Castle Naerytar
| D&D 5th Edition | |
|---|---|
 | |
| GM | |
| Mark | |
| Milestone | |
| Level 13 | |
| Characters | |
|
Sir Elric, Human Champion Marigold Banks, Halfling Attendent Gleeman Alastar, Tiefling Harald Lady Aldreda, Half-Elf Schemer Gion of Velen, Human Mystery Sir Farin Quarrymeade Dwarf Noble |
The imposing grey walls of Castle Naeytar still rise from the growing swamp, though they show many signs of having seen better days. The castle was discovered by Sir Elric's party to be the final resting place of the Cult-Treasure that was being carted along the great road north. The party liberated the castle by assassinating the leadership and instigating a general uprising among the Lizardfolk that were oppressed by the Bullywogs and their cultist leaders.
The castle is now the capitol for the Barony of Dragonmarsh, Ser Elric’s new holding. A significant amount of money was invested into the castle and the surrounding lands in an attempt to restore some former glory and bring further trade to the holding.
Events
Stored Treasure
Inhabitants
Lords of Dragonmarsh
Lord Elric, Baron of Dragonmarsh, has gathered around him a cadre of interesting characters who reside at the castle between their grand adventures. Although they are all highly skilled in their own right, their frequent arrivals and departures mean they tend to take on specific projects more than managing the day-to-day affairs of the castle.
Of particular note, and often of more importance to the land's permanent inhabitants, are the few ex-adventurers who stay to manage the castle and its land in Lord Elric's absence. Chief among these is Jared Nottingham, who has been appointed as the steward of Naeytar castle and manages mundane affairs such as trade, finances, and staffing. The half-orc cleric Torquil is an important counter-point to the management-focused Jared and is quite popular with the farmers due to his kindred spirit and free use of spells. The notable engineer Whirlygig, while less involved with the inhabitants, plays an important role in design and construction in the area, as well as maintaining the guest laboratory and arcane observatory.
Kobold Staff
The network of tunnels underneath the castle are primarily occupied by a small clan of Kobolds who, save for a few dependents and homemakers, work as the castle's staff. The clan is split between a night shift, who primarily perform maintenance and cleaning, and the day shift who act as more traditional domestic servants (though they tend to avoid going outside as much as possible). Although initially somewhat disconcerting, the diminutive servants have proven quite skilled at their position.
The kobolds were first recruited when, during his adventures, Sir Elric (and the rest of the party) encountered a small clan of Kobolds who had become enslaved by the Dragon Cult and forced to act as serving and household staff to the usurpers of a cloud giant's castle. After the party successfully defeating the dragon cult leaders in the castle, the kobolds were given the offer to move to Castle Naeytar and act as castle staff there, this time as proper freedmen. They accepted and accompanied the group (and it's wagonloads of treasure) back to the castle, where they traded their dragon-cult livery for Elric's. Since their occupancy, there has been some minor cross-migration with the sewer-kobolds of Waterdeep.
Specialists
Although the kobolds perform the majority of the work in the castle, there are a few areas they where more skilled personnel were required. A couple of stout halflings, each a distant relation of Marigold's, have been brought on board to manage the kitchen and larder while a pair of dwarfs from Sir Farien's ancestral home have stayed behind after the initial major rebuilding project to perform the more precise stonework and manage the forge.
Half-Orc Peasantry
The lands surrounding the swamp castle of Naeytar have slowly become occupied by those willing to carve a life out of the wetlands. Due largely to Torquil's extensive recruiting, the majority of the occupants of Elric's lands are half-orcs. Their natural strength and hardiness have helped them make good use of the materials Elric has imported and begin to scratch a living out of the unyielding land. Due to the castle's relatively high (and thus dry) location compared to the surrounding swamplands, a good portion of the peasants live in huts just outside of the castle walls rather than forming small villages deeper into the fields.
Given the essential impossibility of truly draining the magically ever-increasing swamp, the farmers have mostly turned to grow crops of rice and sweet potato, augmented with a few planting of water-chestnut, lotus, and related edible water-loving plants. The harvests, augmented by the ritual magic of Torquil, have begun to be fruitful, but have not yet moved past simply supplying the castle itself.
Lizardfolk Traders
The land which can be claimed as the Dragonmarsh Barony are but a minuscule fraction of the grand swamplands, and much of it is populated by roaming tribes of swamp-born creatures. Out of all those Elric and the rest of the party have encountered thus far, the most reasonable have been the Lizardfolk tribes. Ever since leading the dragon-cult enslaved lizardfolk in revolution, Lord Elric and the rest of the characters have worked to establish and maintain good relations with the various tribes that occupy and pass through the untamed swamp surrounding the castle lands. As a result, a steady stream of lizardfolk traders make their way to the castle to exchange leather goods, hunted meat and the occasional spoils of a yuan-ti raid for metalwork and other finished goods.
Floorplan
- Tactical Maps
