Harpshield Castle

A round hill rises from the southeastern tip of the Ardeep Forest, standing tall above the surrounding grasslands and trees. From a distance it is unremarkable, with a dirt trail climbing its southern slope and then meandering down its eastern side. By climbing one of these two trails, one comes to the hill’s broad top and sees the ruins that stand there. They are the remnants of Harpshield Castle, so named for the crest carved on an arched bridge still connecting two sections of its ruined walls.
With the exception of a cylindrical stone tower, only the castle’s foundation walls remain. The stonework is clearly the stout and precise construction of dwarves, but it’s built to support a castle in human style. Over five hundred years of passing seasons erased all trace of the wood fortifications that stood atop these walls.
The ruins have been used as a landmark and campsite for those wandering the wilds, and as a home to a succession of nomads, bandits, and monsters. Most recently the ruins served as a winter meeting place for a large group of Gurs, nomadic humans who left the site about a decade ago. It was the Gurs who built the wooden structures now on the site.
A round hill rises from the southeastern tip of the Ardeep Forest, standing tall above the surrounding grasslands and trees. From a distance it is unremark¬able, with a dirt trail climbing its southern slope and then meandering down its eastern side. By climbing one of these two trails, one comes to the hill’s broad top and sees the ruins that stand there. They are the remnants of Harpshield Castle, so named for the crest carved on an arched bridge still connecting two sec¬tions of its ruined walls.
With the exception of a cylindrical stone tower, only the castle’s foundation walls remain. The stonework is clearly the stout and precise construction of dwarves, but it’s built to support a castle in human style. Over five hundred years of passing seasons erased all trace of the wood fortifications that stood atop these walls.
The ruins have been used as a landmark and camp¬site for those wandering the wilds, and as a home to a succession of nomads, bandits, and monsters. Most recently the ruins served as a winter meeting place for a large group of Gurs, nomadic humans who left the site about a decade ago. It was the Gurs who built the wooden structures now on the site.

Castle Locations

The foundation walls are 10 feet high and thick, but they are rough and easy to climb. Aboveground wooden structures have 10-foot-high ceilings and functional wooden doors and shuttered windows. The dungeons also have 10-foot-high ceilings. Dungeon doors are made of reinforced wood. All areas not subject to day¬light are unlit unless otherwise noted.

1. Harpshield Arch

The rising path to Harpshield Castle passes under a great stone arch that connects the foundations of the main curtain wall to the base of a detached tower to the south. The keystone of the arch is adorned with the eroded relief of a harp within a triangle of stars. A roofed wooden structure with several windows stands on the stones of the arch. North of the arch, a sizeable portion of the foundation wall has collapsed, leaving a gap partially obstructed by a heap of rubble.
Two orcs lazily watch this entrance from area 12. They shoot arrows from windows at any non-orcs spotted approaching the castle. Combat here quickly alerts all the ons in JUM ’>.

2. Western Gate

The path circles around the remains of the curtain wall and reaches what was once a west-facing gateway. A crude wooden gate fills the opening.
Gate: Orcs made a crude wooden gate to keep beasts out. A wooden bolt holds the gate shut. The gate is diffi¬cult to force open (Strength DC 15), but the bolt is easy to dislodge with thieves’ tools (Dexterity DC 10).
Creatures: Two orcs patrol area 3 every fifteen min¬utes. They keep an eye on the gate and go up each ramp (area 5) to look over the walls. The orc sentry at area 9 can see anyone entering the gate.

3. Castle Courtyard

The fire here is lit at night and smolders throughout the day. At night, it provides bright light for 30 feet and dim light for 30 more, although the tents block the light in some plat es.
Once paved in stone, the castle courtyard is now overgrown with weeds. A cluster of crude hide tents stand around a campfire in the southwestern part. In the middle, next to a circular stone well, a standard depicting an upturned crescent moon crossed by two slashes hangs from a pole topped with a human skull. A crude wooden hall stands against the north¬ern stretch of the curtain wall. A 40-foot-high tower stands in the northeast, and other wooden buildings stand toward the south. East of the well, a gap in the foundation wall leads to the base of what was once a large rectangular tower.
Creatures: The tents of the Fanged Moon tribe shelter the fifteen orc warriors that live in the castle. Normally, five rest in the tents, five idle in area 10, one is on sentry duty in area 9, two keep watch in area 12, and two patrol the curtain wall (areas 3 and 5).
Development: If the orcs come under attack here, orcs dispersed to other areas join the battle in 1d4 rounds (roll for each group). The ogre in area 4 joins the fight in a similar amount of time. Sezibul joins combat from area 16 in 3 rounds.
Well: The well has a 3-foot-tall stone wall around it, and a bucket on a 50-foot chain near it. The 7-foot-wide shaft drops 35 feet to the water through area 24.

4. Lutha’s Pen

Almost completely enclosed by the foundation wall, this space might once have been the base of a great tower. An enormous ring of rusted iron or steel juts from the eastern wall. Under¬neath is a pile of dried grass, bones, and fur.
Creature: When he was younger, Sezibul found a young female ogre whose head injury had rendered her little smarter than a beast. She became Sezibul’s loyal pet, and he named her Lutha. Between times they
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take her hunting, the orcs keep her confined here with a long chain and a massive iron collar (two locks; each Dexterity DC 15 to pick) lined with fur. Since she’s pre¬vented from wandering off, Lutha spends most of her time asleep, and the rest of it eating or watching the orcs at the camp in area 3. She has a club, and she can pick up fallen masonry to throw.
If Lutha is desperate, she can break free if she suc¬ceeds on two DC 20 Strength checks, pulling her chain and its anchoring ring out of the wall. If she does, she might use the chain as a weapon (as her club, but with a reach of 15 feet; if an attack deals a target 14 or more damage, the target falls prone).
Obstructed Trapdoor: The opening for a trapdoor in the southwest corner has been obstructed from below with a pile of masonry. It would take one person 4 hours to uncover the stairway to area 27.
5. Stone Ramps
A short stone ramp leads up to the curtain wall. Holes in the ramp might have been for posts for wooden structures.
The two-orc patrol from area 3 might be found on one of the ramps.
6. Old Latrine
This smelly, dirty wooden shack has several bloody hand prints on the door and the outer walls.
Set in the floor is a grid of wooden bars over area 22, which is 10 feet below. The grid is caked with filth. It can be pulled apart (Strength DC 15) or destroyed (AC 5; immune to poison, psychic, forced movement, all conditions; 35 hp).
7. Lift Trap
A wooden shack with an unusually large door juts out of the main building near the foundation wall. Its door leans open and partially unhinged beside its frame.
This room contains a crude wooden platform that was once moved to or from area 17 with a block-and-tackle mechanism. The lift no longer works, and the orcs have rigged the platform to collapse (DC 10 Intelligence [Search] to detect). If 100 or more pounds is placed on the platform, it collapses. Those on the platform then take 17 (3d6 bludgeoning damage) from falling 20 feet onto jagged rubble the orcs have piled in the area.
8. Entry Hall
This room contains two benches, two stools, and a stack of firewood in the northeast corner. On the wooden walls, among other obscene and disconcerting graffiti, are many drawings of an upturned crescent moon with two slashes, a bloody maul, and a scythe with a serrated blade.
9. Sentry Box
The wooden walls of this room have two arrow loops crudely cut into the west and south walls.
An orc from area 3 is on guard duty here, keeping watch on area 2 through the arrow loops.
10. Common Room
The fireplace here contains a small fire 50 percent of the time during the day and always at night. Then it provides bright light for 30 feet and dim light through¬out the room.
This room contains a huge stone fireplace, two long tables, several stools, and two sets of shelves. A pig carcass lies half eaten on one of the tables. Bones, bits of rotten food, and other debris litters the hall. The stench of rot is pervasive.
Creatures: Five orcs from area 3 prepare food, eat, and amuse themselves here.
Trapdoor: In the southeastern corner is a trapdoor that opens onto a stairway that leads down to area 17.
11. Arming Room
This room contains a table, several stools, and a weapon rack. Wooden stairs lead up to a door on the southern wall.
The rack holds a halberd, two short swords, a long sword, and a flail.

12. Arch Guard Hall

This elongated wooden room contains a couple stools. It has windows on the west and east walls, and a fireplace to the northeast. The southern wall has a wooden door in it.
Creatures: Two orcs from area 3 stay here to lazily keep an eye on both sides of the arch.
Development: Zukosh from area 13 joins a fight here in 1d4 rounds. He might even drive some pigs into this chamber to throw enemies off balance.

13. Pigsty

This whole place reeks of offal and rot. Crudely cut logs parti¬tion the southern section of this roofless area into several pig pens. In the northern part of the room are a watering trough and two mangers. A large water barrel stands in the north¬east corner. In the center of the northern wall, a short flight of wooden stairs ascends to a wooden door. In the northwestern corner, an arrow slit looks out on the path to the castle gates.
Zukosh, a normal orog, watches over eleven pigs here. If he thinks intruders are coming, he crouches behind the water barrel and ambushes them. The pigs do not fight, but might become obstacles.

14. Pantry

The banded wooden door is always locked (Strength DC 20 to break; Dexterity DC 20 to pick the lock).
This room has an earthy, spicy smell. It contains several chests, crates, sacks, and barrels.
The containers here hold wild potatoes, chestnuts, cured pork, sausages, blood puddings, and a few cured and spiced grick tentacles. The larger barrels contain watered beer, while smaller casks hold watered whiskey
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15. Lower Tower

The banded wooden door is always locked (Strength DC 20 to break; Dexterity DC 20 to pick the lock).
This area has a central pillar with a barrel near it. A circular wooden staircase leads 20 feet up to another floor made of wood mounted on massive oaken beams.
Creature: Two orogs guard this area. If battle breaks out here, Sezibul joins the fight 1d4 rounds later from the stairway. See area 16.
Barrel: The barrel contains water.
Trapdoor: Northeast of the central pillar is a trap¬door that opens to a ladder leading down the northern wall of area 18.

16. Upper Tower

This chamber has a conical shape due to the tower roof. Six windows open in the tower walls, although all are covered with leather curtains. Furnishings include a straw bed, a table, a chair, a small barrel, and a large wooden birdcage on a stand.
Creatures: Sezibul lives here. At the start of a fight, he blows a signal whistle.
Development: Sezibul’s whistle rouses Lutha in area 4, who bellows and moves to the tower door in area 15. She opens it, or if it’s still locked, tries to batter it open. Her actions alert the orcs in and around area 3. Lutha can’t fit into the tower, but 1d4 - 1 orcs (mini¬mum 0) arrive each round through the open tower door until all the orcs in the upper ruins have come to fight.
In response to a fight here or Sezibul’s whistle, one orog from area 17 comes through the trapdoor into area 15 in 1d4 rounds. The other orog there peeks through the trapdoor, then goes to warn Wartsnak (area 20).
Faced with the possibility of death, Sezibul flees by jumping out the window over the tower door. He lands on Lutha if she’s there, taking no damage. Otherwise, he falls 20 feet.
Barrel: The small barrel is half full, containing 2 gallons of strong, bitter beer.
Table: On the table are a stone mortar with a wooden pestle, several clay bowls with powdered herbs and spices, and various bones, skulls, and mummified animal parts. On a wooden trencher lie two pieces of a human-fist-sized blue-green eggshell (a grick’s). A silver cup encrusted with amethysts (150 gp) stands next to the trencher.
Treasure: Sezibul has a silver torc (65 gp) and a key ring on which he has keys to the pantry (area 14), the tower door (area 15), the tower basement (area 18), and Lutha’s collar. He also has a key to the chest in area 26.
17. Barracks
A fire is always lit in the fireplace here so the orogs can cook and provide embers to Wartsnak, who demands warmth. The fire provides bright light for 30 feet and dim light throughout the room.
Six stone pillars support the ceiling of this massive basement. Many straw beds, covered with woolen rugs and hides, are laid along the walls. The southern wall has a huge fireplace.
Creatures: Two orogs are resting here at all times. Trap Landing: Under the eastern staircase is an arched passage that leads to the bottom of a shaft con¬nected to area 7. Rubble has been piled there.
18. Tower Basement
The banded wooden door is always locked (Strength DC 20 to break; Dexterity DC 20 to pick the lock).
This square room has a central pillar around which is a loose pile of rope. A ladder leads to a trapdoor in the ceiling of the northeastern corner.
The pillar and the ropes are stained with blood.
19. Cells
The western part of this room is divided into two identical cells constructed of wooden bars. Each cell contains filthy piles of straw and a wooden bucket. The cells are open, chains and padlocks hanging loosely from the bars.
In the northern cell is the pale corpse of a human, whose bruised neck and stained clothes contrast with his serene expression in death.
Creature: Wartsnak strangled Alven Gissen, who is now a zombie. It attacks anyone in or near the cell.
Development: If combat occurs here, the zombies in area 21 arrive in 1 round. Wartsnak arrives from area 20 in 1d4 rounds.
Treasure: Alven wears a brass and silver symbol of Amaunator that Luc Sunbright gave him and Wartsnak left on the corpse. The symbol is worth 25 gp, and those who knew Alven in Daggerford recognize it.
20. Throne Room
Embers in the iron braziers here give off enough dim light to illuminate this room.
In the middle of the eastern wall of this room is a makeshift throne of stones, bones, severed heads, and skulls. Two iron braziers full of smoldering coals stand in the corners flanking the throne.
Creatures: Possessed by Baazka, Wartsnak broods on the throne while holding the Delimbiyr Bloke. He looks like a mighty albino orc, although his glowing red eyes betray his unnatural nature. The “pale chief” pre¬fers to stay underground to confront enemies.
Treasure: Wartsnak has the Delimbiyr Bloke.
He also wears a gold torc (250 gp), and his battleaxe appears new, bearing the flaming maul seal of Fire- hammer Hold.
21. Abandoned Storage
This room contains large wooden crates, mostly open or broken and empty.
Creatures: Four zombies, the remains of the human treasure-hunters who came here recently, lie hidden among the crates.
Secret Door: A pivoting slab of stone, 5 feet on each side and 6 inches thick, can be opened in the wall 5 feet above the floor. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Search) check while investigating the room can spot the door’s seam.
The secret door leads to a tunnel. At the other end, it is 5 feet above the floor of area 33.
22. Isolation Cell
This reeking cell has a depressedfloor, and it is full of rotting waste and filth.
The floor is 3 feet below the hall. Inside, partially cov¬ered by mud and filth, is the body of an elf who was tortured to death.
23. Grick Trap
A makeshift but sturdy-looking barrier of logs blocks the cor¬ridor. Two narrow windows pierce the barrier.
Creature: The first time the characters approach this area, the corridor is empty. The second time they come here, a grick is in the isolated corridor. If attacked from the opposite side of a barrier, the grick tries to get at its attackers for 2 rounds, then retreats.
Barriers: The orcs placed two 4-foot-thick log bar¬riers to close off this corridor and the grick tunnels it leads to. Each barrier is braced in place and has poles for moving on the outside. A successful Strength check
is required to move the barrier aside (DC 25 from the inside, DC 15 from the outside).
The passageway beyond the barrier is stained with yellow-green ichor and dark blood, as well as shattered arrows and a few broken spears.
Grick Tunnels: Two 4-foot-wide circular passages open in the south wall near the floor.
24. Well Passage
During daylight hours, the closed double doors here let in a little light around their seams. The well area itself is full of bright light in this case.
A shaft has been carved into the floor here.
The well passage is open, the shaft dropping 15 feet to the water. In the ceiling, the well shaft goes to the sur¬face 13 feet above, counting the well wall in area 3. The wall is slippery, so it’s not easy to climb (DC 10 Strength [Athletics]) up to or down from area 3.
25. Abandoned Tavern
This room contains the remains of tables and chairs, shelves, crates, empty bottles, and small kegs. A banded wooden door stands closed in each wall.
Three once-human zombies stand in place until a non- orc enters the area. Then they attack.
26. Orc Treasure Room
This chamber holds a large iron chest and seven casks. The area smells of beer.
Casks: Each cask contains 5 gallons of strong, bitter beer and bears a stylized flaming maul branded on its side, the symbol of Firehammer Hold.
Chest: The chest is locked (Dexterity DC 15 to pick the lock). It contains a pouch with 35 gp, a sack with 205 sp, a wooden coffer with 12 gems (25 gp each), and a jet statuette of a female orc with enormous claws on her hands (the orc goddess Luthic, 150 gp).
Also inside is a large roll of new parchment. The sheet is a map of the Daggerford region, originally keyed in Common. Filarion Filvendorson can identify this map, which he helped the treasure seekers prepare.
In Orcish using Dwarven runes, territory on the map is marked as a “new domain” (it’s land to be given to the orcs after the Red Wizards come to power). The area includes all the land between the Ardeep Forest and the Forlorn Hills, including the House of Stone as a for¬tress. Bloodgate Keep is noted much like Harpshield is: it seems to be an important but unnamed site for future orc holdings.
27. Warehouse
The western door leading to this room has been boarded shut (Strength DC 25 to break). Each of the six boards can be pried loose (Strength DC 10, or auto¬matic using a crowbar or similar tool).
The floor of this room is littered with wooden wreckage from various broken crates, pallets, and chests. A spider the size of a dog crouches in the dust near the northern wall. A stone staircase ascends to a pile of rubble in the southwest corner. In the southern wall is a 5-foot-wide circular tunnel.
Creatures: A grick is hiding on the stairs near the rubble when the characters arrive.
Rubble: At the top of the stairs is a pile of masonry that obstructs an open trapdoor into area 4. It would take one person 4 hours to remove all the rubble and create an exit.
Secret Door: Hidden in the eastern wall is a narrow secret door (DC 15 Intelligence [Search] to find) that leads to a tunnel 5 feet wide and 8 feet tall.
Spider: The “spider” is actually the desiccated exo¬skeleton of a monstrous specimen.
28. Grick Burrows
This small chamber has been excavated in stony earth. It has multiple circular tunnels exiting from it. The floor is littered with masonry, gravel, and loose dirt.
Creatures: Each time the characters spend more than a few moments in 28a and 28b, there is a 50 per¬cent chance that a grick squeezes through one of the hidden tunnels and attacks.
Exit Tunnels: The westernmost tunnel out of area 28a is 5 feet wide and eventually reaches the grick hole on the surface. The easternmost tunnel out of area 28b is similar, but it leads to area 29.
Ground Tunnels: Hidden under the debris in each cave is a smaller tunnel, 2 to 3 feet wide, that leads downward. These tunnels lead to the Underdark, and possibly to a larger grick lair.
29. Grick Hatchery
A heap of masonry rubble fills the south half of this large burrow. Larger pieces of masonry lie in other parts of the room. Rainwater filtering from above keeps this area damp, and a blanket of dimly glowing yellow-green mold covers parts of the floor. Among the furry fungus are several oblong blue-green eggs the size of a human fist.
Creatures: Three gricks guard the hatchery. If anyone takes or destroys an egg, all the gricks focus their attacks on that creature.
Development: If anyone takes an egg from this area, five gricks emerge from the ground tunnel in 1 minute. They pursue the stolen egg, attacking its carrier and killing anything else in their path. If a grick recov¬ers the stolen egg, the grick brings the egg back to the hatchery. The remaining gricks, instinctively seeking to remove the threat to their nest, fan out to attack non- gricks in the area.
30. Grick Burrow
This small chamber has been excavated in stony earth. A cir¬cular tunnel exits each of the east and west walls.
The exit tunnels are 5 feet wide.
31. Empty Room
This small room seems empty except for a piece of fallen masonry in the northwestern corner. The air here is stale.
32. Dead Portal
This room contains two tall bookcases on the east wall, a table near the north wall, and bronze braziers at the four corners. In the middle of the south wall is an archway that opens into a blank wall.
Creatures: Two shadows lurk in the archway.
Portal Arch: The arch was once a portal. If a detect magic spell is used, the portal still radiates faint trans-
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Shelves: The shelves contain books and scrolls, now desiccated and faded, which crumble to dust if touched.
33. Antechamber
The walls of this room are dressed white stone and contain several empty niches. A stairway near the middle of the north wall is choked with rubble. Another passage leads north at the west end of the room.

34. False Treasure Room

This room contains a large chest, open and full of coins, and a display stand on which rests a small crystal decanter.
Secret Door: In the northeastern corner is a swivel¬ing stone slab hidden in the wall (DC 15 Intelligence [Search] to find). It opens into area 35.
Treasure: The chest holds 230 sp and 790 cp. The decanter (25 gp) contains four doses of potion of poison labeled as potion of healing.

35. Old Treasure Room

This room contains two small chests, three display stands, three large clay urns, and a bench, on which sits a gilded, life¬sized statue of a cat.
Creature: The cat statue radiates conjuration magic if examined with a detect magic spell. If touched, the statue shatters, magically releasing a tiger that attacks.
Treasure: The first chest contains 93 ep and 342 sp, and the second chest contains 136 gp and 44 gems (25 gp each; 1,100 gp total). One stand holds a suit of +1 chain mail, another holds a +1 warhammer, and the third holds a spellguard shield. All the urns are old Kingdom of Man artwork (10 pounds each; 100 gp each, although Duke Maldwyn will pay up to twice that).

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  Harpshield Castle

Тип

Castle