An Awful Castle full of Terrible People

Castle Ingwoe

A recently rebuilt keep held by the terrible Lord Ingwoe and his Three Knights. From this keep, he has harrowed the people of the nearby villages for the past three years, extorting and terrorizing them on his mad whims. The Castle itself is said to be terribly haunted.

Exploring the Castle

The Castle has 7 rooms, 4 on the first floor and 3 on the second, along with 2 towers. In addition, it has a 5 foot wall (though it used to be larger) around itself, as well as an outhouse and what was once a garden. The whole inner courtyard has been choked with weeds and noxious plants.

The top floor of the castle was rebuilt recently, and the western tower is an entirely new addition. The lower floor has been plastered the same as the upper floor, but mold and moss visibly infest the former. The eastern tower, however, is the worst offender. It sags and weeps slime in humid weather, but cracks and crumbles when it is dry.

The lower floor contains a dining hall, kitchen, storage space, and servant quarters. The upper floor contains the bedroom, armory, and a spare room. There is a spiral stairwell from the storage space to the armory. The armory also connects to both towers, which have little interior space and are mostly stairs. The western tower has a battlement, while the eastern tower has an upper room. Both of the towers, as well as the upper floor, are outfitted with arrow slits.

Lord Ingwoe

He is an imposing man, but he is haggard and mad, with stringy, balding hair and a solid build. He wears gleaming white armor while about his claimed territory, and rides a white horse. His sword is dark and notched. His eyes are wide and bloodshot, with deep bags. He carries a banner with pelican displayed on a field sable.

He is tormented at all times by the ghost of his wife, murdered by him soon after he took control of the castle. She is hardly sentient, and can hardly be seen by any others. She normally acts docile and subtly malign. However, when he is in combat, she delights in giving him small, painful wounds on his ankles and scalp, causing blood to run over his face. If he is knocked to the ground, she will try to gouge out his eyes and cut off his ears.

Despite his haunting, he is filled with ambition and bloodlust. He wishes, above all, to increase his realm. He is highly paranoid. If PCs try to join him, he will accept them. They will be allowed to stay in his castle for 1d6 weeks. After this time, he will poison them unless they have shown complete supplication.

The Three Knights

Sir Alken, Sir Corten, and Sir Lied are the sadistic, cowardly knights of Ingvoe. Sir Alken is known for being fair of face. He once flayed the family of an innocent farmer. Sir Corten is known as a sorcerer, wielding small trinkets which bedevil and beguile. Sir Lied is actually noble and kind, and despises the other knights. All of them hate lord Ingvoe, but all of them are under a Geas to serve him as long as he lives, lest they be taken by the hungry dead and tortured for eternity. In addition, they are all terribly afraid of whatever dwells in the eastern tower.

Alken and Lied can both be cowed by displays of magical prowess, but Corten will take it as a challenge and an insult. Alken can also be distracted by petty insults, but will repay them with torture in quick order. If Lied is alone, he will help the PCs and can be convinced to turn his blade against his master. However, none of the others are willing to sacrifice themselves to kill him, and Lied won't perform any acts of good when they are around. All three of them are likely to relate the sob story of their Geas to the adventurers, but only Lied is sincere. If the PCs can play on Lord Ingvoe's Paranoia, he will order the knights to kill each other or kill them himself. Lied may already be doing this.

Alken and Corten are sure to escape if Lord Ingvoe is killed, and will try to loot the place. They will continue their evil in the surrounding countryside and may accrue some additional power. Lied will give chase and battle them, regardless of the presence of the PCs. 50% chance he can't catch them, 50% chance he loses.

If Lied or one of they others turned against Lord Ingvoe, he will be spirited away horrifically after the fatal attack.

The Secrets of the Castle

As mentioned in the previous section, something terrible dwells in the eastern tower. This is the dread ghost of the castle's previous lord. It cannot be seen by light, but glows with fleshy, greenish pallor in darkness. It's eyes bulge, and it grabs at the adventurers with withered, skeletal hands. These can be felt even when it cannot be seen. If the PCs learn of its existence, then they can hear its nightly wails, which prevents them from sleeping in the castle unless they have several points of exhaustion. 

 

[Pulling this one out of my drafts, probably unfinished but useful enough as is]