In case anyone is unfamiliar, Castle Greylode is a location in Furyondy's Barony of Littleberg that was briefly mentioned in The Marklands by Carl Sargent. All that is known is it's used as a prison for Furyondy's worst criminals who serve hard labor in its quarries. As far as I know it has never been fleshed out.
I am considering writing an adventure that takes place inside of Castle Greylode & involves its prisoner population. However, I don't want to duplicate someone else's efforts. I was curious if anyone has explored more than just writing a summary on this location.
If you are still reading this, I'm also curious about a few things. Although Furyondy is a Lawful Good nation, I'm sure that mercy only goes so far when it comes to evil persons and the deeds they do. A fair trial and a clean execution seem all that would be needed when dealing with bandits and allied of Iuz. It begs the question, what kind of 'worst criminals' don't get executed and end up serving hard labor? Throw me some plausible crimes.
I need to populate the prison with appropriate prisoners. Because it is a labor camp most of these guys are not rotting in cells, instead mingling in work teams around the quarry. Naturally they would gather into gangs or factions based on mutual race, religion or nationality. I definitely picture a gang of halflings in there, and likely there'd be some Rhenee too. Does anyone have an interesting idea for another variety of prison gang inside Castle Greylode?
Finally, there's no telling how long Castle Greylode has been there. It could date back to Old Ferrond or earlier. It strikes me that there could be a relationship between Castle GreyHAWK and Castle GreyLODE. Perhaps one of the engineers who constructed Castle Greyhawk later had designed Castle Greylode. Maybe it was one of Zagig Yragerne's apprentices who built the place sometime after CY 320? Zagig was fond of making magical traps, the sort that could imprison beings for very long periods of time. Perhaps this yet unnamed apprentice had assisted Zagig in crafting these traps and used his lore to create lesser versions under Castle Greylode. Perhaps this is why it is said that Furyondy's worst criminals are housed there?
Am I running into any logic traps or lapses of canon info? I'm interested to know if my ideas seem plausible, and to hear any suggestions you fans may have.
Oh yeah, this adventure will be part Cool Hand Luke, part Prison Break and part American History X. The first encounter will be a "welcome" for the "fish" courtesy of one of the colorful gangs. PCs that show weakness will be singled out for more harrassment. Shiving the half-orc is mandatory for survival :)
Furyondy is part of the judicial heritage of Aerdi - Schandor Legal Code
Ivid the Undying has a section on rulership and law; no lists but it gives you the basis of the oeridian legal tradition.
"the general principle that an offender should make restitution to victims or their families, through fines or forced labor, guaranteed that most folk thought the laws of the land reasonably just. If they were the injured party, they gained recompense, and some local rulers would even give an immediate small payment following judgment to help victims—as would the temples of deities whose priests formed most of the judiciary."
"crimes against property punished much more severely than crimes against the person—unless the person injured is an aristocrat or merchant of note."
Serious crimes such as treason and murder are punishable by death several mid-level crimes come to mind - remember these convicts are considered the worst no poor parents that stole bread.
Major Fraud and Tax Evasion - Stole From The Crown or Major Faith
Thieves Guildmasters - Organized Crime Figures
Heresy Leaders - Questions Core Religious Tenants
Manslaughter - Accidental Death
Kidnappers
Famous Outlaws (embarrassed the state) - Peasant Heroes
Child or Serial Rapists
Religious Desecrators
Serial Arsonists
Essential Military Goods Suppliers - Bad Food or Armour/Weapons
Military Cowardice Resulting In Death
Forgeries - Monetary and Religious
Aristocratic Grave Robbing
Organized Smugglers (Leaders)
Organized Slavers (Leaders)
I would drop the Zagyg reference; not everything has to have an ancient convuluted connection; done to death. Create a Greylode that stands on its own merit.
Hope this helps
Last edited by Crag on Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:53 pm; edited 1 time in total
That definitely helps Crag, the list of offenders you provided opens a host of ideas.
I was toying with the idea of involving a cult of Fraz Urb'loo (sp?) with the prisons below the Castle, since I believe Zagyg/Zagig had trapped him in a portrait in the dungeons of Castle Greyhawk. Perhaps the cult was dedicated to freeing prisoners of similar portrait traps created by the unnamed apprentice for use in Castle Greylode. If you recommend that ZagXg has been done to death I'll respect that advice. I certainly agree that Castle Greylode can stand on its own merit.
Thanks again for the input, it gave me some good ideas.
In case anyone is unfamiliar, Castle Greylode is a location in Furyondy's Barony of Littleberg that was briefly mentioned in The Marklands by Carl Sargent. All that is known is it's used as a prison for Furyondy's worst criminals who serve hard labor in its quarries. As far as I know it has never been fleshed out.
Looks like you're spot-on, Doug: here are Jason Zavoda's GH Index references for Castle Greylode:
Quote:
Greylode [CTL]
WGR4 - 5,27,28,37,44
And that's it. Now, his index was last updated in 2003, so it's certainly possible that Greylode was mentioned somewhere since then, but in terms of core canon, you're completely unfettered.
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