THE CORAL CASTLE
The trick about an undersea castle is that anyone who wants to can come right up to it from almost any aboveground angle that they like. It’s as if everyone in the area can simply fly right on in.
Of course, the coral castle’s main means of defense is that it’s underwater. This immediately cuts down on the variety of people or creatures that can even enter the place. As such, this coral castle doesn’t concern itself overly much with security, at least from an architectural point of view. Guards patrol the perimeter, but they know that their chances of stopping a massive invasion force determined to get into the castle are slim.
Stronghold Size: 45 stronghold spaces
Total Stronghold Cost: 375,000 gp
Room Descriptions
Modify the descriptions given below as appropriate for your campaign.
Dining Room
When it’s time to eat, all sea elves whose duties do not require them to be elsewhere—such as the guards on patrol—gather here in this large hall. The sea elves dine on various forms of seaweed and the freshest of fish, much of which is caught by guards on patrol.
Kitchen
This luxury kitchen is where all the sea elves’ food is prepared. The food prep is actually done on a table of safe meals, ensuring that the fish served is never poisonous. Six people work in this part of the stronghold.
Stables
The sea elves feed their porpoise mounts in this basic stable, although they cannot keep such creatures stationary for long, as the creatures must periodically surface to breathe. Still, the tamed porpoises use these stables as rendezvous points with their riders, returning periodically to check in. A stable hand works in each of these places.
Guard Post
Two guards are in each of these places around the clock. At night, one of each pair wears use goggles of night so that they can spot any intruders trying to sneak in under the cover of darkness.
Barracks
Most guards sleep in these places, ten per area. Some guards prefer simply to bed down in the nearby kelp, but most nights those who are off duty can be found snoring peacefully away down her
Privy
Even underwater, these privies must be emptied several times a day.
Servants’ Quarters
The servants sleep in these rooms, six to an area. Each section has its own entry through the kelp roof, offering each servant some semblance of privacy
Guest Bedrooms
These fancy bedrooms are occupied only occasionally. Such guests usually have a guard or two posted above the room. This feature is ostensibly to ensure the visitors’ safety, but also allows the guards to keep tabs on the guests.
Butler’s Quarters
This fancy bedroom suite is where the butler rests his head. The butler spends most of his time in the office (area 16), which he shares with the owner when she’s around.
Captain’s Quarters
The captain of the guard sleeps in this fancy bedroom suite when not on duty. Otherwise, she can usually be found either checking in with the guards on patrol or poking around a bit farther out to sea to see what the tide might be bringing his way.
Owner’s Quarters
The owner makes this luxury bedroom suite her home—when she’s around. A pair of guards is always stationed above this area when the owner is around. The sea elves may be a bit blasé about security, but they know that protecting their leader is of the utmost importance.
Owner’s Privy
This luxurious privy is the owner’s private place. A servant is available here around the clock to keep the place pristinely clean and to meet the lady’s needs.
Armory
The sea elves keep their arms and armor in this fancy armory when not in use.
Vault
This area is the only space in the place with a real door, made of iron and protected with an improved arcane lock. Only the owner, the butler, and the captain of the guard can bypass the lock. Inside are the castle’s great treasures as well as any magic items not in current use.
Office
The owner and the butler share this luxury office, mostly because the owner spends as little time in here as possible. The butler keeps the whole place running smoothly from his desk in the corner of this space.
Trophy Room
This fancy trophy room displays the prizes won by the owner in her adventures, as well as those gathered by the rest of the elves who live here. This room has no door or a lock, but the guards make a point of patrolling it regularly, mostly because many of them have trophies of their own on display here too.
The Basics
A female sea elf adventurer and her staff occupy the coral castle. Like most elves, the water-breathing variety tries to live in harmony with their environment. While they aren’t averse to carving their home out of coral, they do know two things about this substance.
First, coral is hard, the equivalent of cutting through solid stone. This makes tunneling through it difficult, though not impossible.
Second, coral is actually alive. As such, the sea elves prefer to do as little damage to it as they deem necessary.
Most of the stronghold spaces in a sea elf castle are carved fully or partially out of the living coral. They are then roofed, if necessary, with a fabric made of tightly woven kelp (the equivalent to wood). Doors are usually cut into this fabric, and the rooms are entered from the top.
Many rooms don’t have manufactured roofs at all, instead being carved out of the side of the reef. In such cases, at least one wall is left open. This area is sometimes covered with the woven kelp, as the occupant prefers.
Though sea elves have low-light vision, they cannot see in the dark. They often carry continual flame torches or lanterns to light their way, and continual flames burn in each area as well.
To get from place to place within the stronghold, the sea elves simply swim along out in the open. No tunnels connect the areas, and the sea elves are generally unafraid of the local fauna giving them trouble.
Getting In
Assuming you can swim like a fish and breathe underwater, getting into the coral castle is as easy as a tropical current. All you have to do is swim up to the place. Of course, getting past the guards is something else entirely.
Defense
Sea elf guards astride Large (6 HD) porpoise mounts patrol the coral castle around the clock. They stop anyone who comes near and then inquire about their business. If the visitors have a legitimate reason for being there, the guards escort them to the owner of the place—or the captain of the guard if the owner is not around.
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