Revel's End

Revel's End was a prison built on a cliff-side overlooking the Sea of Moving Ice in the Frozenfar region of the North. It was used by the Lords' Alliance as of the late 15 century DR to hold some of the Sword Coast's most heinous criminals.
==Location==
The prison was situated on the far northern coast of Icewind Dale, due north of Lonelywood. It sat atop northward-facing cliffs overlooking the Sea of Moving Ice, and was carved out of the northwest side of a massive rockface known as the Windbreak, so-named because it also served to shield the prison from harsh winds off of the Reghed Glacier.There are several differences in the depiction of Revel's End between Rime of the Frostmaiden and Honor Among Thieves. Most notable is the complete absence of the Windbreak and Revel's End apparently standing in the middle of an ice field rather than on a cliff. This presumed to be due to artistic license or film-making limitations.
There was no road that connected Revel's End to the rest of civilization, so the most reliable ways to access the prison were by sea or by air. For travel by sea, a pier was located at the base of the cliffs with an elevator leading up to the prison. The elevator was essentially just a large wooden box that followed a scaffold up the cliff, and it was raised and lowered via a crane at the top. For travel by air, a mooring for airships was located atop the prison's tall central tower.
For travel by land, a horse-drawn sleigh bearing an iron cargo hold well-secured with chains and padlocks was used to transport prisoners and guards across the ice in the 1490s DR. With prisoners inside the hold, it had three armed guards outside, one of them the driver. Taking no chances, the gates were opened first and the sled was backed into it and locked to the gate walls, so there was no gap to the outside world. Only then was the compartment opened and the prisoner escorted directly into the prison courtyard.
==Structure==
Revel's End was constructed as a panopticon, wherein individual prison cells encircled a central surveillance room. The primary prison structure was a single-story, building with a six-sided star shape that had four two-story, guard towers erected at the northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest "apex" points of the star. The northeastern and southwestern arms of the star were dedicated to open-air courtyards paved with flagstones, which granted prisoners some space for exercise when weather permitted.. The southeastern corner of the structure backed into the Windbreak from which the whole prison had been carved and constructed, and some interior rooms were tunneled into the rock itself. A four-story, central tower lined with arrow-slits rose above the panopticon surveillance room to loom over the rest of the structure.
==Interior==
Nearly the whole prison was magically heated to and illuminated via continual flames. Despite this, it could often be cold enough freeze the contents of the waste buckets. It contained a number of limited amenities for the staff and guards, including a mess hall, barracks, armory, guest rooms, stables, a meeting room, and a storeroom. The kitchen contained an iron stove, and drew water from a magically heated cistern on the roof. In addition to a well-stocked pantry, the kitchen took advantage of the naturally frigid weather to create a cold storage area out of an an unheated side room. The prison also included a hospital, courtyards, and a privy, which were the only rooms a prisoner might see outside of their own cell if they were injured, given time for exercise (weather permitting), or if it was time to empty their waste buckets respectively.
The hexagonal "core" of Revel's End encompassed the prison's central surveillance hub and the two-dozen individual cells immediately surrounding it. Each cell was intended to hold up to two prisoners, and contained only an iron bunkbed with two thin mattresses and a bucket for waste. From the surveillance chamber at the base of the central tower, guards could observe all cells through arrow slits. This room also contained a magical console that allowed the prison's guards to control the gate to each cell, magically amplify a speaker's voice throughout the entire compound, and adjust the intensity of the continual flames providing illumination throughout the whole of the prison.
Within the second level of the central surveillance tower, some above the prison's main level, was the Hall of Absolution. This floor also contained the warden's office and living quarters. The roof of the tower was situated another up, and had little protection from the elements save three walls to the north, southwest, and southeast. A wooden drawbridge could be lowered off the tower's northeast edge to provide an airship dock.
The Hall of Absolution was a chamber that served as the meeting place for the prison's governing body, the Absolution Council. It was decorated with banners bearing the symbol of the Lords' Alliance. Prisoners up for parole were manacled and brought to stand before a large curved table that dominated the room. Behind this table were eleven high-backed chairs, with the five on the left and the right each adorned with the symbol of a member of the Lords' Alliance, indicating the councilor who would sit there during hearings. These hearings were always attended by the prison warden, who sat in the unadorned central chair. The Absolution Council could also meet in a small chamber with a round window; they sat behind a table with places for only four members and prisoners might be left unmanacled, likely if considered safe.While Rime of the Frostmaiden describes a larger, grander chamber, Honor Among Thieves has a much smaller one. It is presumed this is an alternative room.
Set within the floors of the courtyard and corridors were iron rails holding sliders. These were linked via chains and locked onto a prisoner's manacles, preventing them from moving in any other direction whilst being escorted by guards around the prison.
==Activities==
Revel's End held individuals convicted of the most serious crimes committed against the member states of the Lords' Alliance, specifically those given the lengthiest sentences or who had proven too politically connected to be securely interred elsewhere, and those criminals who were too hardened or too dangerous. All prisoners were issued unremarkable and hoodless robes, given a unique identifying number, and were bound in manacles when not alone in their cells. Prisoners spent their time either in their cells or working in chain-gangs doing menial labor such as cutting ice from a nearby frozen river. The whole operation was overseen by a warden and by the Absolution Council, a ten-member committee formed of representatives from each of the Lords' Alliance's member states. This council determined if and when to release a prisoner on parole, with the warden serving as tie-breaker when the council was deadlocked.
Guards in cold-weather gear kept constant watch around Revel's End and its perimeter, always alerting the whole prison to anything suspicious approaching the prison. New arrivals—whether prisoners or visitors—could approach by land, sea, or air, and would be spotted from the guard towers. Visitors by land or sea were escorted to a guard room adjacent to their entrance where all weapons were confiscated and a meeting was arranged with the warden. The warden had leeway to offer shelter to visitors for up to two days, and could permit visitors to meet with a prisoner as long as the warden was also present for such a meeting.
Fresh supplies and rotating members of staff arrived by ship.
==Defenses==
The prison employed a variety of security measures to ensure the safety of its staff and guarantee its prisoners could not escape. Guards patrolled through the panopticon and the entrances every 20 minutes or less, and were hyper-vigilant for anything suspicious, ranging from the casting of spells to merely conversing with a prisoner using their real name instead of their number designation. Each cell was blanketed by a permanent antimagic field and their barred gates were impossible to force open with brute strength. Every other door and hatch in the prison was made of reinforced iron and enchanted with the arcane lock spell, which only allowed prison staff to open them. Even if a prisoner managed to escape, they would have to flee across the tundra in weather or worse. Nevertheless, escaped prisoners Holga and Edgin managed to do just that.
At any time, the warden could place Revel's End on high alert by uttering the command word "maristo". This caused the whole prison to be illuminated in red light, signaled all 75 guards to arm themselves, and granted them the ability to see invisible objects and people. 
==History==
Revel's End was constructed at the order of the leaders of the Lords' Alliance some time in the 15 century DR. Workers labored hard to build it in such harsh conditions.It is unknown when Revel's End was constructed, since it was newly introduced in Rime of the Frostmaiden. Honor Among Thieves: The Junior Novelization merely says "long ago". This is presumed to several decades.
The thirteenth prisoner to ever be incarcerated at Revel's End was Korda Glintstone, who was locked up on behalf of Clan Axebreaker in hopes that she would divulge the location of their clan's wealth, which she had stolen from them. This did not work, and instead she secretly managed to spend her ill-gotten riches from inside the prison to establish and direct a far-reaching spy network. At some point in the late 15 century DR, Varrin Axebreaker discovered the location of his clan's stolen wealth, but realized that he could not reach it without Korda's cooperation. After the Absolution Council denied a request to have her released, Varrin instead plotted to hire a crew to infiltrate the prison, meet with Korda, and perhaps even break her out if needed. In planning for this heist, he managed to acquire a breaker's map of the prison layout.
During the Everlasting Rime, some folk of Ten Towns didn't blame the event on Auril, but rather on Vaelish Gant, a prisoner interred within Revel's End. In the , Duvessa Shane—the mayor of Bryn Shander—feared that Gant and his allies in the Arcane Brotherhood might be plotting something, and so offered a reward to anyone who would make the rough trek to the prison to interrogate him.
In the mid-1490s DR, Edgin Darvis and Holga Kilgore were imprisoned at Revel's End for the crimes of skulduggery and grand larceny following a botched heist of Korinn's Keep, a stronghold of the Harpers.
The hobgoblin murderer Gorg was newly incarcerated in Revel's End in the late 1490s DR.. On the sleigh ride there, even whilst manacled hand and foot, he killed his fellow prisoner by twisting his neck, then alleged it had been a bumpy ride to the guards. Four had to escort him, including the guard Lucas, and they shoved Gorg into a cell with Holga and Edgin—despite it being only a two-person cell. But when Gorg sleazed onto Holga and made a grab for her, she beat him up, breaking both his legs and knocking him out cold on the frozen waste bucket.Short of an overcrowded prison population, it seems that the guards expected for Holga to beat Gorg up for them. Later that day, a chain-gang cutting ice from the river was nearly lost when a prisoner fell through into the freezing water below. Before the rest could be pulled in after him, the overseer Tobias broke the chain with his longsword, sacrificing the prisoner to save the others. The next day, Edgin and Holga were brought to an Absolution Council comprising Jarnathan, Kriv Norixius, Voss Anderton, and Jil Torbo to be considered for a pardon. However, a storm delayed Jarnathan's journey so the council started without him, but Edgin kept inquiring about Jarnathan's absence, when he'd arrive, and how unfortunate it was that he'd miss out on his story. He hoped that Jarnathan would free them because he was an aarakocra. And he would, just not in the way that anyone expected. When Jarnathan entered, Edgin enacted his 'plan', with him and Holga fighting off the guards, grabbing the aarakocra, and jumping through the window, before they could learn their pardon had already been approved, forcing him to fly them to ice below. Jarnathan was knocked out by the hard landing, but survived. Holga and Kilgore then somehow escaped across the ice on foot to Targos in the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale.
More than a year later, the same council met to consider Forge Fitzwilliam for pardon, but were wise to the same tricks and refused him. Forge also grabbed Jarnathan and tried to jump through the window, only to find it bricked-up behind a curtain, stunning both himself and the poor aarakocra.
==Inhabitants==
===Staff===
Leadership included the warden and the ten members of the Absolution Council, although it was rare for more than a few of them at a time to actually be present at Revel's End, owing to the poor amenities. The prison staff included 75 guards in the employ of the Lords' Alliance, who worked in eight-hour shifts. About one-third of the guards were on active duty at any given time, with twelve being stationed between the four guard towers, six between the two main entry rooms, and seven in the surveillance hub. The prison also employed six cooks, but all other duties fell to the guards.
Notable staff included:
* Voss Anderton, a member of the Absolution Council as of 1489 DR.
* Kriv Norixius, a member of the Absolution Council as of 1489 DR.
* Jil Torbo, a member of the Absolution Council as of 1489 DR.
* Jarnathan, a member of the Absolution Council as of the late 1490s DR.
* Marta Marthannis, the prison's warden as of 1489 DR.
* Lucas, a guard as of the late 1490s DR.
* Tobias, a guard who oversaw prisoner chain-gangs in the late 1490s DR.
===Prisoners===
Inmates were only ever identified by their number, which was unique and indicated the order in which they had been admitted to Revel's End. As of 1489 DR, the most recently admitted inmate was Prisoner 299 and the longest-serving one was Prisoner 6.
Notable prisoners included:
* Edgin Darvis, a bard convicted of skullduggery and grand larceny, and incarcerated in the 1490s DR.
* Holga Kilgore, a barbarian convicted of skullduggery and grand larceny, and incarcerated in the 1490s DR.
* Gorg, a boorish hobgoblin murderer incarcerated in the 1490s DR.
* An unnamed yuan-ti abomination incarcerated in the 1490s DR.
* Korda Glintstone, a.k.a. Prisoner 13, a dwarven spy from Gauntlgrym who was incarcerated as of the late 15 century DR.
* Vaelish Gant, a.k.a. Prisoner 237, a former associate of the Arcane Brotherhood who attempted to destabilize the economies of the Ten Towns and was incarcerated as of 1489 DR.
* Grix, a goblin convicted of espionage and incarcerated as of the late 15 century DR.
* Ishar, an elf convicted of conspiring to murder a noble family and incarcerated as of the late 15 century DR.
* Pirouette, leader of a thieves' guild and incarcerated as of 1489 DR.
* Barlo Rageblade, a reckless adventurer incarcerated as of 1489 DR.
* Quillion Sardo, a halfling spellcaster convicted of using magic to influence others and incarcerated as of the late 1489 DR.
* Gallia Strand, a smuggler of contraband luxuries incarcerated as of the late 15 century DR.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===Appearances===
:;Adventures
:: Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden • Keys from the Golden Vault: "Prisoner 13"
:;Film & Television
::Honor Among Thieves
:;Books
::Honor Among Thieves: The Junior Novelization • Heroes Unite! • The Quest Begins
===Gallery===
Revel's End.jpg|A view of Revel's End, by Titus Lunter.
Revel's End (from afar).jpg|A view of Revel's End overlooking the Sea of Moving Ice, by Titus Lunter.
Honor Among Thieves - Revel's End.jpg|Revel's End as depicted in Honor Among Thieves.
===References===
Category:Towers
Category:Prisons
Category:Lords' Alliance locations
Category:Locations on the Sea of Moving Ice
Category:Locations in Icewind Dale
Category:Locations in the Frozenfar
Category:Locations in Northwest Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril