The Ember Keep

Illustration for Arc 8 Episode 2 showing the Ember Keep, drawn by @samgreeneart on Instagram

### Episodes

* Arc 3 Episodes 2, 4-6
* Arc 8 Episodes 1-8
* Pinn Drop

The Ember Keep is the castle that the immediate royal family of Hyranor lives in. It is located in Tyle, the capital of Hyranor.

## Description

The castle is located in Tyle, near the city centre, on a high precipice atop Keep's Canyon.

It is a sprawling, magnificent castle that is impossible to miss and truly a sight to behold.

### The Balcony atop Keep's Canyon

When messages are delivered to the people of Tyle, this is done from a stone balcony that sits at the very edge of the protective walls surrounding the Ember Keep. There, people can stand and speak, and their voice is magically projected to be audible for the people standing hundreds of feet below on a wide flat plot of land.

From the balcony, it is possible to follow a long hallway or series of hallways to get to the Meeting Hall, and it is also possible to get to a wide spiral staircase. This staircase leads four storeys down, with each storey being 20 feet high. It takes 50 feet of movement to get down one storey.

### Outside the Palace Grounds

The castle is pretty well-guarded by the royal guard. Around the entire perimeter, it is surrounded by 25 feet high walls with gates and little archer windows, and there are stone pillars with guards standing on top of them, from which they have a good view to look out for unwanted intruders. The guards also patrol the walls walking atop them. Not many people can say about themselves that they have been inside the castle.

The castle is surrounded by plenty of trees and shrubs. About twenty minutes of foot walk north from the castle, there is a little secluded spot, where Princess Sybilla as a child uses to hide when she wants to be alone and not seen by anyone.

Usually, visitors enter with their carriages through the front gates. These front gates, when opened, show the road running up to the castle.

### Inner-Wall Gardens

The castle has a back garden with a fountain that people can sit on.

In 91 AP, the castle grounds are very well manicured and contain hedges that are trimmed into the shapes of various creatures, including a beholder and a dragon. Inside the dragon hedge there is a pipe leading to its mouth, and right infront of it is a pressure plate that, when activated, leads to the dragon breathing fire onto the intruder. Additionally, there are many statues.

On the east side of the castle, there is a garden area with trees and plants that is still surrounded by walls, but big enough to trick visitors into thinking they were outside. It is dotted with stury little stone huts, that in Arc 8 are used as guest quarters for the visiting Major Council members. Inside these huts are small but luxurious living spaces with a very comfortable bed, a little wash bin, and a place to hang clothes and store belongings. Each of the huts are labelled with names, and has a door as well as a small window. The Minor Council members are further away from the castle itself, and the City Barons are closer.

There is a place in the castle called the high courtyard. This place is a large outdoor space with brick pathways and pleasantly smelling gardens, and a bubbling fountain. Part of it is also a flattened hill, which is the location of the death ceremonies.

### First Floor

The entrance to the castle is a magnificent foyer with a chandelier the size of a house hanging above a red and gold carpeted walkway that extends up a staircase and leads to different hallways. It is at least sometimes used not just to welcome people, but also for grand ceremonies such as a coronation.

Off to the side, there is a seating room where guests and visitors can wait. The seating room has nice chairs and chaises, and is a comfortable place with soft carpets.

#### Meeting Hall

The meeting hall, in which the Major Council convenes and votes, is a hemispherical room. The back of the room is a curvature with a short balcony that has stairs leading up to it on either side. On the balcony is a throne for the monarch and a door leading to a small room with a teleportation circle. The Major Council members have seats on the floor below the balcony, with the seats for the ten city barons arranged in an arc closer to it, and the seats for the five Minor Council members arranged further away from it. All seats face the balcony and are curved, made of dark wood, and with a red cushion at the bottom. Before each seat is a desk that has a magical scroll flushed with it, and a quill next to it. When the vote is written on to the scroll, the scroll moves into the desk to store the vote. For the successor vote decided only by the Minor Council, the seats for the city barons are moved away.

The meeting hall is connected to a long hallway. 50 feet down the hallway is the door to the closest office of the Prime Lord Wizard. Another 50 feet down, there is a corner. At some point, the hallway or a series of connected hallways leads to the balcony atop Keep's Canyon.

### Second Floor

The private chambers of the royal family are on the second floor. Even regular guests in the castle are not allowed there, and most people don't even know where they are. Standing infront of the bedrooms are guards; in Arc 3, there is a single guard standing infront of the entrance to the hallway, in Arc 8, there are guards standing infront of each bedroom.

The bedrooms of the members of the royal family are large and lavish. Princess Sybilla, specifically, sleeps in a bedroom that is so large, the light from the windows and wall lights does not reach the centre of the room. There is a massive ornate rug inside it, and a big bed. The room has a place to get dressed, a place to sit down and have meals, and a huge bed.

The head of the King's Guard, Sir Up Ton, sleeps in the same area of the castle as the royal family, because they want to keep him close. Sir Up Ton's room is not as big as the rooms of the royal family, but very comfortable. It is tidy, and there are not many things in it, even as of Arc 8, where he has lived in this room for 40 years.

### Basement

Below the castle, there is a large laboratory. In 91 AP it contains a vast number of arcane devices, including an entire wall full of potions and ingredients.

The laboratory can only be accessed through a single grand staircase, which is 180 feet long from the first floor to the laboratory and has walls to both sides, but no bannisters. It is separated both from the first floor and from the laboratory by a heavy stone door each. In 91 AP, both stone doors have an arcane locking mechanism that is placed on the side of the door not showing to the stairs. About halfway down the stairs, there is a step with a pressure plate, that, when activated, locks the doors and makes pipes emerge from the wall every 30 feet. These pipes then start spilling out a faint, poisonous gas.

### Other rooms

* The castle has various guest rooms and suites of different sizes.
* There are multiple teleportation circles in the castle.
	+ One is right behind the meeting hall.
	+ One is on the bottom of the staircase that leads four storeys down from the balcony atop Keep's Canyon. At the bottom of this staircase, there is a hallway with a guarded wooden door 30 feet down it that leads to a 15 by 15 foot room containing the teleportation circle.
	+ Either one of these teleportation circles is used by the royal family to travel to Glaceria, or there is another one for this purpose.
	+ The teleportation circles can each be manually shut down using a key. This shutdown prevents people from using the circle to get away, but not to travel to the circle, at least not as long as they travel inside the castle.
* Most of the major areas of the palace have smaller rooms to the side where people can easily duck into and have a private conversation.
* The castle has various libraries, at least one of which goes over multiple levels.
* In the tallest point of the castle lives the Prime Lord Wizard, who, appart from his wizard tower, has many additional work spaces dotted around the castle. Apart from him, nobody is allowed to enter the wizard tower.
	+ The upper chambers of the Prime Lord Wizard are the bottom of his tower. They are full of potions and trinkets, and additionally have a big circular desk running around the edge of the wall, and his bed.

## Notable Inhabitants and Staff

### Royal Family

See "The Royal Families of Hyranor", all monarchs known so far live in the Ember Keep with their immediate family.

### Advisors

* **Bixlebong Borple** - assistant to the Prime Lord Wizard Orious Loroy in 163 AE
* **Emma Potts** - Gnome, Master of Alchemy under King Lucius Pinn in 91 AE
* **Grevonium Malfeasance** - short Half-Elf, Master of Transmutation under King Lucius Pinn in 91 AE
* **Orious Loroy**, Prime Lord Wizard - Prime Lord Wizard under King Alaric

### Guards, Kingsguard, and Knights

* **Penelope Grayshield** - second in command to Sir Up Ton in 163 AE
* **Raleigh** - a guard protecting the personal chambers of the royal family in 133 AE; he takes his job very serious.
* **Up Ton**, Sir - head of the King's Guard
* **Zachariah** - a guard protecting a teleportation circle in 163 AE

### Staff

* **Adrian Lightfoot\*** - a halfling man with mismatched eyes. One of the tutors of Princess Isadora in 133 AE, and close to the royal family.
* **Frederick Hazeloft** - Royal Researcher under King Alaric in 163 AE
* **Kansas\*** - personal assistant to Princess Sybilla in 163 AE
* **Raylan Shinebearer\*** - a half elf messenger in 133 AE

\*Patreon submissions

## Notable Visitors

* **Arc 3 party** - visits the palace in Arc 3 Episodes 5-6 after hearing about the Attack on Princess Sybilla
* **Arc 8 party** - as the minor council, those of the Arc 8 party that don't live in the palace anyways come as visitors for the death ceremony of King Alaric in Arc 8
* **Fey Moss** - regularly visits as a Bard, friend of Princess Isadora, and friend of Count Michael, visits in Arc 3 Episodes 2 and 5-6 as a member of the Arc 3 party
* **Major Council** - visits the palace for death ceremonies as well as regular meetings
* **Michael von Rainier\***, Count (regularly) - visits the palace regularly as a noble guest, also visits during Arc 3 Episodes 5-6 as a person in the possession of magic items with healing abilities
* **Minor Council** - visits the palace for death ceremonies as well as regular meetings

\*Patreon submissions

## Trivia

* The servants in the castle wear red and gold uniforms during the Eirik reign.
* A lot of the hallways look the same.
* In 91 AP, there is barely any staff or guards inside the castle, although regularly staff comes to clean.
* In 91 AP, traps line the enterior corridors.
* Generally, the castle is decorated with different ornamental suits of armour standing in the hallways. During the Age of Pinn, there are also tapestries depicting Lucius Pinn in full armour standing infront of different scenes and settings.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Arc 3 Episode 2
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Arc 8 Episode 1
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Arc 8 Episode 0
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Arc 8 Episode 6
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Arc 8 Episode 7
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Arc 3 Episode 5
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Pinn Drop Oneshot
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Arc 8 Episode 5
9. ↑ Arc 8 Episode 3
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Arc 8 Episode 8
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Arc 8 Episode 2
12. ↑ Arc 3 Episode 6
13. ↑ Arc 8 Episode 4
14. ↑ Arc 3 Episode 4