Castle sliberberg stands ominously above the city, generated using Google Imagen3

With the 5 top commanders of the Royal Army dead, the end is near for the Murtagh’s regime, and Murtagh the Usurper knows it. From his perch atop the Sliber Berg, he has watched as the players systematically dismantled the operations of his top subordinates and grow the resistance into a force to be reckoned with. He knows that it is only a matter of time before the players come from and have spent the time fortifying Castle Sliberberg for the inevitable final battle. He has stationed over 300 soldiers in the castle, stockpiled months’ worth of food, and transformed the once whimsical halls of the castle into a maze.

However, he fears that this will not be enough and, as a result, has become obsessed with divination, hoping to find a route out of this mess. However, the answers he has been getting do little to sway his fears, and the stress of trying to stave off the end has been eating away at what little sanity he had after months of trying to both suppress the resistance and appease his patron desire for expansion. He has been acting erratically, ranting at everyone, and spending most of his time in the royal suite on the castle’s top floor.

However, today is different; Murtagh seemingly knows that his death is going to be today and has barricaded himself into the royal suite and ordered almost every last soldier in the castle to the walls. The players will have an uphill battle ahead against an enemy who knows that they are coming. However, if they desire to return peace to the kingdom, it must be done.

My players stormed the castle early.

It is reasonable to expect some parties to try to storm Castle Sliberberg before defeating all 5 commanders in the city. The castle is designed for a party of at least level 7 and could easily result in TPK if the players try to storm the castle after escaping Ironhold. Instead of trying to railroad the players away from attacking Castle Sliberberg, let them face the consequences of their actions and/ or be forced to be rescued by an ally.

If the players try to storm the castle before level, they reach level 7 and before they defeat the 5 commanders, read the following when combat starts.

A bell starts ringing somewhere in one of the castle’s many towers. Deep echoing bongs ring out over the city like a call to arms.

 If the players do not realize what is happening, start a timer d12 that ticks down every round of combat. The timer will continue to tick down after the first encounter at whatever point of entry to the castle the player chooses ends.  When the timer reaches zero, a massive force of watchmen and Royal Army soldiers starts converging on the castle. Read the following

The ground shakes from the multitude of feet heading in your direction. Outside the castle, a sea of helmets and armor seemingly materializes from the city. You can almost hear the men’s roar and the armor’s clanking.

Start a new timer d6. This is how long the players have to escape from the castle on their own. When the timer reaches zero, a portal opens under their feet, and they fall through it. They will land unceremoniously on the floor of Tansy’s private workshop in the Silver Moon Cafe. Tansy will give the players a scathing lecture about how she told them they weren’t ready yet and that they needed to defeat the commanders to have a chance to storm the castle. She also makes it very clear that this one free pass they get, if they try to storm the castle before they are ready, they are not coming back.

The Sliberberg Uprising

 After the players defeat the final commander, the time has come for the players to finally take the fight to Murtagh. However, they had to create a plan to take the castle. Read the following to set the scene.

Something has changed in the air in Sliberberg. With Murtagh’s top commanders dead, there is a sense of tension in the air, as if the entire city knows something is about to happen but cannot quite put its finger on what it will be. The Usurper’s men are on edge as they patrol the streets around the castle, seemingly expecting resistance fighters to pop out of every shadow.

The reign of the Usurper is at an end, and the city’s people and the Usurper’s men know it. However, Murtagh knows it and has concentrated many of his remaining Royal Army troops around the castle. This means the players still cannot just storm the castle. Murtagh men might be leaderless, depleted, and disorganized, but they still outnumber the resistance 4 to 1. To even these odds, the players devise a plan of attack on the castle that distracts enough of the men to allow them to slip inside.

You should encourage the players to devise whatever plan they can with the available resources. The plan’s primary objective is to draw the massive force of soldiers guarding the castle away so the players can infiltrate and kill Murtagh. If the players have trouble determining a plan, you can drop hints about possible strategies via the various contacts, faction leaders, and special resistance members they have acquired over the campaign.

Accessing The Castle

Even though Castle Siberberg is more fanciful than functional, the fortifications are indeed functional. They are crawling with soldiers and archers, which makes an assault difficult. However, there are other means to access the castle.

From the cliff face

Castle Sliberberg sits at the mountain’s peak with a sheer rock face 60 feet high on its north side. The players can scale this rock face via DC 15 athletics checks. The check is made with an advantage if the players bring along proper scaling equipment like ladders and rope. However, if the player’s plan fails to keep the guards occupied, the players will be harassed by arrows and falling rocks, forcing them to make the climb at a disadvantage. Accessing the castle this way leads to the northern wall.

Air assault

Farid has an ample supply of flying carpets in his shop. If the players recruited him for the resistance, he would let them borrow as many as they wanted to assault the castle from the air.

The secret entrance

Only Fredrick and some of his top advisors know about a secret entrance to the castle. It is hidden in a magic painting in the attic of a nondescript and vacant house on one of the backstreets of Slibermond. The passage through the painting is only open twice daily, once at 10 a.m. and once at 4 p.m., and only for 5 minutes. Read the following if the players decide to use this passage.

The painting depicts a scenic gorge with a waterfall. The painting is incredibly lifelike, and you can swear that you can see the mist rise from the waterfall. In the bottom corner is Fredrick’s signature. When the specified hour arrives, there is a sudden change in the painting. A massive rainbow stretches over the gorge and right out of the painting. The colorful bridge seems solid and is slightly warm to the touch.

The bridge leads to another painting hanging in the Servants Quarters Hallway.

Castle Sliberberg

Castle Sliberberg has an almost dream-like quality to it. It is a sprawling structure of white-walled towers, red tile roofs, and stained-glass windows that sit upon the Sliber berg like an alabaster crown on a monarch’s head. The castle was constructed over a two-decade period, about 430 years before the start of the adventure. The castle was meant to be a gift for Fredrick, who was already starting to slip into his never-ending cycle of depression. The castle architecture and decorations were designed to be uplifting and charming, with towering white fairytale spires, floral motifs, ample stained-glass windows, and a sprawling garden. However, it did not help. Fredrick collapsed inward emotionally shortly after the castle was done, mainly due to the castle being straight out of the fairy tales he and Aoibheann loved so much as children. The castle ultimately became his self-imposed prison, where he waited in vain for his reunion with Aoibheann.

However, things have changed since Murtagh came to power. Murtagh has insisted on redecorating the castle to better fit his militaristic upbringing and nature. He has removed many of the magic paintings that Fredrick worked so hard to create. The floral trim and whimsical wall paneling have been removed, leaving bare stone walls. Many stained-glass windows have been covered with tapestries depicting war and battles. He has hung his family banner from every flagpole and wall he could find.  When the resistance started to gain traction, Murtagh started to quarter more and more soldiers on the castle grounds, turning the gardens, the ballroom, and the great hall into camps for his soldiers. The transformation has bled the castle of the joy and wonder it once held.

The Castle Sliberberg: general features

The following features are found throughout the ship.

Ceilings. Unless specified, the ceilings of the upper floors are 15 feet high in the corridors and various rooms. In the undercroft, the ceilings are 11 feet high.

Doors. Unless the text specifies otherwise, the doors are unlocked and made from sturdy wood. A strength check of DC 18 breaks one down.

Illumination. The upper floors are brightly lit by magical crystals that automatically dim and brighten at certain times of the day. The undercroft is dimly lit by smaller crystals.

Windows. Roughly three-quarters of the castle’s windows are glazed with stained glass and cannot open. A player can break through a stained glass window with a successful DC 12 strength check. The rest of the windows are unglazed, and shutters are used instead.

Paintings. Every painting in the castle is magical and serves as a gateway into an extradimensional space within the frame. The paintings’ descriptions are included in the room descriptions. The location of each painting is indicated with a two to three-letter code on the map.

Wandering Patrols

Balista patrol

Three patrols of three knights and three infantrymen wander the garden, the stables, and

the first and second floors. Two infantrymen carry a 3-foot wide by 2-foot tall painting with them. The painting is part of a matching set of magic paintings connected to the same extradimensional space. Fairy housekeepers used to use these paintings for quick access around the castle. Now, each patrol’s matching painting is stationed by a ballista in the garden so the ballista crew can shoot through the painting.

Knight patrol

Two patrols, consisting of 4 knights, are patrolling the castle’s outer wall and second floor in one long loop, looking for infiltrators.
 

1 Garden

The once beautiful castle grounds have been marred by a massive army camp. Soldiers mill about in once ornate flower bed, and massive bolt throwers and catapults sit on destroyed lawns.

Despite whatever distraction the players have devised, many soldiers are still in the garden encampment. Five knights, 20 infantrymen, and 20 scoutsguard the gardens.

Ballista. A ballista has been set up at the far edge of the camp, with three magical paintings leaning nearby. Each of these paintings is connected to another painting in the hands of a patrol wandering the castle grounds. If the wandering patrol gives the ballista operators a signal, they will fire their ballista through the corresponding painting.

2 Wall

This stone rampart overlooking the Sliber Gorge is lonely. There is a turret to your right and a door leading inside the keep to your left.

The rampart is deserted.

Turret. Inside the turret is a painting big enough for the players to step through. It depicts a grand entry hall with banners subtly moving with the breeze. The painting leads to the Entrance Hall.

Doorway. The door leads to the hall on the second floor.

3 Entrance Hall

As you enter the hall, you are surrounded by grim tapestries depicting martial conquest and vibrant paintings. The images on the various canvases showcase warriors in heroic poses, seemingly frozen in time.

The warriors in the painting are part of the force guarding the castle. They consist of a priest, a beserker, a mage, and a knight. If one of the players has a passive perception of 12, they notice the warriors in the paintings are moving ever so slightly. The soldiers wait until the players are in the center of the room before attacking.

Treasure. The 4 soldiers have 200gp in small change between them

Painting. Any character can enter the 4 large paintings. When entering or exiting a painting, speed is reduced by 5 feet.

4. Library Tower

As you enter the tower, the scent of ancient books and the hushed whispers of knowledge surround you. Towering shelves filled with tomes, scrolls, and magical items stretch four stories high, with multiple balconies ringing the tower. Figures in robes stand on said balconies. A giant painting of a fey forest sits on one wall. A giant Chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

2 magesand 5 apprentice wizards stand as sentries on the 5 balconies throughout the tower

Balcony loop paintings (BL). The balconies are connected by magic paintings, allowing instantaneous travel between the library levels. Each painting is 7 feet high and 4 feet across. There are two on each balcony, which connect to the balconies above and below. The balcony on top has a painting connecting to the library’s bottom floor.

Fey forest painting(FF). The painting is magical and contains an extradimensional space within. The

space connects to the dancing Aoibheann painting in the royal parlor.

Treasure. The wizards have 620gp worth of components and jewelry between them.

5 Council Chamber

The room is filled with a giant table covered with documents, surrounded by comfortable-looking chairs. A mess of documents are located on the table. A massive painting of a banquet hangs on one of the walls.

The documents are a collection of maps, reports from the front, timetables, and troop deployment. If a player makes a DC 10 intelligence check, they realize that the maps are the plans for the ongoing campaigns the Royal Army is undertaking and plans for future campaigns that will conquer most of the eastern Tír na Caillte.

Banquet painting (BP). The food in the painting is edible. The players can simply reach in and take items from the painting. The chosen item tastes delicious and has the same effect as the berries from the good berry spell.

6. Great hall

The Great Hall stretched high above your head. This once magnificent chamber has been turned into an improvised barrack for Murtagh’s soldiers, with dozens of bedrolls lining the floor and ten soldiers at one of the long tables. Strangely, paintings of what looks to be baskets filled with bottles of yellow and green liquid hang on the wall.

The soldiers are 5 veterans, 2 knightsand three scouts sitting at the table.

Magic painting of alchemists’ fire and acid (FA). As an action, a character can reach into this painting and grab one of the alchemist fire and acid flasks. The painting produces an infinite supply of each. The soldiers know this half will use their first turn to grab a bottle from the painting.

7. Enchanted Kitchen

The aroma of spices and high cuisine fills the air as you enter the fancy kitchen. At the center of the kitchen stands an arrogant hobgoblin chef with a comically exaggerated French accent, berating his apparently empty kitchen. “Mon Dieu! What is this incompetence? Get out of ze out here and work, you imbeciles! Murtagh’s men will have my head if we do not feed them, and zat is unacceptable!””

The chief is Marcel LeChâteau, the royal chef.. He berates his kitchen staff for hiding while soldiers outside await their meals. He refuses to talk to the players until his Fairy and gnome assistants escape hiding.

Cafe Terrace Painting (CT). The kitchen has paintings large enough for people to step through that depict a café terrace. The painting connects to the servant’s dining room.

Skill challenge: Calming the staff.

Complexity 1(4 successes before one failure)

The players must convince the staff they are not here to hurt them.

Persuasion dc 15: Convince the kitchen staff that they are not there to hurt them and the soldiers will soon not be able to hurt them

Performance dc 13: The players can tell jokes or sing a song to ease the nerves of the kitchen staff

Deception check dc 12: A few harmless lies about what is happening will ease the kitchen staff’s nerves.

Insight dc 16 The players can assess the staff’s emotional state to better convince them, granting them an advantage on their next check.

Athletics or acrobatics dc 19: Feats of strength and agility might convince the kitchen staff that they have a chance to stop Murtagh

roleplay: Good roleplay should be rewarded, too.

Outcome:

Success: The kitchen gnomes and Fairies begrudgingly reveal themselves and get back to work

Failure: The kitchen staff remains hidden

What the kitchen staff knows.

• Murtagh has moved many of the larger magic paintings.
• Murtagh has skipped both breakfast and lunch today, which is unusual.
• Early in the morning, Murtagh ordered three days’ worth of food to be brought to him and the soldiers stationed on the third and fourth floors.
• There are approximately 20 soldiers stationed on the third floor, and three wizards on the fourth floor.
• The kitchen staff is aware of the supposed locations of all the magic paintings connecting the floors in the castle, which provides potential shortcuts for the party.

8. Throne room

The room has an unnatural gloom to it. There is a massive, dull, golden throne in front of you. Behind it, light leaks around the enormous floor-to-ceiling curtains. Off to your left is a large painting of a single pine tree on a lonely cliff

The painting contains an entranceway to extradimensional space within.

The Lonely Pine (LP). Read the following as the players enter the painting.

You step through the painting and find yourself on the cliff, surrounded by the soothing sounds of the sea. The lonely pine stands resolute, and as you explore the area, you discover a hidden knot in the tree trunk. There are multiple trails of bootprints heading to and from the tree.

The players find a well-worn spot and a pile of notebooks at the tree’s base. Inside one is a series of sketches depicting a 19-year-old high elf girl. If the players have encountered the Silver Lady Of Sliberberg, they will notice that the sketch resembles the Silver Lady. The rest of the notebooks contain handwritten notes with hand-drawn illustrations of maps of the Material Plane and the Feyrealm. The notes

say things like maybe here, or Titania might know where she is. The handwriting is frantic, and multiple lines have been crossed out. The final map in the top notebook has “”NO NO NO NO.”” written across it.

9. Royal Antechamber

The room is small and well-furnished, with armchairs and small tables. Tapestries depicting knights performing feats of martial valor hang from the walls. A flower vase on a small cabinet emits a slight perfumy smell.

The small cabinet is a wine cooler containing 6 bottles of wine of various vintages.

10. Audience room

The room is small, almost claustrophobic, despite its lush furniture and ornate wall hangings. At the far end of the room is a high-back chair, and behind it is a large stained-glass window depicting Titania, queen of the Seelie court, in a garden. A large painting of a grand corridor leading into the distance is propped against the wall.

The room is empty

11. Ballroom

This large room smells like a locker room. A military camp’s clutter and bunk beds contrast starkly with the marble floors, brightly painted walls, and gilded trim. There is evidence of pieces of art removed from the walls.

This used to be grand if unused, ballroom, but now it has become a barrack for 60 soldiers. There are three rows of ten bunk beds, and the clutter of a hastily improvised barracks covers the floor.

Treasure. Among the soldier’s belongings are 150gp of coins and small valuables.

 12 Servant Quarters Hall

Your feet ring off the stone floors of this long hallway, which is dimly lit and lined with simple wooden doors.

The corridor is deserted. A painting of a misty gorge is on one of the walls.

Rainbow Gorge Painting (RG). The painting is connected to another painting in a house in Slibermond. See The Secret Entrance for more details.

13 Guards barracks

The bare stone floors and walls look extra gloomy. In the dim light, you can see bunk beds with tossed sheets, a weapon rack almost devoid of gear, and a large table with the detritus of a card game abandoned mid-hand. A painting leans against the far wall.

The room is currently uninhabited.

Table. The table has discarded cards and tokens from a three-dragon ante game. The 20gp pot is still on the table.

Battlement Painting (BP). The painting is magical and connects to the northern wall rampart.

Trail Painting (TP). The painting connects an extradimensional space containing a trail by a pond. The space also connects to a painting in area 22, Chancellor’s Office.

Treasure. The barracks contain 200gp worth of small possessions and coins.

14 Brighid Nettlewhisk room

As you open the door, you hear a yelp followed by a crash. Inside, the room is well furnished with a plush, if well-used, armchair with a low table and an unfinished cup of tea and teapot. In a heap near the door is a gnome woman with askew glasses and a startled expression covered in a pile of cleaning supplies and linens. A black kitten looks on with sheer curiosity on its face.

The Gnome woman is Brighid Nettlewhisk, the head housekeeper. She is known for her easily startled nature, hence the ruckus the players heard when they came in. She mistook them for intruders. As she gets out of the pile she found herself in, she gibbers about intruders and thieves and asks them to please do not harm her. Once the players calm her down and reveal they are part of the resistance, she apologizes for her behavior and offers them some goodberry tea.

Goodberry tea. The tea has mild restorative properties. When drunk, it grants the players 1d6 extra hit points.

Mittens. The displacer beast kitten in the room is named Mittens. Mittens is awakened and enchanted, so she will never grow up. She wanders the castle halls, looking for people to play with and mischief to make. She can tell the players the following.

• The magic paintings of the fey forest in the library is connected to the painting of the high elf girl with brown hair dancing in the parlor. She likes to use the painting to ambush the maids when they clean the parlor.
• The castle’s soldiers have moved the garden painting to the guest quarters. The space the painting connects to has another entrance; she does not know where it is.
• She hid a sparkly item she stole from one of the knights in the Lyria’s greenhouse.
• Murtagh has been getting meaner by the day; he nearly kicked her the other day.

15 Thalron Mistwalker room

The room is neat and tidy, obsessively so. The furniture is simple but artfully arranged to please the eye. There is a desk with a single piece of paper, a wardrobe, and other simple furniture.

The piece of paper on the desk is a note addressed to them. It tells them that the room owner is out trying to help a friend. He knows the players are here to kill Murtagh, and some supplies are in the cabinet.

Treasure. The cabinet contains 5 healing potions, a spell scroll of bless, a spell scroll of arcane armor, a bag of caltrops, and a bottle of basic poison.

16 Armory

Empty racks line the walls, and a forge glows softly in the far corner. On the anvil is an ingot of iron still faintly glowing, and smith’s tools are scattered across the table. Two suits of armor in various stages of repair sit on stands by the wall.

The room is empty but shows signs of recent occupation

Treasure. One of the two armor suits is a plus 2 reinforced leather armor.

17 Servant Quarters

The small room contains simple furniture, a bed, a chest, and a writing desk. A cowering man or woman in servant’s clothes sits on the bed.

If the players explain their purpose here, the servant relaxes and explains that they were ordered to go to their rooms just before the players arrived. They can tell the players the following.

• One of the paintings in the barracks connects to the chancellor’s office, they do not know which one it is
• The forest paintings in the library and the parlor are connected to the same space.
• The painting of the Garden is part of a paired set that connects to the same space. One entrance is in the white room of the guest wing, and the other is the royal dining room on the third floor.
• Several paintings have been moved to the guest wing to connect the 6 rooms along that corridor.
• The painting in the servant’s dining room connects to the castle kitchens.

18 Servants Dining room

This large room is as functional as they come. There is a single large table with simple wooden chairs around it. The only bit of color in the room comes from a painting embedded into the wall.

The room is deserted.

Magic painting. The painting in the room depicts a small walled flower garden with blooms blowing in the breeze. Stepping into the painting reveals that the garden includes a patio and cafe-style furniture. The painting is also connected to the enchanted kitchen.

19 Marcel LeChâteau room

The room is large, well-decorated, and thick with the smell of spices. Tapestries of deep burgundy and gold adorn the walls, depicting scenes of grand feasts. A sturdy oak desk is covered with cookbooks and various spice jars. The rest of the room is filled with modest but functional furniture.The room is large, well-decorated, and thick with the smell of spices. Tapestries of deep burgundy and gold adorn the walls, depicting scenes of grand feasts. A sturdy oak desk is covered with cookbooks and various spice jars. The rest of the room is filled with modest but functional furniture.

The room is empty.

Magic mouth. A magic mouth appears when the players touch the desk, telling them to go away in Marcel’s obnoxious French accent.

 20 Lyria Greenhouse

As you enter the garden, a colorful collection of flowering plants greets you. However, amidst this colorful garden, you hear crying. A dryad is curled up on a stone bench, sobbing gently.

The dryad is Lyria Blossomshade, the castle gardener. She is broken up because the soldiers have trampled the royal gardens, her pride and joy that she has been working on since she was a little dryad, turning them into ruins, . If the players make a DC 15 charisma check, they can calm down Lyria so they can talk. She tells the players that Murtagh has been steadily becoming more paranoid over the last few months. He has even threatened to burn down her tree, the only bit of greenery remaining in the garden..

Treasure. There is a ring of protection +1 hidden in the flowerbed.

 21 Treasury counting room

The room is thick with the smell of ink, parchment, and patina and the sound of dozens of pens writing. Rows of desks line the wall, with animated quills sketching notes in massive ledgers. A tiny lady’s lady’s voice calls out who’s there from under one of the desks.

 The voice belongs to Mirielle Dewspark, the Fairy mistress of the exchequer. When the fighting started outside, she hid in her counting room.

She relaxes if the players make it clear that they don’t mean to hurt her and are members of the resistance. She had been waiting for someone to do something about the maniac on the throne for some time. Furthermore, she tells the players the following.

• Murtagh has been desperately trying to gain access to the vault and the massive amount of treasure that Fredrick has collected over the centuries that lies within. It was designed well before her time, and Fredrick is the only one she knows who can open it.
• Murtagh has been desperate for cash to fund his mad expansion of the kingdom.
• Thalron Mistwalker has gone up to the second floor to keep an eye on Murtagh via the keyhole in the door between the royal suite and the royal wardrobe. He has left some supplies for the players in his room.
• She has not been to the upper floors of the castle since Murtagh started moving paintings around, but she knows Mittens has been. She last saw the displacer beast kitten in Brighid Nettlewhisk arms as she was rushing to her room.

 22 Carriage House

The air stinks of scared horses and polish. 4 stalls are to your left, with 4 fine draft horses nervously stamping their feet and flicking their tails. A large opulent carriage occupies the middle of the room, and behind it are some shelves filled with boxes, bundles, and bottles.

The horses are spooked by the fighting outside. If the players try to approach them or head to the shelves, the horses will start to panic, and the noise will draw a mage and four veterans to investigate.

Treasure. Most items on the shelves are basic supplies used in any stable and carriage house. However, the players will find a tube with 7 spell scrolls, 3 of cure minor wounds, 2 of calm emotions, and 2 of speak with animals.

23 Chancellors Office

The office is large and lavishly decorated. The room is adorned with rich tapestries, elegant furniture, and an imposing mahogany desk. Seated behind the desk is an old gnome in finely embroidered robes, his wiry white beard reaching down to his chest. “Who are you? How did you get into the castle?” He asks

The office belongs to Chancellor Brânán Sparkgleam, longtime minister, court magician, friend of King Fredrick, and unwilling prime minister to Murtagh. While he is surprised by the player’s presence in the castle, he is also delighted that the resistance fighters he has heard so much about will finally defeat Murtagh. He peppers the players with questions about what is going on in the city and the well-being of Fredrick. He can offer the players the following info about the castle.

• Murtagh has become obsessed with divination over the past few weeks. He routinely uses a magic item to ask whether he will die today. Apparently, today, the answer was yes.
• Murtagh spent several hours today moving various paintings around the castle. He knows where the painting has been moved.
• There is a  trio of wizards guarding the entrance to the fourth floor.
• Several other high-ranking servants and ministers are in the castle at the moment. They will undoubtedly be willing to help them, and he knows where they will be hiding.

Chancellor Brânán Sparkgleam, generated using Google Imagen3.

 24 Royal Art Gallery

 A thin layer of dust covers the floor of this art gallery. The air smells of dust and soft light from frosted windows paints shadows on the far wall. There are stacks of paintings around the room, and paintings hang in dust voids where many large paintings were once hung. The centerpieces of the gallery are a massive painting of Murtagh in a heroic pose, an enormous painting of another art gallery, and a small chalet on a rocky shore.

Murtagh has replaced most of the art in the gallery to suit his tastes. However, the painting of the gallery and the Chalet painting are fixed to the wall with sovereign glue and cannot be removed from the wall.

Gallery painting. The gallery painting is a portal leading to the true royal art gallery.

Chalet painting. The chalet painting is a portal leading to Fredrick’s studio.

Treasure. The art collection is worth about 270gp in total.

True Royal Art Gallery

Unlike the gallery you were just in, this one is gloomy, and the art is tinged with sadness. Most paintings use dark colors and depict unfamiliar landscapes and young nobles. The gallery’s focal point is a massive portrait of a human prince and high elf princess.

The artwork in the gallery mainly consists of landscapes of Old Mountainheart and portraits of former friends of Fredrick and Aoibheann. The large central painting, “Me and My Aoibheann,” is signed by Fredrick.

Fredrick’s studio

The chalet is small and located on a cliff overlooking the pounding surf. At the foot of the cliff, there is a path leading down to the beach. Inside is a small artist’s studio with a collection of paintings and a bookshelf filled with books.

The chalet is Fredrick’s studio, where he paints, composes his poetry, and mopes alone.

Paintings.

• The ethereal beauty of a radiant wedding day. Fredrick and Aoibheann stand at the altar at The Cathedral of the Radiant Sun.
• While sitting in the garden. Fredrick gently cradles Aoibheann’s pregnant belly.
• Fredrick and Aoibheann stand side by side, witnessing the arrival of their firstborn. The child’s face is not visible.
• This is a group portrait of Fredrick, Aoibheann, and their three children. The children’s features have not yet been added.

Bookcase. The bookcase is filled with journals, each with poetry dedicated to Aoibheann.

Treasure. If the players follow the path down the cliff to the beach, they find Fredrick Rosethorn Greatsword (See Appendix C) Briarbane sticking tip-first into the sand. Searching the Chalet reveals a single set of artist tools and calligraphy tools and a book titled The Art of Magic Painting with instructions on how to make magic paintings.

Fredrick’s studio

 25 Castle Chapel

The room exudes peacefulness and smells of incense. The walls are covered with stained-glass windows that light an altar with vivid color. A priest is praying before the altar.

A character with the acolyte background or cleric class will recognize the prayer as a request for guidance. The priest is named Helnard, and he is Murtagh’s personal confessor. He is a non-combatant and will surrender to the players once he realizes that they are in the chapel. If the players interrogate him, he can reveal the following bits of information.

• Murtagh started with noble intentions; he thought Fredrick was a bad king who forced his advisors to rule in his stead while he moped about this castle. Without the king setting the example the nobles of the kingdom where focusing more and more time on the Great Game instead of actually governing well. Murtagh thought he would be a better king than Fredrick.
• Murtagh made a deal with an fey soverignto gain rulership of New Mountainheart. He does not know who the fey soverign is.
• Helnard is worried about changes in Murtagh’s personality. In the last few months, Murtagh has become paranoid and withdrawn, whereas he used to be a much warmer and open person.
• He suspects that whoever the archfey Murtagh made a deal with is behind his change in personality
• Murtagh has a magic item that allows him to cast divination once per day. He knows of the player’s player’s attempt to kill him and has prepared accordingly.
• Murtagh is on the castle’s top floor in the royal bedchamber waiting for them and has prepared an ambush for the players.

26 Guest Baths

The room is tiled in marble and centered around a giant tub set on a raised dais. Cabinets line the walls neatly with towels, shampoos, lotions, oils, and soaps.

The room is empty, and the cabinets ransacked

 27 Guest Wing

A large group of soldiers is loitering in this well-decorated corridor, with many open doors leading to equally well-furnished bedrooms. When they notice you, they scatter into the open rooms.

A mage and five veterans have connected the six rooms in the guest wing with some of the paintings, which connect to shared extradimensional spaces.

Paintings. The paintings are as follows.

• P1 The shoreline. The painting contains a 20-foot-long shore connecting the red and blue rooms.
• P2 The Creek bridge. The painting contains a ten-foot-long bridge connecting the yellow and red rooms.
• P3 The Sunset Patio. The painting contains a 5-foot square patio that connects the white room to the blue and yellow room.
• P4 The Marketplace. The painting contains a 20-foot by 20-foot market square with entrances in the green, orange, and yellow rooms.
• P5 Rain on the Forest Path. The painting contains a 15-foot path connecting the white and yellow rooms.
• P6 The Garden. . The painting contains a 20-foot square garden that connects the guest wing to the royal dining room.

Guest Parlor. There is a small parlor at the end of the hall.

Treasure. The rooms contain 30gp worth of misplaced belongings and the soldiers have 45gp in small change on their persons

Magic paintings make for handy Shortcuts, generated with Google imagen3

28 Royal Dining Room

This large, ornate dining room would be so much grander if not for the beer stains on the table and the half-eaten rations everywhere. Paintings depicting nature might line the walls. A group of soldiers were engaged in a card game before your arrival, but now they throw down their cards and are reaching for their weapons.

A mage, a knight and 8 riot watchmen (See Appendix C) were playing cards in the room before the players entered. The watchmen, knight and wizard  know about the nature of the magical paintings along the wall and the riot watchmen  will try to shove the players into them using their shield bashes.

The royal dining room, generated with Google Imagen3

Magic paintings. The paintings along the wall depict a forest fire (FF), a tornado (T), a glacier (G), and a flood (FL). If a character enters any of these, they take 2d6 damage corresponding to the depiction of the painting (fire for forest fire, slashing for tornado, cold for the glacier, and bludgeoning for the flood).

29 Tea Room

This opulent tearoom is covered in a thick layer of dust. The chairs have never been used, and the fine tea set is caked with dust.

Treasure. The antique tea set is worth 200gp to the right buyer, although Fredrick will not approve of the players stealing something meant to be a gift for Aoibheann upon her return.

 30 Trophy Room

The room is filled with trophy heads and mounted weaponry. A painting leans against the wall it depicts a street scene.  A group of soldiers waits for you with swords ready.

Three veterans wait in the room.

Magic painting of A Street. The street magic painting (SP) holds a knight and 8 infantrymen hiding among the buildings. Every 2 rounds, an new enemy will join the battle.

Treasure. A dagger of venom is in one of the display cases, and trophies worth 300gp to the right collector.  The soldiers have 100gp in spare change among them.

 31 Royal Study

The room smells of old paper and ink. In front of you is a cluttered desk; to the right is a bookcase that seems surprisingly devoid of books and a massive pile of leather journals on the floor, and to the left is a gigantic animated painting of an high elf woman in white sitting on a garden swing.

Desk. The desk is filled with handwritten notes. Anyone who takes 15 minutes to skim through the notes realizes they are Murtagh’s research into Fredrick’s journals. Apparently, he is looking for a means to access the massive collection of treasure that Fredrick has acquired from his various journeys while looking for Aoibheann. The players also find Murtagh’s. The journal details his dealings with  Fionnuala the Fair, never mentioning her by name but making it clear she was frustrated with Murtagh’s pace of expansion. The journal also makes it clear that Murtagh finds the horrible things he had been forced to do to keep to Fionnuala the Fair timetable distasteful, but he has no choice; he made an eightfold oath of fealty to her. Later entries in the journal make it clear that the strain of ruling new Mountainheart, trying and failing to suppress the player’s rebellion, and appeasing Fionnuala the Fair has been driving him insane with entries rambling on about conspiracies against him with gods, the castle staff, and even inanimate objects plotting against. He even begins to suspect that his league has set him up for the fall, and he curses the name of Fionnuala, the destroyer of kings.

Pile of books. The pile of books is filled with 500 years of journals kept by Fredrick. They outline the fruitless search for Aoibheann over the many centuries, describing in detail the cycle of denial, anger, bargaining, and despair he goes through every time he gets a new lead. The latest entries detail preparations for a journey to Sigil and eventually Mount Celestia with a note saying that if Ioun does not know where she is, she must be gone for good. Somebody has gone through the notebooks with a red pen underlining and circling various sentences.

Magic painting (AS). The painting is of Aoibheann in a contemporary style. Should the players venture into the painting, they encounter a version of Aoibheann with limited sentience. This Aoibheann is an echo, an extrapolation of Fredrick’s memories projected into the present. Her responses are basic, centered around their relationship and shared moments.

 32 Royal Parlor

The room is filled with light and the sweet smell of flowers. It is lavishly decorated with plush furniture, tapestries, and a grand picture window with a breathtaking city view. Two massive animated paintings—one showing an high elf girl dancing in a grove and the other showing a gloomy and stormy night—serve as centerpieces.

The room is currently devoid of occupants.

Painting of Dancing Aoibheann (DA). The animated painting shows a teenage high elf girl dancing in a twilight forest, wearing a white gown and a floral crown atop her brown locks. If the players enter the painting, the dancer responds to their presence with a flirtatious giggle. Any player who has met Aoibheann will realize the painting is of her. They will also find a passageway to the painting of the same woodland in the library.

The drowning of Mountainheart (DOM).  The painting shows a dark night as a water flood destroys a city. A furry-clawed hand reaches out towards the teenage high elf girl with brown hair. Any player who meets Aoibheann will realize that the figures in the painting are Aoibheann and Fredrick and that the painting is likely his memory of the event depicted. Any player who dares to step into the enchanted painting experiences the flood depicted firsthand. The pounding water deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage, and they can hear Aoibheann and Fredrick calling out to each other.

33 Music room

The room is an odd mix of disuse and use. Most of the room and the instruments are caked with dust. The golden harp in the corner and the piano seem reasonably clean. Footprints on the carpet lead to the piano, the harp, and the painting of a staircase.

The room is empty

Great Staircase Painting (GS). The painting leads to the Great Staircase encounter.

34 Royal Baths

The room is tiled in marble and centered around a giant tub set on a raised dais. Cabinets line the walls neatly with towels, shampoos, lotions, oils, and soaps. Soft ambient lighting bathes the room, accentuating the richness of the decor or would if it did not also reveal marred bare walls and missing fixtures.

The bathroom is a testament to Murtagh’s efforts to remake the castle in his image. The bathroom used to have carved paneling and molded fixtures depicting scenes of Fairies and other fey folk bathing among flowering gardens. Now, the walls are bare, and most of the fixtures have been removed.

Treasure. Most of the bathing supplies are not worth much; however, in the back of the cabinet is a unique body wash that Fredrick used to use to clean his fur. This body wash removes all dirt, grime, or filth from the body, whether magical or mundane. It gives the user a pleasant smell that gives them an advantage on charisma checks for five hours. The jar of body wash has three applications.

The Great Staircase, generated with Google Imagen3

 The Great Staircase

You step through the painting’s frame and end up in a towering room with staircases leading up, down, and all around. The air is unnaturally still inside the painting and smells like old paint.

The great staircase is supposed to connect all the castle floors using multiple frames to connect various rooms to the space. However, Murtagh has moved most of the entrances to the staircase to the royal bedchamber.

Spying Murtagh. As the players walk up the stairs, they notice someone watching them. The spy is Murtagh, hoping to make final adjustments to his trap before the players arrive.

35 Royal Suite Antechamber

Exiting the painting to the royal tower, you find yourself in a grand antechamber. Painting covers the finely carpeted floor. A trio of wizards stands behind an overturned table in front of the door.

Two mages and two veterans await in the room.

Paintings. The five paintings on the floor depict nature’s raging forces, including a fire, a lightning storm, and a flood. If a character is pushed or steps on one of the paintings, they must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 15) to avoid being affected by the depicted natural force. Failure results in taking 2d6 damage of a random type from the following, bludgeoning, slashing, fire, or lightning.

36 Unused nursery

You step into a dusty room with faded pastel-colored walls bedecked with images of baby toys and baby animals. A massive pile of crates sits in the room like islands in a thick sea of dust, and there are lots of footprints and a cradle in one corner.

Before the Drowning of Mountainheart, Fredrick and  Aoibheann dreamed of having a large family. When the castle was built, Fredrick set these three rooms aside to serve as nurseries for when she returned; they have not been used since. The crates contain enough rations to feed 12 men for two months and enough water and medical supplies for the same period.      

37 The Royal Wardrobe

The room is filled with fine clothing of all descriptions. There are suits tailored to fit Fredrick’s imposing frame and dresses in many styles. Amidst the regal garments, you spot an old elf man in a butler’s uniform cowering behind a regal suit, his hands clutching a crutch fashioned into a makeshift club.

The man is Thalron Mistwalker, the castle’s majordomo. Despite his stoicism, he seems visibly relieved at the player’s appearance. He tells the player characters Murtagh is waiting for the players and has set a trap in the royal bedchamber. He does not know the specifics of the trap, but he knows that Murtagh has taken many paintings from elsewhere in the castle and used them to create a lair to battle the players, and the trap will trigger when they open the door to the room. However, there is another door into the bedroom leading from the walk-in closet that they are currently in and he shows them the door.

 38 The Royal Bedchamber:

The door to the bedchamber is locked with an arcane lock. A DC 20 check with thieves tools is required to open the door. However, when tampered with, the lock is rigged to trigger a magical vortex trap. Read the following when the players successfully unlock the door.

The door swings inward, and you feel an irresistible force drag you toward a large painting of a warship tossing in a raging storm that sits in the middle of the ornate bedchamber. The wind whistles past your ear, and every moment you resist, the force grows stronger.

When the door opens, have every player make a dc 16 strength check. Any player that fails is dragged through the painting. Once every player has made their check, the remaining players will make the check again; however, the dc for the check has increased to 18. Continue until all the players have been dragged or willingly entered the painting. When the last player enters the painting, read the following.

You land unceremoniously on the damp deck of a ship in the middle of a storm. Lightning flashes and spray-filled wind whips past your ears. Several large paintings are set up on tripods around the ship’s deck. Murtagh is strangely calm despite the roiling sea and howling wind, dressed in full armor and with a crown upon his head. “I have been expecting you rebel scum,” he says with a cruel relish, “I knew you were going to come to kill me, so I decided to create a suitably epic arena for our final battle.”

After his grandstanding in the read-aloud text, Murtagh (See Appendix C)throws himself into battle with the players. He uses the paintings he arranged around the room to his advantage to flank the players, summon reinforcements, blast them from out of range with his spells, and use them as traps. When he is reduced to 1/4 health, he will start yelling that the player’s victory is hollow. If they kill him, they will inherit his debts. The magical vortex that sucked them into the painting ends when Murtagh is defeated.

Rocking ship. The ship is violently pitching side to side. Every round, the players need to make a dc 11 dexterity check. If they fail the check, they stumble 5 feet in the direction of the pitching before regaining their balance.

Magic paintings. Along with the entrance painting (ET), thirteen paintings are arranged throughout the ship to provide Murtagh with flanking routes, surprise attack angles, and obstacles for the players.

• The rope bridge (RB). These two paintings connect to a single space that consists of a 20-foot-long rope bridge over a 100-foot-deep canyon.
• The cavern (CA). The space behind the cavern has 10 skirmishers waiting for Murtagh’s command to spring out and reinforce him.
• The Lava Pit (LP). Players who enter this fiery landscape take 2d6 fire damage.
• The tunnel (TU). Two paintings that form the entrances to this tunnel are too small to enter, but characters can shoot arrows and cast spells through these paired paintings.
• The Hidden Garden(HG). Two paintings depict this cavern garden scene. The entrances are 15 feet apart, and there is a good berry bush with 1d20 berries in the garden’s center.
• The rampart (RP). The soldiers in this castle scene are 6 infantrymen who will spring from the painting when Murtagh summons them.
• The tornado (TO). Players who enter this painting take 1d12 slashing damage.
• The swamp (SW) This large painting on the ground depicts a muddy bog. Players who step in the bog have their speed reduced by 10 ft.
• The miasma (MI). This painting emits a stinking cloud in a 10-foot radius. Players who enter the painting must make a DC 10 constitution check or receive 1d6 poison damage.
• The storm (ST).  A lightning rod sticks out of this painting. It deals 1d6 lightning damage every two rounds in a 10-foot cone around it.

Treasure. Searching the room reveals a locked iron chest requiring a DC18 skill check to open. Inside the chest are various medals worth 200gp, a Mirror of Communion (See Appendix C), and a cloak of resistance.

Development. On the writing desk is a stack of letters and a shimmering contract. The letters are a series of communications between Murtagh and someone who is only referred to as my lady. The letters make it clear that Murtagh was acting on behalf of someone else; she helped him conquer  New Mountainheart in exchange for his vassalage, but as the resistance grew in numbers and success, his lady got annoyed with him. The contract spells out an agreement where Murtagh would get the support he needed to rule over mountainheart in exchange for pledging fealty to Fionnuala the Fair. The contract also lists the situations that would cause transference of the debt, including the death of Murtagh.

The Aftermath

As you go down through the castle, a hushed silence follows you. Servants and soldiers alike stare in disbelief as you carry Murtagh’s severed head with you. You step out onto the rampart. Down below, the fighting in the street still rages on; it seems like everybody in the city is here.

It is up to the players to decide how to break the news to the city’s people. Do they lift their heads high and proclaim that the usurper is dead? Do they give a speech? The result, however, is the same. The people stop fighting and stare in disbelief at Murtagh’s severed head. There is a moment of silence, and then the city’s people give out one long, unbroken cheer, occasionally interrupted by the clang of metal on the pavement as the usurper’s soldiers drop their weapons.

Once the players leave the battlements, they find their allies and surviving resistance fighters at the forefront of the cheering crowd. Each one has words of congratulation for them. Tansy, in particular, seems uncharacteristically upbeat at seeing Murtagh’s separate head; she is beaming with pride and heaps praise onto the player characters.

If the players had completed the Long Road to Recovery Side quest, the players see that Fredrick is standing apart from the player’s other allies. There is a sense about him that the victory is bittersweet. If asked why he is so gloomy, he comments that he cannot shake the feeling that none of this would have happened if he was a better king; he remembers when Murtagh was a good man and competent general and wonders if there was anything he could have done to prevent all this.

If the players had completed The Letter from the Past sidequest as well, Fredrick’s mood will be different. For the first time in a long while, he is hopeful. He is among the first to congratulate the newly minted Heroes of Sliberberg. Aoibheann can be seen behind him in her guise as the Silver Lady of Sliberberg, smiling warmly at the thought of her beloved broken heart being healed.

 After the congratulations and back-patting, somebody among the player’s allies suggests they throw a celebration to commemorate the event. In fact, there are multiple faction leaders among the player’s allies who want to host the celebrations. It is up to the players to choose which one to attend. Do they attend Syndicate leader Don O’Malley’s party at the Stack Deck Casino, The street party happening in Slibermond hosted by the Coláiste Draoidheil and the Silver Moon Coven, or do they attend the impromptu ball being arranged by the New Mountainheart Merchants Guild? Whichever party they attend gives the factions involved a final +7 boost to their opinion, which may affect the epilogue. Nonetheless, the players spend the rest of the day and the following night in the revelry of a lifetime. As the city and the country echo with celebration of their newfound freedom, there is a sense that a new era in the kingdom is dawning, and nothing will be the same.