Skyreach Castle

## **Quest Hook**

Prior to the current mission, Squirt Nightstalker was tasked with assassinating Professor Henrik Jones. Squirt managed to track down Henrick to a cave system, south of Kul'Dar. Knowing full well that Henrick hired some muscle for a mission, Squirt decided that the best course of action was to assassinate Henrik while he was alone, and his muscle was deep inside a cave system. Knowing that his next job was precarious, Squirt decided to confront the group of 5 when they emerged, hoping that he could persuade them to join him in his quest.

Squirt Nightstalker has been tasked with assassinating two ex-members of The Storm of the Strong. Rath Modar and Azhara Joe. Having waivered from their duties, Rath and Azhara have found refuge at Skyreach Castle. The Whispers have been hired to eliminate them. The client has also requested the theft of The Black Dragon Mask, a relic of Tiamat, hidden deep within the castle. This task is optional, but this is the chance he has been looking for to rank up within the guild. Plus, failure is deeply frowned upon. Armed with a poor sketch of the castle, 2 writs of death (needing to be marked with the blood of the deceased), and a drawing of the mask, Squirt sets out on his journey.

## **Background Story**

* Skyreach Castle is a common destination for exotic and high end black market traders.  Since it is constantly on the move, it makes for an ideal location.  Within the next couple of days, various traders will make their way to Skyreach to sell their goods.  Of course, a healthly portion of their sales will be "gifted" to Jupiter, the Steward of Skyreach.  Jupiter is an extremely wealthy cloud-giant, having earned a substantial portion of his gold from the black-market.  Jupiter flaunts his wealth, having amassed some very valuable artifacts, as well as obtaining the services of some extremely gifted/powerful allies.  Jupiter was also married to another cloud giant, Esclarotta.  However, she passed away years ago, and now her spirit/essence serves as the source of power for the castle.  She is able to interact with the workings of the castle, acting as the guardian of sorts.  In the central tower of the castle is a massive blue flame.  This flame is cold to the touch, and if you look into it long enough, you can see the figure of Esclarotta.
* Jupiter and his wife Esclarotta are cloud giants; Stewards of Skyreach Castle.
* Glazhael - an adult white dragon - resides in the depths of the castle. A pet of the giants, Glazhael is loyal to to denizens, but is a fearsome beast to any intruder. The giants hoard their wealth in Glazhael's lair.  Glazhael serves as the last line of defense for the castle.  The first line is of course, the army of Ogres and Kobolds that live within the walls.
* Rezmir - half black-dragon body guard. Use Half-Dragon template. But use Rezmir stat block
* Rath Modar - Ex-Storm of the Strong Wizard.  Hired into service by Jupiter
* Azhara Joe - Ex-Storm of the Strong Wizard.  Hired into service by Jupiter
* Wiglof - stone giant guest of Jupiter.  Paying his respects. At the castle to help repair the guest quarter that collapsed.
* Hulda - stone giant guest of Jupiter.  Paying her respects

## **Rewards**

* Assassinations yield 15,000gp.
* Mask is worth 9000gp.

# **Sequence of events**

* Players encounter Squirt Nightstalker
* PCs must return to Heldenburg to obtain more information
* PCs hire an airship
* PCs fly to Drit Atoll
* PCs arrive at castle
* PCs might interact with the vendors at the bazaar
* PCs might sneak around the castle
* PCs find a way to eliminate the Wizards (combat, stealth, convincing Jupiter that they need to be dispatched)
* PCs must steal the Dragon Mask from the vault.
* PCs fight a white Dragon. VERY HARD TO SKIP THIS FIGHT. Hopefully the players will find clues that there is a dragon there. Otherwise... surprise
* PCs make a daring escape

# **PRE-QUEST**

## **GETTING AN AIRSHIP**

Heldenburg would most likely have the best chance of finding an airship.

* The Leaf
* Cpt. Washburn. Human Male. Red hair. Small crew. First mate is Zoe. Human female. Black skin.
* 10gp/person/day. hiring cost

## **ACQUIRING MORE INFORMATION**

### **Where is the castle?**

* Currently floating over the Drit Atoll.
* Info can be gathered at some fences or shady bars

1. Maps? Traps? Entry points?
	1. Entry points:
		1. DC 12 (Investigation): main landing area
		2. DC 18 (Investigation): small landing pad in the tall tower
		3. DC 21 (Investigation): entrance under the castle (dragon's lair)
	2. DC 15 (Investigation)
		1. The castle is constructed out of ice.
		2. The castle is airborne, so acquiring cold weather clothing might be advisable.
	3. DC 17 (Investigation)
		1. Jupiter's captain of the guard is a black half-dragon named Rezmir. He is vicious, cruel, and carries a key on his person.
	4. DC 18 (Investigation)
		1. Rumor has it that the inner sanctum is guarded by some golems.
	5. DC 20 (Investigation)
		1. The castle can be controlled in the tallest tower.
	6. DC 22 (Investigation)
		1. Rumor has it that Jupiter keeps a White Dragon as a pet. That pet guards his treasure

# **EVENTS AT THE CASTLE**

1. Two Ogres get into a squabble. One gets injured in the scrum. Azhara Joe comes out to tend to his injuries. He gets sent back to the Wizard tower to get "healed". The PCs can witness the password for the tower this way
2. Kobolds will come out every so often to feed the guards.
3. Some Ogres will leave their post to investigate noises. They are dumb
4. The stone giants might walk out of the ruined quarters and into their own quarters

# **BLACK-MARKET**

## **NPCs (Blackmarket)**

* Geralt - human male - (high-end potion vendor)
	+ Yup. Witcher.
* Fairgrave - human male - (exotic mounts and pets)
	+ Try to do NoHo-Hank from Barry
* Noryu - tiefling female - (exotic slave vendor)
	+ Sold some Firbolgs to Djinn many years ago. An entity named Raheem.
	+ This information will be HARD to get
* Da'vin - dwarf male - (stolen art trader)
	+ Bad Scottish accent!
* Fizzle - half-elf male - (forgeries / maps)

## **For Sale**

### **Slaves**

* Dragonborn (blue scale) male x1 (1,800 gp) -- Karr (adult)
* Elf female (1850 gp) -- Jenette (adult)
* Yuan-ti pureblood female (4500 gp) -- Yokha (adult)
* Half-Orc twins male/female (1,300 gp) -- Herc / Hera (children)

### **Potions/Drugs**

* Smokeleaf
* Mist Mushroom (a hallucinogen)
* Mindcrystal
* Shimmer (a blank potion : can cast a spell into it. Unfortunately, raw shimmer also makes for a potent hallucinogenic poison, and thus is contraband at regular market) (3,500 gp)
* Potion of Supreme Healing (3,000 gp)
* List of Poisons

### **Forgeries/Maps**

* Can forge most documents (500-10,000 gp depending on difficulty)
* Can forge most pieces of jewelry (500-10,000 gp depending on difficulty)
* Access to maps to estates/castles (500-1000 gp depending on type)

# **CASTLE**

## **Considerations**

The Castle is extremely high in the air. The air is thinner, and the temperature is super cold.

* Unless properly dressed or in a warm environment, players must make DC 12 Con checks every hour or suffer 1 point of exhaustion
* Unless sufficiently protected, players must make a DC 12 con check after dashing, jumping, climbing, or anything acrobatic/strenuous. Failing will yield 1 point of exhaustion.

1. **You MUST TELL THE PLAYERS THAT IS IS COLD AND THE AIR IS THIN**. Have the captain warn them that running around might get them more tired than usual. Have the captain offer poorly equipped players some warm clothes. 35gp markup, of course. Beggars can't be choosers if they failed to prepare.

## **NPCs (Castle)**

* Jupiter (Cloud Giant)
* Glazhael (adult white dragon)
* Esclarotta (Jupiter's dead wife. Spirit of the castle)
* Rath Modar (wizard)
* Azhara Jos (wizard)
* Rezmir (half-dragon)
* Wiglof (stone giant)
* Hulda (stone giant)

## **Guards**

* Wyverns
* Kobolds
* Griffon
* Ogres
* Drakes (pets of Rezmir)
* Air elementals (summoned by Jupiter)

## **Areas**

### **1 - Main Gate**

* Arrival at the castle "A massive ogre standing at the end of the dock, begins to lumber slowly towards your vessel. As you disembark he says to you "Welcome to Skyreach Castle. Your host, the mighty Jupiter, hopes you will have a great time at his Bazaar. You are welcome to explore the grounds, but he asks that you leave all weapons at the front gate. You will get them back when you leave"
	+ If the PCs hand over their weapons, they will be stored in AREA 4 (level 0). A kobold named "Scrumpy" will take them.
* A lowered drawbridge spans a foggy moat. Beyond the drawbridge is an open portcullis, and beyond the portcullis is a covered gateway leading to an open courtyard. Large figures loom in the gateway, but you can't quite make them out.
* **Gateway** : A heavy oak -and-iron portcullis is drawn up just behind the drawbridge. Two life-sized statues of 18-foot-tall cloud giants -- one male and one female -- stand behind the portcullis, facing each other within the covered gateway.
* **Gateway Towers** : These two gate towers are not the same height. The one to the left of the drawbridge is 120 feet tall, while the one to the right is 80 feet.

### **2 - Lower Courtyard**

* White snow blankets the ground in this courtyard. On the north side are two sets of massive doors constructed out of ice.

### **3 - Stables**

* This place stinks of some kind of droppings and rotted flesh. Cracked bones cover the floor. Four wyverns stride into view, their tails lashing back and forth, each of them making low gutteral noises.

### **4 - Ogre Barracks**

* 3 rooms. Top right room is storage and where all weapons from visitors are being stored.

(Level 0)

### **6 - Dungeon**

1. (Level 0)
	1. 4 accessible cells for low risk prisoners
2. (Level 1)
	1. 3 drop down hatches for 3 cells
	2. Guard post table

### **7 - Broken Tower**

1. (Level 0)
	1. Contains stores of simple food stuffs for sieges
	2. Table in this room seems to contain a simple guard rotation schedule.
		1. Rezmir's daily briefing is on this table
		2. Guards should rotate out every 4 hours.
		3. Daily reminder to tell the Ogres to enter the Wizard's tower. The doors are magically trapped. If you need medical attention, just KNOCK first
		4. Extra beds for sleeping
		5. Daily reminder to the ogres to NOT venture into the vault. Glazhael ate the last one of you that did that
2. (Level 1)
	1. Multiple barrels full of ballista ammo.
	2. Extra catapult rounds
	3. Simple table for eating

### **8 - High Blue Tower**

* Level 4. This area can teleport you to Esclarotta's tomb.
* Contains a telescope. Simple telescope. Nothing more.

### **9 - Wizards Tower**

* This tower is home to the two Wizards. They are the "medical" staff for Jupiter. Disgraced former members of the Storm of the Strong, these two have fallen into the good graces of Jupiter. In exchange for shelter and a safe haven, these two have agreed to provide medical and magical services for the castle. Unknown to Jupiter, however, is that these two wizards are now evil servants of Orcus. They are necromancers that steal the corpses of fallen Ogres and reanimate them. Eventually, these two wish to kill Jupiter and claim Skyreach Castle for themselves.

* Level 0
	+ A giant skull is at the northern end of this room. Etched onto the forehead is a very familiar symbol. (A skull on top of a rod: Symbol of Orcus)
	+ The opposite side of the room contains 2 cages, with dried blood smeared on the floor. The cages are both empty, save for a few small bones. (If an Ogre was brought down here, the Ogre will be kept in the cage. He is currently deceased)
	+ This room is most likely where they store victims for their rituals on Level 4
* Level 1
	+ Rope ladder leading up to the staircase to the 2nd level
* Level 2
	+ In this chamber are various shelves and tables, containing numerous alchemical ingredients. On the eastern end of the room is a table with an open book. The table to the south has a few scrolls spread across the surface.
		- BOOK: This book is a chronicle of the wizards. It describes their journey since they were relinquished from the Storm of the Strong. They seem obsessed with Quorsandth and trying to make contact with him. They also seem interested in finding new portal sites, and using Jupiter's castle seemed like a good method for them to travel the world to try to find those sites.
		- SCROLLS: Scroll of Animate Dead, Scroll of Chill Touch
		- POTIONS: Various inert potions. 1 Potion of List of Poisons Midnight Tears
* Level 3
	+ Main chambers for the wizards.  Doors are protected by a 5th level glyph of warding (7d8 thunder dmg) DC 15 Dex saving throw
	+ Beds, chests, tables... nothing of real note or value up here.
	+ Staircase: goes up/down
* Level 4
	+ BOOKSHELF: Various embalming ichors. Minor spell reagents
	+ Summoning/ritual chamber. 5 large corpses lay on the ground in this chamber (one on each point of the pentagram). 5 Ogre Zombies. The 2 wizards MIGHT be present up here. Circumstance dependent
	+ TABLE: A small journal recounting how the various ogres ended up here
		- On the desk are a few silver rods with familiar engravings.
		- 1: Ogre died opened door. Glyph destroyed him instantly. Major arm restoration needed. Corpse successfully reanimated
		- 2: Ogre died in a ballista accident. Someone tried to shoot a barrel off of his head with a ballista. They missed. Massive damage to thorax and chest cavity. \*Note: need more leather and stitches during next visit to a store\*
		- 3: Ogre died wandering into vault. Massive external injuries. Massive frostbite. Some of Glazhael's teeth remain stuck in body
		- 4: Ogre died during a structural failure in one of the guest quarters. Half of skull crushed. Arms severely broken. Need to replenish supply of steel rods.
		- 5: Ogre died at Rezmir's hand. Disobeyed orders. Minor exterior damage. Heart destroyed. Easy to salvage corpse.

### **10 - Upper Courtyard**

* This is where the black market is taking place. There are various stalls and smaller vendors. But there are 5 large tents that stand out from the rest.

### **11 - Stone Giant's Chambers**

(Level 0)

* "Inside this frost glazed room are two braziers, burning with a bright blue flame. In the corner of the room stands a 9 foot tall table, carved out of deep blue and white ice, flanked by 2 giant sized chairs. Placed on top of the table is a fat cauldron etched with runes, and a scroll".
	+ The Scroll is a scroll of Stone Shape.
* In the bed chamber resides two mammoth sized beds, covered in a litany of furs. A massive iron chest rests in the far corner of the room.

1. Cauldron can be used to cast the Augury spell. HotDQ pg 79
2. Iron chest. Str check to open. Globe of force holds a load of gems. HotDQ pg 79

### **12 - Rezmir's Chamber**

(Level 0)

* "A large bear skin rug adorns the icy floor, with 4 small beds lining the eastern wall."
* "In this room is an inviting hearth, glowing embers still flickering. A large oak table stands atop an ornate rug."
* "A large rug covers the icy floor just inside the door of this 10-foot-high room, which is lit by a brazier of hot coals. A large bed rests in one corner, a desk in another. Resting atop the desk is a handsome, iron-banded chest secured with a sturdy padlock."

1. Rug is a rug of smothering.
2. Chest stats --> HotDQ pg 79

### **16 - Steering Tower**

* This is where the controls for the tower can be found
* The walls and ceilings gleam and glitter: jewels are everywhere in the room.  You see glowing moonstones, thumnb-sized emeralds, shining silvery mithral wands, and strange spheres covered in turquoise and gold, as well as dozens of copper levers and golden spheres embedded in the walls.  After a moment, the walls themselves seem to disappear, providing a perfecty aerial view in all directions, as if there were no castle and no cloudstuff around.  More than a dozen glowing white runes wink into existence, drifting about the room like snowflakes.

(level 6)

### **19 - Esclarotta's Tomb**

Accessible via Area 8. Speak command word "Esclarotta" to teleport (Level 0)

### **22 - Spirit Engine**

* Spirit Engine. Runes surround this deep blue flame.  Crossing the runes will trigger an alarm, awakening the golems.  The Spirit Engine will flare up causing a cold based fireball to erupt filling the whole room.  DC 14 Dex Check.

## **Castle Interior**

Unless stated otherwise, all doors are made of solid ice. On touch, the doors will "slide" open. They will crackle open.

### **Level 1**

1. Left
	1. Guard Room. Table and chairs with gambling supplies (dice and bones)
2. Right
	1. Guard Room. Table and chairs with gambling supplies (dice and bones)
3. Bottom
	1. sleeping area. Beds for Kobold servants

### **Level 2**

1. Left
	1. Storage. Food, sundries
2. Right
	1. Wine, beer, drinks storage
3. Middle
	1. Stair case. Cold ice gate (magical. Strong as steel. Locked. DC 18 to open)
4. Bottom
	1. High priced liquor. Standard ice door. Locked. DC 18 open.

### **Level 3**

1. Middle
	1. Cold ice gate (magical. Strong as steel. Locked. DC 18 to open).
	2. Spirit Engine. Runes surround this deep blue flame.  Crossing the runes will trigger an alarm, awakening the golems.  The Spirit Engine will flare up causing a cold based fireball to erupt, filling the whole room.  DC 14 Dex Check.
2. 1 o'clock
	1. Armory
3. 3 o'clock
	1. Smithy.
4. 6 o'clock
	1. Kobold/Ogre sleeping chambers
	2. Staircase to Rezmir's chambers
5. 9 o'clock
	1. Eating hall
6. 11 o'clock
	1. Kobold/Ogre sleeping chambers

### **Level 4**

1. Middle
	1. 7 Ice Golem statues are lined against the wall. Each of them represent various cloud giants
2. 1 o'clock
	1. Guest chamber
3. 2 o'clock
	1. Meeting room; small
4. 4 o'clock
	1. Guest chamber
5. 5 o'clock
	1. Guest chamber
6. 6 o'clock
	1. Small dining chamber
7. 7 o'clock
	1. Guard room. Ogre bolt launcher
	2. Room has ice pillars that allow for the bolter to shoot out into the hall
8. 8 o'clock
	1. Portcullis airlock.
	2. Portcullis is made out of deep blue ice. Strong as steel
9. 9 o'clock
	1. Guard room. Ogre bolt launcher
	2. Room has ice pillars that allow for the bolter to shoot out into the hall
	3. Latrine is located behind a curtain.
10. 11 o'clock
	1. Exotic guest chamber
11. 12 o'clock
	1. Guest quarters with alchemy lab

### **Level 5**

1. Middle
2. 1 o'clock
	1. Landing pad for Aerial Mounts. Locked ice door. DC 20 to open.
3. 3 o'clock
	1. Exotic guest chamber.
4. 6 o'clock
	1. Study
5. 8 o'clock
	1. Throne
6. 10 o'clock
	1. Formal dining
7. 12 o'clock
	1. Jupiter's Chamber

### **Level 6**

1. Middle
	1. Control station. Door is DC 25 to open. Key is found on Jupiter's person
	2. The "Control room" description can be found here
	3. Command runes
		1. Alarm
			* A noise akin to a howling wind alerts all non-deafened creatures in the castle
		2. All-Clear
			* A noise akin to a loud whisper signals an end to danger
		3. Anchor
			* The castle holds position on the ground or in the air. The castle remains stationary despite storms, wind, etc
		4. Cast Off
			* The castle is no longer anchored
		5. Drift
			* The castle drifts on the wind, effectively under no control
		6. Home
			* The castle returns to its place of origin
		7. North, South, East, and West
			* The castle moves in the specified cardinal direction. Touching two runes is possible for diagonal movement
		8. Rise
			* The castle rises at 10 f/s
		9. Sink
			* The castle sinks at 10 f/s
		10. Spin
			* The castle rotates gently clockwise; 1 rpm
		11. Widdershins
			* The castle rotates counter-clockwise; 1 rpm
		12. Veil
			* Fog materializes around the cloud, obscuring it
		13. Unveil
			* The fog dissipates
		14. Storm
			* The clouds around the castle darken and churn, becoming rumbling and thunderous over a brief period of time (1 min). During this time the calm rune cannot be activated. Once the thunderclouds have fully formed, the creature that activated the rune can use its action while standing in the steering chamber to target one creature it can see with a lightning bolt. The bolt has a range of 1,000 feet and can target one creature or unattended object. A creature targeted by the bolt must succeed on a DC 14 Dex saving throw or take 4d10 lightning damage.
		15. Calm
			* The clouds dissipate. Takes 1 min.
		16. View
			* The view switches between aerial and regular (exterior view on/off)

## **Glazhael's Lair**

### **Lair Actions**

Floor to ceiling ice. The deeper you progress, the more the party realizes that the floor is shimmering like the night sky. The ground and walls are inlaid with a fortune of gold and wealth.

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:

1. Freezing fog fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The fog spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. Each creature in the fog when it appears must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the fog takes 10 (3d6) cold damage. A wind of at least 20 miles per hour disperses the fog. The fog otherwise lasts until the dragon uses this lair action again or until the dragon dies.
2. Jagged ice shards fall from the ceiling, striking up to three creatures underneath that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The dragon makes one ranged attack roll (+7 to hit) against each target. On a hit, the target takes 10 (3d6) piercing damage.
3. The dragon creates an opaque wall of ice on a solid surface it can see within 120 feet of it. The wall can be up to 30 feet long, 30 feet high, and 1 foot thick. When the wall appears, each creature within its area is pushed 5 feet out of the wall's space; appearing on whichever side of the wall it wants. Each 10-foot section of the wall has AC 5, 30 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to acid, cold, necrotic, poison, and psychic damage. The wall disappears when the dragon uses this lair action again or when the dragon dies.

## **Potential Encounters**

1. Patrols
	1. Ogre, Ogre, Ogre Howdah (4 Kobolds)
	2. Ogre Bolt Launcher, Ogre Bolt Launcher, Ogre
2. Kitchen
	1. Griffon, Kobold x15
3. Castle
	1. Ice Golems x7 (Reskinned Flesh Golem. Cold Immunity instead of lightning)