dense, the trees can be climbed and somewhat limited view from inside castle can be gained. Also the thick forests make for an excellent cover for attackers and observers alike. However, the local populace avoid the forest and say that it is somehow under the vampire queen’s control. This may just be superstition but the fact remains that the trees in the area are quite much older, bigger, twisted and denser than similar trees only some kilometers away.