Castle Atriun was a castle that was built by an eccentric Knight of Solamnia in Atriun, a bleak, sparsely populated area five days east of Lemish. The castle was built of a dark forbidding rock from a quarry not from any part of the kingdom. The family history was a short one. In the family tomb there were only six coffins, with two more that never held anyone.
The first outer wall was two stories high, which could hold many archers concealed behind the battlements. The only access into the castle was one large wooden drawbridge that spanned a deep moat. Once one entered through the main gate there was a vast circular courtyard made from carved gray stone, and made of lighter gray stone was the emblem of a glaring kingfisher in the center of the courtyard. Anyone would notice that the castle was over four times taller than the outer wall, and massive in size. The castle was rectangular in design, with two squat towers flanking it. There was a third central tower that would loom over the central building, and on the uppermost levels there were balconies. There are also livestock pens that were big enough to hold many livestock in order to survive a yearlong siege.
Upon entering the castle, there was an immense front hall with a repeated kingfisher in the center of the floor. Each side of the hall has three ridged columns, twin stairways leading inward, and above it all was a huge chandelier.
Flying Citadel[]
In 357 AC, Castle Atriun was found to have another use even though it was a ruin. Valkyn of Culthairai and Lemual made the castle into a flying citadel, but instead of using black spheres as citadels normally had, it instead had golden crystal spheres of a smaller size in the Wind Captain's Mechanism.
Most flying citadels had to have constant chanting by clerics and wizards in order to keep them floating. Castle Atriun was a new type of citadel that didn't require any of that. Instead, there were two marble columns with enormous golden crystal spheres on top that originated from the mountains east of Gwynned. Strung between the two spheres would be a wizard that would feed the two crystals with his life's energy.
When the Flying Citadel finally was going to be used to attack Gwynned, it was boarded by a group of adventurers, including the Ergothian soldier Bakal. This soldier killed Highmaster Marcus Cadrio when the Highmaster fell out of the window and plunged to his death. The adventurers were able to destroy the power source and the citadel plunged down upon the Black Dragonarmy, effectively destroying it and the invading army of Northern Ergoth.
References[]
- The Citadel, p. 31-37, 55, 143, 172, 186, 217, 284, 308