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| + | /* À compléter */ | ||
| + | ====== Fort-Terreur ====== | ||
| + | {{dreadhold.jpg }} | ||
| + | The prison island of Fort-Terreur rests off the northern rangels of [[Cape Far]]. It was first established by [[Karrn le Conquérant]] as a place for exiling overthrown rulers or aristocrats who have fallen from favor, it was eventually converted by the early [[Galifar]] kings into an almost inescapable prison for those too important to execute and too dangelrous to be left free. The Nains of [[Maison Kundarak]] maintain the prison, which houses the most dangelrous criminals from across the continent, including numerous war prisoners sent here for wartime atrocities. Most of the Nains consider a tour of duty at Fort-Terreur to be equivalent to exile, but the bearers of the [[Marque de la Protection]] make sure the prison stays secure despite the drabness of the place. Rumors persist that an important prisoner from [[Karrnath]] is imprisoned here, and that the Nains use the prisoners to mine [[Khyber]] dragon shards from deep chasms beneath the island. | ||
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| + | The prison island of Dreadhold floats off the northern reaches of Cape Far. Established first by Karrn the Conqueror as a place for exiling deposed rulers or courtiers fallen from favor, it was converted by the early Galifar kings into a nigh-inescapable prison for those too important to execute and too dangerous to be left free. The dwarves of House Kundarak manage the prison, which holds the most dangerous criminals from across the continent, including a number sent here for wartime atrocities. Most of the dwarves consider a tour of duty at Dreadhold to be tantamount to exile, but the bearers of the Mark of Warding make sure the prison stays secure despite the bleakness of the place. Rumors persist that an important prisoner from Karrnath is interred here, and that the dwarves use the prisoners to mine Khyber dragonshards from deep chasms beneath the island. | ||
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| + | The prison island of Dreadhold rests off the northern ranges of Cape Far. It was first established by Karrn the Conqueror as a place for exiling overthrown rulers or aristocrats who have fallen from favor, it was eventually converted by the early Galifar kings into an almost inescapable prison for those too important to execute and too dangerous to be left free. The dwarves of House Kundarak maintain the prison, which houses the most dangerous criminals from across the continent, including numerous war prisoners sent here for wartime atrocities. Most of the dwarves consider a tour of duty at Dreadhold to be equivalent to exile, but the bearers of the Mark of Warding make sure the prison stays secure despite the drabness of the place. Rumors persist that an important prisoner from Karrnath is imprisoned here, and that the dwarves use the prisoners to mine Khyber dragon shards from deep chasms beneath the island. | ||
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| + | Dragon #344 | ||
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| + | Just north of Cape Far, a barren rock juts out of the Lhazaar Sea. A massive fortress dominates this island, a citadel hidden by a clinging shroud of dark mists and protected by the powers of the strange black stone from which it is hewn. This is the prison of Dreadhold, built to hold criminals too dangerous to be kept within the Five Nations. More than just a prison, Dreadhold is a stronghold of House Kundarak, and many treasures are hidden in its secret vaults. There are many ways to work Dreadhold into a campaign. | ||
| + | A party of adventurers might need to speak to a prisoner held in one of the deepest cells. They might be paid—or blackmailed— to extract an inmate from the jail or a priceless treasure from the vaults of the house. An ancient evil might escape from the prison to threaten the world anew, or perhaps the adventurers find themselves imprisoned. Can they discover a way to escape from this supposedly inescapable fortress? | ||
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| + | Background | ||
| + | Two thousand years ago, Karrn the Conqueror founded a prison colony on an island he called Blackrock. He used it as a place of exile but did not build a true prison. The dissidents and criminals stranded on the island lived in a small thorp that has since evolved into the village of Gaolgate. Over the years, a few of the later kings of Karrnath made use of the island, but it was largely ignored. As the Lhazaar Princes spread out across the region, the people of Blackrock were either taken as slaves or became subjects of the princes, and eventually the island fell empty again. | ||
| + | Centuries passed before Blackrock came back into the public eye. King Galifar I was more of a diplomat than his ancestor, Karrn the Conqueror, and even as he fought his war of conquest he realized he would need a place to hold hostages and political prisoners, people too important to kill but too dangerous to be kept close at hand. During his wars in the Ironroot Mountains, Galifar encountered the dwarves of Clan Kundarak and saw their skills with traps and fortifications. | ||
| + | Soon after, he recruited a band of Kundarak dwarves to build his prison and assist in securing it. Within a century, Clan Kundarak had become House Kundarak. Backed by the power of the other dragonmarked houses, the Kundarak barons convinced Galifar l's weaker willed grandson to cede the fortress to the dwarves who built it. The renamed island of Dreadhold became part of the territory of House Kundarak, for as long as they continued to serve the Kingdom of Galifar. | ||
| + | This arrangement continued for almost eight hundred years. With each passing century, the dwarves expanded the prison, adding new levels and new warding spells. Architects added vaults to the fortress and magical workshops where artificers and wizards could work on secretive projects of the house. Today, Dreadhold is an important enclave of House Kundarak, second only to the capital city of Korunda Gate. | ||
| + | In 896 AR, the Kingdom of Galifir collapsed into civil war. It soon became dear there would be no swift end to this conflict In 900 AR, the Lord Warden of Dreadhold, Zaxon d' | ||
| + | Today, the present prisoners of Dreadhold include deposed Lhazalar princes, heirs who betrayed the dragonmarked houses, war criminals, and insurgents from across the Five Nations. Some say Zaxon has made mysterious and unknowable arrangements with the High King of Valenar and has had dark dealings with the Inspired lords of Sarlona. | ||
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| + | Inmates | ||
| + | Dragon #344 | ||
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| + | Briar the Greensinger | ||
| + | CG male half-elf ranger 3/bard 10 | ||
| + | Briar the Greensinger spent decades wandering the eastern Eldeen Reaches and Aundair, raising spirits and encouraging the farmers and plainsfolk to rise up against the absentee nobles. His actions set the wheels of secession in motion, ultimately resulting in the great split of 958 AR. Even then, Briar was not satisfied, though, and he continued to roam the borders, darting into Aundair and embarrassing the queen with his words and deeds. The crown devoted considerable resources to capturing the insurgent, and in 968 ARhe was brought to justice. The queen knew Briar was a folk hero, and his execution might make him a martyr. Instead, he was sent to Dreadhold, where he sits in a magically silent cell. He has not heard a sound in thirty years. A lesser man might have been driven mad by this experience, but Briar can still hear music in his head, giving him the strength to carry on. | ||
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| + | Castal d’Bombardier | ||
| + | CE male human artificer 18/Heir of Siberys 2 | ||
| + | Castal d’Bombardier is one of the most brillant artificers House Bombardier has ever produced, and one of the most dangerous. Born in 645 yk, Castal became enthralled with the Traveler and claimed to receive his inspiration from the enigmatic deity. Admitted to the Twelve at merely eleven years old, within a few years it became clear his talent outstripped the senior members of the institute. He produced constructs and items of artifact quality, which others in his organization found impossible to duplicate. Despite his incredible abilities, his first love was chaos. In 662 yk, he triggered a wave of disasters involving mind-controlled agents, constructs scattered across Khorvaire, and other powerful magic items he had made “for the benefit of society.” The Twelve and the Arcane Congress joined forces to stop the terrors, and in 663 yk, they brought Castal to justice. The advocates of House Bombardier convinced the others to not kill Castal, in case they ever needed his uncanny abilities again. Far too dangerous to roam freely, he was committed to the Stone Ward of Dreadhold. The guards of Dreadhold have revived Castal twice in the past three centuries, the second time, he nearly escaped. A genius, given enough time Castal can turn any situation to his advantage. Anyone who revives him takes a terrible chance, and if Castal escapes he could prove a danger to all of Khorvaire. | ||
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| + | General Kolas Verdgrin | ||
| + | LE male human marshall 7 /fighter 3 | ||
| + | Brillant and charismatic, | ||
| + | Kolas resides in the Gold Ward. Now in his early forties, he is a handsome and well-spoken man. He conceals his ruthless temperament beneath a facade of charm. Kolas still has loyal followers in Breland who believe his ruthless temperament is required to lead Breland to dominance. | ||
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| + | Kotharel the Harvester | ||
| + | LE 30 HD radiant idol | ||
| + | Dreadhold was built to contain the most dangerous criminals on Khorvaire, mortal or otherwise. Kotharel is a radiant idol (see Sharn: City of Towers, page 180), a mighty angel banished from the plane of Syrania and condemned to walk Eberron for eternity. Kotharel claims to be a lord of death, the right hand of the dark god known as the Keeper. Exiled to Eberron in 710 AR, Kotharel soon established a cult of murderers who “harvested” innocent lives in its name. Kotharel’s cult survived for 23 years before the knights of Dol Arrah finally found the renegade angel. The battle that followed shook the foundations of Metrol, until at last the knights brought down the radiant idol. But death would not take the Harvester. After all efforts to destroy Kotharel came to naught, those who defeated it brought the fallen angel to Dreadhold and imprisoned it in a dead cell. | ||
| + | Kotharel provides characters with a chance to talk to a powerful outsider under controlled circumstances. Should it be released, it could become a deadly enemy or powerful ally, although any alliance with Kotharel likely ends in betrayal. Kotharel uses the radiant idol statistics provided in Sharn: City of Towers, with a few additions: Its domain is Death. Despite possessing 30 Hit Dice, Kotharel is Large as opposed to Huge. It adds the Keeper’s fang property to any weapon it wields. Finally, it cannot be killed. It possesses regeneration 5 with no vulnerabilities and immunity to all death effects. It eventually even reforms from disintegration effects. All forms of damage become nonlethal damage. | ||
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| + | Melysse Miron | ||
| + | LE female human cleric 11 (cleric 21 in flamekeep) | ||
| + | In 497AR Melysse Miron challenged the Keeper of the Flame for control of the church of Thrane. Born a peasant, Melysse claimed she heard the voice of Tira Miron, the Voice of the Silver Flame, who revealed that Melysse was her direct descendant and the rightful Keeper. She challenged many of the existing doctrines of the church, claiming it had strayed from its proper path. Initially, divination magic failed to prove or disprove her story, but eventually the truth was revealed. Melysse was the chosen hand of the Shadow in the Flame, the demon lord bound beneath Flamekeep. Melysse and her followers were brought to justice after a brief but bloody conflict, but the Council of Cardinals chose not to kill her, as church diviners believed that if she were slain the dark voice would find a new agent. Instead, she was sent to the Stone Ward of Dreadhold, there to remain for eternity. | ||
| + | Melysse has been held in Dreadhold for over five hundred years and has never been revived. She is a skilled orator and experienced cleric on her own, but within the confines of Flamekeep she gains access to the power of her dark lord, making her extremely dangerous. The church, meanwhile, has stricken all mention of Melysse from their records and only the highest ranking clergy know of her existence. | ||
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| + | Saeria Lantol | ||
| + | NE female elven lich necromancer 12 | ||
| + | Saeria is an elven lich from the island of Farlnen. In 545 AR, she became a leader of the Talons of Ice, a cable of necromancers who serve Lady Vol. In the middle of the sixth century, Erandis de Vol sent the Talons to spread fear and death across the Five Nations. Initial success made her overconfident, | ||
| + | Saeria has been chained to the wall of a deep cell for over four hundred years. She does not require food or water, and as a result has had no contact with living beings since she was imprisoned. | ||
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| + | Zurgul | ||
| + | N Male mongrelfolk commoner 1 | ||
| + | Originally from Sharn, poor blind Zurgul was born with two rare—if not unique—gifts: | ||
| + | Soon after his gift for prophecy was discovered he was “rescued” from the squalor of home Fallen by a member of Sharn’s ruling council (though not even Zurgul will reveal which one). This employment lasted for as long as Zurgul’s fi rst ill foretelling, | ||
| + | Upon landing, the mongrelfolk learned the painful nature of his second gift, and his body painfully mended on the floor of Vallia Towers. | ||
| + | It took the blind creature a week to return to his master’s side, and when he did, he was quickly thrown out the window again, this time warded with spells that would foil feather fall. When Zurgul returned again, his death was far more painful and graphic. It was only then that the councilmember fully realized the full extent of the Zurgul predicament. Since he could not seem to kill Zurgul, the councilmember exiled the poor mongrelfolk to Dreadhold Prison. Zurgul has dwelled in Dreadhold prison for almost a decade. | ||
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| + | The prison island of Dreadhold rests off the northern ranges of Cape Far in the Lhazaar Principalities. First established by Karrn the Conqueror as a place for exiling overthrown rulers or aristocrats who have fallen from favor, it was eventually converted by the early Galifar kings into an almost inescapable prison for those too important to execute and too dangerous to be left free. | ||
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| + | The dwarves of House Kundarak maintain the prison, which houses the most dangerous criminals from across the continent, including numerous prisoners from the Last War sent here as punishment for wartime atrocities. Most of the dwarves consider a tour of duty at Dreadhold to be equivalent to exile, but the bearers of the Mark of Warding make sure the prison stays secure despite the drabness of the place. Rumors persist that an important prisoner from Karrnath is interred here, and that the dwarves use the prisoners to mine Khyber dragonshards from deep chasms beneath the island. | ||
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| + | The Fortress | ||
| + | At the end of a long path stands a massive fortress shrouded in shadow. This shadow has the effect of a permanent Mordenkainen’s private sanctum; people within can see out, but even darkvision cannot penetrate it. This effect also makes it difficult to scry into Dreadhold. | ||
| + | Dreadhold only has one gate. A few barred windows and narrow slits break the smooth surface of the upper towers. People who pass through the front gate must walk down a hallway to the inner gate, where three elite and six regular guards keep the area under constant observation. A permanent antimagic field covers the central 20 feet of the hallway. This field serves to reveal the presence of invisible intruders or disrupt magical disguises, resulting in immediate action on the part of the guards. | ||
| + | The interior of Dreadhold is as desolate as the island itself. It is built using the smooth dark stone of the cliffs, and the design is grim and functional. The only decorations are the seals of House Kundarak and the (now defunct) Kingdom of Galifar. The upper levels are illuminated by everbright lanterns, but there are no lights beneath the surface. The guards rely on darkvision, and the prisoners in the deep cells are left in the darkness. | ||
| + | All of the walls, floors, ceilings, and doors of Dreadhold are strengthened by the effects of the manifest zone (see below). In most cases, the doors are simply strong wood, and an arcane seal enhances those of any consequence. Truly important doors, such as those in the Deep Ward and those separating the prison wards, are instead made of adamantine. | ||
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| + | The Wards | ||
| + | Dreadhold is divided into a number of wards for the incarceration of prisoners with differing security levels and social status. | ||
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| + | The Red Ward | ||
| + | As the primary prison complex, this is where most prisoners are held. The Red Ward is designed to hold up to three hundred prisoners, and currently averages two hundred. Prisoners are kept two to a cell. They spend most of their time there but are usually brought out in 4-hour shifts for work duty and recreation. Work typically involves small groups, chained together, mining below Dreadhold, from where Khyber dragonshards are erratically produced. Depending on their talents, prisoners might perform other forms of menial or even skilled labor. A workshop in the ward allows trusted prisoners to practice their trades. Any large work detail is accompanied by a wand guard, an elite guard, two guards, a scout, and a slaughterstone eviscerator. | ||
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| + | The Golden Ward | ||
| + | The Golden ward is designed for the comfort of its inmates. This is the usual destination for exiled nobles or powerful people imprisoned for political reasons as opposed to criminal actions. It is designed to hold eighty prisoners, and currently holds forty-three. Cells are designed for single occupancy and include well-appointed furnishings, | ||
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| + | The Stone Ward | ||
| + | Some prisoners are too dangerous to allow any sort of freedom—yet for some reason, execution is not an option. These prisoners are kept in the Stone Ward. Flesh to stone transforms the malefactor into a statue, after which he is taken to one of the seventeen vaults of the ward. | ||
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| + | In addition to criminals, there are a few people who have voluntarily chosen to become inmates of the Stone Ward. Some are afflicted with strange curses that cannot be cured in the present age. Others merely want to outlive certain problems. Most notably, a number of people went into “stone sleep” during the Last War, with orders that they be resuscitated once the conflict came to an end (the warden is still deciding whether or not it has ended or merely taken a pause). While this could be done anywhere, by engaging the services of Kundarak, a client knows her body is safe during her “sleep”. A petrified character receives all of the benefits the manifest zone provides to stone objects; the effects of the zone do not block stone to flesh. | ||
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| + | Currently, one hundred and seventy-five prisoners and thirty-two voluntary sleepers reside in the Stone Ward. | ||
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| + | The Deep Ward | ||
| + | The most dangerous convicts in Dreadhold are held in the cells that lie beneath the prison. There is only one path to this lower level: a shaft that extends 100 feet into the earth. Its smooth walls are coated with grease, but a levitating metal cage allows travelers to move between the two levels. The controls for the cage reside in the observation post at the top of the shaft, and the magewright on duty does not allow the cage to return to the surface if there are any signs of trouble in the lower staging area. | ||
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| + | No light sources exist in the Deep Ward, and inhabitants without darkvision are forced to wander blindly. There are one hundred cells, and prisoners are generally held one to a cell. Over the centuries, a number of the cells have been imbued with magic to counter abilities prisoners might possess. Spellcasters might be bound in heavy hand manacles and placed in silent cells, chambers bathed in magical silence. Creatures with dangerous innate magical abilities can be incarcerated in one of the dead cells, which lie within the radius of an antimagic field. There are only six dead cells, and currently no artificers or wizards in House Kundarak can reproduce this effect. These special cells are reserved for magical beings that cannot be bound any other way. | ||
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| + | There is no recreation or work for those in the Deep Ward. They remain in their cells for the duration of their sentences. Food and water are passed into the chambers through narrow passages with two locked doors so the prisoner never has direct access to the outside. Even if an inmate does escape from his cell, a number of physical doors and walls of force divide the halls. | ||
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| + | Currently, forty living prisoners reside in the Deep Ward. There are also six petrified prisoners—people too dangerous to be trusted even to the Stone Ward. | ||
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| + | The Vaults | ||
| + | Although not a ward for holding prisoners, the vaults are secured like any other. As a stronghold of House Kundarak, the western side of Dreadhold is devoted to house operations. This includes mystical workshops, luxurious living quarters for visiting nobles, and massive vaults for storing treasures of the house, its clients, and the personal belongings of inmates. These treasure vaults have many of the same protections as the deep cells. In addition to ordinary defenses, the vaults are shielded with forbiddance attuned to creatures of lawful neutral alignment. There is no password to bypass this protection, but the house possesses a supply of twenty silver amulets. Anyone wearing one of these amulets can avoid taking damage from the spell, regardless of alignment. These amulets are stored in the protected area and brought out when they are needed. | ||
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| + | The ward also contains a nexus with three extradimensional vaults. These can be attuned to the Kundarak vault system (described on page 234 of the EBERRON Campaign Setting). Many of the supplies of the prison are delivered through these vaults. If the prison comes under attack, the dwarves start passing the most valuable treasures to other Kundarak facilities through these special vaults. | ||
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