Castle Tethyr / Heavenforth Manor

[Velaryon]

Castle Tethyr, for centuries the ruling seat of the monarchy of Tethyr, has been an abandoned ruin since the Ten Black Days of Eleint in 1347 DR, when in one fell swoop the entire royal family was killed in a fire.

Located in County Bardshyr in the Duchy known as the Purple Marches, the countryside on which Castle Tethyr sits is under the jurisdiction of Count Lhorik Sunspear and Duchess Marilyn Haresdown.

Duchess Haresdown's duties as a diplomat cause her to spend most of the year outside her duchy, and what time she does spend at home is mostly concentrated on the vineyards of County Vintor, which encompasses the hills west of Castle Tethyr between Myratma and Zazesspur.

Count Sunspear, who inherited the title after his father's passing last year, is also the Trade Chancellor of Tethyr, causing him to spend much of his time at the royal court in Darromar. He leaves much of the day-to-day affairs of his county to underlings.

The castle sits at the crossroads of two major trade routes:

The Trade Way begins south of Tethyr in Calimport, and follows the coast through Memnon and Myratma, passing Castle Tethyr before going to Zazesspur, then heading northward all the way to Baldur's Gate.

The Ithal Road begins in Saradush to the east, passes through Darromar, and turns north at Castle Tethyr toward Zazesspur before merging with the Trade Way.

Despite its strategic location on two major trade routes, Castle Tethyr has remained empty. This is partly because of Saharkhan Keep, a small keep located a couple miles south along the Trade Way.

Abandoned since its resident Count was killed when attempting to ride to the aid of Castle Tethyr on the fateful night of the fire, the smaller keep remained largely untouched by the chaos of the following years, and now serves as a garrison for a small contingent of royal troops who are responsible for patrolling the Trade Way between Zazesspur and Myratma.

[Velaryon]

On the 12th day of Eleint, 1347 DR, Castle Tethyr was ravaged by a fire that destroyed significant sections of the keep and left the rest exposed to mobs, looters, and nature.

The fire began thanks to a plot hatched by Prince Alemander, heir-apparent to the throne of his father, King Alemander IV. Prince Alemander (half-brother to the present king, Haedrak III) had grown tired of waiting for his father to die so he could inherit the throne, and conspired with Nashram Sharboneth, the King's top general.

General Sharboneth marched his army to the castle, bolstered by a mob of angry peasants lured by the promise of land reform, and laid siege to the castle. As Sharboneth sent his troops (with the peasants in the front ranks) in a direct assault on the keep, Prince Alemander let in a troop of elite soldiers through a secret entrance.

While these soldiers rampaged through the castle, eliminating key figures that might prove obstacles to the Prince's rise to power, the Prince went to the King's chambers and murdered him. From there, the elite troops were to start some fires to cover up all evidence of their work, but they did their job too well.

General Sharboneth double-crossed the Prince, and his men set too many fires. Prince Alemander, along with his stepmother the Queen, his wife, and his two sons, all died horribly in the blaze.

At the same time however, Prince Alemander double-crossed the General, and Sharboneth was assassinated by one of his own closest staff members, who destroyed the body with acid to prevent discovery.

With the leadership destroyed, the remaining people (not only the surviving peasants but much of the army as well) turned to violence. Everyone had underestimated the people's anger and resentment for the royal family, and the entire castle was overrun by a mob. Everything that wasn't destroyed in the blaze was stolen, defaced, or destroyed by the rampaging mob.

Shortly afterward, in what became known as the Ten Black Days of Eleint, the chaos that began with the fall of Castle Tethyr spread all over the nation, as anyone known or even suspected of blood ties to the Crown was murdered by those who had had enough of the unjust rule of the monarchy. Those who had just weeks earlier bragged of their distant familial connections from six generations back now tried in vain to convince the lynch mobs that they were "only kidding." Within ten days of the King's death, the land was engulfed in chaos.

How then did Haedrak survive to return decades later and claim the throne? The answer is simply that no one knew of his existence, not even his half-brother Prince Alemander.

King Alemander IV had remarried after the death of his first wife, to a widow named Rhinda. Rhinda was still grieving for the loss of her first husband, and spent nearly all of her time traveling abroad.

As such, no one but she, the King, and her few loyal retainers ever knew that she became pregnant with a son by Alemander, and baby Haedrak was given into the care of a friend, who raised him in secret, aware of his heritage and his destiny but removed from the wars that engulfed the land of his birthright.

The Ten Black Days of Eleint gave rise to decades of war, as warlords and usurpers tried to claim the throne one after another. These wars continued until Haedrak and his future wife Zaranda Star finally ended them in 1369 DR.

Since Queen Zaranda moved the capital to Darromar, Castle Tethyr was never rebuilt, and has remained in ruins since the great fire that destroyed it. Since that time, it has been largely left alone, save for the occasional treasure hunters or vandals that plague such sites. Rumors of it being haunted by the ghosts of those who died there have also contributed to its continued abandonment. After decades of neglect, the castle ruins have been overgrown and partially reclaimed by the wild, as animals make their nests in its crumbling halls.

[Tyrrox Zym]

Aha...thanks for putting this up.

[Velaryon]

I plan to make another post regarding the physical layout of the place as soon as I actually get the layout figured out.

[Tyrrox Zym]

Sweet.

[Velaryon]

The sale of Castle Tethyr was officially approved on the 12th of Eleint, 1375 DR. Shortly thereafter, it was officially rechristened Heavenforth Manor, and it became the county seat of Bardshyr County as Thallatos became the new lord. The previous lord, Count Lhorik Sunspear, retains his position as Tethyr's Trade Chancellor and the honorific "Lord" but is no longer a count. How Lord Sunspear feels about this is a question that has not been answered.

Heavenforth Manor currently has an employed staff of more than 75 people, as well as a couple hundred common folk who, while not paid in coin, provide what work they can in exchange for room and board for themselves and their families.

As of late Uktar in 1375, the inhabited buildings include the Small Hall, barracks, and parts of the guest apartments. The smithy is fully functional, and a bronze water tower has been constructed nearby. The stable is also usable, but is in poor repair with many holes in the roof. The rest of the manor remains in various states of disrepair.

[Tyrrox Zym]

Do we have any updates on the status of the site now that its been over 3 years since you last updated this thread? Wasn't a section rebuild for monstrous creatures such as myself? Is the small hall the main section of the castle?

[leon]

ahfuck *digs out now decrepit map*

ok, we have taken over the small hall as our base of operations in the fort, its a reletively small building near the south(main)gate, and i believe it was in its basement that Vanemune died fighting the scary bone dragon/serpent-thing.

we have yet to touch the main castle, the Grand Hall due to the extensive damage it'd already suffered, it'll take the most time and resources to rebuild.

the building we have set to be renovated as the guest rooms is, well the Guest Rooms, the second largest building in the fort, around 4.5 times the size of the small hall, i think we decided that the northern most part of the building was going to be built to accommodate beings of nonstandard size/shape, a portion in the middle was going to be a tavern/restaurant and the south side of the building for more standard guests.

[Tyrrox Zym]

Excellent thanks. Been too long.

[Velaryon]

You went through the main castle to clear it out of monsters, but it's much more dilapidated than the Small Hall, which is why you've been using that instead. Alex is right that it was the basement of the Small Hall where Vanemuine got his skeleton ripped out of his body.

I know you made it a priority to have an area for non-humanoid characters. At one time you had staked out an area to build a new building, then at another point you were going to convert part of the barracks. I forget which is the current plan.

[leon]

well, as you said, at first we wanted to build a new building, but i decided that there was too much unused buildings for that to be reasonable, then the idea was to use the barracks, but the barracks are being used as barracks now. so considering how big the Guest Rooms are it makes the most sense to simply renovate part of the place for this purpose.

[Tyrrox Zym]

Yeah that makes sense.